Freedom is Good News Part 139

Breaking news!!  We interrupt this series of articles concerning the “worthy walk with God” to bring you an important message.  Wow!  That sounded pretty interesting, didn’t it?  But I do have a couple of comments to make about this up-coming weekend.  Do you know that there is a very special Sunday coming?  One that is a very special and unique day in the year.  And all of us who are striving to understand the “good news” of God’s word should pay close attention to it.

There are many groups, churches and organizations that may mention this day but the bible would say, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Matthew 15:8)  Let us get our hearts into God’s truth!

What is this special day?  Most of us will know the day as Pentecost and in the bible we will find this day to be of extreme importance as we consider God’s “good news”. 

The word Pentecost, in our English, is taken from a Greek word that means “fiftieth”.  That in itself should cause a series of questions in many minds, “fiftieth what”; or “fiftieth from when”?  So let’s take this from the beginning.  We are introduced to this particular day in the book of Leviticus 23:15-22, “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering.  You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath.” 

There is much to say concerning God’s festival day, but today we have only one column to look at, so we will move a little quickly.  But remember this; God the Father is always painting pictures of His Son, through symbols and types in the Old Testament.

If you were to consider the gifts that God has given to His people, what would you say was the greatest?  I am going to imagine your answer might be, “God gave His only begotten Son to be the Savior of mankind.”  And I cannot argue with that.  But concerning fifty days after the resurrection of our Savior, we read this in the book of Acts 2:1-4, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”

The crowd that gathered to see this sight wondered greatly.  Peter stood up and spoke (See Acts 2:13-36).  As he finished his message the crowd asked, “What shall we do?”  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

This day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day, for everything else that it signifies, stands out as the day the Church received this great gift of God’s Holy Spirit.  Many have called it the birthday of the Church.  God promises a gift in the Old Testament (see Joel 2:28) and then provides it in the New!  Oh yes, this is good news.