“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”38 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. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
My friend and I walked into Lowes yesterday and he had a weed stuck to his shoe and he said, "I'm bringing in weeds to Lowes" to which I responded, "I thought we were supposed to be bringing in the sheaves." I'm not sure he got it nor would anyone under the age of 60 reading this, but there was an old hymn called "Bringing in the Sheaves" which compares evangelism to harvesting wheat. Pentecost was a religious celebration celebrating God's faithfulness to provide another good harvest and meeting their needs. July 4th is just around the bend and I think of that as the time when all the blackberries in the woods next to us are ripe. Currently you might find one ripe one among the bunch which is the "first fruit", and yes, the Israelites celebrated that too. Soon these branches will be teeming with purple berries ripe for the harvest. In a spiritual sense, Jesus rose from the grave on the feast of first fruits and Paul refers to Jesus as the first fruit. He had the disciples wait for the Pentecost when the ''sheaves" would be ready for harvest and then the Holy Spirit came down, and souls were harvested that day - 3000! Just as the Feast of Firstfruits was fulfilled in Christ's resurrection, so the Pentecost was fulfilled in the giving of the Holy Spirit. Now we await the fulfilling of the Feast of Trumpets at the rapture. This too was a religious feast based on the harvest which signified that the harvest was over so come on in. The trumpet blowing was like the dinner bell ringing to "come and dine". (another old hymn) We will be called up to the wedding feast of the Lamb as the bride of Christ on that day which we hope could be this year. Of course, believers have been saying that for 2000 years now but we are to live expectantly looking for his return and make the most of our time living like we'll only be here for a short while.
Peter, once again used scripture, all they had was the Old Testament but as Paul said, "All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine..." The Holy Spirit softened their hearts, the Word pierced their souls, and they were convinced Jesus was the Messiah and that they were sinners. They turned to Christ for the forgiveness of sins and were baptized telling everyone that their sins had been washed away and they were identifying with Christ's going under and coming up a resurrected life. The Holy Spirit indwelt them too and they were born again.
There are signs of revival happening around the world. Lord, may we see this kind of pouring out of Your Holy Spirit in our days and may we be involved in bringing in these sheaves!
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