the fiftieth day was fully come.” Pentecost was the fif tieth day after the Feast of the Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:25, 16 ). So this Pentecost was to come according to the unchangeable Word of God, fifty days after the resurrection o f Christ, who was our Passover (I Corin thians 5 :7 ). There are a number of things to be observed here. 1. This Pentecost for the Church cannot be repeated in this dispensation, for the fiftieth day can never come again. It can no more be repeated in this dispensation than can the crucifixion or the burial or resurrection of Christ, which were in fulfillment of the Feasts of Pass- over, Unleavened Bread, and the Firstfruits. When the Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, the third Person of the Trinity came in abiding presence upon the infant Church. Jesus said o f this in John 14:16, And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth . . . (John 14:16, 17). Pentecost for the Church was once for all. He did not come upon the company in the upper room, and then go away to be poured out over and over again upon individual believers or upon the Church. He came to abide (to remain) until the Church goes to meet Her Lord. In the Old Testament the Spirit came and went to empower individuals for their mission of priest or prophet or king. But in this dispensation He abides. To speak, therefore, of another Pentecost in this dispensa tion is to reveal a total misunderstanding of the experi ence of Pentecost. 2. The outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost was not the result of anything the disciples did. The Spirit did not come in response to their prayers. He did not come because they were all with one accord in one place. He came because it was time for Him to come, and be cause Jesus had promised He would come. If they had not been with one accord in one place, if they had not been waiting, Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the Cross, would have come anyway. How glad we are that the disciples were in the place where they could receive the Holy Spirit. Had they not been there, Pentecost would have come anyway, but they would have missed the blessing. 3. Notice also the accompanying manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s coming. Three things are specifically mentioned. There was first a “ sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.” Secondly, there were visible tongues as of fire which sat upon each (every one) of them. Thirdly, they began to speak in other languages. There are those who report present-day Pentecostal ex periences, but where is the mighty wind, where are the visible tongues of fire? They claim the speaking in tongues, but before the speaking in tongues there was first the mighty rushing wind and the visible tongues as of fire. Why are not these manifestations present in the so-called present-day experiences o f the bap tism in the Holy Spirit? Why take only the speaking in tongues and not be able to claim the other accompanying signs—the wind and visible fire? 4. The languages these disciples spoke were not “ unknown” tongues. They were existing languages un derstood by the people who had gathered for the feast. They needed no interpreter. This is clear when we read: And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? (Acts 2:7, 8). The Greek word translated “ tongue” is dialektos,
the same as our word “ dialect.” It is the same word translated “ language” in verse 6. We emphasize this point because so many people turn to the day of Pentecost for their argument for speaking in tongues. I heard one enthusiastic exponent of a repeated baptism in the Spirit say, “ I received the gift o f speaking in tongues the same as the disciples received it on the day of Pentecost.” This sincere but mistaken enthusiast simply did not understand the speaking in dialects by the disciples at Pentecost as completely distinguished from the sign of tongues as de scribed in I Corinthians. Please notice, the languages used at Pentecost were languages which were spoken by the audience being addressed. They all understood what was said. They were not unknown tongues and needed no interpretation. This was entirely different from speaking in an unknown tongue as a sign for doubtful, carnal believ ers. 5. The purpose of the speaking in various languages at Pentecost was in fulfillment of Jesus’ command that the Gospel should begin in Jerusalem, and then go into all the world. It was to the Jews first. In the provi dence of God, Jews from every part of the world were present at the Feast. There were no Gentiles addressed, and among the 3,000 converted on that day there were none but Jews. I read in Acts 2:5, And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). Notice, Jews from every nation under Heaven, and at least sixteen countries are mentioned in verses 9 to 11: Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, . . . Mesopotamia, . . . Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, . . . Libya about Cyrene, . . . Rome, . . . Cretes and Arabians . . . (Acts 2:9-11). These were all Jews or Jewish proselytes. Here they are gathered, and they are to spread the message of the Gospel to the whole world. And Pentecost was the setting for telling the story to every nation through the Jews. Hence the speaking in tongues. It was to pro claim the Gospel message by the nation destined to tell it to all the world. These Jews from all these nations went back to their homes all over the world knowing the mes sage of the crucified, resurrected Christ, having heard it declared in their own language and dialect. This was the purpose of the tongues on Pentecost— to proclaim in every language the gospel message. It has nothing in common with the sign o f tongues men tioned later in the book of I Corinthians. We repeat, therefore, that this speaking at Pentecost in the vari ous languages was for this one occasion only, to make known the glorious Gospel to all nations, and although no Gentiles were present, the languages of the Gentile nations were heard and that from Jewish lips, indicat ing how in the future the whole world would again hear the Gospel through God’s redeemed nation of Israel (Revelation 7). After this day of Pentecost, this particular miracle of speaking in the well-known languages o f the world was never repeated. We look in vain through the rest of Acts or the epistles for a repetition of this experi ence. We do find the gift of speaking in unknown tongues in two instances in Acts (Acts 10:46 and Acts 19:6), and it is recorded as present in only one church among all the churches mentioned in the book of Acts and the epistles.
From the new • hook, uPentecost and After** _ published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, $2*50.
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SEPTEMBER, 1964
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