Disciples Global Network

With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced . The Apostle Paul calls the Gift of the Spirit the “ Promise of the Father ” which he links to the Abrahamic covenant. The promises to Abraham and “ his Seed ” find their fulfillment in the New Covenant inaugurated by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Peter summoned his audience in Jerusalem to repent and be baptized “ in the name of Jesus Christ .” He concluded his sermon on a note of fulfillment and with a foretaste of things to come . Peter began with a citation from the Book of Joel , and he finished his message with a clause from the same passage, thus neatly bracketing his sermon.

In the Book of Acts , the application of Joel’s prophecy to the events of the Day of Pentecost links the outpouring of the Spirit on the Church to the start of the “ Last Days .” The activity of the Spirit beginning that day is essential for understanding the rapid spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the center of the Roman Empire. That same process must continue until the “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ of Jesus at the end of the present age.

The description of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost stresses the theme of fulfillment. On that day, what was foreshadowed by the ancient feast began to receive its promised substance. The bestowal of the Spirit was an epochal event that marked the start of the Age of the Spirit, and the Gift of the Spirit fulfilled what the annual Levitical feast symbolized.

The Last Days, the Age of Fulfillment, began with the Death, Resurrection, and Enthronement of the Son of God . When we hear the term “ Last Days ” we assume it refers to the final few years of history that will occur just before the return of Jesus “ on the clouds of Heaven .” This is logical and natural. However, the New Testament presents the present age as the time of fulfillment, the period that began following the Death, Resurrection, and Enthronement of Jesus.

The prophecy in the book of Joel sets the tone for Acts, including the signs and wonders that accompany the gospel  – Acts 2:17-21.  Jesus told the disciples to “ tarry in Jerusalem ”  UNTIL  they receive the Spirit, then to proclaim the “ kingdom of God ” in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the “ uttermost parts of the earth .” The book of  Acts  records how the early church carried out this mission under the power of the Spirit.

On Pentecost, the Spirit of God descended on the disciples accompanied by audible and visual manifestations. As they were “ filled with the Spirit ,” they all began “ speaking in other tongues .” This caused confusion and questions among the Jewish pilgrims who witnessed the epochal event.

In  Acts , the activity of the Spirit is essential to the life and growth of the church. The church was inaugurated by the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and the young faith spread quickly from Judea to Samaria, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and finally, to the heart of the Roman Empire.

The book of  Acts  lays stress on fulfillment. The things foreshadowed in the Hebrew scriptures are actualized when the disciples are “ filled with the Spirit and spoke in other tongues ” on Pentecost. This is the seminal event that marks the inauguration of the Church, the age of the Spirit, and the commencement of the final harvest.