Pentecost and Its Significance

Pentecost is the feast of accomplishment and of fulfillment. It is the coronation feast of the Church of Christ, where Christ Himself, through His Spirit, comes and dwells in His Church. That is, in the deepest sense, the essence and content of this Pentecostal event. It is truly an awesome occurrence. Many people do not understand it. They have the greatest difficulty with the Pentecostal feast.

What is the exact meaning of Pentecost? We can hardly visualize it; therefore, many do not know how to answer this question. It is different with Christmas and with Easter. At Christmas there is the Babe in the manger in Bethlehem’s stable, and we hear the angels singing. At Easter it is also different, for then our attention is fixed upon the open grave out of which the crucified Christ arose. We hear the angels say, “He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.” These we can visualize somewhat, but how is it with the Pentecostal feast?

At Christmas and Easter, we can visualize a little of it. There we can observe what God does for sinners, but we cannot observe this at Pentecost because the important point there is what God does in sinners. Christmas is the feast of “God with us” and Easter is the feast of “God for us,” but Pentecost is the feast of “God in us.”

What precisely is the meaning of that? Of what does the Pentecostal feast consist? You must realize that you cannot comprehend it with your mind and intellect. At Pentecost the words are emphatically confirmed, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.” He cannot understand them though he exerts himself ever so much, “because they are spiritually discerned.” Since that ability of spiritual discernment is lacking in natural man, he will never be able to understand the meaning and profound content of Pentecost with his natural mind.

Only one thing is of importance here, and that is experience; if we may experience a little of it, even then we can hardly put into words that which we have experienced. Our words are entirely insufficient to express what we really have experienced. If we nevertheless try to express it, then we perceive how poor our words are and that we can never tell it as it was experienced by us. We notice this also in the description which the evangelist Luke gives of this Pentecostal event. You have perhaps noticed that when he writes about the Pentecostal feast, he is extremely brief and also extremely vague. Compare this with the description which this same evangelist gives of Christmas; you will surely notice a great difference. In regard to Christmas, we are told in great detail what happened. It is also so with Easter, but when he begins to speak about Pentecost, he is quickly finished.

What is exactly the essence of the Pentecostal gospel? He tells it in a short sentence by saying, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” That is it—nothing more and nothing less. “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” That is the important point. It does not so much concern the accompanying signs; it does not concern the sound that was heard, neither does it concern the tongues which were seen. It ultimately concerns the essence of the matter which is put into words by Luke as follows, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” It is extremely brief. He makes no attempt at all to make it more explicit.

What does that comprise—to be filled with the Holy Ghost? Luke is not only very brief, but he is also extremely vague in his description. When he speaks about the accompanying signs, he speaks about a “sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind”; it was not a hurricane, but it was “as of.” When he speaks about tongues, he says that they were “tongues like as of fire.” It was not fire; they were not actual tongues of fire, but they appeared like tongues of fire. Do you notice then how vague Luke is in his description?

These signs are there in order to let us understand a little of Pentecost. For these signs are not chosen by a human being but are chosen by the Most High and Holy God Himself. That is to say, they are chosen with wisdom and with great divine understanding and purpose. In those signs the Lord tells a little of Himself. In those signs we can perceive a little of who and what God the Holy Spirit is, what He does, and what He is willing to do.

Pentecost is the feast which reminds us of the other feasts. Pentecost is not to be separated from Christmas, from Good Friday, and from Easter. Pentecost would never have taken place if there had been no Christmas, if there had been no Good Friday, and if there had been no Easter. Pentecost is then also the fruit of Christmas, of Good Friday, and of Easter. That the Holy Spirit, that God Himself, through His Spirit, can dwell in men is only for Jesus’ sake. Christ made reconciliation for the iniquity which made separation.

God no longer needs to conceal His glory to prevent sinners from being consumed. There is One who was consumed, who with His blood quenched the fierceness of God’s anger. Now He no longer needs to hide His presence behind a very thick veil in the temple as a symbol and as a shadow. God has rent the veil with His hand; it was rent from the top to the bottom. The partition has fallen away. Now the living Church, purchased and sanctified through the blood of Christ, has become a temple of the Holy Spirit. That is, in the deepest sense, the essence of the Pentecostal events.

At Pentecost, strictly speaking, the main object is not the Holy Spirit, but Pentecost has reference to Christ. The Holy Spirit comes to glorify Christ. Thus, I would almost say that Pentecost, even more than the other feasts, proclaims the necessity of being born in Christ. For soon we will meet this glorious God, and if we are not then hidden in Christ, that will be a deadly, a crushing, and a fearful meeting. However, if we may hide ourselves behind Christ, we will experience that there are with Him “tender mercies and loving-kindnesses.” This now is the work of the Holy Spirit—that He glorifies Christ in the hearts of sinners. “He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.” Pentecost is pre-eminently the feast of Christ since it is the Holy Spirit who brings near to us that which Christ obtained, who causes us to partake of that which we have in Christ so that we experience the power of it.

Christmas caused the angels to sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,” but at Pentecost people begin to sing. People take over the song of the angels, and then they sing more beautifully than the angels because angels can only sing about it, but people sing out of it. How seldom that song is heard. Do you know why that is? Because we are so little warmed and inspired and uncovered through the Holy Spirit. Oh, that it would one day become Pentecost for us, for all of us, individually.

It is not enough that we are a member of the church. It is not enough that we attend church faithfully. It is not enough that we know there are people who are acquainted with the work of the Holy Spirit. The important thing is, as the catechism states, when speaking of the Holy Spirit, “that He is also given to me.” It is not said in a general way, given to us, but very personally, “given to me.” When the catechism speaks of the church, it says, “that I am, and for ever shall remain, a living member.” Are you a living member of the church? Has the Holy Spirit been given to you also? May it be that you are concerned with this and that this would always be the content of your prayer? For upon prayer the Lord will yet descend and will make room for Himself in the hearts of sinners. Pray without ceasing. For thus saith the Lord: “If ye then, being evil,” (and such we are) “know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirt to them that ask Him?” Where the Holy Spirit comes, He remains. There is no apostacy of saints. We cannot ever banish Him with our sinful life. We can truly grieve Him, but we cannot drive Him away. Whoever He conquers, He never again releases. This does not result in a careless life but, truly, in a life of wonderment. On the other hand, we remain dependent all our life on His ministration. Let us rightly understand that it will remain only a wrestling and a sighing life until it becomes Pentecost for us, and only then we have arrived, are finished, and have become established people.

What does it really mean to become established? God’s people are only truly established when they are in heaven. We are never finished here. Grace does not make great, finished, accomplished people. No, grace makes people who continually have need of more grace. To keep us small the Holy Spirit withdraws Himself from us in His sensible nearness. What happens then? Our spiritual life languishes. We try to maintain ourselves by talking about the past, but we do not then possess our former life.

How necessary is the ministration, the quickening ministration of the Holy Spirit for all and each of us individually, that He may make room in all our hearts for Christ and cause us to live out of Christ. For then our tongue will become as the pen of a ready writer; our mouth shall ever show forth God’s praise as a spring which pours itself upon the fields. However, it will always be in this life only in part and remain in part, full of shortcomings. Listen, one day each of them, with his own tongue, shall declare the works of God as they were wrought in his life. Then will be verified what the poet sings,

Then in song and joyful mirth

Shall Thy ransomed sons agree;

Singing forth throughout the earth,

“All my fountains are in Thee.”

—Psalter 239:2

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