Its
Powerful Influence on Society
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D
The outpouring of the Holy Ghost in Jerusalem
on the Day of Pentecost A.D. 29 will be known as one of the most important in
the history of the church!
On that day, the Church of Jesus Christ
was born and set in motion, with a great show of power! On that day, fear
turned into faith and cowardice was replaced by boldness forever changing the
course of history! Jesus had to pour out His blood before He could pour out the
Holy Spirit! On that Day, God the Father gave the Holy Spirit to Christ’s Church.
And today, the teachings of Jesus Christ are
assimilated into the code of ethics, constitutions, and legal frameworks of
religious as well as secular governments, institutions, and statues the world
over!
Christianity has made such an impact upon
the legal systems of the civilized world that all of the good, benevolent and
just laws we presently have is the result of godly legislators influence by the
laws of Moses and the teachings of Jesus Christ!
William
Gladstone, statesman, Prime Minister and unquestionable one on the most
able, and greatest legal minds in the 1800's stated:
“Talk about the questions of the day. There is but one question and that is the Gospel. That can and will correct everything. I am glad to say that about all the men at the top in Great Britain are Christians. I have been in public position fifty-eight years, all but eleven of them in the Cabinet of the British Government, and during those forty-seven years have been associated with sixty of the master-minds of the century, and all but five of the sixty were Christians!”
THE GOLDEN RULE!
The Sermon on the Mount, the Golden Rule, “Do
unto others as they do unto you”, are quoted by philosophers, statesmen and
theologians alike. The Jewish festival called ‘Pentecost’ was commemorated 50
days after the ‘Passover’. It was called the ‘Feast of Weeks’ (7 weeks), or
‘New Anointing’.
It was on that day in A.D.29 that
approximately 120 followers of Christ gathered in an upper room, in obedience
to His command: “And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but
tarry ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on High.” (Luke
24: 49)
They had been terrified and crushed by
the terribly brutal and unjust death of their Master, whom they believed was
their long- awaited Messiah.
Passover Week AD 29 will forever mark the unspeakable largesse of God’s dealings with man and prove His great Love and mercy toward us all: not just toward the Jews, His own people, but to all people everywhere.
WHAT A WEEK THAT WAS!
The Bible says: “But now is Christ risen
from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.” (1 Cor.15:20).
The Feast of First Fruits was fulfilled when Jesus Christ arose from
the dead on the third day. He is the first fruits of them that slept. This
means that Jesus Christ was the first to die and rise, never to die again!
Lazarus died, was raised, and had to die again. JESUS did Not!
The Feast
of Trumpets will be fulfilled when Jesus returns for His bride
in the parusia (coming) harpazo (catching away) and epiphany
(appearing). That will be the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ! On
that day He will fulfill the Feast of Trumpets!
The Feast of the Day of Atonement will be fulfilled when He shall be revealed (apocalypse) to His Jewish people and they receive Him as their Messiah! He is our Day of Atonement! Finally, when Christ ushers in the 1,000 years of peace – the Millennial Reign – that will fulfill the ancient Jewish Feast of Tabernacles!
INCARNATION TO ATONEMENT!
The time
between Christmas and Easter is about three months, and the time between the
birth of our Saviour and His death is about thirty-three years. You can’t
divorce His incarnation from His
Atonement. Jesus was born to die. If there had been no incarnation there could
not be an atonement!
God is satisfied by the vicarious death of His Son on the cross and the
sinners who repent of their sins and receive forgiveness and reconciliation
through His shed blood. The death of Christ in exchange for the pardon of
guilty mankind, allowed God to keep His Law of Righteousness and Judgment for
sin, and still freely show forth His Love, Mercy and Grace to repentant
sinners!
The vicarious death of Jesus Christ for our sins was the only cure for our
guilt, condemnation and separation from a loving God, and the Peace that we all
craved. The Blood of His Cross purchased our eternal redemption!
Jesus Christ is the only hope of the Church and of the
world! All must bow before Him, for He is the Saviour of the world and the
glorified Son of God! JESUS is the fountainhead of Truth and the Healer of
broken spirits, wounded hearts, devastated lives and a corrupt humanity!
JESUS works on a personal basis through the Blessed Holy Spirit to spread the light of the Gospel into the whole world. Amen.
DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!
Even
in the time of St. Paul many were ignorant of the mighty workings of the Holy
Spirit. In his letter to the Corinthian Church, he wrote: “Now concerning
spiritual gifts, I would not have you to be ignorant.” (1 Cor. 12: 1).
Nearly 2,000 years later, the Church is still ignorant of the Holy
Spirit and His gifts! The blessed Holy Spirit is a Person; the third person of
the Godhead. One must never refer to Him as “an influence, a power or a
manifestation of God.” He is God the Holy Spirit!
Disclosing that He would soon be leaving them, Jesus promised to
send the Holy Spirit: “And I will pray
the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit
of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him
not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall
be in you.
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things; and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I give with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14: 16-18; 26, 27)
CHRIST’S VICTORY OVER SATAN!
“But when the Comfortable is come, whom
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth
which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient that I
go away: for if 1 go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I
depart, I will send Him unto you.
And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment:
“Of Sin, because they believe not on
Me; of Righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more;
of Judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many
things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now.”
The
Holy Spirit has come for three reasons: To convict men of their Sin of
unbelief and rejection of Jesus: To convince men that JESUS is the Son of God
and the only Saviour of the world: To demonstrate to the world, Jesus Christ’s
Victory over the Satan!
“Howbeit when He the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak: but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and he will speak: and He will show things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you.” (John 15:26; 16:7-14)
JESUS CHRIST IS LIFE ETERNAL!
JESUS said:
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”
(John 14:6); “I am the Door, by Me if any enter in, he shall be saved, and
shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but to steal, kill
and to destroy: I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:9,10)
“I am the Good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father and I lay down My life for the sheep.” (John 10: 11-15); “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: He that believeth on Me, though he were dead yet shall he live.” (John 11:25)
HERE IS THE INVITATION!
Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” (John 3:16,17; 5:24,25)
MY MESSAGE IS
URGENT!
Jesus invites those who are spiritually dead to hear His voice through His Holy Word as presented here, and in humility and faith answer the Holy Spirit’s call. Ask Him to forgive you and save your soul. And He will do it! If you wait until it is too late, this will be your sad state: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice. And come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection to life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5: 28,29). May God bless you, my friend! Amen.
TO BE CONTINUED….M.S.
