Pentecost: A Spiritual Significance

Pentecost Acts 2: 1-4

 

John R. Houk, Blog Editor

© June 9, 2025

 

I was preparing a Pentecost Sunday (6/8/25) post when I heard my wife weeping in pain. Diana was doing some Spring cleaning in the garage with our eldest grandson and for some inexplicable reason my 69-year-old wife thought it was a good idea to pick up a 50-pound weight for a barbell to move it. In that decision, 50-pounds slipped from her hands landing on the big toes of both her feet. Diana was in such pain she thought her toes were broken. So we spent the day at the Indian Hospital ER (Diana is my Cherokee princess) awaiting X-Rays. Long story short: Not broken but bruised. THANK YOU JESUS. God is Good.

 

SO…I did not post on Pentecost Sunday

 

The thing is I began writing the post. I pray I am not slipping into hubris because I sense there is someone out there that will benefit from reading the Pentecost insight that came upon me. Therefore, I am modifying what I began to write on Sunday to deliver the post on Monday…The day after Pentecost 2025.

 

For Christians Pentecost signifies fifty days after the Resurrection (Easter) of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus walked the Earth this day would have been fifty days after Passover and was a holy harvest festival called the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot in Judaism. I’m not a calendar expert but I’m guessing the Jewish Passover-Shavuot and Christian Resurrection Day-Pentecost do not often line up. Christians use a solar oriented calendar and Jews use a lunar oriented calendar.

 

Regardless of the calendar differences, the spiritual significances are related and important.

 

Let’s look at the Christian perspective of Pentecost from the New Testament Acts of the Apostles:

 

2 ¹When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all ^[a]with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them ^[b]divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. [Blog Editor Bold Text Emphasis]

 

Footnotes

a. Acts 2:1 NU together

b. Acts 2:3 Or tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each

 

-- Acts 2: 1-4 NKJV

Pentecost – as illustrated by Herbert R. Sim

 

When I was researching Pentecost I ran into a post by Ben Tertin from 5/1/23 entitled, “What Is Pentecost? And Why Is It Important? A New World Begins”.

 

I am aware that theologians Pentecost the beginning of the Early Church period. For me Pentecost is a deeper experience because my Christian background to becoming Born Again is through the Charismatic-Pentecostal-Word of Faith road. So, yup. I’m one of those Tongue-Talkers that most mainline Christians might have been told are too extreme in their faith. Or perhaps even worse, some might believe my faith is heretical. So now you are at the stage of reading to ponder to yourself: “Do I keep reading?”

 

Hopefully, you’ve decided to read on.

 

The insight I gleaned from reading Tertin has to do with the Presence of God that is symbolized in “Wind” and “Fire”. Here is an excerpt from the Tertin post that ignited by train of thought:

 

“In the Hebrew Bible, mysterious windstorms with fire or lightning are consistently associated with two things: God’s presence and the formation of a temple.

 

Yahweh becomes present to Moses through the fire of a burning shrub called the seneh tree (which sounds a lot like “Sinai” and foreshadows what happens there later). In that famous scene, God speaks in Moses’ own language and tells him he’s standing on holy ground, implying this place is like a temple. And then God promises to empower Moses to help him set Israel free from oppression (Exod. 3).

 

Moses delivers his people from slavery, and they travel to Mount Sinai, where a bigger fire blazes on the mountain as a wind and fire (lightning) storm kicks up (Exod. 19:18-20). Like before, this fire signals God’s presence, marking this mountain as God’s dwelling place and a symbolic temple. …” (What Is Pentecost? And Why Is It Important? A New World Begins; By Ben Tertin & BibleProject Team; BibleProject.com; 5/1/23

 

The Burning Bush in which the Presence of God spoke to Moses and the Tongues of Fire signifying God’s Presence inhabiting those who Believe on the Risen Savior Jesus is EXTREMELY significant.

 

Ponder this: In Exodus Chapter 3 Moses discovers his purpose as the delivering instrument freeing the Twelve Hebrew Tribes from Egyptian Bondage then leading those Twelve Tribes (called Israel after the name change given to Jacob) to the Land Promised as an inheritance through the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

 

The Burning Bush message to Moses becomes the Tongues of Fire proclaiming Deliverance to ALL who Believe on the Risen Savior/Deliverer Jesus the Son of God. The significance is THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

 

More to Ponder: Moses asked the ALMIGHTY who should I tell the Israelites has sent me to Deliver them that they should believe? I like how the Amplified Classic Bible shows this conversation because it shows all the English translations for YHWH (Yahweh):

 

3 ¹³ And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them?

¹⁴ And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I Will Be What I Will Be; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you! [Blog Editor Bold Text Emphasis]

¹⁵ God said also to Moses, This shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you! This is My ^[a]name forever, and by this name I am to be remembered to all generations.

 

Footnotes

a. Exodus 3:15 To know the name of God is to witness the manifestation of those attributes and apprehend that character which the name denotes (Exod. 6:3; I Kings 8:33ff.; Ps. 91:14; Isa. 52:6; 64:2; Jer. 16:21) (John D. Davis, A Dictionary of the Bible). God’s name is His self-revelation (Charles Ellicott, A Bible Commentary). The name signifies the active presence of the person in the fullness of the revealed character (J.D. Douglas et al., eds., The New Bible Dictionary).

 

--Exodus 3: 13-15 AMPC

 

AND EVEN MORE TO PONDER: Now that you are aware of THE NAME of the Presence of God in conversation with Moses. Consider the usage of “I AM” used by Jesus the Son of God. In John Chapter 8 Jesus is conversing with unbelieving “Jews”. I placed Jews in quotes because I need to be clear Jesus is NOT referencing all Jews. How do I know this? Before the crucifixion Jesus preached to large crowds of Jews. Many if not most of these crowds of Jews became believers in the message of Jesus. Among those believers were even some dedicated Pharisees (e.g., Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea). It is my belief that the corrupt Pharisees and Sadducees of the Sanhedrin held the so-called trial against Jesus in the dead of night to make sure to exclude the believing Pharisees from the trial debate. [Hmm… Something to think about in the corrupt U.S. Congress and Corrupt Judiciary.] In picking the portion of the conversation between Jesus and the “Jews”, take note from verses 54-59 in NKJV:

 

8 ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is ^[a]your God. ⁵⁵ Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” [Blog Editor Bold Text Emphasis]

⁵⁹ Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going^[b] through the midst of them, and so passed by.

  

Footnotes

a. John 8:54 NU, M our

b. John 8:59 NU omits the rest of v. 59.

 

--John 8: 54-59 NKJV

 

Just as a reference, you should check out the GotQuestions.org post entitled, “What are the seven I AM statements in the Gospel of John?”

 

To be clear. This is my Pentecost Epiphany: The mighty Rushing Wind is the Presence of God expressed in the Holy Spirit. That symbolism is in the Old and New Testament. The Tongues of Fire is that I AM Presence the Holy Spirit permeates our New Creation empowering Believers to both live a Life of Christ and share the Christ Redemption from the slavery of this dark age as Believers are transferred into the Kingdom of Light of the Father’s Dear Son.

 

I can hear an AMEN!?

 

FURTHER READING:

 

o   Why is Pentecost significant? BibleHub.com (No Date)

 

o   The Profound Meaning of Pentecost Sunday: When Heaven's Fire Touched Earth; BibleInspire.com; 6/2/25

 

Ben Tertin included an animated Youtube video about Pentecost on his BibleProject.com post I referenced above. I include it below:

 

Youtube VIDEO: What Happened at Pentecost and Why It's Important

[Post by BibleProject

Posted on Jun 7, 2018

 

The book of Acts shows how God fulfilled His ancient promises to restore His blessing to all the nations through the offspring of Abraham: Jesus of Nazareth. In this video, we'll explore how Jesus and the Spirit renew the people of Israel and prepare them to announce good news to the nations.]

 

JRH 6/9/25

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ORU Gets Back on the Pilgrim’s Path with EMPOWERED21

John R. Houk

© May 26, 2012

Oral Roberts has gone on to live with Jesus. Richard Roberts has been humble by getting the boot from being President of Oral Roberts University and even recently getting slapped with a DUI. On May 2nd Richard Roberts received probation. The point is ORU has seen better days.

   

I am a bit excited that ORU leadership (I don’t know who that is yet) has take ORU down a path that eschews politics and bad press and is closer to the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ to go into all the world and preach the Gospel of Christ’s Redemptive work of which includes the Baptism in the Holy Spirit enabling a Helper to aid Believers to keep on the pilgrim’s path of a Christ-like life.

That ORU path has led to the involvement in an outreach that has been called EMPOWERED21. Below is the overview of how EMPOWERED21 came to be and a picture of intended goals:

From Azusa Street to Tulsa to the World

April 25-29, 2006 the International Center for Spiritual Renewal facilitated and hosted the Azusa Street Centennial. This one hundred year anniversary celebration of the Azusa Street revival was attended by over 50,000 people from 106 different nations. The streams of Spirit-filled Christianity converged in Los Angeles to rejoice in a century of blessing on this movement that now numbers over 600 million people around the world.

In 2008, the new Oral Roberts University Board of Trustees began work on clarifying the mission of the university for 21st century ministry. An initiative was launched by the Board of Trustees called Empowered21 and the International Center for Spiritual Renewal was asked to facilitate this process to focus on new generations and the power of the Holy Spirit. Immediately, it was discerned that the convergence of these dynamics were leading toward questions and answers that would serve the entire Spirit-filled movement. Empowered21 began to be understood as a natural kingdom-wide follow up to the Azusa Street Centennial. The Azusa Centennial reflected on what God had done for the last 100 years and Empowered21 would focus on the future of the movement.

During 2009 and early 2010, Empowered21 held 17 unique conversation events around the world with leaders, scholars and new generation voices to ascertain their insights into the issues facing the movement in the 21st Century. Over 500 people from 54 nations and over 15 different universities were involved in the conversations. Questions like: “What does it mean to be Spirit-empowered in the 21st century?” and “What steps can be taken to engage new generations in the Spirit-filled experience?” were asked.

Conversation input and discoveries were used to inform the program of the Empowered21 Global Congress on Holy Spirit Empowerment which was held in Tulsa, OK April 8- 11, 2010. The Congress focused on shaping the future of the Global Spirit-empowered movement by focusing on crucial issues facing the movement and connecting generations for intergenerational blessing and impartation. Over 10,000 people from 95 nations attended the April Congress where over 210 learning conversations and numerous general session events informed and connected them. It became obvious that the Congress was forming a launch base for further exploration.

What has followed is truly remarkable. The International Center for Spiritual Renewal was asked to lead Empowered21 into the future and Empowered21 was officially transferred to the Center in the summer of 2010. Empowered21 is now witnessing a convergence and collaboration of Spirit-empowered ministries around the world. A series of regional Empowered21 gatherings are forming to focus on unique issues faced by Spirit-empowered churches operating within disparate socio-economic climates. In January of 2011, the Empowered21 Global Council, co-chaired by Billy Wilson and Jack Hayford, braught (sic) together top global leaders to begin providing inspirational oversight to all 11 regional initiatives.

Regional cabinets will be pursuing initiatives and events in their area of the world to address the future of Spirit-empowered Christianity and find ways to connect the generations for spiritual impartation. Each regional cabinet will operate under the same vision and purposes for Empowered21 in their region.

In many cases, Empowered21 meetings mark the first time leaders of the Spirit-filled movement in a given region have ever met one another. New, ground-breaking networks are forming in Canada, Africa, Asia and beyond. Additionally, a Youth Ministries Network (NGYN21) is the first-ever international network for Spirit- filled youth leaders.

During this Memorial Weekend Sunday will be Pentecost Sunday 2012. EMPOWERED21 is getting on board with a program called the Pentecost Sunday Initiative. Below is the email I received.

JRH 5/26/12

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Pentecost Sunday - One Day, One Message

Sent by International Center for Spiritual Renewal (ICFSR)

Sent: May 23, 2012 11:59 AM

For Immediate Release

May 23, 2012

For More Information

Matti@empowered21.com

RCole@empowered21.com

423-478-7078

Churches and Ministries Around the Globe Will Celebrate Pentecost Weekend

Empowered21 Pentecost Initiative Proclaims the Transforming, Renewing,

And Empowering Truth of the Holy Spirit

One Day and One Message Through an International Movement

Cleveland, Tenn. – Empowered21, a broad coalition of churches, ministries and organizations working together to help shape the future of the Spirit empowered movement around the world, has launched the Pentecost Sunday Initiative. The global initiative (www.pentecostsunday.tv) is scheduled for this weekend including Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2012, in which pulpits all over the world will proclaim the transforming, renewing, empowering truth of the Holy Spirit. Entire Spirit-empowered denominations are calling their constituency to participate and churches from Africa to Australia, India to Indiana and Beirut to Bogota are preparing to celebrate.

Among Christians, Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon 120 followers of Jesus including the apostles as described in Acts Chapter 2. Pentecost was "the Birth of the Church" and was the beginning of the great Christian harvest with 3,000 people receiving Christ as their Savior on that day.

Billy Wilson, Executive Director for the International Center for Spiritual Renewal and Empowered21 and Co- Chair of the Empowered21 Global Council (www.empowered21.com/about/leadership/), said, “The Pentecost Sunday Initiative is a simple idea birthed from our Empowered21 conversations where new generations have requested to learn more about the Holy Spirit and God’s immediate presence in their lives. We have always celebrated Christmas and Easter in a big way in the Spirit-empowered church and we believe that it is appropriate to celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church at Pentecost in a big way as well. We anticipate that thousands of believers will experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit around the world on this exciting day. 2012 is just the beginning as we proclaim Pentecost afresh in the 21st century.”

A special daily blog tour from leaders in the Spirit-empowered movement and resources are being provided at www.empowered21.com and www.pentecostsunday.tv with the goal of assisting pastors all over the world in preaching about the Holy Spirit and His work among God’s people on a single day of unity and power.  Thousands of churches and ministries on the six inhabited continents are expected to participate. No church is too small or too large to be a part of this unified proclamation of the Holy Spirit’s ministry.

Robert Morris, Senior Pastor of Gateway Church in Dallas/Fort Worth and a member of the Empowered21 Global Council said, “When I first heard the concept and idea of asking every pastor in the world to preach on the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, I felt this was God inspired. What could happen if we unite in preaching and teaching what the Bible says about the power, the person and the presence of the Holy Spirit? When the early church received this power they turned their world upside down. I want to encourage pastors around the world to commit to preaching and teaching on the Holy Spirit this Pentecost Sunday that we may also experience the power needed to turn our world upside down for the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Gateway Church has provided downloadable resources from Morris’ bestseller book, The God I Never Knew: How Real Friendship with the Holy Spirit can Change Your Life at www.pentecostsunday.tv. Pastors and congregations can sign up on the site to solidify their unity with thousands of others around the world and access the free resources.

The May issue of Charisma gives focus to Pentecost Sunday. Steve Strang, founder of Charisma Magazine and a member of the Empowered21 Global Council, writes, “If you’re a pastor, preach on the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday and invite people to receive the mighty infilling of the Holy Spirit. In a way, every Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, just as every Sunday is Resurrection Day. But since it’s on the calendar and since other churches recognize the day, let’s use it as a time to call attention to the fact that believing in the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives is something that isn’t just a theory in our churches but a reality."

Empowered21 (www.empowered21.org) is committed to seeing new generations experience the power and presence of the living God by preaching and teaching about the Holy Spirit. Through this one day, one message—an international movement encourages discovering anew God’s presence and power on Pentecost Sunday.

The Global Vision of Empowered21 is: “That every person on Earth would have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit... by Pentecost 2033.”

Empowered21 presently has 11 global leadership teams that have formed to pursue initiatives and events in their region of the world-- helping shape the future of the Global Spirit-empowered movement by focusing on crucial issues facing the movement and connecting generations for intergenerational blessing and impartation.

Each regional cabinet--Africa, Francophone Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, United States, USA Hispanic, Oceania, and the Caribbean--operate under the same global vision, mission and purposes in their region and pursue them in unique ways.

All of the regions are participating in the Pentecost Sunday initiative. The next Empowered21 Global Congress is scheduled to be held on the week before Pentecost Sunday 2015 in Jerusalem, Israel.

###

TO BOOK an INTERVIEW or SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT with

BILLY WILSON or JUANITA CERCONE

Contact Matti Stevenson • 423-478-7078 • matti@empowered21.com

____________________________

ORU Gets Back on the Pilgrim’s Path with EMPOWERED21

John R. Houk

© May 26, 2012

__________________________

Pentecost Sunday - One Day, One Message

Address postal inquiries to:

International Center for Spiritual Renewal

PO Box 3986
4399 Ocoee St N

Cleveland, TN 37312-4832