The Final Harvest

Mission, Pentecost

In the book of Acts, the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost stresses the theme of fulfillment. On that day, what was foreshadowed in the ancient feast began to receive its substance. The bestowal of the Spirit was an epochal event that marked the start of the messianic age, and the gift fulfilled what the Levitical feast symbolized.

Spiritual Power

Cross, Discipleship, Gift-Ministry

Jesus performed miracles, exorcised demons, and taught with great authority. For a time, he attracted great crowds. But his contemporaries failed to recognize who he was despite his miraculous deeds. In the end, only the Roman centurion at Golgotha recognized him as the “son of God” when he breathed his last.

Assembly of God

Church, Temple, Worship

The New Testament usage of the term “assembly” is based on the image of Israel assembled before Yahweh for worship in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek noun rendered “church” in English is ekklésia, meaning “assembly, congregation.” In secular Greek it may refer to an “assembly” of citizens gathered to conduct matters of state; however, that is not the sense found in the New Testament in reference to the church.

Message and Mission

Gospel, Mission, Salvation

After his resurrection, Jesus declared - “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” During his ministry, the disciples did not preach to the nations, although he did minister to individual Gentiles on occasion. The disciples were to preach only to the “lost sheep of Israel.”

Superior New Covenant

Apostasy, Covenant

In his death, Jesus inaugurated the vastly superior new covenant, rendering the old one obsolete. The “word” that God now speaks “in the Son” surpasses all the past revelations made in “the prophets.” Jesus went beyond them, “having achieved the purification of sins.” Consequently, he “sat down” at the right hand of God and inherited “all things.”