The Sunday Mail
Pastor Erasmus Makarimayi
THIS is the second in a series on Pentecost celebrations held not only in Zimbabwe but globally. Last Sunday the ministers I spoke to underlined a fundamental issue: Pentecost is from the Old Testament, but at the Pentecost in the New Testament the Lord ushered a new dispensation – the birth of the Church, not denominations. This week we hear views from local and international men of God. Although they are in agreement on some number of elements, there is disagreement with Pastor Anselm’s assertion that “all Christians are Pentecostals.” They also explain how today’s Christians should locate themselves in the feast of Pentecost.
Pastor Erasmus Makarimayi
Pastor Makarimayi of New Gate Chapel Ministries said, “The spirit of the Church is to worship God freely – not bound by place or days. Speaking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus elaborates that it’s not about Jerusalem or the mountain but connecting with God in truth and spirit.
“At the tail-end of the story, John 4:23-24 (KJV) reads, ‘But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17, KJV)
He also says, “So, whatever one does should be in sincere worship of God and everything culminating, converging and climaxing in Jesus Christ. Care should be exercised so that one does not end up honouring a day above the creator of days.”
Pastor Makarimayi says the notion that the Church was birthed on Pentecost in Acts 2 is debatable arguing, “In Jerusalem, the disciples were gathered in an upper room expectantly anticipating the arrival of the promise Jesus gave them in John 14.
“The 3 000 that joined the Church on the day of Pentecost were in addition to existing disciples including the 120 in the upper room and others scattered all over the areas Jesus had preached and beyond. So, the issue that the Church started on the day of Pentecost is debatable. Some schools of thought prefer to see the church being rolled out at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry and capped on the day of Pentecost in fulfillment of Matthew 16:18.”
Are all Christians
Pentecostals?
He said, “Devout men and women gathered in Jerusalem to observe the day of Pentecost. Technically those that were waiting to celebrate the religious festival would be more aptly described as Pentecostals and those awaiting the downpour of the Holy Spirit would be better described as the Charismatic. That is why many believers who attest to the full expression of the Holy Spirit and His unfettered manifestation prefer to be called Charismatic as opposed to Pentecostals.
“The revelation of the scriptures is Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill the law. However you choose to celebrate should be in honouring Him and in liberty as the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Apostle Tendai Masawi – Action Family International Ministries
God spoke to Moses during Israel’s wilderness journey and established seven major feasts, which are called ‘appointed times.’
Seasons were marked and celebrated each year, and were to be perpetual from generation to generation. (Leviticus 23: 1-2, NKJV)
The feast is an appointment time. It was not a time of eating. Rather it was a time of prayer and fasting. These feasts were also called a convocation (Leviticus 23: 3, 7, 8), which means a public meeting or a rehearsal. Being a rehearsal, it was intended to be a preview of something into the future.
Note that these feasts are supposed to be celebrated and remembered. If we take the set month on the Jewish calendar and give the equivalent month on our secular calendar, we can identify the set months in which the seven feasts – Passover, unleavened bread, first fruits, Pentecost, trumpets, atonement and tabernacles – are to be celebrated and remembered.
These feasts have a practical, spiritual, and prophetic application. The practical application is that they are centered on Israel’s seasons of harvest and rain. The spiritual application is clear. Pentecost was called the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34: 22), and was the celebration linked to the wheat harvest. It also commemorated God giving the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The emphasis of the Pentecost harvest is wheat, which is a perfect picture of the bread of God’s Word, and how that God provided heavenly bread (manna) for His people during their entire journey in the wilderness (and through our lives).
Not celebrating them, Pentecost included is a manifestation of ignorance and missing God’s prophetic time table. Too much of the Spirit without information makes the heads of Christians to blow up; and, too much information without the Spirit makes people to dry up; but a balance of the word and Spirit makes someone to grow up.
God is not obliged to do anything in our lives beyond opportunity. But, the greatest enemy of Christians is ignorance.
Pastor Joseph Prince
Televangelist Pastor Joseph Prince in his Pentecost message titled “ . . . For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,” says, “To the Jews, the feast of Pentecost is a celebration of the giving of God’s law. It takes places 50 days after the Passover feast. When God gives the Israelites the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai, it was 50 days after they had celebrated their first Passover and come out of slavery from Egypt.”
“But what happened after God gave them the law on the first Pentecost? Three thousand people died! (Exodus 32:28) Contrast this with another Pentecost in the New Testament. In the book of Acts it says that when Pentecost had fully come, God gave not the law but the Holy Spirit, and what happened? 3 000 people got saved (Acts 2:41), which goes to show that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
He continues, “If you want to be blessed, make sure that you are on the right mountain. You see, the law was given on Mount Sinai, but the Spirit on Mount Zion . . . Remain on the right mountain and He will continue to supply miracles in your life!”
Pastor Rod Parsley
Pastor Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church (USA) made a clarion call a few weeks ago saying, “God has appointed a time to meet you – and meet your most urgent needs – and that time is Pentecost Sunday! Pentecost means victory! This is why God commands His people to celebrate Pentecost! It is not an option. It’s one of the three “feasts” He orders.
In his May 12 devotional titled Pentecost Expectations, Pastor Rod says: “On the day of Pentecost, the prophecies of John the Baptist and the Prophet Joel were fulfilled. God poured out His Spirit on men. He baptised them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
“Pentecost marked the fulfilment of the mission of salvation. It marked the powerful transforming work of God within His people. It symbolised the spiritual birth of the Church and the enabling of her members. Today, God is doing the same thing. He desires to baptise His children with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He wants to replace our ineffectiveness with power and ability. Like the disciples, we need to believe God and expect to receive all that He has promised.
“Expect equipping, expect baptism, expect to be empowered, expect the fruits of the Spirit, expect to be holy, expect to be heard by God when you pray, expect to be taught by God, expect to be led, expect to have victory . . . and expect God to keep His word to you. Pentecost was about expectations that were fulfilled.” (Acts 2:16-18, John 3:8, Matthew 3:11).
