The Cross Is the Gate That Opened the Way to Pentecost

In the preceding four weeks we have carefully analysed the teaching of the New Testament concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Our analysis has included the following topics: the nature of the experience; the outward evidence by which it is attested; how it differs from the gift of “kinds of tongues”; the place of emotional and physical reactions.

This leads to a practical question: What conditions must be met before a person can be baptised in the Holy Spirit? There are two possible ways to approach this question. The first is from the viewpoint of God, the giver of the gift; the second is from the viewpoint of man, the receiver. In this chapter we shall approach the question from the first viewpoint – that of God Himself. In the next week we shall approach it from the human viewpoint.

The question which now confronts us is awesome in its implications. On what basis can a holy and omnipotent God offer to members of a fallen, sin-cursed race the gift of His own Spirit to indwell their physical bodies? What provision could God make to bridge the measureless gulf separating man from Himself?

The answer is supplied by a plan of redemption which was conceived in the Godhead before time began. Central to the outworking of this whole plan was the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, which was followed first by His victorious resurrection and then by His triumphant ascension. Ten days later He poured out the Holy Spirit on His waiting disciples. Viewed in this light, the cross is the gate that opened the way to Pentecost.