FUELING THE FIRE of PENTECOST !

COMING to Our DAY of PENTECOST

And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come,

they were all with one accord

in one place.

Acts 2:1

Oh, how we love this familiar verse ! 

We know from Chapter 1 of Acts that 120 Followers of JESUS gathered together in an Upper Room after The ASCENSION of The RISEN CHRIST JESUS, into  HEAVEN.

They were following the direct instructions from the RISEN LORD CHRIST to them. 

Acts 1:2

Until the day in which HE+ was taken up, after that HE+ through the HOLY SPIRIT had given commandments unto the Apostles whom HE+ had chosen:

 Acts 1:3

To whom also HE+ shewed Himself+   ALIVE   after His+ Passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of GOD:

Acts 1:4

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but  . . . “Wait for the Promise of THE FATHER, which,”  saith HE+, “ ye have heard of ME+.

Acts 1:5

“For John truly Baptized with water;

but ye shall be Baptized with the HOLY SPIRIT

not many days hence.”

+   +  +

How EXCITING this season MUST have been, those 10 days after the ASCENSION ! 

After watching The LORD JESUS be brutally crucified --- the ONE Whom+ they trusted had been their Messiah --- then His+ Followers SAW HIM+ RISEN AGAIN after His+ horrible death.

For 40 days and nights, HE+ remained with them  ALIVE  AFTER HIS+  brutal DEATH by the Roman butchers of men ! 

HE+ ate with His+ Followers ! 

HE+ talked with them ! 

HE+ comforted some and up-braided others for their unbelief ! 

This “dead” and “crucified” ONE+  showed them it was INDEED HIMSELF+ , with His+ wounds in His+ hands and His+ feet. 

They watched HIM+ in His+ Now-Glorified Body ascend into Heaven before their very eyes. 

Death had NO MORE DOMINION over HIM+  . . . and thus, NONE over His+ Followers.

They were WILD

with UN-CONQUERABLE JOY !

But WHAT were they told to do with that JOY . . . a JOY that was bursting at the seams to be proclaimed ?

These WILDLY, JOYOUS Followers of CHRIST were told to WAIT.

“WAIT! “

The RISEN LORD JESUS said,

“ WAIT until you be endued with POWER from on High.”

Luke 24:49

+  +  +

Their JOY and their belief were solid and UNCONQUERABLE once they were with their RISEN LORD JESUS CHRIST . . . but they needed something MORE.

They could not build the Church

--- were not ABLE TO DO SO --- 

until they were endued: enveloped, clothed ( Greek)

 with POWER FROM ON HIGH,

Their Risen SAVIOR+ told them.

+  +  +

They might have thought that they would burst apart with JOY at His+ Victory. Instead, they with GREAT JOY and GREAT FEELING turned to follow His+ instructions EXACTLY . 

Acts 2:1 reflects their excitement . . . if translated literally.  

The  KJV and most translations, state Acts 2:1 like this: 

And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. [ Note: There are 10 GREEN words in this verse.]

+  +  +

In contrast, the literal translation of the Byzantine Greek Text of Chapter 2, verse 1 of Acts, states these DYNAMIC WORDS.  

“ And in the To-Be-Fulfilled Day of the Pentecost,

they were being all samely-passioned

towards the same thing !”

[ See the literal analysis of the Greek grammar at the end of this article, with references.]

 

There are two parts to this word: homo-thumadon, which is the ADVERB form and means: samely-PASSIONED . 

Homo is apparent, meaning same. Thumo means passion (as if breathing hard): - fierceness, indignation, wrath. The “don” indicates the adverb form.

 Now, look at this verse closely:

And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come,

they were all with one accord in one place.

Acts 2:1

In the GREEK, the text  does NOT state that these GREATLY excited Followers of the RISEN LORD JESUS CHRIST  were  “in agreement of mind, of one accord,  or even in one place” ! 

Note this: All the words in GREEN  are NOT in the Greek text. [ Some are in the Latin Vulgate, however. ] 

“ And in the To-Be-Fulfilled Day of the Pentecost,

they were being all samely-passioned

towards the same thing !”

The SIGNIFICANCE of the Literal translation is that IT SHOWS US HOW to come into our own Day of Pentecost in this day and age. 

We MUST be vigorously impassioned that The RISEN CHRIST will answer our passionate desire to receive the Baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT. 

It is not simply an “agreement of the mind” amongst our fellow-believers, gathered “in one place”.  

These Very Impassioned first Followers of CHRIST JESUS had witnessed – nay, experienced --- His+ Resurrection over death, hell, and the grave and THEY WERE ON FIRE FOR CHRIST. 

And the HOLY SPIRIT met them with FIRE! 

That non-combustible fire that only leaves the ashes of Self , after it has burned through us with Holy Vigor.

No, the first Followers of JESUS had a zeal of the heart, not merely an agreement of the mind, like the translators would have us think. 

NO. 

 

THEY HAD A BREATHING-HARD PASSION

FOR CHRIST JESUS, THEIR RISEN LORD !

What is more, all 120 in that Upper Room had that SAME breathing-hard PASSION for CHRIST and His+ Kingdom. 

They were being “samely-impassioned” --- exactly as the Greek states --- and impassioned about the SAME thing: their RISEN and UN-CONQUERABLE LORD AND SAVIOR+ JESUS CHRIST !

For Christians who are HUNGRY for the deeper touch of The LORD JESUS in their lives, Acts 2:1 literally translated from the Greek Byzantine Text  will show them HOW TO OBTAIN the BAPTISM of the HOLY SPIRIT which HE+ promised:

It comes when we seek HIM+

with great and sincere passion,

disregarding all else,

desiring ONLY HIM+.

It is UNFORTUNATE that we have all learned this verse DIRECTLY as it is found in the Latin Vulgate , instead of the Greek Byzantine text.

The Latin text sanitized and “academic-ized” the true message of that Scripture, enfeebling and debilitating it.  

[ See the analysis at the end of the article for the Latin.]

Thus . . . the Latin and subsequent English translation of Acts 2:1 hide the PRE-REQUISITE, the requirement, which modern-day Followers of JESUS need to have to enter into their own DAY of PENTECOST’S Baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT and Fire.

That MAGNIFICENT and WONDROUS

BAPTISM of The HOLY SPIRIT is open and available

to every hungry soul in CHRIST. . . to every Christian inflamed with passion for CHRIST JESUS and His+ Kingdom !

And . . . without the Baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT, we are greatly weakening our out-reach in any ministry we attempt. 

We all, each and every one of us, need the POWER available to us  . . .  just as it was on the Day of PENTECOST.  

GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS of the Byzantine Greek Text of Acts 2:1

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,

they were all with one accord in one place.

Act 2:1

Καὶ ἐν τῷ  συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς ἦσαν ἅπαντες ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. 

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 

Acts 2:1, KJV and other English versions. 

ANALYSIS of the GREEK

Note: E = long A, as in “ay”; O = long O, as in “oh”

Καὶ = kai = and

ἐν = en = in, dative

τῷ =  tO (long “O” = oh ) = the, dative, masc and neuter, singular

 συμπληροῦσθαι = sumpLErousathai = verb, infinitive, present, passive, dative= to-be-fulfilled

 

= tEn = the, accusative fem, singular

= hEmeran = day, noun, accusative, fem, singular ( direct object )

τῆς = tEs = of the, genitive , fem, singular

πεντηκοστῆς = pentEkostEs = Pentecost = noun, genitive, fem, singular

ἦσαν = Esan = were being , (an unfinished state of being, starting in the past but continuing on unfinished ) = verb, indicative , imperfect, active, 3^rd person, plural = “they”

Now, note this: “were being” = This verb form is IMPERFECT, not just a simple “past” tense. 

Thus, it is better to indicate in the English translation the on-going, unfinished state of the subject instead of simply stating “were”  . . . which could be read as a past, completed state.

= ἅπαντες = hapantEs = all, everybody = adjective or pronominal, nominative, masc, plural

 = ὁμοθυμαδὸν = homothumadov = samely-passioned, ( or,  similar in passion, similarly passioned, with the same passion, etc.) = ADVERB.

This is a compounded word, made up of two parts:   = homo = same, and θυμός = thumos = Strong’s 2372 = From G2380; passion (as if breathing hard): - fierceness, indignation, wrath.

This word is difficult to express in familiar or recognizable English idiom as an adverb.

ἐπὶ = epi = towards ( preposition used with the accusative here, Strong’s #1909 )

For, on, toward ( “ With the accusative-  #5: figuratively, in relation to feelings that are directed toward a person or thing: ( believe) on, Acts 9:42, or (hope) for , 1 Peter 1:13. *) *ἐπὶ, pg. 162,  section III, #5. Timothy and Barbara Friberg’s Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI 2000,

 τὸ = to = the, accusative, neuter, singular

 αὐτό = auto = same thing  ( the same – with the article – i.e,  same thing, same one) = adjective or pronominal, accusative , neuter, singular [ See αὐτός, page 87, section III,  Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament - Coded to Strong’s Numbers, Joseph H. Thayer, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, MA, Fourth Edition [ T & T Clark, Edinburgh , 1896 ]; sixth printing, October 2003.

The literal translation of the GREEK text, then, states:

“ And in the To-Be-Fulfilled Day of the Pentecost, they were being all samely-passioned  towards the same thing !”

The Latin Vulgate states, Acts 2:1: 

Et cum complerentur dies Pentecostes erant omnes partier in eodem loco. 

Translated: And when the Day of Pentecost would be fulfilled, they were all in like manner in the same place.

Does this sound similar to the KJV and other versions of Acts 2:1 ?

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Both the Latin and the English, which are very , very similar,  are a great deal different from the literal Byzantine text: 

“ And in the To-Be-Fulfilled Day of the Pentecost, they were being all samely-passioned  towards the same thing !”

That Byzantine Greek text , if translated precisely, will show us how to access the HOLY SPIRIT and FIRE of GOD.