One of the most remarkable sermons ever recorded was preached by the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost. The feast of Pentecost was the harvest festival of the Jews. It was an occasion on which the people were "exhorted to rejoice before Jehovah with their families, their servants, the Levite within their gates, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow." They brought a free-will offering to God, and sacrifice was offered on the altar.
The word Pentecost comes from the Greek word meaning "fiftieth," and significance has been found in the fact that the law was given from Sinai on the fiftieth day after the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. Just as the revelation of God to Moses on Sinai marked the birth of the Jewish nation, so this Pentecostal experience marked the commencement of the Christian church. On the eventful day recorded in the second chapter of Acts the spirit of inspiration animated those Jews who had assembled at Jerusalem from all parts of the world to keep the feast: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. . . . And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
In its spiritual meaning the Bible is applicable to every age. Through the teachings of Christian Science we learn to translate the inspired Word into terms of present-day significance. In this light Pentecost is no longer a commemorative feast, but a spiritual experience. In order to understand the spiritual meaning of the Bible a Christian Scientist naturally turns to the writings of Mary Baker Eddy to elucidate the Bible texts. In this case perhaps he seeks more light on the meaning of the Holy Ghost, which, when poured out abundantly, enabled the people of many nations to understand one another.
