A. The Historical Application To the Church as a Whole The Early Rain Came in A.D. 31 at Pentecost
In obedience to Christ's command, they [the disciples] waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father—the outpouring of the Spirit. They did not wait in idleness. The record says that they were “continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.” (Luke 24:53)....
As the disciples waited for the fulfillment of the promise, they humbled their hearts in true repentance and confessed their unbelief.... The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men and in their daily intercourse to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ. Putting away all differences, all desire for the supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship.—The Acts of the Apostles, 35-37 (1911).
It was after the disciples had come into perfect unity, when they were no longer striving for the highest place, that the Spirit was poured out.—Testimonies for the Church 8:20 (1904).
The outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles was the beginning of the early, or former, rain, and glorious was the result. To the end of time the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church.—The Acts of the Apostles, 54, 55 (1911).
Consequences of the Early Rain at Pentecost
Under the influence of the Spirit, words of penitence and confession mingled with songs of praise for sins forgiven.... Thousands were converted in a day....
The Holy Spirit ... enabled them to speak with fluency languages with which they had heretofore been unacquainted.... The Holy Spirit did for them that which they could not have accomplished for themselves in a lifetime.—The Acts of the Apostles, 38-40 (1911).
Their hearts were surcharged with a benevolence so full, so deep, so far-reaching, that it impelled them to go to the ends of the earth, testifying to the power of Christ.—The Acts of the Apostles, 46 (1911).
What was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? The glad tidings of a risen Saviour were carried to the uttermost parts of the inhabited world.... The church beheld converts flocking to her from all directions. Backsliders were reconverted.... The ambition of the believers was to reveal the likeness of Christ's character and to labor for the enlargement of His kingdom.—The Acts of the Apostles, 48 (1911).
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