Life of God

A Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog. Ever mindful of the congregation, they knew the dog must also be a Baptist. They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them she had just the dog they wanted.  📷

The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. “Fetch the Bible,” she commanded. The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner. “Now find Psalm 23,” she commanded. The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing dexterity with his paws, leafed through and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw. The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog.

That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses. The visitors were very impressed! . One man asked, “Can he do regular dog tricks, too?” “I haven’t tried yet,” the pastor replied. He pointed his finger at the dog. “HEEL!” the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor’s forehead and began to howl. The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, “Good Lord! He’s Pentecostal!”

Pentecost

Acts 2:1–24 (ESV)

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams;

even on my male servants and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

And I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

the sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

So the day of Pentecost, was the feast of the first fruits. It was when God had told Israel to bring their first fruits in it was 50 days after Passover

Leviticus 23:9–11 (ESV)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

This was a celebration of the Harvest to come and Gods provision

We are the continued harvest from this, Jesus first fruits, 120 devoted followers including 11 disciples, His mother, brothers and others

This festival would have PACKED Jerusalem Luke points to this in Acts 2:5-6 “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.”

People would have traveled from all over the known world with their first fruit offerings

Its no coincidence but it is the completion of what God had already started

This was the Church having the breath of God put inside

Birth is messy, but its not until the baby takes its first breath that it has the ability to influence the world around it

The church was born though the Cross, and resurrection, but this was the first breath, this was life in its fulness, this was the crossover moment from the previous world to a new world.

In Gen 2:7 “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

As in Genesis God fills the lungs of the Man, In Acts God fills mankind with His spirit.

There are also similarities to the moment God truly sets Israel apart by Giving Moses the 10 commandments On the Mount Sinai

Exo 19:16-20 “On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.”

WHy is this important? well because we need to understand that God doesn't stop doing things,

what he does do is he ADDs to the things he has already started

The Bible is a record of God slowly revealing Himself to us so we can understand who He is, and then draw into a closer relationship with Him.

So He starts by demonstrating His Power His Spirit, to individuals

Then He starts to use induviduals to demonstrate His Power and Love

Then He plants His presence in the very midst of the nation,

Then He comes in person, to show the way

Then He fills His believers, who go out and bring more people in to be filled with Holy spirit power

Pentecost Sunday will be celebrated across the world, but as a Pentecostals we are supposed to be living in a Pentecostal experience. Yet I wonder how many of us are living in that experience.

There are some that teach the Gifts of the Spirit ceased when the apostles ended

But we believe that there is no biblical grounds for that, we have to be careful not to base our doctrine on our experience, but on Gods word.

If I based my whole life on just my own experience i wouldn't bee standing here today

There was a time that I couldn't speak, walk, cook. drive, swim

A-lot of accidents happen because of a “Its always been fine” type attitude

Over the century's there have been many fresh out pouring of Gods Holy spirit

In the late 1800’s and early 1900”s there was a revival characterised by the manifestation of the holy spirit. A couple of bullet points

1904 saw the welsh revival sweep and change a nation (Evan Roberts) - 1 year that changed nations

9th April 1906 at Azuza Street when During a prayer meeting of 8 men, one of which was William J Seymor.

This lead to a fresh out pouring that changed the world

There are many stories about what happened at Azuza St, Here is a brief record

“On Azusa Street, in the downtown industrial district, an old abandoned, two-story, frame building was rented to house the meetings. The name Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission was painted on the side of it and people from many different backgrounds and varying cultures came together to seek and experience God. Participants came to the Mission at just about any hour of the day or night and heard messages on sin, salvation, holiness and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The sounds of prayer and worship coming from inside the Mission carried out into the streets and everyone was talking about the Azusa Revival. The revival produced a seemingly unending stream of testimonies of changed lives. The newspapers also ran stories on the revival. Other unusual phenomena accompanied the meetings. Eyewitnesses on the street reported seeing a glow emanating from the building and heard sounds that were similar to explosions coming out of it. On more than one occasion, the fire department came to the mission building because fire was seen rising from it. However, upon arrival, it was found that there was no natural fire.”

William J Seymour was an African-American holiness preacher, he taught about the baptism of the Holy spirit and speaking in tongues. What is interesting is he hadn't yet spoken in tongues. On that day (9th April 1906) 7 of the men spoke in tongues William had to wait 3 more days

1915 Elim Pentecostal Church was founded by George Jeffreys

Next year sees the Centenary of the AOG in the UK was formed (1924)

Why am I sharing this?

Well because if Men like Evan Roberts and William J Seymour had accepted that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit were for another time, we would life in a very different world.

The Holy Spirit IS for Today

He’s not just someone we pray to, but he is the one who gives us power and connects us to the God Head

The Church should see the Holy spirit moving in the same way as the NT Church did. Paul tells us that the gifts are there for us all. Why did Paul need to tell the Church to use restraint in their services?

Because everyone was wanting to use their gift. What a wonderful problem to have.

I would love to have to say in a Sunday Service stop praying, no more words in tongues, thats enough prophesy this morning etc

My prayer is why not now lord? Pour our your spirit today in my life, in my family, in the church

So from the biblical text what do we know about the out pouring of the holy spirit?

We know that the 120 were gathered together in unity? That means that there was more than being in the same place at the same time.

They were there for the same purpose.....

to see what God would do.....

This morning I wonder why we come to church, is it to feel better? is it a reboot? is it to see friends? is because its Sunday?

None of those reasons are wrong, but what would happen if we turned up expecting God to do something?

If we came, already prayed up, praised up, and positioned to share what God was doing, sayin etc?

As a pentecostal Church we believe in (and teach) separability and subsequence, basically meaning that we believe that the baptism is a second blessing and NOT the same as being born again. That you can experience the regenerative power of the spirit, where the Holy spirit removes our “Old nature” and implants a “New nature” resulting in the born again experience.

The baptism in the Spirit is when the Holy spirit falls on you to empower and equip us. Now it is possible to experience these at the same time or at least in the same moment, but they are separate, and if we go through the book of acts we see this question “did you receive the holy spirit?”

This morning we are going to pray for each other, I want us to pray that God will fill us with his spirit that we will be baptised in his power. If you have been baptised in the Holy spirit we want a fresh in filling, “Be being filled” that present ongoing tense

If you have not experienced the power of God in this tangible way, Paul tells us to seek the Gifts, then as we pray ask God to fill you with his holy Spirit.

Remember Jesus said in Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

Thank you that I’ve been born of the Spirit, sealed by the Spirit and am in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit.

This morning I am asking for a fresh work of the Spirit in my life

Lord would you come with a fresh stirring and filling of your Holy Spirit.

Fill me with your power, the same power that raised Jesus him from the dead,

Fill me with your power, your grace your spirit.

Holy spirit come, consume me, fill me over fill me,

Pour your love, your grace your power,

so that I can be your representative on earth.

now start to speak out HIS praise, in tongues if you can, just praise him