It's Pentecost

It’s Pentecost

Jesus is prophesying to His disciples in the book of Luke 24:46-49, and Jesus said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

When Jesus Christ told his disciples to wait on the power from on high, little did they know, it would show up on Earth with Wind and Fire.

I don’t believe they realized that it would ignite something that would not only begin in Jerusalem, but would for centuries engulf the planet.

Now I do want to say this before I go any further, God does not make you a promise that He won’t keep.

Jesus told them that the promise of the Holy Ghost was coming and it would be a comforter.

He also said His spirit would lead and guide us into all truth.

Now, if God promised something to you, can mark it down it's going to come to pass.

The question is not in regard to God’s promise the question is in regards to your ability to wait.

Are you willing to wait?

Now, the entrance of the Holy Ghost to begin the church age is expressed in the first four verses of Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2:1-4 “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.”

Pentecost is the 50th day after Passover.

Pentecost was the time in Israel's history when they celebrated and recognized the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses.

God would use that time on the Jewish calendar 50 days from remembering God's Deliverance of Israel from Egypt through the Passover to the giving of his law.

The church was born on the day of Pentecost.

It was on the day of Pentecost that the Church that would expand across the world with Jesus Christ expressing his presence through the spirit in his people individually as well as collectively.

As the church was being birthed we're told that they had gathered together in one place.

We were told that suddenly out of nowhere there came a sudden rush of wind so powerful that the whole city became aware of it.

It so much brought attention that even those who had gathered together for this occasion or who had stayed over from Pentecost, became aware that something was happening at this house.

Now you can have fire without wind, you can have wind without fire, but if wind catches a hold of fire you gotta run away blaze that's hard to contain and control.

You don't want fire with wind because it will create something you can’t contain.

The Holy Ghost came like a violent rushing wind accompanied by fiery tongues and it filled the whole house where the 120 were sitting.

Then they all began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave the utterance.

The whole city became aware of the unmistakable reality of God’s presence among his people.

Now the beginning of the church was not tied to a particular building or an elaborate program.

It wasn't tied to Super personalities because most of these disciples had been living in fear.

It wasn't tied to having bookstores, TV programs, liver-streams, or radio broadcasts.

It wasn't tied to the ability to put on a show or entertainment.

What caught the attention of God's people in a house and what caught the attention of the people who were on outside of the house was this Supernatural invasion of the Holy Ghost.

Sadly, 2,000 years later some churches have unfortunately replaced the move of God’s spirit with sophisticated 21st century Christianity.

Too often, we celebrate our facilities more than a move of the Holy Ghost.

Too often, we celebrate human personalities more than a move of Holy Ghost.

Too often, we celebrate notoriety more than a move of the Holy Ghost.

Too often, we celebrate and replaced a move of the Holy Ghost with entertainment.

We wonder why the church is not on fire, its because we focus more on everything else besides a move of the Holy Ghost

The world will never pay attention to the church until it is on fire with a move of the power of God.

That was what happened on that day.

When it came, it happened because they were in unity.

That unity brought wind and fire, something they could hear, feel, see and smell; then they begin to speak.

When God’s spirit begin to fill the upper room, the 120 begin to speak in other tongues as the spirit of God gave the utterance.

People on the outside begin to hear the word of God spoken in their own languages.

As they heard what was happening in the Upper Room, they begin to get curious about what is happening and begin to ask, what do we need to do to be saved.

That was when Peter begin to preach the Apostolic message to them in Acts 2:38-39 , he told them to receive salvation they would need to “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

The birth of the church happened on the day of Pentecost and salvation entered into the world through the Spirit of God.

Then it begin to spread like wildfire.

Acts 2:41-47 “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

They didn’t completely understand what was happening but they knew what they felt!

In that moment, they didn’t think of possessing the gift; they let that gift possess them.

The fire was exactly as advertised. It proved to be a COMFORTER, an ENCOURAGER, an EXHORTER, a TEACHER.

Peter was able to give the first sermon, and 3,000 people responded to accept Jesus.

What a sermon.

The only way Peter could accomplish this, was through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Peter probably did not understand it.

I doubt that any of them did.

The folks who heard him didn’t, especially when they heard the message of the disciples in the languages of their own homelands.

That kind of power is beyond human comprehension.

But, understand it or not, the power . . . the fire . . . the Holy Spirit . . . was there that day, and the fire is still here today in God’s church.

It is still the Lord's birthday gift to the church.

Unfortunately, we often treat it as we would one of the horrible ties, smelly perfumes or ugly pictures.

We don’t know what to do with it, and, quite honestly, we seem to live as if we would just as soon not have it.

I suspect we’re afraid of it.

It’s almost as if someone had given us a caged beast.

We’d be terrified at what would happen if somehow that cage opened.

We read the account of what happened to those early disciples at Pentecost; we see what a tremendous effect the coming of the Spirit had on them.

What an unbelievable difference was made in their lives.

Somehow we know that if the Spirit came to us in that way, if the fire would take hold of US like it did them, things would never be the same.

Is it possible that sometimes that scares us?

Maybe we are afraid that if we step into the power of God, he may want to use us to do something greater?

On the other side of the coin, there’s still that natural fascination we have with fire, with POWER.

We think, “Wow, what great things could happen in us and through us if we would open ourselves to the Spirit like Peter and the rest did!

What a witness we would have!

What a church we would have!”

And it’s true - we would be given such power that life would never be the same again.

Do we want that kind of power here?

Or are we afraid of it?

Do we want the fire of Pentecost to burn in Bristol?

Or are we worried that it might ask us to do more than we want to give and disrupt our comfortable lives?

Would we be willing to give our time?

Would be willing to speak His Word, even if others didn’t like it?

Would we be willing to risk our lives and livelihoods?

Would we be willing to give more financially?

Lots of questions which very well may change us .

Too often, we can live our lives in a weak state devoid of the Spirit’s power.

If you are a born again believer, the Spirit of God lives within you.

You should be the evidence to the world, that the Spirit is alive and well.

We should be experiencing the spirit of God each and every day of our lives.

Not only that, the Bible says in Galatians 5:16-26 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

How do we live by the Spirit?

How do we keep in step with the spirit?

Well we do that the same way the disciples did.

First, they had a personal relationship with Jesus.

They believed, even though it didn’t always make sense, they had faith in Jesus.

They trusted Him and followed Him and worshiped Him.

They learned commitment and obedience.

When Jesus called for them to FOLLOW HIM, they did.

They gave up their lives to follow Jesus.

Second, they lived with a sense of expectancy.

Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and WAIT, without doubt one of the most difficult commands He ever called them to obey.

Not many of us like to wait. We’re not patient.

We want to know how long will I have to wait.

Jesus didn’t tell them how long they would have to wait, He just said wait here and you’ll receive the Holy Spirit.

They obeyed, and they waited; they waited with a sense of real anticipation.

They prayed . . . not just for a moment or two; they prayed and hung out together.

It was the start of church fellowship.

It was church community in action.

They did this for 10 solid days.

Then suddenly, it happened . . . the Lord's first birthday gift to the church . . . the all-powerful Spirit of the living God came upon them.

We can have it too.

I want us to be Biblical ‘fire - starters’.

People who call on the God’s spirit to move, to those who already have the Spirit of God dwelling within you I want to remind you of somethings God said about his spirit.

Ezekiel 36:27 “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

2 Timothy 1:14 “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Do you hear that?

The Spirit of God . . . the same Spirit who filled Peter and James and John, Doubting Thomas, and Paul.

The same Spirit promised to us by Jesus - - - - - is the same Spirit who is filling us today.

The Holy Spirit is kind of mysterious, we don’t fully understand everything about it.

John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

There are things we cannot see, things we cannot explain, things that don’t work off of logic can really bother us.

Yet, that does not have to be the case with he Holy Spirit.

Look at the Spirit as a gift from God to you and I.

It’s a gift that’s supernaturally placed within each of us when we proclaim that Jesus is really the Christ, that He IS the Son of God, God manifested in the flesh, our Messiah.

When we proclaim this from our heart, God mysteriously sends the Holy Spirit to come into our heart, soul, mind and entire bodies.

The Spirit helps us make the right decisions, the Spirit helps us to pray, He encourages us, comforts us, and leads us.

The Spirit of God is nothing to fear, in fact it is something to crave and seek.

Once we have the Spirit, do we hide it within ourselves, afraid others may look at us a little differently; or do we say, “THANK YOU . . . GOD!!”

I will tell you what I think, I think we should show the world Jesus in the way we live.

The Holy Spirit can be quenched, it can be put out, we can be like firefighters, and put out the fire, or we can be the kind of people who help keep the fire lit.

The same Spirit that changed chaos into creation, turned the Red Sea into a highway of freedom and brought salvation from the “yes” of a young, Jewish virgin.

The same Spirit that invades body and soul, and makes us more than we ever imagined we could be.

The same Spirit that disturbs . . . delivers, and lifts up.

The same Spirit that makes the old feel young and brings life from death.

The same Spirit that touches our lives today touched the lives of the disciples and the world was never the same.

The same Spirit that ushers us to eternity in Christ . . . is the same Spirit who dwelt in the prophets and disciples and you and I.

Are we church that is on fire for Christ?

Or are we firefighters -- dousing the flames, making sure that, whoosh, this doesn't get out of hand?

Will we treat the Spirit as a gift we would just as soon do without?

Will we simply be fascinated by the Spirit as we watch others set on fire?

Or will we pray, “Lord, give US that fire.”

That is MY prayer for Soul’s Harbor Church - Bristol and I hope it is yours.

I want us to be a church like Jesus talked about in Mark 16:15-20 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.”

This is Jesus prophesying what was going to happen when his spirit would now the with them but in them!

Before Pentecost the spirit of God was with man, after Pentecost it enters into man!

Jesus said, the comforter which is the Holy Ghost will come, and when you are filled with His spirit, it will become your knowledge and wisdom and that spirit will lead you and guide you into all truth.

You will become spirit led and that dunimas power will give you the ability to fulfill your God given purpose.

That purpose is found once again 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.”

It's time for us to act like we have been filled with the Holy Ghost.

We prove we are filled with the spirit of God by speaking right!

That was what happened in Acts chapter 2 when Peter and the other 11 disciples became the testimony of being filled with the Holy Ghost.

We prove we are filled with the spirit of God by our hands when we lay hands on someone and pray for them!

Acts 5 Peter and the other disciples did that very thing and healings and miracles occurred.

We prove we are filled with the spirit of God by living a life that is pleasing to God.

The disciples lived such a life that in Acts 4 the people knew they had been with Jesus.

It’s time we become the witness we have been called to be!