Day of Pentecost
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Special Announcement
Special Announcement
It is looking more and more likely that our first service back together will be Sunday May 17th!
Over the next two weeks we will be sharing with you some of the safety measure we will be taking as we prepare to reopen our doors.
Introduction
Introduction
(Video introduction)
Today we are concluding the narrative in scripture starting with Jesus’ Triumphal Entry through the crucifixion followed by the resurrection and then the Great Commission. The next thing that we come to is The Day of Pentecost. This marked the end of one era and the beginning of another. This end is what began the New Testament church era. This age that we are currently living in will conclude with the Rapture of the Church. Today we will focus our attention on the importance of the Day of Pentecost as well as the significance to us today.
Pentecost Defined:
Pentecost is significant in both the Old and New Testaments. “Pentecost” is actually the Greek name for a festival known in the Old Testament as the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:9). The Greek word means “fifty” and refers to the fifty days that have elapsed since the wave offering of Passover. The day of Pentecost was an annual feast celebrated on “the day after the seventh Sabbath” after Passover (Leviticus 23:15–16). It was a celebration of the firstfruits of the grain harvest that were presented as offerings to God (Leviticus 23:17).
People often say: “I’m Pentecostal!” but do they actually know what this means? Often times is connected to an experience of an event where they encountered the supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Although this is a part of the experience as a whole, it certainly does not define who we are. There must be a greater understanding of what the coming of Pentecost means to the church. Or else, this will continue to be the response of many:
J.D. Greear (President of the Southern Baptist Conv)
“Some seem obsessed, relating to him in strange, mystical ways. Their experiences with the Spirit always seem to coincide with an emotionally ecstatic moment created by the swell of music in a worship service or a weird confluence of events … Other Christians neglect his ministry altogether. They believe in the Holy Spirit, but they relate to him the same way I relate to my pituitary gland: I’m really grateful it’s in there; I know it’s essential for something; I would never want to lose it . . . but I don’t really interact with it. For these Christians, the Holy Spirit is not a moving, dynamic person. He’s more of a theory.”
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
In this message not only to do I hope to communicate to you the importance still of Pentecost, but what exactly brings the full experience of Pentecost to our lives and our church.
Togetherness
Togetherness
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Perhaps the greatest example of this idea of togetherness can be found later in Acts 2:
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
koinonia means close association and deep relationships. More than just coming together for a worship service … Doing Life Together.
After Peter and John were arrested for preaching the gospel they returned to “their own people:”
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
This continued to be the pattern of the NT for many years to come. In fact some 30 years later some believers were strongly rebuked by the writer of Hebrews for not “being together.”
25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
This idea of “Togetherness” is more than just meeting together, rather it speaks to unity as well.
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
“One accord” means “one in mind.”
The believers sensed that God was going to do something big!
This speaks to the importance of unity!
Empowerment
Empowerment
“Living a truly Christian life isn’t difficult — it’s impossible. We need help. God knows that because He made us and understands us. He created us with certain innate abilities. But He also designed us to need Him. We were designed to be dependent.” Randy Hurst
(As Advancement director for AGWM, Randy Hurst is the director of AG World Relief and special World Missions projects.)
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Wind - this is very significant in scripture. It brought the power of God’s presence and plan.
In the Exodus account it was the east wind that brought the plaque of locusts:
13 So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts;
Isaiah prophesied about the last days of Christ’s 1,000 year reign:
15 The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
“Wind” or “breath of God” also brought life:
7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Ezekiel prophesied concerning the breath (wind) of God moving over the valley of dry bones (Israel) bringing spiritual life back to them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
Scriptural references to the power of wind always brought the understanding that it was UNDER GOD’S CONTROL!
And then there is the fire. Fire often associated in the OT with the presence of God:
2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Fire also brought holiness:
2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Pentecost brought both God’s presence and power which produces holiness in his people!
What Jesus promised in Luke 24
49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
And Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost!
A.W. Tozer some 50 years ago: “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the NT church (in Acts), 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”
SO HERE IS THE QUESTION… Which 95% would you want your church to be? Mostly natural or mostly supernatural? A humanly energized group of people or a Spirit filled and empowered Church?
Closing
Closing
Today and everyday can be your Day of Pentecost
Extra Material:
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." - Harry S. Truman
Speaking to a large audience, D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, "How can I get the air out of this glass?" One man shouted, "Suck it out with a pump!" Moody replied, "That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass." After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. "There," he said, "all the air is now removed." He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by "sucking out a sin here and there," but by being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1. The Disciples Are Filled with the Holy Spirit (1–4a)
What this passage tells us about the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit is promised to us.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit is worth waiting for.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit comes as He wills, often not according to our expectation.
• The gift of the Holy Spirit can come upon not only individuals, but also upon groups (see also Acts 2:4, 4:31, 10:44).
• The gift of the Holy Spirit is often given as God deals with the flesh and there is a dying to self.