Pentecost

Equipped by The Holy Spirit

Today we celebrate Pentecost. This is a very important day for believers. This is the day that God poured out Holy Spirit on His people. In the Hebrew Bible, Pentecost was celebrated fifty days or seven weeks after passover. It was an annual one day harvest festival that included extensive sacrifices to God. It is no accident that this would be the day that Holy Spirit was poured out on His people.

For the believer in Christ, there is no sacrifice or work we can perform to out-give what God has given us. The ultimate and final sacrifice occured on Good Friday, when the unblemished Lamb of God took my place and your place on the cross.

At the Pentecost following Jesus resurrection, the Holy Spirit ushered in the New Church Age, it was the beginning of the Christian church. We are not going to focus on the events that occured at Pentecost this morning, instead we are going to revisit what Jesus said regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit, right before Pentecost. The importance of what Jesus said can not be overstated. In Acts, Luke records Jesus saying this to the disciples.

Acts 1:4 NLT

4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.

This occured toward the end of the forty days Jesus was with us after his resurrection. Do you see this! Being born to us, given to us, and dying for you and me was not enough for Jesus. He never stops giving! He came back to continue teaching, instructing, to love us, and to fulfill his promises. The gift the Father promised was the pouring out of and the indwelling of Holy Spirit. Joel prophesied it, John the Baptist spoke of it, John the Apostle wrote about it, and Jesus promised it.

I love this! Look what Jesus says right here: “Do not leave Jerusalem until you receive Holy Spirit.” Jesus knew their hearts and minds just like he knows our hearts and minds. Something will happen and we will get something in our head “I have a great idea,” “here is what I am going to do,” and “bam” that is what we end up doing! Those knee-jerk reactions do not usually turn out well. WE MUST PRACTICE WAITING UPON THE SPIRIT. Too often we will allow our pride, our hurts, our successes, our egos, and our feelings to direct our behaviors and steps instead of waiting and allowing God to direct us. That spiritual fruit of patience is for our benefit. We can’t do this alone brothers and sisters! We need the power of the Spirit in our lives.

Jesus is saying something else here as well. Let me ask you something -Where is your Jerusalem? Your Jerusalem is your home. Your Jerusalem is your family, your friends, those near you. If we are unable to live Godly lives led by the Spirit in our homes, what makes us think we can be a witness outside of our homes, outside of our Jerusalem? It begins wherever we may be calling home. I simply can not treat my family like garbage and claim to be Spirit led outside of my personal Jerusalem.

I have witnessed the Holy Spirit work through God’s people, many of you are here today. Has anybody else witnessed Holy Spirit working through His people? It is awesome and it is amazing to behold the very Spirit of God at work through His people. We have witnessed miracles, physical healing, emotional healing, relationships healed and made stronger, the lost restored, souls saved. All through the power of the Spirit of God. We must be careful. There are those who try to use the name of Holy Spirit to fulfill their own desires.

They will say things like - “I am being led by the Spirit” or “The Holy Spirit told me to do this.” Their actions and words are anything but Spirit led. I can’t make this stuff up. I have had people try to convince me that God led them to - lash out in anger, to treat others as less than, to hurt others, to refuse to forgive, to cause division, and even as a way of justifying sin. These are NOT characteristics of the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, these are opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. They are certainly not character traits of Jesus Christ. If you are looking to grieve the Spirit of God, blame Him for your un-Godly behaviors.

There are three questions we can ask ourselves to help us determine if it is the Holy Spirit directing us or our fleshly desires directing us.

Is What I am doing...

aligning with the Word of God?

reflecting Jesus Christ?

glorifying God?

If our words and behaviors do not meet at least these three criteria, I have news for you; it may be a spirit, but it is not the Holy Spirit directing you.

The same thing that Jesus told the disciples applies to us today. We must wait in prayer, center ourselves, and focus on God to receive instruction from Holy Spirit. When we do, we will gain more awareness and consciousness of the Spirit’s power and presence. We will gain more knowledge of the Spirit; how He lives and how he works through the believers heart and mind. We will experience more of the fruit of the Spirit allowing us to minister and to witness to others effectively unto the glory of Christ.

Jesus Christ was promised by God in the Old Testament. That promise was fulfilled. The Holy Spirit was the great promise of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. That promise, the Holy Spirit, is alive and accessible to every believer today.

Just before he ascended, Jesus Christ said this:

Acts 1:8 NLT

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The word “power” in the Greek is dunamis, and it means:

dunamis - (miraculous) power, might, strength, ability.

This is not worldly power to gain position, recognition, fame, wealth, or politics.The Holy Spirit is not concerned with what kind of car you drive, what kind of house you live in, how big or small your bank account is, or any other worldly issues. The Holy Spirit is concerned with what you are doing for those who do not know Jesus Christ, for those who are suffering, for the lost, for the widow, and for the orphan.

We are talking about the power of God in our lives. A miraculous power that gives us the strength and ability to overcome in the name of Jesus, to heal, to serve, to prophesy, to encourage, to show mercy, wisdom, to lead, the power of prayer. The very same power that brought Jesus out of the grave.

It’s funny, modern psychology has just recently come to the realization that people are inherently negative. We focus on the bad, we focus on the trauma, we focus on the pain, we focus on the hurts. WE ALL DO IT AT TIMES! We forget that we worship a mighty God who through Christ, has given us His very Spirit! He promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and he hasn’t! He has given us His very Spirit! You may feel distant at times, but He has not gone anywhere.

Scripture tells us that “it is not by man’s force or man’s strength, but by the power of the LORD’s Spirit.” That very same dunamis power that the prophets experienced, that the apostles experienced, and that Jesus had is available to all who submit to Holy Spirit. That is what Jesus is telling us in the first part of this verse.

Acts 1:8 NLT

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When Jesus says “you will receive dunamis power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,” he is using the future tense. He promises the Spirit, but we must be open and prepared to receive the power of the Spirit. Jesus is saying that we are either quickened by the Spirit or that we quench the Spirit. We have to submit ourselves in obedience to the Spirit or we reject the Spirit. Some people will quench the Spirit based on their feelings. Although our feelings may be valid at times, to base the works of Holy Spirit on our feelings is absurd and not even biblical.

Jesus tells us that the Spirit is like the wind, we do not decide what Holy Spirit does. We do not dictate the gifts or the movement of the Spirit, Holy Spirit directs us, equips us, and empowers us for one reason - To fulfill the great commission, to share the Gospel message, the Good News of Jesus Christ. Anything else, is about us and our ego, or as Pastor Paul has said, Edging God Out.

I remember listening to Billy Graham talking about one of the great revivals he had attended. People were testifying, praising, worshipping God, many had come to Christ. It was a Spirit led and Spirit filled event. This one guy got up to speak and he made it all about himself. Billy said you could sense the Holy Spirit depart. We are witnesses for Christ, not ourselves.

Look at what Jesus says right here; “You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere.” He connects the power of Holy Spirit with being a witness for Him. It is impossible to have one without the other. Has anybody here ever been to court? When you are on the witness stand in court, the judge is not concerned with your ideas or opinions. The judge wants to hear what you know. A witness testifies about an event or a person in truth. It is not about ideologies, it is not about differing theologies, it is about bearing witness to the truth about God and Christ.

It is about your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many of us have a B.C. or a before Christ part of our lives. Some of us do not remember a time when we did not walk with the LORD. Either way, it is your story of Jesus and you. It becomes part of Jesus’ story. To be a witness for Christ means that you know Christ, you walk with Christ, and you know the truth. Nobody can change that. Nobody can take that away from you. Your life becomes a testimony unto the power of Christ.

Alter Call / Worship Team

Jesus delivered us from sin, death, and hell. God gave us the indwelling of Holy Spirit. No matter what mountains we face, or what giants may come, the Power of the Spirit will equip us and strengthen us to be victorious to His glory. Are you willing to open yourself up to receive the dunamis power of Holy Spirit this morning? Jesus Christ promises that very power through a personal relationship with him. Are you willing to bring it to the cross and ask that He guide you, correct you, and empower you for His glory? Are you willing to leave it at the cross? He tells us: Knock and the door shall be answered. Ask, and you shall receive. God bless you.