Video Illustration: The Bible the Day of Pentecost.
Series: AD
Sermon 3: What was that? Who was that?
Subject: Pentecost: The outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Thesis: Pentecost was the fulfillment of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit on a bunch of ordinary people so that they could change the world.
Scripture Text:
Acts 2:1-4: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Introduction:
Pentecost Sunday comes 50 days after Easter Sunday, hence its name. The Greek word for 50 is Pentecost. The beginning of Pentecost is recorded in Acts 2:1-2. The disciples of Jesus were gathering and praying together on this day when the Holy Spirit filled them and birthed the modern Church age: "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting." Jesus sent the disciples and us the Holy Spirit and He is still relevant for today.
Quote: Michele Vu From Christian Post explains Pentecost this way: When the Holy Spirit descended some 2,000 years ago, one of Jesus' disciples, Peter, explained the event to a perplexed crowd by invoking Prophet Joel's words: "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon 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 upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." While words such as "prophecy" and "visions" may scare some people off or evoke bad memories for others, Skinner explained that this is not about seeing into the future, but rather seeing God as active or visible in the world now that Jesus has gone and the Spirit has arrived. Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/51096/#xG2zgPgqjEjI5oUA.99
The Holy Spirit came on these men and women to show that God is real and that He is engaging the people who follow Him.
Thoughts from George Wood and Ad series:
“Although this week in the A.D. series you will see the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has always been working. From the beginning, Scripture says, “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). In the Old Testament, we frequently read about the actions of the Holy Spirit. He would come upon people, such as judges, kings, and prophets.
In the New Testament, the Spirit of God conceived Jesus in the womb of Mary (Luke 1:35), descended upon Him bodily as a dove at His baptism (Luke 3:22), anointed His preaching ministry (Luke 4:16), and gave Him supernatural power to perform signs and wonders (Matthew 12:28).
And then after His resurrection, Jesus promised His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Jesus kept His promise on the Day of Pentecost, when God poured out the Holy Spirit upon the believers gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-4). The impact of the arrival of the Holy Spirit was so powerful that, as you will see in this week’s episode, it galvanized Peter and gave him and the other disciples the courage to preach openly (Acts 2:14)—resulting in a great revival (Acts 2:47) and a great missions movement that took the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome (Acts 28:14) and, over the centuries, from Rome to us.”
Yes, you and I are linked all the way back to this special day. The reason we a re here to worship was because of this great spirit empowered moment. It birthed the church and set in motion our salvation.
T.S. - The Holy Spirit’s outpouring in our Bible text today helped empower the disciples of Jesus to change the world! Do you think they changed the world? Did these disciples of Jesus by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit change the world? Do you think they did? The answer is a big - Yes! So what does Pentecost mean for us today? It seems like an old fashioned word but it comes with great meaning and life changing history?
I. What should the word Pentecost mean to us?
a. Pentecost is both a historic and contemporary event. Historically, it first occurred on the Day of Pentecost with some 120 persons being baptized in the Holy Spirit. They were believers in Christ before being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Today, Pentecost occurs again and again with believers who are open to receive it. History, thereby, becomes a living reality!
i. Whenever someone gets filled with the Holy Spirit Pentecost happens again. Remember same Spirit that filled them has filled you if you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
b. The Day the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples was a Jewish Holiday called Shavout.
i. It was 50 days after Passover weekend – remember Passover was celebrated with Jesus and His disciples and it’s were Jesus introduced Communion to His followers. The practice of remembering His great sacrifice for us.
ii. Passover was celebrated by the Jewish people to remember the day God delivered them out of the bondage of Egypt and on that day many sacrifices were made by the people for the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus tied Passover with deliverance from the bondage of sin to remembering His sacrifice and believing on Him for our salvation. After Jesus died and raised from the dead he visited his disciples locked up in a room in fear and proved he had raised from the dead. He also breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit.
iii. The Holy Spirit came 50 days after Passover as the disciples had gathered as instructed by Jesus waiting for Him to come but He came on another Jewish holiday which honored the day Moses gave the people of Israel in the desert the Torah – the law – the 10 Commandments. During this feast the people would bring not animal sacrifices in the case of Passover but grain offerings to the Lord. It established a relationship with God the father and established how to connect with Him through sacrifices and obedience to his law.
iv. This is the Day Jesus said would come – He had to go to the Father so the Holy Spirit would come and he came on this Jewish festival signifying that there is a new way to connect to God the Father- through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The way to honor God and Jesus was by allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in them personally. No longer would the Spirit of God dwell in a temple but now He would come live inside the heart and soul of a person. They became the living temple of God.
v. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost birthed the Church age and ushered in the beginning of a new last day move of the Spirit of God which would bring in a great harvest for the Kingdom of Heaven.
vi. According to the Bible we live in the last days - which means we are right at the moment in history which is right before Jesus return - He will come in all of His glory aninseam with evil. From Bible terminology this is the era we currently live in.
1. Last days are spoken of as tough times and good times.
a. It says in the last days good will be called evil,and evil will be called good.
b. People will gather teachers around them who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear.
c. They will reject Gods truth for lies.
d. People will be deceived and they will believe in God but not in His power.
e. Their will be much idolatry and immorality in the last days.
f. Their will be wars and rumors of wars.
g. Their will be a great falling away in the followers of God.
h. The list could go on but you get the picture - Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit just for these times.
i. To empower us to be his light in the midst of darkness.
2. Jim Cymbala’s quote from “Storm:” about our last days:
a. WARNING NO. 1 – WE’RE NOT AS BIG AS WE THINK: A quick Google search will reveal some surprising statistics about Christians in America. For example, one website says that 246,780,000 people (79.5 percent of the population) in the United States are Christians. That’s a huge percentage of Americans who claim to be followers of Christ! But is it true or a bogus number? If nearly 80 percent of the population were Christian, wouldn’t we see the effects of that in culture? Let me ask the question in a different way. Are eight out of ten people in your school, office, or community Bible-believing, churchgoing followers of Jesus?
b. He adds, " That’s not the case in Brooklyn, where I live and work. My guess is that’s not the case where you live either. In the book The Great Evangelical Recession, author John S. Dickerson takes a closer look at these often exaggerated statistics and the data behind them and finds that the numbers don’t add up. He points out that the vast majority of those claiming to be “Christian” rarely attend any church, nor do they trust in Christ alone for their salvation, nor do they value God’s Word as the only rule for faith and practice. You’ve run into this before, right? You’re in a conversation with someone who said they were a “Christian,” but as the conversation moves deeper, you find their thinking plainly non-Christian. They don’t value the Bible as God’s Word. Or they maintain that there are multiple ways to receive salvation and Jesus is just one of those. What they describe is so different from what you know the Bible teaches, it is hard to imagine how they could call themselves believers in Jesus.
c. He also states, "To get an accurate count of Bible-believing Christians in America, Dickerson looked at four studies by four different researchers who had four different motivations and used four different methodologies to calculate the number. Their unanimous conclusion was that “the actual number of evangelical Christians is shockingly between 7 to 8.9 percent of the United States population, not 40 percent and certainly not 70 percent.” That’s right, only 7 to 8.9 percent of America. The truth is that the number of real believers in Jesus is in a massive decline, and that decline is happening much more rapidly than we have thought.
d. While many boast of America being a “Christian nation,” Dickerson’s researchers say it’s fewer than one out of ten. And it gets worse. He predicts that within thirty years, the number of evangelical Christians will drop to one in every twenty-five Americans! These numbers are a clear warning that the lights are going out.
i. Cymbala, Jim (2014-10-07). Storm: Hearing Jesus for the Times We Live In (p. 10-11). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
e. In 2012 the Barna Group found that 46 percent of churchgoers said “their life had not changed at all as a result of churchgoing.” On top of that, “three out of five church attenders (61 percent) said they could not remember a significant new insight gained by attending church services.” What is even more bothersome is that “one-third of those who have attended a church in the past have never felt God’s presence while in a congregational setting” .Think of it: More than half of churchgoers don’t remember even one significant new insight gained by going to God’s house! Something strange is going on here. It is obvious the overwhelming majority of our ministries are not producing much fruit in the form of converted, changed lives. And people are not experiencing God in our churches. This would have been unthinkable in the early days of the Christian church as described in the New Testament. This is a critical warning sign that something is terribly wrong.
i. Cymbala, Jim (2014-10-07). Storm: Hearing Jesus for the Times We Live In (p. 12). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
f. Cymbala, "Our problem is not with a godless, secular America, but with a church that is increasingly prayerless, compromised, demoralized, and weak. We have drifted away from the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit."
i. Cymbala, Jim (2014-10-07). Storm: Hearing Jesus for the Times We Live In (p. 28). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
c. Pentecost – which is about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 50 days after Easter means that the power to change our world lives in me if I am born again and Spirit filled.
i. The same Holy Spirit that used Peter to preach to the crowd that day is the same Spirit that has filled me.
ii. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in side of me.
iii. The same Holy Spirit that used Peter to heal the crippled man in Acts 3 is the same Holy Spirit living in me.
iv. Question: If I have the same Holy Spirit then I too if willing to follow His direction and promptings can change the world too.
1. Do you believe this?
T.S. – So the question arises are you really willing to allow the Holy Spirit to use you to change the world?
Video Illustration: Jesus and Peter?
Quote: "God never intended that any living thing He created should just be born, live and die." Chris Adsit
II. The Holy Spirit was sent – to empower us to change this world – to snatch people from evil to the good – to help the hopelessness have hope – to bring the message of Good News to those enveloped in Bad news.
a. But the key here to see and understand is that times will get hard in this era we live in but God has not abandoned us instead He has sent us the Holy Spirit who will:
i. He will testify to who Jesus is, was and will be.
ii. He will convict people of their sin.
iii. He will comfort the disciples of Jesus in the time of trial and tribulation.
iv. He will lead people away from deception and into truth.
v. He will empower the follower of Jesus to be a testimony in a dark world filled with evil and darkness.
vi. He will gift the messengers of God with words from God to bring truth to light.
vii. He direct and call people for specific tasks within the Kingdom of Heaven.
viii. He will impart His gifts into people to be used to build up the Kingdom of Heaven.
ix. He will do miracles through Jesus disciples to point to Jesus so people will believe.
x. He will help Jesus disciples renew their mind with right thinking.
xi. He will impart God’s wisdom into certain life situations for people who ask.
xii. He will give us a gift called tongues so we can pray in the Spirit when we don’t know what to pray for.
xiii. He will guide people in their lives.
xiv. He will orchestrate providential meetings with others.
xv. He will open your eyes to see into the spiritual realm.
xvi. He will speak to you about what to do and when to do it.
b. I want you to see something today – we must understand Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on a specific day in history to send a message to the Jewish people and the rest of the world.
i. He is intentional in His plan to save the world through Him.
ii. He is communicating a divine clear message that just as when the Torah was given to Israel to show them how to serve God, to worship God, to connect with God, to obey God that a new way has come and He is called the Holy Spirit.
iii. No longer will worship and connection to God be done through a temple building –but it will be done personally physically, spiritually through living temples – you and I.
iv. No longer will the Spirit of God be disconnected from the populace He will dwell within the disciples of Jesus.
v. This presence will empower them to change the world with their lives for the Kingdom of Heaven.
vi. This new era of the Holy Spirit was to be embraced and looked on with gladness just like the celebrating during this time of the grain harvest. Why, because with the coming of the Holy Spirit there would come a worldwide harvest for the Kingdom and they – those who believed and received the Holy Spirit would be used to bring it in.
vii. They would come to know that nothing is impossible with God – His Spirit is sent into this world to save it and do the impossible to show people Jesus – The Holy Spirit was sent to snatch people out of the power of darkness. This Holy Spirit would take fearful men and women and turn them into mighty warriors for the Kingdom of Heaven. This Holy Spirit would be filling – baptizing both young and old – male and female – slave and free. This Holy Spirit would as Jesus said “Change the world!”
viii. If the Holy Spirit changed the world in the past can He not do it again with you?
1. Jesus Christ demonstrated the principle several times, not the least when He gave us the Great Commission: "... teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matthew 28:20).
2. Chris Adsit stated, "In other words, Jesus told His disciples to teach their disciples everything He first taught them. And look what happened: "Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied" (Acts 6:7, New King James Version). In only a few years, they had "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6, NKJV). Take notice: This was without the benefit of radio, TV, the printing press or the Internet. Instead, the responsibility was borne by each individual."
a. http://www.cru.org/train-and-grow/evangelism/one-person-change-the-world.html
3. Just look back over church history and you see people filled with the Spirit of God who changed the world:
a. See Christian History's top 100.
c. So what changed on the Day of Pentecost?
i. Illustration: The Difference of the Aswan High Dam by John Piper, from: http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/how-believers-experienced-the-spirit-before-pentecost
1. Now let me suggest an analogy to illustrate the experience of the Spirit before and after Pentecost. Picture a huge dam for hydroelectric power under construction, like the Aswan High Dam on the Nile, 375 feet high and 11,000 feet across. Egypt's President Nasser announced the plan for construction in 1953. The dam was completed in 1970 and in 1971 there was a grand dedication ceremony and the 12 turbines with their ten billion kilowatt-hour capacity were unleashed with enough power to light every city in Egypt. During the long period of construction the Nile River wasn't completely stopped. Even as the reservoir was filling, part of the river was allowed to flow past. The country folk downstream depended on it. They drank it, they washed in it, it watered their crops and turned their mill-wheels. They sailed on it in the moonlight and wrote songs about it. It was their life. But on the day when the reservoir poured through the turbines a power was unleashed that spread far beyond the few folk down river and brought possibilities they had only dreamed of.
2. Well, Pentecost is like the dedicatory opening of the Aswan High Dam. Before Pentecost the river of God's Spirit blessed the people of Israel and was their very life. But after Pentecost the power of the Spirit spread out to light the whole world. None of the benefits enjoyed in the pre-Pentecostal days were taken away. But ten billion kilowatts were added to enable the church to take the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ to every tongue and tribe and nation.
3. This has taken place and some say the world could be reached in less than 5 years - thats amazing! Once again something that happens in the last days.
T.S. - Last week many of you presented your questions and doubts to the Lord. This was one of the questions. I have thru this week been praying for God to respond to you but this question I could explain this way.
III. Question: What is the difference between the Holy Spirit breathed in John 20:22 and the Holy Spirit manifested in Acts 2:4?
a. He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit." -John 20:22
i. The question is, why did Jesus say this? There are two perspectives.
1. The "breathing" was to illustrate the giving of Spiritual life, and would be familiar imagery from their knowledge of Genesis 2:7.
a. So Jesus breathed the Spirit into them but for it to manifest would come on His prescribed day.
2. Jesus blew on them to illustrate to His disciples that He and the Spirit were one, and that the Spirit would come forth from Him. He then commanded them in advance to "Receive the Holy Spirit" because it was almost time for Him to go to the Father and for the Spirit to come, and He wouldn't be with them to explain it when it happened.
a. Note that the Greek word for Spirit (πνεῦμα) is the same Greek word for wind, and for breath.
b. The above from: http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/241/is-jesus-giving-the-spirit-in-john-2022
T.S. – Do you want to be a person who helps to change this world for the good? Then make room for the Holy Spirit in your heart and life. Allow Him to use you!
IV. We need to give the Holy Spirit room today.
a. GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT ROOM by George Wood!
i. In his article “Five Faces of Pentecost,” Dean Merrill, an award-winning author, shares about his visit to an immigrant church in Amsterdam, Holland. It was a dynamic service, and even though he couldn’t understand the language spoken, the Spirit’s presence was very strong. He kept looking at a banner across the front of the sanctuary where the choir sat. It read, “Geef de Heilige Geest ruimte.” He finally turned to a young man next to him and said, “Do you read Dutch?” “Some,” he replied. “What does the sign say?” Dean asked, pointing to the stage. He gave the translation: “Give the Holy Spirit room. ”And I thought, That’s right. That’s what we need to do in our personal lives. That’s what we need to do in our families. That’s what we need to do in the body of Christ, in our church services, in our prayer meetings. It can’t just be scripted. It can’t just be a schedule. It can’t just be, “Well, we’re doing this out of routine and habit.” There has to be an openness, a sense that we’re making room for the Spirit.
ii. The Spirit who hovered over the chaos and breathed into it the creation, the Spirit through whom Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary, The Spirit through whom we are born again; this creative, dynamic Spirit wants to be birthed into time and space in our lives today.
iii. The Spirit who was poured out on the disciples on the Day of Pentecost wants to be poured out on your life today. For that to happen, we must give the Holy Spirit room.
1. Above point from Sermon 3 from episode 3: AD - Outreach Resources sermon: “The Work of the Holy Spirit” By George O. Wood
Conclusion:
What do we need to know from this message?
We with the help of the Holy Spirit can change this world we live in. Just like Peter, John, Thomas and the other disciples did in their world. Acts shows us how they changed the world and our church is a result of what they did for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Why do we need to know this?
Because many of us think there is no hope for our society today. Some of you think that! But there is hope and a power that lives within us that can change this world which is heading toward disaster and chaos.
What do we need to do?
We need to believe that the Holy Spirit can use us and then let Him use us and lead us. This means I have to know His voice and yield to His voice.
Why do we need to do this?
If we do allow the Holy Spirit to fill us we can change this world we live in and give a future for our kids and grandkids! We can see our nation come back to God and His word. We can see our nation and families being blessed by God and not being destroyed by sin and selfishness.
