PENTECOST 2021
Act 19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
Act 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
The concept of being baptised in the Holy Spirit has caused divisions in churches. Some believe it - some don’t. Some people believe they are baptised in the Holy Spirit - and are not! How do we know they are not? There is no evidence of something extra. There is no evidence in their lives that they are walking in the power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But that can change and we shall see that the God of all flesh wants to touch our lives, wants to change our lives, wants to baptise us with the Holy Spirit. So I would like to ask Have you been baptized in the Holy Ghost since you believed?
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of 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:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
We are saying “Yes, Lord! Your Word says it is time to pour out Your Spirit. Not just anointings - we want a pouring out! A flood, a tsunami of your Spirit. I want to hear my sons and daughters prophesying. I want to dream dreams. And our young men, Lord – set them alight, let them see visions, signs and wonders. Lord, in the heaven and the earth. Blood, fire and vapour of smoke.”
When the Indonesian revival began, they heard a rushing wind, but nothing was being blown around. The tongues of fire appeared and the church started smoking and flames appeared outside the church. They called the fire brigade, but it was Holy Ghost fire and the church was not burning. It was Pentecost again and in Indonesia, revival had begun!
We say “Yes Lord! Set us alight with the fire of the Holy Ghost. Come be the fire inside of me!”
PLAY VIDEO: The day of Pentecost-you tube
Many Christians believe that they receive the baptism when they are born again. This can happen – God can do what He wants, but usually it is a separate issue. Let’s look at some facts. The Apostles walked with Jesus for about 3 years. They were anointed to cast out demons and heal the sick.
Luk 9:1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
Luk 9:2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
In fact He anointed 70 others as well.
Luk 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
And they healed the sick and drove out demons. But they were not baptised in the Holy Spirit. They saw incredible miracles. Jesus walked on water, rebuked storms, cast out demons. They had visions – the transfiguration – they saw great and mighty things, in fact they did great and mighty things, but they were not baptised in the Holy Spirit.
They even received the Holy Spirit within.
John 20:22
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
But listen to this – they were not yet baptised in the Holy Spirit How many of you are born again, blood washed, children of God, yet you are not baptised in the Holy Spirit?
Just before Jesus left the earth, He says:
Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
And
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:…
I am thinking “what does Jesus mean – you shall receive power?” Looks to me that they already had power! Power to heal the sick, to drive out demons – they already had power. The word “power” there is taken from the Greek dunamis – where we get our word “dynamite” from. So Jesus is saying “Hey guys. You will receive dynamite power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you.”
So there’s something else – dynamite power from God. To do what? What is it for? And the next line tells us:
Acts 1:8(b)
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
“….. you shall be witnesses.” It’s to witness with power. After the baptism …..
Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Peter the fisherman preaches, but this time he preaches with power - he blows the people away. He is rough, uneducated - a fisherman. But after he is baptised he preaches with power and 3,000 souls get saved! That’s power, that’s dynamite.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is for winning the lost, it’s for being a witness. It is power/dunamis to reach the unsaved: “…and you shall be witnesses…”
Jesus gets baptised with the Holy Spirit.
Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
He is led up in the wilderness to be tried and tempted. But when He is finished, He goes straight to the synagogue, takes out the Word and reads:
Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Luk 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Jesus has been baptised with the Holy Spirit and He says: “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to PREACH the gospel.” To who? To the poor. The first commission of the Holy Spirit is to preach the gospel - and who was first in line? The poor. When we first started to witness in the streets to the poor, some people said “we can’t just witness to the poor, our whole church is going to be filled with needy and poor people.” I just want to say to them – that’s a church Jesus would go to - a church filled with poor people. Dynamite power - first to preach to the poor.
Psa 41:1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Psa 41:2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
Psa 41:3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
The same Scripture says: “He has sent me to heal the broken hearted.” Power to heal shattered lives. How many of you know there are so many broken hearted?
To proclaim liberty to the captives – those terrorised by demons, those in bondage. God will give you dunamis power to help them out, break the chains that bind. Recovery of sight to the blind – in the flesh and in the spirit, those who cannot see physically – we should pray for them. Those who cannot see spiritually - we have dunamis to help them. To set at liberty those who are oppressed – depression, oppression, suppression. Dynamite power to set them free. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. To preach the good news to people, to preach with power to a lost world that:
2Co 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
2Co 5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
The time is now to get right with God. Now is the time of forgiveness, now is the time to be set free.
So Jesus finishes what He is saying, an:
Luk 4:20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
Luk 4:21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
It is for today, not tomorrow. Today this Scripture is fulfilled. When you are baptised in the Holy Spirit, you too can say:
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
So how do we know if we have been baptised in the Holy Spirit. Well, there will be tell-tale signs.
Act 19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
Act 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
Act 19:3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Act 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
Act 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Act 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
There will be the evidence of speaking in tongues when you receive the baptism.
I also want to emphasise that just because you can speak in tongues, it does not necessarily mean that you have the fullness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit!
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover
People spoke in tongues in the name of Jesus. In fact there are many so-called Christian groups claiming that they can speak in tongues without the baptism.
No, friend. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is for service, for witnessing, for preaching, for winning the lost. When I was born again I was a terrible witness. I used to argue and get nowhere, this led to confrontations and when I couldn’t win the argument I would try and win the physical fight. This did not lead anyone to Christ. I had a bad reputation and a gang leaders number 2 once said to me, you build a fence one day and break it down the next, this should not be. One day I learnt about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and I know I needed this, so one day I trusted the Lord to Baptize me with The Holy Spirit. I accepted the Baptism by faith as there was no one to lay hands on me. I spoke in tongues by faith. Nothing happened immediately, but a couple of days later I was speaking to some gangsters and as I spoke I felt rivers of Living water running out of my belly and the men I spoke to were stunned, I was stunned- what had happened? From that day forward I could speak and win men to Christ and its still the same today- Dunamis Power.
The signs of the baptism being evident in your life
Acts 1:8(a)
But ye shall receive power,after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you
Receive dunamis/get power, gifts of the Holy Spirit, your witnessing changes, people’s lives change. Now there is power.
Acts 1:8(b)
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
We witness when we are baptised. We can’t stop witnessing/ We start here and end there. First Jerusalem and then the ends of the earth. It starts a fire in our hearts. In burns in us an unquenchable flame. We become bold when we are baptised.
Act 4:29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
Act 4:30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
There comes a holy boldness when we are baptised - like never before we can now witness – in the work place, in the office, wherever.
Years ago I heard the story of a Christian top gun pilot on the radio in my car. He told us that one day he was on duty at an aerodrome near a mountainous region. They got a distress call from a Cessna pilot who had lost his instruments and was in thick clouds and could not find the airport. He was terrified. The aerodrome asked him if he would go and help the pilot. So he said: I jumped into my latest fighter jet and took off, switched on my radar and quickly found the Cessna, he said: I pulled up next to him and established radio contact and told him to follow me to the runway. The top gun pilot said I switched on my lights and landed with the Cessna behind me. When we landed the Cessna pilot ran up to me crying and so relieved that he hugged me.
The top gun pilot said, that what we should be like as Christians, a state of the art fighter jet with all the latest weapons and equipment that God can deploy us into any situation to find and win the lost and we will bring them safely home to Christ.
So, the question is “does the Lord want to baptise us?” And is this really for us now in 2021 , Well, let’s see.
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
It is for all – even as many as are afar off.
And the Lord tells us:
Luk 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luk 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
GIVE CHALLENGE!
