The HIS-story of Pentecost is familiar, and it should be. Pentecost changes everything. In a moment the entire order of humanity changed. Once beloved creatures now we become children of the loving Father. Because we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but to receive the Spirit of adoption. Pentecost is not the idea of God. Pentecost is not the idea of a piece of God. Pentecost is the real presence of the Living God, the hope of Glory in you. Pentecost changes everything about who you are. The Bible says that there was a new wind from heaven that filled the space. A violent wind that was set loose upon the earth with a fresh breath of hope and empowerment. Tongues of fire and flames begin to separate and rest on each person that was in the room. The church was born from the wind and fire of Pentecost. A change was manifested among the followers of Christ that were afraid and hiding wondering if their lives were going to be taken to a boldness declaring the wonderful works of the Lord.
Pentecost is the Greek word, transliterated for our English word 50 or 5, “PENTE”. Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks and one day after the Feast of the Passover. It is 40 days after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ while He was still here on Earth and 10 days after He ascended back to heaven. God sends down the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, where this gift indwells in the church corporately and indwells the Christian believer individually, drawing us into the life of the triune God.
Jesus Christ, who is the first fruit of the dead because of His Resurrection, prepared His disciples for what was going to happen. Jesus reassured them with a promise that God the Father, would send the Holy Spirit to be with them and within them. The greatest gift Christ could offer was not just the promise of spiritual gifts or spiritual fruit but the promise of the very person of the Spirit within them. This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost in (Acts chapter 2), when the Spirit publicly fell upon God’s people and supernaturally endowed the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. Every Christian believer has received God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. Can I get a witness this morning.
The New Testament records this radical shift. We don’t have to go to the temple in order to encounter His presence or stand in the sacred realm of the Spirit. We have become God’s holy dwelling place. I’m glad that this church is God’s holy temple. A place where we all come together on one accord. The Holy Spirit applies the benefits of salvation. When we repent of our sins and turn our life over to Jesus Christ. Just like Jesus gave his instructions to His disciples. He has given every Christian believer instructions to be His witness. The Holy Spirit that I am talking about did not come to make us tongue talkers. The Holy Spirit did not come to make us dancers. No, no the Holy Spirit come to make us roll on the floor. The Holy Spirit that was promised by Jesus and came to us a gift from God our Father, came to make us witnesses for Jesus, witnesses for the church that Jesus started. I want to point out four modes that will allow us to be His witness. Do I have a praying church this morning? Jesus demands us to be in
I. Participation Mode
II. Manifestation Mode
III. Observation Mode
IV. Proclamation Mode
My Bible tells me that while in the Upper Room, they were all one accord, in one place, all in agreement on the same subject, on the same belief and in one place. If you know anything about being in the high school band. The first thing you do is to get your instrument in tune. If band instructor plays Middle C. Then all the players would tune their instrument to Middle C. Every instrument would then tune their instruments to middle C, so one harmonious sound could be heard. That is a an example of being on one accord, or being in unity. When you practice in a choir, before you start singing, you warm up your voices by singing the scale. When you perform on in choir, every member is on one accord, harmonizing their voices, wearing the same outfit, why? Because no needs to stand out like a sore thumb. You should all be on one accord.
On Communion Sunday, Deacons should be in their black attire. Deaconess should be in their white attire, Trustees should be in their black suits, white shirts, and white ties. Greeters should be in their greeting attire and here PCOG clergy should be in their collar. Why? because we are all on one accord fellowship as the body of Christ. We must remember that we are a fellowship of believers and Acts chapter 2 and verse 1 states, that they were in one place, all together, or all with one accord and in verse 44, “all that believed were together, and had all things common.”. Yes, we are in uniform, but the Holy Spirit does not call us to uniformity. The Holy Spirit call us to be on one accord or in unity.
You may not like everybody you say hello too, the same way everybody doesn’t have the same education. Everybody doesn’t have the same financial status. Everybody doesn’t shop at the same grocery store. We don’t all sound alike or think alike. But praise God, we are all filled with the same Holy Spirit. We have one thing in common today, we are all here to give God glory. We are all here to give God praise. We are all here to magnify His name. We are here to tell God thank for waking me up this morning. Out of our diversity, we common together to give God praise.
If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, your spirit connects with my spirit. and we then work together in the body of Christ not in uniformity, but in unity. That’s one accord. Now in real life, it is very possible to be in the same house and not stand each other on any given day. There may be times when you tell your child to get out of my face. Because you are not on one accord at that moment. I may not agree with you on non-essentials. But when it comes to the fact that Jesus died one Friday. When it comes to fact to God made Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve. When it comes to the fact that divorce is only by unfaithfulness of the other person. When it comes to fact that Jesus rose early on Sunday morning and is now seated on the right hand of the Father, interceded on our behalf, we must agree. the third day and that He promised to send the Holy Spirit to indwell in us, we must be on one accord. We got to agree that Jesus is coming back again and every knee must bow and every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Being a Christian is not a spectator sport, we must PARTICAPATE and be His witness. All of us who participate in this thing called Christianity. If we all have the gift of the Holy Spirit, then we are on one accord, in one place, lifting up the name of Jesus.
If we are participating and being on one accord, then we are not criticizing each other. Wherever, there is discord, then that’s a sign that the Holy Spirit is not present. Because the Spirit of God does not dwell in mess.
Strife, confusion, mean-spirited attitudes is a spirit, but not the Holy Spirt. Bad attitudes is a spirit, but not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will allow you Facebook, will all you YouTube to participation in Unity, on one accord. The Holy Spirit requires participation. Secondly, the Holy Spirit requires;
Participation Mode
Manifestation Mode
Observation Mode
Proclamation Mode
Let me help you out here, verse 2 of the read text, states that “suddenly a sound like a violent wind came from heaven” The Christian believers who were in the Upper Room, they heard something and they saw something.
The Bible didn’t call it a thunderstorm. The Bible didn’t call it voodoo or magic. It was a tornado that crumbled the building they were in. The Bible didn’t say that the wind caused the people to fall into each other or fall to the ground. It was a violent wind, a sound that they had never heard before. And this wind stirred up a cloven fire, that looked like a tongue and this fire from heaven touched everybody that was there. That’s manifestation. That’s the power of God working the room, giving everybody His gift of the Holy Spirit. This fire touched all the Apostles who were there. This fire then touched to remaining of the 109, people who were in the room. All the men and all the women. Meaning that the Holy Spirit is for everybody. Grown People, children, male, females, black people, white people, Asians, Hispanic, Russians, Middle Easterners. Everybody who profess and believe that Jesus is their Savior. This manifestation of the Holy Spirit is for you. Jeremiah said, I’m done, I’m not preaching or teaching another word, but something happened to him. He said it was like fire. It was like fire. It was like fire, shut up in my bones. Have you been there before. Have you ever said, you wasn’t going to tell nobody, and what happened? You couldn’t keep it to yourself. When you know that you know, that you know, that God has been good to you. You can’t that yourself. When you know, that you know that God has opened doors for you. It should be like fire shut up in your bones, and you can’t keep it to yourself. That’s manifestation. I got to say something. I can’t keep the goodness of Jesus to myself. He made a way for me, when I didn’t know what to do. I can’t keep it to myself. He brough me out, when I thought all hope was gone. I can’t keep it to myself. Am I the only one that can say, it’s like fire shut up in my bones. And I can’t keep still. I can’t be quiet. I can’t keep still. I can’t hold my peace. I’m wearing God’s clothes. I’m driving God’s car. I’m wearing God’s shoes. I’m eating God’s food. It's like FIRE, SHUT UP IN MY BONES.
The Saints in the Upper Room made a noise and when the people outside of the church heard, they had to stop and wander what in the world was going on. People on the outside of every church, should be wondering about the sound they hear, because the Bible says, they spoke in their own language. Many nationalities were in the Upper Room in unity, on one accord. But when God touched their head with the manifestation, they all spoke in their own language. They didn’t speak gibberish. They spoke in their own language, that’s speaking in tongue. They did not speak in an unknown language. They did not babble. They spoke in a clear intelligent dialectical language. We move from Participation. We move from Manifestation to
Observation mode.
When you read the text and count the different nationalities, there are more than 14 different languages present on the day of Pentecost. The Scripture states that not all the people were Galileans. Somebody in the crowd says, “I know what happened, them people got hold of some “new wine”. That’s why they are talking like that. Not that old Maddog 2020. Not that old Boons Farm. I’m talking about the newness of the Spirit God falling on people afresh and making them act in a way that is new. Napa Valley didn’t fly in with a case of expensive wine. I’m talking about the new wine that will make you love your enemies. I’m talking about the new wine that will make you help your neighbor. I’m talking about that new wine that you make you pray for person who despitefully slander your good or bad name. You can’t put the freshness of the Holy Spirit, in a old wine cloth. Because one you are in Christ Jesus, you are a new creation. The old has passed away. What I’m trying to say, is that when you are in Christ Jesus, the people observing you should see the Jesus in you. The New you, God has placed boundaries around. And you have to say bye-bye to the old things you used to do. You may have to say bye-by to some of your friends that don’t mean you any good. There ought to be something noticeable about how you now give God praise. Participation, Manifestation, Observation and the final mode in being a witness for Jesus is
Proclamation Mode.
They were in the Upper Room witnessing to each other. But they couldn’t shout the way they wanted to. I could to take you to Acts chapter 2 and verse 14,
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 In the last days, God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
When Peter got through preaching, 3000 souls were added to the church. My final question to you, is this?
Is the same Holy Spirit that fell on them in the Upper Room. Is it the same Holy Spirit for you. Is this Spirit, That Spirit. And if it is this is that, then we should have a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place. Because we know it’s the Spirit of the Lord. We should want that Holy Spirit staying right here with us, filling us with His love. And for these blessings, we lift our hearts in praise. Without a doubt we know, that we have been revived, when shall leave this place.
