THE PROMISE OF PENTECOST
Part 1 of 2
Acts 2:1-4; 12-18; 37-39.
Last Sun. on the Religious Calendar was Pentecost Sunday!!! What in the world is Pentecost???
The word “ Pentecost” designates the 50th day after Passover, which was a Feast Day. Also known as the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Harvest.
It was on this day, in the Book of Acts, that the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 Followers of Christ who were gathered in an Upper Room in Jerusalem. It was on this day that the Church was born in a Blaze of Glory.
Some Time ago I read this statement from the pen of Dr. Jerry Vines (FBC Jacksonville, former Pres. SBC) and I have never forgotten it. It said that The Average Christian And The Average Church are Somewhere Bogged Down Between Calvary and Pentecost. They have been to Calvary for Pardon, but they Have Not Been to Pentecost For Power. Bethlehem means God With Us. Calvary means God For Us. But Pentecost means God In Us. Dr Vines said, Those statements transformed my understanding of the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. I believe that the average Christian is much like the Ephesians believers when the Apostle Paul came to them in Acts 19:2 and said to them - Did You Receive The Holy Spirit When You Believed? They Replied that they didn’t even know that there was a Holy Spirit. Many Christians do not understand the role of the Holy Spirit and they have not appropriated the power of the Holy Spirit in their own personal life.
J. B. Phillips, who gave us the familiar paraphrase of the New Testament, wrote something like this a few years ago. He said that churches today are Fat and Out Of Breath Through Prosperity. They are muscle-bound through over-organization. What We Need Today Is Again The Wind And The Flame Of Pentecost.
I think all of us would agree that this is true. We need to Recapture The Power, which was Experienced in such a mighty way when the church met together in the upper room, and the day of Pentecost Occurred.
Some else said, This Is The Day Of “Pentecost Substitutes.” Lacking the real power and fire from God we try to produce our own fire works. We are like auxiliary power supplies, battery operated so when the real power goes out we can switch on our own power supply and manufacture our own. We are living in the day of program, propaganda, pep and promotions, and all of these things trying to duplicate what God, the Holy Spirit did on the day of Pentecost when the fire fell and the wind blew. These are the days of Pentecostal substitutes. We create a storm of our own wind. We whip our own flames and our own fire, but we lack the reality and the warmth of the real thing. This is an indictment against modern day churchianity.
My heart is hungry to experience the power of Pentecost, the Spirit of God in fullness of manifestation.
I like what Vance Havner said some time ago. He said the average one of us is so afraid of getting out on a limb we never even bother to climb up a tree.
That’s pretty true, isn’t it. Through the years We’ve Seen Abuse And Misuse Of Spiritual Gifts And God’s Power. We Are So Afraid Of The Excesses. We are so Afraid of those who go to Extremes. We Must Not Allow Them To Scare Us Away From The Real!!! We cannot afford to throw the Baby out with the Bathwater.
I Want ALL God has for the Church and Christians today!!!
So, I want to talk for a little while about Pentecost, Not a Denomination. Not Pentecostalism, Not a holiness church or a belief. But the Special Promise of the Father.
One Baptist Preacher said, “Pentecost is not a Denomination, but is an Experience every Blood – Bought Child of God Should Receive.”
We are privileged to live in a generation when God is Again pouring out His Spirit in a Mighty Way.
The Rain of the Holy Spirit is falling on the Dry, Religious Ground of our day to give Sweet Refreshing to Weary-Hearted Christians and Also to prepare the Precious Fruit of the Earth for Harvest.
Harvest is at the Heart of Pentecost.
I The Promise of Pentecost. In Peter’s sermon Acts 2:38-39 NIV Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The Promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call."
In effect he said this Outpouring of the Spirit is not a Special Blessing for a Special Few in a Special Age. IT IS FOR ALL who have Truly Repented And Believed the Gospel. It is for all who have Found Remission Of Sins in the Blood of the Lamb.
The Real Question is Not whether as a Christian you Have A Right to the Gift of the Holy Spirit, but whether you have Claimed that Right and Availed yourself of this Glorious Promise??? Have you been Filled with the Holy Spirit?
Many of us have allowed the Devil and Religious Tradition to Rob us of the Power of God. Religious Tradition says the Gift of the Holy Spirit was for the Apostles, just to get the Church started, or, just for the Early Church, to help them win pagans and heathen to Christ.
LOOK, There’s More Lost People, Pagans And Heathen, in the world today than there ever was. We need the power of God today as much as ever!!!
Peter said the promise is unto you –to all who were hearing his voice, and to your children, the Next generation, and to all that are afar off – that’s throughout the ages, even unto the 21st Century – to you and to me. Even for all whom the Lord shall call – that means For All Who Get Saved And Follow Christ. The promise of the Holy Spirit is for All People Who Receive The Call to Repentance.
Since God is still calling men to unto Salvation, THE PROMISE IS GOOD NOW!!!
Dr. John R. Rice, the famous fundamentalist Baptist preacher, said, “There is an experience after Salvation, called the Baptism with the Holy Ghost. All Saved people do have the Holy Spirit. When someone is saved, the Holy Spirit puts him into the Body of Christ. But besides that, Christians ought to be filled with the Holy Spirit and special Soul-Winning Power. Saved people are not always filled with the Holy Spirit, They Ought to Be, and Can Be, but many are not.“
At Baylor University, A Seminary professor said to ministerial students, “There is an experience subsequent to salvation, called the Baptism with the Holy Ghost, which is an enduement with power from on high…Don’t you dare go out & preach without it!”
Dr. R.A. Torrey, famous Bible Teacher, protégée of DL Moody, pastored the large Moody Bible Church and led the Bible College in Chicago, said, “The Baptism in the Holy Spirit (the Filling of the Spirit – not the work of the Holy Spirit at conversion to place us into the Body of Christ) is for every Child of God in every Age of the Church’s history. If it is not ours, it is because we have not taken what God has provided for us.”
II What was the Promise? -- It was The Pouring Out of the Holy Spirit upon all Flesh, both Men and Women. On the Day of Pentecost, the crowd was amazed because of the miracle of Tongues. They said, What is going on?
Peter answered, Acts 2:16-18 NIV 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. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
III Who made the Promise? -- God the Father made the Promise. Acts 2:33 NIV Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. Acts 1:4 NIV On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about.
Luke 24:49 NKJV 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
This experience with the Holy Spirit is not some Intangible Mystical Experience that Automatically Happens. Some people just assume they have it, or they say a little prayer and then take it for granted that they are filled with the Spirit.
In Luke 11:13 Jesus said How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them who ASK Him.
Dr. R.A. Torrey said, “The infilling of the Holy Spirit is a Definite And Distinct Experience. A Christian will know whether he has received the Spirit or not. Jesus Commanded His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. If this were not a definite and distinct experience, the disciples would not know whether they had complied with Christ’s command.”
IV The Promise Fulfilled. Ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven He sent the Blessed Promise of the Father and the Faithful Ones who had obeyed and waited in the Upper Room were Filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter’s Sermon Declared, “This is it!!!” This is the Fulfillment of the promise!
The Biblical Record in the Book of Acts indicates that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the disciples, and other women and brethren received this Promise of the Father.
Acts Chapter 8 tells about a revival in Samaria where A Deacon Preached è many believed and were baptized. Later the Apostles laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 9 Saul of Tarsus got saved, three days later Ananias laid hands on him and prayed for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 10 the whole household of Cornelius sat and listened as Peter preached the Gospel unto them. While he was preaching, “the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word.” V. 45, “…on the Gentiles also was poured out the Gift of the Holy Ghost.”
In Acts 19, Paul found certain disciples in Ephesus who didn’t know anything about the Holy Spirit. Paul laid hands on them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
What about you? Have you Appropriated the Promise?
Have you Experienced Pentecost?
Have you Received the Gift of the Holy Ghost?
Peter, “The Promise is unto you”
Let us Not Be Satisfied until we Receive the Promise.
Let us Reach out with arms open wide in Faith, and Say, Lord, I take what you give, Fill me with the Holy Spirit!
