The Promise Of Pentecost Series

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.