Pentecost Gives Us Power
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Today is pentecost Sunday. It’s the day that many churches celebrate the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Others recognize it in the Christian Calendar as an historical event that has no relevance.
Pentecost is a big deal for several reasons. We know that Jesus was crucified and died but rose from the dead three days later. After that, he walked around for 40 days … appearing at different times.
3 During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.
Then, Jesus told them…
4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.
After that, 120 believers waited in what we call the upper room for 10 days for the promise of the Holy Spirit to come. Pentecost changed everything. Everything Jesus died to make happen was now available to everyone.
In the OT, the Spirit would come upon people for short periods of time. David… Sampson… NOW, the Holy Spirit was poured into people … to stay.
The Infilling of the Spirit is different than indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Salvation
The Infilling of the Spirit is different than indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Salvation
It’s important to understand that the infilling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is different than the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that occurs when you are saved.
22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
The disciples received the indwelling of the HS here, but they were not filled with the HS until Pentecost 40 days later.
There was a difference.
4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
Without the Power of the Holy Spirit, the message of the Gospel depends on our understanding and talent… and that’s not good. We need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to live for the Lord and to share about the Lord.
Unfortunately, most churches today don’t have that power.
5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
We don’t want to be that kind of a church. We want to be full of the power of the HS, to see lives changed … families changed… people set free from strongholds.
1. The Outpouring
1. The Outpouring
John the Baptist told of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit.
11 “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Jesus told the disciples to wait in town for his promise… the gift of the Holy Spirit.
49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
Jesus appeared over and over again and then told them they would receive POWER
3 During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. 4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” 7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus knew they would need that power. Without the power of the HS, we are lacking the power Jesus wants us to have. We are like a baseball player who hits a home run and stops on 3rd base.
Pentecost gives us Power
Pentecost gives us Power
Power to live for God… to be set free from addictions, and strongholds… to overcome sin.
Power to preach… to witness… to teach…
It gives us power in every aspect of our lives.
Jesus knew the disciples needed Power
Jesus knew the disciples needed Power
Even though the apostles knew the WORD, and wrote a lot of the word, Jesus knew they needed His power to change the world.
Pentecost gave us that power… and it still does.
Look at this. When Jesus came to earth, he set aside his power and operated as a man.
38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Whose power did Jesus do good things with? Holy Spirit. Jesus needed the power of the Holy Spirit just like we do because while he was 100% God, he was also 100% man and while he was on earth, he did all of his miracles as a man filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is what Jesus told them to wait on.
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. 13 When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying. Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), and Judas (son of James). 14 They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.
The apostles job was evident… wait in Jerusalem until they received what Jesus promised. They weren’t even sure what that was but they knew they were to wait. They waited 10 days from when Jesus ascended. Do you think we could see something great happen if we had a 10 day prayer meeting? Of course, they did not know how long it would be, they just did what Jesus told them to do.
The Holy Spirit changed these people
The Holy Spirit changed these people
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit changed these people and turned Jerusalem upside down for Jesus. It turned Peter from a coward into a mighty preacher. It turned the murderer Paul into Paul the Preacher.
Here is what happened!
1 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
It wasn’t just poured into the apostles, the Holy Spirit was poured into everyone present.
Imagine with me for a minute what that must have been like. They had been praying for 10 days… focused on Jesus. The day the Spirit came probably did not seem any different than the previous 9 did, but then suddenly, the sound like that of a rushing wind began to fill the room… the sound was loud like wind, but there was no actual wind. Imagine looking at the person next to you and seeing a flaming tongue of fire on their head.
The flames were distributed equally to everyone… men, women, children, old people… everyone. These tongues looked like fire but it wasn’t… no one was burned.
Everyone got the same amount of the Spirit. Some use it better but they all got it. Same with us today.
Then they began preaching the Gospel in other languages. So all these people were in town and heard these Galileans speaking in their own languages… it must have blown their minds. Some thought they were drunk.
Next came
2. The Explanation
2. The Explanation
14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. 15 These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. 16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. 19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 20 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. 21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ 22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 25 King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ 29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. 32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. 34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand 35 until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.” ’ 36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” 37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.
After he finished preaching, 3000 people accepted Jesus and were added to the church. Not a bad day!
Because of what happened the power of the HS did not stay within the 4 walls of the upper room. HS sent them out all over the place.
Pentecost came and went public and the news spread like wildfire.
3. The result
3. The result
The result of Pentecost in the 1st century was that people… believers had the power to accomplish great things for the Lord. When a person has been baptized in the HS, they have much more power to witness more effectively than before.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The result of Pentecost was that the early church had power like never before. We have access to that same Holy Spirit’s power today. He convicted people of their need for Jesus then and still does today.
God’s plan for us is the same as it was for the 120 then… to spread His Gospel with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Study: World Evangelization by Missionaries/ Peter Wagner/ Where the Gospel was being spread most effectively always had one common denominator: Where there was a Pentecostal Missionary, the results were far greater.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit makes a difference! in your everyday life… in your witnessing… in your parenting… everything.
So
Why Pentecost?
Why Pentecost?
Why should we want what God did then… now. why should we want to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?
1. It’s a gift from God
1. It’s a gift from God
HS is the gift Jesus promised.
2. If Jesus thought the disciples needed it, we do too.
2. If Jesus thought the disciples needed it, we do too.
If the disciples after spending 3 years with Jesus, seeing him raise up from the dead and walk around with them for 40 days afterward needed the Filling of HOLY SPIRIT, there is no doubt that we need that same power.
3. We need it so we can effectively share the Gospel with others.
3. We need it so we can effectively share the Gospel with others.
4. We need it so we can demonstrate the Fruit of the Holy Spirit
4. We need it so we can demonstrate the Fruit of the Holy Spirit
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Anyone besides me need more of these?
There are a lot of reasons why we need the Baptism in the HS… why we need that same power that the early believers had.
I said earlier that it gives us the power to be Jesus witnesses… to be courageous evangelist.
Magician (and atheist) Penn Teller says that when Christians fail to evangelize, we’re showing that we don’t care for others:
“I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me along and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that”
(Penn Teller, quoted in Justin Taylor, “How Much Do You Have to Hate Somebody to Not Proselytize
Today, let’s let Pentecost remind us that we need the same power that the early church needed. They saw the Baptism in the HS as the normal experience of following Jesus.
the power that we need to live for Jesus … to parent better… to get though the crazy time we are living in… to grow our church… is not in a program, it’s in a person… it’s in the power of Holy Spirit… the power of Pentecost.
Too many people today are afraid of the HS. He is God… we don’t have to be afraid of him. People also misunderstand Him… they see nutty people on TV…