Power from on High
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· 19 viewsGrace Fellowship in Rusk, Texas Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 10:30 AM
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Power from on High
Power from on High
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And you are witnesses of these things.
“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.”
And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,
to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
What is “Pentecost”?
What is “Pentecost”?
Is it a denomination? Is it an experience?
The Old Covenant Pentecost
The Old Covenant Pentecost
Pentecost is a Jewish festival, called “Shavuot” in Hebrew that means “weeks”. It is referred to as “The Feast of Weeks”, The Day of Firstfruits”, and “The Feast of Harvest”.
Originally, Pentecost was the time when God came down upon Mt. Sinai. The people were to prepare for God’s coming. It was the betrothal of God to the nation of Israel in the giving of the Ten Commandments. It was the beginning of the covenant nation of Israel.
Rabbinical Teachings
Rabbi Joseph Hertz in his Authorized Daily Prayer Book, page 71, speaks about God’s voice giving the commandments on Mt. Sinai: “The Divine Voice divided itself into the seventy tongues then spoken on earth, so that all the children of men might understand its world-embracing and man-redeeming message.”
Rabbi Moshe Weissman in his book, The Midrash Says (Benei Yakov Publications, 1980, page 182) says that the voice of God appeared visibly to the children of Israel in a fiery substance. “Each commandment that left Hashem’s (the Lord’s mouth) traveled around the entire camp and then came back to every Jew individually, asking him, ‘Do you accept upon yourself this Commandment with all halochot (Jewish law) pertaining to it?’ Every Jew answered, ‘Yes’, after each Commandment. Finally the fiery substance which they saw, engraved itself on the luchot (tablets).” [Note: Exodus 19 The people did not hear “thunderings” but “voices” (Hebrew “kolot”)]
3,000 people were killed at Mt. Sinai due to the sin with the golden calf
The New Covenant Pentecost
The New Covenant Pentecost
This Pentecost takes place at the heavenly Mt. Zion, or heavenly Jerusalem
For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
(For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.”
And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
God writes His commandments upon our hearts
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
God puts His Spirit within us (redemption and sanctification)
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
God puts His Spirit upon us (power for ministry)
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
3,000 people were saved on the New Covenant Pentecost!
Power from on High
Power from on High
The Mantle of Jesus for Ministry
The baptism with the Holy Spirit is the mantle of Jesus for ministry
Elijah and Elisha
Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”
So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”
Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.
He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.
Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.
Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.
The Promise of the Father
The Promise of the Father
The Promise of the Father is for all regardless of gender, age, or social status
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
The Promise of the Father is for our generation
For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
The Promise of the Father is available to all who ask and believe
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”