The Power of Pentecost
Passover to Pentecost • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 45:04
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· 581 viewsOn the day of Pentecost, God's power was poured out on His people. In this message by Pastor Mason Phillips, discover how God's power is tied to your purpose and His plan for your life.
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The Power of Pentecost
The Power of Pentecost
4 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; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 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.”
Pray: Father, as we gather together today, we ask you to give us power to do your will and become the people you have called us to be. Amen
I want to talk to you today about the power of Pentecost for miracles, ministry and me (or, you).
On the day of Pentecost the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, was given to the followers of Jesus. As a result, they received power.
This power was given for the purpose of enabling them to be His witnesses.
Because this power is given for a purpose we have to ask about that. As one of God’s people, you have been chosen and selected for a special purpose.
And when Jesus described that purpose, He used the term, “witnesses.”
This word means essentially “one who remembers and can tell about something.” In the Bible it is used to describe when someone sees something amazing or important.
When Jesus described purpose as being His witnesses, He was pointing to something that God always had in mind.
10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. 12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God.
God’s people have always been called to bear witness to Him. We testify all that we’ve seen and heard (Acts 22.15). And, like Jesus, our works bear witness of God (John 5.36).
When it comes to our words and our works, we are supposed to be able to testify and show the reality of the kingdom of God in the earth.
And yet, at times I have felt powerless or unable to effectively live for God and represent Him in a powerful way.
Illustration: my first experience doing street evangelism.
Instead of feeling powerless or lacking, wouldn’t it be great to have something that is actually effective in helping us to reach our full potential and fulfill our purpose?
When you think about it, the current state of the world and our own challenges to growing in holiness show the need for demonstrations of the Spirit and power are greater than ever before.
We need God’s power in order to do the works He calls us to and to be the kind of people who He calls us to become.
Illustration: witnessing in front of the tattoo parlor; example of praying for a drunk person to get sober and sharing the gospel; praying for the blind woman in India and seeing a miracle.
When we enter into the Power of Pentecost we will receive power to bear witness to God and to be a living witness to Him.
We Need Power
We Need Power
One thing we know is that trying harder in our own strength won’t solve this problem because natural solutions can’t solve supernatural problems.
And without God’s power, we can not realize our purpose.
Illustration: Vacuum, designed with a purpose in mind but without power ineffective and unable to work as it ought to. In order to be useful it needs to be connected to a power source.
We can be busy and we can try with all of our might, but the Scripture declares that it is, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zechariah 4.6).
The Apostles walked in the Spirit and demonstrated the kingdom of God. They healed the sick, delivered those who were in bondage, proclaimed freedom, and taught the way of Jesus.
And we need that same power, which is not natural power, but mighty in God (cf. 2 Corinthians 10.5).
The good news is that Jesus told the disciples that this power, in the Holy Spirit, was a gift promised to us by our Heavenly Father (Acts 1.4).
Receiving God’s Power
Receiving God’s Power
There are at least three areas that we need to receive in and walk in God’s power.
Power for Miracles
Power for Miracles
17 ‘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. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’
One of the reasons that we need power for miracles is because they point to God. They declare to a secular world that there is a supernatural God.
The Bible declares that the world is under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5.19). The “prince of the power of the air” is working in the sons of disobedience to deceive and destroy (cf. Ephesians 2.2). He is a master counterfeiter who wants to distract people away from the greatness of God (Revelation 12.7-9).
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
Just like with the Egyptian sorcerers, whether it be science, deifying the natural world, or Marvel and the MCU, the enemy wants to mimic the supernatural and make God seem like a fairy tale or a myth.
Genuine miracles and signs and wonders testify to the reality of God. Every prophetic word or miraculous healing forces the world to see that there is more to life and to the world.
To be effective witnesses, we need power for miracles because they point people to a God who is greater.
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
We need to have faith for signs, wonders, and miracles. In fact, Jesus said that there should be signs that follow us as we go into the world as His witness.
Power for Ministry
Power for Ministry
Our ministry is to be witnesses and as we witness we make disciples of all the world (Matthew 28.18-20). Jesus modeled for us the way to be effective in ministry service.
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
There is an anointing that God gives us that empowers us to do good works. It is a mark of God’s presence with us and through us towards others.
We need the anointing so that we can advance the kingdom of God.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
We are meant to do good works. These works are not simply natural but include supernatural grace to do what we can not do in our own ability.
When the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, power for ministry was released to God’s people.
In the power of the Spirit, we are enabled to bring the kingdom to earth, just as it is in heaven.
God anoints us for ministry so that we can do good like Jesus did. Not only that, but Jesus declared we could do greater works because He went to the Father (cf. John 14.12). Remember that He said that it was to our advantage that He go so that the Holy Spirit would come to us (John 16.7).
The power of Pentecost is the power for ministry. You were meant to be supernaturally empowered to do good. It’s time to receive His power to go forth and make a difference in the world!
Power for Me
Power for Me
The power of Pentecost is not only to show forth God’s power in the world or to do good works to show the world God’s goodness. The power of Pentecost is also for you.
15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, 16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Sanctification is the working of holiness in the life of a person. God is holy (Revelation 4.8) and He calls us to be holy as well (1 Peter 1.15-16).
Holiness is the character of God and it is supposed to be our character.
The Holy Spirit is the one who sanctifies us. He is the one who develops us and causes us to become like Christ. His power enables us to do right and live right and overcome our flesh. The power of Pentecost for you is produces the fruit of the Spirit and changes our appetites and desires (cf. Galatians 5.22-23, Ephesians 4.22-24, Colossians 3.10).
We need the power of Pentecost so that we can become all who God has called us to be. That power sets us free. That power makes us new. That power transforms us and makes us holy.
We need that power.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We need God’s power to fulfill our purpose and to be His witnesses.
God gives us power to display to the world that He is real.
God gives us power to do the good works—ministry service—that He prepared for us (Ephesians 2.10).
God gives us power to change and become like Him and walk in the divine nature (2 Peter 1.4).
We need to stir up our faith and believe God for power to walk in love and do great things (1 Corinthians 14.1).
Pray: Father please pour out your Holy Spirit and empower us. Let us walk in the power of Pentecost. let signs and wonders follow us as we go about and do your good works. Give us your power so that we can have victory in our lives and cause us to become all you called us to be. Amen.