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Pentecost Sunday
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Amen. You may be seated.
[00:00:03] I'm going to have you turn this morning to the Book of acts. Today's Pentecost Sunday, we're going to look at chapter two, verses one to 47. Over 40 years ago, Patty and I were serving as youth pastors in Fort McMurray, Alberta. We charted a bus and we brought our youth group to Fort St. John, which is a long trip from Fort McMurray for a weekend retreat. The idea was to come together and join with another church in our fellowship with their youth group. We had contacted them. I was going to speak at this retreat. And what happened on that weekend has always been etched in my memory as one of the most profound and powerful experiences that I have ever witnessed in the movement of God's spirit in people's lives.
[00:00:49] It so dramatically impacted not only myself, but also the lives of our youth group. Totally revolutionized it. It started with a supernatural healing on our bus trip there. That was an eleven hour bus trip. God miraculously healed a young woman on that trip, a young teenager. And all the way through the weekend until the trip home, 11 hours, I could hear in the back of the bus people quietly weeping, especially a lot of the adults. The youth group was so affected that many of the youth that had returned home established daily quiet times.
[00:01:26] They began destroying worldly and ungodly material in their possession without any prompting or even mention of the need to even do that.
[00:01:35] Also, God, the Holy Spirit, was convicting and challenging and bringing about a change in their lives. Parents were stunned. They began asking questions. What happened to what happened is their children's attitudes literally were changed and they knew something supernatural had occurred on that weekend.
[00:01:59] They just wanted to know what was happening. When we were asked to lead the next Sunday night service, pastor said to me, I think it would be great if the youth group shared. I said, okay, I'll ask them. And that night, even the shyest young people, I think there was 32 of them. There was more that went on the trip, but 32 of them testified of the power of God that they experienced on that weekend. The greatest change agent in all of our lives is God himself.
[00:02:30] You know, I think sometimes we try to change other people or we try to work at changing ourselves, but how many know that? That is extremely difficult. Does anybody experience what I'm talking about? But when the spirit of God comes, it's amazing how moldable we become. And there's a desire for things other than what we originally desired. As a matter of fact, I believe God is the one who gives us desires for spiritual things. Think about what Paul said to the Galatians. So I say, live by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. In other words, our sin nature that becomes nullified in the power of God's spirit. All of a sudden, there's a greater hunger for the things of God than there are for the things of this world. It's really an amazing work that God's spirit brings about, you know? And it always begins with God. How many have ever heard of the evangelist Dwight L. Moody? Probably very famous. He, not in our century. That was probably Billy Graham the century before that. Dwight Dal Moody was the Billy Graham of the earlier century. He had such a profound experience. As a matter of fact, he writes about a tremendous moment when God impacted his life as a christian leader. He said it this way. I cannot describe it. I seldom refer to it. It's almost too sacred an experience to name. I can only say that God revealed himself to me and I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him to stay his hand. In other words, God. I can't take any more of this. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different.
[00:04:08] I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back to where I was before that amazing experience. If you would give me all the world, it would be as small as dust in the balance. In his day, Moody was a constant source of wonder precisely because the effects of his ministry were so totally incommensurable, even incongruent with his obvious personal qualities. He was a very ordinary man in appearance, not ordained by any ecclesiastical group, quite uncultured, uneducated, some would say even uncouth and crude to many. At the height of his effectiveness between 1874 and 75, while he was ministering in England, one of the leading clergymen in England by the name of Rw Dale observed him in Birmingham for three or four days. He was trying to figure out what's the secret to Moody's success, his power, his anointing. After his observations were complete, he told Moody that the work was plainly the work of God, for he could see no relationship between himself personally and what he was accomplishing. Isn't that an amazing thing? In other words, he was scratching his head to say, how can this ordinary person have these extraordinary results in, in ministry? So when we look around today, can we really say that God is working powerfully in our lives? It's a good question to ask ourselves. Is it absolutely evident to others that we cannot be doing what we're doing by ourselves. I believe the need for the church today is the same as it's always been, going right back to the beginning of the church. We find struggling disciples following Jesus, dealing with all kinds of issues, from pride to jealousy. How many know the disciples bickered amongst themselves, carried on, did all kinds of crazy stuff, and yet something happened to them, you know, something supernatural happened to empower them, which enabled this fledgling church to impact the world in which it was living in. When you read the book of acts, you see whole cities are transformed by ordinary people. I'm gonna go, that's amazing. It's gotta be a God thing, right? That's what we need to understand. Can we say today that we're impacting our culture in a similar way?
[00:06:41] Getting quiet?
[00:06:43] If not, then the question needs to be asked, why not? But what may be even more important is how we can become an empowered church, how we can become empowered people.
[00:06:57] As we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, I want to move back to that moment historically to take a look what really happened. What really happened there? You know, from our youth retreat 40 years ago to DL Moody's experience, I'm suggesting that what we need is a transformational experience with the living God that will empower us beyond what we can do. How many say, I'm up for God doing more in my life? Anybody besides the pastor of you saying, okay, I'm up for this? What can God do with me, an ordinary person that would have extraordinary results, that would impact the people's lives in which I'm coming into contact with? Well, Martin Lloyd Jones says this. The New Testament church was born in the fires of revival. I'm reading from his book revival. Pentecostal was a life transforming experience that empowered the early disciples to be dynamic witnesses despite their own limited understanding and personal fears.
[00:08:03] Dramatically and suddenly, the Pentecostal outpouring moved the church into the national and international scene. Do you know what happens when God's spirit really comes on you? You move past yourself. How many know the biggest problem that many of us have is ourselves. We're stuck within ourselves and we can't seem to get past ourselves. But when the spirit of God comes, God can move you beyond yourself. That is amazing. That's what has to occur if we're going to impact the culture in which we're living in the work of the Holy Spirit boldly testifies of the person and redemptive work of Christ. So in other words, this isn't just about us. I believe the Holy Spirit is the agent, the person of the Godhead who is making us like himself. He's the one that's making us holy, the Holy Spirit. But it's not just to make us holy. This isn't just about refining and doing good stuff inside of us. This is about changing us to such a degree that we become transformational agents in our culture. And I think that's lacking today a lot of times, isn't it? Because I think sometimes we're just trying to get past ourselves. We're just trying to get past our own issues, our own struggles, our own difficulties, our own trials, our own problems. But God wants to blow that stuff up in our lives and move us past all of that so that it no longer becomes about us. That's where he wants us to get to.
[00:09:28] It's a truism to say that every revival of religion, Martin Lady Jones says that the church has ever known has been, in a sense, a kind of repetition of what happened on the day of Pentecost. In other words, that day when the spirit of God came. He says it has been a return to that origin, to that beginning, and that it has been a reviving.
[00:09:48] So I believe that revival reminds each generation of christians of the supernatural characteristics of Christianity. How many know we gotta be reminded of that because, you know, it's not enough to just believe the right things. Well, I believe that Jesus is God. That's great. You know, the devil believes that, by the way. You know, that's nothing you're not, you know, it's got to move past that level. You go, well, what has to happen, pastor? Well, I think we have to experience and encounter God's spirit in a very life transforming way that brings about transformation in our lives so that you and I are applying and responding to the spirit of God. We're beginning to walk with God. We're beginning to obey his word. We're beginning to see things happen in our lives that you and I know. It's not from us. It's really a God thing that's happening.
[00:10:39] And really, when we look at the church world today in North America, how many recognize there's a great conformity to the culture rather than a great transformation of the culture? We're being influenced more than we're influencing them. That's what I'm getting at here. So I want us to turn to the second chapter of acts and see what happens when the Holy Spirit comes in. I'm going to call it an extraordinary way because the Holy Spirit is here. The Holy Spirit is living inside of us. But I'm open for God to do some extraordinary things. I believe that God isn't done yet. He wants to bring about transformation in our broken culture, in our broken families, in our broken souls. God wants to bring about tremendous healing and transformation. So I'm going to look at three different portraits of that event. And first of all, the first one was what happened just prior to that day, what was transpiring at that time that the Holy Spirit came in such a powerful way. First of all, we need to know that there was a unity of purpose in obedience to Christ's command. What do you mean? Well, Jesus had told them to remain in Jerusalem until the spirit had come, and they obeyed that, and they were waiting for something. They were waiting for the Holy Spirit, and so they were all gathered together.
[00:11:58] This is a huge argument against people thinking individuality is going to make it happen. You know, people say, oh, I get really close to God when I'm by myself. Well, no, that's good. We need to get alone sometimes and it's just you and God. But how many know? We got to gather together. There's something about coming together. They had gathered together in one place. What were they doing?
[00:12:17] They were in the upper room. They were waiting on God. They were waiting for God to move in a supernatural way.
[00:12:25] After Jesus resurrection, he had appeared to them for 40 days. He had taught them many things. But finally he left very clear instructions that they needed to be endued with power. Power for what? Power to be effective witnesses. As a matter of fact, it wasn't just about them. God was concerned that they would move beyond themselves. And it says here in the book of acts, chapter one. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. How many are glad that these people obeyed God and fulfilled God's purposes? How many are glad for that? I'm totally delighted they did that. As a matter of fact, if they had been disobedient, we wouldn't be here today. There'd be no church. But these guys were willing to wait. These people, these men and women were willing to wait on God. And they did wait on God. And something very powerful happened.
[00:13:26] You know, to be a witness is not just the ability to communicate words. It's the ability to communicate a life, a transformed life. And so we read they waited upon God until his spirit came. It says they all joined together constantly in prayer.
[00:13:44] I want to pause on that statement. Is that what we're doing that. We're joining together constantly in prayer. I'm just raising the question.
[00:13:54] Okay, that's a good answer. Cause I agree, you know, there's some of us that do it. You know, there's some of us doing it. Could you imagine if we had that kind of passion, that hunger, that thirst? You know, Jesus is blessed. Are you? When you hunger and thirst after righteousness, that's when you shall be what? Filled. And I sense that what's happening. This is my opinion. You can throw this out. You can say, I disagree with you. I'm open to that. What I think is happening is we have such a wonderful life in Canada. There are so many good things to do, and they're not necessarily evil. They're just good things to do. But we have so many good things to do that it's hard for us to gather together constantly in prayer. How many say, that's probably what's happening. We're busy. We're busy people. We got all these things to do, but are we doing this one thing? And I'll tell you what happens when you do this one thing. Something will start happening.
[00:14:51] Something will start happening and says, you know, I just wrote down, do we take this mandate seriously? Well, let me move on. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. There was a sense of unity, of mind and heart. They were hungry for God. They wanted to fulfill what God had instructed them. There was a reason. And this was a special season of special prayer. It was about to explode with the presence of the living God in a way that would enable them to have effective ministry. I don't believe we can be effective apart from waiting on God. How's that? I don't believe you and I can really give people anything if there's not something that's happening within us. It's gotta. God wants to bring about this change inside of us so that he can do something through us. But a lot of times we're hindering what God really wants to accomplish in our lives. And, you know, the christian life is really exciting if you're moving in this dream, but it's very boring and it looks kind of dry and dull. Apart from that, I'm being honest. What's exciting about it? But can you imagine when God really is working in your hearts? Exciting things will start happening. God will start using you. What seems like ordinary situations now become supernatural situations. It says, when they did this, they didn't. After this day of Pentecost. See, we think, well, then they stopped doing it, did they? No. Look at acts 242. It says here they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship and to the breaking of bread into prayer. They devoted themselves, you know, years ago, I looked up that word devoted. It's the word. We get addicted.
[00:16:34] Are you addicted to certain things?
[00:16:37] I think as human beings we have tendencies to be addicted to things, right? We have addictions. We're attracted, we get enamored by something. You know, people are addicted to gambling, they're addicted to all kinds of stuff. Are you addicted to Jesus?
[00:16:52] We should get together and say, hey, my name is Paul, I'm an addict. I'm addicted to prayer. I'm addicted to Jesus, I'm addicted to fellowship. That's the kind of addiction God is interested that we get addicted to. We're going to do one or the other, right? So then that was happening just prior to that day. But what actually happened on that day? Well, not only do we understand what went down, but how does that affect us even today?
[00:17:18] Doctor Martin Luther says if Pentecost is a prototype of revival, then we need to evaluate what actually happened and begin to learn from it. What God wants us to do in our day.
[00:17:30] How many think that? History, if we ignore it, we're going to just, you know, we're not going to learn the lessons from it. Is that true? A lot of times we just keep making the same mistakes because we're not paying attention to what happened in the past. Our culture today is trying to forget the past. They're trying to rewrite the past. They don't want to think about the past. But what goes around comes around. I mean, look at the book of ecclesiastes. Says, I'm paraphrasing. That's what it says. We're going to repeat certain things. And all I'm saying is, why don't we repeat the right things? Isn't that a good idea? Why don't I learn from what's right and not just from what's wrong? I can avoid the wrong, but I can embrace what's right. It says, notice that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred in God's timetable and for a specific purpose.
[00:18:17] Suddenly, I like that word, suddenly.
[00:18:21] They had no idea. They didn't know God's timetable. But suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
[00:18:34] Says they saw something, they heard something and then they saw something. There was something supernatural about this. They saw what seemed to be the tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. Can you imagine, you know, a tongue of fire. First of all, maybe it was a ball of fire, just kind of separated. There was fire on top of their heads. They were looking at this.
[00:18:58] How many would like to be in a meeting like that? That was pretty intense, right? That would awaken you. This is not boring. God's doing something, right? Great wind fire. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in other tongues as the spirit enabled them.
[00:19:13] Interesting. Now, this day is actually a re reversal of what happened in Genesis eleven. Remember Genesis eleven? The tower of Babel? They were all gathered together in one accord. They were building a temple to make a name for themselves, and God scattered them by confusing their languages. So what is God doing? He's doing the reversal of Babel here. He's going to help unite them through language so that they can bring people together rather than scatter people.
[00:19:45] It's the opposite. God is redoing what sin had destroyed. God is in the process of redeeming humanity, and this is the first step toward it. It's a very interesting idea.
[00:19:58] God comes upon them in this visible manifestation.
[00:20:03] What we see is that the Holy Spirit comes not only to help us as believers, to become more like Jesus, which is what he does do, but also to fulfill a mission. You and I have a mission. You know, a lot of people say, I don't know what to do with myself. I don't know what my purpose in life is. I have a hard time finding meaning and significance in life.
[00:20:28] Well, it's not about you, and it's not about me. There's the biggest problem. We start at the wrong center of the problem. What we need to say is, God created me for his good pleasure, and God has a purpose for you and for me, and he wants to transform us, and he wants to send us on a mission.
[00:20:50] And it's an exciting mission where you and I are moving and cooperating and in partnership with God himself. How many like to have God as your partner? You know, think about that for a minute. God's my partner. I never feel like I'm doing this by myself. God and I are in partnership.
[00:21:10] And then the Bible here says it was not just an inward experience, but it was designed to empower them and empower you and me outward to others. It was designed primarily to enable us to get beyond ourselves, to get outside of ourselves. I mean, no, that's a big barrier to get through. Some of you are still camped inside of yourselves, and I'm trying to say today as how many would like to be liberated from yourselves and move beyond yourselves in the power of God's spirit in order to do God's will.
[00:21:48] That's what he wants to accomplish. And this is not just a historical event. God is wanting to do this now.
[00:21:58] Holy Spirit came suddenly.
[00:22:00] They had no idea what was going to happen. They didn't know what to expect. The manifestation sounded like a violent wind. The sound was supernatural in nature. It was utilized by God to attract a whole bunch of jewish people meeting in the city of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, because it was a jewish feast. And all of these jews from around the world were now there to celebrate that feast because it was required by law. So God uses this manifestation of sound. Why did he do that? Because when he filled them, they were sitting in the upper room. But now the next thing you know, Peter and the disciples are before a huge crowd. So obviously, I don't know as they, you know, spirit of God filled them. Maybe they came out of the room speaking in tongues. I don't know how that all developed. Let your imagination go. But I know they didn't just stay in the upper room because they had 120 people there. And pretty soon Peter's preaching and over 3000 people respond. So I don't think they all went into the upper room. I think the disciples got out of the upper room. So in other words, as they were meeting together, they encountered God. And then they got out of the upper room and they were out amongst the people.
[00:23:11] Can you see that picture? How many are getting a picture? We come and gather together. We're here calling on God. The spirit of God comes upon us and empowers us and shoots us out into society.
[00:23:24] It's designed to do that.
[00:23:27] It says then when they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment.
[00:23:33] You know, that wind must have been pretty loud.
[00:23:38] How many think, so this is a supernatural thing. The people in the city were startled by the wind. People were bewildered. They came together. And then it says they saw these people running around because they could hear each of them in their own language.
[00:23:56] So here were these Galileans who didn't know Latin and didn't know some of the other ancient languages running around talking in their language. So this is Babel in reverse, right? And it's designed to gather, not scatter. Utterly amazed, they said, are not all these who are speaking Galileans must have understood because they had an accent. How many know it? You learn another language sometimes with your primary language. There's one thing you speak with a bit of an accent. These guys must have had a galilean accent, and they're speaking in these languages. And then it says, then how is it, they ask that each of us hears them in his own native language? How is this happening? What in the world is going on? They're like, you got my attention. How many know if we're ever going to win society, we've got to get their attention.
[00:24:49] How many say that's true?
[00:24:51] Because they're not paying attention. They're caught up in all kinds of stuff. But when God comes in a supernatural way, it gets everybody's attention.
[00:24:59] So how many are already figuring it out? The only way we're going to win the society that we're living in is with God's supernatural enablement.
[00:25:09] I don't even have that in my notes, but it's the truth. You better write that one down. Right. We need God's presence and his supernatural enablement in order to get people's attention.
[00:25:23] We have to remember, too, the 120, as I've already said, were in the upper room. Now they're out of the upper room. See, they were filled with, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. This was happening there.
[00:25:36] The believers then had to leave the house, gone into the streets to that magnitude that were present. And we see at the end of the chapter how many people were gathered by the response to the gospel.
[00:25:50] And we can be confident, as I said earlier, that we're not all in the house. The point I'm trying to make is that when the Holy Spirit comes in power, believers are transformed, unbelievers are drawn. The gospel leaves the confines of the house of God and ends up in the places where unbelievers are affected. God utilizes the supernatural to attract people to himself.
[00:26:12] So does God use the supernatural to attract people to himself all the time. Moses, how many know there wasn't a. You know, I don't think it was unusual for a bush to catch fire in the desert. That wasn't unusual. What captured Moses attention was the bush was on fire, but it wasn't being consumed. Now, that got his attention, because that was not normal.
[00:26:35] How many say that's true? So he went over to take a look at this bush, and God started speaking to him. I'm suggesting to us today that what we really need to do is be devoted to God and seek his face and believe that God wants to do something that is not normal. It is super normal, and it's going to get people's attention. So that people are willing to listen.
[00:26:57] Okay, thank you. I was hoping for at least one person to agree with that.
[00:27:01] It's significant in the way the Holy Spirit came to the disciples.
[00:27:07] He came in fire.
[00:27:09] I mean, that's interesting. How many know our God is a consuming fire?
[00:27:13] Why would God come in fire? Well, fire speaks of, you know, purifying things. You know, if you want to purify gold, you put it in the furnace. You have to put the fire on it. How many know God uses the trials in our lives as fire? They're fiery trials. What's it doing purifying our souls? Do you know what I notice about trials? And, boy, I'll tell you, lately, we've had a lot of trials. You know, we've had a lot of people with telling me, pastor, I've been re diagnosed with cancer. You know, people are passing away. Some are tragically passing away. It's just. It's been overwhelming. It's fiery trials. What is it doing? It's designed to refine us.
[00:27:52] It's refining. It's making us realize, you know, this life is not that great.
[00:27:58] Yeah, there are wonderful moments in it, but there's a lot of painful moments in this world. How many say that's true, pastor? There's a lot of painful moments. There's a lot of disappointments. There's a lot of sorrow in this life. You know what? It's making me focus upward and look and then saying, listen, we have an endpoint in mind. And death itself, you know, it may deal with our physical body, may not make it to eternity, but. But let me tell you, God's going to fix that later on, too, but we're going to be in his presence. Death is not going to defeat us.
[00:28:28] You know, it's the enemy Jesus came to destroy when he died on the cross, and he did it. And that's what the whole Bible is about, how we go from death to life.
[00:28:41] As a matter of fact, God has to get ahold of our mouths, because how many know that's the part that you and I can't control.
[00:28:47] Does anybody know that? How many say, your mouth gets you in more trouble than any other member of your body?
[00:28:54] And I like the way James brings it out. He says, you know, we all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what they say, they're perfect. Well, perfect in the sense that they're mature. They've learned how to control their mouths. Wow. They're able to keep their whole body in check. That tells me something. Our mouths gets us into trouble. So what does God deal with on the day of Pentecost? Their mouths, they're filled with the spirit. Now they're only speaking words that are glorifying God. This is a supernatural thing, you know, God wants to change us. He really does want to transform us.
[00:29:27] They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. Now, you know, many people focus on speaking in tongues. I'm not against speaking in tongues. I believe in it. I believe it's one of the gifts of the spirit. But here's what we need to know.
[00:29:45] What God wants to do is grip our mouths so that we can communicate God to the lost. That's what he's doing. In this chapter, when I read the list of all the nations that are gathered in Jerusalem for the feast, what strikes me is how God is drawing every people from every nation around our world and bringing them to Canada.
[00:30:08] How many say that's true?
[00:30:11] Anybody noticing that we have a changing demographic? How many kind of notice we have a changing demographic?
[00:30:18] Do you know what God's doing? Because maybe we didn't get out to preach the gospel to all these nations. God goes, that's fine. I'll bring them to you now. So now we have an opportunity. We have an opportunity to bring the good news to people that we would have normally never had, had the ability to get to.
[00:30:37] You don't have to cross an ocean anymore. Just cross the street. How's that?
[00:30:42] It's there. People are here from all these places. You and I need to communicate the good news of Jesus to people.
[00:30:49] Notice what happens when the Holy Spirit is working in our lives in a supernatural way.
[00:30:56] Let me go back. I'm jumping.
[00:31:00] Notice that it states that the believers spoke as the spirit enabled them. We need the enabling work of the Holy Spirit to speak through us. We really do. They began to speak in other tongues.
[00:31:14] Let me move on. I already talked about that. Notice what happens when the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives in a supernatural way. It grabs people's attention. I keep bringing this up because this is one of my main ideas today. I want you to hear. They were amazed and they were perplexed. They said to one another, what does this mean?
[00:31:32] Are people today amazed by your life?
[00:31:36] That's a good question. Are they amazed by my life? Are people perplexed at what God's doing in us? Like, I don't get what's. I don't get why things happen the way they do for you. I don't understand your life at all. I don't understand, you know, the good things that God's doing for you. You know, are people asking questions? Are people looking for answers from us? Like, I don't know what to do in this situation. Are people coming to you because you seem to have, you know, a lack of fear or you have a confidence, a quiet confidence that God's in control? I mean, we should be the kind of people that people are asking questions of us. What do you think? I think when God comes in a supernatural way, you can be sure it's going to raise a few questions. How many say, that's true?
[00:32:26] But it can also raise some criticism and some ridicule. Look what it says in the next verse. Sure. Some made fun of them and said, oh, yeah, yeah, they've had too much wine. These guys are drunks.
[00:32:37] That's what they said. You know, they criticize them.
[00:32:42] I think one of the most insightful definitions of worship is wonder or awe.
[00:32:49] When was the last time you came to God with a sense of amazement, wonder and awe?
[00:32:55] I'm in awe.
[00:32:57] I'm in awe of what you're doing, God. I'm just blown away by what you're doing. I think we live in a society that thinks it has all the answers. We look for technology, we look to science, we look to medicine, we look to all kinds of things. But how many know they have limitations?
[00:33:12] We do not have all the answers. There's still mystery out there. And I think there's incredible mysteries that remain in life.
[00:33:21] Oh, for God to be working in a manner that will take the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to explain what is happening, you know? Peter stood up with the eleven. He addressed the crowd that day. And under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Peter began to explain. What you now are experiencing and witnessing is what the prophet Joel said, and in the last days, I'm going to pour out my spirit in all flesh, and your sons and daughters will begin to prophesy. He's saying there's an answer to what you're experiencing. It's a fulfillment of what God promised. Isn't that great? Let me look at the last portrait.
[00:33:57] What happens when there's the infilling of the spirit on the church and how it impacts the community in which they're in? What difference does this make beyond this initial day, the first day? Pentecost. What difference will revival have? Because if Pentecost is a prototype of every move of God's spirit in every age and time, what difference does it make?
[00:34:21] Is it just a crazy experience that has no long term significance. In other words, why all the fuss?
[00:34:28] But what strikes me about this outpouring of God's spirit on the day of Pentecost is this little congregation of 120 believers in an upper room exploded when Peter finished preaching. In one day, the church grew from 120 members to 3120 members. I want you to imagine that for a moment. You know, one day you're meeting together in your church, you have 120 people, Peter. Now, supernaturally, God comes. He invades the church. They have this amazing explosion. They're thrust out into society. You know, people are going, what is going on? And, you know, Peter stands up and tries to explain it, and he does, and they're convicted, and they come into God's kingdom, and the next day they meet for church, 3120 of them. How many go, wow?
[00:35:16] Anybody say, wow? Is that a wow? Come on now. Is that impressive? How many say, that's quite impressive?
[00:35:24] Yeah, I think so, too. Jan, I'm with you. I'm amazed by this. This is amazing what's happening here.
[00:35:30] You know, how would that impact our community if we had a service one day and God just kept bringing people, people are getting saved, you know, you'd be going, wow, what's going on here? What's happening? Right? Wouldn't you kind of be blown away? How many be kind of blown away? You know, what's going on here? You know, whoa, you know, how would you have a baptismal service? Oh, yeah. This week we're going to baptize a thousand people.
[00:35:53] You know, you go, well, that may be happening in South America, that may be happening in some other parts of the world, pastor, but certainly not happening in Canada. Why not?
[00:36:01] Why can't it happen here? Well, you know, it just doesn't happen here, pastor. Well, yeah, but that's because we're kind of in a box.
[00:36:08] Do you think God wants to keep us? Does God want us to stay and put God in our little box, who God is? Or do we want to say God, can you just blow the box apart for me right now? I want to see God work way beyond. I want to see God work way beyond. He's ever worked in my life before. I want to see God work way beyond. He's ever worked in our church before. How many are up for this? Anybody want to say, you know, I'd really like to see God do some amazing things in and through my life right now?
[00:36:37] Okay, we're getting somewhere.
[00:36:41] It says, those who accepted his message were baptized, 3000 were added to their number that day. Wow, that's pretty powerful, you know? So you say, okay, so what happened afterwards, pastor? It must have been just a momentary thing. Well, no, it wasn't. It continued on. It says here they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread into prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and miraculous signs performed by the apostles. They were seeing miracles. It says all the believers were together, had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to get to everyone who had need. How many know for some people to part with their money would take an act of God.
[00:37:24] This was an act of God. And some people were deciding, hey, we're going to help other people. Goes on to say, every day they continue to meet together. Every day they continue to meet together. Can I repeat that again? Every day they continue to meet together. This was not a momentary thing. These people were excited. They met in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes. They ate together with glad and sincere hearts. How many already know they have a huge different attitude when you read this. They ate together with glad and sincere hearts. How many get a feeling that there was an emotional transformation happening in their lives? How many know that a lot of their emotional baggage was jettisoned on that day? How many know when the Holy Spirit comes, there's some powerful things that can happen on the inside of a person.
[00:38:09] I'm reading this, I'm going, yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Certainly says it right there and I believe it. It says, praising God and enjoying the fever of all the people. Even non believers gain. They gained favor with and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. That didn't stop. It continued on.
[00:38:30] Bring it on. Right. Let's experience this. Let's have it happen.
[00:38:35] And we see their commitment. They continually gave themselves to those spiritual disciplines that reflected their desire for God to grow in their understanding of the word of God. They enjoyed being together. Miracles were happening. They were generous. They were able to trust God with their needs. They were free to give to those in need. I think that they had a lot of their emotional baggage jettisoned through this wonderful situation. So what's the great need in the church today?
[00:39:02] Thank you.
[00:39:04] We have the Holy Spirit, but what we need is a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And when we read the scriptures, you'll discover what it takes. And here's what happened. Here's what changed people. Look at the verses here. When the people heard what Peter was laying down, they were cut to the heart and said Peter and the other apostles. Brothers, what should we do? Peter said, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins. And you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is what they had received. And then he goes on to say, the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.
[00:39:43] And let me just close with this verse here, because one of the great dangers in the christian life is to resist the working of the Holy Spirit. And we see that when Peter is standing and preaching to the religious leaders, he says to them, he's telling them their history. And then he finally concludes with you stiff necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears. In other words, you guys are not regenerated. You are just like your fathers. You always resisted the Holy Spirit. And so we have a choice. You know, we can live our lives based on what we think, or we can start submitting to the work of the spirit in our lives. I think we have to be on guard not to do that. What is the end result of seeking God?
[00:40:26] We end up finding him. We end up receiving him. We end up responding in obedience to what he is calling us to do. And I believe that the great need right now in all of our lives is the very thing I'm talking about. So I'm going to have us stand as we close in a word of prayer this morning.
[00:40:45] How many here say this morning, you know, pastor, I need a fresh.
[00:40:49] I need a fresh touch from God.
[00:40:52] I'm a believer, but I need a fresh touch from God. I need this holy spirit to invade my space. I need him to come in a powerful measure.
[00:41:03] Let me say, you know what? I'm up for it.
[00:41:06] I'm up for it. God, just bring it on. I'm opening my heart to you right now. That's your cry. Say, lord, would you change me?
[00:41:14] I'm tired of the same old, same old. I'm tired of just going through the motions of life. I'm tired of just, you know, getting up, going to work, getting up, going to work, getting up, going to work. You know what? I need an invasion. I need an invasion from heaven right now. I need the spirit of God to come suddenly and powerfully in my life. I need God to create a newness within my being. I need God to so touch my affections and my emotions and my desires that all of a sudden now there's a hunger and a thirst after God. Such as I've never known before. I need God's love to flow into my life. I think of, you know, Finney when he was talking about practicing law, and one day and he was in his office, he said, God's spirit came down like liquid waves of love. It was like rivers were flowing into his being. It was the spirit of God flowing inside of him. It changed him. It changed moody. It changed this youth group that I was leading. I didn't do it. God's spirit did it. I was stunned. I was a bystander, actually. That Sunday morning when I was preaching in that church, almost. It was so uncanny. I saw myself preaching in my mind, but I felt like it wasn't me preaching. I felt the spirit of God in an unusual way, and the congregation immediately felt it. And people responded to the gospel. It was an amazing weekend. I said, God, I was so blown away, I could sense it. As we were traveling for 11 hours on a bus, spirit of God was brooding on those people. There was quiet weeping and repentance. It was the work of the spirit of God. Something no human being can conjure up. It's not whipping people up. It wasn't even an emotional thing. It was God's spirit.
[00:43:06] But you and I have to say, God, I want it. God, I want you to come. I want to surrender every part of my being to. I want you to invade my home. I want you to invade my mind. I want you to invade the places of my soul. I want you to break through the places of addiction and brokenness. I want you to break through the unholy places of my thoughts and intentions. I want you to break through our family life. I want you to break through, Father, so that I can be the person you designed me to become and that you can work mightily in and through my life. And so, Father, I pray today. That's our prayer. That's our prayer. Lord, we open our hearts to you. We're inviting you, Holy Spirit. Come, Lord, even as you did on that first Pentecost Sunday. I know we have the Holy Spirit. I know theologically we have the Holy Spirit. I know you're abiding in us, but I'm praying for a holy spirit invasion. I'm praying, Lord, that you would invade us even now, even as we're standing in your presence, Lord, even as you're reminding us, Lord, our affections are all over the map. There's so many neat things we get to do in life, but you're calling us, you're wooing us. You're challenging us. You're drawing us. Spirit of God, draw us. Draw us to yourself.
[00:44:27] Until there is such a hunger and such a thirst for you, it would be so strong inside of us that nothing less than you would ever satisfy us. That all of these things in this world, all these things would feel secondary to who you are.
[00:44:49] Draw us, Lord. There'd be such a thirst, such a hunger within us. We just thank you for that, Lord. We need it. We need to be transformed by your presence, Lord, we're never going to see our families transform. We're never going to see our city transform. Apart from you beginning the work in me and in us, Lord, would you do it? Would you come today and hear a cry? Would you intensify that in our soul today? Would you so fill us that we would leave this place going. Something happened, something I didn't expect. It was sudden, it was a touch.
[00:45:27] It was an intensity beginning to grow within me. There was a longing. I feel like I'm connecting to you right now.
[00:45:35] You're drawing me. You're pulling me into yourself. You're embracing me right now with your love. I'm being overwhelmed by your love, Father. And I thank you for that. Thank you for the healing of my broken emotions, Lord, I thank you that you're working inside of us.
[00:45:54] We thank you for that.
[00:45:56] May you hear our cry, Lord. May this intensify throughout today. Lord, maybe we can't get away from this. It just going to keep growing inside of us. It's like a seed that's been planted within us and I pray supernaturally, water it. May it just grow within us that by Monday morning we're gonna wake up and going, something's going on inside of me. This is not normal. There's something inside of me happening. The spirit of God is intensifying. Moment by moment, day by day, something is happening, and we thank you for it. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. God bless you as you leave today.
