Sermon for Pentecost Sunday, May, 2024)
©️2024RexHerndon
Acts 2:1-4
Introduction:
It was exactly 4:30 A.M., when I was suddenly awakened by noise outside my bedroom window. Listening a-bit closer, I realized it was the wind. The warm thermals of the Santa Ana’s were briskly blowing from the deserts of the Southwest toward the beaches of the Pacific coastline.
In the solitude of my bedroom that early morning hour, the Holy Spirit reminded me of another wind, the sound of which was heard by those who waited on the Lord in a nondescript room above the streets of Jerusalem two thousand years ago.
That “Sound of a mighty rushing wind” ushered in a new and powerful dispensation, “The Day of Pentecost was fully come.” It was that preordained moment, when, in the Providence of God, the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Church, and believers became the Temple of the Holy Ghost.
Above the noise of Jewish celebrants in the street below, believers were filled with the Holy Ghost and became a force that would change the course of human history. They were empowered to preach the gospel with an Anointing never before experienced and enabled to build the Church over which the ‘gates of hell’ could not prevail.
The power or, ‘Dunamis ’ as it is called in the Greek, would be of such magnitude, the fledgling Church would not only survive, it would thrive and prosper in the face of relentless opposition and nearly insurmountable obstacles.
Throughout history, there have been countless examples of the resilience and strength of the Church to triumph in the face of opposition. Standing on the words of Jesus, Who declared, “Upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (John 16:18) The Body of Christ has continued to prevail.
A wonderful example of the empowered Church, withstanding the schemes and attacks of the enemies of the Cross, is the Church in China.
It will be remembered how in the 1950’s-60’s, Mao Tse-tung: chairman of the People’s Republic of China sought to destroy the Church and rid China of any influence of Christianity.
His plan was known as a ‘Cultural Revolution,’ it called for the killing of Pastors, expelling Missionaries and confiscating Church properties. His nefarious actions were so grievous and dangerous, those who survived his malicious attacks were driven underground where the Communist Party thought they would eventually perish in irrelevance. But Jesus said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Mao Tse-tung and the Cultural Revolution made the mistake of underestimating the power resident in the Body of Christ. They didn’t understand they were in conflict with a power greater than any political, philosophical or social enemy they had ever encountered. Their attack was not upon a few thousand people, it was upon He Who spoke the universe into existence and a Church empowered by the Holy Spirit.
For more than twenty years, the Church in China remained faithful to the cause of Christ in the shelter of seeming obscurity and irrelevance. Like the saints mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, they could say, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed, we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
Eventually, as a result of efforts by a number of world leaders, including the President of the United States, the strict prohibition of religious activity in China was somewhat loosened and the Church was allowed to emerge from the darkness of isolation.
The Communist Party was sure it would only be a small group, lacking in influence, that would surface, and they would pose no threat to an atheistic society.
However, to the Glory of God and the dismay of the enemies of Jesus Christ and the gospel, that small number of Christians that went underground twenty years before, emerged alive and stronger than ever. As the doors of opposition were slightly opened, hundreds of thousands of Chinese Christians emerged rejoicing and praising God.
Today, ‘house churches’ in China are exploding in phenomenal growth, Bible training centers are springing up and they are filled to capacity. It is estimated there are as many as 100 million Christians in China and that number is increasing exponentially each year. “To God be the Glory! Great things He has done!”
In the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, we read, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
So it was with the advent of the Holy Ghost. It would occur at a time and place established by God. Thus, in The Book of Acts it is said, “When the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
(Acts 2:1)
The term “fully come” tells us the “Day of Pentecost” and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost was established in the Providence of God to occur during the Feast of Pentecost, when the largest number of Jewish pilgrims would be in the City of Jerusalem to witness or hear of this mighty dispensational move of God.
The manner in which the Holy Ghost was poured out is clear indication God acts in exact detail when carrying out His Plan.
“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” That being the case, we are fully assured, absolutely nothing that took place in the Upper Room was coincidental. Neither was “the sound of a mighty rushing wind” or “cloven tongues of fire” the figment of man’s imagination.
For those who may question the ministry of the Holy Spirit within the twentieth century Church, let there be no doubt, our doctrinal position is firmly based on Scripture. The enlightenment and empowerment of the Holy Spirit is an absolute necessity if the Church is to effectively fulfill the Will of God. Believers being filled with the Holy Spirit is a blessing ordained by God.
Today, as we celebrate Pentecost, I ask you to think about the PURPOSE, POWER and PROMISE of the Holy Spirit in our life personally and in the life of the Church collectively.
(1) First, there is the PURPOSE for which the Spirit was poured out upon the Church. Remember, in the Will of God, “To everything ….there is a purpose under heaven.”
Jesus clearly explained the purpose for which the Holy Spirit was given when speaking to His disciples.
He said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
He went on to elaborate, saying, “When He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth..and He will show you things to come.” (John 16:13)
His Word gives us a clear understanding of the Divinely ordained purpose for which the Holy Spirit was poured out. It was to prepare and empower us for service!
In light of such a practical purpose, it is our responsibility to “Put on the whole armor of God that (we) may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) A vital part of that armor is to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
From experience, I know the Church often rejoices in the refreshing that is ours when we are moved upon by the Holy Spirit in worship. The blessings are undeniable. I will be the first to agree, nothing the world has to offer compares to those moments spent worshipping where the wind of the Spirit is sweeping across the congregation.
But I would remind believers, especially my fellow Pentecostals, the Holy Spirit is not given just to bless or make us feel good, as important as that may be. But rather, the Spirit is come to qualify and empower us for service. To equip us for the battle!
It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that strengthens and prepares us for the important task of fulfilling “The High Calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14) The prophet Zachariah tells us, it is, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)
Because we often feel inadequate and unqualified to fulfill the Will of God and the commission given by us by Jesus, it is important we understand “The battle is not (ours) but God’s.”
(2 Chronicles 20:15) The Holy Spirit is given to be our helper.
Jesus, speaking in the Gospel of John, addresses that feeling of inadequacy, saying, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26)
“The Comforter is defined in the Greek as a “Paraclete” or one who comes along side us as an “advocate, counselor and helper.” The ‘Comforter’ as described by Jesus in the Gospel of John, is the Holy Spirit, who stands ready to guide and strengthen us in our walk of faith and service.
Peter and the early disciples were not called and sent out to minister alone and ill prepared. Neither have you and I been called without the assurance of help from the “Comforter.” He is with us in power, “Teaching (us) all things” and “Bringing all things to (our) remembrance.”
For generations, the Church has sung, “O spread the tidings ‘round wherever man is found, Wherever human hearts and human woes abound; Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound: The Comforter has come.”
(The Comforter Has Come: Francis Bottome:pub dom)
You and I are assured we are not alone in the struggle. The Holy Spirit; the Comforter, was given to enlighten and empower us.
(2) Secondly, there is the POWER and AUTHORITY available to believers through the Anointing of the Holy Spirit.
In the corridors of my mind, I can hear a minister friend refer to Spirit-filled people as, “power people.”
Her words were not spoken in a boastful spirit of arrogance, but with a sense of understanding, that we who are filled with the Holy Spirit possess a power and authority that enables us to meet and overcome any challenge while effectively doing the Will of God.
Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” (Acts 1:8). Those words, spoken to early disciples reverberate across centuries of time with the same meaning and impact today as the day they were spoken.
The term “power,” used by Jesus when speaking to those who were called to preach the gospel and establish the Church, in the Greek is defined as, ‘dunamis,” a power or inherent force within us that enables us to do the supernatural.
In the gospel of John, Jesus makes an astounding statement with reference to those who are empowered by the Holy Spirit. He said, “He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12) He is saying what my Evangelist friend said . “We are power people!”
Another term from the Greek related to power, as it was used 117 times in the New Testament is, ‘exousia,’ or the authority given to believers to speak and act as guided by faith and the Anointing of the Holy Ghost.
It is my conviction, believers today should step out of the darkness of fear and the intimidation of the enemy and speak with authority! Brother Carlos Campero, a member of Norwalk Assembly of God Church where we served as Pastors for twenty eight years, was often heard saying, “The devil is a liar!” He is right! It is now time for you and I to stand up and with a voice of authority, call him a liar. It is time we speak with authority to forces of darkness that seek to overwhelm and defeat us.
We have been given authority through the anointing of the Holy Ghost to command demons and the forces of darkness. Guided by faith, we are given authority to speak to the mountain that stands in our way, to challenge the schemes of the enemy.
Come on saints! Stand up! Speak up! We are “People of Power!” Let us “Call those things that be not as though they were.”
(Romans 4:17) We are empowered by the Holy Spirit!
In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, “The God of peace shall soon crush satan under your feet.”(Romans 16:20). Many times victorious believers have sung, “I went to the enemy’s camp and I took back what he stole from me! I took back what he stole from me! He’s under my feet, under my feet, satan is under my feet!”
Paul reminded us, “In all these things we are more than conquerers through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) We have the authority of the Name of Jesus and the Anointing of the Holy Spirit.
(3) Finally, there is THE PROMISE of the infilling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
In the gospel of John, we hear Jesus say, “Even the spirit of truth which the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you.” (John 14:17)
In (1 Corinthians 6:19), Paul asks the Corinthian believers,
“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?”
A truth we can scarcely comprehend is: we have been ordained by God to be the habitation of the Holy Ghost upon the earth. If anyone should question our identity, we should respond, “I am a child of God and the Temple of the Holy Ghost!”
Little wonder, Peter wrote, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.” (1 Peter 2:9)
May God open the eyes of our understanding. “The Day of Pentecost is fully come.” We have the Promise of the Father; we too, can be filled with the Spirit; we too, can be instruments of power and authority; we too, can be used of God to do His Will upon the earth; we too, are blessed to be the habitation of the Holy Ghost and the custodians of His Power.
More than a hundred years ago, songwriter Charles Tillman wrote: “Yes, this power from heaven descended with the sound of rushing wind; tongues of fire came down upon them, as the Lord said He would send.
Yes, this old time power was given to our fathers who were true; this is is promised to believers, and we all may have it too.” (Old Time Power: Charles D. Tillman: pub. dom.)
The sound you hear when in faith you turn your ear to heaven is that of “A mighty rushing wind.” It sometimes blows in gentle breezes of comfort and assurance. At other times and in various places, it blows in strong currents causing the fires of revival and spiritual renewal to flame brightly.
Listen, and you will hear the Wind of the Spirit blowing in churches large and small in South and Central America; it is blowing in refreshing waves of blessing in the Cave Churches in Egypt. The “Wind bloweth where it listeth” in the House Churches in China and among the faithful believers in Russia. It is blowing in strong gusts of blessing in cities and villages of Africa!
The wind of the Spirit is blowing in Churches large and small in America where hungry hearts worship and wait at the altar of praise. It is blowing on University Campuses, behind prison walls and in downtown Missions.
Praise God! The sound of a rushing mighty wind is being heard around the world! “The Day of Pentecost is fully come!”
©️2024RexHerndon
The Shepherd's Staff 