The Pleasing Power of Pentecost

If you're a visitor with us today, I want to set you at ease and let you know that this is the first time that we've talked from this particular passage of Scripture. Anytime a new work like Northway Christian Community is raised up by the spirit of God, there's the temptation to categorize it and figure that every time they get together, they talk about Pentecost. Well, this is our first crack at it, so we're going to take advantage of it and hold on to your seats. The celebration of Pentecost was a very high Jewish traditional holiday, one of the three major feasts in the Jewish calendar. So Jews from all over the world would come together in Jerusalem for the celebration of this feast. It occurred 50 days after the Passover, thus the name pentecost, which means 50. And it was particularly a time of celebration and heart high rejoicing as it marked the celebration of the ingathering of the first wheat harvest. Sometimes it was called the festival of the harvest. And so it was symbolic and a very high time of rejoicing and celebration in this context of Jews from all over the world. The Bible tells us, coming together for this celebration. We had this little band of believers hiding away in a room in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus, there in prayer, quietly waiting, we pick up the story. Acts chapter 2. When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind. And it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as if fire, fire distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this psalm the multitude came together. And they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were amazed and wondered, saying, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes, Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and all the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene. And visitors from Rome, both Jews and Proselytes, Cretians and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean? But others, mocking, said, they are Filled with new wine, Pentecost marks the celebration of the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ. The celebration that was so powerful in its expression, so convicting in its message, that at the end of this second chapter of the Book of Acts, we read that over 3,3000 souls were born into the kingdom of God. A powerful expression of life, a wave of glory never seen before in the life of a believing community before the Church of Jesus. Over the centuries, this celebration of Pentecost has become like the communion that we celebrated last week, a remembrance of a time of celebrating, an event of way back when, rather than a reality that was meant to be lived in. Today we live, brothers and sisters, in a very special time in the economy of God. All around the world in this last century, God has been pouring out His Holy Spirit. Many have seen the charismatic movement of the past few decades as an express fulfillment, even as this experience In Acts chapter 2 was of the prophecy that Joel gave in verse 17, it shall be in the last days, God declares, and I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days, I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy. And all around us we see the activity of the Holy Spirit raising forth new life. Today, if you will be an analyst of the growth of the Church of Jesus around the world, you will see that it is in the place where an openness toward the moving of the Holy Spirit has been embraced, that the church is growing most rapidly. As you know, anyone who reads the papers or magazines, the mainline institutional churches in the world are hurting, losing membership without exception. And yet God, where his Spirit has been embraced, continues to grow the church. And this century. The church in Latin America began in 1900 with 5,000 believers. 1980, there were some 25 million Protestant believers in Latin America, most of whom were of the Pentecostal persuasion. The church in Africa, the largest and fastest growing church in the world today, is 85% Pentecostal. All around the world, where the movement of the Holy Spirit has been welcomed, God is raising up his church. And even in this country, we have seen the activity of the Holy Spirit that has been brought under the umbrella of the charismatic movement in these last 20 years that has had a remarkable influence not just on the institutional church, but on the nation at large. In fact, you remember Time magazine in the past five years, has had a Couple of different blaze about the awakening of the church today. We are fortunate and I believe, very privileged to live in a time of outpouring. I don't know about you, but I find myself continually running into people who want to know what is Northway Christian Community all about and where do we stand on issues like this? As though the Holy Spirit were an issue. God help us. Holy Spirit's an issue. The other day we had a gentleman come in to show us a Xerox copying machine that we were considering purchasing for the community. And this was a black brother, came in and going like this a lot. I saw him looking at my books there and trying to get a feel for what was happening. And he finally sat down and he had shaded glasses on, and it was kind of hard to see what his eyes were doing. He looked over at me and he said, this new church you got going here, huh? I said, yeah. Lord's had us together about. This was about two months now. And I saw him just working up. He said, well, what do you think about the Holy Spirit? I said, the. The by word. Praise the Lord. Oh, that guy jumped up. Amen. And he was excited that let him go. He was really roaring after that, but, boy, he worked his way in. Didn't want to step on my toes. Praise the Lord for that. I'm sure you've had to ask. Had that question asked him. You. What do you think about the Holy Spirit out there at Northway Christian Community today? I want us to look at this Pentecostal experience as is described for us in the second chapter of Acts, so that we might not just understand it, not just analyze it, and come to a sort of a mental appreciation of it, but that we might come into the expression of that experience that God intends for us. Amen. I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, God did not birth the church in this rush of the Holy Spirit, only to say, now you just go ahead and roll on for the next 2000 years. He birthed the church in the same fashion that he wanted the church to live. And those who would say that this was a once for all experience, never to be repeated again, are cutting themselves off from the life of God that's essential to live this life that Jesus calls us to. Without the Holy Spirit's enabling, you are destined to a life of frustration. Without the Holy Spirit's filling, you'll never rise to the level of fulfillment that God has purpose for you. From the foundations of the earth. I yearn that we be open today to hear this word. I Want us to look at three things. The qualities of this Pentecostal gathering, the questions that it raised in the minds that were there, and the quickening that it brought forth in the hearts of those who heard it. What are the qualities of a Pentecostal church? Now we have to be honest and say, when we think of a Pentecostal church, how many of you are putting up your hand with. Say you have something in your mind. It may not be right up in the front, but something in your mind of a tent somewhere with a lot of dust on the floor and it's hot, some very heavy set people are going like this with the fans. And, you know, and we get this right, and we get. We have deep seated in us, from whatever sources, a bias against what it means to be Pentecostal. I want us to see what the word of God says that it means to be a Pentecostal Church. Verse 1. The Day of Pentecost had come. They were all together in one place. That is a re expression of verse 14 of chapter 1. All these, with one accord, devoted themselves to prayer. A Pentecostal church is a church that is together in the unity of the Spirit, in the calling of prayer. The Pentecostal Church gives itself to being together for the purpose of prayer and waiting on the Lord. We've had only one message here at Northway about prayer. And you can count on the fact that there's going to be a lot more of them. Because what I'm going to say here today will fall right at the end of this podium. If it weren't for the power of prayer. This community was birthed in prayer. It will grow in prayer. And a Pentecostal church is one where the people are together for the purpose of prayer. I find that it's very tempting for us to leave here on Sundays and disperse and call here or maybe and we cross paths at Viola's or whatever. But it's very difficult for us to lay down our lives and come together for the purpose of God's own speaking to our hearts. I know how many of you noticed that there's a prayer meeting at Strauss on Wednesday morning. There's a prayer meeting at Hedwig Drive every morning. There's some other prayer meetings that are beginning to be formed in homes. The prayer groups that take place, as Grant said, in the home group meetings. Prayer one Spirit, one spirit of prayer. Second characteristic we see in verses two through four. I've already read it. I won't reiterate, but a Pentecostal church is one that is open to the manifestation of prayer or manifestation of the Spirit. One of the things that delights me, Noah, when we come here in the morning is, and I wonder how many of you agree with this. It's exciting to come because you're not really sure what's going to happen, right? I mean, you're not really sure what's going to take place here. You don't have something in front of you to tell you who's going to jump up here next. And I don't know who's going to jump up there next. But the Lord is free to move among us as the Spirit of God would lead. And one of the marks of a Pentecostal church is that is it expects the unexpected. I love the privilege of coming with an expectation in my heart that God's going to do something today. How many of you came expecting a blessing today? Amen. And we need to be a people that expects God to move. And I want you to know that what happened here in Acts chapter two had no precedent in all of scripture. There's no precedent for this kind of a thing where the Spirit of God moved like a mighty rushing wind and tongues of flame appeared. And they all spoke in foreign languages. You just see that gathering and suddenly one of the disciples said, wait a minute, this is a little strange. I'm getting out of here. You know, they were open. They were open to being together. They were open for the manifestation of the Spirit of God. We say, well, does that mean that every Pentecostal church is going to be speaking in tongues and all this kind of thing? It may mean that, but I believe that God would want to do many more unexpected things. There's unexpected relationships that are being built right here today. There's unexpected prayer power that's being released. We've had a few testimonies of that already this morning. The Pentecostal Church expects God to do the unexpected. The third thing in the Pentecostal Church begins in verse 5 through verse 13. In fact, look at verse 11. Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. A Pentecostal church is one that is open to declaring the greatness of God. Where the praise and worship of the most High is freely given and offered up, where the characteristic of the people is that they lift up. The name of Jesus may be new for some of you, as it has been for me some years back to say praise the Lord. And I confess that sometimes that seems to be sort of a jargon word among people who are moving in the Spirit. And yet I'd have to say that the reason why people say praise the Lord is because the Holy Spirit within brings forth that expression of love for God. And it just compels you to want to say praise the name of the Lord. It comes forth. And the Pentecostal Church is one where the people are open and declaring the wonderful works of the living God. I pray that we'll grow in that. We have much to learn in that area. We're all just kind of finding our way along right now. Some of you who've come from a more open background, perhaps, and God's led you here, be patient, encourage others to come forth. The Lord is teaching us all how to grow in this dimension together. The fourth thing that we see is that a Pentecostal church in verses 14 through 36, is one that is open to the word of God being proclaimed. I love this sermon. We could spend the whole morning just going through this sermon and still not begin to exhaust the truth that Peter comes forth. In These words, verses 14 through 36, he enlarges Scripture. He takes prophecy and he sets it in context. And I want to say that a church that is open to the enlargement of scripture in their midst is one that will see the Word of God taking flesh among them. The Word of God, Peter said, these are ones who are fulfilling the scripture. These are ones of whom God spoke through the prophets back then. And now they are becoming the fulfillment of God's Word, the Word being made flesh. That's what takes place in a Pentecostal church. And I appreciate the fact, you know, Pentecostal churches have been accused of being very light on the doctrine and real heavy on the experience. But I believe a church that is truly Pentecostal knows what's taking place in the Word and can expound it and bring it forth and enlighten and enlarge. And I appreciate what Peter did here because he explained so that the men who were there and the women who had seen what was happening not only understood, but, as we'll see later, received themselves. That's what takes place in a Pentecostal church. Finally, we see in verses 37 through 47 that a Pentecostal church is one that is open to a response in their hearts. It's open to a response in their hearts. What an exciting thing is describing those verses, verse 41. So those who received His Word were baptized. And there were added that day about 3,000 souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread. And the prayers and fear came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they sold the possessions of goods and distributed them to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were finding salvation. You see, brothers and sisters, we call ourselves a community. But Northway Christian community will never be a community apart from the enabling of the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal Church is one that is open for the enabling of the Holy Spirit and responding to the love the Holy Spirit pours forth in our hearts to bring forth this dimension of life. There are many, many things that I have seen over the years of watching churches spring up. Many churches that were well intended in this matter of community. But they never seemed to move into what God had intended for because they sought to do it by just laying down principles. And I'll tell you, the letter of the word kills, but the Spirit gives life, right? That's what we need to be living in is the Spirit. Now, in this little survey, these five opens that I mentioned, open to being together in the spirit of prayer, open to the manifestation of the Spirit of God, open to worship and praise, open to the enlargement of the word of God, and open to respiration responding to the Spirit. If those five little descriptive phrases in the scripture describe a Pentecostal church, if they describe what God means when he says, this is what I intended in the birthing of a church in my spirit, then by that definition, I want to count myself as a member of a Pentecostal church. How about you? I have no room in my understanding for Pentecostalism, where people are eliminated whether or not they speak in tongues. On that basis alone, I don't believe God has any room for dead. You know, I'll tell you something. There's as much death and appraise the Lord hallelujah from a cold heart as there is someone who just sits there and says this, right? There's nothing magic in that. It takes the softening of the heart by the Holy Spirit and an openness to walk in what God would supply. I want to say to you that I believe that a Pentecostal church, as we've seen it described here, is the only kind of church that Jesus is really interested in building. And that's why I believe it's essential for us to see this and begin to open ourselves to move in. And I will tell you that the pathway to life as a spirit filled believer is only possible as we begin to move together in this matter of Pentecostal living. You can seek for righteousness, you can be as disciplined as the day is long. You can be as devoted and as pleasant and as friendly as you want to be. But you're going to find yourself only moving so far in the things of the God until you open yourself up and say, lord, I need to be filled with this Holy Spirit. I need to be enabled by this life. I need to find myself embracing this enabling work that you've given through the Holy Spirit. I want us to see that that isn't always the response of people. We've seen the qualities that's looking at the questions. The questions. There are three responses that I've underlined here in my Bible. Verse 7 and they were amazed of verse 12. And all were amazed. The word in Greek for amazed is existemi, which means literally to be beside oneself. I mean, you are so astonished that you are almost out of yourself with astonishment. I'll tell you. I was talking to a friend a few months back who happened to be Presbyterian, and she had been. She and her husband had been invited to a Presbyterian Charismatic Communion convention, pcc. And this was out in New Jersey. And they were new in the things of God, new Christians. They went out and to New Jersey to see this gathering. They walked in and the spirit of God was moving in that group. The Lord was ministering love to people. And she said to her husband, I've never dreamed that this was happening in the Presbyterian Church. And you can say that in any denomination, Methodist, Episcopalian, many, many people don't even know it's out there. And should they walk into a gathering like this today, they too would be literally amazed that God by his Spirit is moving in the hearts of people, bringing forth life in this nation. These early disciples and these early Jews rather, who were coming to see these disciples, they were amazed. They had never seen. These were traditionalists from the word God. They were used to doing their religious thing. And when they saw the express manifestation of the Spirit of God, they were amazed. Now, you know what can happen in your amazement is you can become preoccupied with it. I've addressed that from this platform before, that there's an unhealthiness about being preoccupied with manifestations. Folks, I only want to say this about that subject today. I think the saddest thing about that is that when you're running around looking for all these manifestations, the saddest thing is that God all the while wants to manifest his life through you. And you need just to stay put long enough for him to do that. So there was an amazement among some people then the second response was one of perplexity. Perplexity. What in the world is going on? The Greek word there, as I looked it up, meant to be at a total loss as to what, what was happening. Now if we were going to be just bare faced honest here today. Some of you have come here and you're at a total loss. You've never seen people raise their hands or clap. The Lord never hurt people. In fact, it was difficult for you to turn your chair in a circle and pray and this is too much for you. And I just thank the Lord that you're having the courage to stay through the teaching because it could get worse. But there's a perplexity that comes upon some of us even today when we see these things and we wonder what is going on here. Because it's so foreign to see these things take place. What things? The manifestation of the life of God, praising the Lord, loving one another. It's so foreign and it's so tragic that it is foreign, isn't it? The church has been meant to be that way all through the centuries. I want to say two things this morning. Some of you say, well, I was never perplexed in my old church. How come? Because you knew exactly what was going to happen. You knew exactly what was going to take place. And perplexity only comes when something new that you don't fully understand takes place. Right. I was perplexed when the pirates started to win. When something happens that you're not accustomed to, it causes perplexity. Here are the two things I want to say about it. Perplexity, and the Greek word has this nuance in it, also carries with it the idea of doubt. You doubt what is taking place. You doubt that this is a genuine thing. You doubt that this is really of the Lord. And perplexity, which leads to doubt can then ultimately lead to division. The first thing I want to make very clear is that perplexity is dispelled by clear teaching. Peter goes on through these next verses to describe in detail what is happening to these people. And I so appreciate his take and I believe he said a lot more than this. But he described and he fully taught on this subject. And over the months that we're together, there's going to be a great deal More teaching on this matter of spirit filled living. I think the greatest grief that was caused in my heart over the years of my ministry has been the ignorance of God's people on this subject. Because I've seen them laboring under this I want to be a good Christian mindset when all, all along God said, I'll make you one by my Spirit. I've had conversations with people who just didn't understand this at all. And they thought to be, quote, charismatic meant that you had to do a certain set of things and you had to speak in tongues in a certain way and you had to do all these things by prescribed fashion. But God says in spirit, spiritual life is the life that I've given to you that you might live by me. And perplexity, confusion, doubt is dispelled by clear teaching. The second thing I want to say is perplexity can really take place over doctrine rather than over reality. There's a lot of doctrine out there that needs to be sifted through, isn't there? Some say, well, you're baptized in the Holy Spirit when you come into the body of Christ. And some say, well, you're baptized once in the Holy Spirit and that's all you have to think about it. Others say that while you need to speak in tongues, the minute you're baptized in the Spirit, others say that you don't. And all these doctrines start spinning around and you know what you know. In other words, you know where you're coming from in that. But the important thing is what is the reality of this life and the Spirit in you? Is the Holy Spirit alive in you? Are you seeing these same things today? Place in you and your doctrine will line up if you're living in the reality. And I believe that we'll establish firm doctrine here, folks. I'm not afraid of the doctrine. In fact, I believe that sound doctrine opens us rather than closes us off in the life of God. Sound doctrine is a foundation to go on, not something to be feared. Listen, if our experience doesn't hold up to our biblical doctrine, then we, we don't really have anything to say, do we? But I believe that we do. There's a third response here. Some are amazed, some are perplexed. But others mocking said, others mocking said. Sad as it is, it's very true that there are many today, even in evangelical circles, other born again Christians who feel find the Pentecostal church to be a target of mocking, to be the butt of their sort of intellectualized jokes. I was last summer at the CSSM Mission down in Myrtle Beach. I'm not sure who went with me. We went to a little church called the Chapel by the Sea to try to get some supplies together. And the pastor, now this is in South Carolina, the pastor was one of those good old boys from South Carolina. He leaned over his desk, and I'm sure it was one of the brothers that was here with me. He looked at me and said, you speak in tongues? Looked at, you know, and I was really. I mean, I was just talking about banners and magic markers, you know, and he said, And I'll tell you, it's funny as I talk about it, but he was dead serious. And I was expecting the sheriff to come through there. And this man was. He was so defensive, he was so angry, he was so bitter. All I want to mention, magic marker, I'm a member of the church I love. And my response was, well, I just love Jesus. And he said, I want to know you speak in tongues. Well, he finally pushed me far enough. I just said to him, if that's the dividing line between us, if God's given me that spiritual gift and that means I can't fellowship with brother, then I'm in the wrong place. And I had to leave and go somewhere else. And in evangelical circles, it's not uncommon to find that kind of animosity. And I want to say to you this morning that I believe that what has taken place in American Christianity and this last decade is that Jesus Christ, in response to the prayers of his people, has gone to the Father of Glory and said, pour out again the Holy Spirit, Father. And the Father has done that in the church in this nation in particular, but all around the world. And the Church of Jesus Christ, the institutional church, rather than embracing and opening themselves up to what God would do, have stood back at a distance and scrutinized and mocked and torn apart the work of God. And I believe with all my heart that this was God's final word to the church, that if they didn't respond to what he was pouring out in his Holy Spirit, that he was going to pour it out elsewhere. And I want to tell you something. We're here today. You're sitting here today, because somehow in many of your institutional churches, there's not that response. And you want to go somewhere where you can live and move in the life of the Holy Spirit. And it's happening. And I love the people in those churches. No one misunderstand what I'm saying. And I believe that many of them are sincere believers in Jesus Christ, and they're going to go to heaven. But as the brethren sang, there's so much more. There's so much more than what happens when you first ask Jesus into your life. And I grieve. And I labored in that institutional church for years before I even came to the North Hills, that God would have freedom to move by his spirit. And not seeing that take place, we have no alternative. I believe God is fed up with seeing the charismatics. You know, that term means so many different things, but I'm talking about the Pentecostals, according to this definition, pigeonholed. I'll tell you, I just got so angry when, because I was a, quote, Charismatic, I almost had an assigned seat at the meetings I'd go to. That's where the charismatics sit so they don't get out of hand. You know what I'm saying? And the church seemed to be doing us a favor by saying, well, you can have your meeting, but don't let it seep into the rest of us. Brethren, it is not simply something that God has poured out on a few. The Holy Spirit's life is not an option. God intended for us all to live in the fullness of life. And I humbly thank him. And I don't take one little bit of credit to myself, nor to you, for what God has done. All we have done has been to open ourselves up and say, lord, I'm available. I lay aside my preconceptions. I lay aside what I was told I was supposed to believe. And I just received what you have for me. That really is the third thing here. We've seen the qualities, we've seen the questions. But there was a quickening that took place. Place. Look at verse 37. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do? Oh, that. That would be the word in our lips today, Lord, what shall we do in response for this Holy Spirit that you've poured forth? What shall I do? It needs to be said to some of you this morning that God cares about your response, whether or not you call yourself a Pentecostal Christian. Some of you have had an experience back five years ago, but you're not walking in this life. Some of you have never really said, lord, I'm open. God would say to you today, would you be available? Would you let the Holy Spirit have his way? Whoever we are, we need to be refreshed day by day in this thing, in this life that God calls us to in the Holy Spirit, our response, our quickening needs to be answered to. And I pray this morning as we conclude that you'll see that this, that God poured out by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was meant to be the energy whereby you live a life of fullness and a life of service and a life of ministry and a life of joy. What was their response? Look with me. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now this was spoken to those who had never asked Christ into their heart. That's the biblical pattern. I believe that that's what God wants. He wants us to repent. That means to be, to have a change of mind and turn from where we've been to see that God loves us, to be baptized as a step of obedience to the command of Jesus. By the way, we're going to begin next Sunday, I believe, to have a three week teaching on baptism and then as a third, repent, be baptized and receive. You will receive the gift. Faith. Now, for those who are here today who have never come into a relationship with Jesus, I want to say to you, you're going to have an opportunity when we conclude to open your heart up, excuse me, to the love of God in Jesus, that God wants to manifest his life in your heart today. He wants to show you the reality of his life, forgiveness of sins. But those of you who have received Christ and have been walking as a Christian but have found yourself not really filled as you know, he wants you to be filled. The next two steps, I believe we can say this, but it involves a step of obedience, all the baptism and faith, the receiving of the Spirit. I want to give you an opportunity this morning to take that step. After we conclude here, a couple of the brethren are going to be in the small nursery room over here to my left. And they're going to be able to sit down with some of you. They have a little bit of some information to share with you and they'll pray with you that you would be opened up to the experience of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Because God wants you to enter in and then to walk, to take that step and then move on. That's his desire. That's what he wants. You know, I find it in conclusion difficult to summarize this message because there's so much here. But I want to say this. Jesus Christ said that we were to be his disciples until he returned in John, chapter 12. I'm sorry, chapter 14, verse 12. The Bible says when Jesus is speaking, he says, the things that I did, you will do, and even greater things. We are called Christians. Who know