Pentecost Sunday

Pastor Gideon Lee

Acts 2:1-21

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God- fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine. ’”

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “ ‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

18 Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

20 The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

21 And everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved. ’

The word "wind" in verse 2, rûah actually means Holy Spirit.

Pentecost was a Jewish event. Every Jew was legally bound by law to observe three festivals. The Passover, the Tabernacle and Pentecost. Pentecost occurs 50 days after the Passover. Jews from all over will gather at Jerusalem. It is also an agricultural festival, the beginning of the barley harvest. Everyone was in the mood to celebrate. It's a big reunion at Jerusalem.

120 of them came and were at the upper room. You must understand, this is after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. At this point Jesus has ascended and Jesus told them to wait. They have come through despair at the crucifixion, hope at the resurrection and is getting excited with anticipation. Jesus had appeared to many by then but they were told to wait.

Jesus wanted to give them the gift of the Holy Spirit. This waiting was not the sitting down, passive and calm. They were in the upper room praying. They gathered to pray, to wait.

Then they heard the rushing wind. It filled the whole room. How many of you heard the howling wind at about 1.00am? I was preparing the message and I heard the sound of the wind. I looked outside and saw the trees violently swayed. It was like that. The Holy Spirit came and they saw tongues of fire descending. The bible says they began to speak in tongues. So much so that the outsiders were in amazement because they were speaking in the language of the peoples.

There were as usual cynics. Some say they were drunk. Peter stood up to address the crowd. He began to preach one of his greatest message as 3,000 people got saved under the anointing of the Holy Spirit that day. Peter said it is too early in the morning at 9.00am to be drunk.

He quoted the prophesy from the book of Joel.

Joel 2:28 The Day of the Lord

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your old men will dream dreams,

your young men will see visions.

There are some truth I want to draw on from here. Important truth if we want our church to grow.

1. The disciples were all in one accord.
There must be unity or it will not happen. I am not saying there is no unity but here must be a greater measure of unity in our church. But that does not mean uniformity. It does not mean all of you must have the same hair style as the pastor. We need to be united in spirit. We can have our differences but we need to love one another even if there are some people we don't like. If we want a mighty move of God, we need to have unity of mind, heart and purpose. Many things are never worth fighting about. Church splits are often attributed to the most minor of issues. Who suffers? The church of God suffers.

2. They were all praying together.
The fact is that they were in one accord praying when God poured out his Holy Spirit. I measure the strength of a church by its Prayer Meeting attendance. There is a certain dynamic when they come together corporately to pray. I can understand the many reasons for not coming as I have struggled with this before. It's boring, I'm tired or busy. For TOP if you intend to serve in any ministry, you have to be found in prayer meeting. Only once a month, minimum requirement. Come together and pray if we want God to move. Look at all the churches that are growing, the secret is prayer. It's not the Pastor or the programmes. We need to be a church that comes together and pray. We used to have about 40 and now averages 30. Why? Maybe when you don't have a Pastor, you prayed harder. Some churches even do away with prayer meeting, this will not happen at TOP, amen?!? Youth, sometimes you tell me, Pastor, cannot come because got tuition. Young Adults, and everyone else, we need to be found praying in the house of God.

3. Unity, prayer and finally Repentance.
There must always be a call to repentance. John the baptist had only one sermon. Repent. Can you imagine your pastor week in week out preaches the same message? But that was what John the baptist did. Repent and be baptised. That has always been the central message of the church. Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

When they heard Peter preached they were cut to the heart. Peter told them to repent and be baptised. Acts 2:37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

I believe when we go wrong, we need to come back to the Lord. If we want our church to move in a greater dimension we need repentance in the church.

We are going to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We are an Assemblies of God church and we believe speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I am not here to debate on this as there are many scriptures to support this so this is a gift that is for all.

Some of you may have some preconceived idea or doubt like you worry whether it's the Holy Spirit or an evil spirit. The bible says when you ask from the father bread, he will not give you stone.

When you receive the Lord as your saviour, you already have the Holy Spirit. What happens at the baptism of the Holy Spirit is like flipping a switch that empowers the manifestation. It is like the lights in this sanctuary. When you switch off the lights, is there still electricity? Yes, but when you flip the switch you activate the lights. Speaking in tongues is a heavenly language that edifies you and the body. It's a blessings and an empowerment of God to live an empowered life. But this is not all. It's just the beginning. You will also show the fruit of the Holy Spirit over time. It is a gift but you must open your mouth to speak in tongues. It won't happen if you keep your mouth shut. It is a gift but the timing is of God. You may be filled immediately or it can happen later wherever you are when you worship God. In my case, I asked but never received it until one day it happened in the shower.

It is the sovereign move of God. Please do not give up if you do not receive it immediately. God is sovereign and timing is His.

It happens in an atmosphere of praise and worship. Seek God and God will know what to do.