The Power of Pentecost

I like that song because it says, "I will." We have to make a decision, don't we? Come to the house of the Lord to say, "I will praise him. I will lift him up." Man, I know we can come in so many times from different areas, different way walks of life, different job situations, different home situations, whatever it is. And and sometimes it just takes that I will in your spirit to say, you know what? I'm going to get to the house of the Lord and I am going to praise and worship him.

And I feel that today that you have come to do that. So thankful for faithful saints of God. Good to see you in Bible class. Good to see several guests with us. And we welcome you today. It's so good to have you with us. Amen. We just invite you to enjoy the presence of the Lord and let his word touch our hearts. Today we have been studying uh started a couple weeks ago uh studying the book of acts not so much in a historical sense but just looking at different aspects of the book of acts different things that were happened last week brother Carden actually got ahead of us because uh I wasn't feeling well and so I asked him I had already asked him to teach previously and so we kind of swapped dates and he did a lesson on miracles signs and wonders and thankful for all those things that we read in the book of Acts.

And today we are going to look at the power of Pentecost. The power of Pentecost will be the title of our lesson. And so from Acts chapter 1, I want to read verses four and five and then we'll go to Acts chapter 2 and read the first four verses there. Acts 1 verse4 says and being assembled together with them. It's talking about Jesus commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the father which saith he you have heard of me for John truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the holy ghost not many days hence.

In verse eight, he said, 'But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you will be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and into the uttermost part of the earth. And then from Acts chapter 2 and verses 1-4, you could probably quote it most of you. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came from sound a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.

It filled all the house where they were sitting. There appeared unto them clothed in tongues like as a fire. It sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. Pentecost, the very word is is key to our identity as spiritfilled believers. It's where we get our name of this church, Apostolic Pentecostal Church, because we believe in a Pentecostal experience. The thing that happened there. Now, it's interesting. The the original original concept of Pentecost did not start in Christianity.

It started in Judaism. It was a Jewish feast day. The word pinto referring to 50. And so, it was a day that was celebrated 50 days after the Passover. If you remember your Jewish history, the Passover was the night Israel left Egypt. It was the night where the angel was going to go through the land of Egypt and slay all the firstborn. And the exception was made only for those who had killed a lamb, the Passover lamb, and put the blood on its door and on the above the door and on the doorpost.

And when the angel saw the blood, he said, "I will pass over you and pass over that house," leaving that firstborn alive. So we know that that is what happened on that night. And when the death angel came through and all these firstborn were being slain, of course the pharaoh sent Israel out of Egypt and 50 days later, Israel is there in the wilderness of Si and Moses gave them the law. The day he brought the law to them was the day we celebrated or they celebrated Pentecost.

And so those were feast days of remembrance for the Israelites. And it was on the feast of Passover that Jesus offered himself as the Passover lamb. He was there to be crucified. And so it is very interesting all these events that take place in Jesus' life and ministry. They were all being foreshadowed in the Old Testament and Jesus fulfilled them on these same dates. So on that day of the Passover, right before the Passover was when the true lamb of God was offered for his blood to cover our sins and to save us.

50 days later on Pentecost, the Holy Ghost was poured out on those in the upper room. The promise had been given in Jeremiah 31:33. But this shall be a covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, sayeth the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So just as the law came 50 days after the Passover, so 50 days after the crucifixion and resurrection, the law was being written in the hearts of men by the spirit.

So really it came again but it came in a much different much more powerful way. Ezekiel explained further in Ezekiel 36. A new heart also will I give you. I will put a new spirit within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. I will give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes or in my law and you shall keep my judgments and do them. So in a in a very real way, Pentecost was a reenactment, if you will, or a fulfillment of what happened in Israel when Moses brought them the law.

The writer of Hebrews, I think, sums it up best in Hebrews 8:6-10. He said, "But now hath Jesus, now hath he Jesus obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant." Now he's talking about a better covenant than the one that Moses gave. He said because it is established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been covenant had been faultless, so no problems with it, then should no place have been sought for a second. But finding fault for them, he say, "Behold, the days cometh, sayeth the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in that day when I took them out of the land to lead them by hand out of the land of Egypt, because they didn't continue in that covenant, and I regarded them not," said the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make after those days, and then he quotes Ezekiel, I will put my laws in their mind. I will write them in their hearts. I will be them unto them a god and they shall be my people. So that is the significance of Pentecost. And I don't think we overemphasize the receiving of the Holy Ghost as some detractors of Pentecostals might think. That's all you all talk about. You are always focusing on this receiving the Holy Ghost. But this was God's plan.

This was God's purpose. As we just read from Jeremiah, from Ezekiel, and you can find other passages in the Old Testament, it was pointing to a time when God said, "I am going to put my spirit in my people." That's the significance of Pentecost. God had a plan to re redeem mankind. And there were two fundamental things to it. Number one, he was going to destroy the power of sin. And Jesus did that on the cross that had been over mankind. And at the same time, he was going to take sinful people who had born in sin, shapen in iniquity, and take those people and transform their lives and make them righteous by the power of the Holy Ghost.

2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, "For he hath made him," talking about Jesus, "to be sin for us." So we who were sinful, our sins were c put upon him. He knew no sin. And here's why he did that. That we might made be made the righteousness of God in him. So Jesus, who's by nature and and by birth was holy and righteous, he took upon himself the sins of all mankind on the cross so that he could make us righteous and he could redeem us from our sinful natures.

And he defeated Satan in the power of sin. But not he didn't stop there. He intended to transform his church into a people that would express his righteousness. That transformation is only possible through the new birth experience. He couldn't li rely on carnal flesh to say, "I took care of the sin. Now what I want you to do is go out and earn your salvation or or you go out and live righteously on your own." No. Pentecost says, "I'll give you the power to do that." Aren't you thankful for Pentecost?

Aren't you thankful the power of God that he has placed in our lives? Ephesians 5:25 says this, "Christ, he loved the church and he gave himself for it that he might sanctify." That's to separate it out and to cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing that it would be holy and without blemish. We can't do that on our own. We can't reach to that point.

We can't sanctify ourselves without the help of God. We can't cleanse ourselves without the washing of his word. We can't present ourselves as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or no blemish and being holy without the power of the Holy Ghost in our lives. So, we don't we're not overemphasizing Pentecost because I don't think you can. It is the key thing that we need in our lives. The outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost marked the birth of the church. And that same outpouring still happens today.

And it marks the entrance into the kingdom with of new believers. When God changes your life, when he steps in and he he lives in your heart through the power of the spirit, that marks an entrance into his kingdom. Simply put, Paul said in Romans 8:9, "Now if any man have not that spirit of Christ, he is none of his." So I don't think you can make Pentecost you you can't minimize it. It is a necessity. We have to have his spirit. Now there's some things about the spirit that we see in the book of acts and we'll we'll talk about four of them.

Um there book of acts as we mentioned chronicles about the first 30 years of the church and and even a corserary reading makes it clear that the Holy Ghost is really the main theme. Even if you're just skimming through it, we see it over and over. We see the workings of the Holy Ghost all throughout the church. And what began at Pentecost was duplicated again and again in the book of Acts. And we see the same outpourings of the spirit, the same results, the same things happening as God's spirit moves.

In Luke 24:49, Jesus had told his disciples to go to Tar in Jerusalem until they be endued with power from on high. And as he poured that power out as we read in Acts 2 and4, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. This is the first thing we learn concerning the coming of the spirit. When the Holy Ghost came, everyone that was there in that room began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance.

And I've talked to people, and you probably have too, that when you mention tongues, they say, "Oh, that's spooky. That's weird stuff." Well, it's Bible stuff. And And you never saw anything in there where those people were saying, "Oh, this is just weird. I don't know what happened. People are talking funny." I mean, some of the unbelievers that were there said, "These guys are drunk." And Peter said, "No, we're not drunk. It's third hour of the day." You know, that was a feast day where some of the Jews would party and whatever.

He said, "That's not happening yet. That we're not there. That's that's we're not drunk as you suppose. We're filled with the Holy Ghost. But they came and they spake with other tongues. Now, is that normal? Is that typical? Well, let's just look and see what we can find. In in Acts chapter 8, the Holy Ghost fell on the Samaritans. And no, the Bible does not say there that they spoke in other tongues. But let's look at that passage just a little bit. It is interesting because the disciples were there.

They were praying and they were doing things among the people and there were great miracles and signs and wonders that were happening. People were being healed and and and Simon the magician was there. He was a detractor but he he was curious to see what was going on because he had the people in his grip really in that town. And when the disciples begin to to move and the Holy Ghost begin to touch lives and people begin to heal, he he was very interested. you know, this could could erode his power base, if you will.

So, he's watching and he's seeing all this stuff going on and he's seeing people being healed. He's witnessing miracles and signs and and he doesn't really say anything. But when Peter comes and he lays hands on people and they receive the Holy Ghost, something happened that impressed him. Now, the Bible doesn't say what it was, but he must have witnessed something because he immediately says, "Give me this power." My guess is they were speaking in other tongues. Bible does not say that. So, we'll leave that at that.

Let's go to another incident. In the book of Acts in chapter 10, Peter goes to the house of Cornelius. Of course, we know that he was a gentile that that was offering up prayers. He believed in God, but he just did not know. And and so, we know the the story. Peter has a vision. and he's sent to the house of Cornelius or they come to him and he goes to to Cornelius's house. Peter begins to preach and there were Jews with Peter that had also come there that they knew these gent but here's what they knew.

They understood when the Holy Ghost fell because they heard Cornelius and his household speak in tongues. Acts 10:44 says this while Peter yet spake these words. So he's still preaching. He's still still going. He's still preaching. I don't know what Peter really expected. I don't know if he was really convinced that they would receive the same thing. But he said while he spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell upon all them which heard his words. And those Jews that were with him, they of the circumcision which were believed were astonished.

Whoa. As many of us came with Peter, they were astonished because that on the Gentiles was also poured out the Holy Ghost for they heard them speak in tongues and magnify God. That was the factor for them that was undeniable. They received the Holy Ghost. In fact, when Peter gets back to Jerusalem and he has to explain, well, Peter, you went and you ate with Gentiles. That's against our traditions. That's against what we Jews do, everything else. And Peter's only defense is, guess what? The Holy Ghost fell on them the same way it did us at the beginning.

And how was I going to refuse that? Heard them speak in tongues. He said, "I can't argue." It's interesting when Paul later on, he's he's in Ephesus and he finds they find believers there and he he begins to talk to them. They're believers that believed in the Gospel of John. and they'd been baptized in John unto repentance and he begins to to preach to them and and explain to them and said, "Well, you know, baptism of John, that's good, but have you been baptized in Jesus name?

Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?" And they said, "We haven't even heard of the Holy Ghost. We don't know what it is." And so, he baptized them in the name of the Lord. Acts 19:5. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. So we see through the book of Acts, there are three definite times and probably four, but three definite times where the Holy Ghost falls.

And it says specifically, "And they spake with tongues." Now to those who question, is that speaking in tongues experience, is it typical? Is it necessary? I have to ask, can you point to any other event in the early church that gives a different result when people are filled with the Holy Ghost? Can you find one? You won't in the book of Acts. I find it interesting a lot of people that talk about the gifts of the spirit will look into the Corinthians and they see the gifts of tongues and they'll see the gift of faith and they'll see the the gift of miracles and the discerning of spirits and they'll see all these spiritual gifts and they see tongues over here and they say, "Well, see that's just it.

Some of us get this gift and some of us get that." Then there's a few of them that speak in tongues and and Paul kind of minimizes that it seems. So that's just really not so important. But you never see a place in the Bible where it says the Holy Ghost fell and they all begin to have a spirit of discernment or the Holy Ghost fell upon them and and immediately they began working miracles and signs because you see there's there's a distinction here. Yes, there is the spirit that comes into our lives and the only evidence the only sign of that that we can find in the book of Acts is that of speaking in other tongues.

And then God will also gift us as we follow after him. And Paul said, "Seek after the best gifts." Well, if I got the Holy Ghost, why am I seeking after gifts? It's not one and the same. When you get the Holy Ghost, you don't automatically get all the the gift of the spirit. When he fills you with the Holy Ghost, he said, "Okay, I'm filling you with the Holy Ghost, and this is the gift you get." You get the Holy Ghost, you get the spirit of God and and that spirit begins to have fruit in your life and it will work in your life.

And as you covet and you seek other gifts of the spirit, God will gift you with them. But this is after you've already got the Holy Ghost. So let's not confuse those issues as some do. I think they use that to kind of minimize this idea here. Here's all all we can say. The Bible has no other record of what happens when people receive the Holy Ghost. And so therefore we have no other practice today. God still pours out his spirit and those filled still speak in other tongues.

The second thing is we see an empowerment of the spirit in the book of acts. It's often been asked. In fact I had someone years ago asked me that. He said I don't understand. And he said, "How do you get a person like Peter who's a rough fisherman, very outgoing, very whatever, and then he denies Jesus and says, "I don't even know him." And he's cursing and swearing, I don't know who this guy is. And and walks away at the crucifixion. And yet 50 days later, he is standing and he's proclaiming, "Repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost." And he's preaching.

And the Bible says in Acts chapter 4, they said they looked at them and they they were unlearned and ignorant men. They didn't know all this stuff. They didn't, you know, they they weren't scholars. They hadn't gone to school. They hadn't studied the word the the way that many of them had. He said, "They're unlearned and ignorant. How could they impact a world and really create an entire new culture that has reshaped the face of Western civilization? How did that all happen?" Well, it did not happen because they sat down and said, "Let's figure out some plan to to make ourselves gay." The disciples had received the power that Jesus had promised.

They had received the Holy Ghost. And that power not only changed them, but it worked through them. The Holy Ghost power produced miracles and signs through those anointed disciples. And I'm thankful that same power is at work in his church today. God didn't begin his church in power only to say now I'm going to take it away and you figure it out yourself. I'm thankful for that. Aren't you Peter or Paul asked this to the Galatians? How is it you began in the spirit? Are you going to now finish in the flesh?

And yet there are people that say, "Well, all that book of Acts stuff and all those miracles and the Holy Ghost falling and and all this stuff that happened and that was for the apostles day." I would say, "Did God plan a church to begin in the spirit only to say, "Okay, now you're on your own. Just do it yourself." I don't think so. In fact, I know it's not true because his power is in this place today. So there was that power evidenced throughout the book of Acts.

You could see it in these people. It was also evidenced by witnesses. Let me ask this. You know, a few con man could not possibly have staged the miraculous events of the book of acts. They couldn't have done it. There were too many witnesses. There were believers. There were doubters. But there were too many people that saw what was going on. And they were present in every event that was recorded from the church's birth in Jerusalem where there were thousands of people in Jerusalem and many of them came to the upper room and heard them speaking in un other tongues say hey check out what's going over here.

So there were thousands of people that were seeing this from the church birth. God captured the attention of the world through the work of the Holy Spirit. And we see that consistently in the book of Acts. In Acts 5, the high priest said to the apostles, he said, "Didn't we tell you command you not to teach in Jesus' name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine." Now, a couple conmen couldn't have done that. Somebody coming up with some idea. He was changing lives through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Things were happening. Paul's standing before a grippa in Acts chapter 26 and he's talking to him and he said the king you know these things he said before whom I I'm speaking three freely of these things he said you know them he said I am persuaded these things are not hidden from you because this thing was not done in a corner people knew about it they saw it and a couple people trying to make up a scam it would have been seen through in very little time.

And then of course the referencing of the spirit throughout the book of Acts. You know, if you took every every instance of the power of the Holy Ghost working in the book of Acts out of the book, there wouldn't be a whole lot left because it was all about the Holy Ghost working through people. His supernatural work in the church from the book of Acts, it it was there. Our Lord's whole purpose in sending the spirit, he said, "I will send it and you shall be witnesses." And and so it was to equip his believers.

The emphasis the early church placed on the Holy Ghost and his works reflect the essentiality of the spirit. Jesus said in John 15:5, he said, "Without me, you can do nothing." And as a church today, we must operate in the power of the spirit. We've got to have it church. Without it, we're nothing more than a social club or a get together, a Bible study group. It will do only so much. But with the spirit, we are a powerful body of believers who can change our world.

You need to believe that if he's given you that Holy Ghost and put it in his life. And so, let's look at some examples of the operation of the spirit through the book of Acts. And we won't go into detail reading stories, but I'm going to mention several different ways the Holy Ghost worked and and we'll point out different places where we we see that happening. Luke, of course, we know he wrote the book of Acts. He also wrote the book of Luke, uh the gospel of according to Luke.

And when you look at the gospel, we hear about the ministry of Jesus. We hear about the miracles that he did. We hear about the teachings he did. We hear about all the great things that he did. And Peter said in Acts 10:38 of Jesus, he said, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him." So that was the template from the book of Acts of Jesus' life.

He was full of the Holy Ghost. Some have said that all the gifts of the spirit dwelt in Jesus constantly. He was able to to discern. He was able to do miracles. He was able to express faith. He was able to to do all of those things that are listed there in the gifts of the spirit. They all dwelt in him. And the Bible says God had given him his spirit without measure. So it wasn't limited like it is to us. We have the Holy Ghost.

Not everyone has all gifts, has all powers and authorities, can do all those things. But in Jesus that was the case. But that same spirit that was the source which Jesus was working it that Holy Ghost in his life he was anointed with that is the same spirit that was poured out on the day of Pentecost. I'm thankful it wasn't a different spirit. I'm thankful it wasn't a third person that Jesus said, "Okay, now Holy Ghost, it's time for you to go do your work." Jesus said, "I am with you.

I shall be in you. the spirit that is within me. The things that I am operating with, it's the same spirit that you are going to have. And the work of the church is simply a continuation of Christ's work on the on the earth. And that's what we see in the book of of Luke. We see the things that Jesus did. And it immediately goes into the book of Acts and begins to tell what Jesus did through his church, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

In fact, Jesus told his people in John, the disciples in John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do, you shall do also." And not only that, but greater works than these shall he do because I go to my father. And so, the same Holy Ghost was upon Jesus, that same power that he had, the almighty God living in him. Because of that, he gave that same power to his church. I'm thankful for the apostles. We also notice they did not preach some new doctrine that they just made up.

They didn't just come up with some idea. Well, let's let's come up with some idea about the Holy Ghost falling. Let's come up with some idea that the spirit of God is now living in our hearts. There are sermons that Luke recorded in the book of Acts, and that's the only place you will see them are well documented, and they were based on holy scripture. When Peter gets up to preach on the day of Pentecost, what does he do? He looks back to Joel chapter 2 and:es 28.

And he said, "And it shall come to pass." He said, "This is that which is spoken by the prophet Joel. Shall come to pass afterwards, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall pro prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions, and upon my servants, and upon the handmaidens of those days, I will pour out my spirit. I'm thankful what he has for his church is nothing different than what Jesus had for himself.

It's the same Holy Ghost, the book of Acts church, the same Holy Ghost they had is the Holy Ghost that is available to us today. God pouring out his spirit was also a fulfilled promise that Jesus made to his followers. We see that Luke's account clearly reveals that what they received was a fulfillment of the promised Holy Ghost. We read that in Acts chapter 1 and:es 4. Jesus said to them, John baptized you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

And you will receive power after that Holy Ghost has come upon you. you shall be witnesses. So it was promised to the disciples in Acts chapter 1. Peter recalled that same promise as he watched Cornelius and received the Holy Ghost. In Acts 11, he declared that this experience was the same one that Joel had promised. Obviously, the Holy Ghost transformed and empowered the disciples. And we saw the miracles and signs and wonders that we heard about last week performed in their ministry. God did do what he promised to do.

He did pour out his spirit that he had promised. And I'm thankful it is still available today because Peter said, "This promise is unto you. It's to your children and it's to them that are far off, even as many in the as our Lord our God shall call." You won't find a scripture where it says that promise is now taken away. Well, I only gave it for a select few and it's no longer available. God is still calling today. So when we look at the Holy Ghost working in the church, another thing we know not notice is the Holy Ghost established the church.

There would not have been a church without the power of the Holy Ghost and it also guided its direction and its growth. The fulfilled promise that the believers receive not only empowered them but it ignited and it established God's church. That Holy Ghost infilling transformed them as we already mentioned from timid and directionless people that were what are we going to do? Our leaders gone and to bold and courageous missionaries that took the gospel to the world and and day by day we see the spirit working in the church through individuals and nothing could contain its growth.

The Holy Ghost moved in prayer meetings in Acts chapter 4. The disciples were preaching and things begin to happen and they got put in jail and they get out and they go back to the house and they begin to pray and rather than pray, Lord, you know, they put us in jail. What do you want us to do? What did they pray? Lord, let the Holy Ghost fall upon us. Let power and signs and wonders be done in the name of Jesus. And the house was shaken and the Holy Ghost come down.

The spirit brought revival and it pushed its way into different cultures in Acts chapter 8 with the Samaritans, Acts chapter 10 with the Gentiles and and religious traditions and in Acts 19 and it pushed its way throughout the world. And none of that would have happened without the spirit's direction. Can I say we need that same spirit in our church today? We need that same spirit in each and every one of our lives because it will work in us to change us to make us to be witnesses for him and to lead us into reaching our world.

And without the Holy Ghost, we're not going to do it God's way. Spirit put words in the mouths of speakers. Talent and experienced public speakers did not create the book of Acts church. So we already said Peter, you know, as a fisherman. He stands up to be the spokesman. what qualifications you know were where where did you get that practice or did not deliver their speeches other than Apollos maybe later on but but it it was others that you know men that like Paul who said you know my speech and it was not with words of men's wisdom I I couldn't talk that way but but men whose souls burned with the Holy Ghost Peter we know was filled with the Holy Ghost in Acts chapter forward.

When he began to speak to the council and to the high priest, the crowd listening to Stephen in Acts chapter 6, the Bible said they could not resist the spirit that was in him. So this anointed preaching and teaching was reaching lives throughout the book of Acts. And can I say anointed teaching and preaching is still what will change hearts and change lives. We can't get away from it. I think I said it Wednesday night, but you know, we can't come to church just to have a nice little homaly.

You know, we're going to give a little lesson out of the book of the Bible and we'll talk about this and how this can impact our lives and then walk away. We need the power of God anointing us as we speak his word. And I'm thankful he still does that for his church. Amen. Aren't you thankful for anointed preaching and teaching of the word of God? things that when you come in, it hits home and it does reach down into our lives. It isn't because somebody prepared something that sounded nice.

It's because the Holy Ghost is working. The Holy Ghost, we see in the book of Ash, initiated and directed the efforts of the church. It gave them direction. It pushed them into different areas. As the new believers left Jerusalem at the conclusion of the celebration of Pentecost, they took this experience with them. And and by sending that spirit throughout Israel to all those people, God orchestrated, if you will, the church's first missionary effort. Even though it wasn't formally organized, it wasn't, "Let's put together a missions board and we'll figure out who goes here." Everybody just went to their homes full of the Holy Ghost and began to preach the gospel.

These new converts passionately carried the news of this wonderful gift throughout the world. And why? because of the power of the Holy Ghost. In addition, those disciples, they remained for a time in Jerusalem, but the Holy Ghost further directed the missionary the work by inspiring preachers to take the gospel to other regions. God sent Philillip to preach to an Ethiopian in the book of Acts. Literally told him, you go down here. What did that? It was the spirit speaking to him. He wasn't just arbitrarily walking through the wilderness on his way heading toward Gaza and and sees a chariot and says, "I think I'll go witness to that guy." No.

God sent him there. The spirit worked in him. What did Paul say? How can they preach unless they be sent? Sent by what? Sent by the power of the Holy Ghost. God working in us. It was the Holy Spirit that that insisted that Peter go to Cesaria and that insisted that that he partake of things that he formerly would say, "No, this is unclean." No, Lord, not me. I don't do that. Well, guess what? I'm about ready to send you some Gentiles and you're going to have to go go to their house, Peter.

So, get over those ideas. The Holy Ghost pushing him. After the church prayed and fasted in in Acts chapter 13, they sent out Paul and Barnabas to do missionary work. Not because they just thought it would be a good idea, but because the spirit said, "Separate unto me those that I have called." The Holy Ghost directing things. We got to have the Holy Ghost, church. And we talk about it in our services. We got to have the Holy Ghost. Yeah. We put together schedules, but the Holy Ghost needs to work.

And we can never just force our way and say, you know, we're going to do it our way. We got to be sensitive to what he wants. Not only did it direct them places, sometimes it stopped them. Peter want Paul wanted to go to Asia. Asia was not yet ready for the gospel evidently because the Holy Ghost forbade them to go there. No, Paul, you're not going there right now. Well, this is where I want to go. No. Another time he sees a vision, man from Macedonia, come over here and help us.

And Paul understands through the spirit, that's where I'm supposed to go. The same spirit desires to direct his church today. Whether it's church planning, whether it's missionary work, or whether it's just you witnessing at work, we need to follow after the spirit if it's going to be effective. You see throughout the book of acts that God empowered his church to be witnesses and to work for him. It clearly reveals that Jesus disciples Jesus empowered them to be witnesses. The first two chapters we've already talked about that initial outpouring.

But the rest of the book decide describes their faith and their actions who carried the message of Jesus to the world. They endured perils of travel and shipwrecks and all different kinds of things. place themselves in harm's way for the sake of spreading the gospel and it raised up people to work in the churches. We know the the situation where there were some issues going on in the church and and spirit told them take holy men filled of the Holy Ghost and let them take care of this situation.

God works to build his church and he does it through the leading of the spirit. And so we see this all throughout this power of the Holy Ghost working, directing, guiding, leading, doing miracles, signs, wonders, preaching, teaching, all the things that it's doing. But here's what else we know. The spirit of God led them and comforted them and gave them strength. Aren't you thankful for that? We come into his house. Yes, he leads. He guides. He helps us. He pushes us. He sends us. He He does all those different things.

But not only that, but he gives joy and peace in our lives, motivation to serve him. Acts chapter nine, it said this. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galile Galilee and Samaria, and they were edified, walking in the fear of the world Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. Aren't you thankful for the comforter that he has sent? You see, I know it's not always about what goes on in this building. And I know it's daytoday work and it's out in the world and it's doing things, but through it all, the Holy Ghost is there with you.

Aren't you thankful for that? Yeah, we come back for a refreshing and we come back to to to get into his word and to study it, but I'm thankful he never leaves and he never forsakes us. Another time Paul the Bible says in Acts chapter 19 18:9 he said the Lord spake to Paul in night by a vision and here's what he said be not afraid but speak don't hold your peace I am with you and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee don't worry about it Paul I'm with you think of another time when Paul's in a shipwreck and he said the angel of the Lord stood by me last night you thankful the times the Lord stands by you through the power of the Holy Ghost.

This isn't anything new. He was doing it 2,000 years ago in the book of Acts. He's still doing it today. So, what we've seen is that throughout the book of Acts, the Holy Ghost more than any other factor is what made the apostolic church Pentecostal. And if we are going to be an apostolic Pentecostal church, it's only going to be as we let the Holy Ghost work in us. The power received in chapter 2 was the power that worked miracles. It was the power that changed lives.

It was the power that overcame principalities and powers. It's the power that directed the church's mission. It's the power that gave comfort and strength to the members and that caused the gospel to reach the world. Furthermore, the mission of the church has not changed. It is no different from that first day when they rushed home to share the good news with their family. The working of the spirit was what made the message of the church powerful and the mission of the church possible. It still takes that today.

Aren't you thankful for the Holy Ghost? that comforter as Jesus said, that teacher, that guide. Let's stand. I'm thankful that Holy Ghost is still available today. If you don't have it, you can have it before you leave this building. God has not changed. He still desires to change the world, but he does it through changing people by the power of the gospel. That's got to be our focus, church. the power of the Holy Ghost to change lives through the gospel. And when we look at our current world and the situations around us, I realize that the means and methods and all the things of that man has tried to do, we understand it has fa failed.

What our world needs is the power of the Holy Ghost. We are not going to win the world with our politics. You're not going to win the world with your Facebook posts. You're not going to win it by any other means but being filled with the spirit of God and letting it direct us to reach out to others. Of course, we know the good news is that promise is for whosoever will let them come. And if we go, they will. Why don't you lift a hand and ask him to help us?

Lord, I pray that each and every one of us would get a vision of what the church can be, but not only that, but what our individual lives can be if we will submit ourselves to the power of the Holy Ghost. And we will let it work in our lives. Let it lead us, guide us, comfort us, direct us. Hallelujah. And that we will let it work through us to touch our world. We pray it in Jesus name. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Well, it feels good in here because the Holy Ghost is in here. I feel it today. His power, his spirit. Amen. Why don't you take a few minutes? We'll take a little break here before we go into worship time. Amen. Greet some people around you. And I mean, let's just come expecting what God's going to do in the next hour.