The Purpose Of Pentecost

there's a lot in that song a lot we could point out a lot that we could talk about talk about his glory filling this place said our hearts are prepared and then it said Lord let your spirit take control amen that takes surrendering on my part right to say Lord not what I want but what you want I want your spirit to touch our lives and your spirit to work and that's what Pentecost is all about that's what Apostolic Pentecostal church is all about we want him in charge we want him working in our lives we want Jesus touching lives and directing our paths and what we do Jesus name good to see everyone in the house of the Lord and you welcome you to this Bible class on this Sunday morning and looking forward to the word of the Lord and what he is

going to do for us good thank you to those that have joined us online welcome you to open your hearts and your minds to the word of God and let it touch you today I'm going to read from Acts chapter 1. first few verses there and then the first few verses from Acts chapter 2. we've studied the life of Jesus the ministry of Jesus we talked about his teaching his miracles we talked about his passion talked about the last days on Earth and then we've looked at the spirit and what the spirit of the Holy Ghost coming has done and so we're going to conclude that today Acts chapter 8 and verse 1 Luke writes the former credits of I made o Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day which he was taken up and then here

here is really the key to the whole series it said after that he through the Holy Ghost had given Commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen so he was taken up and then he sent the Holy Ghost to continue his work to whom also he showed himself alive after his Passion by many infallible proves being seen of them 40 days and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God and being assembled together with them he commanded them that they do not part from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which saith he you have heard of me for John baptized with water but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence he said in verse 8 he said but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be Witnesses

unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and in Samaria unto the uttermost part of the Earth and then over to chapter 2 Acts chapter 2 and verse 1 and when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one Accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing Mighty Wind it filled all the house where they were sitting and they were appeared unto them cloven 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 this morning we want to look at the phenomena of Pentecost and significance for us today Pentecost that word comes from the word Penta which means 50 or 50 days it is 50 days after what we would refer

to as Easter or Resurrection Sunday and so it was a feast day of the Jews that happened 50 days from Passover to the Feast of Pentecost 50 days from the day we celebrated Easter was would be next Sunday which would be Pentecost Sunday and we're not having Christian education classes next weekend so today we're going to talk about Pentecost I want to talk about what it means to have the spirit working in our lives with the Pentecostal experience does for us growing up in Pentecostal Church in the 70s there was a bumper sticker probably some of you had it on your car that said something the effect that Pentecost it's not a denomination it's an experience anybody remember that one there was also an acts 238 bumper sticker that went with it that you could put on there you may have had one of those

but that simple phrase does much to explain what it means to be Pentecostal simply put it's receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues that same evidence that same holy ghost that the apostles had there are many Christian denominations but there's only one Pentecostal experience you can call yourself what you want you can be a Baptist Methodist Lutheran Episcopalian Unitarian catholic whatever it happens to be maybe a non-denomination I don't claim any of those but there's only one Holy Ghost there's only one Pentecostal experience and I used to hear and you probably have to maybe even set it those with different doctrinal differences say well they don't have the same Holy Ghost I have well we may not agree with their beliefs or their Lifestyles and maybe they're not fully following the word of God there's still only one Holy Ghost if

he baptized them and they spoke in tongues it's the same Holy Ghost you just got to let it work right that's that let the spirit take control thing James Dunn he's probably one of the most prolific and well-known theologians of the last 40 50 years said this about Pentecost he said Pentecost is a word which lies close to the heart of every Pentecostals you agree with that we like Pentecost right we talk about it we are part of it not only he says does it give us our brand name but it provides him with his distinctive and probably most precious Doctrine it affords him the key to a full Christian Life and witness it speaks to him of his most treasured experiences of Christ it enables him to express his deepest devotion and praise Pentecost is the message of the Pentecostal to be Pentecostal is

to die identify oneself with the experience that came to the Christ followers on the day of Pentecost that is to be filled with the Holy Spirit in the same manner as those who were filled with it on that occasion I think that pretty well sums it up doesn't it that's what pen cost is that's what we are we claim the Pentecostal experience the same thing that was available for them it is available now when we look at it it's amazing to consider the change really in Christianity over the past 75 years the way individuals view the experience of the Holy Ghost particularly the idea of speaking in tongues in fact there's a man that wrote a book and actually it was a series of books in uh eight late 1800s shaft wrote the history of the Christian church and he started back in Bible days

and went all the way through to about the 1900s talking about the Christian church but here's what he said about the outpouring of the Holy Ghost is speaking in tongues he said well I think the Corinthians overrated speaking in tongues as a showy display of divine power but it was more ornamental than useful and vanished away with the bridal season of the church so he saw it as something that happened back then but you know by the time it got to Corinth it just became kind of useless and they got rid of it in fact denying the legitimacy of speaking in tongues in later ages he said the same phenomena nowcus has been a round of an inferior kind and not miraculous so he couldn't deny that the Holy Ghost was around that people were still receiving or speaking in other tongues but yet he

looked at it and said well it's not quite the same thing and he went on to say that you know we've seen it throughout times of seasonal religious excitement we saw it in France in the 1600s and they saw it in the Quakers as the founding fathers and came to this country the methodists in the 1700s and Switzerland or in Sweden in 1840s the Irish revivals in the 1860s and then even the Catholic Apostolic Church in the 1830s and so he realizes yes people were speaking in tongues throughout different periods in that time period and it seems to be the the most prevailing consensus of a lot of Christian writers throughout history they just kind of denied the Holy Ghost of course what they look at and said well that's an anomaly that's not right we see it as groups breaking from tradition and breaking

from what the their stilted religion might say and restoring the Pentecostal experience we still believe in the power of the Holy Ghost now I know we tend to point to Topeka Kansas as the beginning of the Pentecostal Revival in 19 early 1900s and that is true it did really kick off this wave that has really not stopped but I think these examples show that this experience has shown up all throughout history God never changes right he has always had those that he filled with the Holy Ghost now I do see and we we can kind of see in the last 50 years that most major Christian denominations throughout North America thought at that time 50 years ago that speaking of the tongues was sometimes of the devil they fought they resisted the movement toward receiving the Holy Ghost they looked at it said well it's

unnecessary it's just a bunch of emotions that's kind of how they looked at Pentecostals in the 30s and 40s and 50s and clear up probably into the 70s they would look at that saying it's unnecessary it's really not in fact some people even said it was of the devil but here it is century and a quarter later Pentecostal Revival has affected many people that have decided that maybe there's something to this now I know there's still some people today that resist that idea of spirit baptism but there's a multitude of churches whose members have received the Holy Ghost can't argue that and they acknowledge that it is a fundamental tenet of what they do to be sure they they may need to receive some instruction from the word of God regarding it but they've received the Holy Ghost what it tells me is God is

working among congregations he is working in lives there are hungry people that he is touching and it is up to Believers to lust to lead and guide them into all truth and let the spirit work in them we have an opportunity to be part of that Revival we can assist them in discovering all that God has in store for them through the Holy Ghost it's also true and we're not going to discuss this today but I will point out as I mentioned a couple minutes ago that Pentecost is rooted in the history of Judaism gets his very name from the Jewish feasts and this lesson isn't going to look at that connection but what I want to do is focus on this experience and what it means for us the first truth about Pentecost is the experience is essential to Salvation it is part of

it it is what it means to be saved regrettably many churches even those that do receive the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues they look at it as an additional spiritual empowerment for Christians some call it a second blessing something will happen later on well I got saved when I when I said accepted Jesus my personal Savior and I you know I just haven't got that tongues thing or holy ghost thing they look at it and they do not believe it's really necessary to salvation but I think what we need to do is look at the scripture and what happened with the early church because I think when you do you see clearly it enunciates the essentiality of the spirit within the life of the True Believer Paul said this to the Romans he wrote in Romans 8. eight and eight he said

so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God but you're not in the flesh but in the spirit when when you said I accept Jesus my personal savior no he said if so be that the spirit of God is dwelling within you now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he said he is none of his John said this recording the words of Jesus to Nicodemus and he said Jesus answered verily verily I say unto you except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit so don't Marvel when I say unto you Nicodemus you must be born again and Peter on the day that the spirit was poured out that day at Pentecost in

in Acts 2 and 38 he told the people he said you need to repent you need to be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost again I find the words of Dr Dunn are very significant here he said for the writers of the New Testament the baptism in the spirit was part of the process along with repentance and baptism well that's just what Peter said Dr Dunn it's right there of becoming a Christian but he went on to say it was the chief element in conversion so the only those who had received the spirit could be called Christians the reception of the spirit he said was very definite and often a dramatic experience it was the decisive and climactic experience of conversion can anybody agree with

that it was dramatic right can anyone say you know the high point is when the Holy Ghost came into my life the high point in conversion is the gift of the spirit in the beginning he said of the Christian life is to be reckoned from the experience of spirit baptism he said you're really not fully living a Christian life until you got the holy ghost in your life now no doubt individuals considering the wrong question when you when they say well do I have to receive the Holy Ghost to be saved you know sometimes it's important how we phrase things right the media knows this we can change in fact I've heard them say if you can change the rhetoric if you can change the language you can change the conversation so you put it in different words you term it something different and then

suddenly you you direct the conversation so when we ask well do I have to have the Holy Ghost it's the wrong question the question probably should be can I receive the Holy Ghost can I get it or maybe how may I receive it or how will I know when I get the Holy Ghost let's look at the answer to those questions first off yes you can receive the Holy Ghost I'll take it that farther you should receive the Holy Ghost Peter reminded those he preached to after he gave that repent and be baptized he said for the promise it's unto you it's under your children and it's unto all that are afar off even as many as the Lord Our God will call and so he he tells us it is for you you can receive the Holy Ghost you can have a Pentecostal experience

you can have that Holy Ghost working in your life Paul wrote in different words in Romans 5 18 He said therefore as by one offensive one talking about Adam's sin because of Adam judgment Came Upon all men and it condemned us even so by the righteousness of one talking about Jesus he said the free gift or the Holy Ghost Came Upon who all men unto justification it's available for everyone and I'm thankful for that promise it is available for you today in the words of of John and Revelation he said it this way it's for whosoever will whosoever desires it whosoever wants it well then if it's for me how do I get it well receiving the spirit of God is a distinct spiritual experience as part of the new birth and we receive it by repenting of our sins which means turning away from

them by allowing Jesus to be Lord Of Our Lives surrendering ourselves our will to him just as we sang in that song let your spirit fill this place look at your will let what you want and putting our faith in his work of Calvary and most often it comes as we seek him in prayer and praise for what he's done for us and so after we've decided Lord I want to live for you and I'm going to live for you and repent and we're seeking after him Lord not my will but thine be done then we begin to praise and to worship him and he will give us that spirit I can remember seeking the Holy Ghost when I was young and a pastor's life wife used to constantly say just thank him for the Holy Ghost and I couldn't figure that out of course

you know I wasn't real old at the time I haven't got it yet how do I thank him for it I don't even have it and so it just didn't kind of set real you know it but I was thinking about that as I Was preparing this lesson you know when somebody gives you a gift and hands you a box and it's all right do you say well let me see what's in it and then I'll tell you thanks if I like it oh somebody hands to you want to say well thanks and expecting anything for you know I don't know what's in it yet I haven't had it I can't tell you what it's like I haven't experienced what's inside that box but but thanks thanks for thinking of me and if you will take that attitude Lord thank you for Calvary thank you

for shedding your blood for me thank you Lord for making this opportunity to me to receive your spirit available to me and you begin to praise him and thank him for that amen he will come and he will dwell with you in fact he says it this way I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking and if you will just open up I'll come in what's up with you and then what is the sign how do I know when I have the holy ghost in my life the biblical accounts of receiving the spirit it's interesting when you read through the book of Acts there are four instances that it talks about the Holy Ghost being poured out in different places and in three of those four it specifically tells us the sign that they knew they had the Holy Ghost was the speaking in other

tongues it is the only sign consistently given in this book of Acts of the Apostles when the Jews first received the Holy Ghost at Pentecost we read it in Acts 2 and 4 they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and begin to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance now I know people look at that and they say you know that tongues thing that's just kind of weird to me well it's Bible I understand it's it's it's different if you don't come from a church background or if you've never really looked into the word but it's Bible you see it throughout the New Testament so I can either say well that's weird maybe I'll just get rid of that part of the New Testament or I can say well what's it all about and so he said on the day of

Pentecost they all began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance the second outpouring happened in Samaria and we don't hear exactly what happened it does not specifically mention here's what we do know Philip had gone there he had preached Jesus unto them and he baptized them in the name of Jesus now some people say Well when you're baptized you got the Holy Ghost well evidently they didn't because Philip said you know what I need some help here and he sent to Jerusalem for the apostles to come and they did and they began to talk and preach to these people and the Bible says when they laid hands on them the Holy Ghost fell upon them now it didn't say what happened exactly it doesn't say that they spoke in tongues but what it does say was there was another man standing

nearby Simon and he was looking at this and as they laid hands on them and the Holy Ghost fell he said wow I want that power so obviously he saw something happening and I don't can't say that it's written in the book of Acts but he must have heard he must have seen something that said you know what there's something to this some outward sign now when the Gentiles first received the Holy Ghost that was in cornelius's household the fact that convinced Peter that Cornelius had received the Holy Ghost even though he was a gentile even though he wasn't a Jew even though that they really didn't think they should even be there at his house the Jews didn't Peter went there at the command of the Holy Ghost and he began to preach to them and the Bible says in Acts 10 44 while

Peter yet spake these words so he's still in the middle of his preaching it said the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word and they of the circumcision or the Jews which believed were astonished like whoa what's this how come they're they're Gentiles why are they receiving the Holy Ghost it said as many as it came with Peter so the Jews that were with him there they were astonished because on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost so they were astonished they got the Holy Ghost and then here's the the real key he said for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God they couldn't deny it they heard them speak with tongues and they said what can we say we're astonished it's just like what happened in fact when Peter goes back to Jerusalem you

know he had to face the judge gets back to Jerusalem and they're like what are you doing you shouldn't have been there you were with Gentiles you were eating the Gentiles and Peter begins to defend well you know what the Holy Ghost directed me and and I went and I prayed and here's what happened the Holy Ghost fell on them exactly like it did us at the beginning what am I going to do you know when God begins to work you can either take a judgmental attitude like those that saw Peter had to eat with Gentiles or you can say you know what what can we do they're speaking in tongues instruct them disciple them bring them on the all the way in but that was the sign in addition the Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus the Bible said that Paul went to

them and he spoke to them and he said if you received the Holy Ghost fence you believe well I never heard of that what is that holy ghost thing and he said well hold on let's just back up one more step how were you baptized well we were baptized by John John's under John baptism under repentance he said well baptize in Jesus name well let's do that let's baptize you in Jesus name and then the Bible says and when Paul laid his hands upon them the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesy if you can find in the book of Acts another sign that points in every case that this is what happened when they got the Holy Ghost come show me I want to see it the one sign that you see they speak with other tongues I don't

think there's anything strange like I say if you've never been around it it is strange to our flesh but when you're seeking the things of God there's nothing strange about it it's viable so first off the Holy Ghost is important for salvation we need his spirit in our lives the second thing it is important and Jesus emphasized this is to help us to tell others about it he said in in Acts 1 8 you will receive this power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and what you shall be Witnesses not only do the Holy Ghost bring regeneration did it not make them alive made them new creatures in Christ Jesus but it empowered them to spread the gospel you know you can't be Pentecostal and keep it all to yourself you can't be Pentecostal filled with the Holy Ghost and say you know

what that's great I'm just going to come and enjoy it every Sunday and never share it with someone else one of the God's primary desires and his purposes and one of the reasons he gives us that spirit is so that we will reach others the Great Commission as we've called it in Matthew 28 19 go ye therefore teach All Nations baptizing them teaching them to observe the things that I have commanded you to do those things that Great Commission it could never be fulfilled it would never have been fulfilled without the power of the Holy Ghost now here's what here's what I understand from that if you've ever read the Gospels particularly if you've read the accounts of Jesus passion his death his burial his resurrection if you've read that and then if you maybe you've looked on further into Romans and you've seen where

Paul takes about talks about the great love of God that he loved us with and and how he gave himself a ransom for many and all the different things that that he talks about and Peter talks about in his book when we read about that you would understand and you could go out and tell others you know what let me tell you about Jesus he went to a cross and he died for you could talk of his grace and his kindness and his goodness you can read about the work of redemption that he did on Calvary but that alone will not make us an effective Witness to give you an example it said this you can read about an event in the newspaper but that doesn't make any well I guess you can't there are no newspapers right read it on your phone thing you've

read everywhere but that's not going to hold up in a court of law come before the judge what do you know that well I can tell you everything there is to know about it where'd you get your information Wikipedia you're not a witness the old song said here here's what a witness is the old song said it this way I was there when it happened so I guess I ought or no in other words I got the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost fell on me so I can tell you about it because I was there I can tell you what it was like when Jesus came into my heart and when he changed my life he didn't leave the task of evangelism only those that had learned of redemption that studied the Bible and looked at it and said well that's what it's all about

let me go share that with somebody he has anointed Believers by his Spirit he has empowered us to perform the work of the kingdom and to preach and to reach others I'm going to touch that a little bit more a little bit later on the other thing the spirit will do it will lead us and guide us into all truth now we've talked about this in depth a few weeks ago so I won't go into a lot of detail about it but it will lead us it will bring spiritual enlightenment when the Holy Ghost comes into your life you'll pick up that bible and suddenly it's it's a whole new world you begin to see things it happened with the apostles they had they grew up as as good Jews probably went to synagogue you know when they were 12 did their bar mitzvahs or

whatever they did back then and got all they knew the scripture but once they got the Holy Ghost suddenly it opens up and Peter gets up on Pentecost and says you know here's the scholar Peter he's a fisherman that really didn't care much about stuff but he gets on Pentecost and he said this is what Joel was talking about you know he'd probably heard that scripture many times I'm going to pour out my spirit on your maidens handmaidens and your old men are going to dream dreams young men are going to see Visions all this stuff's going to happen and he okay yeah and all of a sudden he gets a holy ghost this is that that's what he was talking about why because the spirit began to work and to lead into truth that relationship with Jesus Christ opens the door for a growing

spiritual connection and suddenly this this milk of the word is is the writer of Hebrews calls it when we begin to look into the word of God and begin to it's like starting all over you know give me a bottle I I never realized this and he went through it and begins to read and begins to grow into maturity and the spirit leads us and guide us until we we look at it and discover great truths in God's word as I said we covered it in previous lessons but to reiterate Jesus said this when the spirit of Truth has come he will guide you into all truth he will speak and we'll show you things to come the Holy Ghost becomes the most important teacher in our lives now of course it is important to be faithful in church attendance we need to hear Godly

anointed teachers and ministers we need things that will guide us we need to study the word of God but always with the spirit helping us you go to read your Bible pray seek God let the spirit lead you let him direct you if we give ourselves to prayer and study the word of God at home it will prompt us and lead us and guide us and then it will position us when the word of God Goes Forth when we come together to receive what the word of God has to say Jesus went on in John 14 he said but the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the father shall send in my name he will teach you all things and he will bring all things to your remembrance that's what that day of Pentecost sermon was about I'll help you with it he'll bring

it to your Amendment it's important to be led of the Holy Spirit in fact Paul said it this way for many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God so when you got that Holy Ghost working in your life and you're letting it lead you into truth he said that's my son he says that's my child let it lead you it will also lead you into opportunities for Ministry we talked about we need to be Witnesses and he will lead us into opportunities as we continue to grow in him by the Holy Ghost prompting and guidance we will grow as a servant to him working for him you know we make a mistake when we assume that Ministry is what I'm doing here hopefully it's ministering but that's not all of it he has called all of us to

be ministers that word simply means servants go out and serve Jesus Christ we are all called to occupy specific places in the body of Christ and there's not everybody going to get up and stand and do this or or preach as we'll hear later from our pastor or those kind of things we now all do that but we are all called out to reach out to others and to lead them as we grow and seek to serve him he will lead us to Opportunities be sensitive that voice in the spirit the spirit will guide us with regards to timing when to go or when to not go to the ministry of others he opens doors of opportunities we just have to be looking for them it's interesting Jesus was led to the spirit the Bible says this he left Judea and he departed again he

was heading toward Galilee and he must needs go through Samaria now some will look at a map and say well yeah he had to go to Samaria that's how he got from Judea well that's not the way Jews got from Judea to Galilee they come up so far and set up there's Samaria and they walked all the way around it because they didn't want anything to do with it you didn't want to be caught in Samaria but the spirit was leading Jesus and he said I've got to go through Samaria I'm sure the disciples are saying Lauren I guess we have to you know you're the boss we're behind you you go first but it prepared the hearts of the people of Samaria and later in Acts 8 in that verse we read about Philip goes there and preaches to them and they're all ready

to receive it why because Jesus was sensitive to the spirit and Philip was sensitive to the spirit and there was a great Revival in Samaria because people were sensitive to what the spirit would do it will guide us to timing of when to go the spirit will guide us into where we are to go to minister to others he gives us direction there's a wonderful example in Acts 16. Paul was on a missionary journey and I mean he had it all laid out we're going to go here and we're going to go here and we're going to go here and we're going to touch and he's ready to go and he said they had gone throughout all Fergie and the region of galatia and they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia well that's where I want to go Lord

no Paul you're not going there right now so after that they came to Micaiah and they have saved or they wanted to go into bithynia but the spirit suffered them not stop no you're not going there and so they passed by Malaysia and they came to troas and a vision appeared to Paul in the night and he saw a man in Macedonia saying come up here and help us and the Spirit Led them to people in Macedonia and there was Revival there because he was willing to be sensitive to the spirit I'm not telling you to walk out this door and everywhere you go you just start let me tell you about you know let the spirit lead you he will lead you to the right person into hungry hearts it will guide us not only where to go and when to go but who

to go to he will give us discernment in our activities and involvement in Acts 19 it was a quill and Priscilla they go into a synagogue and they're just sitting there and a man comes in by the name of Apollos he was a Jew born in Alexandria that was that was like Boston you know where you went or Cambria Cambridge it's where you go for University he was an ellica man he was mighty in scriptures and he's preaching in Ephesus and he was instructed in the way of the Lord and he was fervent in spirit and he was up there preaching his heart out but they're listening and say you know what there's something missing and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue and of Priscilla and Aquila heard him called him aside when it was all done hey let me talk to you

and they begin to expound unto him the way of God more perfectly they wouldn't say you know what let me tell you about this Holy Ghost let me tell you about what Jesus can do in your life and when he did it Apollos became a great instrument for God as a Believer as we are to seek out opportunities to serve Jesus Christ I know I'd said this a few weeks ago listen to the voice of the spirit and when you feel that prompting don't sit and question it well or is that really you you need to go pray for that prayer and it just gnaws at you and you say well Lord is that you or not no it's the devil telling you to go pray for him you know why are we so willing to doubt the spirit's Voice or to think it's just

our own thoughts our first thought ought to be Lord I'm listening and let it lead you it will Empower us as Dr Carden taught us in our last lesson to be empowered to live this life not only as a witness but it also empowers us it enabled us to live a life that is Holy a life that is righteous it will Empower us to live above sin in our life you know our day is one of unprecedented it seems and maybe not I think it's always been a sinful world I mean when you read about things that were happening in Rome in Jesus day and you read about that it's really nothing new but maybe it's because it's everywhere with digital media it's just bombards us this present multimedia culture with everything that we see just constantly Temptation and everything in front of our face

at all times but God will Empower us he will help us to live Victorious there was a story told about a boy that wanted a new bike and so he began to save his money and save his change and while he was saving up for his bike he began to pray at night and he'd say Lord help me save money for a bike and then he'd say and Lord don't let the ice cream man come down the street tomorrow isn't that kind of like us Lord don't put that Temptation there because I know I'm just I'm going to have a hard time you know sometimes if we're not careful we'll rely more on chance than on the Lord to help us but he will Empower he will help us he will also and we touch on this a little bit in witnessing but he will

give you the power to preach now I'm not talking about somebody that gets up here and does what I'm doing or what pastor does or to preach or to teach from a Pulpit that word preach means to Herald a Divine truth it is to Proclaim or to publish it's to go out and tell somebody and it's not exclusively used for what we consider a pastor or a teacher an evangelist or somebody with a license to preach but it is this idea of proclaiming the Gospel telling someone else and he has called all of us to share our faith and to Proclaim that Spirit-filled Believers can expect God to help us witness to this Lost World the spirit will come alongside us first off we know that his word is powerful right that's why the Bible says preach the word you preach the word the Bible

says this so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth it will not return unto me void but it shall accomplish what I please and it will prosper in the thing that I sent it to you stay in the book the word is going to do something and you start going your ideas and well let's argue this no just get in the book preach the word of God tell them what the Bible has to say and it will accomplish some we have that confidence if you're in the book it's going to touch a life and when anyone shares it power accompanies it so we know that but it also when it is given and it is taught or it is is preached it is published it is witnessed to by someone full of the Holy Ghost it will enable us to change

it will enable us to reach others it will encourage us the Holy Ghost will encourage you when no one else is around it is the Bible calls that Jesus called it he said it is the comforter he told his disciples on the road Don't Be Afraid Don't Fear the comforter is going to be with you he said I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you if you need comfort from the Lord let the Holy Ghost work in your life and it will Comfort Us in times of crisis before his Ascension into heaven Jesus gave us one of the greatest promises we read about it in Acts he mentions it in Luke 24 he said and behold I am sending the promise of the father upon you Terry and Jerusalem into you are endued with power from on high I don't think that

disciples had any idea what he was talking about well we're waiting for something we don't know what it is the promise of the father was the Assurance of the Lord I'm going to ascend that Holy Ghost to you what an awesome privilege that we have this treasure the Bible says in Earthen vessels that the king of glory would say I'm going to live in your heart in the words of the old hymn it is joy unspeakable it is full of Glory it's a gift of power for an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that will keep us from Temptation that will anoint us to work for him was promised in the Old Testament through Ezekiel he said I will put a new spirit within you I will take the Stony heart out of their flesh I will give them a heart of Flesh that they may

walk in my statutes that they will keep my ordinances that's what the word of God the spirit of God does in our life it helps us live for him some people say well I could never be that no you can't I can't either but the Holy Ghost to help you he said and they will be able to do them they shall be my people and I will be their God he goes on to say in Ezekiel 36 a new heart I'm going to give you and I will put a new spirit within you and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep my judgments and do them well do I need the Holy Ghost well do you want to live for God I'm thankful it's available you don't have it you can have it before you

leave today man we're going to be worshiping we're going to be praising we're going to seek Him amen coming up in this next few minutes here you just open your heart and your mind to him say Lord I'm submitting my will you begin to thank him for that amen he wants to fill you with his Spirit let's stand this morning amen and in closing why don't we just lift a hand say Lord pour it out Lord touch our hearts we want Pentecost every time we come together it's not just any day but every day Lord we want your spirit in our lives Lord Jesus to those that are hungry to those that are searching Lord I know you're ready to do it you're ready to give it and I pray God that you would touch our hearts and our minds to receive what you have

given us today Lord and to let it touch and impact our lives in Jesus name Jesus name