The Purpose of Pentecost [Audio]

2000 years ago, Jesus died on a cross at Calvary for our sins. He was buried and then God raised Him from the dead. After that He told His disciples to wait for the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. After waiting on the Lord, on the day of Pentecost, God poured out His Spirit and they spoke in other languages supernaturally. This experience was largely lost to the Church until the early 1900s, when brave men and women faced harassment and persecution and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues. The purpose of Pentecost was not just so we could experience ecstasy, although it is a wonderful experience. But God sent His Holy Spirit so we could have God's power in our lives to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. If ever we needed that power, we need it today. We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit and we need to use that power to reach the world for Jesus. There is a tendency in the Church to go back to comfortable, man-pleasing religion rather than to follow the Scriptures and reach into the things of the Holy Spirit. This message will challenge you to press into all that God has for you in Christ, and to discover the true purpose of Pentecost. NOTES: THE PURPOSE OF PENTECOST READING: Acts 1:1-8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8, KJV. MAIN THOUGHT: We need the power of the Holy Spirit to reach this world for Jesus. If Jesus needed power in His life to bring men and women to himself. If the early church needed power to turn the world upside down, what would make us think with the proliferation of evil and deceit in the world today. that we don’t need power today. We need the power of the Spirit.  THE PROMISE OF PENTECOST “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” Acts 1:4, 5, KJV. If I made you a promise and then failed to fulfill it, what would that make me. God has promised you the spirit. Too many Christians ball and squall and beg for the Holy Ghost, when all we need to do is believe His promise and take it by faith. They had to wait for the day of Pentecost, but today, Pentecost has come. There is no more waiting. THE PASSION OF PENTECOST “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” Acts 1:14, KJV. Accord—one accord, one mind, one passion; Gr. compound word meaning to “rush along” “in unison”  THE POWER OF PENTECOST “ye shall receive power.” “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, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and 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.” Acts 2:1-4, KJV. This started a brush fire that is still burning today.  Charles Parham challenged is Bible School students in Topeka, Kansas to study the Bible and determine what was the most common manifestation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. While he was away on a preaching engagement, they studied and concluded that speaking in other tongues (languages) was the key manifestation found throughout the New Testament. On Jan 1, 1901, Agnes Ozman,