Sunday June 05, 2022
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Acts 2:1 – “On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place.”
“PENTECOST” is a day, it’s also a Jewish Holiday. A Jewish Festival that started in the Old Testament and is still being celebrated today by Jews.
There are actually three major holidays the Jews celebrate each year and I want you to see the beauty of these holidays and how they apply to you.
Matthew 5:17 – “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.”
Jesus came as a fulfillment of the Old Testament.
So you can see Jesus plan for your life in these three holidays! I’m going to help you see them so you can see the journey He wants to take you on.
- Passover
During Egyptian bondage for the children of Israel. The tenth plague was that the firstborn male of every family had to die.
The children of Israel sacrificed a lamb and placed the blood on the door post of their home so that when the death angel PASSED OVER them their firstborn would not experience the plague of death.
The lamb was sacrificed at 9:00am and was put into the oven at 3:00pm. The sacrifice covered their sins.
Remember Jesus came to fulfill the law. He was nailed to the cross at 9:00am. He was placed in the tomb at 3:00pm.
His sacrifice does not cover our sins, it removes our sins. Gone forever!
1 Corinthians 5:7 “ …….Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.”
Passover represents your Salvation! We actually celebrate Passover as Easter! This experience of Salvation is FIRST!
All you need to do is surrender your life to Jesus Christ!
BUT GOD HAS MORE FOR YOU HE WANTS YOU TO EXPERIENCE
2. Pentecost
Pentecost means “50.” 50 days after the First Holiday, Passover or Easter.
The original “Pentecost” was celebrated around Mt. Sinai when the law and the ten commandments was given to Moses .
This was 50 days after the children of Israel were released from Egyptian bondage.
A cloud descended with a loud noise and fire. God wrote His law on tablets of stone. 3000 people died that day because of the golden calf.
On the Day of Pentecost we read about in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit descended with a loud sound and fire. God wrote His law on our hearts and 3000 people were born again!
Acts 1:3-5 -“ During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus says, “I need you to have power!” This is where the works are involved. Not working for your salvation but working from your salvation.!
I need you to touch Wichita Falls, Texas, America and the World!
PENTECOST IS ABOUT POWER SO THAT YOU AND I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD!
GOD WANTS TO EMPOWER HIS CHURCH TO DO SOMETHING WE CAN’T DO IN OUR OWN POWER!
3. The Feast of Tabernacles
This Jewish Holiday is to remember their wandering in the wilderness for 40 years until they went to their permanent home in the promised land.
They were wandering and living in temporary huts until they were brought to their final home in the promised land. They celebrate this festival during the harvest season!
HOW IS THIS BEING FULFILLED?
We are living on this temporary earth where we’re aliens and strangers. We’re just passing through! We will be brought to our final home. There will be a great final harvest of people.
WE’RE LIVING IN A HARVEST GENERATION! JESUS IS COMING BACK MY FRINED’S! AND IT COULD BE REAL SOON.
I’M NOT TRYING TO SCARE YOU, IM TRYING TO PREPARE YOU!
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 – “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.”
YOU NEED TO EXPERIENCE PASSOVER! AND ONCE YOU GET SAVED HE HAS AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU AND IT’S TO BIG FOR YOU! YOU NEED POWER TO PULL IT OFF.
THERE IS A PENTECOST EXPERIENCE NOT FOR THE SAKE OF ENTERTAINMENT BUT FOR THE SAKE OF FULFILLING A MISSION!
MOST CHRISTIANS UNDERSTAND PASSOVER AND TABERNACLES BUT THEY STILL STRUGGLE WITH PENTECOST.
Acts 2:12 -“ They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.”
- The Holy Spirit Empowers me to live righteously.
He writes the law on your heart. Your desires begin to change!
Romans 8:9 “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you…..”
When you’re filled with the Spirit of God He begins to do a transforming work on the inside of you.
It’s not just about obeying a set of ten commandments, the commandments become who I am. I WANT TO OBEY!
It’s so much more fun to serve God out of I want to and not I have to!
2. The Holy Spirit empowers me to live supernaturally.
Jesus said “Greater works you shall do when the Holy Spirit comes.” God still does miracles! He’s still moving in a powerful way!
Acts 10:38 -“ And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 -“ And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.”
There’s power available for your situation!
3. The Holy Spirit empowers me to fulfill God’s mission for my life.
If you’re looking for a church that’s just for you we’re not that church! I want to pastor you and help you but God hasn’t called us to just help us, or have a place where we can just go to church.
We are called by God to make a difference in our city! We exist for the world! We’re here to MAKE A DIFFERENCE and bring light into a dark world!
1 Thessalonians 1:5 – “because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.”
CONCLUSION: I want us as a church to pursue all that God has for us! Let’s be filled with the Holy Spirit because we can’t do all that God’s called us to do without Him!
Being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn’t make me better than you it makes me better than me.
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?