Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you;
but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on
high. (NKJV)
FEAST OF PENTECOST/PENTECOST
SUNDAY…50 days after Passover/Easter; celebrated across the world today in
Christian churches. If you belong to a
Pentecostal Church or have experienced the infilling of the Holy Ghost, as the
disciples did on the Day of Pentecost, excitement wells up inside you as you
prepare to gather with other believers.
Could it happen again? Will we
experience a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit today? Perhaps at least 1 or 2 will receive the
infilling of the Holy Spirit, this morning….maybe the preacher will preach a
sermon using the text, “And when the Day of Pentecost was fully
come…” hopefully the speaker will at least mention that it is Pentecost Sunday.
This afternoon, there are various reports of a “powerful”
move of God, baptisms, and infillings of the Holy Ghost. It is so wonderful and
encouraging to read, but I dare say no one actually experienced a “DAY OF PENTECOST.” WHY????? Is there a secret formula? Maybe a dynamic, dramatic speaker could hype up
everyone? If we sing very loudly, “Holy
Spirit, you are welcome here,” with our hands raised, perhaps the fire
of God would fall…The prophets of Baal tried that in 1Kings; it didn’t
work. What if we installed a talented
worship leader, new lighting, or instituted exciting programs? NO,
no and no!!! SO WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
We need to look no further than Luke 24:49 to find the key
to experiencing a “DAY OF PENTECOST”
in every one of our congregations. Jesus
tells His Disciples, “I’m going to send you the Promise of the
Father; my Spirit to dwell within you but you need to go back to Jerusalem and
WAIT.” WAIT?????...WHAT????
Can’t God move and breathe a fresh wind of the Holy Ghost
over our congregation in the time we’ve allotted? We give him a whole hour and sometimes even
add an extra half hour every Sunday.
Surely God doesn’t need more time than that to pour out His Spirit…after
all it’s not like it is the first time He has ever done this. Besides, I have dinner in the oven, the
restaurants will be full, there is an afternoon ballgame to watch, I need my
Sunday afternoon nap…Lord, I need you to move NOW and HURRY UP! Please.
Yes, I think we’ve identified the problem, we don’t like to WAIT!!!
And you’re right, God doesn’t need time to get His “act together;” WE DO!
The WAITING is for us; not for
God. It is to bring our minds into ONE ACCORD in ONE PLACE!!! We may be gathered together in one room but
our minds are NOT in one place. Oh no, they are on Sunday dinner, afternoon
activities and tomorrow’s responsibilities…we couldn’t hear the “Rushing
Mighty Wind” even if it entered with the roar of a hurricane.
ACTS 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they
were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire and one
sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.(NKJV)
Hearing and receiving from God requires so much more than a
weekly gathering on Sunday Morning; so much more than our beautiful buildings,
professional musicians, state of the art sound systems, talented program
directors and eloquent preachers. If we
really want to experience a DAY OF
PENTECOST in our midst, we are going to have to be willing to WAIT.
Wait for an hour, 2 hours, a day or maybe even 10 days. WAIT
until we hear the SOUND of the Wind
of God; WAIT until we receive the PROMISE OF THE FATHER; WAIT until we are ENDUED WITH POWER from on High.
We are going to have to learn to WAIT!
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