Pentecostal Glory

Text: Acts 2:1-4

It is interesting to look at how Pentecost is treated today by the church. Yet if we should reflect seriously on the celebrated holidays on the Christian calendar, only three of these are seriously considered:

1. Christmas - To celebrate the birth of Christ....

2. Easter - To celebrate the death/crucifixion of Christ and His resurrection.

3. Pentecost - To celebrate the birth of the Christian church....

Yet it must be noted that while Christmas and Easter have been widely celebrated to the point of being highly commercialized, Pentecost is barely acknowledged by the Christian community.....

The reality is that the Christian church was born at Pentecost and therefore Pentecost should be considered as a sacred holiday for Christians......

Pentecost has always been a holiday. This holiday was the celebration of the harvest. For Israel this was the time to harvest grain, but for the church it is the time to harvest the Holy Spirit....

We need to be like The New Testament Church that saw the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the NORMAL experience for empowering believers to preach the Gospel....

As we reflect today I want to speak to us on the theme, “Pentecostal Glory.” If we are to experience this glory, there are four basic principles I want to draw our attention to:

I. Developing A Sense Of Obedience

Obedience is treated today as past-time. Children are unwilling to obey parents, and parents are unwilling to obey God and His WORD. People are arguing that God’s WORD is becoming outdated and this spirit of disobedience is leading our nations into social decadence.

But the text points to the necessity of obedience in order to experience the Pentecostal glory.

We see where in Acts 1:4, the bible states, “And being assembled with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from me...”

And he went further to declare in verse 8 of the same chapter, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Obedience to the call of God in our lives will usher us into the presence of God... A place where we are able to experience the joy of Pentecost....

II. Developing A Real Sense Of Community

It is interesting to note that while we claim our place in the church or residential community, not many of us understand the principle of community. The are many of us who do not know our next door neighbours. This is due mainly to our selfishness....

But as we examine the text, Acts 2:1, “When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were together with one accord, and in one place.”

The text here is highlighting the importance of community - they were together with one accord and in one place.”

If we should define the church, the Greek word Kiononia would be best suited in this definition. This speaks to the common-ness of the people. A people who are drawn together because they share the same faith and worship the same God.....

This community draws us to:

1. Fellowship - (Where wholesome relationships are cultivated). Fellowship speaks to a place where all appreciated; all are accepted, all are admitted. This is a community in which non is barred. It did not matter how imperfect a people they were... Peter denied Christ, yet he was accepted..... Thomas doubted Christ’s resurrection, he too was accepted...

Community speaks to our willingness to embrace each other though we are different....

God is not going to bless a community in which malice, grudge and enmity are thriving. God will not bless fussing and fighting, because, “a house divided cannot stand.....”

III. Developing A Prayer Life

If we want to be ushered into the presence of God, we must develop a life of prayer. The church today has treated prayer as unessential to the ministry of the church.

1. There is not many churches today that meet regularly for prayer meetings, yet ask, where is the move of God in the church.

2. Prayer is not emphasized in the church, yet we ask, why is the church not growing...

3. Prayer is seen as old fashion, yet we seek old fashion Pentecostal experience...

If we look at the early church, what they did was, they prayed for ten days, preach for ten minutes, and three thousands were saved. Today we do the opposite and expect the same result. Last we may have non who fasted, we prayed daily for less than ten minutes and yet we expect to hear of hundreds getting saved.....

4. Godly Leadership

As I closed I must emphasize on the importance to choose Godly leaders in order for the church to experience glory of the Pentecost. If the leaders of the church do not understand the move of the Holy Spirit, the church will never experience this glory. But those who are anointed and filled with the Holy Spirit will lead the church into this encounter....

It was immediately after Matthias was appointed to the leadership of the early church that we see the coming of the Holy Spirit…

We can’t get everyone on board and shouldn’t expect to, but if ever we get all our leaders right, on board, in unity, and recognizing we have a problem and that the glory of God is departed, there’s just no limit to what God can do…He’ll allow us to move from ch. 1 to ch. 2!

Amen/Amen