Pentecost

Here this morning, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 here this morning, and I just want to make a change from where we've been over these weeks. We've been on this series on the valleys, but I just want to take you this morning to the book of Acts. This is the day of Pentecost, or should I say, I hope it's the day of Pentecost. This is what is called Pentecost in our calendar. People all over the world, they remember Pentecost, and I'm not into keeping dates or festivals or anything like that, not at all. But I feel an importance this morning just to stop because I believe it's momentous, the hour that we live in, and it's important that we understand Pentecost. If you don't understand Pentecost, you are very lacking this morning. No one should be ignorant of Pentecost. And if you are, you've got a lot to learn this morning, I want to tell you. And so my message this morning is simply this, Pentecost, that's what I've called it. Reading from 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, 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. Then I want you to go down just a little bit in the same chapter to verse 17. And there's Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I want you to notice this next part carefully. And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let's pray together. Prepare your heart. Saints of God, ask God right now this second to prepare your heart to speak to you, to have a word in season, to deal with what needs dealt with in your life, to speak into what needs spoken into in your life. We're not playing religion or just preaching sermons. We're dealing with the real God. He knows you. He knows everything about you. He knows what you're going to face in the days ahead. And I'm telling you, if ever there was an hour you need to hear from God, it is this hour. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the word of God. You're not a dead God, but you're a God who sees. You see every single heart in this room. You know the very thoughts of the mind. You know the deep things of the heart. You are a real God. You search after men. You seek after them. You convict them. You send your word after them. Now, Lord God, I pray for the power. Now, Pentecost on this church, on these individuals, if ever we needed an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it is now. If ever individually we needed endued with the power of Pentecost, it is right now. If ever we needed to be filled with something that is pure and holy and wise and righteous, it is right now. My God, I pray, come and fill us with your Holy Spirit again. Come and endure us with power from on high, O God. Make this church aflame, ablaze, O God. Make it a burning bush, O God, in the midst of this dark city. Lord God, we're asking for all those that hear the word of God today, bring the word of God with power. Let the power of your Holy Spirit fall upon them. Baptize in the Holy Ghost and fire. Lord God, come and draw near. Lord God is the baptizer in the Holy Ghost. And my God, I do pray that your rays of churches again, they are filled with the Holy Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit, endued by the Holy Spirit. Lord God, sanctified and holy by the Holy Spirit. Now, Lord God, we give you glory and honor and praise this morning in Jesus' mighty name. Will you bless your word? And Lord God, we trust that your Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth this morning, given honor and glory and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. My message, Pentecost, the day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem took place in late spring. Pentecost is a date on the calendar and it would always come every single year. It was a momentous time for Israel as a nation, for Jerusalem as a city. When springtime would come around again each year, it was momentous. People came from all nations. They came from all cities, all villages to the city of Jerusalem to remember the day of Pentecost. You see, Pentecost is 50 days after the Feast of Passover. In fact, the word Pentecost means 50, 50 days after Passover. And on the very day the Jews gathered onto Jerusalem, on that day to celebrate Shavuot, or what is also called the Feast of Weeks, what we call Pentecost, it had all of these names. This Jewish festival of Pentecost looked back to the day when God descended on the Mount Sinai, when it shook, when thunder blasted out, when there was flames of fire, when God spoke from heaven. God came down on Mount Sinai. And we are told in the Old Testament 3,000 people died on that day. It was a terrible experience when God came down on that Mount. That was actually 1,300 years before what we read about in Acts chapter 2, where we've just read. It was just 50 days before the day of Pentecost that Israel had kept the Feast of Passover. What was the Passover? When Moses kept it in Egypt, they kept Passover, the first Passover. Do you know what they done? They slew a lamb, shed its blood, and through the blood of a lamb, an entire nation came out of Egypt. They were delivered. That's what Passover was. 50 days after that, they are standing at Mount Sinai, and God comes down in power to marry himself to the nation. It was the birthday of the nation of Israel. That's what Pentecost was. 50 days after Passover, Passover delivered them from Egypt, from their enemies, from captivity. And 50 days later, on the day of Pentecost, that first Pentecost, God came down. He drew near. He revealed himself in great power. It was an extraordinary thing. On the day of Pentecost that we read about in Acts chapter 2, 3,000 are born again. All of this is not accidental. It is very deliberate. And so you see from Passover, you remember when Passover was fulfilled, when Jesus died on the cross. 50 days after that, you have the day of Pentecost that we read about in Acts chapter 2, a period of seven weeks. Our 49 days separated these two important feasts in the Old Testament, in Israel, and in the New Testament for the church. And so the events of Sinai, later called Pentecost, was the day that the nation was birthed. I want to give you six things on this this morning, because I want you to understand Pentecost. Pentecost isn't just something that stayed at Sinai. Neither is Pentecost something that remained in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. I believe Pentecost is personal to this church here right now. And this preacher who's speaking to you this morning, it is real. I can't tell you how real Pentecost is. And more than that, it is personal to every one of you sitting in this room. Let me explain to you what Pentecost is, because it's vital. Number one, Pentecost is a teaching to be expounded. Not just an experience, not emotion, not just singing, not just saying hallelujah. This is my first point. What is Pentecost? How do I define to you what Pentecost is? Pentecost is a biblical teaching of the Bible, and it has to be explained. It has to be preached. It needs to be taught. So it's not just an experience. It is an entire teaching that spreads throughout the Old Testament into the New Testament and goes throughout the New Testament. It is an entire biblical teaching. Look what it says in Acts chapter two with me. It says in verse 16, this is right in the midst of the day of Pentecost. It's an experience where 120 have experienced Pentecost. There are miracles. There are tongues. There is fire. There is wind. But look what happens right in the midst of this in verse 16. We are told that Peter stands up and preaches, and this is what he said. But this is that which is spoken by the prophet Joel. Do you see right in the midst of Pentecost what happens? A preacher stands up. He opens up the word of God. This first New Testament church revival turns in their Bible to the Old Testament book of Joel to an old prophet. And listen, he says, this is that. He begins to teach the word of God, preach the word of God, prophesy the word of God, explain the word of God, apply the word of God. Do you know any church, any Christian, any preacher that makes little of the word of God? They don't open their Bible. They don't place authority on the Bible. They know nothing of the gospel, absolutely nothing. Because I want to tell you, the first time we see the Holy Spirit moving in the church, you get this man, Peter, standing up and giving an explanation and expounding of the word of God, and he applies it to what they're doing. You know what you ought to ask a Christian, anything a Christian does or a preacher or a church or a movement, say, where's that in the Bible? Why are you doing that? Why do you say that? Why do you believe that? Show me in the Bible. You see, a real church is always a Bible teaching church, and it's the same with Pentecost. What is Pentecost? It's a biblical teaching. And so when it begins to happen on the day of Pentecost, Peter stands up and he begins to go to Joel, to the Bible. He begins to explain. You want to know what this is? You're asking about these things happening. I'll tell you what it is. This is that. It was prophesied several hundred years ago by a prophet. Now it's happening. Say of what you believe, it never works in your life. You preach things, you believe things, you read things, you understand things, but you never experience it in your life. There's something wrong. You know what? You ought to be able to stand up and say, you want to know what this is? This is that which is in the Bible. You want to know what I'm talking about? When I get happy about Jesus and I talk about being born again, I'll take you to John chapter three, where Jesus said, you must be born again. You see, we are absolutely, our experience is rooted in a biblical teaching. I believe in experience, but not if it's not biblical. I believe the strongest argument for my experiences, for that which I experienced in my Christian life. I'll always take you to the Bible. This is my greatest argument. And it's the same in Pentecost. What do you do when 120 come flowing out of an upper room, all speaking in tongues, all giving praise to Jesus? How are you going to explain that? I can explain it. I'll go to my Bible. I'll tell you this is that which is prophesied by Joel. Notice it's a biblical teaching. You don't explain experiences by saying, well, it just must be God. You go to the Bible. Notice that Peter went to the Old Testament. There's people in the church today that say, oh, we stay in the New Testament. I had an elder in Wales once went and preached in their church. At the end, he came up smart aleck that he was. And he says, oh, you preach out of the Old Testament. That's strange. Why do you do that? I had an awful lot to say to him, but I must say I swallowed a lot of it and was wise. I said, I guess because Jesus preached from the Old Testament and Paul and John and Matthew and Peter and them all. Saints of God, Pentecost is a biblical teaching. You've got to go into the book of Joel. You've got to go into the Old Testament. You've got to go through the old prophets. You've got to begin in Genesis and you'll begin to understand this. You see, we're not teaching in the church blind submission to our teachings and experiences. What we're saying is we believe, we practice, we experience, we have experienced what the Bible teaches. And it's the fullness of the word of God. You know, the day of Pentecost was promised in the Bible. It was taught in the Bible. It's explained in the Bible. When you go to the Old Testament, there's prophets, shadows. There are seven feasts in the Old Testament. One of them is Pentecost. Seven feasts given to Israel. They were annual feasts every year happening on the calendar. But do you know what? When you come to the New Testament, each of the seven feasts begin to get fulfilled. Three of them have already been utterly completely fulfilled during the days of Christ. One of them is being fulfilled right now. Three of them are yet future and have never been fulfilled. You know where it began? It began with Passover. Do you know the one that's being fulfilled now? It is Pentecost. Do you know what is future? The last one is tabernacles. So you see these seven feasts have been given in the Old Testament. They're types, they're shadows, they're teaching, instruments to show you. No wonder Peter stood up and began to teach. This is that spoken by Joel. You know, Christians who are thin, they're wafer thin, say, oh, I don't need to go into things deeply. I just need to come along to church. I don't need to study. I don't need to understand these things. What sort of Christian are you? Because I want to tell you, the first Peter, an ignorant fisherman, listen to me, an ignorant fisherman with rough hands, the big fisherman, that's what he was, not college trained. He wasn't a priest. That fisherman stood up on the day of Pentecost and he preached under the power of the Holy Spirit. So this is the first thing. What is Pentecost? It is a teaching to be expounded or explained to all men and women. Look at Peter preaching. Peter quotes the scripture. He actually says that from Joel, he ties Joel together with David's prophecies about the coming Christ. You know what his preaching is? It's biblical. A preacher is not biblical, it's not a preacher. I don't like preachers who don't open their Bible. It gets me really annoyed. But a real preacher is biblical. They're convicting. They're Christ-centered. They preach repentance. You're not going to feel comfortable. If you're in sin here, I do not want you to feel comfortable this morning. Oh, I thought we were in church to feel good. Absolutely not. If you're not living right, I hope I stand on your toe. I'm not wanting to offend you or hurt you. I would never do that. But I know if the real Holy Spirit is here and you're in sin, that is not okay. You see, the real Holy Spirit will work in your heart because he loves you and cares about you. If you feel uncomfortable and your life isn't right, you ought to be very glad this morning. If you feel convicted, if you start to go, I don't feel okay, I'm going to go out of here with a headache, good, praise God. That means you can actually feel or discern the working of the Holy Spirit. It is very, very real. Peter even goes on to preach water baptism and spirit baptism. You know what faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. You don't have real faith if you don't have the Word of God coming to you. And so we must not overemphasize or deemphasize what is being taught here. You know, Pentecost is real. It's to be taught. It's to be explained. I should make you hungry for Pentecost. I'm stirring you. I'm teaching. I'm preaching. I'm imploring you. I'm begging you. That's what the Word of God does. You know what happens? Faith comes into your heart. How does it come? How does faith come? Hearing, by hearing. Hearing what? The Word of God, not my opinions. Testimonies are wonderful. If I could preach until 12 tonight, but I don't have the time, I would give you lots of testimonies, but I want to stick to the Word of God here. Number two, Pentecost is always connected to the Passover. I'm giving you massive, major points here. Simple points, but vital. Look what it says in Acts 2, verse 1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, notice this feast is called Pentecost. It is 50. The word means 50. Why would you call a feast 50? I mean, imagine it. This feast that we are gathering here for, it's called 50. 50 what? What do you mean 50? You see, the name Pentecost has a meaning. You can't find it unless you know where Passover is, because it's the 50th day from Passover. If Passover means nothing to you, you will never find Pentecost. If Passover isn't important to you, Pentecost will be a deception to you. It'll be empty. It means nothing. And so in order to find Pentecost, you've got to go to Passover first. What do I mean by that? Do you want fire here this morning? Do you want miracles? Do you want the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you want God coming near and a wind to blow through the building? Do you want the reality of that? You cannot have it unless you have a real Passover. If you don't start right at Passover, you're going to get a false Pentecost, a deception. Someone will teach you to talk in tongues. They'll push you over in a meeting. They'll create an atmosphere with worship and say that's the Holy Ghost. Lights, music, feel, that's the five senses. That's not the Holy Spirit. That's emotion. The five senses are affected by sound, by sight. You notice in recent times they've darkened churches, dark painted walls, the lights get dimmed down. Most churches you walk into, you can only see the man at the front and the worship team. Usually it's not the man at the front, it's the worship team. Do you know what? They're appealing to the five senses. That's very dangerous and we call it the Holy Spirit of God. The second point, Pentecost is always connected to Passover. We are not looking for Pentecost without a Passover. The Passover had been fulfilled 50 days before this when Jesus Christ died on the cross. Can you believe this? On Passover, Jesus died on the cross exactly 50 days later. It was the day of Pentecost. It was a tradition. It was a feast. It was in the calendar. Everyone came to Jerusalem. Guess what? The Holy Spirit gets out poured at Pentecost. Do you see how they were fulfilled exactly 50 days later? After Jesus died on the cross, the Jewish feast of Passover was held. As Jesus died on the cross in the temple, they are killing the lamb. The blood is being shed at the exact same time. It was the fulfillment. All the Old Testament teaching is now literally, physically, visibly being fulfilled. The same happened 50 days later on the day of Pentecost. Now in Jerusalem, all were about to see the fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost. They came here for ritual, for teaching, for outward observance. Do you know what's going to happen? They're going to experience it. Are you satisfied just to have teaching? Are you satisfied merely to have knowledge books on your shelf to gain knowledge? Are you satisfied with that? Don't you know there's a day of fulfillment where Pentecost becomes a reality? You could read all about Pentecost and not have Pentecost. You could listen to sermons on it. You could study it. You could know all the scriptures, but you do not actually possess it or have it. But before their eyes, they were going to see it in this day. You see in the Bible, there are well over 300 prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, when Jesus would come, or the promised Messiah of Israel. 300 prophecies He had to fulfill, or they would reject Him as not being the real Messiah. Do you know 70 of those are major, and they are all fulfilled in this one person. Listen, 25 of these prophecies all were fulfilled in 24 hours, one day in the life of Jesus Christ. 24 major prophecies that no other person in history has ever fulfilled. No one. No one has. No one did. Only the man Christ Jesus. Those 25 prophecies were concerning His betrayal, His trial, His death, His burial, all within a short time. Do you know that it was prophesied that Christ would be the Lamb of God? You can't understand Jesus being the Passover, fulfilling the Passover. Do you know Passover was a prophecy? There's coming a Lamb whose blood is going to be shed. It was prophesied all through the Old Testament. In Exodus 12, we have when Israel came out of Egypt on that first Passover, a Lamb was shed. It's Exodus chapter 12. When you come over to the New Testament, this is what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5 and 7, for even Christ, our Passover Lamb, is sacrificed for us. It's remarkable that God fulfilled this. But do you know what else was prophesied? Pentecost. Pentecost was prophesied in the Old Testament, but you'll never find it without the Lamb of God. Are you born again here? Have you met the Lamb of God? Are your sins forgiven? Have you had a real Passover? You see, it was a feast. It was a teaching. It was typology. But there was a day when Christ came and died for sinners. You could call yourself a Christian. You could have knowledge about Jesus, and you've never had your sins washed in the blood. You've never been changed in your heart. You've never been made right with God. You see, is Jesus your Passover? Have you experienced the Passover? Have you seen that the bleeding, dying Lamb bore your sins? Your sins sent Him to the cross. He died for you because He loved you. He died in your place. You ought to die. Did you just grow up in this? Did you just casually fall into this? If you can move into Christianity without having a real experience of Passover, you're not ready to meet Him. You need a Passover Lamb. You need an experience of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's real. Only after having a real experience can you move on to Pentecost. Once you find the Lamb, then you go to Pentecost 50 days later. You know, it's because I'm washed in the blood of the Lamb. I'm a Christ man. Listen to me. I talk about Him. I love Him. I worship Him. I pray in His name. Again, we've shifted over to the Holy Spirit. I pray to the Holy Spirit. Who talked to that? Oh, I speak directly to the Holy Spirit. Where'd you get that one verse? I'd be very interested. If I was a betting man, I'll say, I'll give you 50 euro at the end if you give me one verse. But I'm not a betting man. And you'd only lose your money. Third of all, Pentecost is an outpouring on the church. So it's a teaching to be expounded. It is always connected to Passover. Never go far from Passover. The bleeding Lamb will always lead you to a real Pentecost. I mean real. But third of all, Pentecost is an outpouring on the church. Look at Acts chapter two, verse one. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, it arrived. In other words, they were all with one accord in one place. Notice that's my definition of the church. It's all the Christians gathered at the same time and the same place to do the same thing. Oh, we are the church. I just meet with Sally at Starbucks. We are the church. No, you're not. The church is all the members of the body gathering together in the same place at the same time. You can't be the church as an individual. You're not the church as an individual. I'm the church. No, you're not. Do you know what? It's when all the believers gather together in one place. That's what Pentecost was. You had a real church, 120 in an upper room. That 120 had walked together. They knew each other. They weren't just popping in for a visit or going around a hundred different churches. There were no other churches in those days. How much easier? I'm going to go to church. Well, there is only one. Wouldn't that be wonderful? We have made such a pig's ear of it all. But in those days, there was one group of believers gathered, 120. They knew your weaknesses, your failures. They knew your past. They knew your history. They knew how you preach. They knew all of that. And they're gathered in an upper room. Listen to what happens. And suddenly there came a song from heaven as of a mighty Russian wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting. They weren't kneeling, weren't standing, weren't jumping. They're just sitting. And this happened. I'm talking about Pentecost is now pouring on the church. You don't need to work this up. I'm sick to death with false revivals. I've watched the videos of them. They spend an hour telling you, now you're going to experience this. Why not just preach the word of God? Why not preach Passover, the lamb of God, and let the Holy Spirit do it? We're always trying to work things up, create something in the church. Why not pay a price to have Pentecost come down? They were sitting when this suddenly broke in upon them. Oh, to have a Pentecost in this church. I mean an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on this church. 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 all in one place. At the same time, imagine missing that meeting. Where were you? I was doing my garden. Well, it was sunny, so I thought I'd go to the beach. You missed Pentecost. God help you. You'd be shocked where many Christians are this morning. So-called Christians. What would you do in the Lord's day? What takes you away from breaking bread, singing, prayer, preaching? What do you put before that? You'd be shocked. You'd be really shocked. A hundred and twenty, mostly Galileans. Mostly. Judas wasn't. He wasn't there. Twelve apostles. And you know when this outpouring initially comes, there's no preaching initially. What is there? There's tongues. The tongues weren't, say, Coca-Cola fast, or Smith Wigglesworth fast, or say the first word that comes into your mind, and that's tongues. That's all across the church. That's dangerous. You've been sold a lie. You've been deceived. If you'd been the real Passover, you wouldn't settle for that. I want a real Pentecost. You see, here they are. They begin to speak in tongues. Fifteen different nations, clear, praising Jesus. They weren't preaching. It wasn't evangelism. They're actually praising the Lord. They're just exuberant. They're speaking in tongues. They don't even know what they're saying. They're pouring out, out of their innermost being. They are speaking, uttering languages. They don't even know what they're saying. And they're praising the Lord. All they know is they're speaking in an unknown tongue. A hundred and twenty of them, young and old, not all preachers. There's only twelve preachers. And they are speaking in fifteen different languages. The languages of Rome and Africa and of eastern nations, to such an extent that those listening began to gather and said, they must be drunk. Peter said, no, it's only nine o'clock in the morning. It's the third hour of the day. This is only the beginning of the former reign. You know, Peter, when he stands up and preaches, he explains, this is that which Joel speaks about. Do you know what he was saying? Pentecost is the former reign. It's an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Seven hundred years ago, this was talked about. This is the first day of revival in the church. The very first revival. This is what the Bible talks about. What is this? It's revival. I can show you it in the Bible. I don't need to create things that are not biblical. I just want what the Bible talks about. It is so real. It is so mighty. It is so powerful. Pentecost in Acts 2 was only the beginning. If you turn to Acts chapter 8, the same thing happens. In Samaria, another Pentecost comes. Or if you turn to chapter 10 and 11, then it moves further up country to Caesarea. Or if you go further in around the coastline to Ephesus, again in chapter 19, it begins to come to the church in that city. Everywhere you have the church, you have Pentecost coming, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We call this revival in the church. And I love to study the revivals of church You know why? You get entire cities shook inside out overnight. You've got a country like Wales where in six months, a hundred thousand people turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, where you could hardly get people to church. And they all went to the rugby matches. Now on the train to the rugby match, you're very lonely, not much singing. You know where they all are? They're singing on their way to meetings. Nations have got changed all through church history. It's remarkable. I do not believe the day of revivals has finished again. Peter later in chapter 3, verse 19 in Acts, he talks about times of refreshing that shall come from the presence of the Lord. He calls these outpourings. You see, it doesn't just happen in one individual. God can pour his spirit out upon an entire gathered church. We're 120 people who love him, who've really been to Passover, who are really born again. 120, he can pour his spirit out at the same time. It's not one person having an experience and you step back and go, why am I not experiencing that? I've only been in one meeting where I saw this happen. It was filled, bombed, jammed. We'd been having meetings for two years just periodically. We went back in, they gathered from all over. There wasn't even room in the altar, seats were filled. You know what? It was all teenagers and those in their 20s filling the altar. There was no room for anyone to move in the entire building. And at the end of the preaching, it was Brother Clendenin preaching in that message in Belfast. And as we stood, I've never seen anything like it. The spirit of God came down and everyone who is seeking the baptism in the Holy Ghost received it in that one gathering. There were those that had prayed for it 17 years, never received it. Oh, everyone's prayed for me. I don't understand why I haven't received. 17 years, they got it that night. Nobody laid hands on them. They didn't even move from their seat right through to someone who'd only heard about it the night before. It was extraordinary to stand there and go, this isn't worked up. This isn't man. No one can even move in the place. And I went around like this looking, and I knew all these individuals. And I was watching all over that place as people who'd been seeking God were instantly all together at the same time, all filled with the same Holy Spirit. God came down and overshadowed. It was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It was so real. Saints of God, this is biblical. Those who say it's only for the first century don't know their Bible. They're biblically illiterate. They're ignorant or they're being taught wrongly. Many have been taught against this because all they've seen is the false, the confusion, and they react against it and go, I'm scared of all this. But you know what? Pentecost is still for a revival in the entire church, and the church needs it in this hour. We need another Pentecost. We need a revival, an outpouring. Read your book of Acts. Everywhere God is working, saving souls, revealing Christ as the Lamb of God, He always sends Pentecost. Why would you settle for Passover? Why would you just say, well, I'm saved, ready for heaven, and yet deny Pentecost? Surely Passover leads you to a real Pentecost. It is automatic. Listen, in the book of Acts, in a short period of 33 years, the gospel spread out from Jerusalem across the entire Roman empire. We have the record in the book of Acts. It reached out into every town, every village, leaving a trail of churches, multiplied thousands, tens of thousands were transformed and born again. New gifted leaders, deacons, evangelists, pastors were all raised up. Mature elders were left in every town and in every city. Young preachers started to arise as the first generation in those churches. We need to acknowledge that this was the result of a revival that began on the day of Pentecost, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Not one man, not one preacher, but an outpouring on the entire church. If we are going to recover again, the reality of this, we need another Pentecost as a church. For the next 300 years, Pentecost spread out into all nations. Do you realize that came out of a real Pentecost on a church? Do you know Pentecost is for this church as much as Passover? You may not have seen where the Holy Spirit is outpoured on this entire church in one gathering, in one meeting upon all of us. But saints of God, I'm telling you, it is as real as Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Fourth of all, Pentecost is a personal baptism in the Holy Ghost. In Acts chapter 1 verse 4, it says, and being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem. This Jesus in Acts 1 and 4, one chapter before Pentecost, this is before Jesus ascends. It's a command from Jesus. Do you know what he's commanded? Just before he leaves, he's given them a command, don't you leave here until. It's a command. See, if you're not hearing the command of Christ concerning Pentecost, you're actually saying no to a command. I wouldn't want to do that with Jesus. If he's got something for me, if he has something to do in me, and yet I ignore it, or I'm ignorant of it, or I'm taught against it, or I just don't understand it, or I've tried and it didn't work for me, that's a lame excuse. So what does Jesus say? He says, he 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. I talk to you about this Holy Spirit. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. What is Pentecost? Pentecost is the baptism in the Holy Ghost. It's not a church, it's not a denomination, it's not a movement, it's not just a day, it's not just a feast in Israel. Pentecost is a personal, individual baptism in the Holy Ghost. Jesus commanded them, don't go anywhere to do my will until you have received the promise of the Father. Who's he speaking to? Born again Christians. They're forgiven. Do you know they already have the Holy Spirit? In John chapter 20, verse 22, Jesus speaking to them, he was with them, remember this, and he says, receive ye the Holy Ghost, and he breathed on them. Do you know what the word receive there means? So I don't know Greek, but I know how to study. That Greek word receive means right now, this minute, instantaneously. It didn't mean weeks later. It didn't mean in Acts 2, he's not talking about that. In John chapter 20, they were regenerate, they had the Holy Spirit within them. Remember he said, the Holy Spirit's with you, but he's going to be in you. When did he go into them? In John chapter 20. Do you know why I'm saying that? People say, they confuse that the baptism in the Holy Ghost is when you get born again. No, it's not. No, it's not. The promise of the Father, I will pour my Spirit out on you. That's what the promise of the Father is, the outpouring. Have you had the Spirit outpoured on you? You could be born again, saying Christ lives in your heart, but have you had the Holy Spirit outpoured? Have you been mantled? Have you been baptized? Remember what the word baptized means, that you get submerged. It's like with water baptism, where you get put beneath the water. Do you know how I know you're baptized? We lose sight of you. Baptized in what? I don't believe in sprinkle. Sprinkled in the Holy Ghost? No way. I want baptized. That means immersed. That means soaked. That means drenched. That means I am lost under the water. I go under the water, and he has got sprinkled. You weren't baptized. That doesn't count. But do you know what the baptism in the Holy Ghost is? It is the promise of the Father. Think about it. It's a promise. It's not just a command. It is a promise. If you're sitting here saying, well, the baptism in the Holy Ghost isn't for me. Jesus commands it. It is for you. But more than that, he promises it. It's the promise of the Father. You're saying it's not for me. That's a lie from the devil. The Father has promised this to you. Believe it. Why not right now? Believe it and say, this is his promise. Why shouldn't I believe it? Why shouldn't I have it? Why shouldn't it be for me? Have you had your Acts chapter 2? Have you had your Pentecost? Have you had your personal emergence in the Holy Spirit? You see, to be baptized in the Holy Ghost is not salvation. All of those in the day of Pentecost, they're already saved. They've broken bread with Jesus. They've been baptized in water. They were sanctified through the truth. So they weren't getting salvation. Acts chapter 2 was a baptism in the Holy Spirit. Every single one of them was baptized in the Holy Ghost. Oh, Brother Keith, I just believe some super saints, super sally, saint. Well, it's for her, but not for me. That's a lie from the devil. We all need it. I need it. You need it. You know what? All the preachers in the first century were baptized. All the churches were. All the preachers were. All the Christians were. Why should we settle for less than a real baptism in the Holy Spirit? It's called here, it says they're all filled. Notice the baptism is being filled with the Holy Spirit. That means up to here. I've seen a lot of Christians go to church. They're not filled with the Holy Spirit of God. See, if you're filled with Him, you're going to lose your taste for every other thing. I've met Christians filled with jealousy, bitterness, unforgiveness, lust, sin, anger, lies. Do you know how I know they're filled? Because it comes out of them. It controls their decisions and lies. You get filled with the Holy Spirit. I can tell. You know how I can tell a drunk man in Limerick? Some of them, it's a bit hard. They're such professionals. They've learned to walk home. But most times, 99% of the time, I can tell a drunk person. You know why? Just go speak to them. Go speak to them. Their speech gives them away. As soon as I meet someone, they start, oh God, blaspheming, cursing. You're not filled with this Holy Spirit. I want to tell you, you couldn't do that. You would not do that. You would never misuse God's name. Because if you're filled with Him, there's another source in control. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Whatever you're filled with controls you. If it's the Holy Spirit, He controls your tongue and how you walk. You walk in a straight line. Show me a Christian living right, walking right, speaking right. I'll show you someone who's been filled with the Holy Spirit. You know, this baptism in the Holy Ghost is an individual thing, you'll say. But there was 120 in this meeting. Yes, but go to Acts chapter 9. And you have the Apostle Paul. He's sold a persecutor. Three days earlier, he's been born again. He met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He's on his way to kill Christians. How did he meet Jesus? He was born again. It's real. His life has changed. If you can meet Jesus and you're not changed, you never met Jesus. You don't just slip into this or say a little prayer and, well, that's me in. You meet Jesus Christ. You may not have wind or fire or flashes of light or visions. Very few do. But you'll meet with Him in such a real way. You fall in love with Jesus Christ. But in Acts chapter 9, three days later, he's blind. He's sitting alone. He's lost his friends. He's praying. God speaks to him, I'm sending someone to lay hands on you. You're going to get healed. And there's another thing. You're going to get filled with the Holy Spirit of God. That's a personal baptism. What happened on the day of Pentecost, Paul is going to experience in a little dark room all alone with Ananas, who wasn't even a preacher, coming in. He's seen it in a vision. And Ananas is going to say, Jesus sent me to lay hands on you, and you're going to get healed. He did. And now you're going to receive the Holy Spirit. And he did. He was already born again. He was already saved. He was already forgiven. But it was that day the Holy Spirit came and filled him. Number five, Pentecost is power for service. Acts chapter 1, verse 8, but ye shall receive power. This is Jesus speaking. Do you want power? You know, a lot of people are after power, not purity. That's dangerous. If you try to get the power without having the purity, you will damage yourself. But he says here, this Jesus, ye, you shall. What a definite thing. You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, after the Holy Ghost comes on you, mantles you, an anointing, like a garment going on you. This is the baptism in the Holy Ghost. After that happens, after the Holy Ghost comes on you and fills you, you're going to receive power. And ye shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. What sort of power is this? It's the Greek word dunamis. That's where they named dynamite after. They saw the word dunamis here and they went dynamite. I think dunamis would be a good name for that. But don't just keep it there. Have you seen on your bikes, the dynamo? You younger ones don't know what a dynamo is. You're all technology. Some of us lived a life like we had dynamos on our bike and the little dynamo was against the tire and it created, you just got all the power going. That little dynamo made your lights go on. I hate these blinking lights on bicycles around the city. I hate them. They're dangerous. Keep your light on. Well, in those days, we had a dynamo that kept your light on all the time. Didn't just flash on and off. Boy, I'm going to get in trouble. Change subject. But that little dynamite, why did they call it a dynamo? From dunamis. It can blow something up or it can empower something to have light. Do you know what Jesus says here? After the Holy Ghost comes on you, you're going to get power, supernatural power, spiritual power, Holy Ghost power. You're going to get dunamis that comes on you. It comes with the baptism in the Holy Ghost. It's not the baptism in the Holy Ghost. It comes. It comes afterwards. Some people get baptized in the Holy Spirit and they go, well, where's the power? Where's the miracles? Where's the flash of lightning? Why don't I feel differently? Do you know this power comes on you at the right time? You don't walk about with power in your pocket. Make sure you're baptized in the Holy Ghost. The power will be there at the right time. What sort of power is this? Why is it given to you? Why has God given you power? To get a testimony? To make a name for yourself? That people will notice you? To do a miracle? Is it to do miracles? Is this power so you have supernatural energy? Is that the reason? Well, what does Jesus say? This is the reason that ye shall be witnesses unto me. The word witness there means you lay down your life. It's the word we get from martyr. It's a life laid down. So power is given to you to become a witness. That's the sort of power. See, people want power to use it. This is power that's going to make you a witness. You lay down your life. You actually become a witness for Christ in Jerusalem, in Samaria, and onto the uttermost parts of the earth. And your life doesn't contradict it. See, anyone can preach. Anyone can evangelize. But if your life doesn't add up, if you contradict that, you don't have power. You see, it's power to show that Jesus has risen from the dead. Anyone can tell someone, and we've had them all in these streets. They'd come in here. One of them even tried to claim to me as one of the two witnesses in the book of Revelation. He'd had this saved six months, had saved out of crime and drugs and 100 charges against him. And he'd come. He was so excited that night. He was about to tell me. I knew where it was going. And I said, stop. The two witnesses are Jewish. And his whole face just dropped. I'm so glad he didn't tell me all he was going to tell me. But you know what? No one spoke to people in the city like him. No one that I've ever met spoke to more people than me. But he also drunk beer in front of them, took his drugs in front of them, and a whole lot of other things, not to mention his anger problem. That's not power. That's not power. Merely telling people is not power. It's power to live the life. It's power to walk the world in white. I want that sort of power. You see, Pentecost is power for service. That's my point. It's power to fulfill the Great Commission. It's power to go. Yes, you'll still tremble. There's power. I can remember once at the School of Christ in this city, and I'd arranged everyone to go out on a Saturday. We had all the students there and said, we're going to go evangelize. I'm the one telling them we're going to go evangelize in the center of Limerick come Saturday. It got to Saturday morning. I'm terrified. But I'm the director of the school, so I can't tell them. I'm there going, how did I get myself into this? I've arranged them all. They're all going, praise God, we're going out. We can't wait. Are you going to preach? This is great. We're going out on the streets. I am terrified. I'm feeling sick. I don't know what to do. I go, oh God, I can't tell them. But oh God, you need to help me. I can't do this. Well, we prayed in that prayer meeting before. I got down in that chair in the corner. Boy, did I pray, I want to tell you. When I knelt down, I was there for 30 minutes. And when I got up, I got up a different person. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon me. In that 30 minutes, I touched God. I was already baptized in the Holy Ghost, but the power came on me to go out and evangelize. None of them knew, unless they heard me testify about it later. And I could get up and say, let's go evangelize. Let's go preach the gospel. So real. Sixth and lastly, let me finish. Pentecost is a prophecy to be fulfilled. Did you just think it was in the past? Or did you just think it's in the present? Oh no. Pentecost still has a massive fulfillment in the future. It's a prophecy. Pentecost is a vital part of Bible prophecy. Listen to Joel chapter 2. Remember Peter referred, he said, this is that. What you're seeing on the day of Pentecost, go back to Joel chapter 2. This is that Joel told us he prophesied. So Pentecost is a prophecy, not just an experience, not just revival. It is a prophecy. It's not just a teaching. It's not just a day. It's a prophecy as well. Listen to what it says in Joel 2.23. Be glad then you children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the former reign moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the reign, the former reign and the latter reign in the first month. Joel goes on to explain what this former reign is that was going to come down. And you know what it was? He says in verse 28, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Do you know in these two verses or this one verse, Joel gives us the rainy season in Israel through its entire rainy season. There's a former reign. Then the word there reign is winter reign. Then there's a latter reign. He speaks about all three. That's the entire rainy season. The former reign was the day of Pentecost. That's when it began. It's a prophecy. Do you know this verse that's talking about all the major rainy seasons? And he says it's going to start at a time and it will continue until the day of the Lord. In other words, all through church history, these names, former reign, winter reign, latter reign are talking about entire periods of church history. The former reign was the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell and Peter stood to preach. That was the former reign. Just like in the nation of Israel, Israel relied on the rain coming. Then listen to what Joel says. He says afterward, or Peter says in the New Testament, he says in the last days. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit is going to happen in the last days. The word last days is the Greek word eschatos, where we get eschatology. It means the farthest, the final, the end, the very last, the latter end, the uttermost. So what he is saying here is this outpouring, this Pentecost isn't just on the day of Pentecost. It is for the uttermost boundaries. So when Peter stands up and said, this is what Joel talked about. This is the Holy Spirit being outpoured in the last days. You know what Peter was saying? All you prophecy buffs think this is the last days. Sorry to tell you it's not. Do you know the last days is defined? It started on the day of Pentecost. Eschatos started on that day. You may talk about Bible prophecy. You may be an expert on it. You may love to study it. If you don't study Pentecost, you're not much of an eschatos. You're not much of a prophecy buff. If you don't walk in this, if you're not filled with the Spirit, don't come to me with your teaching about last days. Last days began when the Holy Spirit fell. That's what triggered it. That's what began it. And so last days is not a short period of time just before Jesus comes, but is a long period of time which began on the day of Pentecost, stretched all through church history until when Jesus returns again. When asked the meaning of what was happening, Peter said, this is that. It is the last days. This period called the last days was to be marked by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If you say this is last days, where is the Holy Spirit? We don't get a last days. You can't say this is the last days, therefore there's no more revival. Whoever told you that? If you say like the old brethren evangelists, a man of God, humble, holy, pure, knowledgeable, and he said to me, we're Laodicea. He told me this 30 odd years ago. We're Laodicea. The day of revival is over. There won't be any more revivals. I call it self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe that, you will walk in it. You really will. Someone has convinced you that the day of revival is over. Can I prove to you it's not? Do you know both Joel and Peter tell us when these revivals are going to end? So all through church history, and he gives a time when you can tell they're going to end. Listen, both of them say this in Acts 2, verse 19. Notice it carefully. Verse 18, he's talking about the Holy Spirit being outpoured. Verse 19, and I will show wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, fire, vapor, and smoke. Notice this, the sun should be turned into darkness, the moon into blood before the great and notable day of the Lord. Do you know what this is? This is a cosmic blackout that Jesus talked about in Matthew 24 at the end of the tribulation. Also, Isaiah 24 talks about it. Amos 8, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and Revelation chapter 6 all talk about this event when the sun, moon, and stars lose their light. It's an event in history. Do you know what Joel prophesies? This is going to begin in the last days, and it's going to continue until the day of the Lord. If the day of the Lord hasn't come yet, Pentecost is still for us. It's still for you, still for me. It is an actual reality. You see, a time comes when God is going to pour out his Spirit on the last days. Their Pentecost is for this hour, more so than ever. Have you seen the immorality in our schools? Little five-year-old kids, who would have ever dreamt it in Limerick, in our day, in our generation, that they're targeting in all of the schools, all of the teachers are being trained up and primed. We are after all of your children, and we're coming after them militantly. We're playing with the minds of your children to make them. It's not a place of education anymore. We're going to teach you to lie. We're going to teach you to lie to your parents. You can tell us. We're not allowed to tell your parents. Lying is okay over the most serious things. You can call yourself Jimmy at school, and go home and call yourself Sally if you want, and we won't tell anyone. We are perverting, sexually perverting, destroying the minds of an entire generation, and we have a church that doesn't believe in Pentecost anymore, in the last days. If ever we needed a real outpouring, a real baptism, a real filling of the Holy Spirit, it's right now. We need children that are going to school on fire for God. I'll never forget, 13 years old, I got baptised in the Holy Ghost on fire. I was the only one who went forward in a meeting. I was a shy, quiet kid. You bunch don't believe me, but I was the quietest kid you'd ever meet. Shy, timid, fearful. I wouldn't move. I wouldn't speak. My mum used to forget I was in the house, forget to feed me. I was so quiet. That's the sort of kid I was. All the unbelief in this room is terrible, but I'm telling you, saints of God, when I was in that meeting, and an altar call was called for those who want prayer for the baptism in the Holy Ghost. For one year, I'd prayed for it. One year, I asked my mum constantly questions about, how do I get baptised in the Holy Ghost? The first meeting I was in the year where they even prayed for people or had an altar call, and as I went forward, the Holy Spirit, I was the only one, no one else. It was a small wooden building. They've removed it now. I got filled with the Holy Spirit. 13 years old, I wept. I poured out. I spoke in tongues. It was a real filling of the Holy Ghost. No man taught me that. One of the men praying for me had often seen people speak in Hebrew when they got filled with the Holy Spirit. The other old man never left the back streets of Belfast. If he wasn't speaking Chinese, then I don't know who was. And these two old godly men praying for me, 13 years old, I go back in that school, 600 students. I want to tell you, I evangelised everything that moved. I would sit at dinner times with our sandwiches, with our mates. I am telling them the gospel. You need to be born again. It even affected our e-class. The teacher come in. I'm bringing books in. He come down, said, can I see those books? He come in the next class, said, do you believe this? I said, oh yes, I do. He said, do your mummy and daddy? Oh yes. Well, he told us for the rest of the year, just you sit there and just talk amongst yourself. Never taught another lesson in that RE class. What did I do? I go, if he's not going to teach, then I'll preach about Jesus Christ. This will be an RE class. Saints of God, I was 13 years old, but I'd had a real experience of the Holy Spirit of God. That wind of God blew on me. Tongues of fire came to me. It gave me power. This shy, timid kid had power in this school. You know what? We need kids again. They'll go into the darkness of this confusion. We need little girls standing up and saying, that's depraved. I want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We need reality again. But Saints of God, this church needs another Pentecost. It's for you. Make sure you've got Passover. Make sure your heart is right. Then look for a real Pentecost. Why don't you just one more time try Pentecost again. On this Pentecost Sunday, I want to stir your heart, challenge you. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Saints of God, we've got a great task. Things are getting narrower. It's getting very dark. Our time is very short. Jesus is coming again soon. What we've got to do, we've got to do it now. We've got to do it now. We've got a short time to do this. And you can't do it by your own power. You can't do it by your own strength. The darkness is too great. The devil is too real in our society. It's coming in too close. Do you know what you need? You need revival. You need the baptism in the Holy Ghost. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. You need a real experience with the real Lord Jesus Christ. And then let's finish the last chapter of church history. Please stand with me. Oh, let's lift our hands. Let's just thank Him here this morning. Let's just praise Him. Begin to ask Him to fill you just right now. Ask Him to come and fill you with His Holy Spirit. My God, I pray for my friends in this room. It's a dark hour. It's an evil hour. Lord God, we need the wind of God to come again to your church. We need the power of Pentecost. We need revival to come again to your church. Will you send us another Pentecost? Will you pour out the former and the latter rain in their season? Would you send revival to this church? Would you baptize everyone in the Holy Ghost and fire? Would you let power come in our lives? In Jesus' name.