SPIRIT OF PENTECOST

INTRODUCTION

Spirit of Pentecost is becoming overshadowed by a new generation of believers who have not received the teachings of yesteryear. It was noted that teaching concerning the Holy Ghost (that of God's Spirit) has been both neglected and distorted but the subject deserves careful attention as one reads the New Testament.

Spirit of Pentecost
for Today

It was noted that the Day of Pentecost provided two symbols of the Holy Ghost's presence: The wind, which was associated with the Spirit, and the fiery tongues which divided and rested upon each person present, showing that the Spirit's baptism included all!

Scripture reveals: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord (purpose of mind) in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, and it (God's Spirit) filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them cloven (divided) tongues like as fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost (God's Spirit), and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-3).

Apostle Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, after being filled with God's Spirit, in speaking to the people gathered together, said: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission (forgiveness) of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (God's Spirit). For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward (crooked) generation (Acts 2:38-40).

Growing of Pentecost

A report revealed that the Spirit of Pentecost grew national and international acclaim through the Azusa street revival that began in 1906 at the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission at 312 Azusa street in Los Angeles, California.

That old frame building on Azusa street became a spiritual center for many years attracting many. There was enthusiastic congregational singing, spontaneous testimonies, prayer in unison, with sermons on simple biblical themes by lay preachers.

Many ministers, who had been influenced by the Holiness movement, believed that the complacent, worldly, and cold formal church needed to be revived with another great outpouring of God's Spirit. Desiring to rid their churches of formalism and worldliness; they wanted to transform their congregations into Spirit-filled communities like those described in the Book of Acts.

A Significant Prophecy

Sometime prior to his death, General Booth of the Salvation Army, uttered this significant prophecy: I consider that the chief dangers that confront the coming century will be Religion with the Holy Ghost (God's Spirit); Christianity without Christ; Forgiveness without regeneration; Morality without God; and Heaven without Hell.

Those words are coming home to the church in these latter days! The immorality of the world is due to a withdrawal from God's Word; with the preaching of the Unadulterated Word of God being sadly neglected.

Pulpit is Responsible

A legendary evangelist of the first Great Awakening, Charles G. Finney stated: Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours to a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of Justice, the pulpit is responsible for it.

If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact; but let us lay it to heart, and awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation.

The Spirit of Truth

Jesus said: I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (helper), that he may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth (that of God's Spirit) whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you (John 14:16-17).

It is unfortunate that we are entering a period of time that not only the world cannot see the Spirit of truth; but many in the church have lost sight of Him as well! The Spirit of Pentecost is slowly being ushered aside because of the allurements of this world. Worldliness is replacing sanctification (being set apart unto God), righteousness (doing what is right in the sight of God), and holiness (without which no man shall see God).

Spirituality in the Church

Jesus revealed: But the Comforter (helper), which is the Holy Ghost (that of God's Spirit), whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you (John 14:26). And when he is come, he will reprove (convict) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8).

It was noted that when one neglects the Spirit of Pentecost, not being sensitive towards ongoing outpourings of the Holy Ghost (God's Spirit); with such movements as that of the Holiness and Pentecostal movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, they will not see the spiritual results of such in their own churches.

A Famine in the
Land

In speaking through the Prophet Amos, the Lord God said: The days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11).

The Apostle Paul, in speaking to Timothy, a young evangelist, revealed: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts, they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables (that which is fictitious) (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

It was noted that preaching is the God-ordained means to prevent defection from the truth. Teachers who appeal to itching ears tell people what they want to hear not what they need to hear. It is sad that both of the above mentioned verses are taking root today.

Pollutions of the World

Apostle Peter wrote: If after they (the believers) have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them (2 Peter 2:20-21). It was noted that this does not mean that repentance is unavailable; but if one is unaware of their dilemma, they will not seek to renew their former commitment to the Lord.

The Spirit of Pentecost brings conviction towards the misdeeds of sinfulness; but if one is unwilling to allow that conviction to bring them to a place of repentance; they will set in a pew in the church, in a sin-ridden condition, no longer wholeheartedly committed to the Lord of their salvation.

Truthfulness of the Spirit
of Pentecost

Many Pentecostal churches no longer live up to the Spirit of Pentecost; just as many nations no longer live up to godly standards. The origin of Pentecostalism in the early church has, in many cases, given way to ordered, formal worship, without the Pentecostal power of God's Spirit being prevalent or even sought after.

The enthusiastic congregational singing, spontaneous testimonies, prayer in unison, and Spirit-filled sermons, reported in the Azusa street revival, are being replaced by planned services and worldly entertainment of no spiritual value.

Influence of Holiness
Movement

One of the earlier ministers, who helped influence the Holiness movement, believed that the complacent, worldly, and formalism within the church needed to be replaced by an outpouring of God's Spirit; with the Spirit of Pentecost, as on the Day of Pentecost.

He instructed his people to pray, fast, study the Scriptures, and like the early Apostles, wait on God's Spirit to be poured out; not in an attitude of indifference, but of excitement as to what God has in store to those who seek His power and blessings from on High.

The Spirit of Pentecost needs to be revived within the church; more than ever before, to countermand the formality of many present day churches, where a move of God's Spirit would not even be understood. On the Day of Pentecost a new phase of the revelation of God began; but it did not end there, as some might think, but continues even to this day!

Promise to the Believer

It was noted that if God were to take the Holy Ghost away from the church today, 95 percent of what we are doing would continue and no one would know the difference. If God had taken away the Holy Ghost from the early church, 95 percent of what they were doing would have ceased and everybody would have known the difference.

Again, the words of the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost: For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call (Acts 2:39). Allow the Spirit of Pentecost, that of God's Spirit, to be a part of your life as a believer in Christ; by actively inviting Him into your heart and life!

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SPIRIT OF PENTECOST

INTRODUCTION