THE DAY OF PENTECOST

TEXT: ACTS 2:1-17

 

Throughout the year, there were 7 festivals or feasts in the Jewish calendar. Out of the seven for 3 of them, Passover, Pentecost and the feast of booths, all ancient Israelites who were able to make a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. Pentecost day was 50 days after the Passover feast. The Lord had commanded the disciples not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for empowerment from the Holy Spirit. On this particular day, they were all together in one place in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit came like a rushing of mighty wind. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues. From that time on, the Holy Spirit has filled believers from time to time. The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she conceived. More about the Holy Spirit:-

 

WHAT JESUS HAD SAID ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT.

• “I will not leave you as an orphan”-John 14:15-18. The Lord promised that the Father would give another helper. When Jesus was here on earth God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were mainly in heaven. When Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit is here, God the Father and the Son are in heaven.
• “The Holy Spirit will teach you all things,”-John 14:26. He also said that the Holy Spirit would remind them of everything He had said to them. The ordinary mind of the believer tends to forget what God said.
• The Holy Spirit is a reminder of the same. What God has said is what keeps the believer moving in faith.
• “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father”-Acts 1:4. Jesus had commissioned the disciples to go to the ends of the earth, but He did not want them to go to ministry before empowerment.

 

FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

• There are diverse ways of a believer being filled with the Holy Spirit. To qualify for filling of the Holy Spirit, one must be born again, a child of Jesus Christ. There were devout Jews in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost but because they were not followers of Jesus they were not filled. The Holy Spirit has been sent to the church of Jesus Christ.
• Formal ways of filling:-The Holy Spirit can fill a person through laying of hands-Acts 8:17.
• Informal ways of filling:- The Holy Spirit can fill a believer gradually/suddenly as the believer spends time with God in prayer, reading the word of God and walking in obedience to God in holiness.

 

WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN A BELIEVER.

The Holy Spirit comes to the believer to empower the believer in:-

• Evangelism:-winning of souls is supernatural and it flows smoothly when the Holy Spirit is central. Within a short time the apostles had won many souls and “turned the world upside down”-Acts 17:6.
• The Holy Spirit intercedes for the believer-Romans 8:26.
• The Holy Spirit helps the believer in his/her weakness-Romans 8:26.
• The Holy Spirit convicts men when he/she has sinned-John 16:8.
• The Holy Spirit helps the believer live a holy life and avoid desires of the flesh-Galatians 5:16-18.
• The Holy Spirit restrains evil in the world. The Holy Spirit restrains the antichrist arising before the rapture of the church-2^nd 2:7.

 

CONCLUSION

Romans 8:14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God.