FRESH FIRE / PENTECOST SUNDAY

I. WHAT IS PENTECOST?

Acts 2:1-4, 17-19, 36-41, 46-47 ESV

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.  2  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  3  And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  4  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

17“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18  even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19  And I will show wonders in the heavens above

36  Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37  Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”  38  And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  39  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”  40  And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”  41  So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

II. BUT WHAT DID PENTECOST MEAN TO JESUS?

John 14:16–17 (NIV)

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…”

Acts 1:4–5 NIV

“ Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised… you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:8 ESV

8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV

4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

III. WHAT DOES PENTECOST MEAN FOR BELIEVERS TODAY?

Romans 8:11-15 NIV

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Revelation 12:11 ESV

11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

2 Timothy 1:6-10 NKJV

6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

Matthew 16:18

Jesus said… I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!

Galatians 5:22–23 NIV

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Romans 8:14 NIV

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”

John 16:13 (NIV)

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth…”

IV. WHAT DOES A SPIRIT-FILLED CHURCH LOOK LIKE TODAY?

Philippians 2:8-11 NIV

8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

“16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

John 17:15-17 NIV

15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

1 Corinthians 12:7 NIV

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

1 Peter 4:10-11 NIV

10  Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  11  If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 4:11-14 NIV

10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

Zechariah 4:6 NIV

“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Acts 2:37-38 NIV

37  When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:4–5 (NIV)

“Wait for the gift my Father promised…”

V. SO HOW DO WE RECEIVE A FRESH MOVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Matthew 5:6 NIV

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Ephesians 4:30 (NIV)

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…”