Morning Light -[ Acts 02:Part 1]: Have You Had Your Pentecost?

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Acts Chapter 02 Part 1
Today: [Acts 02: Part 1] Have You Had Your Pentecost? In Acts 2 we find the original suddenly of God being poured out upon a few determined radicals. Are you one of God’s radical followers? Then these promises are for you and they are still flowing today for those hungry enough to importune themselves so as to receive them.
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[Act 2:1-21 KJV] 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all [ye] that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is [but] the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 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: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
In chapter 1 of Acts, we see 120 of the original 500 that witness the ascension of Christ actually follow His instruction to go to Jerusalem and wait for the outpouring of power from on high. What happened to the other 380? They were part of the fulfillment of the parable of the great supper. They were bidden by Jesus in His glorified body and witnessed His ascension, and still, they found something else more important to do. When you look at those numbers, you see that from those averages only 1 of 4 people no matter what glory they witness will ever do anything different with their lives. They are just coasting till Jesus comes. Are you in the minority or the majority of that equation? This is where we must remember that the kingdom doesn’t come with observation. 500 observed what happened on the mount of Ascension, but only 120 actually did something about it. The 380 fade from history, most likely back into a dead religious system over which a veil of unbelief descended and doomed them all to the dustbin of history. The 120 were DOERS of what Jesus said and not just hearers. This is a direct indictment of a religious system such as Christianity as we know it whose primary activity is to go and sit as an observer watching something on a raised platform that has more in common with the Greek theater on which it was based than this vibrant, sacrificial group of 120 radicals who actually hung in there till they received what Jesus promised! Again the question – what group are you a part of?
They gathered together, and they didn’t do everything right. They squirmed and struggled, mistakenly trying to vote in by a democratic process the next apostle to take Judas’ place. Regardless of their stumbling efforts, they maintained cohesion as a group long enough that there came a sudden visitation and sound from heaven that CHANGED their lives and CHANGED THE WORLD forever. The outpoured experience of speaking in tongues lasted for over two centuries only to fade from view as the curtain of the dark ages descended on the Medieval church. The embers did not die, however. On New Year’s Eve 1899 in Topeka, Kansas a preacher by the name of Parham gathered a group of students in a makeshift bible class to ask the question if tongues were for them today? The fire fell, and modern Pentecost was birth of which we are all inheritors of that fire rekindled in Topeka, Kansas but originating no less authentically to the very instance of divine visitation we read about in the chapter we study today.
When the outpouring came, there was outward manifestation. A sudden gust of wind blew into the room. Tongues of fire appeared upon each one, and they spontaneously began speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now notice what happened: they spake with other tongues. The Spirit didn’t speak in other tongues – THEY spake with other tongues. Many people are so misled on this point. They want the Holy Spirit to circumvent their volition or will and speak in tongues like putting your hand in a marionette. No one will ever receive tongues like this because the Holy Spirit will NEVER act upon any man in such a way as to overcome your will.
How does this work? The Holy Spirit gave the utterance. The people spake. What if I gave you an utterance in Cajun French? Watch this:
Le Batam De Le Sant Espirit
Now take that utterance and say it. If I didn’t tell you what it meant and you didn’t know any French, you would be speaking in an unknown tongue. I would be giving the utterance, and you would be speaking. That is how the Holy Spirit baptizes. Many people expect the Holy Spirit to baptize them in such a way that faith is replaced by an intense emotional experience. Sorry, God won’t work that way. If it does not require faith on your part then it ISN’T GOD and DOESN’T PLEASE HIM. Are you listening? We make this so much harder than it has to be.
Your human spirit can access the speech center of your brain and speak by the Spirit of God if you will just let it. You have to disengage your rational mind from its stranglehold on your speech faculty and hand the reins of the speech center of the brain and allow your Spirit to pray through you. Are you just making this up? Not at all. Science has measured this phenomenon and has concluded beyond all doubt that tongues, when expressed, do not come from the creative part of you that would light up on a brain scan if you were making this up. In fact, there is no activity in the brain that indicates tongues is coming from your brain at all. The researchers concluded that speaking in tongues comes from somewhere else that they cannot account for.
What about getting filled and not speaking in tongues. Not if you take Acts 2 as your example. They were FILLED and SPAKE. If you are FILLED, you will SPEAK likewise. Don’t sell yourself short and don’t rationalize away this blessing of God. Set aside your unbelief and rationalizations of the carnal mind and let your human spirit where God lives by the Holy Ghost by virtue of your new birth SPEAK THROUGH YOU and PRAY THROUGH YOU today and every day until you can say like Paul “you speak in tongues more than all others.”
What was the response from the crowd? Verse 6 gives further insight. The crowd didn’t hear 120 people speaking gibberish. They heard each one of them the entire 120 speaking in their particular language. It was a miracle of hearing as much as it was a miracle of speaking. The crowd was amazed, and they were pricked in their hearts. They knew it meant something, but they needed further explanation. In verse 14 Peter lifts up his voice and preaches the very first sermon by the anointing and power of the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
As Peter addresses the crowd, he repudiates the accusation that they are drunk because it is only 9 o’clock in the morning! No, they are not drunk, rather they are the fulfillment of the prophecies of Joel that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh and that sons and daughters would prophesy and old men would dream dreams and the servants and handmaids of the Lord would prophesy. Prophesy is heavily mentioned in these Pentecostal manifestations which is interesting because not only do most cessationist churches reject prophesy with tongues, most of the denominations that accept tongues to some degree entirely reject prophesying and the idea of prophets in our midst. They are Mystery Babylon in our midst masquerading as servants of God. Twice dead, plucked up by the roots, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof as the scripture tells us would happen in the last days. Is this your church? Then what are you doing there? Can you not find a church that embraces the primitive Pentecostal testimony of Acts 2? Then go out and start one, if it is just you and your close family and friends!
Peter also spoke about signs in the heavens, v. 20 blood and fire and vapor of smoke. That is also part of the Pentecostal testimony, but we haven’t seen it yet. That tells us that Pentecost is still unfolding. There is yet a further fulfillment yet to be seen and after that the fulfillment of Tabernacles which will be the putting on of immortality in our earthly bodies, even some who will walk into eternal life without going by way of death