HOLY SPIRIT
THOU ART WELCOME
IN THIS PLACE
Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Pentecost Sunday).
Feast of Passover: “Peace with God”
Feast of Unleavened bread & Feast of First Fruits: “Peace of God”
Feast of Pentecost: “Power of God”
The Greek term Pentecost means 50.
Shavuot (Pentecost) was believed by Rabbinic scholars to be the day that God gave Moses the Torah or law on Mount Sinai after their exodus from Egypt and is commemorated as the birth date of the nation of Israel.
On that day God Himself came down in a cloud on to Mt. Sinai in fire, and smoke, and a blast of God's trumpet, to establish His covenant with His people.
This feast was also a prophecy of the day of Pentecost and the coming of the New Covenant (The birth of The Church)
Acts 1:4.
The disciples were commanded to wait at Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father” which they did.
However they did not have long to wait. The coming of the Holy Spirit occurred on the next Jewish holiday when Jews from different countries came to be in Jerusalem to celebrate the completion of the harvest season.
Shavuot the Festival of Weeks or Pentecost.
Fifty days is the period of time between Jesus resurrection on the Feast of First Fruits and the formation of the Church on the Feast of Pentecost when in fulfilment of what Jesus had said, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples who were praying in the upper room.
On this annual feast Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, God once more descended on those first-century believers, this time with a mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire and other demonstrations of the Holy Spirit, again establishing a covenant with His people.
Just as Shavuot (Pentecost) was the Day celebrated as the Birth of Israel, so it is the day The Church was born, as 3000 souls were saved in response to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s sermon.
Shavuot the Festival of Weeks or Pentecost.
Leviticus 23:15-21.
And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah.
They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven.
The Feast of Pentecost.
The central feature of this feast was the offering of two loaves of new wheat.
Loaves represent a real union of particles making one body. The two loaves may represent the Jews and Gentiles and the leavened bread typifying the Church which still contains evil.
The Feast of Pentecost.
Ephesians 2:11-20.
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands) remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.
Jesus has fulfilled the Feasts.
Jesus our Passover Lamb has died.
Jesus has taken away the leaven (sin of the world)
Jesus has risen as the first-fruits of the resurrection together with many Old Testament believers.
Jesus has baptized the New Testament believers with the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost.
How Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Pentecost.
Acts 2:1-4 &32-33.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…… God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
How Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Pentecost.
At the tower of Babel, the nations were established and mankind was divided by different languages.
At Pentecost the dividing wall between the nations was broken and the divide between Jew and Gentile broken down and the sign given was that people spoke in unknown languages.
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit empowered believers to praise God in languages that they had not learned in the ordinary manner .
Symbolically, this miracle reinforces the multilingual, multicultural, multiracial mission of the church.
We are to be a community in which all people are drawn together by God’s love in Christ.
Personal Implications of the Feast of Pentecost.
Although there are some exceptions, it seems that the church has not, in general, lived out its multilingual mission.
We are often divided according to language, race, and ethnicity.
Pentecost challenges all of us to examine our own attitudes in the regard, to reject and repent of any prejudice that lurks within us, and to open our hearts to all people, even and especially those who do not share our language and culture.
It is central to our calling and it is something that the Spirit of God will help us to do if we are available.
http://www.patheos.com/ blogs/ markdroberts/
How Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Pentecost.
40 days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended to Heaven and 10 days later he baptized the believers with the promised Holy Spirit.
John 1:33.
And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
How Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Pentecost.
John 7:37-39.
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Thirst for God.
In the Bible, thirst is a translation of the Hebrew sama, and the Greek dipsos.
We have an English word that is derived from dipsos, the word dipsomania used of extreme thirstiness, but especially of the insatiable craving for alcoholic beverages.
Thirst refers to the sensation of dryness in the mouth and throat caused by the lack of fluids which results in a desire to drink.
From this sensation it seems that people of almost any language use the word thirst as a synonym for a strong desire or craving for whatever the object, like a thirst for knowledge, or a thirst for wealth.
Do you have a thirst for the Holy Spirit?
Do you have a strong craving (Dipsos) for “The Holy Spirit”
Ephesians 5:18-20.
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly guided by Him.
Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, [offering praise by] singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks to God the Father for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you have a thirst for God’s Word?
1 Peter 2:2-3.
Like new-born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
What’s keeping you busy?
Martha complained that Mary was sitting at Jesus feet.
Luke 10:38-42.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?
Tell her to help me! Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.
Do you have a thirst for Fellowship?
Luke 14:16-20.
Then He said to him, A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.
Still another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
We make excuses for things that are not a priority..
Thirst for God attracts His attention.
Jeremiah 29:11-14.
For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.
Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Thirsty for God.
The psalmist wrote about hungering and thirsting for God.
Psalm 107:9.
He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things
We must be thirsty and hungry.
This is the desire every one of us should have, it's not something unusual that is reserved for only a few.
Psalm 42:1-2.
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
Isaiah 55:1-2.
Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Isaiah 55 begins with an invitation that accentuates man’s need and the futility of life without God. It declares the inability of the things men typically put their trust in to provide for meaning and satisfaction in life. things like money, professions, possessions, position, praise, and pleasure.
Do you have a thirst for the Holy Spirit?
How would you like to have Jesus in the flesh walking with you, talking to you face to face.
The disciples had that privilege and yet Jesus said this to them.
John 16:7-15.
But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the [a]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you]. And He, when He comes, will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin[and the need for a Savior], and about righteousness, and about judgment: about sin [and the true nature of it]….
Do you have a thirst for the Holy Spirit?
John 16:7-15 (continued)
I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth].
For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future].
He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.
Are there requirements before being filled?
The promise is for everyone but you must first repent.
Acts 2:38.
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.
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will call.
Acts 5:32.
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.
This was the message from the Apostle Peter, a man who failed miserably when Jesus was in His greatest hour of need, and yet what a transformation took place for Peter at Pentecost.
The personal aspect of the Feast of First Fruits.
The fourth feast, that is Pentecost, pointed towards the time that the Holy Spirit would be poured out to empower God’s New Covenant people to be witnesses for the Lord. However they had to be prepared by the first 3 feasts as Jesus said….
Mark 2:22
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost.
New wine calls for new wineskins.
Thirst for God.
Our typical ways of wickedness are really the product of seeking to quench our thirst by our own man-made cisterns
Jeremiah 2:13.
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
We don’t know what it is like to be without water.
We are so used to just turning on a tap.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Why Pastors should encourage and assist believers to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit. (AOG USA Website)
This document reflects commonly held beliefs based on scripture which have been endorsed by the church's Commission on Doctrinal Purity and the Executive Presbytery.
Why is the Assemblies of God so committed to the doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues?
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a vital experience of the Christian life. It is a special work of the Spirit beyond salvation. On the Day of Pentecost, disciples who had already made a decision to follow Jesus "were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues" (Acts 2:4). Paul asked the Ephesians disciples if they had received the Holy Spirit, after which "the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues" (Acts 19:2).
Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
New Testament believers were constantly challenged to be filled with the Spirit (Acts 1:4,5; Ephesians 5:18). The Assemblies of God is committed to the baptism in the Holy Spirit because the experience is such an important focus of New Testament Christianity.
Though many non-Pentecostals teach a baptism in the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues, the position of the Assemblies of God is clearly declared in Section 8 of its Statement of Fundamental Truths: "The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance (Acts 2:4)." The evidence always occurred (and still does today) at the time believers were baptized in the Spirit, not at some indeterminate future time.
Speaking in tongues is the only phenomenon mentioned every time Scripture supplies details concerning the Baptism experience. Of the five instances in Acts which recount the experience of believers being baptized in the Spirit, three supply details. Speaking in tongues is the only one that occurs each time (Acts 2, 10, 19)
Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
In the Acts 10 account, tongues is specifically mentioned as proof that "the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues" (Acts 10:45, 46). The relationship between the phenomenon and the experience cannot be ignored.
In the two cases where details are not supplied, circumstances strongly imply that speaking with other tongues accompanied the experience. In Acts 8 Simon saw something (most likely tongues) that prompted him to offer money for the power to impart such a gift. In Acts 9 Saul (who became Paul) is filled with the Spirit without the mention of any details. However, Paul later testified, "I speak in tongues more than all of you" (1 Corinthians 14:18). It is logical to conclude that he began speaking in tongues when he was baptized in the Holy Spirit.
We believe the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues is the promise of the Father to every Christian who desires the experience.
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