While growing up and attending the Gulf Coast Christian Center, I often heard my pastor B.B. Hankins say that if a person would listen to the Holy Spirit, He would make them look brilliant. While I don’t claim to be brilliant, last Friday the Holy Spirit gave me this tremendous alliteration that I know I couldn’t/wouldn’t have created on my own. This post that I almost titled “The Five W’s of Pentecost” or “The Basics of Pentecost” so simply and powerfully capsulizes Pentecost. It comes from Acts 1:8.
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
WHO Pentecost is given to – Jesus made this so clear. Three times in the final words to His followers before His returned to heaven, Jesus used the words “ye” and “you”. While many often relegate the Holy Spirit to just spiritual leaders, Jesus said that this outpouring from heaven is given specifically to and for you.
WHAT Pentecost is all about – This download from heaven is all about power. The Wuest – The New Testament: An Expanded Translation tells us that it is “power of the kind which God has and exerts”.
WHEN Pentecost begins – It begins when the Holy Ghost is come upon you. It’s not at salvation or water baptism. It doesn’t begin when you join a church. God’s power arrives when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit.
WHY Pentecost is so important – The infilling of the Holy Spirit with its power is all about souls. It’s not about tongues. I am not discounting the importance of speaking in other tongues. But, these last words of Jesus shows us that this power that accompanies the Spirit baptism is so that we can be witnesses (ones who testify of what we have seen, heard, or experienced).
WHERE Pentecost is displayed – God’s power is to flow through the Spirit-filled believer at home (our Jerusalem), surrounding areas (our Judaea), state and nation (our Samaria), and the entire globe (our uttermost part of the world).
Simple? Yep. Understandable? Double yep. Powerful? Triple yep.
Experiential? Yep. Livable? Double yep. Demonstrable? Triple yep.
With all of these yeps established, we can now go live and operate in the power of Pentecost.
(Note: Pastors and ministry leaders, this is definitely preachable/teachable. It could be ministered in one service or broken down into sharing one point per ministry opportunity.)
