I want to go to Leviticus chapter 23 and I'm going to read
verses one through 2 and it says this.
The Lord spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the children of Israel
and say to them the feasts of the Lord, which you shall
proclaim to be holy convocations.
These are my feasts. Now the word feast, I'm going to
give you a combination and a compilation of the English.
Obviously the Old Testament was sitting in written in Hebrew and
the New Testament written in Greek.
I'm going to give you a combination of what this word
feast means. It means to rejoice, It means to
dance, it means to have joy and gladness.
It means to move in a circle and March in a sacred procession.
And I like this one. By implication, it means to be
giddy. I want to say giddy up in the
Holy Spirit, just bubbling up with joy.
Glory to God, how can we be saved and redeemed, filled with
the Holy Ghost and not be giddy even in times of trials, even in
times of temptation, even in times of test?
Are you giddy? My the word of God says in James
chapter 1 count it all. Joy and feast means to have a
joy and there should be continually joy.
The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit. Well, how do I do that?
By faith your your feelings are not always going to feel like
rejoicing. But Hebrews chapter 13 verse #15
from the Amplified Classic says this through him.
Therefore, let us constantly and at all times OfferUp to God a
sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, and
thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.
Did you notice it says a sacrifice of praise?
Why say sacrifice? Because sometimes you don't feel
like doing it. But by faith we have to learn as
a body of Christ. If we want to see the goodness
of God in the land of the living, we need to live by
faith. And faith has a voice to it, and
faith has an acknowledgement to it, and by faith we just need to
praise the Lord. We need to be giddy, we need to
have joy, we need to dance. King David, when the Tabernacle
came, the presence of God was coming.
His wife despised him because he danced out of his clothes.
Now do that at home. But the point is dance before
the Lord, right? And you know what, because his
wife despised him, she became barren.
And if you despise the goodness of the Lord, can there be
barrenness in your life? Unproductive, no results.
And God's just saying get over into joy.
That's this quote from James one count it all joy.
That means it's not the situation is saying it's not
joyful. But anyways, I'm going to have a
I'm going to have a feast in the middle of this and I'm going to
praise him. First Thessalonians chapter 5,
verse 18 from the Amplified Classic says this.
Thank God in everything, no matter what the circumstances
may be, be thankful and give thanks for this is the will of
God for you who are in Christ Jesus, the revealer and the
mediator of that will, no matter what the circumstance is.
It could be the devil trying to stand on your back, but you
still can thank God in the middle of it.
Why 'cause God is greater, and I got the greater one on the
inside. So we need to stir ourselves up.
We need to stir ourselves up by way of remembrance.
Like the apostle Peter said, stir yourself up.
You know, it's great to be in church service, but what happens
when you leave this building? What happens tomorrow when a
circumstance may arise? Are you going to rejoice?
Are you going to count it all joy?
Are you going to feast on His goodness, declare His goodness
and praise Him for who he is? I like there's a Psalm that says
that the mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord, and
it says He inhabits our praises. You have a mountain of a
situation you need to get through.
Praise Him through it. Thank Him through it.
Leviticus is a power packed the 23rd chapter of the feasts of
the Lord and I wanted to find feasts first because even an
exodus, the very first feast and they have this on the screen.
If you want to take a picture of this, there's seven feasts
identified in the book of Leviticus the 23rd chapter.
But even an exodus, when God told Moses to go to Pharaoh, he
said and let my people go that they may have a feast unto me.
So I want to be etched in your mind.
We should have a feast in the Lord every day.
Psalms 34, eight says taste and see that the Lord is good.
We should be feasting on that every day.
Now the seven feasts are identified in the 23rd chapter,
and the first one is the Feast of Passover and you can see
those scriptural references. The second one is the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. The third one is the Feast of
the First Fruits. The 4th feast identified in
Leviticus 23 as the Feast of Weeks, which is the Feast of
Pentecost. The 5th feast is the Feast of
Trumpets, the 6th feast is the Feast of the Day of Atonement,
and the last feast of the year is the Feast of the Day of
Tabernacles. But today we celebrate the Feast
of Pentecost. Hallelujah, the outpouring, an
infilling of the Holy Spirit. Let me say it today we
celebrate, and let me put this in your remarks, every day we
should celebrate these feasts, the feast of Pentecost.
So the Exodus of Israel took place under the Feast of
Passover. When you read through the book
of Exodus, you'll see that God brought the children of Israel
out of Egypt through the Red Sea into the wilderness.
And that commemorates the very first feast of the year, the
Feast of Passover. And who's our Passover lamb?
Who's our Passover lamb? Who's our Passover lamb?
Remember that feast? They had to take the blood of a
slaughtered animal and they had to apply it to the doorposts.
That was just a type and shadow of what's taking place in this
new covenant. This new dispensation is Jesus
Christ once and for all, the perfect sacrifice.
The lamb without spot, the lamb without blemish.
He came to this earth. He walked it for 33 years.
He was crucified, died, He was buried.
But on the third day, death could not hold him, and he was
raised from the dead. He appeared among his disciples
for 40 days, and he has he was ascended and he's now seated at
the right hand of the Father of the book of Hebrews says he ever
lives to make intercession for us.
It's a settled work. The same way that the blood of
Jesus was a in the old, in the old covenant when the Israelites
applied the blood of the blood to the doorpost, We apply the
blood of Jesus to our lives. And then guess what?
Death passes over? How do I know that I'm born
again? Because I believe and I have
received and I have confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And when you, when you make that profession of faith, Romans
chapter 10 says, if you make Jesus Lord of your life and
confess with your mouth, you have passed over from death into
life. And this is the gospel, this is
the good news that we're living out and we get to proclaim there
is a lost and a dying and a hurting world out there that
needs the gospel. They need to know about Jesus
Christ. They need to receive Jesus so
they can come out of death and into life.
So the Exodus of Israel took place under the Feast of
Passover. In the first month after
crossing the Red Sea and being led by the pillar of cloud and
the pillar of fire, the children of Israel were brought to the
foot of Mount Sinai. And here at the Mount Sinai they
experienced the Feast of Pentecost.
At Sinai they received the 10 commandments from Moses.
They were written and given to the nation.
And there was the Tabernacle of the Lord, the Ariana priesthood,
and the sacrificial sacrificial system was given to the children
of Israel. It was here and then in it that
this nation at the foot of Mount Sinai was established as a
church in the wilderness. You can reference that in Acts
Chapter 7 verse #38 It said, This is he that was in the
Church of the wilderness, with the Angel which spoke to him in
Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the lively
oracles to give unto us. So they were established at
Pentecost. And I commit to you church
today. If you want to have established
life, thank God for Passover, but you need to go from Passover
to Pentecost. Let me say it again, thank God
for Passover. That's the first step in
redemption. But God has a subsequent
experience. He said, I want you to go from
Passover to Pentecost. It's there that the Church of
the Lord Jesus Christ is really established 'cause that's where
the power of God is poured out at Pentecost.
Jeremiah 31, this prophet Jeremiah 3133 says this, but
this is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel
after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts. I will be their God.
They shall be my people. Jeremiah prophesied this and the
old coven, but we're now, we're seeing the fulfillment of it
today. He said, I'm going to write my
law on your hearts. I'm going to be your God.
You're going to be my people. Moses gave a written law at
Mount Sinai, but I said I'm going to inscribe it by the
power of the Holy Spirit in your heart.
So from Passover to Pentecost, Hallelujah.
The physical account of the 10 commandments you can find in
Exodus chapter 34, verses 29 to 35.
So if you're taking notes, I just went from what Jeremiah
prophesied, which is taking place today.
We can see what happened with Moses in Exodus chapter 34,
verses 29 through 35. And these verses when Moses went
up and got the law from God, spent time with the Father.
It says when he came down from the mountain, his face was
shining. Listen, he didn't have a frown
on his face. He wasn't barely getting by.
He had spent time, so much time in the Prince of God that it was
exuding, permeating through him, so much so that the children are
like, I can't, we can't even look at you put a veil on.
Now He took it off when he went to to be with God, but he put it
on when he was with the children of Israel.
But I submit to you, we are the salt of the earth and the light
of the world. We should not let ourselves be
hidden. Are you with me, GPS, God's
powerful servant. Let's go to 2nd Corinthians
chapter 3. Now if you're doing your yearly
Bible reading, you can mark at least half of this off because
we're going to read the whole chapter when you get to 2nd
Corinthians 3. So you Hallelujah, it's only 18
verses, but we just went from Jeremiah to Exodus, the account
where Moses face was shining so much, where he received the 10
commandments that he had to put a veil on.
But let's look at the new covenant reality in Second
Corinthians chapter 3, starting in verse #1 it says, do we begin
again to commend ourselves, or do we need some other epistles
of commendation to your letters of commendation from you.
You are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read by
all men. Clearly.
You are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not
with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets
of stone, but on the tablets of the flesh, that is, of the
heart. And we have such trust through
Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to
think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency
is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of this
new covenant. Not of the letter, but of the
Spirit. For the letter kills, but the
Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death,
written and engraved on stones was glorious, so the children of
Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses, because of
the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,
how would the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?
For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect,
because of the glory that excels.
For what is passing away was glorious.
What remains is much more glorious, therefore, since we
have such hope with great boldness of speech, unlike
Moses, who put a veil over his face.
So the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of
what was passing away, but their minds were blinded.
For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading
of the Old Testament, because the veils taken away in Christ.
Hallelujah. But even to this day, when Moses
is read, a veil lies on their heart.
Nevertheless, when the when one turns to the Lord, the veil is
taken away. When one turns towards the Lord,
the veil is taken away. When one turns to the Lord, the
veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all with unveiled face. We all with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory, the Lord are be being
transformed into that same image from glory to glory, just as by
the Spirit of the Lord. Let me read verse 18 again.
But we all all means exclusive of everybody, inclusive
everybody did exclusion of nobody.
God wants all his children. God wants all of his children to
have unveiled face and behold Him as in a mirror.
You, you become what you behold. Church, you become what you
behold. Are you looking into the perfect
law of of liberty every day 'cause you become what you
behold? As we look in this perfect law
of literary, we're being transformed.
How you going to be a change agent if you're not being
changed? Because a change agent
facilitates transformation. And say it starts with me.
Say it it starts with me. Say I choose to be changed.
I choose to behold the Lord. Say I choose to behold the Lord
in all his glory. Hallelujah.
So from Passover the salvation and deliverance of the nation of
Pentecost where divine strength and empowerment was given was 50
days. The Lord Jesus came to fulfill
all the intricate details of the law.
We can find this in Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 through 18.
He said I came to fulfill the law, not to destroy.
The book of Acts shows the fulfillment of this time period,
for so from Passover, which is in April to 50 days later, we
see the feast of Pentecost. Christ fulfilled this.
After Christ's resurrection, at the close of his three days and
three nights in the tomb, he was seen of his disciples for 40
days, speaking to them of things pertaining to the Kingdom of
God. At the close of this period of
40 days, Jesus ascended back to the Father and the disciples
chaired in Jerusalem in the Upper Room for 10 days.
So at 50 days the feast of of Pentecost was enacted.
In the book of Acts chapter 1 and Acts chapter 250 is a
significant number in the Bible. The number 50 is used
symbolically to represent liberty, freedom and
deliverance. This is seen in the fact that
every 50 years in Israel was called the year of Jubilee.
It was the year of release. It was a year of liberty.
It was a year of freedom. Slaves were set free, deaths
were cancelled, families were reunited, and liberty was
proclaimed throughout the land by the sound of the Jubilee
trumpets. For the New Testament believers
today, Pentecost means liberty and freedom from the old Old
Covenant bondages of ceremonialism, of the law.
It means freedom and the liberty wherewith Christ has set them
free. It meant that they were at
liberty to serve the Lord. Our Jubilee is we are at liberty
to serve the Lord. Our jubilee is we're at liberty
to serve the Lord. It's not a license to sin.
It's a freedom to serve him. It's not a license to sin.
If the churches lukewarm and sin tolerance, we lose the immoral
authority to speak power. It's the power to serve.
It's the power to serve and God has anointed us for service.
In the old covenant there was only three offices that were
anointed. The prophet, the priest and the
king were anointed, set apart to do the assignment.
But in the book of Joel, that prophet, and it's actually
prophesied and spoken in Acts chapter 2 from the book of Joel,
it says in the last days, I'm going to pour out my spirit upon
all. Not just the prophet, not just
the priest, not just the king, but every child of God, the
Spirit of God is going to be poured out on them for service.
So all of us that have received the Holy Ghost experienced
Pentecost are available through for service to the Lord.
I'm going to give you multiple scriptures right now because
what I want to get across to you it it's not our self effort.
The power of Pentecost as He has equipped me through the Holy
Ghost to do what He's called me to do.
I could be the man of God that He's called me to be because
He's equipped me. I could be the husband he's
called me to because He's equipped me.
I could be the parent I need to be because He's equipped me.
I could be the minister I need to be because He's equipped me.
I could be the example and the witness in the community I need
to be because He has equipped me through His grace.
He's poured out the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and I have
received this feast of Pentecost and I'm enjoying it every day.
Hallelujah. In Acts chapter 10, verse 38,
These are scriptures. Even Jesus himself, who is the
Son of God but also the Son of man, needed the Holy Spirit for
your homework assignment. If you go to Philippians chapter
2 and you read verses about one through 11, this is your
homework assignment because the Bible says for you to study, not
just the fivefold ministry. Studying is not just reserved
for the fivefold ministry. Every believer that has an
affection and an adoration and a love and a hunger for Jesus
Christ is going to be compelled and want to study the Word of
God. I'm more in love with Jesus
Christ today than I have been since 1997.
I'm more hungry today for the things of God than I was when I
first started my journey in 1997.
This broke, disgusted and busted aimlessly wandering through
life. Young man in 1997 found Jesus
Christ and my life was transformed and I've never
looked back. When I said Jesus your Lord,
salvation impacted me. I just knew I need to be in
church. Nobody begged me, prodded me,
poked me, I was just God was faithful.
In 1997 I was able to get connected at a good church at
Raymond Christian Center. The only reason I left there is
because God said you need to get further training.
And so he my journey led me to Broken Arrow, OK to Bible school
and I was connected there until God said, see the power of
Pentecost will lead you. Thank God for salvation and
deliverance at Passover, but you want to have a successful life,
you need the power of Pentecost. Let me say this way, at the Red
Sea you can experience deliverance and salvation.
But God said there's some wilderness wondering.
Christians that had come through the Red Sea experienced
Passover, but they never went cross the Jordan.
And the Jordan is symbolic of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
So you could be saved without being filled with the Holy
Ghost. You can experience Passover, but
you haven't experienced Pentecost.
And God's saying today you need a feast on Pentecost.
Some of you have been filled, but you have been exercising the
gift. So you're, you need to stir that
up on the inside of you. When you don't know how to pray,
what should you do? Pray in the Spirit?
I'll never forget one of my friends at Rhema said this.
He said praying in the spirits is like, like laying down train
tracks. Do you get what I'm saying?
God knows the way that we should take.
And when you pray in the Holy Ghost, you're laying down train
tracks because we want His will done above all else in our life.
You know, I couldn't find in the Bible any chapter verse that
told me in 1997 to move to Broken Arrow.
OK? But what I could find is I could
be led by the Spirit and I had peace about going there and it
was the right decision. Did you know I met apostle or
Marcy there? Think about how instrumental and
big that was. That relationship got started
because of obedience to being led by the Spirit.
Hallelujah. So even Jesus.
Your homework assignment is Philippians chapter 2 verses one
through 11. It says that he emptied himself
of his royal dignity, of his royal authority, and he, he says
he came in the likeness of man. Why is that important?
Because Jesus in his earthly ministry, from 30 to 33 years
old, he ministered as a man anointed by the Spirit of God.
He did not minister as the Son of God, He ministered as the Son
of man. And why is that important?
Because not only are we the Son of God, but as a Son of man He
gave us an example that we need to minister by the anointing.
Are you with me? So look at Acts 1038 says how
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and with power went about doing good and
healing all who are oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
So God anointed or baptized Jesus in the Holy Ghost, and
that's how He had the power to do His assignment in the earth.
Same way, how are we going to have the power?
Because we experienced Passover, but we also experienced
Pentecost, and then we have that same anointing to go about doing
good. God has called us to do good.
We were born again, baptized in the Holy Spirit to do good
works, and we do that through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In John chapter 16 verse #7 the Amplified Classic says it like
this. However, this is Jesus talking.
He said, however, I'm telling you nothing but the truth when I
say it is profitable, it's good, it's expedient, it's
advantageous for you, the disciples that me Jesus goes
away. Because if I do not go away, the
comforter, the counselor, the helper, the advocate, the
intercessor, the strength and his stamp, I, he will not come
to you in close fellowship with you.
But if I go away, I will send him the Holy Spirit to you to be
in close fellowship with you. When he put that blood on the
mercy seat and you said, Jesus, I received that blood, your,
your spirit may be became born again and became holy.
And you have, you have the ability of that time to receive
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can't dwell in a
bad spirit. So the blood makes me holy and I
received the Holy Ghost in my life.
Jesus said it's expedient that I go away.
Think about it. He's with the disciples.
Could you imagine walking and talking with Jesus?
But he tells them, it's better for you that I go away, 'cause
when I go away, I'm gonna send the third person to the Trinity,
and I'm going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Zechariah chapter 4, verse #6 says this.
This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbula.
Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.
If we're going to do demonstrations and good works in
the earth church, we need the power of the Holy Ghost.
We need the power of Pentecost. It's not by our might, it's not
by our strength. It's by the power of the Holy
Spirit in us. In Matthew chapter 12 verse #28
the word says this. If I cast out demons by the
Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon
you. How's He casting out demons by
the power of the Holy Spirit? In Philippians chapter 4 verse
#13 the Amplified Classic says this.
I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me.
I'm ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who
infuses inner strength into me. I am self-sufficient in Christ
sufficiency. What is the Apostle Paul talking
about? He's talking about the power of
the Holy Ghost. He empowers you.
He equips you. You can't do all things through
Christ who strengthened you. You can do all things through
the Pentecost experience in Luke chapter 4.
I'm going to read verses 16 through 20 from the message
paraphrase and this is after Jesus was baptized by John.
You realize that Jesus was baptized by John and said, and
you saw those, the Spirit as a dove coming upon him.
Jesus was baptized by John and it says the heavens were open
and in the Holy Spirit descend like a dove and came upon Jesus.
And after that experience, listen to what he says in this
verse. It says he came to Nazareth
where he had been raised as he always did on the Sabbath.
He went to the meeting place where he stood up to read.
He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
Unrolling the scroll we found the place where it is written.
God's Spirit is on me. He's chosen me to preach the
message of good news to the poor.
He sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight
to the blind, to set the burden and battered free to announce.
This is God's time to shine. He rolled up the scroll, handed
it back to the assistants. He assistants sat down.
Every eye in the place was on him intent then he started in
you've just heard this scripture make history.
It just came true. Now in this place is the power
of Pentecost now true in your life today go to Luke chapter
24. I'm going to read one verse.
This is the post resurrection. So Jesus already the Passover
lamb has been raised from the dead.
Luke chapter 24, very last chapter of the book of Luke,
He's talking to his disciples after he's been raised from the
dead. And he said this, behold, so
listen, he's saying I'm Passover, I paid the price, but
behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.
But tarry wait in the city of Jerusalem until you're endued
with power from on high. So we go to the book of Acts,
'cause Luke the Great Physician wrote the book of Luke and the
book of Acts. So this is a continuation of
what's happening in Luke chapter.
In Acts chapter 1, they're listening to what Jesus said in
Luke 24. They were waiting for this
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 1, Jesus says to
them, you shall, you shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit's come upon you, and you shall be witnesses.
You shall receive, let me say this way, Pentecostal power and
be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of
the earth. How are you going to be a true
witness for Christ without Pentecostal power?
How are you going to be a true witness for Christ without
Pentecostal power? When I was filled with the Holy
Ghost in 1997, I was saved, redeemed.
I knew it, but when I got filled with the Holy Ghost, what a
change. The Bible started coming alive
to me. It was like a a 1000 piece
puzzle that started to come together over time quicker
because I had the power, the person of the Holy Spirit on the
inside. And you're going to be a
witness. This word means you're going to
testify, you're going to give evidence, and you're going to
affirm the truth. Because of Pentecostal power,
you're going to give evidence to the change in your life and
you're going to give evidence to the truth in your life.
So listen friends, because of the Holy Spirit, we should have
gifts of the Spirit and operation as outlined in First
Corinthians chapter 12. Not only should we have gifts,
but as outlined in Galatians 5, it says, says the fruit of the
Spirit. So we should have the the
character development and the miraculous happened in our life
because of the power of the Holy Spirit.
There's nine fruits of the Spirit starting with love and
there's there's 9 gifts of the Spirit.
But it's all through the power of Pentecost that you're going
to experience this. And how am I going to witness
man? We should be able to go into a
place, whether a hospital, whether at work, whatever's
going on, and pray for somebody and see change immediately by
the power of the Holy Ghost. At the same time too, the Holy
Spirit is always checking us. Somebody cut you off when you're
driving and you want to tell them that they're #1 with the
wrong finger, the Holy Spirit will quicken you and say you
have self-control. How can I be a witness when I'm
something doing something derogatory towards somebody else
right? Glory to God, self-control.
And then Acts chapter 2 verse #4 it says this.
They were all So the second chapter, Acts, the 1st chapter,
we're going from Luke 2449 to Acts 18, just building a case to
Acts chapter 2 verse #4 they waited as Jesus commanded them.
It says on the day and when it says the day of Pentecost had
fully come. If you read the verse when the
day of Pentecost, which we're selling the feast of Pentecost
today and I believe there's some in this sanctuary, they're going
to receive the Pentecostal experience today.
I believe there's some that's going to be stirred up to re
experience the Pentecostal experience.
It says when the day of Pentecost at full of come, they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak
with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The evidence of being filled with the Holy Ghost is speaking
in other tongues. Yes, come on, there's there's
always in the Word of God. There's always a principle that
God works on and a pattern that He works through.
God always does everything through a principle or a truth
based on a pattern. For example, there was a
Tabernacle in the old covenant. But guess what?
Jesus Christ is the Tabernacle in the old Covenant.
We come through the Red Sea in the New Covenant.
That's like a type of water baptism.
Remember, Pharaoh and his army was drowned.
Now some scholars say, well, they crossed the Red Sea 'cause
it was really dry at that season, and they try to do it
with a miracle. As I said, well, if they cross
the Red Sea, it's even a miracle they drowned in that shallow
water. Either way, it's a miracle.
You don't drown by falling in the wall, you're drowned by
staying in the water. That's all different sermon.
But that's, that's a, a pattern and a principle right there.
But guess what? Just just like I'm married to
Angie. This is an external evidence.
But this doesn't really mean anything without the internal
work, you know, 'cause you could have a house, but do you have a
home? And thank God, by the Spirit of
living God, we have a home. We've experienced the goodness
of God. Can't wait to get home.
I just love getting home. I'm a homebody, glory to God.
But just the same thing that there's an external evidence
with, you get filled with the Holy Ghost.
Guess what? The evidence you're filled is by
speaking in other tongues. Listen BC before Christ I wasn't
living right and I used to be on the bar scene.
All right. Thank God I'm redeemed.
Thank God I'm delivered. I'm not going in the bar to
witness Don, but I will pray I have an interaction with
somebody's coming out so they can come out.
But I was in a lot of that. I never heard once in the bar
anybody speaking in other tongues.
I heard a lot of slur speech and saw a lot of stupid decisions,
but I never heard anybody speaking in other tongues.
So that's want to clarify speaking in tongues.
Some people say, well, that's the devil.
Well, have you read your Bible? Do we believe this infallible
word? I mean, why would God say that
they spoke in other tongues if it wasn't relevant?
Even in Acts chapter 19, if you study this one out, when they
went to this certain city and people got filled the Holy Ghost
and said they heard them speak with tongues.
There's a second witness in the book of Acts.
So you know you got the Holy Ghost as an evidence because
you, you start to speak in other tongues.
And even in First Corinthians chapter 14, when Paul's talking
about the prophetic gifts in the church, he's talking about a
private side and a public side of praying in tongues.
Paul said this, I'd rather I speak 10,000 words in an unknown
tongue. What's he talking about?
In my own private prayer life? I pray in the Spirit a lot was
what Paul said. But he said in the church, I'd
rather speak 5 words from under with an understanding why 'cause
if I got up here for an hour and a half and just spoke in
tongues, what good is it going to do for you?
Unless somebody gave it an interpretation for an hour and a
half, which would be like longer than an hour and a half 'cause
they'd have to interpret as I go, right?
But that's what he is saying. I speak with tongues.
He stayed, He did great things for the Kingdom of God, but he
prayed in the Spirit so much. Now, thank God.
You can pray in English, you can pray in Spanish, but you should
be able to pray in your heavenly language.
That's what I'm gonna call it. When you don't know how to pray.
The Moffett translation of Romans 8 says when you don't
know how to pray in your articulate speech, you can pray
in the Spirit. I like that translation.
When you've run out of what to say in English, you can kick
over into the Holy Ghost and lay those train tracks.
Jude says in this there's only 1 chapter in Jude the 20th verse
it says building yourself up in the Holy Ghost.
Listen, some believers, I'm going to give an example like my
iPhone, any Android users the the altar is open.
I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
You Jack up text messages or we Jack up your text messages.
One of the two we OK, I'll, I'll humble myself.
I really don't care, but you know, there's a lot of
applications on this. There's a lot you can access on
this, right? Does that, I mean, this is like
a little computer, right? But if the battery dies, what
happens? It's useless, right?
Someone ask you this question, where's your spiritual battery
at 'cause you know, we get excited when it gets yellow.
You put it in that save mode, don't move it, don't use it,
right. It's better to stay charged up
all the time. It's no fun.
It's no fun if you're driving in your car and you see the the 50
drop and you're on the highway and you don't know exactly where
the next gas station's AT and it starts blinking so you got 50
miles to empty. That's no fun.
I'd rather just stay full. So my admonition to you today is
just say full daily practice Pentecost daily keep keep this
thing at fool so you have application to all that God has
available to you. Now all this was given just not
for own benefit and blessing. Thank God for the Holy Ghost he,
he is so personal and you can have intimacy with him, but it's
just not for you to stay at the house and pray in the spirit and
not get out. That is not why the Pentecost
came. It's part of it, man.
He'll reveal things to you. He'll give you a scripture as
you're doing your Bible reading, man.
He'll have things pop off the page to you.
But it's more than just that. He has anointed you for service.
The Holy Spirit has anointed you for service.
So let's go to Psalms 100. Psalms 100 it says this I'm
gonna read this from the new King James version.
It says make a joyful shout to the Lord.
All you lands serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before his presence was singing.
Know that the Lord he is God. It is he who made us and we are,
and we not ourselves. We are his people, the sheep of
his pasture. Enter into his gates with
Thanksgiving into his courts of praise.
Be thankful to him. Bless his name, for the Lord is
good, the Lord is good, the Lord is good, as mercy is everlasting
and His truth endures to all generations.
That is a delicious piece of scripture.
This is prime USDA non-GMO organic sirloin steak for all
your vegetarians. This is a good piece of
broccoli. It's so good I'm going to read
it again. Make a joyful shout to the Lord.
Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence was
singing. Know that the Lord, he is God.
It is He who made us, not we ourselves.
We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, into His courts
with praise. Be thankful to Him.
Bless His name, for the Lord is good and His mercy is
everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.
So I'm going to impress this and by the Spirit of God, etch this
in your mind and your heart today.
Serve the Lord with gladness, God's GPS, God's powerful
servant that has Pentecostal empowerment.
I'm going to serve him with gladness, not sadness.
The Bible says I was glad when they said let us go to the House
of the Lord. It didn't say I was sad when
they said the church is a voluntary community.
Nobody's forcing you to be here today.
So if nobody's forcing you, you should be glad to be here.
We serve God because we love Him, and it's a reasonable and
reciprocal response to his grace.
We serve God because we love him, and it's a reasonable and
reciprocal response to God's grace.
He gave us Passover. He gave us Pentecost.
Thank God one day He's coming back.
We we get a feast from Passover to Tabernacle when the last
trumpet sounds and he returns. But our life should be a joyful
feast. We serve the Lord because He is
good. Now listen, I want to give you a
few definitions of service. Serve means this to perform
duties or to fulfill an assignment.
Just like the prophet, priest and king had a specific
assignment. Guess what, God knows you, God
knows every single person in this room and he has a plan for
your life. And I learned this from my BC
days when I was at West Side Barbell, very famous
powerlifting gym. Louie's always you say if if you
want to go far and lift and you got to build a big base.
So you talk about GPP and then SSPGPP was general physical
preparedness, and that's where you're just laying a foundation.
He's working on fundamentals, getting you stronger, but he
also has something further in mind.
And it's kind of like what the Kingdom of God does when you
first get born again and Passover, then you experience
Pentecost. God is building you up.
You know, in 1997 when I started going to church, I didn't know
that I'd be in full time ministry, but I was just
faithful in GPP, general physical appearance, attend
church, do my Bible reading, pray.
Was I perfect? No, I still working some things
out. You know, when you get born
again, your mind is just not automatically renewed.
You got to work and the Holy Spirit and Pentecost will help
you remind you of the Word of God.
But as I went on and faithfulness, you know, God just
was leading me. And things start to get more
specific in the assignment. But God's never going to promote
you unless He proves you. God's never going to promote you
to His plan unless He proves you.
And proving only happens through faithfulness.
Are you going to be faithful to attend church?
Are you going to be faithful to tithe?
Are you going to be faithful at your home?
Are you going to be faithful at your job?
Are you going to be faithful in your meditation?
Are you going to be faithful in your devotional life?
And as your faithful God sees it and at the right time, he'll
start to get things more specific and lined out for you.
And what a journey this is in Christ.
There is not a better life, more exciting, more adventurous than
being with Jesus Christ and being led by the Holy Spirit.
This word serves me to means to be in bondage.
And you say what that means. I'm bound to serve the Lord.
I'm voluntarily placing myself in this service.
Paul said it like this. I'm a bond servant.
You know, in the old covenant said if you loved your master
that much that they'd actually put that awe in your, in your
ear or whatever and put a brand on you just 'cause you didn't
want He released you, but you love the household so much you
wanted to stay. And that's the picture.
I love God so much. I'm not.
He has branded me with the Holy Ghost on the inside.
I'm not going anywhere. I'm bound to serve Him.
This word.
Serve means to labor. That means to work.
Work is not a curse. It's not a dirty 4 letter word.
Matter of fact, God gives you work to establish dominion in
the earth in your assignment. He gives you work to establish
dominion even before the fall with in the Garden of Eden.
Guess what? God gave Adam a job, an
assignment work. He said you're to guard this
garden. I'm putting you right.
This is the place that I want you.
This is the place that I assigned you and now you have to
work, you have to till and cultivate this garden, right?
The word serve means to worship and worships really shown sown
through obedience. It really worship really
identifies your source. Who do you run to or what do you
run to when life hits you or falls apart?
That identifies your source. If you go to Ben and Jerry's,
that's identifying your source. Like emotional eating, right?
If you go to anger, are you really running to God?
But worship is obedience. It's really your source.
This word serve means to wait, just like a waiter or a waitress
serves. If you go to a restaurant after
this, you're going to have a waiter, A waitress.
And what they do, they serve the table.
We should be Those that wait upon the Lord shall Well, I'm
not feeling energized. Well, are you waiting upon the
Lord? That word wait doesn't mean like
I'm sitting down waiting. It means I'm serving the Lord.
And those that wait upon the Lord, they shall renew their
strength. They shall mount up with wings
like eagles. They shall run and not grow
wary. They shall walk, and they shall
not faint. So we're to serve with the Lord,
we're to serve for the Lord, and we're to serve through the Lord.
We are to serve with the Lord. We're to serve for the Lord.
We're to serve through the Lord. And the power of Pentecost gives
us the power to do our assignment of service.
And I want to close with these thoughts.
Worship team, you can come as you go out this week.
I want you to know this ministry starts with the person right in
front of you. You're called to be a change
agent through the Pentecostal empowerment as as the Kingdom
GPS representative. And ministry starts with the
person right in front of you. You are a change agent.
If you can change a person, you can change a household.
If you can change a household, you can change a community.
If you can change a community, you can change a state.
If you can change a state, you can change the world.
Ministry starts with the person right in front of you.
I want you to see people first this week when you read the
gospels and you see the way that this anointed man, Jesus Christ,
our Savior, navigated through life, you know, a lot of stuff
happened not in the in the sacred place, but in the
marketplace. As you read the gospels, look,
look at the greatest leader. We have the greatest example.
How did Jesus do it? And no matter where he was,
ministry was always in front of him.
And ministry starts with the person in front of you.
You know, Jesus never saw their condition.
He always saw their humanity first, he said.
I saw a woman who had an issue of blood, he said.
I saw a man with leprosy. I saw a woman that was been over
for 18 years. He saw people first, the Bible
said. He was moved with compassion and
love is our motivating force to be a change agent.
So see people first when you go out this week and understand
this, that if we're going to change this community, we need
to change one person at a time. And you are a change agent.
You are called equipped, anointed to ignite this city.
As a church. We are called equipped and
anointed as servants to ignite this city, impact the nation,
and influence the world. I'm going to give you 3 closing
scriptures and then my wife's going to come up.
We're going to give an altar call either for a a fresh
renewing of the Holy Ghost or for a first time experience of
being filled with this Pentecostal empowerment.
I want to give you Luke Chapter 9 verse #48 from the Living
Bible. It says this anyone who takes
care of a little children like this is caring for me and
whoever is cares for me is caring for God who sent me.
Your care for others is the measure of your greatness.
Your care for others is see people first this week and
understand I have I'm anointed to being changed as a servant of
God. Matthew chapter 23 verses 11
through 12 says the greatest among you shall be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, but whoever humbles
himself shall be raised to honor and our last scripture in Acts
chapter 20 verses 22 to 24. This is Paul at the end of his
life. He said, now see, I go bound.
Remember, serve means a bond servant.
I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the
things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy
Spirit testifies and every city saying that chains and
tribulations await me. But none of these things move
me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish
my race with joy and the ministry which I received from
the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
God has an assignment for you that He wants you to finish.
Strong should have that same confession that the apostle Paul
that I finished my course with joy, I finished my course with
feasting, I finished my course with the power of the Holy
Ghost. But there is a course, there is
a journey, and we need Him today.
Hallelujah.