THE POWER OF PENTECOST
As I write this, we are just a few days away from Pentecost and in 5 years’ time give or take a year, it will be exactly two thousand years since the birthday of the Church. This is a very exciting moment in history for us to be living in!
We must not underestimate what God has done in our day.
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At the beginning of the 20th century eight years before the outbreak of World War I - when humanity, in connection with the devil, did its worst - God poured out His Spirt to show the world a better way and to give people the opportunity to be saved before it was too late.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Azusa Street, Los Angeles California in 1906 became a worldwide phenomenon and gave birth to the Pentecostal Movement which is still the fastest growing branch of the Church today.
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Just as on the day of Pentecost, when 120 followers of Jesus including the apostles and Mary the mother of Jesus received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues, those people who either went to Azusa Street to see what was going on, or were brought into the experience as it spread, all expected to speak in tongues as the evidence that they had received it. This became the doctrine of the Pentecostals – that tongues are the Initial Evidence of the Baptism of the Spirit.
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Those early Pentecostals were rejected and ostracised by the mainstream denominations and then amazingly in 1960 God poured out the Holy Spirit baptism again – this time among people in all those denominations that had previously resisted it. This became known as the Charismatic Movement.
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The event that sparked this happened again in Los Angeles - in Van Nuys California. with Dennis Bennett, Rector of St Mark’s Episcopal (Anglican style) Church, when he stood up on Sunday morning April 3, 1960, and announced to his congregation that he had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues.
This caused a major controversy, and he was asked to resign the same day, which he did, but the news hit the headlines, and his story was published in both Time magazine and Newsweek magazine.
Prior to this, Bennett’s wife Elberta and a good number of the members of his church had already received the Baptism and the great attraction for everyone who became interested in it, was speaking in tongues.
This is recorded in his best-selling book: “Nine O Clock in the Morning” which was read by people of all denominations all around the world and was a major influence in the growth and spread of the Charismatic movement. In ten years, the Charismatic movement spread to all major Protestant denominations of the world, reaching a total of 55 million people by 1990.
These worldwide outpourings of the Holy Spirit
are truly the most significant events in the history of the church
since the first century AD!
They cannot and must not be underestimated in terms of their significance, but the sad thing is that many members of “Charismatic” and even Pentecostal churches today have not received the Baptism of the Spirit and some who claim to have received it have never spoken in tongues. Why has this become so watered down?
I would suggest two reasons. Firstly, that it is not taught these days in many so-called Spirit-filled churches, and then because of that, people do not seek the Baptism and do not expect to receive the gift of tongues. If people do not believe it is for them, they will not bother to seek it.
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Remember that before the Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost the believers were all with one accord waiting upon God in prayer for ten days! We have to “tarry” for the Spirit, in expectation that we will receive. Peter preaching on that day said:
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“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off”
Acts 2:39.
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Young ministers when you have the opportunity, do not be shy, preach the promise! The church needs to wake up. The gifts of the Spirit are available to everyone who is filled with the Spirit, including the gift of tongues. If we do not expect it, believe it is for us and tarry in prayer to receive it then the Church will be less effective and powerless.
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The disciples had the greatest message to share with the world - JESUS IS ALIVE - but they were not allowed to preach it until they had received POWER from on High and then they did – with great results!
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Let us reiterate the words that Peter spoke on the Day of Pentecost, quoting the prophet Joel:
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“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
God poured out His Spirit twice in the twentieth century and it may well be that He will do it again as the Church enters its third millennium but let us be sure of this, we are living in the last days and the next great thing to follow is the great and awesome, terrible (for many):
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Day of the Lord.
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