Pentecostal Preaching

Q: What does the Bible say about Pentecost?

Pentecost marks the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles, empowering them to preach the gospel in various languages. Pentecost, which means 'fiftieth,' is celebrated on the 50th day after Passover and represents the end of the harvest season. According to Acts 2, it is the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples as Jesus had promised. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, which allowed people from various nations to hear the gospel in their own languages. This event was a fulfillment of God's promise to empower His people for ministry and establish the Church after Christ's ascension.

Q: How do we know the gifts of the Spirit are legitimate?

The gifts of the Spirit, including tongues, are legitimate as they are described in Scripture and were actively used for the proclamation of the gospel. The gifts of the Spirit, as mentioned in the Bible, are exercises of divine power for the edification of the Church and the evangelization of the world. In Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit filled the apostles, they spoke in tongues, which were understood by all the gathered Jews from various nations. This was not an incoherent babble but a miraculous ability to speak distinct, audible languages. These gifts served the chief purpose of pointing people to Christ and proclaiming the gospel, demonstrating the truth of God's empowerment and the establishment of His Church. As such, they are part of God's sovereign grace in action.

Q: Why is the gospel important during Pentecost?

The gospel is central during Pentecost because it was through this preaching that about 3,000 people were converted, highlighting its power for salvation. At Pentecost, despite initial attention being drawn to the miraculous signs accompanying the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the dominant theme was the gospel of Jesus Christ preached by Peter. The message that Jesus was the foretold Messiah, crucified and resurrected, was the pivotal revelation that brought conviction to the hearts of the listeners. The Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to declare this message boldly, leading to the conversion of approximately 3,000 souls. The importance of the gospel during Pentecost emphasizes that the signs were meant to draw attention to the truth of Christ and His redemptive work, which is essential for spiritual awakening and salvation.

Now, the title of the message
is Pentecostal Preaching. You won't have any trouble remembering
that, I'm sure. Pentecostal Preaching. And I
want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts, of course,
chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Now, the opening
words of the second chapter of the book of Acts. Now, I want
you to listen to me carefully. The opening words of Acts chapter
2 are as follows. When the day of Pentecost was
fully come. When the day of Pentecost was
fully come. Now when you hear the word Pentecost,
what comes to your mind? Right off, right off the top
of your head. Now what first thing that comes to your mind
when you hear the word Pentecost? Well now, most people think,
most people think of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Because that's
what the next few verses say. Listen. And suddenly they were
all together in the upper room. They are together in the place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire. You see that? Verse 2 and 3.
and it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. So when most people hear the
word Pentecost, that's the first thing they think of because that's
the first thing mentioned. When the day of Pentecost was
fully come and the disciples were there together, suddenly
there was a sound from heaven and a rushing mighty wind and
cloven tongues of fire sat upon each of them and they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit did come and
fill the disciples. You know, our Lord had told them.
He had told them back some time before to tarry in Jerusalem
until they be endued with power from on high. And this was a
fulfillment of that promise. The Holy Ghost shall come upon
you and the power of God shall fill you. Well, other people,
when they hear the word Pentecost, they think of the gifts of the
Spirit. especially the gift of tongues. That's what many people
think of when they hear of Pentecost. They think of the gift of tongues.
And that's what the Word says here. Now look at verse 5. They
were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak
with other tongues, other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now listen carefully to me. Listen
carefully. Anytime the word tongues, is
used in the scriptures. It means either this instrument,
organ in your mouth, the tongue, or it means a language, a language,
a distinct, audible, understood language which somebody speaks,
a tongue, a tongue in the mouth or a tongue or language. That's
right. And you read that verse carefully.
When the Holy Ghost came upon them, these disciples began to
speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now
listen to the next verse. And every man heard them speak
in his own language. They spoke, preached the gospel,
preached the Word of God in a language understood. See, the verse tells
us there were Jews, devout people there from every country. People
were there from everywhere. They were there for the Feast
of Pentecost. And these people spoke different languages. And
there they were all there to celebrate that Feast of Pentecost,
and the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and they began
to preach the gospel, and every different country there, the
people from all the different countries, heard the gospel in
their own language. One of them, they began to say,
How hear we every man in his own tongue, in his own language? Listen to the next one. We do
hear them preach in our tongue, in our language. We hear them
in our language preach the Word of God. So when you mention Pentecost,
some people think of the Holy Spirit, coming of the Holy Spirit.
Some people think of other tongues, gifts of the Spirit. And then
other people, when you mention Pentecost, I remember we used
to sing a song years ago, Lord, send the old time power. the
Pentecostal power, the floodgates of blessings on us throw open
wide. Some people, when you think of
Pentecost, they think of the crowds and the many conversions
and the great power of God that fell in conversion. In fact,
verse 41 of Acts 2 says that the same day there were added
to them about 3,000 souls, 3,000 conversions in one day. But my friends, what exactly
is Pentecost? And when the day of Pentecost
was fully come, do you know what Pentecost means, what the word
means? Well, Pentecost, listen, I'll
tell you, it was one of several special feasts given by God to
Israel. You'll find it in Leviticus 23.
If you want to look it up, Leviticus 23, 4 through 21. You see, there
are several feasts mentioned. There was the Passover. You know
about it. The Passover that originated
in Egypt when God led Israel out of Egypt by the hand of Moses
and God ordained that they were to keep that Passover every year,
that Passover every year forever. And you know, He gave them the
blood of the lamb. He said, I'll pass over you. And they kept
that Passover feast. until Christ came, who is our
Passover. Christ is our Passover. And then
there was the feast of the waving of the sheep, the waving of the
sheep. That was the first day after
the Passover Sabbath. The Passover Sabbath was on Saturday. And the first day after the Passover
Sabbath was the waving of the sheep. And that's when Israel
brought the firstfruits unto the Lord. And they would wave
the firstfruits. It was the beginning of the harvest.
And they would wave the firstfruits. And they were saying to the Lord,
Every product of the saw, all the results of our labor is of
the Lord. The Lord has blessed us. That's
the waving of the sheep. And that speaks of Christ, too.
The Passover speaks of Christ, and so does the waving of the
sheep. The firstfruits, He's the firstfruits of them that
slept. The firstfruits. And then there's Pentecost. And
the word Pentecost means fiftieth. It denotes fiftieth. The end
of the harvest, the fiftieth day, on the fiftieth day after
the Passover, the people gathered. to observe the feast of Pentecost. And that's what they were doing
there. They were observing the feast of the Pentecost, the end
of the harvest, 50th day after the Passover. And all these people
were there. And that's when the Holy Spirit
came. And that's when the disciples preached the gospel of Jesus
Christ in other languages. And that's when all these people
were converted and came to God. But to me, the dominating factor
of Pentecost. Now I've mentioned what a lot
of other people think of when they think of Pentecost, but
to me the dominating factor, the chief issue raised at Pentecost
and what people went away talking about from Pentecost was the
gospel of Jesus Christ which Peter preached to them in other
languages under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit.
You see, this was the first sermon after our Lord arose, ascended
back to heaven. And the chief issue and the dominating
factor was not the Holy Spirit coming, it was at first when
the cloven tongues of fire and the rushing mighty wind and the
sound from heaven, at first that took up all their attention.
And then the disciples began to speak, first time they'd ever
done this. They began to preach and everybody
there heard them preach the gospel in their own language. All these
different people from all parts of the world heard them preach
in their own language. And that took up their attention.
These men were shocked. They were amazed. Hey, they said,
we're hearing the mighty works of God in our own tongue. They
could hear these unlearned fishermen preach the gospel in their own
language. That'd be like me preaching right now and people out there
from Spain and France and Germany and Russia hearing the gospel
in their own tongue. And that got their attention
for a while. But let me tell you this, the great issue, the
dominating factor raised at Pentecost in this first sermon preached
by the Apostle Peter, it's introduced now in verse 22. Here's the issue. All of these things that had
attracted their attention, all of these things that had amazed
them faded into the background. Faded into the background when
Peter began to preach this gospel. The Holy Spirit empowered him
to preach. All that were there heard him
preach in their own tongues. And you know what they heard?
They heard the gospel. They heard the gospel. They heard
of Jesus of Nazareth. Now you follow in your Bible
and I'll show you now. When all of the dust had settled,
Holy Spirit had come, and these men were preaching in other languages,
and the great crowd had assembled there, and then Peter stood up.
Verse 22, look at it. Here comes the power. Here comes
the message. Here comes the chief issue. Here
comes what God would have men to hear. Verse 22, ye men of
Israel, Peter said, ye men of Israel, you got it there in your
Bible? Hear these words. Hear these words. Don't look
at the miracles. There are plenty more where those
came from. Don't look at the gifts. Don't look at the fire. Don't listen to the wind. Hear
my words. Hear these words. You see, my
friend, the power of God's in His word. James 1.18 said, of
His own will begat He us with the word of truth. Romans 10
says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God 1st
Peter 3 1st Peter 1 23 says we're born again out of corruptible
seed, but incorruptible seed by the Word of God Paul said
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation
Ye men of Israel Don't listen to the wind. Don't watch the
fire. Don't look at the gifts and the miracles hear my words. I Hear my words. There's where
life is. There's where the power is. There's
where the grace of God is in these glorious, blessed words
of life. Now, listen to him. Jesus of
Nazareth. No mistaking who he's talking
about. Son of Mary, the carpenter. The man they said was a winebibber
and a gluttonous man. Jesus of Nazareth. Can any good
thing come out of Nazareth? Jesus of Nazareth, a man. Yes,
he is a man, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, seed of a
woman, born of a woman, but no ordinary man. Hear my words,
he said, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, a man ordained
of God, a man sent of God, a man one with God, a man approved,
ordained, and sent of God, approved of God by miracles and wonders
and signs which you yourselves know, which God did by Him. God did these miracles. There are witnesses. John chapter
5 tells us all those witnesses. John the Baptist bore witness
of Him. The Heavenly Father spake from heaven and bore witness
of Him. He said, The works that I do
bear witness of Me. Who can make a blind man see?
Who can raise a dead man? And the Scriptures, search the
Scriptures. In them you think you have life. They'll testify
of me. You men of Israel, hear my words.
I'm talking about Jesus of Nazareth, a man, but a man sent of God,
a man approved of God, a man ordained of God among you by
signs and miracles and wonders which you yourselves also know,
which God did by him. And verse 23, look at it. And
you, with wicked hands, crucified Him. That's right. You all know
that. You cried, give us Barabbas and
crucified Jesus Christ. Yes, you did. You bore false
witness against Him. He was nailed to a cross while
you walked around His cross and laughed and said, if you be the
Son of God, come down from the cross. You crucified Him. 50 days ago, right outside the
city walls of Jerusalem. But listen, He was delivered
into your hands, delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. He was delivered into your wicked
hands. You with wicked hands crucified Him and slew Him on
a tree. But you did what God determined
before to be done, for God delivered him into your hands by his determinate
person, and by his counsel, and by his own foreknowledge, and
you simply carried out the will of God. He was a lamb slain, yea, before
the foundation of the world. Everything that they did in the
soldiers' hall, pilots' hall, on that cross was ordained of
God foretold of God, promised by God, and prophesied by God,
that they'd spit upon him, that they'd pluck his beard, that
they'd pierce his hands and feet, that they'd crucify him between
two thieves, that they'd sell him for 30 pieces of silver,
and that the man who sold him for 30 pieces of silver would
commit suicide and take his money right back to those that gave
it to him, all prophesied. You did what God determined to
be done. In verse 24, look, you crucified
him. Peter's, boy, I tell you now,
they're not thinking about what language they're hearing it in.
And they're not thinking about the cloven tongues and the rushing
wind. They're listening to this man, Peter, preach. You men of
Israel, you hear me? He said, Jesus of Nazareth, a
man approved of God, you crucified him. But you did what God determined
before to be done, verse 24, and God raised him from the dead.
You took him down from the tree, and you put him in a tomb, and
you rolled a stone over that tomb, and you got Pilate to put
the Roman seal on that stone and station soldiers out there.
But it wasn't possible that life could be holden by death. And
God raised him from the tomb. God raised him. I tell you, that's
the doctrine these Jewish leaders hated more than any other doctrine,
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. And that's the
glorious truth we love the most. For if he rose from the grave,
it says God has accepted all that he did in our place and
in our state. If he arose from the grave, he arose for our justification. If he arose from the grave because
he lives, we live. Paul said, if Christ be not risen,
you're yet in your sins. If Christ be not risen, we're
false witnesses of God. If Christ be not risen, the dead
are perished. But God raised Him from the dead.
Boy, they're listening now, aren't they? Ye men of Israel, hear
my words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man, a God-man,
approved of God. God sent Him. You crucified Him.
But you did what God determined before to be done. God delivered
him into your wicked hands and you crucified him. And you, doing
what you wanted to do, did what God willed to be done, and God
raised him from the dead. In verse 25, your famous King
David, look at verse 25, David speaketh concerning this Jesus
of Nazareth. David spoke concerning him. David
said, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. Not
only David spoke of him, but all your prophets spoke of him.
Moses wrote of him. Abraham saw his day and rejoiced. To him give all your prophets
witness. Go through the Old Testament.
I'm sure Peter said to them, go through it from Genesis to
Malachi. Go through it from Moses to Isaiah
to Malachi. Go through the Psalms and every
one of the books and you'll find God prophesying of Jesus of Nazareth. the Messiah, the Christ, the
Passover, the prophet like Moses, the high priest, the mercy seat,
the tabernacle. David wrote of him. Look at verse
27. When David wrote, Peter said
this. You listen to me. When David
wrote and said, thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, thou wilt
not suffer thy holy one to seek corruption. David wasn't talking
about himself, for David's dead. David's dead and you know it.
David's in the grave. Why, his sepulcher is with us
to this day. But David was a prophet, and
David spoke of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. David wasn't
speaking of himself. When he said to the Lord, said
unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy
enemies thy footstool, he wasn't talking about himself. When David
said, thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to seek corruption,
nor leave my soul in the grave, he wasn't talking about himself.
David prophesied of him. David wrote concerning to him.
And then Peter brought this down to him. Listen, look at verse
32. Don't you know these men of Israel were listening now?
David was their king, their hero. And he said, David believed in
Christ Jesus. David looked to Abraham, rejoiced
to see his name. Moses wrote up, and you've crucified
him. You've denied Him. You've rejected
Him. You've requested a thief in His
place. Verse 32, now listen. And this
Jesus, this same Jesus whom you crucified, God raised from the
dead. Not another now, this same Jesus.
Same One who walked the streets of Capernaum. The same One who
walked through Jericho. The same One who stood His hands
bound in front of Pilate. blood dripping from the wounds
inflicted by the soldiers, the same ones upon one upon whose
head you put a crown of thorns and spit in his face and nailed
him to a cross and said, we'll not have this man reign over
us. That same Jesus, that same one, that same one, not another,
that same one. Acts 1.11, when the angels appeared
to the disciples on the Mount of Ascension, They said to them,
ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This
same Jesus, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner. Look at verse 36. Peter
said, God hath made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, to
be both Lord and Christ. God has raised him. And not only
that, look at verse 33, and he went on. And he said, God hath
highly exalted him to his right hand. Where is this Jesus you
rejected? Where is this Jesus you denied?
Where is this Jesus you nailed to a cross? Where is this Jesus
now? He's at the right hand of the
majesty in heaven. Boy, wasn't anybody arguing over
tongues then, was there? Nobody debating about wind and
cloven tongues and who got baptized and who didn't. These men are
in trouble. Trouble. They've rejected the
Messiah. They've turned thumbs down on the King of Israel. They've
rejected God's Son. They've nailed Him to their cross.
They're standing there listening to Peter preach, their hands
dripping, still stained with the blood of that man whom they
crucified, who was now the only mediator between God and men
at God's right hand. Peter said in verse 34, Dave
is not ascended into the heavens. But the Lord God said to my Lord,
Jesus, sit down on my right hand till I make your enemies, your
enemies, your footstool. And they knew they were enemies.
They knew they were enemies. They said, we have no king but
Caesar. They knew they were enemies.
And then Peter summed up his message and he said, therefore,
therefore, Here's my conclusion. Now you see the chief issue at
Pentecost wasn't the Holy Ghost, wasn't tongues, wasn't miracles,
wasn't rushing mighty wind. It's who is this man Jesus Christ
whom we've crucified, whom we denied, whom we spat upon, whom
we rejected. This man says he's in glory.
Therefore, he said, let all the house of Israel know, every one
of you fellows know assuredly that God hath made that same
Jesus whom you denied, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Here's the issue. Who is Jesus
Christ? If I have any guilt, let me preach
who He is, the God-Man. What did He do? He came into
this world, was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, hated and despised
of men, rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and he
was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. If
I've got the gift of the Holy Ghost, let me preach what he
did." Why did he do it? That we might be made the righteousness
of God in him, that God may be just and justified. If I've got
any talent or gift given of God, let me tell men the good news.
Where is he now? At the right hand of God. Now,
verse 37, now, when they heard this, When they heard what? The wind? The wind that just
made them, just shocked them, just astounded them, amazed them.
But this gospel message Peter preached convicted them, pricked
their hearts, crushed them, broke them, brought them down. Now
when they heard this, when they heard what? The wind? No, sir.
When they heard the tongues? No, sir. All they did when they
heard the tongues was marvel and say, hey, those guys are
speaking our language and they haven't learned. Isn't that astounding?
Isn't that something? That's amazing. We have to tell
our grandchildren about that. Who knows? When they heard this,
who is Jesus Christ? And the fact that they had crucified
the Lord of Glory. When they heard this, they cried
out. Men and brethren, what are we
going to do? We're in trouble with God. We're
in trouble with the law. We're in trouble with justice.
We're alienated from God. We've turned our backs on Him
whom God has sent. What are we going to do? God's
angry with us. What are we going to do? What
shall we do? And Peter replied, Repent. Change your mind about God. Change
your mind about Jesus Christ. Change your mind about yourselves.
You're sinners. You're guilty. You have nothing
to offer. Repent. Turn from your idols
to the living God. Turn from your ceremony. Turn
from your tradition. Turn from your self-righteousness.
Turn to Christ. Cry for mercy. Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way believers in the
New Testament confessed Christ. They didn't raise their hand,
walk down an aisle. They went to the river and they
were baptized, confessing that when Christ died, they died.
was buried, they were buried. When He arose, they arose. Repent. Change your mind about Jesus
Christ. Bow to Him. Honor Him. Glorify
Him. Believe on Him. Look to Him and
be baptized in His name. He's your only hope. He's your
only hope. That's Pentecostal preaching
now. That's Pentecostal preaching. It's not talking about the Holy
Ghost or tongues. It's talking about Jesus Christ. That's true
Pentecostal preaching. and it'll won't just raise amazement,
it'll raise conviction and bring men to know God. All right, I
have this message on a tape, a cassette tape substitution. On the other side, Pentecost. Write for it. We'll send it to
you. Send $2. Here's the address. Till next week, God bless you.

Pentecostal Preaching

What does the Bible say about Pentecost?

How do we know the gifts of the Spirit are legitimate?

Why is the gospel important during Pentecost?

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About Henry Mahan

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Pentecostal Preaching

What does the Bible say about Pentecost?

How do we know the gifts of the Spirit are legitimate?

Why is the gospel important during Pentecost?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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