Apostolic Pentecost

Amen, you believe that today? Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Oh, I'm excited to know Him, Amen, because I'm a part of Him. Praise the Lord.

I want to speak to you today: Apostolic Pentecost. Apostolic Pentecost. You can be seated. The Day of Pentecost was the most important day in the history of human race. The purpose of the birth, the life, and the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ was so that

the world might have Apostolic Pentecost. The two most important feasts in the Old Testament were the Passover and Pentecost. The Passover, of course, was that dreadful, howbeit, wonderful night that resulted in the great Exodus of Egypt. Subsequently, the Hebrews were delivered by death and by blood, and then they were separated by water.

You see, Paul said these were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 50 days after the Passover at Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the law by which His people were to live. This was the first Pentecost, and for the next 1500 years, this law was to be the most important thing in their lives, notwithstanding, though, their many failures.

It was their guidance. It was their direction. It was their conscience. It's what they lived by. It's what separated them from every other nation. Can you give me a little more monitor, please? Something's echoing. And they read it, they learned it, they taught it to their children. It was the tether that connected them to Almighty God.

And every principle of holiness and righteousness was founded on the law. And folks, so for centuries, Passover and Pentecost was celebrated. It became more traditional than it was sacred. But then came Calvary. At the crimson stream of blood that flowed on that day,

this was the royal blood because this Lamb was also the King of Kings and the Lord of Hosts. It was the holy blood because the Bible tells us that God purchased the church with His own blood. Folks, I'm telling you, you need a church because God paid for this church, amen. He purchased the church with His own blood. 50 days later, on the Day of Pentecost,

a phenomenon began that would rock the world for the next 2000-plus years. It wasn't the law written on stone tablets, but rather, folks, it was grace and mercy written on the hearts of men and women. It was the Spirit of Almighty God filling vessels of flesh. In Acts 2:2-4, "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them the utterance," or the ability. This was the introduction of the Holy Ghost. It had never happened this way before. It was the culmination of God's divine plan

for folks to restore a lost relationship with humanity. So in the beginning, God spoke audibly with man. God spoke to men through their conscience. God spoke through the law and the prophets, amen. But on the Day of Pentecost, God added one more dimension: He began to fill their hearts of men with His own Spirit.

And when you read in verse 6, it says a crowd gathered around to see what this new thing was all about. And in verse 12, some of them were amazed, and some were in doubt. In verse 13, some accused them of being drunk. In verse 14, Peter began to preach. In verse 17, Peter began to quote the Old Testament prophet,

"In the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." And then he said, "This is that." You see, in the verse following, Peter preached to them that Jesus Christ, whom they crucified, was indeed the Messiah. You see, folks, that had to happen in order for this, amen, Pentecost, Apostolic Pentecost, to happen.

Because without the body dying, the Spirit could not be given. In verse 37, the people were stirred to their hearts and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what must we do?" Then Peter said, in Acts 2:38-39, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ

for the remission of your sins, and ye shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off," that's us, folks, "even as many as the Lord our God shall call." 3000-plus were saved, and thus, folks, began Apostolic Pentecost.

Amen, the Bible says the Lord added to the church daily. In chapter 4, 5000 more were saved. In chapter 6, the church multiplied. In chapter 8, Philip starts the church in Samaria. He preaches Christ and the message of Pentecost, and many were baptized in Jesus' name and were filled with the Holy Ghost.

In chapter 10, Peter preaches to the Gentiles the message of Apostolic Pentecost, and many were baptized in Jesus' name and were filled with the Holy Ghost. In chapter 11, the gospel is preached to many places. In chapter 12, the church multiplied. In chapter 13, more missionaries were sent. In chapter 17, Paul starts the Thessalonian church.

In 18, Paul starts the Corinth church. In 19, disciples of John the Baptist were baptized in Jesus' name and were filled with the Holy Ghost. Throughout the Book of Acts, the experience of Pentecost grew into phenomenal proportions. In fact, in chapter 17, someone accused them of turning the world upside down. You see, the Book of Acts, folks, covers a span of about 30 years,

from Christ's death to His ascension in 30 AD, to Paul's voyage into Rome in about 60 AD. And during this time, the gospel was preached to the known world, and Pentecost, Apostolic Pentecost, had become a phenomenon greater than Alexander the Great. All of the original apostles were martyred at this time, with the exception of John, who died in the late 90s AD.

Paul was beheaded in 67 AD. So by the end of the first century, there was no original apostles. In fact, their successors, such as Timothy and Titus, died before John, left very little written record. And so naturally, as the second century rolled by, the original Apostolic doctrine began to wane down,

and diverse doctrines arose and caused divisions. And prominent leaders mixed their own biblical interpretations with Greek philosophy, giving rise to false doctrines. By the end of the third century, Tertullian had given birth to the Trinitarian doctrine, and many church leaders were baptizing in the titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, rather than in the name of Jesus.

I don't know why they call them names, because none of those are names. Those are titles. I'm a father; that's not my name. I am a son; it's not my name. You see, this trend continued for the next 18 centuries. Amen, Apostolic Pentecost took a backseat in the bus, amen, but it's still there. Amen, it didn't leave, amen.

The flames of Apostolic Pentecost have burned in every century. I want you to know that. Every century, Apostolic Pentecost has been there, folks. Every century has had someone who experienced Apostolic Pentecost. Apostolic Pentecost may have been few in numbers and lacking in popularity, but they're still there. Hidden in obscurity, yes. Persecuted, yes.

Mocked and ridiculed, yes. But extinct, never. And Jesus told Peter, folks, amen, He told Peter, He said in Matthew 16, verse 18, "Upon this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." And truth marches on, amen. Jesus said in Matthew 16:19, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,

and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And Jesus gave Peter The keys and the ability to unlock and to open the kingdom of heaven and to anoint him preaching the message that unlocked this message unlocked the phenomenon of Pentecost. It was It's what saved them, folks. And it was saved us now, amen?

It saved them then. It saves us right now. It is the truth. It is unchanging, amen? Psalms 119:89: "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." And Isaiah 40 and verse 8: "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever." Amen. I want to look at the key of everlasting life.

Remember this, folks. 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." You mean, folks—listen to me—the Bible is the only accurate means by which we can know God's plan of salvation.

In Matthew 16:18 and 19: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Jesus gave his disciples this commission. In Luke 24:45 through 49: "Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:" Listen to this. He did this. He opened their understanding, the scripture tells us, right?

"And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." We know what happened in Jerusalem. "And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

What is the promise of the Father? In Acts 1:4 through 5: "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." We know that the promise of the Father is the Holy Ghost. Amen?

He dwelt with them, now he dwells in them. Amen? Peter preached the same message in Acts 2:38. Then Peter said unto them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Folks, when you look at Luke 24:45 through 49,

and you look at Acts 2 and verse 38, compare them. Peter preached what God told him to preach. You see, on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached the same message that Jesus commissioned them to preach. This message was not only preached to the Jews at Jerusalem, but it was also preached to Samaritans and the Gentiles.

You read about the Samaritans in Acts chapter 8, you read about the Gentiles in chapter 10. Amen. In Acts 8:14 and 17 with the Samaritans, "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them:

only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." You see, they had joy, but they didn't have the Holy Ghost. They were joyful for what they were hearing, amen? And Peter and John came down and laid hands on them, and they received it. And then the Gentiles, God opened it up to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10.

In 44 and 48, "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter," that's all the Jews that came with Peter, they were all astonished. Amen? Because why? Why were they astonished? "Because that on the Gentiles also

was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." Why? How did they know God poured out the Holy Ghost on them? Because in verse... "For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" That's why the Jews were astonished, because God poured it out on the Gentiles.

You can read it in the next chapter. Peter goes back to headquarters and he explains himself. He says, "And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days." Why the name of Jesus? Why do we preach the name of Jesus? Why do we baptize in the name of Jesus? Why do we pray for people in the name of Jesus?

Why do we see pray for people to be delivered in the name of Jesus? In Acts 4:12, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." No other name. Colossians 3:17: "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

See, there's no other gospel, folks. No other gospel. Galatians 1:6 through 9: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." Paul said there's no other gospel. If you hear anybody else, they're perverting the gospel of Christ. Amen? "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you

than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." You can't get any plainer than that. Stand with me. You can't do it, folks, any plainer than that. No other gospel. There's no other way to be baptized.

You must have the Holy Ghost. John 3:5: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." We've got to do it God's way, amen? If anybody else preaches anything other than this, let them be accursed. How much plainer than that? God means what he says and says what he means.

If there's anybody here need the Holy Ghost today, you can have it. How do you know you receive the Holy Ghost? It says when they received the Holy Ghost, they began to speak with other tongues. Let me tell you something, folks. We know how the Jews and the Gentiles acted toward each other. More so the Jews to the Gentiles. So when Peter goes down there, Peter didn't want to go down to Cornelius.

God had to take and show him a vision. He says, "No, God. I'm a good Jew. I don't eat that stuff." God brings it down again. "Rise, kill, and eat, Peter." "Oh, I'm a Jew. I'm a good Jew. I don't do that." God wasn't done. He sent it, brought it down again. He said, "Don't you call unclean what I have cleansed."

So Peter takes his crew with him. He goes down and starts preaching to a man that loves God, a man who gives alms. And God sent an angel to that man before Peter got there and said, "I'm going to send somebody who's going to show you the more you need to do." Peter's down there preaching away, probably thinking, "Oh, these people won't accept this."

It says, "While he was preaching, the Holy Ghost fell." Now I want you to picture this. Here's Peter, didn't want to be there. Those Jews didn't want to be there. What if Cornelius said, "Hold it, Peter! Hold it, hold it, hold it!" "What do you want?" "We received the Holy Ghost." If they just told Peter, "We received the Holy Ghost. We accepted the Lord as our personal Savior."

What do you think Peter would have said? "No, because when we received it, we spoke in tongues." I'm talking about a man who didn't want to be there, folks. He'd have said, "Oh no, buddy. You guys ain't pulling that over on us. We're Jews, we know." No, the Bible says they were amazed.

were they amazed, because they heard them speak with tongues just the same way they did. That was the evidence, that's all the evidence Peter and those Jews needed. And then Peter says, "All right, God, You did this. What's going to prevent these guys from being baptized?" And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter goes back to James at headquarters. He starts, "Uh, um, this is what God told me to do.

And you know what? God poured His Spirit out on those Gentiles. And I, we all heard them, didn't we, boys? We all heard them speak with tongues." Now, I'm paraphrasing here. You can go read it in the King James if you want. I'm doing it in Pastor Roberts' language right now. But it lines up. He said, "We heard them speak with tongues just like we did.

God poured it out on-- can you believe it? God poured it out on the Gentiles. I heard about Samaria, but it was hard for me to accept that. But I-- we went down-- God told me to go. And while I was preaching, would you believe it? God poured out His Spirit

on Gentiles! So what'd we do? We just went ahead and baptized them in Jesus' name. If God's going to give them the Holy Ghost, we might as well baptize them." Listen to me, folks. You believe any other way, you got an argument from silence.

You will never find anybody baptized in the titles in the Bible. It's a-- it's called an argument from silence. But I can take you through scripture and show you how the early church did it. And I don't care what anybody else come up with, folks. The Bible says let them be accursed. Anybody preach anything other than what we preached--

Brother Paul said this: let them be accursed. If you've been baptized anything other than in the name of Jesus, you need to be rebaptized. And we're here to do it. And if you need the Holy Ghost, amen, we will pray for you, and God will give you a sign

because you'll begin to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gives the ability. The scripture tells us "as the Spirit gives the utterance," but you translate that, it means "the ability." You can only do it with God. You see, folks, in the Tower of Babel, there was one language,

and they were doing things against God. God says, "I'll take care of these jokers." He confounded their language. But it was never God's intention to have multi-languages. And God brought it back through the church. Amen? That's His Holy Spirit language. Amen?

And we speak what God puts in us because the Spirit inside of us gives us the ability. Come on! I'm going to open this altar. Anybody that wants the Holy Ghost, we would love to pray for you. Amen. If you want to be baptized, we'll set you up with a Bible study, we'll get you baptized.

Amen. But folks, amen, you need the way God said to do it. That's what you need in your life. Amen. This altar's open. Church, come on up here. I want you to come and pray and say, "God, give me the ability to teach this to my neighbor. Give me the ability to teach this to my coworker.

Give me the ability, God, to preach Your word." Come on!