The reason Christians are able to gather together, the reason we know what it means to follow God and live a life worthy in His eyes is because of the what happened on the Day of Pentecost. 

On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down to earth. Because of this magnificent reality, we are completely transformed to experience God’s power and presence in our lives.

How did the Day of Pentecost change the world?

Let's look at a few ways: First:

God’s people now receive the Holy Spirit whose sustaining power and everlasting presence fill us, indwell us.

On the day of Pentecost, Luke the writer tells us that fire and wind from heaven came down that day. In the Bible, fire represents God's presence and wind symbolizes God's power in motion. 

When the Holy Spirit came, God's people received the presence and power of God in our lives. The occasion gives us a pattern for how God will work from that moment forward. It shows us the first examples of baptism with the Holy Spirit, God’s special gift of salvation.

All Christians possess the Holy Spirit; he indwells all those who God saves. We must not separate the gift of the Holy Spirit from the other gifts that are a part of salvation. I think one of our main struggles in the Christian life is that we are not in tune with the amazing gifts God gives us at salvation. We need to realize the blessings and resources God has freely giving us through the work of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we observe the early Christians on the day of Pentecost, it teaches us:

The Holy Spirit’s power and presence compel us to proclaim our hope in Christ with others.

Being filled with the Spirit is different than baptism with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is an on-going experience and should be a continual act. Believers are called to be filled with the Spirit.

Being filled with the Spirit compelled these early followers to proclaim the amazing power of God. We see this in Acts 2:11: “We hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God”. This fits well with Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:18-21.

¹⁸ And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.

Choosing to be filled with the Holy Spirit is our response to the great gift God has given us in His Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit means that we choose to confess our sins, and put off sin in their lives. We choose to die to ourselves every day. Being filled with the Spirit mean we consciously practice God’s presence in our lives. We fill ourselves with the truth of God’s Word, and yield to the Holy Spirit's leadership throughout our daily life.

When we are filled with the Spirit, we naturally praise God. It oozes out of us. The way we communicate is transformed. We want to tell others about it.

The Day of Pentecost also changes the world because: 

The Holy Spirit’s power and presence unite people from all walks of life, all parts of the world as God displays His glory through us.

On that day, many were gathered from countries all over the known world. Here we see a picture of God’s kingdom work. Interestingly, before the Great commission begins, and the disciples go to the nations, we see that nations first come to them. We have a God who lost people to know the truth; people far from God to come near to him and experience new life. Never forget that.

How does this truth impact our lives this week?

We must rely on God's abundant Supply. 

During the Great depression there was a sheep ranch down in TX owned by a man named Mr. Yates. Mr. Yates wasn't able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay his mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or food for his family (like many others in that day) he was just scraping by.

Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas plains, he was no doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then some geologists from an oil company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission to drill a well, and he signed a lease contract.

At 1,115 feet down they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, 30 years after the discovery, a government test on one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels of oil a day.

And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he'd been living on food stamps. A multimillionaire living in poverty. The problem? He didn't know the oil was there even though he owned it.

Many Christians live in spiritual poverty. They have the Holy Spirit and his energizing power, but they are not aware of what God has given them. Realize the great power you have through God’s Holy Spirit. Rely on His power every day to lead and guide through the ups and down of life. Without him, we can’t survive. With him, we will thrive.

Let your dependence on God drive you to share His hope with others.

We can’t forget the sequence of events in the first two chapters of Acts. Going back to Acts 1:8, we see the key theme for the entire book.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

They had to wait on the Holy Spirit. They had to rely on his power, not their own. It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit came down, indwelled, and led them, did they see God move in mighty ways as they shared God’s hope with others. We, too, must let our dependence on God, each day, drive us to share our hope with others, through His power.

Think back to the moment when you understood the gospel, when it made sense to you. That was the Holy Spirit at work in you. When the spiritual “light-bulb” came on inside your heart, it was the blowing wind of the Spirit. It is a miracle. It is God at work. And when you share the gospel with someone, you are being the conduit of God’s work in the world. The joy and passion of ministry is having a front row seat to see people come to Jesus from their sins. It is the thrill of knowing that the Holy Spirit is at work. And as we live in the power of the Holy Spirit, God works through us in amazing ways!

Have a great week following the Holy Spirit's lead in your life. 

See you Sunday! 

Pastor Sam