Journey to Pentecost

April 30, 2010    John 21.23

Have you ever had someone spread rumors about you?  Have you ever had someone take something you said out of context?   It isn’t fun and for the most part it happens for the most part without intention.  I remember a family told me once that on their way home from church they began discussing my sermon.  They all heard me make the same comment but had “heard” it differently.  It almost caused an argument in their family!  They picked up a CD and listened to the sermon again and finally reached an agreeable conclusion as to the context of my message.

There are times when an individual will hear only part of a conversation and make assumptions on the rest of what they “didn’t hear.”   Absolutely amazing how people can annihilate a persons reputation and or character by hearing a partial conversation!  Happens all the time.  And you know what…the church is not exempt from this rumor issue.  Jesus without a doubt was the very first victim of the nasty old rumor mill.  Someone thought they heard Jesus say something that He didn’t say.  Someone assumed Jesus said something about someone else that He didn’t say. All of this could have gotten pretty nasty!  I mean, somebody had the guts to accuse Jesus of saying something He didn’t say!  Imagine that!  Go figure!  We haven’t dropped the ball on this one since then!   People have for nearly 2000 years attempted to teach things that Jesus didn’t say…or misinterpret what He did say!  Is there a difference?

Now then…let’s move forward here to what Jesus was leading up to during His forty day post resurrection journey.  Luke tells us taught the things concerning the kingdom.  He moved people toward Pentecost.  He was leading them to Jerusalem to receive the promise of the Father.  If you were Satan and could plant seeds of opposition immediately after your arch-enemy rose from the dead – choosing the “rumor” weapon wouldn’t be a bad idea.   Remember this, Jesus was pointing His followers to the most powerful empowering moment that world would ever experience.   Jesus was pointing people toward the reception of a personal infilling of the Holy Spirit.  He was pointing them toward being empowered to become the witnesses that would impact the kingdom of darkness with kingdom authority.   Satan was ticked!  Satan had to move fast.  He had to move with precision moves.  He had to attempt to distract people from following Jesus and pursuing the “promise of the Father!”  He had to disqualify the risen Lord.  What better way to do it then to immediately start a rumor that would question the integrity of Christ?  Things haven’t changed since then.

How many rumors, how many lies, how many misrepresentations of truth have been the down fall of sincere seekers of the infilling of the Holy Spirit been told in the last 2000 years?  How may stories have you heard about the baptism of the Holy Spirit have you heard that has dissuaded you from seeking the baptism?  How many people have you listened to that were stretching the truth on the fulness of the Spirit?  What better way to weaken the experience in the New Testament church?  It was one of the most successful attempts that enemy directed toward the Pentecostal experience!  How many people have listened to lies, established opinions, believed innuendo’s and arrived at unscriptural conclusions about the baptism of the Holy Spirit because the rumor mill hasn’t stopped producing rumors about the promise of the Father?

I challenge you to lay aside all you have previously been taught about the experience fulness of the Holy Spirit.  Take out your Bible and read Acts, chapters one and two, over and over again.  Ask the Lord to lead you into a scriptural experience with the Holy Spirit.   Seek the Gift of the Holy Spirit because here is what we know as a fact…Jesus said the promise was for you.   Now then, you can check this out in your own Bible.  This isn’t rumor.  It is established scriptural fact!  You can believe Him can’t you?  After all, you’ve been willing to believe everyone and every false teaching about the Gift up till now haven’t you?  Why not wipe the slate clean and believe His own Words?  Come on!  I double dog dare ya!