Journey to Pentecost

May 21, 2010     Matthew 28.11-15

Lies.   Without a doubt one of the sharpest weapons of the enemy.  We have all been victims of lies.  Intentional and unintentional lies – they still do undeniable damage.  Often times, as in the case with Jesus and the resurrection – a lie can be believed for centuries.  In other words some lies are so successful in their intent the damage they do is irreversible.  Note verse fifteen, “and is to this day.”  In other words the lies the guards told that day – took only a few minutes but have lasted for nearly two thousand years.   Again, one of the sharpest weapons the enemy uses in his perpetual fight against the kingdom of God.

There are people who are pathological liars.  They tell lies to become something they are not.  They tell lies to cover lies.   They finally come to a point where their life is one huge lie.  They live within the lie.  The lies becomes their character.   The lie becomes their personality.  The lies they’ve told creates a whole new world for them to live in.  Eventually everyone around them knows that they lie but they don’t get it.  Their lies have been become, to them, truth.  They would give their life for what they believe is truth. 

Nearly two thousand years after the death and resurrection of Jesus there is another venue of lies being told.  Lies about the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  Lies that inhibit the believer from receiving an awesome gift from the Father.  Lies about speaking in tongues.  Lies about demonic influence.  Lies about needing the fullness and not needing it.  Lies about not being saved if you don’t speak in tongues.  Lies about not going to heaven if you don’t speak in tongues.  So many lies have been told that more than likely on a daily basis there are parties in hell over the success of lies that have spread fear and confusion over the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

You and I must come to a place where we go back to the Word and just accept the simplicity of the personal baptism of the Holy Spirit.   I get angry about the lies.  I become so upset with the enemy.  I then become upset with the gullible believers who buy into the enemies lies.  The enemy has taken one element of Pentecost and built monuments to the success of his lies.  That one element is the evidential tongue one practices when you receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

I think the easiest thing to remember about the fullness is that the experience of Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 12 are two different occasions and bring to surface two different experiences.  Acts 2 is for your personal experience and 1 Corinthians is for the edification of the body publicly.  One cannot mix and match the two gifts.  One cannot create a hybrid gift out of the two occasions to satisfy the flesh.  And one certainly should not believe the lies told about the Holy Spirit.

Here is the kicker.  I am making accusations that referes to a portion of the population that tells lies about the Holy Spirit.  While you’re reading my blog there are those who are writing blogs and accusing me of telling lies.  Who is telling the truth?  To find out – why not begin seeking your personal experience with the fullness of the Holy Spirit?  The simplest thing to do?  Start reading the book of Acts.  Read it over and over.  Pray this simple prayer: “Lord! I want the Gift of the Holy Spirit.  I want to receive it just like the early church received it.  I want to do what they did when they received it.  I am sincere in my request.  I lay all inhibition down.  I turn my back on all I have ever been taught.  I want my personal experience with the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  I believe and therefore receive.”

I hope to see you at Victory Hill on Sunday, May 23.  We are going to celebrate Pentecost!  We are going to engage in faith to receive.  We are going to stay with simplicity.  After all, isn’t that the early church did?