Powerful Lunch

Dr. Michael Yusef, offering you God's power for daily living, as he looks back at the early church. On the day of Pentecost, a new spiritual creation is happening right in front of our eyes. In Genesis, we see the creation of man. In the book of Acts, we see the recreation of man.

In Genesis, we see God breathed in man, and he gives him a soul. And here in the book of Acts, we see God breathed his spirit into men and women, and they become born again of the Spirit of God. Dr. Michael Yusef passionately proclaims uncompromising truth around the world through the media and various gospel ministries of leading the way. Today, through Dr. Yusef's preaching and teaching ministry, you'll travel to the moment the Holy Spirit descended on the faithful waiting church, as described in Acts chapter 2. It's an event that not only changed the lives of those in that room, but also turned the world upside down throughout history. This message exposes details about the presence and work of the Holy Spirit available to empower you in your daily life today. So join me in listening to Dr. Michael Yusef. In verse 1 of chapter 2 in the book of Acts, Dr. Luke is telling us something very significant.

Here's what he's saying. As a scientist and a scientific mind, well organized, systematic, he is telling us that when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. There were 120 of them, there were the 12, and then 120, but total. 120 in one place. They were all in one accord.

What does that mean? They were jammed together. I'm sure they were jammed physically, but they were jammed spiritually together.

That's really what it means. They were united in purpose. They were united in waiting. They were united in anticipation. They were united in their expectations of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The word Pentecost means 50th, or comes from 50, the 50th.

What does it mean? Well, it was the Jewish feast of harvest, and the Jewish feast of the harvest always took place 50 days from the day of Passover. That's why it's called the 50th day.

The 50th day of Passover is the day of the harvest. It was also a celebration of Moses being given the law by God. Remember this, that the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Remember that the Old Testament is the shadow, and the New Testament is the real thing.

What people saw vaguely, now they see clearly. All the symbolism in the Old Testament now have taken place and seen their fulfillment and their ultimate fulfillment in the New Testament. To all of the Old Testament symbols, and now found their meanings in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, it was on Passover day that the Jews slayed a lamb in order to remind them of their escape from the days of slavery. And the reason was called Passover, you remember, because God told them to slay a lamb and then put the blood on their posts so that the angel of death will come, and he will slay the firstborn of the Egyptians, but then he will see the blood and he will pass.

You say, this is God's people. That's why it's called Passover. They were passed over, and they were saved, and they were delivered out of Egypt, out of slavery. And it was on that Passover day, 2,000 years ago, that the Lamb of God was slain on the cross of Calvary, in order that he may deliver all those who put their trust in him from not only sin, but the consequences of their sin.

Not only sin, but the punishment of sin. So 50 days later, when the Jews celebrated the feast of offering their first fruit to God, 50 days after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, the first spiritual fruit were given. 50 days after the Passover, where the Lamb of God was slain, the believer's inheritance was manifested. Dr. Luke said that on that day, suddenly, and here's the word suddenly, which indicates a sense of surprise, you would say, why surprise? They were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come. Jesus told them before they left that the Holy Spirit is coming.

They knew he was coming, but they didn't have a clue as to how and when he's coming. Now beloved Christians, listen to me please. The same thing is going to happen on the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who love his appearing, those who are longing for his return, those who are expecting his return, those who know that his return is imminent, there's still going to be an element of surprise because he's going to come as a thief in the night.

Let me ask you a question. If Jesus comes back today, will you be ready to meet him? Can you say, come Lord Jesus, I've got all my affairs in order, I can't wait for you to come back. And here Dr. Luke is telling us that there are three evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit. He said there was an awesome sound, there was an awesome light, and then there was an awesome speech. There was an awesome sound in the upper room. Now in the Hebrew language, you must understand that the word breath, the word wind, and the word spirit, three words in English, one word in Hebrew, ruah, sounds like a breath doesn't it?

Ruah, takes your breath away. In Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 when it says that the Spirit of the Lord was hovering on the earth in English, sounds so anemic. Just sounds like here's a gentle dove just flying over the waters. No, no, no, that's not really what it means.

Let me tell you what it means. Think of the wind that blows on a hurricane at 120, 140, maybe 200 miles an hour and then you get the picture. God used that power of that powerful wind in order to create the world, create the earth. There is no telling of what speed and what power of that wind that took place in that first creation when God created the world, when the breath of God breathed upon the earth, when His Spirit was not hovering but gusting on the earth. So here in Acts chapter 2 verse 2 it tells us that there was a violent wind.

Why? There was a violent wind associated with this historic event of the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell on the earth for the first time. Because on the day of Pentecost a new creation is taking place.

Here on the day of Pentecost a new spiritual creation is happening right in front of our eyes. In Genesis we see the creation of man. In the book of Acts we see the recreation of man. In Genesis we see God breathed in man and He gives him a soul. And here in the book of Acts we see God breathed His Spirit into men and women and they become born again of the Spirit of God.

Not only it was an awesome sound but it was an awesome sight. Luke said that there were tongues of fire. Now this was not literal fire by the way because if it was it probably would have burned the building down. Well how do I know that? Am I making this up?

No. It says as of tongues of fire. What does the fire symbolizes to you? What does the fire symbolizes? Well the fire in the Old Testament symbolized the presence of God. Fire in the Old Testament symbolized light. Fire in the Old Testament symbolized warmth. Fire in the Old Testament symbolized purity. And before the coming of the Holy Spirit of God the world was cold, it was dark, it was unloved, it was impure.

Then when the Holy Spirit came He's changed all that. In fact Jesus Himself said in Luke chapter 12 verse 49 He said I came to bring fire on earth. It was the fire of His presence. It was the fire of His light. It was the fire of His love. It was the fire of His warmth.

It was the fire of purity. Now please hear me right. There are some foolish people who are going around attacking the Christian faith and attacking Christians and they are saying that Christians should not serve in public office.

I want to tell you something. They are truly ignorant of the fact that if it was not for the Holy Spirit of God in the believer's life in this world, this world would become dark, anachistic, horrible and unlivable. And one day when God takes the believers home and the Holy Spirit is withdrawn from this world. They are going to understand the miserable condition in which they are going to find themselves and they will try to be regretful but it will be too late. Awesome sound affecting the ears, awesome sight affecting the eyes but then there was an awesome speech.

When the Holy Spirit filled the disciples they were able to speak foreign languages. Why? Well, so that I, Michael Yusef, become a Christian. No, this is not an egotistical statement. Don't misunderstand me. I'm going to explain it to you in a minute. You will understand the direct effect from the day of Pentecost to this day where you're sitting here watching me. In fact, this is my second point that I'm getting into now, verses 5 to 11, the effect of the power of the Holy Spirit. The effect of the power of the Holy Spirit. When the apostles spoke in tongues they were speaking a foreign language. It was not gibberish, it was definable language. On the day of Pentecost there were pilgrims from all over the known world at the time in the city of Jerusalem.

Isn't it amazing how God works? That Jesus would be crucified in the day of Passover when the estimate is up to more than one million people come from all over the world to Jerusalem. And here they are by the hundreds of thousands in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Pentecost and the Holy Spirit comes in to dwell permanently on earth. They were from every corner of the Roman era. They were from Mesopotamia, they were from Cappadocia, from Pontius, from Asia, from Phrygia, from Pamphylia, from Egypt, from Rome, from Crete, and from Arabia. What is the purpose of the tongue? Why did God, the Holy Spirit, manifested himself in such power and giving them the ability to speak a foreign language?

Why? You see, most of these guys only spoke Hebrew and spoke the colloquial Hebrew at best. Some of them knew Greek, but not much. Remember what Jesus said to them and we saw in chapter one of the book of Acts, remember what he said? He said to them what?

To wait in the upper room, right? But before that he said what? He said, you're going to be my witnesses. But he said, you're not going to be able to do it on your own.

If you do it on your own, you'll be discouraged within a couple of days and it's all over. But he said, you wait until the Holy Spirit, my Holy Spirit comes upon you. He is the one who's going to empower you. He is the one who's going to encourage you. He is the one who's going to give you boldness. He is the one who's going to speak through you.

He is the one who's going to make you effective. So don't go off on your own, but wait until the Holy Spirit comes, but you are going to be my witnesses. Now the Holy Spirit had come with such awesome sound and with such awesome sight and now they're given an awesome speech, speaking foreign language.

Why? So that they can be witnesses to all these hundreds of thousands of people from every corner of the Roman Empire. He said, you're going to be my witnesses, but the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you and then you're going to be effective witnesses. How can they become effective witnesses only through the power of the Holy Spirit? He gave them the ability to speak the languages of those people who are visiting Jerusalem. This was such an awesome power so that the hundreds of thousands of visitors who came to Jerusalem could hear the gospel in their own tongue and they can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me show you how effective their witness of that day was 2,000 years later. The Bible said there were devout Jews from Alexandria who were there on the day of Pentecost. And these devout Jews heard the gospel and were stricken to their hearts and they believed in Jesus Christ and immediately took the gospel to the city of Alexandria. And that city, as all Egyptian cities were pagans, worshiping pagan gods, but as they began to proclaim the gospel and the gospel began to spread, in fact history tells us that within about 100 years 85% of the population gave their life to Jesus Christ. Talk about the effect of the power of the Holy Spirit. The people of Egypt who were worshiping the Son, S-U-N, the God Ra, turned around and renounced paganism and they began to worship the Son, S-O-N, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

And then for the next few hundred years Egypt became the center, Alexandria became the center of Christian theology until some 600 years later when the Arabs came and changed all that. But nonetheless my ancestors remained faithful for 2,000 years to the passing of the witness from those handful of devout Jews who were in Jerusalem in the day of Pentecost to my generation. There are about 10 to 12 million Christians who have survived the onslaught of persecution for 2,000 years and all began on the day of Pentecost. Let me tell you something beloved friends, when God says to you do something, I'm going to give you my power of my Holy Spirit to do it, you can be sure He's not only going to do that, but you're going to have an impact that is lasting until Jesus comes back. Don't undermine, don't underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit working in the life of a believer, an obedient believer.

Not a lukewarm believer, not a social Christian, not a pure warmer, but an obedient Christian. There's power in the mixture between an obedient child of God and the Holy Spirit and it all goes back to the day of Pentecost. Talk about the effect of the power of the Holy Spirit. I gave it to you in chapter and verse in history and I believe God can use us in this place in just as mighty a way if we have God's vision for His world. And today there are faithful witnesses empowered by the Holy Spirit being effective witnesses for Jesus Christ in every corner of the globe.

And just because it does not make headline news on CNN and it doesn't mean that it's not happening, it is taking place all over the world. There is an invisible power which the world is so blinded to, cannot see, cannot understand, cannot comprehend that is happening in every corner of the globe today. One day when the invisible power becomes visible, one day when Jesus is manifested in His glory, those who have been intoxicated with false, fleeting, earthly powers are going to weep and gnash their teeth, the Bible said. But beloved friends, it will be too late. You see, the spirit of universalism invaded the church first in the mainline church, now in the evangelical church, and now is invading the hearts of Christians that God is too loving, God is too kind, He will not send anybody to hell.

For sure He won't send anybody to hell, but they will send themselves to hell. It will be too late. You see, the door of mercy, one day will be shut. The door of grace, one day will be shut. The door of salvation, one day will be shut.

The door of forgiveness that is open today and you're taking it for granted and you're taking it for granted. One day will be shut and it will be too late. It will be too late.

It will be too late. I implore you, if you have not come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, submitted to His authority, and received Him as the Savior of your life, that you would do that today. The evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit, the effect of the power of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, the explanation of the power of the Holy Spirit, verses 12 to 13. There were two reactions to the manifestation and the power of the Holy Spirit, two reactions. There were some who were stricken to their heart, they were amazed, they were perplexed, and then when Peter explained things to them, three-thousands of them have come and responded to the invitation of salvation. That's one reaction, but there's another reaction.

There were those who mocked, those who ridiculed. They said they have too much wine, they're drunk, two reactions. You know, whenever the gospel is faithfully preached, you will always get two reactions and no third.

Two reactions. There are those who stand in amazement and find the salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have the peace that passes understanding in this life and eternal life to come, and there are those who mock, those who ridicule, those who rationalize the rejection, and will end up in torment for the rest of eternity.

Nothing changed in 2,000 years. It has been the prayer of my heart that not what a single person who has heard the Word of God and the voice of God speaking to you, that you would stop running, stop rationalizing, stop explaining away, and in simple, innocent surrender say, Lord, I give up. You're the master. You're the pure, holy, sinless Son of God who died for me as sinner, who's running my own life, and I'm tired of it.

Every time I seek for peace, I've got nothing but war inside of me. Today is the day. Let's bow our heads in prayer. If there's one person here today who can say, Lord Jesus, I've been running, I've been rationalizing, today I'm going to give my life to you. Say, Lord Jesus, I come to you this day, and I'll tell you something about what the promise of Jesus is.

He said, nobody, nobody that comes to me and asks me to come into his or her life that I will no way reject. I thank you, Father God, that you, in the power of your Holy Spirit, have spoken to them. Father God, I pray that the surrender be real and that Holy Spirit, you would fill them at this very moment, that you are the God of all truth.

Teach them the truth. Oh, God, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Encouragement from Dr. Michael Youssef to surrender and fully experience God's power for daily living. We know that not all who listen to the program have made the life-changing decision to become a Christian. So if today's message has challenged you in your faith journey, let me encourage you to take just a moment and visit ltw.org slash Jesus.

You can begin a conversation to answer some of those life questions regarding faith. Talk with us electronically or over the phone, whatever you're most comfortable with, at ltw.org slash Jesus. Now, before our time is gone today, I want to take just a moment to tell you about a free resource.

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That's Post Office Box 20100, Atlanta, Georgia, 30325. As we bring this Leading the Way to a close, here's what you can expect next time when Dr. Michael Youssef explores more of God's power for daily living. I want you to think about this. Here they are, longing, longing for the coming of the Messiah to come and usher peace, to come and usher joy, to come and bring salvation. And then when He came, they crucified Him.

They crucified Him. Oh, but I don't want you to be quick in judging them. It's happening all around us. They are longing to know that their sins are forgiven. They might not tell you that. They're longing for it. And yet, when you point them to the only one who can give them all of that, they're rejecting. Join Dr. Michael Youssef next time for Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.