Pentecost Sunday

Before we begin the message that we have prepared

for today, I thank God for this opportunity.

We're going to be giving a little bit of time.

If you can give your attention to a testimony

that we're going to hear right now. Praise God

that will be on our screen here. Praise God.

Hi, my name is Kong Lower, and I've been a member

of City Light Church for about a year now. I

got baptized last year in March, I believe. So

it's been a year. But my story is I've never,

in my life, I didn't grow up with Jesus Christ

in the household. I grew up very, very shamanism,

Hmong way, right? The way I came into contact

with Christ was because of my good friend, Isai.

We met in high school, and ever since then, little

here and there, he'll try to throw, not throw,

but he'll try to introduce me to God. And I've

always been kind of on, I would say, like shielded

or on the defense with it. He always tried to

keep pushing it. He always tried to keep pushing

it. And maybe 10 years later, I got baptized.

I got baptized because one day I had this stomach

sickness that was very, very bad. I had a very

bad sickness. And this pain in my stomach just

wouldn't go away. And if you know me, I... I

don't not like going to the hospitals. I despise

going to hospitals, which is bad. You should

go to the hospital if you have to. But I didn't

want to go. And one night I was just on my bed.

I was curled up because the pain was so much.

I almost went to the hospital once or two times,

but I turned to God. Like Isaias always told

me, I turned to God. And I prayed to God. And

I asked him, I said, Lord, if you're real, if

you're here, I pray that you take the sickness

away. And if you do, I will believe in you. And

just like that, honestly, it sounds so fake,

but it was real. Just like that, the pain went

away. And that's when I knew that God was real,

that I should believe in him, just like how we

all should. And that's when Isai introduced me

to City Light Church. And I love the people here.

They're so welcoming. Even though you may think

that you're different, they don't see that here.

We are all the same. And they show love. They're

like a family to me now. Amen. Just like that.

That's how God works. I like, I love that. And

yes, God responds to our requests just like that.

And I know that I've been there. And how many

have ever been in a point of, you know, excuse

the word, but desperation where there's just

no other way out. There's just no other remedy

anywhere, but just. call out to God. Just call

out to him and the Lord will answer your prayer,

your request. Amen. And that's the way our God

is because he's everywhere at the same time.

And he was with Kong for all those years. And

the plan was that he would give his life to Christ

and believe in him completely. And we're so glad

that he surrendered. Praise God. His will for

the will of God. Praise God. Just like many of

us here today, and for those of you that maybe

are not here, you're listening online, the Lord

is waiting for you too. Praise God. Definitely

the will of God and the plan of God that you

can experience. Praise God. Salvation for yourself.

Healing for your body, your mind, your soul.

Praise God. And we're so grateful. Thank God

for that testimony. Praise God. And we know we've

already heard a few times, and you can see it

on the screen, that today is what we... we reference

or we acknowledge as Pentecost Sunday. It is

because possibly many, many people throughout

the world in the valley here are celebrating

this day. This is something that brings us together

is that we believe in the outpouring of the Holy

Ghost. And we're going to be talking about that,

but I'm going to take a few moments to give you

a little bit of a backdrop on why and how significant

this day is. And we've read it many times. If

you've read the book of Acts, you know. that

there was an upper room experience and there

was an outpouring of the Holy Ghost. But I want

to take you a little bit deeper, if I can, in

the plan of God. Because, you know, God doesn't

just think things up just the last minute like

sometimes we do. Think of doing something the

very last minute, last second, you thought of

something and you did it. But God, he doesn't

work that way. From the beginning of even time,

time did not even exist until he created the

heavens and the earth. Time was eternal. There

was no clock. There was no time. But even before

all of that, he had a plan. of salvation, and

that plan is for you and me today. Praise God.

That Holy Ghost that we referenced too many times

in the book of Acts, that was already predetermined

in eternity for us today. Isn't that awesome?

Praise God. So I want to take you back to, we're

going to set a foundation, if I may, in the book

of Acts chapter 2 and verse 1 to 4. It reads

Acts 2 · chapter mention

this way. When the day of Pentecost had fully

come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as

of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole

house where they were sitting. Then there appeared

to them divided tongues as of fire, and sat upon

each of them. And they were all filled with the

Holy Spirit. and began to speak with other tongues

as the Spirit gave them utterance. Many times

we have referenced this scripture. You know,

I had the privilege of doing a tour to Israel

and particularly, especially Jerusalem, what

we call the old Jerusalem. And they, in part

of the tour there, they took us to what was considered

to be the upper room where... the 120 were gathered,

and it was quite an experience, and I can't guarantee

that that was it, but for the most part, they,

you know, the theologians and geologists, they

believe that that was. it or very close to it.

At any rate, it was interesting to be there and

just to imagine how it all may have happened

on that day, how they were gathered in that upper

room just in tearing there in prayer and in belief

and faith for something they had never, ever

experienced. Man had never experienced what they

were anticipating. Isn't it interesting to...

be anticipating something that you have never

experienced, and that's the way it was. Even

having been with the Lord for three, three and

a half years, and some maybe less, and others

more, however, the disciples and the followers

of Jesus, following him around, and much had

been said about that day, and not until that

morning or that day did they really experience

what it was all about. And let me tell you something

before I get into my thought here today a little

more. It was worth it. Somebody tell your neighbor

it is worth it. When you get the Holy Ghost in

your life, let me tell you, it is worth it. There's

nothing in this world that can compare to the

Holy Ghost. Amen. Pentecost is one of the most...

ancient celebrated feasts of Israel, the Jewish

nation. When God was about to lead the children

of Israel out of Egypt, he instituted what was

called the Feast of the Passover. On the night

that the Israelites, the night before they were

about to exit from slavery from Egypt, they were

commanded to celebrate the Passover. And that

particular Passover was what we acknowledge as

the Exodus. When we think about the Passover,

we think about the Exodus. To liberate God's

people from bondage. The Passover was a liberation

time. It was their departure from... Egypt. And

the Lord instructed them to celebrate it on that

day. And it was an unusual thing for them even

to do such a thing because they weren't used

to those kind of divine orders. But the Passover

is a typology. of the sacrificial lamb and the

shedding of blood. It was a foreshadow of what

was going to come. Everything in the Old Testament,

the experiences and the commandments of the Lord,

the festivities, the feasts that were instituted

in the Old Testament was a shadow of the real

thing to come. And Israel as a nation, they practiced

this. literally on the night of their liberation.

But as you know, and the story says, the blood

of the sacrifice was put on the doorposts of

the believers, of the Israelite people. They

put the blood on their doorposts as a typology

of the power of the blood that would overcome

the sting of death. I thank God for the blood.

How many thank God for the blood? Whether you've

ever, amen, done such, believed in the blood,

I believe that many people have declared the

blood of Jesus upon things. John the Baptist,

when he first had his encounter with Jesus Christ,

in John 1 .29, he says, the next day John saw

Jesus coming toward him, and he said, behold

the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the

world. All this in a nutshell. Jesus Christ became

what they were practicing in the foreshadow,

what they were practicing back then. Jesus became

the reality of it in the New Testament. In Ephesians

1 and 7, it says, in him we have redemption through

his blood, the forgiveness of sins according

to the riches of grace. In other words, the blood

that they put, the Israelites put, on their doorposts

the sacrifice that they made in their home that

night. That sacrifice was Jesus for us. It was

a foreshadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood

that they took and put it on the doorpost as

the angel of death came through the midnight

hour and whosoever did not have the blood on

the doorpost would lose their firstborn. He would

die. And you can just imagine that all of Egypt

was going in turmoil. People screaming everywhere

because the death angel had come by. And the

firstborn of every household, if they did not

have the blood of the Lamb, the sacrifice on

the doorpost of their home. the death angel would

come in and take their firstborn. But thank be

to God that those that believed on that time,

they put the blood of the sacrifice upon the

doorposts. And let me tell you something, the

Lord taught us there that death cannot touch

you if the blood is upon your life. And let me

say this, when you have the blood of Jesus, when

you're buried in... Baptism with him. And you

resurrect together with him. The blood of the

almighty son of God is upon your life. Death

has no more sting upon you. You are alive today

because of that blood of Jesus Christ. Somebody

say thank you for the blood. Thank God for the

blood. 50 days after the Israelites exodus out

of slavery. 50 days and you all know a lot of

things happened just to get out of Egypt. There

had to be great miracles as they exited out of

Egypt. There were so many miracles that were

happening. But 50 days after they passed through

the Red Sea and so many things from slavery in

their journey through the wilderness, they arrived

at a mount called... Mount Sinai. When it was

there in Mount Sinai, in just that space of time,

that God revealed himself to Moses. If you recall,

God called Moses up to the mount. And up on the

mountain, the Lord revealed himself to him once

again. Probably the last time he had that experience

was at the burning bush. But now he had an encounter

with God on the mountaintop. The Lord revealed

himself to Moses. But out of all of that, the

Bible teaches us that he wrote his law. God wrote

his law with his finger on tablets of stone.

And he gave them to Moses for all the nation

of Israel. Let me say something here today. God,

amen, he always has a plan for his people. We

never catch God off guard. God had a plan. planned.

And from the beginning, he knew that he was going

to meet with Moses on that mountaintop. And it

was going to be on that mountaintop where God

was going to speak a word. Amen. But he spoke

it onto tablets of stone. And it was on those

tablets of stone, praise God, that we got the

initial, amen, the beginning of the revelation

of God and his word. He put it on. stones, tablet

stones. At that time, they were commanded to

observe this law daily. Every day they observed

it, but more than that, they were told, the Lord

told them that they were commanded to observe

this particular event annually to commemorate

the giving of the law every year. Amen. Fifty

days after, praise God, fifty days after, the

celebration of the Passover feast. They were

to celebrate the 50th day, which was the feast

of Pentecost. From then until now, the feast

of Pentecost, which is known as the feast of

the harvest, has been celebrated by the Jewish

nation. It was nothing new to the Israelites.

It was something that they practiced every year.

Praise God, they would celebrate Pentecost. It

costs as the harvest, the first fruits, the harvest

time, praise God. But it was interesting how

the Lord, he established 50 days after Exodus,

they celebrated. Pentecost, that was the giving

of the word, the giving of the law. The word

Pentecost comes from the Greek word that calls

Pentecoste, which means the 50th day. So God

is interested in how specific he is in everything.

He just didn't say, well, let's do it today.

No, it was all in the mind of God. Everything

that we experience today, praise God, your life

in him. It's not an accident. Kong didn't just

accept Christ 10 years later. It was an appointed

time for him to meet up with his Savior. It was

an appointed time for every one of us to meet

up with our Savior. You see, God in his mind,

he had an appointed time for you, amen, to have

that encounter with him. In the book of Acts,

on the day of Pentecost, amen, fully come. is

when the Jewish had properly commemorated the

law of God on the mount. Yes, it was called the

Feast of Weeks. The Lord chose this very day

to confirm His Word and a new order by the pouring

out of His Spirit upon all the believers. It

was the fulfillment of the promise of God, the

shift from the tablets of stone to the hearts

of men signifies a transition from the old covenant,

the Mosaic covenant, to the new covenant, which

was the grace of God, the dispensation of grace.

And by it, amen, he sealed it by commemorating

that day, by pouring out of his spirit upon 120

people. On Matthew 5, 17, it says, do not think

that I came to destroy, Destroy the law, the

Lord says, or the prophets. I did not come to

destroy it, but I came to fulfill it. On the

day of... Pentecost. He did not destroy the law.

He came to fulfill the law. Praise God, somebody.

It was Christ fulfilling the law. Back then on

Mount Sinai, they received the word of God. But

on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover,

50 days after they buried Jesus in a tomb, amen,

he came back to commemorate the Pentecost day.

The harvest time, the earth, the beginning, the

birth of his church. Somebody say praise the

Lord. Jeremiah prophesied in this transition.

He said in Jeremiah 31, 33, he says, but this

is the covenant that I will make with the house

of Israel. After those days, says the Lord, I

will put my law in their hearts and write it

in their hearts, in their minds, and write it

in their hearts, and I will be their God, and

they shall be my people. Let me say this. The

new covenant was the fulfillment in the New Testament.

See, God made a new covenant with his people.

He became the testator. He became the one that

died and rose again and made it alive in our

hearts. God promised to write his laws directly

into our hearts and our minds. I don't know if

somebody has the word of God in your life today.

This represents an eternal transformation where

the whole Holy Spirit empowers the believers

to obey God from a place of love and not demand.

Amen. I don't know about you. I'm not here because

somebody twisted my arm. I am here because of

the love of God. He said, if I be lifted up,

I'll draw men unto me. For God so loved the world

that he gave his only begotten son. He loved

you. loves me here today rather than an external

obligation. I do it out of love. How many responded

to God because of love? Amen. The scripture declares

Jesus as the word. And let me tell you something.

Back then Moses didn't know what was going on.

He was experiencing God in a whole nother dimension

from the burning bush to Mount Sinai where the

Lord appeared unto him. But John 1 says, and

1 is It says, in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In 14, it says, and the Word became flesh, and

it dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the

glory of the only begotten of God, the Father,

full of grace and truth. Somebody say, praise

the Lord. I'm so glad that He came back, not

to Mount Sinai, but He came back in the form

of a... man. He came in the form of flesh. But

let me say this. The Bible says that it was the

word of God, not on tablets, but it was in him.

And he demonstrated it. If you saw him, you would

see the father. He was all in one. Amen. Great

is the mystery of godliness. If we believe in

God. You believe in Jesus. Because they say,

have you seen me? You've seen the Father. They're

one and the same. He is the Word. He's the Word

in my spirit and my soul. It's not on the tablets

of stone. It's in my heart. We now celebrate

Pentecost. Not because of the old historical

event of the Israelites receiving the tablets

of the law. but because of the Holy Ghost that

initiated a new covenant, a new order, and a

new dispensation of grace. For the Jews, Pentecost

was the time when they celebrated the first harvest

of the agricultural year. It was a time of thanksgiving

for what the land had produced and what their

labor had yielded. Jewish feast, Pentecost, was

celebrated as the seal. Somebody say the seal.

of the covenant, Mosaic covenant. It was a seal

for them. Praise God, because it gave life because

of the harvest, the first fruits. It was life.

It was sustaining. It was what they needed to

survive. It was given at Mount Sinai, transforming

the Israelites from Egyptian order, a life of

slavery, amen, to a free nation governed by a

divine law that That Moses had received on Mount

Sinai. But he listened to this. The apostle Paul.

Wrote about a new seal. For he whosoever will

confess Jesus Christ. As the word made flesh.

And the new covenant. And accept his word. In

our hearts and in your hearts. A flesh through

repentance. And the baptism in his name. He promised

to confirm our salvation. With a seal. Somebody

say the seal, hallelujah, of the Holy Ghost,

which is his promise. In Ephesians 1 .13 it says,

in him you also trusted after you heard the word

of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom

also having believed, you were sealed with the

Holy Spirit of promise. This is our seal. Hallelujah.

We didn't get the harvest. We didn't have to,

amen, plant and get a harvest of any kind as

the Israelites did. But that was their seal.

But let me tell you, our seal, our seal is a

man that went into a tomb, amen, for three days.

But on the third day, he came out. And it's not

over yet. This is just the beginning. Because

50 days from now, You're going to be sealed with

the promise, and the promise is the Holy Ghost.

That is our seal today. That's our confirmation.

That is our confirmation, the first fruit, amen,

which was Jesus Christ. And let me say this.

Born -again believers, celebrate the death. The

barrier and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is who we celebrate. This is why Pentecost

is important for us. Yes, it was important in

the time of Israel for the Old Covenant, the

Old Testament. It was beautiful. It was an experience.

But let me tell you, they expected it. They planned

it. And they all gathered and they celebrated

it. But what about us? Hallelujah. What about

the church on that day? Praise God. There was

great fruits. There was a harvest of 120 that

were born again of the water and of the Spirit.

Oh, 120 believers as the first harvest. Praise

be to God. Hallelujah. And let me say this to

somebody. If you're not part of this, you can

jump in any time. You don't have to go back to

the upper room. This is the upper room here right

now. Wherever you are. Lord, if you will call

upon the name of the Lord, he will answer you.

If you open your heart and say, Lord, fill me

with your spirit, he'll fill you with his spirit

because it is a promise to whosoever believeth.

And if you don't have the Holy Ghost today, you

can get it today. If you have not spoken in other

tongues, you can speak in other tongues today.

If you want to feel this fire, you can feel this

fire today. This is the day. Amen. Pity call.

When God wants to fill you with his spirit. Pentecost

is the birthday of the church. It is the day

the church was born. The first chapter of the

book of Acts tells us of Jesus meeting with the

apostles at the Mount of Olives. and telling

them that they were to be his witnesses to all

the world. Why do we need such a spirit? Why

do we need it? to the Old Testament in the Israelites'

time and in that dispensation and under that

old covenant, the world, the people of Canaan

and everywhere, they were envious of the Israelites

because they were able to celebrate things and

have things that they didn't plant, that they

didn't build. God gave them to them. Praise God.

And just like that today, praise God, we have

things that we didn't. We don't merit. I don't

deserve that, God. I don't deserve this, and

I don't deserve that. But God said, I'm going

to keep my promise to you. I'm going to bless

you going in, and I'm going to bless you going

out. Everything you touch will be blessed. Everywhere

you put your foot will be blessed. That's our

promise, amen. And if you believe that, you have

nothing to fear. You have nothing that you lack.

You have everything in him because you have the

seal. You have the foot. of God in your life.

When you have his spirit, you don't need nothing

else. You don't need to go look for nothing else.

When you've got God in your heart, you got it

all. Oh, my God, let me tell you something. Amen.

You stop looking. You stop searching. Oh, you

get a stronger relationship with God as time

goes on, amen, because he's too vast, amen, to

understand in one sit down. Praise God. So we

get a stronger, but the thing is that when you

get the seal, you get the earnest of his spirit.

That means there's not, he doesn't give it to

you in portions. He didn't give you 10 % and

me 20%. No. He didn't give you a portion of who

he is. He gave you the earnest of his spirit

who is God manifesting your spirit and your life.

He became, amen, he became you. You are in him,

him and you. You have his spirit. You can't say

my spirit, the Holy Ghost is in this part of

my body or it's in my hand, it's in my feet.

No, it's all of you. Every little bit of you

is the Holy Ghost. man. So whatever the devil

has formed against you, it's not going to do

no good because greater is he that is in you

than he that is in the world. You have it all.

You don't have to be looking for no more. You've

got Jesus. And when you got the Holy Ghost, you

got it all. Can you just shout and say, I got

it all today. Acts 1 and 8 says, but you shall

receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon

you. And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem

and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of

the earth. Let me tell you, hallelujah, when

you received the Holy Spirit, when you received

the Holy Spirit, if you haven't yet, when you

receive it, and for those of you that have already,

when you received it, you have received power.

As we heard the song say, amen, you have got

power. Not power. Praise God. You need not search

anywhere else. You don't need to be looking nowhere

else for anything. Amen. I know we depend on

certain things in life. Praise God. You depend

on a doctor. Amen. A surgeon and things like

that. That's okay. Praise God. Those are the

things of this life. But let me tell you something.

God is in control of all things. Doctors can

give up on you. Amen. Judges and attorneys can

give up on you. Your friends. can give up on

you. But when you got Jesus in your life, you

have his spirit in your life, you lack nothing.

You have everything that you need. You have the

power to overcome. You have the power to tell

somebody such as I have, I give unto you, get

up and walk. You have the authority over anything.

All opposition that comes against you, you have

that authority. If you have the Holy Ghost, you

need nothing else. When you have the Holy Ghost,

In your life, you can walk. Amen. I'm not telling

anybody to go walk on water, but in a spiritual

sense, yes, we can walk on water, spiritually

speaking, because we can walk above things, things

that, amen, that are impossible for man to do.

We can walk above that. Praise the Lord, somebody.

Hallelujah. God is real. He is alive. He is in

my spirit. Amen. He's in my life just like he

is in yours. Amen. You have nothing to fear because

the spirit of God, his love, casts out fear.

You don't fear nothing. Praise God. It doesn't

matter what report they give you. What report

are you going to believe? You're going to believe

the report of the Lord? What are you going to

believe? Amen. You can get bad news tomorrow.

You can get bad news on your way home today.

But whose report are you going to believe? say,

hey, I'm going to believe the report of the Lord.

He said that he would be with me. He said that

he would guide me through it. He's a lamp unto

my feet. He will order my steps every day. I

believe in God. I believe that he will sustain

me and keep me and lead me, amen, and hold me

so that I can get through all of this in life.

Yes, there's going to be challenges, and they

are, but you have power. You have the Holy Ghost.

It's amazing. You cannot compare the power of

anything. Everybody's talking about nuclear power

today. They're talking about Iran and other places.

Everybody's got nuclear power. I'm not afraid

of nuclear power. Let it happen. Whatever happens,

it happens because to God be the glory. Amen.

To be absent from this body is to be ever present

with the Lord. Amen. So we don't fear death.

We've already overcome the sting of death. Death

has nothing over us. Amen. So all the power in

the world. Man might have power, but God puts

kings. He takes kings down. Amen. God is in control

of all things. I don't fear any regimes in the

world because, amen, there's no higher authority

in this world than the authority of Jesus Christ.

And I have that authority. He said, everything

you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever

you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven

because I have that authority in my life. And

you have that authority. that authority too.

Don't fear nothing. No, I've got the Holy Ghost

down in my soul, just like the Bible says. Amen.

And I'm going to live my life every day like

I know and I feel and I'm convinced that I have

his power with me. And that's a power. It's a

power. It's a Holy Ghost power. You cannot compare

it. You cannot buy it. You cannot exchange it.

There's been people that have tried to do that

with no success. You cannot pretend that you

have it either. Praise God. As some even biblical

times try to pretend they have the power, they

have the Holy Ghost. You cannot pretend to have

the Holy Ghost. Amen. You either got it or you

don't. Praise the Lord somebody. Ask your neighbor.

Amen. You got it? Praise God. If you got it,

you're all right. Amen. If you don't got it,

you need to get it. That's it. Amen. It's simply

said. It doesn't take a real deep theologian

to figure that out, man. If your cup is full,

is it running over? What do you got? I know that

what God gives, it runs over, man. It's just

not fill my cup. Yeah, you know, that was a nice

song back in the day, but I want it to overflow.

Because that's his spirit. You can't not confine

yourself. You know, that's the interesting thing

about the Holy Ghost. How can you confine the

Holy Ghost into this body? You can't. You can't.

Amen. You can't say, I got the Holy Ghost. I

got it right here. I'm going to do what I want

with it. I'm going to shelve it for a couple

of days and pull it back out. You can't put it

in the refrigerator to preserve it. Amen. You

can't do that, man. You either got it or you

don't got it. Excuse my grammar, but it's true.

Praise God. But when you get the Holy Ghost,

when you have the Holy Ghost in your life, praise

God, there is nothing that can come. I've been

when I've had much, and I've been where I have

little. I've been where I've had nothing. I've

been when I'm sick. I've been when I'm well.

I've been in different places in life. Amen.

But life is not in control of me or you. Things

that life hands you. Your boss could give you

a pink slip tomorrow. Amen. You thank him for

it. Thank you very much. God's giving me a promotion

now. Praise God. When they give you a pink slip,

you can say thank you for the promotion. Praise

God. Because it is a promotion because God is

the rewarder of those that diligently seek him.

And if you're seeking God, he's going to reward

you. Amen. And don't worry what man does to you.

Amen. God will deal with all of that. You know,

don't take it out on them. They just don't know

any better. Praise God. But praise be to God.

God is good, isn't he? How many of you experience

the goodness of the Lord every day? I experience

it every day. Praise God. He also tells them

that they are to wait in Jerusalem. He says,

wait until they receive the power from on high.

Then he ascended out of their sight. Wow. Just

because the Lord is not seen, it doesn't mean

that he's not there. Praise the Lord. I know

that went way over your head, right? That's deep.

Tell somebody, that was deep, man. But the fact

is, amen. He sometimes disappears and you wonder,

where is he? Well, I'm sure the disciples are

wondering the same. Oh, how can this be? Amen.

But in Luke 24, 49, it says, Behold, I send the

promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the

city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power

from on high. Wow. It was on this day, Pentecost.

That the Holy Ghost was poured out upon 120 followers

of Christ. It could have been 121. I don't know.

But 120 were there. Praise God. Thank God that

they were there. Who were gathered in that upper

room in Jerusalem. It was on this day that the

church was born in the blaze of glory. Before

Pentecost, the disciples were hiding from...

Because of public fear, they were afraid, they

were hiding. Peter didn't want to be acknowledged

as a follower of Christ. You know, bold Peter,

man. I mean, he was hiding. He says, you talk

like them. Oh, no, no, no, no, not us. You know,

and everybody was living a life of fear. But

after Pentecost, they became bold and miraculously

empowered. Power to carry out the mission of

God. When God gives us power, it's not just so

that we can walk around with our shoulders up

and say, you know, I got power. No. It was because

God has a mission for us. Praise God, somebody.

Something happened to the disciples that set

them on fire for Jesus. To such a degree, the

Bible says in Acts 17, 16, it says, here are

those who are turning the world upside down.

Put the next scripture, brother. Thank you. Look

at that. How many want to turn the world upside

down? And I don't mean literally, but I mean

spiritually. We got something. We have the answer.

to things that the world can only dream about.

We have a remedy. We have a plan. We have a something,

a how it can be done. Praise God. The upper room

experience then can happen to anyone and set

on fire your life with the Holy Ghost. If you

today are looking for something that is different

from what the world has to offer, We offer you,

Jesus, the Holy Ghost. It's essential to evangelize

the world. We need the Holy Ghost to be evangelist

in this world. Because of the Holy Ghost, we

can reach our world with the gospel of salvation.

How I know this is true. I know it is true because

I experienced it when I wanted to evangelize

and speak to people about God. I had to get beside

myself. I had to allow the Holy Ghost to take

control of my life and my attitudes and cast

out the spirit of fear and stand up for Jesus.

And, you know, like a lady, when I was testifying

to people at work many years ago, I was testifying

and winning people to the Lord. And this lady

from out of nowhere, way out. I mean, she must

have been like maybe. 50 feet away or something

from way over there, she yells out, I think Joe's

gone crazy. And I turn, why? And then everybody's

looking at me like, you don't look crazy. Yeah,

crazy because I was winning people to the Lord.

I was turning my workplace upside down with the

power of the Holy Ghost. Praise be to God. There

was this one guy. He kind of reminded me of you,

Brother Kong. He was a Korean guy. He was Korean,

but he was a black belt, brother. And I don't

know if you're black belt, but he was black belt.

And, man, he, I was kind of like, you know, I'd

get out of his way. He would be coming down the

hall and everybody would, you know, like step

out of the way. And here comes that. And one

time, one time I was coming around a corner and

he was coming the other way. And I came around

the corner. Oh, my God. It's a good thing he's

fast because he put, I mean, he got in a stance.

It's reaction, you know. He got a reaction. He

almost let me have it. Whoa, whoa, no, no, man.

You know, like, easy, man. You know, I was just

coming around the corner. Oh, man, man. He almost

took you down. I says, I know. You know, and

then I said within myself, I'm going to win him

to the Lord. We'll see who takes who down here.

A few months later, we were baptizing him in

Jesus' name. Praise God. And not only him, but

his fiancée that he married, and we baptized

her too, and we baptized his dad that we had

to carry up the stairs to the baptismal. Amen.

We got a lot of people right there, man, just

from that black belt. Don't you ever throw that

black belt move on me, man, because I got the

Holy Ghost. I'll take you down in Jesus' name.

Amen. And God, thank God, man, I won that soul

for him. But, you know, we don't need to fear

nothing. We don't need to fear anything. Praise

God. God is good, isn't he? I'm going to close

with this. I know you want me to go on until

tomorrow, but I got to cut it short here. I know

this is a holiday, and you're all probably got

something going on in the grill, and you're waiting

to flip it. I don't know. The Comforter. John

14 and 16, it says. And I will pray the Father,

and he shall give you another comforter. Praise

God. You know, when you think that you've been

comforted, you ain't felt nothing until the Lord

comforts you. That's a comparison, you know.

We find comfort in things, you know, and we find

comfort in life. People are in comfort because

they have money, you know. Oh, man, as long as

I got this much money in the bank, I feel pretty

good. Or as long as my health is real good and

I get a good report, they're comforted. But you

know what? Whatever your comfort is, think of

your best comfort in life. You know, if you're

driving a Maserati or something, that's comfort,

right? For you car lovers or whatever, you know,

but a big house, you know, with 20 bedrooms and

10 bathrooms that you're going to have to clean

and, you know, and all that. You know, comfort

is, you know, certain things in life. And, I

mean, humanistically, yeah, you probably have

a place that you would consider a place of comfort.

But he said, I shall give you another comforter,

something. Greater than you can ever imagine.

That he may abide with you forever. This comfort

you will never lose. You can lose all your money.

You can lose that nice car. You can lose that

relationship. You can lose many things such as

health and what not in life. But the comforter

that the Lord gives you will abide with you forever.

My God, when you have his spirit, it's forever.

It's not for a season. It's not when you need

it the most. No, it's forever. Even the spirit

of truth, he says, whom the world cannot receive.

They can't get it. Because it seeth him not.

Who? The Lord Jesus. They don't see him. Neither

knoweth him, but ye know him. Ask your neighbor,

do you know him? Do you know him? Because if

you know him, you know of the creator, the comforter.

for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you.

It will not leave you comfortless. I will come

to you. This is the promise. This is the promise

that we receive from him, that comforter, that

spirit. That upper room experience could be right

here today. It could be in your living room.

My wife and I were counseling a young couple

that is dear friends of ours when we were down

there in Southern California. And we were encouraging

them on their home groups. And they have a nice

home group. I think how many souls did they,

I think they had how many souls? Like 24 souls

in their home group. 24 souls. He says they only

have, he only has one Timothy. And I met with

him. We had dinner with his Timothy and another

day. And then we were over there in their house

on a certain day. He says, that's my Timothy.

It's just him and I. And our wives, he says,

but we got 24 souls that we're witnessing to.

And we prayed for him and the souls that he has.

And we prayed that he have the boldness, the

boldness to speak. And we prayed, I said, God

give him boldness. He was so encouraged. He was

so encouraged because I told him. God, one of

those visitors, those friends that you have,

one of them is going to get the Holy Ghost in

your home group. He's going to get the Holy Ghost.

And he goes, oh, my God, right here. It says

right here in your home. It says my wife and

I have been through that. We've had people receive

the Holy Ghost in our home while giving them

a Bible study. It says when they get the Holy

Ghost. man, it's like a fire that takes off.

Everybody starts getting the Holy Ghost. People

getting the Holy Ghost. And you can have that

breakthrough. And there's nothing like when somebody

gets the Holy Ghost. Nothing like it. It's an

amazing experience. Amazing experience. And I

don't know if you've ever prayed with somebody

that got the Holy Ghost, but I have many times.

It's an amazing experience for somebody to experience

it for the first time. My goodness. It's special.

You can just feel it. Something miraculous that

happens. That's the comforter. That's what it's

all about. And that's what Pentecost was. For

the 120. But it was. God's plan from the beginning,

first the Passover, then Pentecost at Mount Sinai.

And that's our experience. The sacrifice, 50

days later, Pentecost in the upper room. That's

for all of us today. Praise God.