PowerPoint

Jack Graham: Have you ever noticed how often God breaks through in your life suddenly? It was just going to be an ordinary day or an ordinary service, and God the Holy Spirit moved in such a way that it changed your life.

Guest (Female): On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how revival can once again sweep across our culture. Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, Igniting the Church.

Jack Graham: Chapter two of the book of Acts describes the birthday of the church. It's known as the day of Pentecost, and we read beginning at verse one as to what happened. 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 one 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. Verse 12: "So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'Whatever could this mean?'" That's the question we want to answer in this message today. What does this mean?

In particular, I want to talk to you about igniting the church and how you can personally acquire the fire of passion and purpose in your life because since this day when the Holy Spirit came, His presence, His very person lives in us. In times past, before this day described in Acts chapter two, the Holy Spirit came from time to time and place to place and person to person.

The Holy Spirit was with people in the Old Testament and before the day of Pentecost. But now, the Holy Spirit is in each person who knows Jesus Christ. Igniting your spiritual passion. So many passionless people today. So many passionless churches today. What we need is the fire and the fuel of the Spirit of God filling us, that we might go into all the world and take it for Jesus Christ.

Two points in this message, two primary points: the church is united and the church then is ignited. First, the church united. Notice in verse one: "When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." They were doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do, commanded them to do when He said before His ascension, "I want you to go to Jerusalem and there wait, and then the Holy Spirit will come. And then you will go into all the world and make disciples."

So they were together, and they were triumphant. They were in one place with one purpose and one priority and in one prayer. They were praying together expectantly and together. Christian churches divide over many issues today. Well, did you know that division drains a church of its passion and drains and depletes disciples of power?

The body is injured. The church body is injured when it is divided and it cannot function properly. I sincerely doubt that God will bless a fighting, feuding congregation. The testimony in the community is lost. It is a dangerous thing to wound the body of Christ, His church. But when we are together prayerfully expecting God to work, then He can pour out His passion and His power upon us.

Just before His cross, Jesus prayed in John 17:21 that all of His disciples would be one. In the day of Christ and in the day of the church, this day, we have credibility in our communities when we practice spiritual unity and prayer. But preaching the gospel without loving unity is false advertising. Therefore, we must do everything possible to maintain the bonds of the Spirit and the unity of peace.

You can hardly overemphasize the importance of maintaining the fellowship and the relationship within the church. I need you and you need me. The issue of unity is the issue of heart. It is the issue of focus. It is the issue of spirit. Jesus prayed for and died for the unity of His body, the church. The church was all together in one place. It was the day of Pentecost.

Luke tells us in verse one that the day of Pentecost was fully come. That is that God was working sovereignly on time, on schedule. Pentecost means 50th, and this is 50 days past the Passover. 50 days just past the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so the disciples, in obedience to Christ, are gathered in an upper room, and that's when God began to work sovereignly in their midst.

This was a day on in history, a day in the destiny of the church that God had set aside. Sometimes people pray for Pentecost to come, praying that something like this, "Oh, Lord, send Pentecost again." Well, that's not a proper prayer. You wouldn't pray for Pentecost to come again any more than you would pray for Bethlehem to come again or any more than you would pray for Calvary to come again because these are events scheduled sovereignly by God that have set the church in motion and Christians throughout the generations.

And you might say that Bethlehem is God with us, and Calvary is God for us, and Pentecost is God in us. God is for you, God is with you, and God is in you through Jesus Christ. So God works sovereignly, but we see God working suddenly as the church is united. Notice it says in verse two: "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven."

Suddenly they absolutely were shocked even though they were expecting the Holy Spirit to come, the promise of the Father. They were amazed when it suddenly happened. Have you ever noticed how often God breaks through in your life suddenly? Maybe when you were least expecting it. It was just going to be an ordinary day or an ordinary service, and God the Holy Spirit moved in such a way that it changed your life.

Suddenly He worked. The disciples must have felt something like that when this powerful wind was heard. Now, they were in the right place at the right time, prayerfully expecting God to move among them, and because of that, they were available for the fresh work of the Spirit. Have you noticed how often God works suddenly, unexpectedly?

When the shepherds were in the fields at the birth of Christ, minding their own business, tending their flocks, and suddenly there was with them the sound of the heavenly host and the angels declaring, "Holy," and "the Lord has come." And then in Acts chapter nine, when Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, suddenly the Bible says he was encountered by the risen Christ, the risen Redeemer, and it changed his life.

He wasn't expecting to be converted that day, but Jesus met him and broke through in his life and changed the course of history. In Acts chapter 16, when Paul and Silas were in prison, they were singing praises to God at midnight. They were obeying God and offering praise, even songs in the night, and because of that, God broke through in their midst.

The Bible says suddenly an earthquake came and shook that place, and a great revival came at Philippi as a result of the conversion of the Philippian jailer and his family and others, and the church was born there at Philippi. You see, God works so often suddenly when we are doing exactly what we need to be doing. All of us have a ministry of accountability and attendance. Did you know that?

I think one of the saddest stories in the Bible is found in John chapter 20 and specifically at verse 24 when Jesus had appeared to His disciples for the first time. The risen Christ, just as He had told them, appeared to them in all of the glory of His resurrection. It was that first Lord's Day after the resurrection, and those disciples were not only given His presence, but they were given His peace.

But someone was missing that day. You remember who it was? The Bible says Thomas was missing. I wonder where he was. Maybe he was at the chariot races. Or maybe he had the sniffles that morning and just didn't want to get out of bed. He didn't feel like getting together with the disciples. Or maybe he had a fight with his wife. Or maybe he just had a bad attitude that day.

Or maybe his doubt was getting the best of him. I don't know exactly. The scripture doesn't tell us where he was, but I tell you why he wasn't there really. It's because he wasn't expecting to meet Jesus. He wasn't expecting to see Jesus that day, and so he missed it. Jesus shows up when God's people get together. And when you come into the fellowship of the church, you ought to come with that sense of prayerful expectancy: today, I'm going to encounter the risen Savior Jesus Christ.

But so many churches and so many Christians don't experience that passion. Let me tell you something: God is ready. He wants to do something in your life, not 10 years from now but today. And not somebody else but you. God wants to fill you and fuel you with the fire of His Spirit, and He's looking for churches and He's looking for Christians who have a heart burning for Him.

Guest (Male): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, Igniting the Church. Easter is just around the corner, and we want to help you prepare your heart for the season. When you sign up, we will send you a video devotional every day until Easter to remind you of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God.

Dr. Graham will share a short devotional about the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross and what they mean to us today. To sign up, just text CROSS to 59789. Again, text CROSS to 59789. Right now, you have the incredible opportunity to help others experience the unshakable hope and abundant lives found only in Jesus Christ.

Your support of PowerPoint Ministries makes a real and lasting difference, changing lives for eternity as people encounter God's word. And because your partnership matters so deeply, we'd like to send you Dr. Graham's new book, Living Hope in a Hostile World, as our thanks for your gift of $10 or more.

This book explores the bold truths of First Peter and offers strength, courage, and hope for whatever you may face. To give your gift, text FEB to 59789. Text FEB to 59789. Now, let's get back to today's message, Igniting the Church.

Jack Graham: Three miracles take place on the day of Pentecost. There is a miracle of sound, the sound of the mighty rushing wind. There is a miracle of sight, as the fire danced on their heads. As like fire, symbolically signifying the baptism, the immersion of the Holy Spirit upon their lives. A miracle of sound, a miracle of sight, and then there was a miracle of speech as they began with other tongues.

And we're going to talk about what this means, what these miracles mean, because that was the question asked that day. The sound of the mighty rushing wind was a picture of the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly enough, the word in the Bible in both Old Testament and New Testament for wind or breath, in the Old Testament it is Ruach, in the New Testament it is Pneuma, the word for breath means wind.

The breath of God, the wind of the Spirit. Just as in the second chapter of Acts, when God created the man and the woman and then having created that man, He breathed, Ruach, He breathed into them the breath of life. Adam had a body, but he needed breath, and so God breathed and he became a living soul. And in Acts chapter two, the church needed breath.

The church body needed the Pneuma, the wind, the breath of the Spirit of God, and thus this sound as if it were a wind rushing through there with gale-like force captured their attention of course and those who were in the community as well there for the Passover. There was upwards to a million people who had gathered into the city of Jerusalem for the day of Passover and subsequently Pentecost.

The church came alive when God moved, when God breathed upon them, baptized them with the Spirit of God. But then there was a miracle of sight because in verse three, the fire danced on their heads, as it were. Not literally, but symbolically it appeared as though it was fire. They became human candles, each one of them lit by the Spirit of God, baptized, immersed, birthed by the Spirit of God.

When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God blows through your life just as Jesus said to Nicodemus, and He does it as He will and when He wills. And the wind of the Spirit, the life of the Spirit, the gift of the Spirit comes in. When you were born again, Jesus did not come in empty-handed. He came in with a birthday gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Now, this brings us of course to some doctrinal issues regarding the baptism of the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit described here in the Bible as the filling of the Spirit. People may ask you today, "Do you have the baptism of the Spirit?" And often they mean by that, "Have you had an experience with the Holy Spirit subsequent to your salvation in which you have been baptized by the Holy Spirit?"

Generally signified, they say, by speaking in tongues just as it happened here. Now, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an instantaneous, automatic work of the Holy Spirit. When you come to grace, you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, in 1 Corinthians 12:13, we're told that "for by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been to make to drink of the same Spirit."

And so the baptism of the Spirit happens positionally, instantaneously when you come to faith in Christ. You don't have anything to do with it. This is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. And the baptism of the Spirit here not only happened instantaneously and it happened with integration into the church, it brought the church together. So often these issues divide churches today, but the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring people together in Christ so that they may be strong and effective in their witness by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul said in Romans chapter eight, "If any person does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." You cannot come to faith in Christ at all without the baptism of the work of salvation. It is not an event or an experience after you are saved but when you are saved. Baptism as opposed to the filling of the Spirit. Now, we're told here they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

That means they were under the influence of the Holy Spirit. They were controlled by the Holy Spirit. In fact, some questioned them saying, "Are you drunk?" Here it is in the morning, 9:00 in the morning, and you're acting like drunken people. Because the Holy Spirit, just as alcohol may affect your walk and affect your talk, the drug takes over. So it is when the Holy Spirit fills our lives.

We are intoxicated by the Spirit, and it affects the way we walk, it affects the way we talk, it affects the way we live and speak because we are now filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit. There is one baptism of the Spirit and many fillings. We're to be filled over and over and over and again and again as we seek the control of the Holy Spirit every day.

Baptism is for all believers. The filling of the Spirit is for obedient believers. The baptism of the Spirit is never commanded in the scripture, but the filling of the Spirit is commanded in the scripture. You might put it this way: the baptism of the Spirit signifies that the Holy Spirit is resident in your life, and the filling of the Holy Spirit means that the Holy Spirit is president in your life.

And so they were immersed that day. The Spirit of God came to the church, and they experienced this miracle of sight and this miracle of sound, and then this miracle of speech. Now, I can tell you exactly what the tongues described here in the second chapter of Acts are about. Unfortunately, if you have an old King James, you will see in italics by the word "tongues" in verse four, they began to speak with other tongues, you may see the word "unknown."

That was placed there in italics by the translators. It was not in the original text. It's not in the New Testament text. It was placed there because they wanted to give clarity to the meaning of the text. They end up bringing a great deal of confusion to the meaning of the text because these are not unknown tongues in the sense that this kind of tongue was never heard before or a tongue that was gibberish or ecstatic utterance.

Most of the tongues that we see practiced today are glossolalia. These are tongues of experience or ecstasy. And "the tongues of angels" they are described. But these are the tongues of men, and we know that because we read the scripture and as people on the day of Pentecost were rushing up there to see what was going on, people from all over the world, there were at least somewhere between 14 and 19 language groups, depending on the way you translate these passages.

There were many language groups there, and every one of them heard with their own ears in their language, the language of their country or the dialect of their own language, they heard the wonderful works of God, the praises to God, the prophecies concerning the work of the Spirit in their lives. They heard it in their own language.

I know there's a great deal of confusion in the body of Christ about tongues today, but I can tell you for sure that in Acts chapter two, these are not unknown tongues, these are known tongues. And the Spirit of God enabled these disciples to speak and others to hear supernaturally so that the wonderful works of Christ and of God were heard and understood.

God ignited the united congregation, the people of God that day. And He wants to do it today because what God did on that day is available to us this day. Imagine how God used these disciples. Who were these 120 people in the upper room? They were fishermen and tax collectors, and one was a political zealot, Simon the Zealot. There were both men and women there.

They were weak. They were not socially acceptable. They were not politically connected. They had no education. They were not particularly erudite in their speaking. But God the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, "This is my church. These are my guys and my gals, and I have one plan." There was no plan B. It was a risky venture, wasn't it? There was nothing left if the disciples had failed.

But Jesus saw to it that they would not fail because He resourced them by His risen presence. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit. You know, God delights to use ordinary people and to do extraordinary things through ordinary people. God loves doing uncommon things through a common church. When we humbly say, "Lord, I can't but You can. I can't get the job done for You, but Lord, I'm available."

It is in our weakness that He and we are made strong. You know, there's no human explanation for what happened to the church in the first century. How a small band of brothers and sisters in Christ were able to shake the world with the gospel. Do you have a life full of passion, full of hope, full of enthusiasm, which means God in you?

Enthusiasm, entheos. Do you have that enthusiasm? Do you have that energy, that expectancy? With the presence, the passion, the power of God's Spirit, you can accomplish miracles in Jesus' name. It is important to remember that the death of Jesus Christ was described as His passion. God in Christ was passionate, and when Jesus died on the cross, we see exactly what He was passionate about: for our forgiveness and the freedom that we can know in Him.

Guest (Male): Your support of PowerPoint Ministries makes a profound impact, helping more people discover the truth and hope of Jesus Christ. And to thank you for your generous gift today, we'd like to send you Dr. Jack Graham's new book, Living Hope in a Hostile World. It's a timely resource that reminds you how to stand firm in faith, cling to God's grace, and live with courage, even in your most challenging times.

As you grow in your walk with the Lord through this resource, may you be encouraged to know that your generous support is helping others do the same. Text FEB to 59789. Again, text FEB as in February to 59789. Easter is just around the corner, and we want to help you prepare your heart for the season.

When you sign up, we will send you a video devotional every day until Easter to remind you of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Dr. Graham will share a short devotional about the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross and what they mean to us today. To sign up, just text CROSS to 59789. Again, text CROSS to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: Well, I want to ask you a question today. What is it that really fires you up? Is it your job, your family, maybe a sport or a hobby? The apostle Paul clearly says this in Philippians chapter three and verses 13 and 14. Here's what we should be passionate about. He said, "But this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind me and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press towards the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ."

The one thing that Paul was passionate about is the one thing which should be our passion as well, and that is living full throttle, full out, maxed out for Jesus Christ. Not living in the past but living today and every day in the power of His Spirit, passionately loving Him, serving Him, worshipping Him, sharing Him.

This one thing was Paul's passion. It was also David's passion, who said, "The one thing I want in my life is to dwell in the house of the Lord." The passion for the things of God, for the kingdom of God, fuels our lives and influences others. If you want to make a difference for Christ, if you want to share your faith effectively, if you want to see your family and your friends and your loved ones and your coworkers come to faith in Christ, then live boldly, live passionately, live full out for Christ.

If there's anything that gets in the way of your passion for Christ, ask God to forgive you for not giving Him His rightful place of preeminence in your life. And then make Jesus Christ the purpose, the passion of your life. When you do that, life will be worth living. You'll have a reason to get up every day, and your heart will be beating not just in your chest, but it will be beating for the souls and the lives of people who desperately need Christ. Live for Christ, love Him with all your heart, trust Him every day, and you will discover real passion.

Guest (Male): And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we will send you Dr. Graham's book, Living Hope in a Hostile World. Just text FEB to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about the real good news behind why Christ died. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.