Pastor Leon Seaton

THE Church Is Born!

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." Acts 2:1-13

       When I began my first pastorate in 1970 there were two elderly ladies in the town that believed that their ministry was to initiate young ministers of all faiths. So, I soon came under their care. Looking back on it, it should have been humorous, but to tell you the truth, sometimes I got a little aggravated at them.

            One of the truths they taught me was the meaning of the universal church. All Christians are part of that church. They called it “THE Church.” Until then I saw all Christians as the Body of Christ. But what did I know?

            With their thought in mind, THE Church began on Pentecost Sunday in “AD 28,” 33 years after the birth of Jesus. “28 AD” reflects a later adjustment to the Roman calendar which theoretically started the year Jesus was born.

            God really enjoys a celebration. He likes to mark special events as reminders of His love for us. The Passover celebration marked the day the death angel passed over the Jewish homes when God delivered them from Egyptian bondage.  

            Jesus died for our sins during Passover week.  

            Pentecost Sunday was fifty days after Passover. Originally Pentecost celebrated the beginning of the corn harvest. In the New Testament it marks the birthday of the church and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Wow! What an event that was! People had gathered from many nations for this celebration. They spoke many different dialects and languages. Suddenly God arrived in a BIG WAY!

Listen to Dr. Luke’s report:

1.               120 believers were gathered in a large upstairs room near the Temple. Matthias had been elected to take Judas Iscariot’s place as a disciple. After that, they turned their attention to prayer and waiting on God to empower them, as Jesus had commanded.

2.               SUDDENLY A SOUND like that of a blowing violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. (Since everyone came rushing to see what had taken place the sound of the rushing wind probably filled the whole temple.

3.               They saw what appeared to be a large flame of fire that separated and sat on each of them.  

4.               At that moment they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Until that point in time, the Holy Spirit ministered to and through people for a specific task, then left them. This was different. The believers were filled with the Spirit.

5.               How did they respond? They spoke in tongues. Throughout the rest of the New Testament, people that received the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues.

6.               The onlookers responded in two different ways.

a.     They were amazed. Foreigners heard the believers praise God in their native languages and dialects.

b.    They laughed at the believers. Why? They thought they were drunk.

How did it affect the believers?  Remember… 50 days before this they were hiding in fear. Now they knew no fear. Peter stood up with the Eleven and with great boldness explained what was taking place. He opened his remarks with love: “Fellow Jews… let me explain to you what has happened.”  He explained that they were not drunk. It was only 9 AM and they could not break their Pentecost fast until 10 AM.

Then he referred to Joel’s prophecy about God pouring out His Spirit upon all people. We know that he spoke the truth in love because 3,000 people were converted that day.

With that great event, THE Church was born.

            How does this affect us today? God called St. Paul to be the missionary to the Gentiles and we, through faith in Jesus Christ, become spiritual Jews. Galatians 3:8, 9 “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

            Every person that receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior has the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. In fact, Jesus also said, “If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.  All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:23-26

The Holy Spirit is our source of spiritual power. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray. If you are ever so overwhelmed with a burden that you cannot put it into words the Spirit will step in.  “He himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Romans 8:26

The gift of speaking in tongues has two purposes:

·            Our personal prayer language

·            Messages for the church that must be interpreted

THE Church today is alive and well. Many areas of the world are experiencing an unusual outpouring of God’s saving and healing power. As a result there are more martyrs today than at any other time in history.

By the same token, some churches are dying. Entire denominations are losing membership. I believe that there are several reasons for this. The four items here are the ones that weigh heavily on my heart.

1.         Churches focus on maintaining the status quo. A large billboard on NW Highway just west of McArthur Street in Oklahoma City shows the face of a man saying, “I hate church!” In smaller letters just below his statement it explains: “Church as usual.” I smile every time I see the sign because I’m thinking, “Yeah, but you are just creating a new ‘usual.’” Eventually I will have to repent for my attitude, but right now its sort of fun.

2.         Christians worry too much about what other Christians teach and believe. That is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit, not ours.

3.         Churches focus on ministry to their little group. I recently asked the associate pastor of a large church in Mustang, OK the secret of their success. He said, “We focus on meeting the needs of our community.” I’ve thought about that a lot. That is what made Jesus and His disciples successful – and it will make us more successful.

4.         There is too little corporate prayer. I know that this is the busy time of the year for farmers…we certainly understand that!  But we did have a beautiful prayer session Wednesday evening. I encourage you to set aside an hour this week to join us!

As I reviewed Acts I believe that the secret to our increased effectiveness is prayer. Acts 1:14, “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

How powerful is prayer?

Never underestimate the power of the prayer of faith. James 5:16-18 declares, “…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”

The obvious question is, do I really expect results when I pray? Probably everyone prays – except the atheists… But many times we do not see the results that we want to see. The temptation is always present to add programs to the church to see if that will make us more effective. However, at this time God is calling this church to prayer.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a British Reformed Baptist preacher. Although he has been dead for 117 years he is still very influential among Christians of many different denominations. Spurgeon is often called the "Prince of Preachers."

I conclude by quoting some of his instructions on prayer. He knew the power of prayer and taught that everyone should be powerful in their prayers. He urged pastors to: 

“Make the most of prayer. . . .  Prayer is the master-weapon. We should be wise if we used it more, and did so with a more specific purpose.”

Spurgeon often mentioned that the secret of his success was prayer. Many of his church members prayed regularly in the basement during the worship services and on other significant occasions.  Well-known church growth author/leader Peter Wagner writes, 

"The more deeply I dig beneath the surface of church growth principles, the more thoroughly convinced I become that the real battle is a spiritual battle and that our principle weapon is prayer."

If you or I want to be an effective leader, we must develop a deep prayer life.  Spurgeon wrote:

"All hell is vanquished when the believer bows his knee in importunate supplication. Beloved brethren, let us pray. We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer. I would sooner see you eloquent with God than with men. Prayer links us with the Eternal, the Omnipotent, the Infinite, and hence it is our chief resort. . . Be sure that you are with God, and then you may be sure that God is with you."

Spurgeon’s wife spoke of his prayers at home. "At the tea-table, the conversation was bright, witty, and always interesting; and after the meal was over, an adjournment was made to the study for family worship, and it was at these seasons that my beloved's prayers were remarkable for their tender childlikeness, their spiritual pathos, and their intense devotion. He seemed to come as near to God as a little child to a loving father, and we were often moved to tears as he talked thus face to face with his Lord." 

Spurgeon told pastors how they should set the example: "He prays as a husband and as a father; he strives to make his family devotions a model for his flock."

If you do not have family devotions in your home, please start them. You are teaching your children whether or not you have devotions… be proactive in what you teach!  Pray together!

         All of us pray for guidance. Here is a note from Spurgeon on that subject: "Take your difficulty to God in prayer and say, 'Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears' (1 Samuel 3:9). Do not ask God to confirm your opinion; ask Him to make your opinion conform to His truth." Beside Still Waters, page 26

The church was born almost 2,000 years ago. It got off to a glorious start. It also got off to a rough start because of opposition from the pit of hell. Things have not changed!  We still have a spiritual war to face.  

May we conquer our enemy through the power that comes when we pray fervently, listen carefully and walk in full obedience!

May 31, 2009