“Day of Pentecost” by Rev Samuel Mametsa, Sunday Service, the 27th of May 2012.

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Scripture reading: Leviticus 23:16 “16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.” Lev 23:16, NKJV.

Today is the day when the Pentecostals celebrate the release of the Holy Spirit as found in Acts 2.

In Luke 24:49 we read “49 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.”” NKJV.

Acts 1:4 “4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;” NKJV.

When they were waiting in Jerusalem they did not know how long they had to wait for. Jesus did not specify the time period for them.

Today, people have a problem as they can’t wait. Waiting is not easy, it provokes questions. People are in a hurry and they want to force God to do things and they want Him to it according to their time.

The disciples waited in Jerusalem. The bible says they waited in one accord, in one spirit, in one mood and with one attitude. When you wait you don’t grumble. You must wait patiently. You don’t moan, you don’t gossip. You must just wait!

I know that the disciples of Jesus liked to complain and to speak too much but when Jesus gave them these instructions, “…tarry in the city of Jerusalem…”, they waited in Jerusalem, no gossip, no moaning, no complaining, they waited.

Acts 2:1-4 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4, NKJV. (own emphasis).

Emphasis on all received the Holy Spirit and all of them were imparted because they were in one accord, they were sharing the same sentiment. If you are not in one accord, you can be in big church but the power will not come. The power comes to a place where the people are in one spirit and one accord and one understanding.

One love, one spirit, one understanding and this forces heaven not to be able to contain its power. If you are in one accord heaven can’t contain the power. The unity forces Jesus to release the power. The bible says “all”. Why, because there is not division, they are one.

As a church we fail God, because we are divided, we are not one. The only way to release heaven’s power is unity and love. We are restraining the flow of the Holy Spirit by not being united, not loving one another.

I don’t know why Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem without giving them a date and time. Maybe he was testing them; maybe he wanted to check their hearts. He was checking if they love one another, if they are united.

I guess He was convinced that they were united, which is why He released the Holy Spirit. What can hinder you to prosper? What is in your heart? That which is in your heart determines your destiny. What is in your heart is taking you somewhere. What is inside of you doesn’t force itself to be there. Make sure and understand: “What is dwelling in my heart?” “These things in my heart can they force God to release the Holy Spirit?” Can you receive the power from above? Your inside, can it make you receive something from heaven? You must answer that question.

The bible says when Jesus realised that they were in one spirit, in one accord; He decided “I am duty bound! I am duty bound to release the power amongst the people who are in unity, amongst the people who love and understand each other.”

This moved God and Jesus. Remember in Babel, when the people were in unity and decided to build a tower how God was touched was forced to move? God said Every unity touches God.

That is why even the unions say “An injury to one is an injury to ‘all’”. They are afraid of division. When the unions march, it is not only one person that carries the posters and placards. The unions will tell you “We will use our organizational rights”. There is power in a united majority. The unions know that if the “all”, don’t go to work the company will come to a standstill. They make sure that the are united.

Unity is power. If I say to one person, go and carry this car alone, he can’t do it but if I tell many people, they can do it.

Joshua 5:2-10 “2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord — to whom the Lord swore that He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us,”a land flowing with milk and honey.” 7 Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.” Josh 5:2-10, NKJV.

It is very important to serve God in the spirit of the Lord. That is why Joshua was led by the Holy Spirit. Even Moses was led by the Holy Spirit.

After the Israelites left Egypt, they camped somewhere to celebrate the power and the power was released. The issue was for them to be given leadership that would lead them to Canaan. After Moses died God said to Joshua “Take my children to Canaan” and on his way there, there were a lot of tribulations but God said “Joshua listen to me and listen well.” God told him “Prepare flint knives.” I don’t know what the people around him thought when they saw him doing this.

The reason why people are dying in the wilderness is that the people are not circumcised. Why? God did not want Joshua to move around with uncircumcised people. Why? God only wants those who are circumcised.

Joshua told the people “The complaint of the Lord is that the people are dying along the way because they are uncircumcised and now we are heading to a very big war and we will not win the battle. We need to make sure that the people are circumcised.”

Even in church there are a lot of uncircumcised people. God wants people who are circumcised. The circumcised are strong, can fight to the end. The uncircumcised will run away and will not be able to stand the test of time.

God says to Joshua “Go and wait in Gilgal”. When God says to some people “Go and wait in Gilgal” they go further and sometimes they just decide “I have waited long enough” and they go. But when you wait in Gilgal even those that are still sick, wounded will receive their healing. Your wound must be healed. You must camp in your own Gilgal and wait for your wounds to be healed.

Where are you waiting for the healing of your wounds? Instead of you waiting there, allowing your wounds to heal, your wound will just get worse and worse. You must wait somewhere.

God spoke to Joshua, the very same Joshua who stopped the sun, who allowed himself to be driven by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Joshua who was afraid to work within his own ability. There are a lot of people who want to use their own power. When you do this, you will faint along the way. We are the vessels of God, in His hands; we are the spades in His hand, a rake etc. We can’t do it on our own.

I am not saying if you are circumcised today, you must proceed further. I am saying if you are circumcised today, wait in Gilgal. The same waiting is found in the New Testament. God said to Moses and Joshua “Wait.”

What I know about Joshua is that as a man of war, he was already targeting Jericho. He had already drawn the battle plan but God said “Wait and circumcise”. How many people? Wait and circumcise how many people?

He was going to circumcise more than 40,000 people. How long was it going to take them to heal? Say in one day, he circumcises one person, how long will it take? Supposing he was circumcising 40 people a day, then it would take 1000 days, that is about 3 and half years. So how long would it then take the last 40 to be healed? The bible did not tell us how long it would take for them to be healed.

I want you to understand that circumcision is very important. Circumcision comes when men were to be prepared for war. They needed to be circumcised first and when they were ready, they would be called “a man”.

The gist of the matter is that a circumcised person is a mature person. When you are matured, you are classified as circumcised. Circumcision has caused confusion as people only understand the physical circumcision only and not the spiritual circumcision. Paul was saying you must understand God and how He works. You must be strong enough. If you are circumcised in Christ you will not surrender. Most people are backsliding because they are still uncircumcised. They are immature in the Lord.

When we were growing up, if you were uncircumcised, people would mock you a lot in everything you do: “Look at this uncircumcised person.” A circumcised person will stand the test of time, and will not run away from things. When a circumcised person works it is clear that this person has been circumcised.

When we were young we would even go around without putting on our jerseys trying to prove to the people that we were circumcised, that we were strong.

On the Day of Pentecost, the flames touched them, because they were of one accord. They preached in good and bad situations. Remember in the past when they were in Bethany and were afraid and said to Jesus “How can you go to the place where they nearly killed you?” It is because the power was not yet on them. They were uncircumcised.

Circumcision strengthens men and women. The bible says after the power came upon them, they did not want to go in groups anymore. The one said “I will go this way”, another “I will go to Italy,” and another “I will go to this village.” We have not been given a spirit of fear. As a child of God who has been circumcised you can go anywhere, because you are no longer afraid because on the Day of Pentecost you were empowered.

That spirit that was on Peter when he said to Jesus “I will die with you” was just a spirit and not the Holy Spirit because when it got tough he said “I don’t know Him!” That was because Peter was not yet empowered.

Church, you have been empowered what are you afraid you? It cannot be reversed.
Jesus has released the power and has already said “Go to the world and represent me to the world.” You are not representing God in your own power but in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I remember when Paul wanted to go back to Rome and there was a plan to kill him. When the time to go back came, Timothy said “Don’t go” but Paul said “I already have the letter that says I will be killed but the power in me is much more than the power to kill.” He said to Timothy “I am ready to die. My blood is already spilled like a drink offering” “6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.” 2 Tim 4:6, NKJV.

I plead with you Timothy, “Hold on to your faith. Don’t allow your faith to be taken away”.

Don’t allow your faith to be taken! The time is over. Paul says “Even if I can’t go to Rome, death is upon me, let me go to Rome. Even if they don’t cut off my head I will still die, I am going to Rome.” He said to Timothy “Come in winter and fetch my corpse, I know that I am going to be killed.”

After the empowerment, the disciples of Jesus died worse deaths than Jesus. We need to know how the disciples died. Paul’s head was cut off in Patmos. His cross was upside down. Some were cut into two pieces. Some were crucified and struck with the bow.

When you are empowered you will be able to go out and preach out there in good or bad situations.

Paul told Timothy “5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Tim 4:5, NKJV. People please fulfill your ministry, don’t allow your faith to be stolen.

The bible says in verse 7 “7 Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.” Josh 5:7, NKJV.

God instructed that the children be circumcised, because He realised that the army they had then, was not strong enough to face the army in Jericho. He wanted to prepare them. It was not the same army as in Ai. Because of one person who was not faithful, who went and stole jewellery, the anger of God was roused and God allowed the army of Ai to defeat the Israelite’s army. This is because they were divided and not united. The order was “Don’t take anything!” but one person stole something.