Hey, man. Thank you, Daniel. Well, happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers. Let's give our mothers a big round of applause, huh? You know, we gather together the worship obviously and give honor to God, but one of the ways that we give honor to God is by honoring what God honors. And I think a clear study of the scriptures would show that God thinks very highly of and does indeed honor our mothers. And so we honor you too this morning. This is a day that obviously our culture has set aside to give honor to mothers, but that's a good thing. And when in some places where the culture and the church intersect here, it's good to follow suit there. And so we honor you this morning, moms. And if you're here this morning without your mother, this is a good day to go home and give mom a call and tell mom how much you love her and how much she means to you and to honor her in your own way. So we love you, moms. And I know that in this church, our moms are doing an absolutely great job. And so we applaud you in your motherhood this morning. Let me also say that in your bulletin, there is a quote from Billy Graham's mom. I don't know if you saw that, but if you turn to the back panel of your bulletin, you'll see that in there, there is a quote from Billy Graham's mother. And in that quote, she makes two points. The first of which is that she says that motherhood makes us dependent upon two things in order to do it successfully. The first of which is a dependence upon prayer. Now if you've been a mother for any time or for any length at all, you know that prayer is a very important part of your mothering and of the way that you raise up your children and the fear and admonition of the Lord. So prayer is very important. Secondly, she says that there is a great dependence upon the Word of God, okay? So this is our mother's manual, if you will, on how to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And so those two points are well taken, I think, by Billy Graham's mother. And we would do well to follow her example, I think. But, you know, there's something else going on today that doesn't normally coincide with mother's day. And that is that today is also Pentecost. This is Pentecost Sunday. If you follow the church calendar, you'll notice that this is the day that we celebrate the feast of Pentecost. So it's kind of interesting that you have these two days falling on the same day. Pentecost, a day which is marked 50 days after Easter and 10 days after the ascension. And we just finished talking about the ascension in church over the past couple of weeks, 10 days after the ascension, we celebrate the feast of Pentecost. And it's interesting that these two days kind of fall together. And I think what I want to draw from that this morning is, you know, kind of dovetailing off of Billy Graham's mother and as much as that prayer and the Word of God are absolutely essential to raise our children in the way that the Bible says we should raise them. Also, there is another necessary ingredient and that is the Holy Spirit. If we're going to be, you know, successful moms, right. We understand that we can't do that under our own power to raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord to raise them up in the way that the Bible says they should go means that we can't do that in our own strength. We can't do that in our own power. We don't have the natural resources, the natural ability to do that. It requires the aid and assistance, the power, the might of the Holy Spirit. And so these three things, I think, borrowing to from Billy Graham's mother and then tying this into this double celebration of Pentecost and Mother's Day, we need not only word and prayer, but we need the power of the Holy Spirit operating in our Mother's lives and in our dad's lives too and in our children's lives. That is to say that we as the people of God desperately need the Holy Spirit. This is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day that the church celebrates the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the people of God, the followers of Christ and beloved more than anything else in this day and age in which we live more than anything else. We need the power of the Holy Spirit operating and working in the lives and the followers of Christ. This is why Jesus came. This is why Jesus died. This is why Jesus ascended into heaven so that He could pour out His Spirit upon the people of God. So we want to look this morning to Acts, chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, and we want to look at this day of Pentecost first historically, but I want us to see how this day in the history of the church applies to us in the present and the future of the church. And what I want you to first see is the word Pentecost itself when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. This is when the day of Pentecost came. Now Pentecost was a Jewish feast day. It was one of three required Jewish feast days when all the pilgrims from all the surrounding nations would all come streaming into Jerusalem to celebrate this feast. And this was the feast of Pentecost and it had sort of a dual focus, one of which was to look back at the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai when the law was given. And so part of Pentecost was looking back to that major event in the history and in the life of the people of Israel. But it also was a feast in which celebrated harvest and the harvest time, especially the end of the barley harvest. And so what we have here is a feast day celebrating these two things looking back at the giving of the law and celebrating the harvest. Now there's that's informative for us in and of itself. But what I want to focus on here is what's actually missing from your text in the NIV. There's a word is missing and it's the word fully. It says it should read this when the day of Pentecost had fully come or when the day of Pentecost had come and all of its fullness will all of its full meaning. You see, so what's going on here is that this is not just speaking of one little 24 hour period in which people are having a nice little memorial service as a celebration of what happened when Moses was on Mount Sinai or what happens each harvest season. There's something going on here. Luke wants us to see that something has happened here as God is dealing with his people in time and space. And what he was saying is that the day of Pentecost here is not referring to just a 24 hour day passing and time, but he's referring to an age that has broken in. He's saying that when the day of Pentecost has fully come, there is a new age that has begun namely the age in which the Holy Spirit has been given to the church. But what we live in a Pentecostal age, that is what certainly how Peter interprets it in his first sermon after the Holy Spirit falls when he says then Peter stood up in verse 14 with the 11 and he raised his voice and addressed the crowd. Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain to you, listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk as you suppose. It is only nine in the morning. No, this is what was spoken by Joel, the prophet in the last days. God says, I will pour out my spirit upon my people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days. You see this idea of the day of Pentecost is telling us, by saying it has fully come, he's telling us, look, I'm speaking not only of a 24 hour period, but of a new age, a new day, a new epic and a new era in which the people of God have the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives and in their midst. The day of Pentecost has fully come. The second thing I want you to see in verse two is the word suddenly. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place and then what suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting suddenly. And what I want you to see here, folks, is that the Holy Spirit works sovereignly. He does as he wills and as he pleases. You cannot plan for the Holy Spirit. You cannot manage the Holy Spirit. You cannot control the Holy Spirit. You cannot manipulate the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not come because we call revival. He doesn't come because we make a program. The Holy Spirit is sovereign and he does exactly what he pleases when he pleases and how he pleases. Amen. Somebody's near me. You know, isn't it interesting that if you turn the page back one page and Jesus tells him to go and wait for the Holy Spirit and then they go and they're around in verse 23 and so forth, the verse 21, it says they go, they go by, they go to the upper room and they're all sitting there and what are they doing? Remember, they realize that there are disciples short because of what happened to Judas and so they decide to take nominations based on someone that had been there and seeing everything that happened with Jesus. It was been with the whole time and seeing all the works of Jesus and so they start taking nominations for apostles. You know what this is? You know what's going on there in the upper room? They're having a dog on business meeting. That's what's going on. When the Holy Spirit breaks in, these people are taking nominations and holding elections for apostles. Now, what does that say? That tells us beloved that look, we don't control anything and isn't interested in the apostle that they choose that they're so careful to choose in this, in this business meeting they're having. We never hear about again. Never hear a single word from, never hear a mention together. Right in the middle of this business meeting, Holy Spirit breaks in suddenly without warning. He comes in spontaneously. You cannot work up and you cannot conjure up the Holy Spirit. He comes when he wills and he comes how he wills. He is a sovereign person of the trinitarian God. He is not simply at our back and call some glorified bell hot that comes and every time we think he ought to do something for us. He does what he wants to do when he wants to do it and how he wants to do it. Suddenly he comes in. And look at this suddenly in verse two, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. I want to focus on this idea of the association of the spirit of God and wind. And of course if you know the Hebrew word for spirit and the Hebrew word for wind are the same word and we know that in the Greek the Greek word for wind and the Greek word for spirit are the same word and there's obviously some kind of play on words here. But what I want you to see is that wind if you look at wind throughout the scriptures, it has been noting something about the presence of God when it is used. But I want you to pay particular attention to the way the NIV translates this word about wind. It says it is a violent wind. Now know some of the old translations called it a mighty, mighty wind or a mighty rushing wind. But I don't think anyone has captured it as well as the NIV here where it says this is a violent wind. They heard a sound like a violent wind and it begs the question, doesn't it? Why a violent wind? Why is this a violent wind? You know most of the time when I hear people talk about the spirit of God, it's like they talk about a fresh breeze coming just a sweet little ocean breeze blowing our hair and the wind. Oh, isn't the spirit of God so sweet? So nice and it's refreshing, isn't it? Love it. I don't know if they're reading the same Bible. I'm reading says it the wind of the Holy Spirit is a violent wind. This is no sweet little ocean breeze. This is like a tornado. This is like a cyclone. This is like a hurricane. Have you ever heard people that have ever been in the midst or around a tornado? You know what that sounds like? Everybody says that you hear the same sound when a tornado is coming. What do they say it sounds like? A freight train, a locomotive. We're no strangers to hurricanes, are we? We've had our share of hurricanes, haven't we? Have you ever sat on your back porch in a hurricane? You haven't. You guys don't know, you guys don't know what you're missing. My wife will be hiding in the closet and I'm not sitting on the back porch and that wind is just whistling by. I mean you can, I mean you can, you're not only hear it, but you can see it. And it's just streams of wind. They're just blowing by your house. But the sound of that wind, it's amazing. You understand that it is nothing to play with, that it is nothing to trifle with. This is a violent wind. Don't you love to see these guys on the news media every time it's a hurricane someplace or something? They all go out there and they got their microphones with them and they got their little rain caps on. They're soaked, they're soaked to the bone. And they're always given the report leaning into the wind, right? Have you ever wanted to try that? Have you ever tried that? I had to try it. The last hurricane we had I went outside and I was standing out and my wife was going crazy by the way. And I said I'm going to try this and I went out and I leaned up against that wind and that wind held you up. You could lean right into it and that wind will hold you up strong. And these weren't even, I mean, these were, these were pretty good hurricanes, but they weren't, you know. This wasn't Myanmar Katrina, right? What about the cyclone that just hit Myanmar? Did you read about that? 150 mile an hour sustained wind just leveled this island? Katrina, what an example for us, huh? Is this Katrina? Three years ago, right? Three years ago, this hurricane works its way up to category five strength. It is the third most powerful storm ever to hit the continental United States. And it was the most deadly and the most costly storm to ever hit the United States. And it unleashed, it's the full brunt of its force, right? In New Orleans. And the levees broke and the rest is as we say history. There's a lesson here for us folks. Why a violent wind? Why is the Holy Spirit and the wind called a violent wind? Why is that? And I want to suggest you this morning that the reason why it's called a violent wind is because it takes a violent act of God to separate us and to pull us away from all the lesser loves and the lesser joys and the lesser pleasures and all the possessions that we have such a grip on and that have such a grip on us to remove us, to excise us, to sever us, to pull us away from all of the idols that bind our heart. It takes not a cool breeze on an ocean. It takes a mighty, rushing, violent wind. You know what the motto of New Orleans is? You may know the motto of the city. Let the good times roll. Not the good times roll. And that's not only the motto of New Orleans, but that is the type, if you will, of American culture and a microcosm. And do you know how they've manipulated the motto now? Is it going through the rebuilding process? The way they talk about the motto now is to get the good times rolling again. My God people, the most powerful storm in the history of the United States has just blown through your city and flattened it and destroyed it, and yet it's still not powerful enough to separate you from your good time mentality and your good time psychology and your feel good philosophy. There's no expression of confession and faith and repentance. Let's just get the good times rolling again. Do you see what kind of violent act of the Spirit of God it takes to sever people from the bondage they have to their idols? This is a violent wind and beloved. That's why I said this morning that more than anything else, what we need, what the church needs is the Holy Spirit to come upon us with His violent wind and separate our hearts from everything that we love more than God. Suddenly a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tones of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. If you look at fire throughout the whole teaching of scripture again, you will see that fire almost always accompanies the presence of God. When God made His covenant with Abraham, it came down after the pieces of the sacrifice were separated and Abraham was asleep and God came down smoking pot and fiery torch and went between the pieces. Most called by God was called to a burning bush which was not consumed. The people of Israel were led through the wilderness by the killer of a cloud and the pillar of fire. I said, I baptize with water but one mightier than I is coming and He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The author of Hebrew says, behold, our God is a consummate. I don't know how many of you have ever heard of Blaze Pascal. He was a mathematician, philosopher, theologian, author, brilliant man. He was a scholar, a scholar who was also a sickly man who died in his early 30s. Some strange and mysterious disease took his life. He had a carriage accident and after that carriage accident, he had an experience with God and he wrote about it. The journal entry and basically what he said is that this experience that he had with God was so overwhelming and so amazing that he could only describe it by one word. From half past 10 to half past midnight, he said one word. I love it. What we need in our hearts and our minds and our hands with the people of God need now at this day and this hour. What we need is fire of the Holy Spirit burning in our hearts, the fire of the Holy Spirit burning in our heads, the fire of the Holy Spirit burning in our bosom. We need fire. It is only this wind and this fire. It is only the Holy Spirit that is going to bring about any kind of lasting change, things that matter for more than just right now. We need the Spirit of the living God. We need fire. We need to burn with passion. Let the wind and the flame of the Holy Spirit come and blow and blaze in the Church of God. And then it says all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. We love it. We need the Holy Spirit. We need to be full of the Holy Spirit. The truth is that we are all full of something. And at the end of the day, no matter what else that we are full of, no matter what else that we fill up our days with, our months with, our years with, our lives with. At the end of the day, it all amounts to the same thing, namely that the problem in American culture and many of the other cultures around the world is that we are full of ourselves rather than full of the Spirit of God. Only that violent wind and only that fire can separate us from ourselves and fill us full of the Spirit. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak and other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Beloved, what you see here, look, I don't want to get in any controversy here. What I'm trying to say to you is that I am a Pentecostal. Not because I speak with other tongues, but I'm a Pentecostal because of the day and age in which I live. It is the day and age of the Spirit of God in the Church. You are a Pentecostal, whether you like it or not. We live in the Pentecostal age and we are all Pentecostals in that sense. We don't have to let a small segment of the Church claim that title for themselves. We are all Pentecostals. Whether you speak with tongues or not, the speaking of tongues here, whatever else it might mean, what it means is this. It is the reversal of what happened at Babel, after the flood when the people who were of one mind, who were together in one place, and decided to do one thing, namely build a city and a tower which reaches the heavens. A people of one language and God looked down and then God came down and he confused all of their blank and beloved. The history of the world is the outworking of that confusion. Pentecost does is it reverses Babel. Everyone heard them speaking as it were in their own language. It undoes all of the confusion associated with Babel. Now we are one people, the Church and one place, the presence of God. Speaking, if you will, one language because of the Holy Spirit's work, a language that can be used for the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ both here and abroad by the power of the Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, we thank You. For Jesus Christ, our Lord, Your only Son and Father, we give You praise and honor and glory for His sacrifice once and for all. We thank You, Lord, for the Holy Spirit. We thank You, Lord, that You have given us Your Spirit. We pray, O Lord, that He would work in our midst like a mighty wind and like a fire. That we might experience both the blowing and the blaze of the Spirit of the living God. We ask this in Jesus' name.