THE PENTECOSTAL CHURCH MANDATE

The speaker talks about the importance of worshiping God without hurry and stripping away pride and glory. They also make announcements about upcoming events and discuss the importance of learning about money in the month of October. They then discuss the mandate and purpose of the Pentecostal Church, emphasizing that the church is exclusive and consists of those who have been called out by God. They go on to discuss the power, preaching, and effects of the Pentecostal Church as described in Acts chapter 2. It is a moment you don't want disturbance. I've seen people put in their offices doors, don't disturb or, I don't know, something is happening inside, so don't disturb. And when we come to that moment of worship, no hurry, as the intercessor prayed, we are not in hurry. Can you tell your neighbor, we are not in hurry in the presence of God. And that does not mean I don't keep time, we keep time here. I'm just saying, don't be in hurry. When it comes to worshipping, I told you in a service like this, everything we do in the service, it's all about us. You sit down right now, you are going to hear the word of God, which is going to build you up and give you your inheritance. It is all you. But when it comes to worshipping God, you strip everything, every pride and glory you may have to worship God. Amen. It is all about God. I was learning a new word in French. It is all about who? Jesus. It's only you God. So when we come for service, it's all about God. Worshipping Him, bowing before Him, recalling all the goodness of God upon our lives, upon this ministry. Throughout the year, we are on the 9th month of the year, God has been faithful. When we come and we just lift our hands and wave before Him, you can only but cry. Thanking God, the wonders He has done in our lives. Welcome to this month of September in YICC. Quick announcement, on 24th, we have our international Sunday service here. On 24th, mark your calendar, that is next Sunday but one. So we will be here. On October 6th, we will have our mini Kesha. So we will be here at 8 to 10 p.m. on Friday just to worship God. From 8 to 10, that is October 6th. October 6th. So mark your calendar. So 24th, September, is our international Sunday. So invite a friend so that we can come and sing and worship the Lord. And October 6th, we will have our mini night vigil from 8 to 10. We used to do 8 to, I mean 10 to 12 midnight. But because the congregation, they live very far, we want to accommodate them. From 8 to 10, we can gather here for two hours. Worship and pray even as we begin the month. And also the month of October in this family of YICC, for those who have joined us recently. On the month of October, we teach. As a family, we embark in learning about money. Giving and everything about giving and money. So make sure if you have a question, because we commit ourselves to learning. So if you have a question concerning money and church money and everything you hear about, misguided stories and knowledge about money in the church or from the Bible, you can write, as you give your offering, write that question. Put it in your offering basket. And when the teachers will be standing here to minister, they will be also trying to endeavor to answer those questions, to try to correct that misunderstanding. Because there are a lot of misunderstandings about giving in this era we are. And as I told you, I'm a pastor who calls a spade a spade. I know we have pastors in the name of pastors who are con artists in the house of God. And that is why we have to clear matters that are contained in the word of God, to clarify them. Amen? So that you can be a mature, devoted disciple of Jesus. Able to transform others. Remember in the book of Timothy, Paul was telling Timothy, and the things that you have learned from me, commit them to faithful people who are able to pass on to others. There's a verse which I love in the ministry concerning my life in the book of Ezra, chapter 7, verse 10. And Ezra, the scribe, was a priest who committed himself to learning the commandments, teaching the commandments, and living the commandments. So he was committed to learning God's commandments, and not only to learn for himself, but to operate by them, and to make sure others, they understood those commandments. Is that what it meant? And that is our calling. In the month of October, in this family, we learn about money. The tithes, the offering, and everything else. Because we do not want anybody here, and your families to come, your generation to come, to be misguided, or to lose what God has blessed you with. Is that what it meant? Hey, so it's about money. October. So pay attention, if you have a question, probably a question you want to know, so that the teachers, the minister, they will commit to answer those questions. In the month of September here, and it's a month of mission emphasis. Say mission emphasis. And today my message, it's always, as I say, my messages are always huge. So I will try to break a little bit for the remaining time, and we will see. My message today is captioned, The Pentecostal Church Mardate. Very easy. Pentecostal Church Mardate. And here, when I give a topic, you can flip the way you want. The Mardate of the Church of Pentecost. So, the Pentecostal Church Mardate. How did I say it? Yes. Mardate, Mardate, Mardate, yes. So, or the mission, the purpose of the Pentecostal Church. I want to clear something here when I say Pentecostal, so that you may not know it is not a Pentecostal Church out there. Correct? Say church. Wherever you see anything called what? It is what? Good. Is that an amen? Anywhere you see the name church, remember it is a Pentecostal what? And that is what I'm talking about. Why am I calling it Pentecostal Church? Because the church was born or birthed on the day of? Good students. It is on that day, and if you were here on Sunday with tracking, the day of Pentecost was the day that the children of Israel were celebrating in the month of Sivan, the Sabbath, the seventh Sabbath, or the fiftieth day, or Sabbath, after the first fruit. And that day it was called Pentecost, or the day when the harvest was ready, the celebration of harvest. And as they gathered in Jerusalem, because I told you, if you remember, there were three major feasts where the Jews were supposed to gather in Jerusalem. Three. And if you were 13 years, from 13 years, that is after Bar Mitzvah. I told you, you need to come to learn some theology. So, when any boy was 13 years old, you were commanded, there were no excuse, you had to attend that feast in Jerusalem. Other feasts can be observed at home, but these three feasts were so important, crucial, and we call the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, or both. And we said after Pentecost, the next feast which was to be observed is Rosh Hashanah, correct? Trumpets. So, the church was born on this day. And this morning, briefly, I want us to look from the book of Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, and I have some, many scriptures, so pay attention if you can write them. Beginning in the book of Matthew, chapter 16, verse 18, Jesus said, this is what Jesus said, that I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Who said He will build the church? So, Jesus said, I will build the church. When Jesus was alive, the church was not yet. So, Jesus was saying, I will build my church, I will, and we say the word church, you can read from English word dictionary, that belongs to God, but from the Greek word, reading from Septuagint, and also Hebrew translation to Greek, the word is ekklesia, and we define one day here, ekklesia meaning, coming from two Greek words, ek and klesia, or ek and kaleo. Ek is out, and klesia coming from the root word kaleo, which is to cause. Is that an amen, Greek students? So, the word ekklesia, it is out, coming from the word out, ek, and klesia coming from the root word kaleo, to call. So, ekklesia, or church, means called out. You got it? So, the church is not just calling a church a building, it is people have been called out of the world, to belong to God. Hey! So, when you say church, don't just say church. Hey, hey! So, that's why here you hear me emphasize, a gathering is not church. Although from classical Greek literature, you can call it a church, because it's a word. But from Jesus' point of view, it is the called out one to himself. Is that an amen? So, Jesus said, I will build my church. Not Pastor Joshua go and build my church. Not YICC build a church, no, me. So, those who will be my church are those which I have called out of the world to belong to me. So, that's why I say in all humility, then the church is exclusive. Is that an amen? So, I can say church is exclusive. I know we say church is inclusive. But now Jesus tells me, his church is what? Exclusive. Hey! Amen! So, we preach the gospel to all, to hear the word. But those who answers the call, are the what? The church. So, if you don't answer the call, you are not church, oh. Let's call us FEDA. So, if you don't answer the call, and you are in this house, you have not answered the call. You are not church. You are just a gathering, and a good gathering. Because you don't drink here. So, it's a good gathering. Security observed. But, good gathering. But the church of Jesus are those who are called out to himself. Called from the world to belong to God. And that is what happened on the day of Pentecost. Chapter 2 of Acts. We see three major things in that chapter. If you have heard me, also try to dig in this chapter. If you are writing, write three major things, and we can discuss from that text of everything I might say. I divide that chapter, it has 47 verses. 47 verses of Acts chapter 2. Verse 1 to 13. If you are writing verse 1 to 13, that chapter deals with the power of Pentecost. The church of Pentecost, it's power. Number 2, if you are writing that it's 1 to 13. Number 2 is verse 14 to 37, or 36. It deals with the preaching of the church of Pentecost. Preaching. Of Pentecostal church. Pentecostal church. So, you are good students to understand, the Pentecostal church is the church which was born on the day of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost did not give birth to Catholic, or to any denomination you may call it. Pentecost was the day that the church of Christ was birthed. Number 3, from verse 37 to 47. Effects or results of a Pentecostal church, or church of Pentecost. So good students, what was number 1? Power of Pentecost, or Pentecostal church. Number 2, preaching of Pentecost church. And number 3, effects or results of Pentecost. Alright, so you are tracking. Let's continue building. So we see, the church was born on the day of Pentecost. We have agreed. The day of Pentecost, what was the announcement? The harvest is what? Ready. Good. Don't forget. So Pentecost was a declaration that harvesting has begun. Now, if by implication we can talk. If you are born, or you make a tool on the day that the corn is ready. What is the purpose of that tool? To harvest. Correct? Are you trying to follow my thoughts? So because the church was born the day to begin harvest. What is the purpose of the church? Yeah, you don't need mathematics there. If today there was no rain, and we needed water, and you give me a bucket. Then I know that bucket is for what? For water. So the church of Christ was born to harvest. Or rather, Jesus birthed his church on the day of Pentecost to begin doing what? Because the next celebration or feast is what we call, is it Rosh Hashanah? Trumpets. To blow trumpets, to mean the harvest is done. No more harvesting. And after that harvest is what we call Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement. We say that day of atonement is the day when the sins of the land, the Israelites, or the entire nation, they were forgiven. So the priest used to go to the Holy of Holies once a year to go to atone for his sins and the sins of the entire nation. And after, it was only one day, and after that day, there were seven, eight more days. We call the Feast of Sukkoth, or Tabernacles, where all the Israelites went to Jerusalem. They left their houses and they camped in Jerusalem in the tent. They stayed outside for eight days to celebrate when God brought them out of Egypt to himself. Praise the name of the Lord. And we celebrate, and we are going to celebrate those feasts. I say those are three major feasts which are remaining. Jesus, the trumpet is going to be blown soon. The harvest will be over. And Jesus, we will be gathered, all the harvesters. We harvest, according to what we are saying, we are harvesters. We will be with the Lord. And unite with the Lord. Have you heard about a thousand years millennium? We will be with the Lord. And after, forever and ever. Read in the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And you will see, I'm not making it up, those are the three major feasts remaining. Whether you like it or not, they are going to happen. If Passover happens, if Pentecost happens, trumpets are going to be blown. So, the church of Pentecost. The power. They were together gathered. And when we talk about Pentecost, I am not talking about just speaking in tongues. Please. Even though that is one of the effects. Or what manifests the power. Because we see these disciples, 120, were in this upper room. And as they waited, the Bible says, a mighty rising wind filled the place. And clouds of tongues sat upon each and every one of them. And they began to speak in tongues. But you know what? The cowards were changed to be orators and bold speakers. Peter who denied Jesus three times, even before young girls. Or young girl. And he said, I don't know him. Me? No. I swear. Wallahi. I swear. I don't know him. When the Holy Spirit came, these men who were cowards, who could not even stand before Judas Iscariot. You remember how Jesus was caught in the garden of Gethsemane? They ran. But when the Spirit of God came upon them on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood with boldness. Hey, praise the name of the Lord. That morning. And preached a fiery message. So the church of Pentecost is a powerful church. It is unstoppable church. It is church that is answer to the world. If you are listening, say Amen. So if you are playing or diddling, it is good to know you are in a family that is powerful. Even the devil to mention it trembles. And our entire Jerusalem ran in that place. What is happening? We can hear these people speaking our language. From Libya, from Ethiopia, from Arab. Hey, everywhere they could hear these men being fired. Speaking the mighty things of God. It is a powerful church of Jesus. And we see that this power, it is not by learning. It is by this person called the Holy Spirit. Amen. Do you know why the church is not moving forward today? And it is not impacting the world? Because the church of Pentecost has kicked out the Holy Spirit. The person who gave the church, hey, has been told we don't need you here. And now the church of Jesus, which was the church of Jesus, has become a gathering of people. Number two we say, the preaching of Pentecost. What did they preach? Number one, we read, Peter said, this is that. Can you say this is that? I like that statement, one day I will preach that message. This is that. Was spoken by prophet Joel. So number one, what was their preaching? They preached scriptures. So Peter, when he was filled with the Holy Spirit, he did not preach fables. He did not speak politics. He preached the Word of God. So the church of Jesus is the church of the Word. So if you come to YICC and you don't find the Word of God, hey, that is a good congregation. But it's not what? A church. Number two they preach. Peter said, this is that. Number two, Peter preached Jesus. Say Jesus. He said, this Jesus, whom you crucified and killed as risen, hey, and believe in Him and you will be saved. So Peter preached Jesus. The church of Pentecost is a church that preaches who? Hey, can I hear you say louder? Today Jesus is also kicked out from the pulpit. If I don't speak prosperity and feel good and shake and feel charged. No, the church of Jesus, the church of Pentecost preaches who? Jesus. If you come to YICC and you don't see Jesus, we have lost it. Tell your neighbor, we have lost it. And God forbid. So I'm giving you some, what do you call, checkpoints you can check with us. Are we talking, are we preaching Jesus? Or are we preaching water and drinking wine? So the church of Pentecost exalts and preaches Jesus. Number three, you can get it from, I'm not making, you can read that chapter, I'm giving you a few points there. Number three, they preach repentance. Say repentance. What is repentance? Repentance is change of your mind. In fact that word, Greek word for repentance is metanoia, coming from meta and noises. Meaning meta, to change, no, mind. So repentance is not to say I'm sorry. Hey, we are full of sorries. I'm sorry, excuse me, I'm sorry. That is not repentance. Repentance from the biblical definition is change of what? Mind. Change of direction. I was going south, I repent. I go where? North. That is repentance. The church of Jesus preaches repentance. And repentance is not only for sinners. Even for those who are inside. You know, we have been, maybe we are taught wrong. Oh, repentance is for sinners. Oh, if you find me repenting, you will think I backslid 20 years ago. Who can approach this God? As we worship here, you see the glory and the greatness of God. Hey, even you remember, God forgive me. Yeah, you see, you remember Peter? When he saw Jesus, when Isaiah saw God, he said, even me, I am over clean. But before Isaiah thought he was a prophet, hallelujah, hey, hear the Lord. But when he had an encounter with God, he saw his weakness. He was able to repent. So the church of Pentecost preaches repentance. Why repentance? Because it's the only way to turn to God. I am a sinner. I'm changing. I've been going the wrong direction. Now I am a new creation. Praise the name of the Lord. Result of Pentecost. 37 to 47. And this community of believers, they dwell together. I'm just giving you some points, you can see they are there. They dwell together. They shared their things. No one lacked in that community. They fostered fellowship. Can you say fellowship? In fact, the Bible says, and these believers, verse 42, they continued. Can you say continued? They remained in the apostles' doctrine. And one day I told you, the apostles' doctrine was not Peter's doctrine. It was Jesus' doctrine that the apostles taught the new believers. Is that an amen? They continued in breaking of bread. They continued in what? Prayers. And they continued in what? Fellowship. And pay attention to that word, continued. They remained. It is not today we meet and now fellowship next year. Or prayers on Sunday, we will pray next month. No, they were engaged. And I thank God because of Zoom and online prayers, we can pray all time. Is that an amen? They continued. Yes, they continued in these three pillars. The church continued doing what? Growing. Praise the name of the Lord. The scope of the gospel. Jesus said in the book of Acts chapter 1, verse 8, you shall receive what? Power. And you shall be what? The witnesses. The scope of the ministry. Or the mandate. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and utmost parts of the world. Jerusalem cannot local. Locally. So you have to preach, you have to be an example locally. Amen? What's the next one? Judea. It means now you expand from locally to regional or region. Preaching to the region beyond your locality. Number three, Samaria. Samaria connotes cross-cultural. You go beyond your tribe and your race. You go to other tribes, nationalities, and to utmost parts of the world. In those days when that scripture was written, the utmost part of the world was Rome. It was the center of civilization at that time. So you will go until you arrive to where Nero is. The center. Entrances of the fulfillment of the commission. If you are writing very fast, what are the entrances? Why are we not fulfilling our mandate? Pentecostal church mandate. Why are we not harvesting? Why are we not impactful? Number one, if you are writing very fast as I finish. Clerical regime. If you are writing, clerical regime. Yeah, clerical regime. Or, in other words, into parenthesis, my empire. My church. My people. This is my church. Don't talk to my members. Don't talk to my people. So deficiency number one, it is because of clerical regime. It is mine. It is my thing. Wherever you go, you find clusters. Clusters of, oh, these are my people. Hey, don't talk to them. Don't go, if I find Elder Nash in another, don't talk to that person. Hey, no, we are talking, what are the entrances of why Pentecostal church is losing and we are not impacting this world. Clerical regime. My church, I will do my way. It is my way or the highway. We forget that the church, it is not ours. The church is Jesus. He has everything material. He knows how to bring and to build his church. He did not call us to build his church. Hey. Number two, entrances. It is what we call, I just say, the Holy Spirit who birthed the church has been kicked out. So, pneumatology or pneumatology deficiency. This is a Greek word. Pneuma from the spirit. So, the spirit deficiency, Holy Spirit deficiency or lack of the Holy Spirit. You got it now. It is no longer about the Holy Spirit who guides, who builds his church. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts, confuses and converts. But we have kicked him out. How will he convict people? And if we can have Holy Spirit as being kept for speaking in tongues. And if you have gone a little bit, it is pushing and slaying. When you don't fall, no spirit. Who told you that? The Holy Spirit who guides, who teaches. Where is he? The Holy Spirit tells people, you have sinned. If it is not there, when will you know that you have sinned? And that is why you see the church, what we call now church, it is full of hypocrites. They are on the pulpit lifting hands, praying and speaking in tongues. But there is no conviction, nada, zero. Hey, is that an amen? Everybody is quiet now. I always remember, I like my brother Eldanash. When he joined us here and he was, you know, growing and loving God. I always remember, the day I asked him, no, you have to grow, you have to start walking. And he told me, I cannot walk, I cannot walk. I cannot walk, meaning I cannot stand on the pulpit. No, no. And I said, thank you Lord for giving me a reward. This is the person I can serve with. Why? Because he had a conviction of the Holy Spirit. This is not a joking place. And I said, this is the person to work with. Even if he was, whatever he was doing, he could not pull the pulpit. No. The Holy Spirit has been kicked out of the church. That is why you see all dramas. That in the church you can have con artists. James, how can I con you if I have the Holy Spirit in me? He will convict me, don't do that. Correct? What about loving? Backbiting? The Holy Spirit is gone. No fruit of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is in us, we will love according to himself. Galatians chapter 5 verse 22. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, patience, kindness, and so forth. Number three as I close. Deficiency or interest of Pentecostal church mandate fulfillment. It's what we call cathedral building. What did I say? You will think Jesus said to the disciples, go and do what? Build cathedrals. Yeah. Everywhere. Any congregation, where are we going to build? Where are we going to, oh let's build. You build a billion, I thank God for Corona. Corona taught you and me that Jesus did not send you to do what? To build cathedrals. Amen. Cathedral building. Today I have, I can show you one by one, many people, who tells me I cannot go to church. Because the church I went, it is asking money to build what? You give your money and your soul is going to hell. So good, build buildings. And I'm not against building, we are going to build. As God leads us. But that is not our calling. Our calling is to build people. Is to grow men. Praise the name of the Lord. And establish them. If that is not in your mind, you have lost the mandate of the Pentecostal church. The Pentecostal church is to build men. Follow me and I will make. Transform, transform us. No cathedral building. I want us, maybe one day here we will give money. Not to build, just for mission. To go out here Marietta. Or buy a bus to bring people here. For mission, it should be a mission breathing church. That is our calling, harvesting. And as I finish, this morning we are praying. As I welcome my brother Isaac. As we collect the offering. It is not enough to harvest. That is what we say. We are to pray for grace to conserve the harvest. Amen. We can be good at harvesting. But when we harvest, we lose the harvest, correct? Yeah, because you can harvest from the field. And when you bring home, hey, it is wasted. You have to put in bags, in silos to preserve the harvest. What is to preserve? It is to make sure the converts are established in the Lord. Amen. And also, we saw this morning that children, they don't learn by reading. They learn by observing. And because we are the harvesters, when we bring them, before they know how to read the commandments, before they can go home and read their Bible, they have to look at Mama's assembly. Which Bible do you want me to believe? And many, we say, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. They say, you make somebody become one of the kingdom, and when he becomes one of the kingdom, you make him worse than the son of the devil. In other words, you tell people, Jesus saved, Jesus saved, and they believe, and when they come, they find you, you are more worse than the devil. So they will be more than the devil himself. You tell them, Jesus loves you, oh we love you, and they believe in your church, YICC. When they come, they find you don't come to church, you don't pray, you backbite, you are the one who say don't give, now you destroyed them. So they say, that is fake. Do you think that person will ever change? You have made him worse than the son of the devil. So you made him to go to hell straight, because you told them, there is light here, there is light, and when they came, they find darkness. Oh there is water, there is water, and when they came, they found it's a dry well. So they will die, they will kill, they will die because of thirst. Is that an amen? Praise the name of the Lord. So as we continue this month, as we harvest, give yourself to conserve the harvest. If you bring somebody to church, make sure that person you have discipled, until he can disciple or she can disciple others. If he has not discipled another one, you have not done anything. Amen? If Chesna, I bring Chesna to YICC, I go with Chesna until she brings another one. And that continues until Jesus, the trumpet is blown. Let's stand up in the presence of God, as I welcome my brother here, Isaac, to lead us as we collect, praise as we collect the offering. Amen.