Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Good evening, everybody. Good evening. Hey, you know, it's I can't believe, but we, just concluded our series that we started, a faith that works. We started at Easter. And you guys might remember, just before Easter, we had a a great Good Friday service. We, kind of humbled ourselves and remembered the sacrifice. And then a house was totally full, on Easter Sunday where we had the celebration of Jesus' resurrection. But to be honest, I'm gonna be honest, I have never given a message, that I can remember actually, on Pentecost.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:38]:
And this weekend is actually Pentecost weekend. And you know, the thing is that Pentecost, some some people get nervous because it's real close to Pentecostal. Right? And so some people have people have a sense about that or feeling about that. But, maybe one way to think about what Pentecost did is is like when they when they built the dam, in Egypt. I don't know if you guys know, but in the fifties that they, they made a decision to try to tame the Nile River and to try to, create, you know, instead of destruction, make it, you know, for farming and and and, electricity and all of those things. And so they started building to get the everything ready. And, when they did, this what happened is they turned on the turbines. And all of a sudden, these 12 massive turbines turned on, and it was enough electricity to totally fill the, and, to totally power the whole nation of Egypt.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:50]:
Now till that time, there there had been a continual flow of the Nile that was allowed, but they were they they had it dammed up to, you know, of course, raise the water level. And, you know, although the the the Nile was flowing and people still bathed in it and still, cooked with it and and still used it for farming, it was really just a trickle of what was possible. And but when in 1970, when they turned it on, that what happened is it just filled and empowered the whole nation. In some ways, we can think of that as, like, what happened, with the people of God. Until, until Pentecost, there had always been the Spirit of God active among God's people. But it seemed to have been restricted. It seemed to have been at a different kind of a level. You might see it in the old testament where where God would come upon a person, sometimes for a specific task, and sometimes for seasons, and sometimes over life, but not not everybody.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:52]:
Right? It wasn't widespread. It was it was for the prophet. It was for, the judge. It was for the king. It was for some special person for a special purpose. But Pentecost unleashed the door and opened the door so people, regular people like you and like me, could experience God's presence, a dynamic relationship. And so this this evening, what I want to talk about is is Pentecost and the door that was open for us. And so we're going to take a look, at reading what happened on that first Pentecost after the resurrection, and we find that in Acts chapter 2 verses 1 to 4.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:34]:
And, and and what happens at this time is Jesus has not just gone to the cross, but he's resurrected, and he spent the first 40 days, it says, visiting the disciples, speaking to them, showing up and being a witness, some to 500 at one time, but he he kept on meeting with his disciples. And then he said this And then he said, wait in the city till the father's gift is poured out upon you. And so this is, what we're gonna read when it's poured out. So would you do me a favor? Would you stand in reverence for God, reverence for his word, and that we can read that together. Acts chapter 2 verses 1 to 4. And it says it like this. Shall we read? On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place. And suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:39]:
And then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. Let's say each of them. Each of them. Right? Because this was not for a special person. It was for each person. And then it goes on and says, and everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them ability. And so although we saw the Spirit of God move through Jesus, we saw the Spirit of God maybe move through guys like John the Baptist. God said that there needed to be an opening of that door, like like, and the the Aswan Dam, when it opened and it the power would be released, he says, not just for 1, not just for some, but to all who follow Christ.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:29]:
And so before you, seated, do me a favor. Turn to your neighbor and says, that's for you today. And then you can have a seat. That's for you today. Now this happens on the day of Pentecost, and, and the word Pentecost is nothing magical or or special about it. It literally means it's the Greek word. Penta is 5 and, that cost or, stands for 10, so it's 50. Stands for 50 days that, that happens historically after the Passover.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:04]:
And so this is actually an Old Testament, celebration, a festival, one of 7 that was pronounced that God gave to Moses. And sometimes it's known by different names, so you might get a little confused. Again, this is the Pentecost is the Greek word for the festival of first fruits, or sometimes it's called the feast of harvest, or in Hebrew it's, Shavuot, which means weeks. So sometimes it's called the Feast of Weeks or the Festival of Weeks. So, you'll see these laid out, especially in the first five books of the, of the scriptures or from Exodus to, Deuteronomy. And God instructed in these festivals Lord to come to seek the Lord themselves, to go to, later when the temple was built, to Jerusalem. And so God initiated these feasts, and he said that these things would be called sacred assemblies. And he says in, Leviticus 23 verses one and 2, he says, speak to the Israelites and say to them that these are my appointed festivals let's say festivals.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:24]:
Festivals. Sometimes it's called a feast in certain translations, or it's the same thing. And the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you proclaim as sacred assemblies. Now in the Hebrew, the word festival comes from the word moed, which means an appointed time. An appointed time. Let's say appointed time. Right? And we'll find that this this concept of an appointed time is is played out. And Pentecost was the last of the spring festivals in the Hebrew calendar.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:54]:
Now Paul talked about these festivals as well in the New Testament, And he he didn't say that these festivals had no meaning. He said they did have a meaning, but a a a little different than maybe how it was took place in the Old Testament. It says it like this in Colossians. He says, therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink with regard to a what? Religious festival, a new moon celebration, or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow, let's say shadow, of the things that were to come. The reality, however, is found in Christ. Now this this passage talks about how that the apostle said that these festivals, these feasts are a shadow of things to come. They're, and and some of us might remember that in and even in Greek, kind of thinking, in Greek philosophy, there was the concept of the difference between the substance of thing of things and the shadow of things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:00]:
If you were to see a shadow, maybe you can even see my shadow here from the the the stage lights on on the back, and, that it it tells you, it's an indication of something. If you were to see the shadow of some children around the corner, played out on a on a pavement, maybe like, I think I have the picture in there. I'm not sure if it's gonna Like if you were to see this that we're outside on a sunny day, not like a regular day like today, but, but on a sunny day, it would tell you what would it give you an indication? That there are real children just out of your field of vision. And and that the shadow is an indication that there is substance that causes the shadow. And so that Pentecost, the festival of weeks, or the the the the festival of, a harvest that would celebrate the weak harvest, that Pentecost foreshadows a greater reality. And the apostle Paul makes use of these things and talks about these things in saying that the real substance is Jesus. The real substance is found in Christ. And Pentecost then reminds us that God wants to be among his people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:22]:
Now the law clearly states that that when it was given from Sinai 1400 years before this time of Pentecost that we see in Acts chapter 2, after Jesus, has ascended to heaven, that it happened 1400 years. But Jewish tradition states, about the time maybe a few decades prior to Jesus's birth, that it it states that that this festival of weeks also happened to be the day in which god met Moses on Sinai, and he received the law. Now there's no verse, that I've been able to find that that talks about that explicitly. This is something of Jewish tradition, and I I've studied this, and and at times this week, I was studying it. It's like, so is it or isn't it? Is it or isn't it? And I there was a part where I said, this is totally bogus. And then I kinda I I did some study where you go like, oh, no. This is not totally bogus. It's kind of.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:25]:
But it's a and I say it like that. It's because there is no verse that says that on on the festival of weeks that that this is where God met Moses. But it does give us really clear indications that that it could have been. And and the reason is is that it says very clearly the Passover is 50 days from the Passover. And it says the Passover was the 10th day of the month that would be our March, April because they don't exactly overlap. And then it says that they met, they got to the Sinai on the 1st day of the of the 3rd month. And so if I used to that's when I when I first read that, I go like, oh, this is no way. It's 3 months.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:11]:
No. It's saying this. It's saying 10 days in, it was the Passover of this month. Then there was another month. Right? And it says on the first day, what? They were at Sinai. And so it's saying it is possible. It's a plausible thing that on that 50th day, that it's the day that Moses went up on Sinai, and god revealed him to him the law. Now they did not celebrate it as the feast of weeks yet, because that wouldn't happen till the next year.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:43]:
But it is possible that that is the day that which Moses received the law, written on the 10 Commandments, the 10 Commandments written on those tablets of stone, and and that he brought them down after some period. And so with that in mind, that we can see that that Pentecost reminds us that about his presence because it's now a foreshadowing, we had said. Right? That this foreshadowing is is gonna show us what has caused that shadow. What was the substance that would give us this thing, this practice? It's the same with Passover, right, that what happened at Passover was that they would take a lamb, and they would lay their hands on the lamb, and they would confess their sins on that lamb. And then they would slay the lamb and take the blood and put it on the doorposts. And what was the reality foreshadowed what? The sacrifice of Christ. To be honest, the the people of that day would not have an foreshadowed by the sacrificial system that began 1400 years prior. And so we see that foreshadowing of of Good Friday, of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:11]:
So what is Pentecost? What does it what does it signify? Well, in the first case, the first thing is that there's a number of things where we see, 1, that in in the the original feast of weeks or Pentecost, that what we find, it was the people of God under the leadership of Moses versus the people of God under the leadership of Jesus. And we'll see this contrast. Because under the leadership of Moses, we saw that the word of God was written on tablets of stone, it talks about in Exodus 1920. And what we see fulfilled in the Pentecost that we read about is that the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel that said that the prophet said that now God would not write the word of God on tablets of stone any longer. Instead, he says this, I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you, and I will take out your stony and stubborn heart, and give you a tender and responsive heart. And I will put my spirit in you. Let's say in you. And so this has not happened yet, but we see this poured out in Pentecost.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:33]:
I put my spirit in you so that you'll follow my decrees, and be careful to obey my regulations. On Pentecost, it says, on on that original time when Moses received the law, we find that it was filled with a thunder and and and the loud blowing of a trumpet. What we see when we look at that Acts chapter 2 that we read in the beginning, it says that there was a sound like a roaring of a mighty windstorm that filled the house. And so it was filled with not the sound of thunder, but it was filled with the outpouring of god's spirit. He says it was like a roar. We see that that on the Old Testament time, in in in that time when God met Moses for the first time, he met him what? In the burning bush. And it and in the on the mountain, it says that there was also peals of lightning and flashes. And and we see the same thing that god appearing in fire and light.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:49]:
And it says, in this case, what was poured out, it was poured out that above each person's head was a flame that that looked like fire. And he's saying, that the implication is what? That the same god who met Moses on the mountain is now the same god that meets you in this room. And so we see this contrast that the foreshadowing of what on Sinai, it was filled with smoke because of the we see on Sinai, it was filled with smoke because of the, kind of the presence of the Lord. And with this part, we see the fulfillment of clarity with the tongues of fire. And so we see these things, this comparison that that's leading us to see it's the same god that met Moses. But now it's not just Moses, the mighty man of god. It's not just the godly, perfect leader, even though Moses was not perfect. Right? But it's the average person.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:03]:
It's the everyday person who's a follower of Jesus. And so Pentecost opens to us the door of his promise and his power. Before his ascension, Jesus told the disciples a number of things. It says that he met them. He gave them. Are you guys familiar with the Great Commission? He says, go therefore in Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20, he says, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. Right? And and I lo, I will be with you always, it says, to the end of the age. But he didn't say, just go now.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:46]:
Before before they were to go and fulfill this great commission, he said, stop. Hold on. Hold on a second. Why? In in Acts chapter 1 verses 45, he says that he commanded them, do not leave until the father sends you the giftlet's say the word giftthat he promised. How many of you guys like receiving the gift? Right? Yeah. I had a I had a birthday this week. That's that's why the lay. Right? And and at my age, I don't expect gifts, because because every birthday is a gift already at this my age.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:22]:
No. But like, you know, the thing is that but when I receive the gift, you know what I don't do with the gift? I don't go like this, like, oh, like, oh, yeah. Put it on the side. Right? I open the gift. I receive the gift. And God says this. He says, I'm giving you a gift, not for you to put on the shelf, not for you to stick in a drawer, but something to be opened and received. And he's saying that, as I told you before, John baptized you with water, but in a few days, actually, it comes up to 10 days to be exact, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:01]:
And when this happens, what we saw, if you continue to read in in, in Acts chapter 2, that the spirit of God being poured out, them speaking in tongues, they run into the street, and they start preaching to people, all of these people. And remember that we said it was a festival, but it was also one that you needed to go to Jerusalem. And so the city of Jerusalem at that time was filled, like at the Passover, with people from all over the countryside, throughout the nation, through other surrounding Mediterranean nations, that people traveled. People who were Jews and people who were converts. That it says that the city was filled, and they all heard the message. And what God says was the prophet that we see in in Acts chapter 4, that Peter, when he preaches the message, he says, this is the fulfillment of what the prophet Joel has said, where I will pour out my spirit on all people, and that your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. I'm young enough to still see visions though. So it doesn't have to always be a dream.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:22]:
But, then he says this. In those days, I will pour out my spirit even on servants, men and women alike. This god is able to pour out his spirit. It's not just men. It's not just women. He says it's men and women. And he says that sun will become dark. The moon will turn to blood red, and before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives, because everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:51]:
And so we see this fulfillment that's played out. Right? That that that god's promise was that it's not for a special few. He says that I will pour out my spirit, he says, on all flesh. Right? On all people, not just Jews, not just the disciples, not just the apostles, but an all people. Right? And and so they didn't quite understand that at the time, to be honest, they were expecting a physical kingdom. They were expecting Jesus to kind of kick out the Romans. But but then he had to bring their understanding that this was going to be a spiritual kingdom. He says this is gonna be a spiritual kingdom, and that we're gonna need spiritual men and spiritual women.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:46]:
And so Jesus corrected their thinking because he said this in Acts 1:8. He says, because you will receive power then when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you'll be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere. Where did it start? In Jerusalem. And it started on Pentecost. Throughout Judea. That's the countryside. Right? And it says in Samaria, it's kind of like the nation that's nearest.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:14]:
It's the it's the one right next. And he says, ultimately, to the ends of the earth. And so Jesus redirects their thoughts. Now the thing about that, it's it's that when we talk about the move of the spirit, we talk about the outpouring of the spirit, sometimes it starts stands in stark contrast maybe to to how you feel certain days. Because I'm guessing not every day, right, that when you wake up, you're like, oh my gosh. The power from heaven is flowing in me and through me today. Right? Because some days, how many of you flowing in me and through me today. Right? Because some days, how many of you guys wake up and you go like, all you need is, like, I need that first cup of coffee.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:50]:
Right? Like, or maybe that you're you're thinking like, I gotta just get done the things that I need to do today. And it's not difficult for some people to fall into the habit then of really just saying that, I just got to read my Bible, go to church, and and and if you're real spiritual, I'll go to Bible study. Or if you're real spiritual, maybe I do devotions. Right? And and basically, we we just try to do this spiritual life on our own power. But but he's saying that this this outpouring of the spirit is is a different thing. It's it's it's like going sailing. How many of you guys have ever been on a boat before? Anybody been on a boat? Okay. Yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:39]:
A lot of us been on a boat. Right? Maybe fishing. Right? Maybe for fun, different things. How many have been on a sailboat? Okay. Less of us than on a sailboat than on a motorboat, right? And you know, I didn't know the difference. I mean, I knew that one had a sail and one didn't have a sail. I mean, I knew one had an engine and maybe you know, but there was a guy at church a number of years ago that when we had started, and and he was a boat, builder. And, some of you guys still might remember Herb Van Vlach, big guy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:13]:
And he he said that, hey, we're gonna go sailing. Glenn, why don't you come with us? And so we made it a men's morning. We went one Saturday night. We drove out to town, and he had this giant yacht that he had been building, for his friend. And he's he was gonna take us out on that. And and I've been on boats a bunch of times before, but they were all out not outboard necessarily, but they were all motored boats. Right? And so when we were in that kind of a thing, I just expected it to feel like you know how when you're cutting through the wave, you might be going through the swell, but it it has a certain feel to it, right, even in the chop. Right? But then on that particular time that when we were on the motorboat, I mean, when we went out on the sailboat, I totally felt different because it wasn't about me powering through.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:04]:
It wasn't about the engine driving it. It was about when the wind caught the sails, that you could feel it's it's like the boat was being pulled through the water, and it was smoother. And you could feel this, and and I got more seasick. No, but like, I normally don't get seasick, but I did get that day. But but here's the thing is that, you know, the only difference is that what you cannot do when you have a sailboat is you cannot create the wind. Right? You can't create the wind. And sometimes, we we try to power through this thing, but what it's saying is this, is that God what God wants us to do is be able to do our part. We put up our sails, but let him fill your sails to drive short.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:56]:
It doesn't it's not that it doesn't require any effort, because to be honest, until we had got out, until we, you know, we were told 1 guy that, can you just let this thing go? And, you know, kind of, I forget what it's called. But anyway, you unwind the thing and then deploy the sails, and, you know, different people had to do different things on the boat. So there was activity. There was human effort. But make no mistake. No one thought what propelled the boat was because of us. Because we caught what only God could provide. In the same way, the Spirit of God is saying today that it's it's not just your effort.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:37]:
Your efforts matter. Do me afraid. Turn to your neighbor and says, your effort matters. But he's saying, would you catch reminds us Pentecost reminds us that god makes a family from different people. Right? And it says that that when they went into the city and they began to preach, it says that each person began to hear them in their own language. And so he goes on and he says, from verse 7, He says, they were completely amazed. How can this be?' they exclaimed. 'These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:29]:
Here we are, Parthians, Medes, these are like the Iranians. Right? These are the Persians. He says, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, that that same kind of Fertile Crescent, Iraq, all that kind of an area, Judea, Cappadocia, now we're going to upward towards Turkey. Pontus, the province of Asia, moving towards Asia Minor, Phrygia, Pamphylia, and then later he goes to Egypt down the south. And he says the areas of Libya that's going into Africa, and he's saying, around Cyrene, that's Kenya, and visitors from Rome in the Mediterranean. Right? And he says all of these people, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, and we all hear these words speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done. And it says they stood there amazed and perplexed. What can this mean? He asked.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:31]:
They asked each other. What does it mean? It means that God isn't just for 1 race, that God is for all people. It's not that one life kind of life matters, one kind of skin color matters. It says that that all lives matter, is what God is saying. And that from the peoples of the earth, that he is making a family. Aren't you glad? I I I'm not Jewish, but I stand by faith in the faith of Israel. Right? Through Christ Jesus. Become the family of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:14]:
It doesn't matter what your ethnic background. The other year, I, when I bought the car that I'm driving now, I bought a a used car. I remember buying it from a a young man, sharp guy. I I really liked him. A good good kid. And you know, one of the things, he was talking about was moving and moving to the mainland. And and, I said, oh, what are you gonna do in the mainland? And he says, oh, you know, just it's like I need a fresh start. And he said, yeah, I understand that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:52]:
And he said, where are you thinking? And he's saying, Virginia and and these things. I said, oh, you have friends in Virginia? He goes, no. No. I don't know anybody there. And I said, don't you have do you have friends in He said, I have some friends in New York. I have some friends in the well, but I don't wanna go where they are. And it's just not that odd. I didn't that he didn't wouldn't wanna go to his friends.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:11]:
I said, why don't you wanna go where your friends are? And he said, well, I just wanna make it on my own. And the reality is that sometimes those friends maybe kinda didn't bring out the best in him. And so, you know, then I as he got going and I I I would never have thought of this. I it it didn't dawn on me. But, you know, when we started to to talk, I had, you know, bought the car or signing the papers. He just kinda revealed. He says, you know the real reason, he says, that I wanna break? He says, because I'm Micronesian. And in Hawaii, somehow, you just can't escape this kind of a sense that, you know, I'm less than.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:00]:
And he told me a story where he met some girls in a club, and he said when they asked him what he was, and he said it was Micronesian, he saw the look on their face. And and he thought, like, you know, you just can't escape it. But you know, the Spirit of God is poured out on Micronesians. The Spirit of God is poured out on the people that you like. The Spirit of God is poured out on the Spirit by the people that you have a hard time with sometimes. The fruit of God is is poured out on people who look like us and don't look like us. That's the good news, that God doesn't play favorites like that. He's saying, it's from all the families.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:51]:
You know, when we go to heaven, there's gonna be people from it says every ethnic group, every every island nation, every continent, and they're all gonna be standing and worshiping and praising god. I I I'm stoked about that. I can't wait to see that time. And he's saying that Pentecost reminds me that god speaks your language, that god knows what you're saying. You guys, you know, when I went to the mainland in the beginning, you know what happened is that I wasn't understood in the beginning. You guys ever anybody live on the mainland in the beginning? You don't you're not understood. I was leading a small group actually. I was know, I was leading new staff on the missions group.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:42]:
And and I would ask, like, a question, and there wouldn't be any answer. And I would get frustrated. And I would finally ask I finally said, hey. Don't you guys have any thought on that? He said, oh, oh, sorry. I didn't know you were asking a question. Because sometimes in like in Pidgin, right, it's like when it's a question, we don't go up. We don't say: This is good, isn't it? Right? We don't talk like that often. We I say, It's good, You guys know what I mean? Like it's like, it's a question but it goes down.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:19]:
So that pigeon intonation, they couldn't figure it out, right? So they didn't know how to answer. But you know what? God knows your language. God knows your heart language. Some of us, we weren't born here. Some of us, we weren't raised here. Some of us, we we feel like nobody understands us. God says this. I get it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:39]:
I get it. I know you. I know what you struggle with. I know where you've been. I still choose you. I still love you. I'm still for you. Do me a favor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:51]:
Turn to the person on your next to you. Just say, god still chooses you. Pentecost reminds us of that. Now one of the things it says that that that this this passage, this part of the passage where it says, you know, they they spoke with, you know, other tongues, sometimes it brings a lot of confusion to people. I just wanted to take a little bit of a time and just kinda explain something that because sometimes people get into a thing, like, oh, you're saying that we gotta speak in tongues, that we don't have to speak in tongues? Or, you know, that this is a, you know, it's a human language, because look, the people were all over. And and so just maybe one reason why sometimes there's so much confusion about this gift is because there's actually 4 kinds of tongues in the Bible, in the New Testament. And and if you just think that there's one kind, then you're gonna it's you're gonna be confused because you're gonna be like, well, this is not for today, or it's for today, or some people have it, or some people can understand. But there's 4 kinds.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:59]:
So the the first the first kind is this, that I'll just break it down 2 ways. Two kinds of tongues are meant for not meant for you, but meant for a group, meant for other people. And 2 kinds are meant for you. Okay? And so the first one that what we'll see is that this it's where we say it's diverse kinds of tongues, where it says that in like in Acts chapter 2, it's a human language that was given. And so what do they speak in Phrygia? Phrygian. Right? What do they speak in Egypt? They speak Egyptian. Right? So wherever the case and so everybody would hear they were hearing it in their own language. And so it's a human language.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:49]:
Right? So it's it's like, when I had shared before, when my wife and I, we were, praying with a pastor, a friend, a Korean guy, and we're doing, you know, we had a a week where he came, he laid hands on people, prayed, and there was a lot of lot of healing, a lot of different kind of things people went through, deliverance, all that. And when we prayed with him, he said, okay. Pray in your prayer language. And he stopped us and he he said to my wife, he says, do you know what you're saying? And she said, no. I don't know what I'm saying. He says, I know what you're saying. And he goes, because you know how I know? Know? I said, I don't know. You had a gift of interpretation? He said, no.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:32]:
Because it's Korean. And you were praying in Korean, and you were thanking your father in heaven, and you're and he kinda said a bunch of stuff. And I was like, oh, wow. I didn't know that. Right? And it's like my wife didn't know what she was saying, but it's it was a human language. And, my wife is from Japan. She doesn't know Korean. So, she only knows Korean people, but, Korean food.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:55]:
So, and so we're that that's one. Right? But here there's another one. It's an unknown tongue that's a not a human language, but it's a heavenly language. But in order to be understood, it needs an interpretation. We find that in first Corinthians chapter 14. It says that you might have the ability to speak in tongues, but you'll only be talking only to God. So instead of that, since no people will understand you, you need to be speaking by the power of the spirit and it will become known. And so we need this aspect where there's an interpreter for that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:31]:
Right? So, that kind of a thing. The scriptures gives us this aspect that that we shouldn't be doing it in in in large groups without an interpreter, it's saying. Right? So no more than 2 or 3, it says, should speak in tongues, but only if there's an interpreter there. And so this is meant kind of as a public thing. And then there is a a a tongue that is but you just speaking directly to god. Now, what is the point of that? It's saying because I'm sorry. That's the I read in 1st Corinthians 142. It says because this is you talking to God, and that we're he gives you the ability to pray.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:11]:
He gives you the ability to to speak in a language that you did not grow up learning. And then there's the 4th one. And it says that sometimes when you don't know what to pray you guys ever know not what to not know what not to pray not know what not to pray. Not know what to pray. Right? I don't know what I'm saying. That's the thing. I need I need help right now. So, and that's intercession.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:36]:
And he says that in in Romans 826, and the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. Right? How many of you need help in your weakness? Right? We all need help in our weakness. And he says, for example, we don't know what god wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in our inwards. And so what is the expression of the Spirit of God coming upon you? It can be any one of those. It can be any one of those. But the Holy Spirit does something that he wants to speak, not just to you, but he wants to speak through you. And so God wants you to receive. The Pentecost is not just meant so that we receive, and we just can say, okay.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:21]:
That's when the spirit was poured out. That's when the church was born. That's when God reached out and brought all the nations together into the family of God. Yes. That is true. But god wants you to receive the same gift today as well. God wants you to experience the same god that Moses experienced on Sinai, that the disciples experienced in the upper room. Because by faith, you can receive the same fullness of the Spirit of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:56]:
Because it's God who wants to empower you. Now if if there is if there is a world to reach out there, right, if there are, like, that young man that I I got to talk with, who told me that he was moving to the mainland, I got to pray with him. I got to share the gospel with him. And, you know, obviously, the great thing is I could do it in English. Right? But the thing is that, you know, I was there to buy a car. Right? I wasn't there to to share the gospel. But the great news is I got to share the gospel. And the great news is I got to pray for him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:34]:
They got to invite him. Right? And and the thing is that sometimes we just need the fullness of the spirit that gives us boldness, or or courage, or sometimes insight, or sometimes that because there's times where I don't wanna say anything. Right? There's been times I I wanted to just kinda kinda fade in the background. But God says this, when you receive that fullness of the spirit, it gives you a desire, god's desires, that other people would would get mercy. Other people would know the love of God. Other people would experience his kindness and mercy. Why? Because because he's writing the gospel, not in tablets of stone or on paper, but on human hearts. He wants to write it on your heart, and he wants to write it on your neighbor's heart.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:30]:
He wants to write it in your parents heart or your kids heart. So your your your brothers or your your your coworkers, because he wants to give you his presence and his power. He wants you to receive gifts, and he wants you to to be able to speak with him and through him. He wants you and me to be part of his plan of redemption. The church was born, but the church still needs to be empowered. The church still needs to be refreshed. The church still needs to be immersed in the spirit of God. Now some people, the reason why we get a little nervous about it is, because he says, I want I want God to work in me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:17]:
I just don't want certain gifts. Why? Because I I don't know about this tongues thing, because it's like just weird, right, for some of us. Now I understand that. And you know, like for sometimes when we talk about the gifts of the Spirit, sometimes people get a little nervous because they they love teaching, and and and they they love to hear of maybe encouragement or works or healing and all that kind of stuff, but I just don't want any weird gifts. Right? Anybody you guys know what I'm talking about? Right? But who, if you think about it, who operated in the power of the Holy Spirit more than anybody else? Anybody? Some of us might think, you know, certain apostles or different people, but probably the one who most is Jesus. Right? Because it says Jesus, he didn't do any miracles. He didn't even teach, it says, until he was baptized and the Holy Spirit came upon him at the Jordan. He says that remember, he says that it came on him like it looked like a dove.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:37]:
And then there was a pronouncement. It says, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. And so but was Jesus weird? Did Jesus just walk up to somebody and say, she wrote a Hyundai, but should have bought a Hyundai. Right? But like, no, he didn't do that. Right? He just he spoke in languages that people could understand. Right? He knew people's thoughts and hearts because the spirit of God revealed that to him. Right? Because although he was God, he didn't operate in this life. He didn't operate out of the person being the son of God, the second of the of the godhead.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:22]:
Right? He didn't operate out of his own godness. It says he gave up certain rights when he came to earth. He was still the same. He just didn't operate out of that power. He operated through the power of the spirit. Now why is that important? Because if Jesus did all his miracles just because he's Jesus, then you know what? Thank you, Jesus. But you know what? Then we can't do it. But that's not what the scripture says.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:56]:
The scripture says this, greater things shall we do, right, than he did. Why? Because the same spirit that allowed him to do those things, he says, will move through you. All we got to do is be willing to receive. But you won't receive something you're scared of receiving. Right? In fact, you need faith to receive. Right? It says, It's impossible to please God without faith, in Hebrews 11:6. So anybody who comes to Him must believe that, 1, God exists. That's pretty basic, right? You got to believe there's something there.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:40]:
But I love the second part. Shall we read that together? What does it say? Hebrews 11:6. And that he, what? Rewards those who sincerely seek him. So Jesus said it like this. He says, if a a son asks a father for a piece of bread, does he give him a snake or a scorpion or a stone? He goes, No. Then neither will your heavenly father give you something weird like that. If you believe that God wants to give you his presence and his power and gifting. Why? Because he's good.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:23]:
Because he's gonna bless you. Because he's gonna help you. It's gonna it might help you to be closer to him. It might help you to to to to experience it. When you don't know what to pray, God prays through you by the spirit of God. It might be that you speak something of hope or encouragement. It may be that you pray, and God does amazing things through that prayer, in someone's life, in some situation. But that's we we can't make the win, but we can receive it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:56]:
Does that make sense? So this it. That make sense? So this evening before we're we're done, let's let's close in a in a word of prayer. I'm gonna just ask you right where you're seated, that would you just open your hands to God? Just open your hands to God. And father, today, we're thankful Pentecost reminds us not just what you did but what you still wanna do today. As you still wanna pour out that same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, that he might live in us. And so today, god, we're opening our hands. And would you just say from your own lips, god, I wanna receive everything you have for me. Would you fill me with your presence? Would you fill me with your presence? With your spirit.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:51]:
With your power, I receive every gift you want me to have. Lord, I surrender my life to you. Help me to know you more, I receive it. I receive it. In Jesus' name. Amen. You know, some of us that when we prayed that, did some of you if you guys felt something, you just felt a little something, you felt some of the can you raise a hand? Because you know the thing is, God is pouring out his spirit. And that that little simple prayer, you can continue to pray.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:44]:
But if you're here tonight and, you know, that we just wanna partner with you in prayer as well. It could be something totally unrelated, stuff that's going on your life. There's some some of the prayer team, they'd love to be able to pray. But we just wanna pray that God's spirit would just move in you today. Refresh you, strengthen you, lead you, and guide you today because that's what he wants to do. But why? Because God's opened the door. The door is open for you. It's not closed.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:12]:
His power wants to flow through you because he's alive with you today. God bless you, guys. Thanks.