Pastor Byrd Let It Rain

[Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] if you will take your bibles and join me and go to the book of acts acts chapter two remember last sabbath we spoke on acts chapter one we are now in part two special series on church growth last sabbath acts chapter one we dealt with the upper room this sabbath part two we deal with let it rain and i want to invite you let me invite you now to take your bibles and go to the book of acts acts chapter two and we're going to verse number one we're just gonna read verses one two three and four acts chapter one verses chapter two rather verses one two three and four acts chapter two verses one two three and four the word of god says i reading you're hearing from the king james version of the bible and when the day of pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place verse two and suddenly if you were in the congregation i'd say repeat that and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of um rushing mighty wind and it all filled all the house where they were sitting verse number three and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them verse number four and they were all filled with the holy ghost began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance today we want to challenge you on the subject let it rain let it rain let it rain let's pray god we thank you right now we have sung we have listened to the offering appeal we've been blessed by children's ministries by oaktown the aeolians have warmed our hearts praise team they have also sung and blessed us we've had the sabbath school study and now lord it's time to hear a word from you so i pray that you would speak speak over the internet airwaves the television monitor waves smartphones ipads large speak and when your servants hear this word today may they say they will follow your word and they will follow you god make us fall in love with you all over again through this message we pray forgive us for our sins hide us behind your cross and when the appeal time comes i'm asking oh god that men women boys and girls will respond to your voice thank you lord for hearing this prayer thank you for answering this prayer and thank you in advance for what you're going to do today it's in jesus name we pray amen amen let me start this way let me start this way let me start this way when i was growing up as a kid i hated watching the news when i was a kid i hated watching the news but my parents they liked watching the news and because i was living in their house i had to watch the news do i have a witness to somebody today now understand i hated watching the news but they liked watching the news and the only part of the news i liked was the sports so therefore if i wanted to see the sports i had to first watch the news headlines and then after i watched the news headlines i then had to watch the weather report and somebody know what i'm talking about i had to wait till the news headlines were over and then i had to wait until the weather report was over and then i could watch the sports because they made it clear as long as i was in their house they were in charge they paid the house bills it was their tv it was their house if i wanted to watch the sports i had to wait until after the news headlines and after the weather report somebody knows what i'm talking about sadly however let me throw this in we've got children today telling their parents what they will do in their parents house but somebody knows back in the day that didn't happen back in the day i don't care how old you were i don't care how big you were if you were a child and you were 20 or you were two and you were in your parents house you did what they said are you hearing what i'm saying and now that i'm grown and my wife's grown we have that same rule it's funny how there's nothing new under the sun we love our girls to death kristen kailey and karissa we love them to death two of them are grown christian and kaylee are both over 18. but you know what when they're in our house they abide by our rules are you hearing what i'm saying everybody but let me get back to the news all right so i'm grown now and when it comes to watching the news the funny thing is now i love the news i love watching the news abc news i watch it in fact i love world news tonight nbc news i watch it cbs news i watch it cnn msnbc and sometimes even fox news i watch it and also let me tell you this now that i'm a little older i pay even more attention to the weather will it be sunny today will it be cloudy today will it be rainy today is snow in the forecast i now and i believe i got a witness who's watching i now religiously go to the weather app on my phone to see the 10-day forecast and i even like to see what's going to happen every hour on the hour somebody knows what i'm talking about now in alabama we don't get much snow and if we do they shut it down around here are you hearing what i'm saying but in alabama we get a lots of rain now most people don't like to go out in the rain there are car accidents in the rain your hair gets wet in the rain your feet get wet in the rain your car gets dirty from the rain even some people can get sick from the rain most people don't like being out in the rain but having rain is not that bad because rain is water and we need water to survive are you hearing what i'm saying we need water to drink praise god we need water to cook thank you jesus we need water to wash amen somebody we need water to clean water is essential for life and we get water from rain and if we didn't get rain our land wouldn't cultivate our seeds wouldn't sprout our plants wouldn't grow our plates would be empty because there would be no food to grow so praise god for the rain now rain is not only important in our day but rain was also important in bible days the bible is full of rain stories but the bible specifically speaks of three kinds of rain number one the reigning of water noah preached 120 years and told the people it's gonna rain number two the reigning of fire elijah called on god to rain down fire on the altar at mount carmel jezebel and her gods were there ahab and his gods were there but somebody knows jehovah god elijah's god your god my god our god raised down fire but then number three there's the reigning of the holy spirit and this reigning of the holy spirit has two manifestations the former rain and the latter rain now our text acts 2 talks about the former rain acts 2 1 begins by saying and when the day of pentecost was fully come stop right there when the day of pentecost was fully come now most of you if not all of you you know that i grew up in the seventh-day adventist church i'm adventist born i'm admitted as bread and i'll be adventist dead thank god for the adventist church i'm a fifth generation paternal and maternal as seven day adventists i tell people all the time you will not out adventist me i've eaten more soy than you i've eaten more haystacks than you i've eaten more grillers and fried chick than you you will not out adventist me somebody knows i grew up in a home and we kept the sabbath for 26 hours somebody said but it's only a 24 hour period but we kept it for 26 hours one hour before the sabbath started one hour after the sabbath ended because we were taught to guard the edges of the sabbath does somebody know what i'm talking about growing up in the church however we didn't talk much about pentecost we didn't talk much about pentecostalism that was a no-no because we primarily branded pentecostals as overzealous charismatic loud people who didn't have much substance and all they did was shout and make noise and we called them the sanctified or the holy roller church down the street because of all their running all their jumping oh they're clapping oh they're shouting loud brand of worship but praise god i stopped listening to what people said about pentecost and i read the bible for myself call me an adventist pentecost hallelujah and i discovered that this was merely their worship methodology but this methodology did not mirror the message or definition of the word pentecost 50 is what pentecost means it's important to get this because a lot of people have misrepresented this they have misrepresented now people misunderstand pentecost that the word pentecost is bad that the word pentecost is wild that the word pentecost is crazy but pentecost is not wild pentecost is not bad pentecost is not crazy pentecost means 50. it was a reference to the 50 days between the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread and the feast of the first fruits it was 50 days after jesus's resurrection 40 in which jesus had repeated contact with his disciples just before his ascension and then another 10 days 10 plus 40 is 50 where the disciples were after jesus ascension were in earnest prayer and about to witness something like never before pentecost is not a denomination pentecost is not a doctrine pentecost is not something that causes division but it was on the day of pentecost that the most phenomenal one of the most phenomenal important events in all of history took place it was on the day of pentecost that the coming of the holy ghost took place now i need to say this a lot of times i feel that the holy spirit gets the least respect out of the trinity but don't you ever forget friends of mine that it's the holy spirit's work that's at the forefront of our christian walk today are you hearing what i'm saying and the day of pentecost began the coming of the holy ghost acts 2 1 says again and when the day of pentecost was fully come they the disciples were all in one accord in one place now that means they had the right environment that means there was a spirit of agreements that they were all together they were all unified and i want to say right now i started it last week but i'll finish it up this week the reason why we don't see many manifestations in the house of god anymore is because there's too much discord but the bible lets me know that the power of the holy ghost is present when the people of god get in one accord personal agendas have to get out of the way ego has to get out of the way self has to get out of the way how can two walk together lest they agree but somebody knows there's power when we come into agreement somebody knows that whenever two or three are gathered in his name that great things happen somebody knows that when we touch and agree mighty manifestations take place in the body of christ regardless of your intellectual training regardless of your analytical mind there comes a time when you have to move beyond skepticism into a realm of corporate collective faith that says i believe that god is about to do something i don't know what god is about to do but i believe god is about to do something you see i serve a god who can move things i can't move who can do things i can't do who can say things i can't say and i believe that god is about to do something and when the people of god come together like this we believe that people who come in sick can leave healed people who come in blind can leave seeing people who come in lame can leave walking whenever you create the right atmosphere power will be released over god's church how can people be in the church so long on the same pew so long singing the same song so long and their lives are in the same place because there's no environment y'all don't hear what i'm saying no atmosphere for miracles to take place but when the atmosphere is right when the environment is right when the people of god are in one accord the presence of the holy ghost will be evident the world will be turned upside down the gospel will be preached souls will be baptized the church will grow and souls will be saved let me tell you what i was reading this week according to the adventist commentary it says whatever interferes with such unity must be removed or it will obstruct the holy ghost that's why when i go in the hospital and i visit tell and beat certain people i tell people in the hospital room with the sick i say if you don't believe that god has the power to raise this person above this way of affliction get up out of this room because we don't need conflicting spirits in this room because when the people of god come together and they're in one accord and the right environment and the right atmosphere is set mighty miracles will take place in the name of jesus the text continues verse number two come on look at it and suddenly i told them to underline that because i want you to get that and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting i need you to understand what the bible is trying to say the bible says suddenly if you were here i would say to you say suddenly the bible says suddenly without warning suddenly which means unexpectedly certainly which means immediately the disciples had no idea the way the holy spirit would come but the holy ghost just came and i can hear the holy ghost saying today that when you come to a place of agreement there are some manifestations that are going to take place in the body of christ not next week not next month not next year but suddenly god's going to bring about healing suddenly god's going to bring about deliverance suddenly god's going to bring about rescue suddenly god's going to bring about salvation suddenly god says look i'm tired of something's taken so long in your life there are some things i'm trying to do suddenly i wish i had a witness in this place verse three come on let's get the word verse three the bible says and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them there appeared unto them clothing tongues like as a fire and it set upon each of them they not only heard the sound of a rushing mighty wind but they also saw a tongue-shaped flame of fire resting upon each of the persons in the group y'all don't hear what i'm saying now don't get it twisted the people are not physically blown in the room the people's hair is not literally burned but these are just powerful symbols of a powerful spiritual experience don't miss the similes in the text you know what similes are the words like or as which are words used to compare something the bible says a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind the bible says cloven tongues like as of fire but what the bible is starting to tell us is that like wildfire the holy ghost spreads through their ranks verse number four and they were all filled with the holy ghost and they began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance now this was not a mere moving of the spirit this was not a mere prodding of the spirits this was not merely the breath of the spirit but this was the complete possession of the disciples by the holy spirit somebody doesn't know what i'm talking about let me try it this way anybody watching right now anybody ever had something in you there was just something in you and you couldn't get it out of you now you're at home so you can confess come on say amen there was something you couldn't get out of you tried but you couldn't get it out of you maybe it was a song and you kept singing it it was in you and you couldn't get it out of it maybe it was a saying it was a cliche it was in you and you couldn't get it out of you maybe it was a feeling it was in you and you couldn't get it out of you let me tell you something when jesus gets in you nothing can take jesus out of you when the holy ghost gets in you nothing can take it out of you when you are filled with the holy ghost nothing can take it out of you let me tell you something let me remind somebody right now we want to be clear right here there's a difference between the indwelling of the holy spirit and the feeling of the holy spirit let me say that again there's a difference between the indwelling of the holy spirit and the feeling feeling of the holy spirit you see understand all believers in jesus can have god's spirit dwelling in them but not all believers live lives filled or controlled by the holy spirit's power y'all don't hear what i'm saying some believers have all of the holy spirit but the holy spirit may not have all of them y'all don't hear what i'm saying we are indwelt by the holy spirit at the time of our salvation but we are filled with the holy spirit when we submit to him verse 8. look at it again and they were all filled with the holy spirit and began to speak with other tongues tongues is underlying let me hit that right now because we need to be to know and be reminded what the word of god says again not what somebody has told us but study the word of god for yourself not what you need have heard but you need to know biblically what the word of god says regarding the speaking of tongues because if it ain't in the word it doesn't deserve to be heard are you hearing what i'm saying and we need to know you hear me say it all the time we need to know what we believe why we believe what we believe and where it's found in the word of god so quickly the greek word for tongues is glossy glossy that's where the word glossary comes from glasses in this text is the fact that the disciples listened to me began to speak in languages that were known by other people unknown to them but known to other people the ability to speak foreign languages was a gift given to the disciples for the special purpose of carrying the gospel message to the entire world because at pentecost everybody came from everywhere they came from the north they came from the south they came from the east they came from the west people were in jerusalem for the feasts of pentecost and so for the disciples sake and for those who received the message through them the holy ghost enabled the disciples to proclaim the gospel in the native languages or native tongues of the different people the holy spirit gave the disciples not only the gift of speaking other language but the holy spirit also gave them their message now this is important friends of mine because a lot of this stuff we hear today about speaking in tongues is not tongues and we've got a lot of messed up church folk and a lot of confused non-church folk because of this thing about tongues you need to understand that the intent of tongues was to show those who had not experienced the power of the holy ghost that the power had shown up because when they began to speak in other tongues when they began to speak in other languages men sat from afar off and they said these men don't naturally speak our language so how could they know our language unless the holy ghost was upon them as a result of tongues the people were evangelized because the power of god moved in a mighty way i feel my help coming the initial use of tongues was the presence of the holy ghost manifested through languages for the purpose of evangelism when you read first corinthians 12 you discover that tongues are a gift but the gift of tongues is not exclusive evidence of the holy ghost what am i saying don't let anybody tell you that you don't have the holy ghost because you don't speak in tongues because i don't have to speak in tongues to have the holy ghost i wish i had a witness in this place tongues are a gift that is given and when you get to first corinthians 14 in the word the bible declares how the tongues how how they ought to be used because if there are tongues in an assembly if there are tongues in a gathering if there are tongues in a congregation there must be an interpreter because all gifts are given for the edification of the body of christ y'all don't hear what i'm saying and if a spiritual gift is not manifested to edify the body then it's not an authentic gift from god i wish i had a church in this place first corinthians 14 4 says he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself so if somebody spoke in tongues in church without interpretation those others present wouldn't know what he or she was talking about so how could they take part in worship how would they be edified you don't have to speak in tongues to prove you've had the holy ghost i don't know about you but i want an authentic experience from god i'm not looking to learn how to speak in tongues so don't take me up into a room and make me stay in that room all night long until i learn how to speak in tongues you're not ready today but not only that you don't have to wait all night long for the power of the holy ghost the holy ghost is already here the holy ghost already came in acts chapter 2. that's the former reign but now the holy ghost wants to reign in our lives that's the latter rain joel 2 28 is clear and it should come to pass afterward that i will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions church god is about to pour out his spirit on all flesh that's men and women that's all flesh god is about to reign hallelujah on his people and when you study joel chapter two the primary application of the former rain and the latter rain is the ada is the restoration of adequate rainfall the former rain fell in the fall and it promoted germination the latter rain fell rejoiled to in the spring and helped to bring the crops to maturity and when we apply this to god's church the former rain and the latter rain both represent the work of the holy ghost the former rain represents the outpouring of the holy ghost on the day of pentecost in acts chapter 2. the latter rain represents the outpouring of the holy ghost which produces the ripening of the harvest in the last days just before jesus comes and let me tell you something this latter rain is not a sprinkling it's not a little shower but it's a downpour ellen white makes it very clear to us in great controversy page 6-11 she says the great work of the gospel cannot close with less power than marked its opening which means that the second rain the latter rain will be greater than the former rain oh i get excited when i think about that because you know what that means if 3 000 people were baptized in one day in the former reign y'all don't hear what i'm saying imagine how many are going to be baptized in one day in the latter rain the events at pentecost were just a partial fulfillment of joel's prediction but the prophecy will reach its accomplishment in the last days in us in other words child you ain't seen nothing yet god wants to reign his holy ghost in us not next week not next month not next year but now god wants us to take the gospel now god wants us to let it rain now i'm not a weatherman i'm not a meteorologist but i can tell you something about rain number one if the atmosphere is cold water molecules will bond with cold pot cold air particle air particles in the air and you get snow if the atmosphere is cool these same water molecules will bond with cool particles in the air and you will get sleet but if the atmosphere is warm and water particles bond with warm particles in the air you get rain so if you have a cold atmosphere snow if you have a cool atmosphere sleet if you have a warm atmosphere rain i'm going somewhere with this now think about it when it snows i told you things shut down in huntsville things shut down when it snows things are cloudy visibility is limited when it snows you get snowed in you get locked in you can't go anywhere in a blizzard you can't go anywhere in a snowstorm when you get sleet you get icy roads and normal situations because of sleet become very difficult it's hard to drive in sleet it's hard to walk in sleeps you slip in sleep you slide in sleep you fall in sleep but when it rains rain has a way of washing things away rain has a way of refreshing things rain makes things clearer cleaner and brighter and when you ask god to come into your life if your heart is cold your life will shut down your life will be snowed in and you won't go anywhere if your heart is cool when you ask god in your life when it seems like you're ready to move forward and take what would be normal steps you will find yourself slipping in certain situations oh but when your heart is warmed when your heart is warmed your heart is right to receive the holy ghost and the holy ghost will reign in your life let me tell you something i've seen it rain so hard that entire houses have been washed out entire communities have been washed out entire cities have been washed out and that's what the holy ghost will do when you let him in your life he will clean you up he will clean you out you will be a new man you will be a new woman if any man be in christ he's a new creature oh things are passed away all things become new when it rains god changes you god washes the old man god washes the old woman and god washes them away and cleans you up and clean you out let me tell you when the holy ghost reigns saints are made out of sinners drunkards are out of deep deacons out of drunkards pathfinders out of pimps choir members out of blue singers believers out of doubters strong men out of weak men brave women out of scared women humble men out of high-minded men conquerors out of cowards christian ritzinesses out of cursing tongues let it rain let me tell you something god's getting ready to bring somebody out god's getting ready to bring somebody out of there out of their dry season somebody's in a drought right now somebody's in a dry place right now a dry place no job a dry place you're lonely a dry place no money a dry place you can't pass the test a dry place your marriage is on the rocks some people some places and some things are dead and dry but god is about to reign in somebody's life god is about to bring a downpour in somebody's life i'm not a weatherman i'm not a meteorologist but i know something about the rain number two i've learned that you hear rain before you see rain somebody missed that let me say that one more time i said you see rain hear rain before you see rain you hear love thunder and lightning before you see it you've got to hear god say it's going to rain before you see it's going to rain god told noah noah it's going to rain before noah even saw rain y'all don't hear what i'm saying you got to hear god say you're going to be healed before you see your healing you've got to hear god say that you're going to get a new job before you see it you've got to hear god say you're going to be married before you even see that man or see that woman you got to hear god say that your son your daughter your grandson your granddaughter is coming back to the lord before you see them coming back to the lord i once was young but now i'm old but i've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread you hear rain before you see rain so you better tell somebody after you leave church today on the internet i don't see it but i can hear it i said i don't see it but i can hear it i almost gave up but i heard something i almost threw in the towel but i heard something i almost walked away but i heard something i almost left the ministry but i heard something i almost dropped out of school but i heard something i almost left my marriage but i heard something i almost left the church but i heard something in the name of jesus you hearing before you see rain i'm not a weather man i'm not a meteorologist but i know something about rain number three when you hear something you got to tell somebody i said when you hear something you've got to tell somebody when you're here that rain is coming you tell somebody you see when you hear that a hurricane is coming you tell somebody when you hear that a thunderstorm is coming you tell somebody we can hear that a tornado is coming you tell somebody and i want somebody to know somebody who's watching right now i hear rain and i've got to tell somebody i came to tell somebody that god is about to reign on somebody i came to tell somebody that god is about to bless somebody i came to tell somebody that the best is yet to come i came to tell somebody that your best days are in front of you i came to tell somebody that your ladder will be greater than your former i hear the abundance of rain i hear somebody coming out of their droughts out of their negativity out of their depression out of their illness out of their sickness out of their financial place you may be in a dry place you may be in a drought but god's about to reign not a shower not a sprinkle but get ready for the abundance of rain let me tell you something it may be dry on every desk in your office but it's about the rain on your desk it may be dry in every house in your neighborhood but it's about to rain on your house i've had to tell myself it may be dry in every church but it's about to rain on this church the blessings of god are about to fall but not only that because it's about to rain because the latter rain is about to fall jesus is soon to come go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere go tell somebody that jesus was born that jesus lived that jesus died that jesus rose and that jesus is coming back go teach it go preach it go tell it go proclaim it let it rain let me tell you some acts chapter two it teaches that the disciples in the former reign were in one place in one accord and the holy ghost rained on them like never before they turned the bible says the world upside down sicknesses were healed relationships were mended the blind were made to see 3 000 were baptized in one single day but that was the first rain that was the first rain that was the former rain but the bible says there's going to be a second rain the latter rain and again the latter rain is going to be greater than the former rain the latter rain is about to fall friends of mine i believe miracles are about to fall miracles just weren't for bible days miracle days are for us today every day you wake up that's a miracle miracles are about to fall souls are about to be saved the gospel is about to go forward so let it rain let it rain in huntsville let it rain in new york let it rain in atlanta let it rain in los angeles let it rain in chicago let it rain in kingston let it rain in port of spain let it rain in london let it rain in europe let it rain in asia let it rain in africa let it rain in america let it rain in your hearts let it rain in my heart let it rain in all of our hearts created me a clean heart oh god renew a right spirit in me we need the reigning of the holy ghost we need a downpouring we need an outpouring we need a tropical storm we need a hurricane we need a tornado we need some rain so let it rain jesus number one i want the atmosphere to be warm so it will rain on me i want to hear rain before i see rain and when i hear rain i want to tell it oh the lord's been mighty good to me i'll tell it everywhere i go he loosed my shackles and he set me free i'll tell it everywhere i go for i am not ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ for it is the power of god unto salvation the lord is my light my salvation whom shall i fear the lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid the lord is my refuge and strength a very present help in time of trouble the lord is my shepherd i shall not want let it rain does anybody want the holy ghost to rain don't you know the rain will change your attitude god's reign will change your disposition god's reign will change your heart god's raid will change you let it rain rain jesus rain melodies from heaven bring down on me open up the floodgates of heaven let it rain let it rain

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Length: 39min 49sec (2389 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 25 2021