Turn with me to Acts chapter 2, and I am, in
fact, I'm going to modify what I'm preaching
on this morning. I can preach for hours on the
Holy Spirit. Today is Pentecost Sunday, but we
want to pray over you to receive a fresh touch
from the Holy Spirit this morning. The Holy Spirit
is our helper. And how many of you need a helper?
How many of you are convinced that you can do
this Christian life all by yourself? When you
try to do that, one of two things will happen.
You will either give up and quit, or you will
become a Pharisee, trying to do it on your own.
And we just freely declare, and it feels so good
to say, God, I cannot do this on my own. I need
what you have given me. And God has given you
what you need for life and godliness, not so
that you can do it on your own, but he's equipped
you with tools. We've been given mercy. We've
been given grace. We've been given all kinds
of things. One of the things we've been given
is the precious Holy Spirit, the third person
of the Godhead. We have been given the Holy Spirit
to help us live this Christian walk. Amen? Now,
there are so many things that the Holy Spirit
does in our lives, things that He equips us with,
ways that He helps us. God helps us. Tools that
he gives to us, the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
so powerful, so wonderful. Jesus had told the
apostles in Acts chapter 1, he had already given
them, he was giving them the great commission,
go into all the world and preach the gospel,
and teaching them to obey everything that I have
commanded them, baptizing them in my name. And
then he said, and I will be with you to the end
of the earth. He had already told them that.
had the commandment to go into all the world
and preach the gospel. It's why we do missions.
But then the last thing he said was not go into
all the world, but wait, stay in Jerusalem. And
he said, because in a couple days, you're going
to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. It's going
to be the gift that I talked about from the Father.
You're going to receive the infilling of the
Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus did not tell them. He
did not tell them that we know of. When the Holy
Spirit comes upon you, you're going to pray in
tongues. Jesus did not tell them that. When the
Holy Spirit comes upon you, you're going to be
able to do miracles on a level you've never been
able to do before. Jesus did not tell them that.
There was a whole lot that Jesus did not tell
them. The one command that he gave to them was
this, go and wait. And you will know when it
happens. And so there they were in the upper
room. It was the first experience of people being
filled with the Holy Spirit. And we pick it up.
They had a business meeting in chapter 1. In
fact, the Bible also says they were in one accord
in prayer. So they had prayer meetings. They
had a business meeting. They elected a new apostle
to replace Judas. They did several things during
those 10 days. But we pick it up in chapter 2.
Verse 1. When the day of Pentecost had fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place,
and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting. And then there
appeared to them divided tongues as of fire,
and one sat upon each of them, and they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues as the
Spirit gave them utterance. Hallelujah. And so,
Lord, we ask that your word, which you've given
to us, God, not just to know how it happened
in the past, but so that we could know what to
expect for our lives. I pray that it would come
alive to us today in Jesus' name. And everybody
said, amen, amen. In Numbers chapter 11, Moses
was asking God, how am I going to take care of
all of these people? There are too many for me.
And in Numbers chapter 11, God says this in verse
17. He says, I'm giving you 70 elders of Israel,
in verse 16, who are known to you as leaders
and officials among the people. Have them come
to the tent of meeting that they might stand
with you there. Verse 17, I will come down and
speak with you there, and I will take some of
the power of the Spirit that is on you, and I
will put it on them. They will share the burden
of the people with you so that you will not have
to carry it alone. You see, even then, the Holy
Spirit was a helper. Moses needed the Holy Spirit
to help. In the days gone by, Moses relied on
the Holy Spirit to govern and to lead Israel.
And now God is saying, I'm going to take of the
same spirit that is on you, which was the Holy
Spirit, and I'm going to put it on the 70 elders
so that they can help you. And so we read in
verse 25, then the Lord came down in the cloud
and spoke. spoke with Moses, and God took some
of the power of the Spirit that was on Moses
and put it on the 70 elders. And when the Spirit
rested upon them, they prophesied in the camp.
Well, two of them did not make it out. And a
young man ran and told Moses, Eldad and Medad
are prophesying in the camp. And so Joshua, the
son of Nun, who had been Moses' aid since youth,
spoke up and said, Moses, my Lord, stop them.
Because back then, the gifts of the Spirit, the
power of the Spirit, were only for certain people.
And Joshua thought, well, they're acting out
of order. They weren't with the 70. They were
in the camp. But Moses replied, and this is why
I read this story. Are you jealous for my sake?
I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets
and that the Lord would put his spirit on them
all. Wow. Moses was looking forward to Acts chapter
2. He was prophetically replying to Joshua whether
he... Fully understood it or not, I doubt. But
he was looking ahead to the day when not just
one or two were anointed by the Holy Spirit,
but where everybody could receive of the power
of the Holy Spirit. Moses' desire. Joshua, I
want them all to prophesy. I don't want to be
the only one prophesying. I don't even want just
these 70 to prophesy. I want the whole nation
of Israel to prophesy. Hallelujah. Oh, praise
God. And so Moses is looking ahead to that moment.
There were others that prophesied what would
happen. And so we read in Isaiah chapter 44 and
verse 3. And Isaiah prophesies, for I will pour
water on him who is thirsty and floods on the
dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants
and my blessing. on your offspring. They will
spring up among the grass like willows on the
watercourses. I will pour out my spirit, he says,
on all flesh. Hallelujah. Glory to God. We have
the word in Ezekiel chapter 39. And he says,
I will not hide my face from them anymore. The
time is coming when I will not hide my face from
them anymore. For I shall have poured out my
spirit on the whole house of Israel, says the
Lord God. Praise the Lord. Isn't that good to
hear? This is Old Testament. And then the one
that Peter would later preach in Acts chapter
2, Joel chapter 2, and it's probably the most
strong of the prophetic times. In Joel chapter
2, verse 28, And it shall come to pass afterward
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your
young men shall see visions. And also on my men
servants and my maid servants, I will pour out
my spirit in those days. Glory to God. Hallelujah.
Now, many of you are like me. I grew up in a
church that taught Against the Holy Spirit. Well,
who do you think would want teaching against
the Holy Spirit? There has been a shroud over
Christianity for millennium in some cases. That
has stolen this from the church. Now there have
been pockets of outpouring throughout history.
I did research as a college student many years
ago and found evidence of people being baptized
in the Holy Spirit in almost every century. And
it's pretty awesome. But at the turn of the 20th
century, The outpouring of the Holy Spirit restored
the gifts of the Spirit to the church in a way
that we have not seen in a long time. And the
Azusa Street outpouring in 1906 marked a beginning
of a transformation in the church. The Assemblies
of God, born in 1914 in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
with 300 people that got together and declared,
we are going to bring the gospel to the ends
of the earth. And so they were believing for
one of the greatest missionary movements of all
time, to bring the gospel to the ends of the
earth. And we are still, 109 years later, 10
years later, I'm not doing my math right, we
are still committed to bringing the gospel to
the ends of the earth in the power of the Holy
Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit was restored
to the church. And here they are in this room,
and they are... Waiting, waiting, waiting. And
the day of Pentecost, the day of celebration.
Oh, that's the point that I was making. Is that
the enemy has turned this thing called the Holy
Spirit in people's minds into something weird.
Into something unnecessary. Into something optional.
But the reason I believe that God coupled the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the day of
Pentecost is because Pentecost was a day of incredible
celebration. It was a celebration of the ingathering.
A celebration of the harvest. And they were celebrating
with everything they had when the Holy Spirit
came and they had even more reason to celebrate.
Hallelujah. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is
not something that God ever intended us to be
cautious towards. The baptism of the Holy Spirit
was something that God wanted His people to celebrate.
Hallelujah. And so he coupled it with this day
of celebration. And they were feasting and they
were dancing and they were shouting just as Jewish
people. And they were celebrating this festival
together. And they turned and all the people
in Jerusalem began to hear something. What is
that? What is that? It sounds like a storm is
coming. It sounds like a mighty rushing wind.
Now, I've only heard a mighty rushing wind a
couple of times in my life. One of them was with
Pastor Ben in the Boundary Waters. We heard a
mighty rushing wind. And for 20 minutes, we were
pelted with hailstones. And I was laughing. I
was laughing. And it was a mighty rushing wind.
We could hear the wind blowing. from afar off,
and it came like a train, and it hit us. I've
got it all on video. You've got to see it. And
they heard that sound all through Jerusalem.
And all through Jerusalem, they gathered together,
and they brought eyes to the place they heard
the sound coming from. It was this upper room,
and they turned there. And while the disciples
are inside, tongues of fire. come into the room.
I picture it in this room. The upper room, I'm
sure, didn't look like this. But tongues of fire
separating. One piece coming to rest on every
single person as they were filled with the Holy
Spirit. And as they were filled with the Holy
Spirit, something happened inside. Something
broke free inside like a river. And they began
to pray in language that they'd never learned.
And in this case, they were actual other human
languages. All throughout the book of Acts, that
does not happen. Sometimes they're called heavenly
languages or the language of angels even. Because
they are not necessarily always human languages.
Sometimes they're languages that God gives you
that only He understands. But they begin to break
forth in these languages. And they couldn't stop.
They kept proclaiming whatever it was in their
heart that they were feeling. It was a heart
feeling kind of thing. And they just broke forth
in this praise in a language that they did not
know what they were saying. But boy, did it feel
good. Hallelujah. Boy, did it feel good. Boy,
did it feel like something is happening in my
life. Something is changing in my life. Something
is transforming inside of me. Something is happening.
Hallelujah. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem
devout Jews, devout men from every nation under
heaven. Why? They had gathered for the celebration
of Pentecost. And when the sound occurred, the
multitude came together and were confused. Why?
Well, we've been standing in our own little groups
talking with just the people that understand
our language. And all of a sudden, we hear our
language. And they marveled. And they began to
speak to one another. Look, aren't those speaking?
Aren't they Galileans? Galileans are known to
be uneducated. They only speak their own language.
How is it that we hear in our own language where
we were born, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, those
dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus,
Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the
parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from
Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs.
We hear them speaking in our own tongue. the
wonderful works of God and so they are just feeling
this in their heart praying in this new language
that they've got but they are they are speaking
forth the praises and the wonders of God in a
language that the people around them understand
how many of you how many of you would would just
say that that is powerful that is a God kind
of a thing wow wow I was in I was in Panama,
and we were praying for people to be filled with
the Holy Spirit. And one older gentleman, he
did not speak the Panama language. He only spoke
his native tongue, an indigenous tongue. And
he was there being prayed for to be filled with
the Holy Spirit. And he began to speak in perfect
English. The fire of God is falling in this place.
He did not know what he was saying. Do you know
what he was doing? He was praying in his prayer
language. And it was perfect English. seen a
thing like that before or since, but it's like,
I felt like what was happening here, the glories
of God being displayed among them. Friends, this
thing is real, and it's good, and it's necessary,
and it is something that God wants to give. And
later on, see, if it wasn't, it would have just
stopped here. But in Acts chapter 4, guess what?
They were filled with the Holy Spirit again.
Hallelujah. In Acts chapter 7, and Philip went
down to preach the gospel in Samaria, and many
of them repented and were healed supernaturally,
but they had not received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, and so they sent for Peter and John,
and Peter and John came, and they laid hands
on people, and they received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. It happened again in Acts chapter
10. It happened again in Acts. chapter 19, and
Paul began to ask the question. He just began
to ask Christians everywhere, people that he
thought were believers. If he thought that they
were believers, he would just ask them, have
you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?
That was his question to people that he had met
for the very first time, because there was a
time in Christianity where being baptized in
the Holy Spirit was a normal part of believing.
I'm believing for that day to come back, friends.
I'm believing for the impartation of the Holy
Spirit. We've come up with these things that
are not biblical. And so we justify it. We say
things that are true like, well, I have the Holy
Spirit as soon as I become a believer. And that
is true, you do, because without the Holy Spirit,
you never even would have become a believer.
And so, yes, you have the Holy Spirit, but there
is an experience called the baptism of the Holy
Spirit that is different, that God wants to use.
He used it in their lives to empower them so
that they can fulfill their call in Christ. And
Paul, I think he would go around today and he
would ask that question. Have you received the
Holy Spirit since you believed? And their answer
was, well, we haven't even heard that there was
a Holy Spirit. And he said, well, I thought,
I'm paraphrasing here, I thought you were Christians
already. Weren't you baptized? Yeah, but we were
only baptized into John's baptism. Well, John's
baptism was a baptism of repentance, but John
came to prepare the way for the one that would
come after him, Jesus. And so right then and
there, those disciples of John gave their lives
to Jesus. Hallelujah. Now, this was decades after.
John had died. Jesus ascended the church. This
is decades after. They had only heard about John's
baptism. And now they were baptized in water.
And the Bible says that when they came out of
the water, Paul laid hands on them. And they
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And
they began to pray in tongues. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Friends, this thing is good. It is good. And
it is God. It is God. I need the baptism of the
Holy Spirit to stay effective as a pastor. I
need a baptism of the Holy Spirit in my life
to empower me to do the things that He's called
me to do. I need the Holy Spirit to evangelize.
Sometimes when God, puts this flutter in my heart,
like go talk to that stranger, which can I confess
to you as a pastor, I'm not great at talking
to strangers. I should be. I'm not great at it.
But I get this nervousness, but you know what
I do? I just pray in the Spirit. And you know
what happens? Boldness comes on me. And then
I can do what God's called me to do. There are
elements of the Christian faith that cannot be
accomplished apart from the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. So you say, Pastor, well, isn't the resurrection
enough? But did you notice that Peter did not
preach after the resurrection? Peter believed.
But Peter was still ashamed, carrying guilt.
Jesus came to Peter and said, do you love me,
Peter? Yes, I love you. Three times. Feed my
sheep. Peter was not even restored then. Encounter
with Jesus. But you notice what happens? After
Peter is baptized in the Holy Spirit, he stands
up with authority and with power that he did
not have before. And he preaches to thousands.
God amplifies his voice. And that day, as he's
preaching the gospel, 3 ,000 people. And some
say that's only the men. It could have been up
to 10 ,000 people. But between 3 and 10 ,000
people were added to the church because Peter
was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I need the infilling
of the Holy Spirit. I need the infilling of the
Holy Spirit. I am dependent upon the infilling
of the Holy Spirit. We need you, Holy Spirit.
We need you, Holy Spirit. My whole message this
morning was about unity. I'm going to save that
message for another time. The unity of the Spirit.
God wants to touch you today. Praise the Lord.
Some of you were baptized in the Holy Spirit
in the altar. When you came down and people laid
hands on you, that was me. I was 13 years old.
Came down and laid hands on me and I wept and
cried and spoke in tongues for the very first
time. Changed my life for it. No, I was... Yeah,
I was 13. Some of you were in the church. Some
of you were not in the church. Anybody baptized
in the Holy Spirit at home? Some of you were
filled with the Holy Spirit at your house by
yourself. I like Dennis' story. Dennis was on
his tractor. The Holy Spirit came on him. Filled
him with the Holy Spirit. Driving on his tractor.
My brother, after a year of seeking God for the
baptism of the Holy Spirit, was baptized wondrously,
all alone, in a field. Baptized in the Holy Spirit.
What a good thing. Some people think, well, why
would God fill me with His Spirit? I'm not Moses.
I'm not Joshua. Because He wants everybody. In
the Old Testament, it was expressed through a
few leaders. But in the New Testament, the way
has been made for every single one of us to receive
the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My sister received
the baptism of the Holy Spirit at six years old.
She began to pray in tongues. She and her husband
have been pastoring for decades now. She's an
amazing woman of God. Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I want to challenge you, those of you that have
never received just to begin a journey. That
journey might culminate today. You can be filled
with the Holy Spirit this morning before you
leave. But some of you need to go through more
of a journey because you're not sure. And it's
okay to have questions and to ask and to seek
out. There's a wonderful book called They Speak
With Other Tongues. Who wrote that book, Kathy?
John Sherrill, the Guidepost author, who was
an Episcopalian and went on a journey, went to
meetings like this, sought and sought. It's a
brutally honest book. Is that just gibberish
I heard in the Pentecostal churches? But his
journey culminated in a glorious infilling of
the Holy Spirit. And it's a wonderful book. You
can download it and you can read it. Some of
you need a journey. Because you need to know
in your own heart that it isn't just emotionalism.
And it isn't just that hype in that church that
they do. But that it really is a gift from God.
And in the book of Acts, in Acts 2, they had
nobody playing music. They had nobody giving
an altar call. They were just there. And they
just said, we're saying, God, we're waiting.
We don't know what we're waiting for. But we're
waiting. And when it came, They knew. And when
he comes on you, you will know. You will know.
It's God's gift to you. We've watched God baptize
people from every social structure in his Holy
Spirit. He's no regarder of men. He doesn't care.
what flavor of life you choose. He wants to give
you his Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord. Praise
the Lord. Come, Holy Spirit, I need you. Come.
Sweet Spirit, I pray. Come in Thy strength and
Thy power. Come in Thine own special way. And
let's sing that song we sang earlier. Melt me.
Mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living
God, fall fresh on me. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lord, would you fill
your sons and your daughters with the Holy Spirit?