Thank you for listening to this message from
Lifehouse Church. God's good. Amen. Come on,
give him a hand. He's worthy. Can't give him
too much praise. Hey, before we get started going
into the word this morning, I'm going to ask
if the Tangier mission trip team would make their
way to the front. They're getting ready to leave
this week. to go out and do missionary work.
I don't know how many of them are here. We got
a couple. Could you give them a hand as they
come up? Come on. There's a few representing
from LifeHouse, but it is a large team. Charlie
and Laura are leading this team this year. There's
how many total this year going? 49 individuals
are going to be leaving for Tangier. And Bruce,
I know, is already down there. There's several
here that are here this morning. And here's what
we're going to do. Church, I'm going to ask you
to stand up one more time. As the team slides
together here, I want you to extend your hand
this way. A couple of you, if you're comfortable,
just jump out of your seats right now. Come up,
lay hands on this group. Come on, if you would.
If you're comfortable doing that, prayer team,
I know some of you are. We're going to pray over
this team. We're trusting the work that they
do. I got to go to Tangier just about a month
ago, and I understand now. It's one thing to
see a missions project. It's another thing to
go. And they're going down to do the work, but
more importantly, they're going down to be the
hands and feet of Jesus. Amen? That's what we
do everywhere. If you would, church, extend your
hand this way. And we're going to begin to pray.
Father, I thank you for the opportunity, God,
that has laid before us. God, I thank you for
this team who's made the commitment. God, they
have made the investment. God, they have prayed.
They have sought you. And they are going down
to work. And most of all, they're going down
to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Lord, we pray.
We're hands and feet. And then it's gospel all
the way. So, Lord, I pray that as this team comes
together, Lord, with so many others, God, from
other churches, Lord, as they go to serve, I
pray that you're blessed. would be upon them,
that your hand would be upon them. God, protect
them as they work, as they labor. God, as they
serve first and share the gospel right alongside
of that work that they're going to do. And Lord,
we give you praise. We give you glory. God, I
ask that your will and purpose would be done
in the work that they're about to do and will
not fail to give you praise for all the increase
in the kingdom of God. In Jesus' name, we pray
this. And the church said. Amen. Amen. God bless
you. Give them another hand as they go to serve.
They're leaving this week, and I don't know how
many of you have looked at the weather. It is
going to be hot where they're going. And they're
going to be fighting heat, the bugs, and every
other obstacle that comes up. But we're just
trusting that God's going to use them in a great
way, like He always does. When we commit, we
place our small effort in His hands. He does
something with it. I don't know how he does it,
but he does it every time. It's true. Well, we
have spent the last multiple months, actually
since the beginning of the year, working our
way through the book of John and completed the
book of John, and now we're going to slide into
the book of Acts. And I haven't preached every
scripture. We haven't gone down by scripture,
but we have worked down through chapters of John,
and now we want to slide into the book of Acts.
The book of Acts or the Acts of the Apostle is
the fifth book in the New Testament. And it really,
it ties the gospels of Jesus and the epistles
together. It's lodged right in between. It's
believed that Dr. Luke was the writer, the author
of this book as the Holy Spirit moved upon him.
And it really chronicles the birth of the church.
We are the church. Amen. All those thousands
of years ago, the birth of the early church is
chronicled in the book of Acts. And the key theme
that you're going to see all the way through
the book of Acts is the Holy Spirit empowering
believers to fulfill what Jesus called or what
we call that Jesus spoke is the great commission.
Jesus spoke a commission to the disciples. That
commission has been handed down to us as followers
of Jesus. And we hear that, the directive, the
orders, if you want, the mission that Jesus gave
his disciples to go and reach everyone across
the face of the globe, across this planet with
the message of Jesus Christ. The book of Acts,
like all books, will deepen your knowledge of
who Jesus is, what Jesus is about, and what God's
plan is for us personally and honestly across
the world. It really is. And I'm excited to jump
into the book of Acts. But before we go into
the book of Acts, we're going to rewind just
a bit. Anybody ever just rewind something? I
know we don't do that anymore, right? We just,
it's digital now. But how many remember cassette
tape player? Thank you. All right. Had a rewind
button. Some of you young people look it up.
It's a thing. All right. You would rewind. We're
going to back up just a little bit, and we're
going to go into the 20th chapter of John, and
we're going to start at verse 18. And as you're
turning there, I'll pray, and then we're going
to set the scene a little bit, and we're going
to jump into Scripture. Lord, thank you for this
time together. God, we pray over our ears, our
hearts, our minds. God, as we take in the Word,
Lord, change us. Guide us, direct us. Holy Spirit,
fill us full. of your presence, God, that we
might go forward, God, in your power, Lord, to
reach others in Jesus' name. And amen. Amen.
So we're in John chapter 20, and we're going
to pick up at verse 18. And I want to give you
just a little backstory to get to this place.
You need to know a little bit where we are in
the timeline of what's taking place. Jesus has
died, he's been buried, and he has risen from
the grave. That's what's taking place right when
this is all going on. He's completing the plan
of God to redeem us from sin. His shed blood
has become the sacrifice for sin, right? He has
conquered death, hell, and the grave, coming
out of the grave. It is now the finished, completed
work. Jesus did it all at the cross. He paid
all the price that needs to be paid for sin.
It all happened and took place when he stepped
out of that grave. And now Jesus is beginning
to appear. to his disciples. He's came out of
the grave. This is post -resurrection time, right?
And over the course of 40 days, Jesus will show
himself to more than 500 witnesses. So in John
chapter 20, verse 18, it says this, Mary Magdalene
was one of the first that Jesus showed himself
to. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples
that she has seen the Lord and that he had spoken
these things to her. And then the same day at
evening, being the first day of the week when
the doors were shut, where the disciples were
assembled for fear of the Jews. Now, let me stop
there for just a second. Jesus is risen from
the grave, but the disciples don't know it yet.
And they're actually, they're kind of freaking
out, all right? They're hiding. Jesus died. He
was crucified. The religious leaders, right,
they came and got Jesus, arrested him, crucified
him. He's in the grave. They don't know Jesus
is resurrected yet. And they're kind of worried.
They're like, we're probably next, right? They're
going to come after us. So they're in a room
with the door shut in fear. This is when this
is taking place. Jesus came. Now, Jesus, they
shut the door for fear of the Jews. Jesus came
and stood in the midst and said to them, peace
be with you. And when he had said this, he showed
them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus is appearing
to the disciples the first time, post -resurrection.
And they're locked up in a room. They're worried
about what's going to happen next. All of a sudden,
he appears in the locked room, and he shows them
hands. Hey, guys, it's me. I'm alive. Here's
the holes in my hands from the crucifixion. Here's
the spear hole in my side. He's shown them, and
they're glad. They're excited to see him. They're
almost probably blown away, right? Almost unbelievable.
So Jesus says to them, now listen to what Jesus
says. Peace to you. As the Father has sent me,
I also send you. And when he said this, he breathed
on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.
It's Jesus' first interaction with the disciples
post -resurrection. And he first speaks peace
to them. He comes in and says peace. But then
he says two very important things. He said, as
the Father has sent me, I also send peace. you.
He's commissioning them. These are his 12. These
are some of his closest disciples, some of those
who followed him very closely all along for three
and a half years. He says, as the Father has
sent me, now I send you. He begins to commission
them. And we'll read in Matthew 28, he says that
further in a deeper manner in Matthew 28. And
then it says, then he breathed on them and said
to them, receive. the Holy Spirit. Now, I want
you to do something just to get the feel for
what's happening. I want you just to breathe
for a second. Go ahead. Just draw in and breathe
out. Just blow it out. Breathe in and blow it
out. Jesus comes in the room, he commissions
them, and he breathes on them, and he says, receive
the Holy Spirit. This is the same breathe that
you see in Genesis chapter two and seven, when
God breathed life into Adam, he creates Adam
and he breathes life into him. Jesus is breathing
new life into these disciples. These disciples
have been worried. They have been freaked out
about what's going on and they're locked up in
a room in fear. And he breathes into the new
life. And he says, be empowered, right? Receive
the Holy Spirit. go into all the world and preach
the gospel. He authorizes them. It's Jesus authorizing
and empowering the disciples as he's getting
ready to leave and ascend once he appears to
all these witnesses who are going to see him.
Jesus knows he's about to leave this group. He
knows that they're going to be on their own.
He knows that they're going to have to go into
all the world and preach the gospel. Jesus commissions
them, right? He gives them the objective. And
then he imparts the Holy Spirit. Receive. Now,
when we talk about the Holy Spirit, so many Christians
get a little tense sometimes. When we start talking
about the Holy Spirit, they're a little confused
sometimes. About what we're talking about, because
it's easy for us to understand the Father in
Scripture, right? The Creator, God of all. We
understand the Son, Jesus, who was Savior and
Lord and died on the cross. But for some reason,
people start to get a little murky when we start
talking about Holy Spirit and God's power in
our life. And He's in us, and He dwells in us.
And we talk about the baptism of the Spirit.
People start to get murky, and they start to
misunderstand. But Jesus was sent. Jesus sent
us the Holy Spirit. Jesus is sending us out to
bring people into the kingdom of God. Others,
right? Let me say it again. Jesus sent us the
Holy Spirit because Jesus is sending us out to
bring others into the kingdom of God. Jesus sends
the Holy Spirit. He imparts the Holy Spirit to
us. It's salvation. to empower and to authorize
us to begin to share the gospel with other people.
He breathed onto disciples at that moment in
time when he meets with them in that locked up
room. And we see later in Matthew 28, 18, he
speaks this same commission. that he spoke in
John. It says, Amen. Holy Spirit is given to
empower the disciples and to empower me, to empower
us, to authorize us, to minister to others. He's
there so that we begin our international ministry,
right? Our missionary work into all nations.
Now, most of you are like, wait a minute here.
I just came to hear a message. Now you're saying
I'm going to do an international missionary work.
What? Right? You talking about me? No way, pastor.
I just came to hear a message this morning. I
don't want to hear anything about an international
ministry thing. I don't know. Listen, if you're
saved, if you're redeemed, if you're blood -bought
and the shed blood of Jesus has saved you, he's
called you to international ministry. He said
to go into all the world, right? You're an international
missionary. Surprise! You're supposed to go everywhere.
Surprise. He might be like, I didn't even sign
up for that. Well, it's automatically assigned
to you as a believer, as a follower. Kevin and
Kayla, are they here this morning? Kevin and
Kayla, I don't think I saw them this morning.
But Kevin and Kayla are part of our church. And
they're in the process right now of becoming
international missionaries. They've been going
through a very long, arduous process of actually
being credentialed to be missionaries. Their
heart is to go to Italy. They're probably going
to start out in other locations first as they
go. And they're working through this credentialing
process. And it's a slow process. But the first
step in the process for them is the first step
in the process for all of us is that it is. heavenly
process. It's not a credentialing thing, but
it is defined authority where the Holy Spirit
is sent to us, and he commissions us, Christ
commissions us to go reach everybody, to go get
everybody, right? To go in places, and it might
not be an organization that you're going to go
and get credentialed with, but he commissions
us to go. It's one of the reasons, it is the
reason that Jesus breathed on the disciples.
He commissioned them, and he breathed the Holy
Spirit onto them and said, go. Right? No joke,
for reals. You're an international missionary.
Raise your hand in the house if you're a missionary.
Y 'all should put your hands up. I just told
you you were. All right? And listen, your international
ministry might be in your backyard. It might
be you just need to go to your neighbor. How
many know that's somewhere in the world, right?
That is somewhere in the world. You might need
to go to your backyard. You might need to go
across town. You might need to go down the street.
It might be in the next state somewhere. The
Tangier team's getting ready to go a couple states
away, right? It might be something like that.
Or God might even call you to go international,
and you'll have to go through the credentialing
process. And you might say, well, I feel overwhelmed
by that. You should. I do. Right? That's way
bigger than me. That's something that's beyond
anything I even think. You might be thinking,
man, I don't know about that, right? You might
be thinking, I had a hard enough time just trying
to keep myself on the straight and narrow, let
alone helping anybody else. Some of you are like,
I had a hard time getting out of bed today, let
alone going and doing some kind of international
ministry kind of thing. I'm just trying to get
through another day. I'm with you. I hear you.
But Jesus said, he... The disciples were locked
up in a room, hiding in fear. And Jesus comes
in and commissions them, and he brings on them
the Holy Spirit. This is how he does it. Jesus
knew the commission was way bigger than they
were, right? He knew that they would need Holy
Spirit to overcome their fear. He knew that they
would feel super inadequate, super underqualified,
super underpowered. He knew we would be just
like the disciples, like hiding in a room somewhere,
like, I don't even know. I can't even take care
of me sometimes. Jesus knew this was way beyond
us. He knew it. He never, I can tell you, in
the halls of heaven, Jesus never looked at me
and thought, you know, international ministry,
I think he can handle it. He never did that,
right? He's probably looking at me and going,
he's going to need the Holy Spirit. He's going
to need them bad, all right? That's what he saw.
That's what he saw. Our whole lives are, hmm,
but God. Our whole lives. Our whole lives are,
hmm, but God. Our whole lives. Jesus breathes
Holy Spirit. He imparts Holy Spirit to the disciples
and commissions them. Peace to you. As the Father
has sent me, I also send you. Let that soak in.
Let that get in your spirit. But Jesus says something
really interesting a little bit later. He tells
this same group of disciples, after I leave,
go to Jerusalem and I want you to wait for a
promise. He says, I want you to wait for further
empowerment. Go and wait for the Holy Spirit
to show up in a different manner and in a different
way. And you might be thinking, well, wait a
minute. Didn't Jesus just breathe on the disciples
and they had a Holy Spirit? Yes. But he sends
them to Jerusalem. He says, go wait for the promise.
He says something different. If you're in Acts,
go to Acts chapter 1. We're going to dive into
Acts verse 1. It says this, the former account
I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began
both to do and to teach until the day in which
he was taken up, after he through the Holy Spirit
had given commandments to the apostles whom he
had chosen, to whom he also presented himself,
we just read about it, alive after his suffering
by many infallible proofs, being seen by them
40 days and speaking of things. pertaining to
the kingdom of God. He talks about this, right?
And being assembled together with them, he commanded
them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait
for the promise of the Father. He says, after
I leave, after I'm gone, after I'm done being
seen by 500 witnesses, after you're done talking
to me and I'm talking to you and pointing to
you, go wait in Jerusalem. He commanded them,
don't depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the
promise. Say the promise. of the Father, which
he said, you have heard from me. For John truly
baptized with water, which is a baptism of repentance
in God's word, but you shall be baptized with
the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Once
Jesus leads the disciples, they are to go to
Jerusalem and they are to wait. For the promise,
which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or baptized
with the Holy Spirit, is really what the Word
of God says. It's what it says plainly, right?
Jesus breathes on them, and they receive the
Holy Spirit. Sometimes you'll hear that terminology
used, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That
happens in salvation. Holy Spirit comes into
your life. At salvation, He's there, right? But
then He instructs that there's a separate experience.
There's something different. Go be baptized with
the Holy Spirit. Go to Jerusalem and wait. There's
this separate experience. And we are to become
baptized with the Holy Spirit. Just like the
disciples were to become baptized. The word baptized
means immersed. We do water baptism here. We
do it by immersion, okay? I loved it. The last
time we did baptism, we had 14 people baptized.
And I loved watching some of them. Once in a
while, people, when I'm baptizing them in water,
they stiffen up. We tell them not to, but they
get stiff. And ours is a sitting down pool. And
a couple of them, man, they got stiff. And when
I dunked them, I saw their feet come up, whoop,
out of the water and right back down, right?
We immersed them. I did. We got the first part
wet and then the second part wet. And they were
immersed into the water. They went down under
the water. And really, if you look this word
up here, it's to be immersed. It's to wash. It's
to plunge. It's to be imbued. It's to go. It's
saturated. It's deeper. purpose and significance
that affects throughout the whole. If you look
this up, it's what it speaks, right? Jesus told
his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait there
to be washed. Wait there to be immersed. Wait
there to be plunged. Wait in that place to be
dipped in the Holy Spirit's presence. Wait for
the baptism. You're going to be baptized. And
we all know this, right? We know that. How many
know you can be? There's a difference between
being in someone's presence. and being baptized
in their presence. I don't know if you know that
or not. There's a difference between the two.
I can be in somebody's presence and not necessarily
be baptized in their presence. If you're dating
somebody right now, you're in somebody's presence.
You're learning about them. You're getting to
know them. You're finding a few things out. But
how many know when you get married, you're baptized
into their presence? Amen? You start to see things
you never saw before. My wife's going, right?
Come on, right? When you marry them, some of
you single people need to listen up. All right,
this is true. You get baptized. You get immersed
into their presence. You can catch a sense of
what somebody's like in their presence, and you'll
learn about them, and there's this relationship
that takes place. But when you get immersed in
their presence, it changes. You find out what
they're really like. This even happens on a mission.
trip. We just got back from Guatemala a couple
of weeks ago. And when you go on a mission trip,
I know some of the people that before we go on
these mission trips, right? I'm in their presence.
When you go on a mission trip, you get immersed
in their presence. You really do. You're spending
every minute together. You're going, you're flying,
you're getting to the hotel or wherever you're
staying, right? Bunkhouse, wherever you're staying.
Where we went in Guatemala, there's a bunkhouse
for the men and there's a bunkhouse for the ladies.
So we're all sleeping in bunk beds in the same
room. I got immersed in some presence, some of
the people. I can tell you who went on the team.
I can tell you who snores. I can tell you who
talks in her sleep. I can tell you who grinds
their teeth. I can tell you some of them just
roll all night long, just flipping over and over,
right? We get immersed in, you know, when you're
in the mission ship and they're out there with
a hammer, swinging a hammer, and they hit the
wrong nail instead of hitting the nail, they
hit their thumbnail. How many of you get immersed
in their presence? You start to find out what
was in the inside, starts to come out on the
outside. It's true. Jesus told his disciples.
Go to Jerusalem and wait to be dipped in my spirit.
Wait to be dipped in my presence. It's going
to be different. 1 Corinthians 6 .19 says, or
do you not know that your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have
from God? You are not your own. You get immersed
in him. We fill up this temple with Holy Spirit.
It's not like out in the world, right? Baptism
isn't just bunking with someone for a week, man.
It is immersed. It's dipped. It's empowered.
It's authorized. And, you know, as you read through
Scripture, one of the interesting facts that
I caught reading through there is that we read
in Scripture that Jesus showed himself to over
500 witnesses following his resurrection. But
if you read in Scripture, there's only 120 that
go to the upper room. I thought that's interesting.
He shows himself to 500, but just 120 decide
to go, you know, into this upper room. Only 120
decide we're all in, right? We're going to go
up and be plunged. Jesus sent the promise of
God so we can fully immerse ourselves, so he
can further commission us, authorize us, empower
us by the Holy Spirit, so we can tangibly feel
his presence, so we tangibly know his power in
our life, so we're tangibly empowered to go,
to go reach someone else. So we influence the
world around us. We need him. We need Holy Spirit.
We need him as a guide. We need them as an empowerment.
It's true. Some years back, and I can't remember
how many years. I'm terrible with this sometimes.
Dixie will probably be able to say it out to
me. But we went on a family vacation, and we
had the opportunity to go on an excursion. We
were on a boat, and we got the opportunity to
go on an excursion. And it just so happened,
it was on January 19th, which is my birthday,
if you want to get me something, just saying.
You know, it was my birthday, and we went on
this excursion for the day. And I was pumped
because where we were going was Belize. It was
a little country of Belize. And we were supposed
to go, and the excursion was this. We were going
to get off the boat, and we were supposed to
go and tube through the caves in Belize. And
I'm like, I'm in, right? There's water. You get
on a tube. You swim some. And you do a little
tour through the tropical forest, getting to
the caves. I'm all about that kind of thing.
I'm like, let's go. This is awesome. And so we
signed up for this thing, paid for it. And you
know what the first instruction was for this
particular mission for the day, right? This thing
that we're going to go do. They tell you, get
off the boat. There's going to be a van that
you're looking for with your guide inside. So
we get in this van, right, with, I don't know,
half a dozen other people. I don't remember how
many were there. But there's this guy inside
that we begin to get to know. And he's the guide.
And I find out that he's a survivalist. He's
the kind of guy, he's an expert in the jungle.
This is the kind of guy that can go into the
tropical rainforest. You drop him in by helicopter,
he can live there for a year, come back, and
he's got a tan and he's good, right? The rest
of us die, right? This was the kind of guy. And
he was the guide. He knew the tropical rainforest.
He knew where we were going. He knew all of these
things. And he walked us through as we did the
hike. He walked us through when we got up to
the boats. He knew what to do, what to touch,
what not to touch, what was poisonous, what was
not poisonous, right? All of it. He knew which
tree you could eat off of, which one you should
never even get near. He knew all of it. He knew
the bugs, the animals, anything that could harm
you, the things that, I guess you could eat bugs,
I don't know. But he knew all this. And the thing
is, the guide, he could not just survive out
there, but he could thrive. And because he was
with us, we didn't just survive it, but we thrived
that day going through this little tour that
we did through the tropics and then on these
floaty things going through the caves. Nobody
got injured. Nobody got hurt. We all enjoyed
ourselves. We all learned a bunch of things.
That's what the Holy Spirit, God instructs him
to go to Jerusalem. And he says, you need to
wait because I'm sending you out to do something
that if you don't take the Holy Spirit with you,
if you do not get empowered by Holy Spirit in
this new way, you're going to get taken out,
man. You're going to go into the jungle and your
knees are going to get taken out from under you.
You're going to go share the gospel and they're
going to eat you alive. But the Holy Spirit will
not only help you survive, but you will thrive
wherever you go. Amen? He's the guy. I need that.
I don't know about you, but I need that. Every
week I stand in this pulpit, I pray, Lord, Holy
Spirit, if you do not come with me, I'm just
going right there and sitting down and somebody
else can do it. I need him. I need him. I need
him. I need to be immersed. I need to be dipped.
I need a different experience because it's not
easy sometimes. I can't see what's out ahead
of me. Holy Spirit can. I don't know what's in
my future. Holy Spirit does. I don't even know
what's around the next corner. Holy Spirit does.
And he sends them to Jerusalem. And the disciples,
while Jesus is telling them this, just like the
disciples, I love the disciples because they're
so real. They're a lot like me. They don't get
it the first time around. Dixie says things about
three times because I don't get it the first
two times. And that's kind of how the disciples
work. Because if you read Acts 1, verse 6, Jesus
is talking to them. He commissions them, right?
He tells them about the Holy Spirit. You know,
he talks about the Holy Spirit. And then listen
to what... you know, the disciples begin to say,
they don't get it. They don't even catch it quite
at first. Because in Acts 1, 6, it says, therefore,
when they had come together, they asked him,
they asked Jesus saying, Lord, will you at this
time restore the kingdom of God, of Israel? Jesus
talking about the world, going into everywhere,
sharing the gospel. And they're like, hey, Jesus,
back to Israel. By the way, we have these Romans
that keep, you know, lording over us. You know,
is this the time where we rise up? You came back
from the grave. Is this a time we get empowered
by the Holy Spirit and we take out Rome? They're
not even totally getting it yet. And Jesus said
to them in verse seven, he says, it's not for
you to know the times of the seasons, which the
father has put in his own authority. And he gets
them right back on track. He goes to one eight
and he says, but you shall receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you is when you
go to Jerusalem and you shall be my witnesses.
And you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and in Samaria and to the ends
of the earth. What am I trying to say? Holy Spirit.
puts the amazing in our witness for Jesus. He
does. He puts the amazing, right? Spirit baptism
puts the amazing in our witness for Jesus because
he's amazing. He's the one. And I know, as I
look out over this crowd, maybe those listening
online, there's hundreds of stories in here of
Jesus' redemption, right? You might have got
saved, and he might have pulled you out of the
ditch. He might have pulled you out of the mess,
the mud, the sin, the mire. And if you tell your
story, we're going to be in awe of what Jesus
did. You might be able to detail what a train
wreck you were spiritually and emotionally and
physically and the bondage. that you used to
be under and the trauma that you've walked out
of, right? And you were going down for the third
time and he pulled you up. You might have an
amazing testimony to share of God's grace and
you should share it. You should tell people what
Jesus has done for you. You have a testimony,
give it, right? And God needs to empower that.
Or you might even have a boring testimony. How
many of you feel like you got a boring testimony?
You grew up, come on, thank you, all right? You
grew up in church. You're like, I got saved at
seven. I went to the altar. That's it. God's
awesome, right? I think that's the most awesome
testimony in the world, honestly. He kept you.
He saved you. And you're like, people telling
all these, like, he drugged me out of drug abuse.
And, you know, I was down. And you're like, yeah,
I got saved at seven. It's been awesome ever
since. That's an awesome testimony, by the way.
And your testimony might lead somebody to Christ
and it might inspire them for a moment to follow
Jesus. But how many know sometimes people hear
your story and they're like, man, that's awesome
for you. I've heard that so many times. That's
awesome for you. Man, I'm so glad God did something
in your life. That's awesome for you, right?
Sometimes they're inspired for about 10 minutes
at a time. Sometimes it's not even that. And
I need the Holy Spirit in my story. I need, you
know, the witness of Christ. I need the power
of God somehow on display in a story. And sometimes
it's just a sense that people have, like, I don't
know why, but God's in it. You feel kind of like
what you felt in praise and worship this morning.
You can just feel them moving. You can feel him
shift. Sometimes he does so much more. Because
if you go to Acts chapter two, verse one, the
120, they go to the upper room and they get baptized
in the spirit. Look what happens. Watch what
happens. When the day of Pentecost had fully
come, this is Acts chapter two, verse one, they
were all in one accord in one place. And suddenly
there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty
wind. Now you got to remember, the author here
is trying to describe what this looks like. There's
120 people in his upper room. Holy Spirit shows
up. He's baptizing them in the Holy Spirit, and
they're trying to come up with words. Did you
ever try to describe something? You're like,
well, it's kind of like this. It's kind of like
that. That's what he's doing. That's what's happening
right here, right? It says, when they were in
one accord in one place, and suddenly there came
a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind.
So it sounded like wind. And they filled the
whole house where they were sitting. Then it
appeared to them divided tongues as of fire,
and one sat on each of them. It's kind of like
there was wind, and it kind of felt like there
was fire on each one of them, and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit. They were baptized
in the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other
tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And
they were dwelling in Jerusalem. Now, and all
of Jerusalem around them, devout men from every
nation under heaven. And when the sound occurred,
the multitude came together, and they were confused
because everyone heard them speak in their own
language. And when they were all amazed and marveled,
here's the amazing part, this is Holy Spirit,
not them, right? And marveled, saying to one
another, look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
And how is it that we hear our own language in
which we were born? Parthians, Medes, right,
and Alamites, those who were dwelling in Mesopotamia
and Judea and Cappadocia and Pontius in Asia
and Pamphylia, I got them backwards, in Egypt
and all the parts of Lydia joining Cyrene, visitors
of Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and
Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues
the wonderful works of God. So they were all
amazed and perplexing to one another. Whatever
could this mean? These individuals are baptized
in the Holy Spirit, and they go out into the
streets, and they begin to witness. But they're
going out to witness to people they don't know
the language of. They speak a different language.
I was just in Guatemala. I was on my app, man,
like trying to bumble through getting through
three or four words. They get moved on by the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. The power of God
comes upon them, and they speak in perfect dialect
to the people that are in Jerusalem. And they
talk about the wonderful works of God, and it
blew people away. They're like, what? These are
Galileans. They don't speak our language. What
is this? 3 ,000 people come to Christ that day.
This is the first church plant. This is the first
church. 3 ,000 people are saved because the disciples
went out commissioned, right? Full of the Holy
Spirit. Immersed in the Holy Spirit. Full. Not
worrying about their inadequacies because it
wasn't them. It was Holy Spirit. Worship team,
if you'd come. If you go further into Acts, and
we'll hit this eventually as we work through
Acts. In Acts chapter 4, it starts with verse
5. Peter and John one day as disciples and followers
of Jesus. Jesus is in heaven. Holy Spirit's come.
They've been baptized in the Holy Spirit. They're
walking into the temple and there's a lame man.
And they stop and they're like, hey, you know,
the lame man's begging. And they're like, we
don't got any money, but... but we have, we'll
give to you. And they grab his hand and they
pull him up and he's healed instantly. And the
word of God says that, you know, everybody's
rejoicing, but the religious leaders are not
rejoicing because they didn't like Jesus. They
don't like the disciples and they arrest Peter
and John. And the word of God goes on to say,
if you go further down in that chapter in verse
eight and then down into 13. It says that they
brought him in before these religious leaders,
these educated. Now, these are people, in modern
days, it would be people who have doctorates
in ministry. They're drugged before these people
who are educated, who are, you know, they're
versed in the Old Testament. A lot of them have
to memorize, I think it was the first five books
of the Bible, some of the people that were in
these courts. They're drugging before these people,
and Peter and John begin to speak, and they're
amazed. Because they know these are uneducated
men. These are fishermen, right? Peter's a fisherman.
And they come in, and Peter and John begin to
speak and answer for the power of God and Jesus
who healed this man. And the Word of God says
that they were stunned. They were amazed, right?
I'm paraphrasing. What was that? It was the Holy
Spirit. Luke 12, 11 says, when they bring you
into the synagogue and the magistrate's authorities,
when they bring you before the authorities, do
not worry about how or what you should answer
or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will
teach you in that very hour what you ought to
say. He's the power of God. He's the amazing
in your testimony. He's the only way, right,
that we can go and be completely empowered. So
I'm going to ask you to stand this morning. I
just got a question for you. And just be honest
with yourself. You don't got to be honest with
me. I want you to bow your heads. But you got
to ask yourself the question, do I want to be
immersed in the Holy Spirit? Do I want more and
more and more of his amazing in my testimony
of Jesus? Do I want more of that? Do I want to
be baptized, immersed in his presence? The Holy
Spirit's amazing in my acts of service to God.
Do I want that? And as your eyes are closed,
I know some of you right now, your heart's leaping
right out of your chest. You want immersed. You
want more of the Holy Spirit. You want to be
baptized fully in the Holy Spirit. You need more
of that. Some of you, it'll be for the very first
time. Some of you, you've experienced what I'm
talking about, and life is just... drug you down,
and you're like the disciples, man. You're hiding
in a room. You've locked the door. You're freaking
out in fear about some things in your life, and
you just need Jesus to come and breathe on you.
and fill you for it and begin the process of
baptizing you. Some of you are listening to me
this morning and you're like, I'm not sure about
this baptism stuff, Holy Spirit baptism. I need
to learn more. That is perfectly okay. I tell
people, dig in, man. Go into God's word, research
it, find it. You'll find it there. Just look
at what God has to say. Research for yourself.
If some of you are in curiosity stage, awesome.
Love it. Just keep seeking. Just keep looking.
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