"Church on Fire Part 4"
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“Church on the Move”
“Church on Fire Part 4”
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The past 4 weeks have carried the theme of “Church on Fire.” Coming into this, I was starting a sermon series I titled, “Church on the Move.” BUT, the reality is before the church moves, the church has to be endued with power from God!
So, 4 weeks ago I started to preach a sermon called “Church on Fire.” That single message has taken 4 weeks.
Starting off I preached about the Promise of an organization that would invade the gates of hell and bring the Kingdom of God to earth. Through the authority (another word for POWER) of Jesus, and the promise of something greater, this organization that Jesus called the Church, would serve many purposes.
Two weeks ago, I preached about the purposes of the Church. Specifically, each of us serves these general purposes as part of the body. We exist for fellowship with God, each other, and the world around us. Through fellowship and relationship, we disciple each other, we evangelize the lost, we act as instruments of healing, deliverance, and many signs, miracles, and wonders….AT LEAST WE ARE SUPPOSED TO…
Fortunately, Jesus didn’t leave us to attend to all of these things on our own. Those purpose statements I read 2 weeks ago from the Gospels and the book of Acts are all known as the Great CO-Mission.
They are the mission statement of the church, but it was never intended that we would accomplish these on our own.
Honestly, the theme of the Bible is that we cannot do anything on our own. WE NEED GOD!!! We need guidance, direction, and His wisdom.
Going back to where we really got started on all of this last year, with the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Unless our righteousness EXCEEDS that of the scribes and pharisees, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.” The only way our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees is if Jesus is with us. It’s only His righteousness that is good enough to get us doing what we need to be doing and will take us where we need to go!!!
SO, we have to wait!!!
How long do we wait? I suppose that’s probably different for everyone. I waited just over a year for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I waited INTENTIONALLY for an enduement of Power that we would enable me to fulfill God’s call on ALL disciples.
On the other hand I have heard of people that were almost immediately filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit following conversion. Even before water baptism, they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire.
In my mind, the key is to wait intentionally. To spend time…lots of time focusing on Him. Being purified and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. To set your eyes on the prize of His power with a plan to walk in His purposes of seeing the world changed through the power of His sacrifice.
But there is a time when we have to be willing to stop waiting, and start receiving!!!!
Too often we confuse waiting with doing nothing. Truly waiting on God involves action. Remember, I pointed out a few weeks ago that the Holy Spirit is a mover.
If we want the Holy Spirit, we have to be willing to Get in and MOVE WITH HIM.
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.
Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
Until we get fully immersed in the Rivers of God’s love and power, we will not see dead things live.
We’ve seen the Promise and the purpose of the church, we have seen the necessity of waiting, and now I have alluded to the movement that produces life… BUT WHERE IS THE POWER THAT I PREACHED SO PASSIONATELY ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO?
The POWER Comes from the Holy Spirit.
I clarified a few weeks ago that Power is merely energy that is moving.
Power isn’t power unless it is moving.
Without movement, it is just energy…
PINEWOOD DERBY CAR
I want to say that there is Potential Energy in all people.
We are all created in the image of God.
He knit us together in our mother’s womb, and in the same respect, following the theme in Jeremiah 1:5, NOT ONLY DID HE KNIT YOU TOGETHER AND KNOW YOU, HE ESTABLISED PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE!!!
But there is a point of decision. There is a place where we have to recognize our spiritual poverty, accept His grace and mercy, and WAIT FOR THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER!!!
I have already established from Acts 1:5 that we are ultimately waiting on the Holy Spirit.
I. Who is the Holy Spirit
This begs the question of Who or what is the Holy Spirit.
Now I know that this is going to seem and feel very elementary to many of us here today, but you never know who knows what.
I was visiting with some folks the other day, that couldn’t get it straight who Zacchaeus, Lazarus, and Nicodemus were. These are some primary characters of the New Testament. So I recognize that not everyone is where I am. Not everyone has spent their whole lives in church and even those that have aren’t always as grounded as I think they should be.
Somewhere along the way we have lost the dedication to growing in our faith.
Billy Graham Learned the entire West Minster Catechism at 10 years of age… 107 statements of faith formatted as a question followed by an answer.
Every morning before they left for school Billy’s mom gave them a passage of Scripture to memorize before bedtime.
Somewhere we gave missed it!!!
When I ask, “Who is the Holy Spirit,” I recognize that there are times we have to back up to spiritual milk.
The simple answer to my question… THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD!!!
The Holy Spirit is a Who, not a What!
He is the third member of the Trinity. We can read about the Holy Spirit from the very beginning in Genesis 1.
It is important to note that while we often reference Him as the Third Person of the Trinity, He isn’t third in position or power.
He is equal in personhood, nature, and power.
Jesus was sent by the Father, The Holy Spirit was sent by the Son, AND We are empowered to go by the Spirit
II. The Role of The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
He has been active since Creation, but following the ascension His role changed.
Prior to The Day of Pentecost that we read about in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit empowered different people.
In 1 Samuel 10 we read about The Spirit’s role in Saul’s leadership…
Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
In Psalm 51 as David is repenting for His sins against God with Bathsheba and Uriah it would seem that one of David’s chief concerns is losing the fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Peter wrote in his second epistle that it was the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testament that inspired the writers to produce what we now know as the Holy Bible.
knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
III. The Role of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament
The Holy Spirit has played a role in humanity from the beginning of time, but until The Day of Pentecost it wasn’t a blanket role.
Even in the Gospels we see the Holy Spirit was active in Jesus’ Ministry. As a matter of fact that is one place we get a hermeneutical directive for ministry.
For approximately 30 years Jesus had been waiting for the time that He would begin His earthly ministry. Hanging out in Nazareth, Helping Joseph in the carpentry shop, attending synagogue and the annual feasts; for 30 years Jesus seemed to be just another Jew.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus shows us the importance of the Holy Spirit in Ministry, but in His baptism Jesus Gave us a formula (for lack of better words) for how the Christian life plays out…
1. Water Baptism
2. Spirit Baptism
3. Baptizo first used about cucumbers/pickles
Jesus DID NOT need to be water baptized!
Did Jesus NEED to be Spirit Baptized?
Do YOU NEED TO BE BAPTIZED IN WATER?
It isn’t required for salvation, but if you really want to obey Jesus, WHY WOULDN’T YOU?
Do YOU NEED TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE SPIRIT?
It isn’t required for salvation, but if you really want to obey Jesus, WHY WOULDN’T YOU?
One preacher said, “I Don’t Need Spirit Baptism to go to Heaven, I need Spirit Baptism to go to Walmart!!!”
Just to be clear…
In The New Testament and the current age the Role of the Holy Spirit is to Seal, Sanctify and Empower ALL BELIEVERS! He seals us at Salvation. He sanctifies us daily. And He empowers us when Jesus Baptizes us in Him.
ALL BELIEVERS HAVE RECEIVED A MEASURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Remember John 20:22
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN ALL BELIEVERS HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED AND EMPOWERED WITH THE SPIRIT!
Even after Jesus had breathed on the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit, they still had to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father.
IV. What Is Spirt Baptism
Full immersion, covering with the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus came out of the Jordan River his hair was dripping, His skin was soaked, every part of Himself was covered in the water from the river.
Spirit baptism is the same for us.
We all receive a measure of the Holy Spirit when we are regenerated. When we repent of our sins and ask Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, He Breathes new life into us in the Person of the Holy Spirit that dwells with us. He lives in us.
But when He baptizes us in the Spirit, there is a radical change in our lives. In the way that we live, act, and talk to other people.
Look at the difference it made for Peter…
Denier to Proclaimer
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
All evidenced by Speaking in tongues!
But look at something else…
Look at how the Baptism Broke down cultural divides.
If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,
V. Why Tongues?
For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
God Will Not Permit Sincere Seekers to Have a Counterfeit Experience. Some are fearful that their “speaking in tongues” will be either self-generated or that it will be prompted by Satan. Such persons need to be assured of Jesus’ words, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” This is in a context that says even an earthly father will not permit a requested fish to be substituted by a snake or a requested egg to be substituted by a scorpion (Luke 11:11–13).
How to receive (Taken for AG Position Paper “Baptism in the Holy Spirit”)
All Believers Are Candidates.
The Spirit Already Indwells All Believers
Baptism in the Spirit Is a Gift
God Will Not Permit Sincere Seekers to Have a Counterfeit Experience.
Expectancy and Openness Facilitate Reception.
Prayer and Praise Often Lead into the Experience.
Petition should be combined with praise.
Special Blessings May Occur Along the Way
God's Timing May Differ from Ours.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit must be more than a safeguarded and cherished doctrine; it must be a vital, productive and ongoing experience in the life of believers and their personal relationship with the Lord, their interaction with other believers, and their witness to the world. The vitality and vibrancy of the Church can be realized only when believers personally and corporately manifest the power of the Holy Spirit that was experienced by Jesus himself and that He promised to His followers.