ATTENTION
ILL>> “Somebody’s praying for you -- Soldiers - hard rain - mines // Soldiers white cloud
Last week “Passover” - today “Pentecost”
PEN´TECOST, ( OT ) that is, the fiftieth day (meaning fiftieth), or Harvest Feast, or Feast of Weeks // The Pentecost was the Jewish harvest-home, -- (LIKE OUR THANKSGIVING) -- and the people were especially exhorted to rejoice before Jehovah with their families. The great feature of the celebration was the presentation of the two loaves, made from the first-fruits of the wheat harvest. With the loaves two lambs were offered as a peace offering, and all were waved before Jehovah, and given to the priests; // Till the pentecostal loaves were offered, the produce of the harvest might not be eaten, nor could any other first-fruits be offered. The whole ceremony was the completion of that dedication of the harvest to God. The typical significance of the Pentecost is made clear from the events of the day recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 2. Just as the appearance of God on Sinai was the birthday of the Jewish nation, so was the Pentecost the birthday of the Christian Church.
We remember the Pilgrims at the first thanksgiving - the OT Jews remember the first giving of the law.
>>> The day God revealed Himself to Moses and gave the law was the birthday of the Jews -- This is what is celebrated at the feast and offerings of Pentecost
>>> In Acts 2 the day of Pentecost is the birthday of the church.
—Pentecost, which would have occurred on May 24, A.D. 33, is the starting point of the church age
APOSTOLIC AGE = that period of church history when the apostles were alive, beginning with the Day of Pentecost (about A.D. 30) and ending near the conclusion of the first century (about A.D. 100) with the death of the apostle John. During the apostolic age, all the books of the New Testament were written, including the four gospels, the Book of Acts, the letters of Paul, the general letters, and the Book of Revelation.
NEED
Light a Fire under us!
Church on fire. Christians on fire for God
How?? Turn to Acts 2 :1-4 and here we see how the HS came to the Apostles.
God used the apostles and He can use us today. We cant be apostles but we can have the same HS!!!
SATISFACTION = Yes we can be filled, controlled, to accomplish great things for God.
I. The Holy Spirit begins with a FLICKER
At the moment of salvation we are baptized into the HS
A. Who is He? -- names
1. The one promised called the Holy Spirit (ie God in the Spirit)
Acts 1:8“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
2. Spirit of Burning
Matthew 3:11-12 John is saying about Jesus -“I indeed baptize you with water unto 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. 12“His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Isaiah 4:4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning,
3. Spirit of Truth
.1 John 5:6, 7 ..And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
4. Spirit of Life, wisdom and knowledge, promise, God
5 Comforter
B. What does He do in the life of a new believer?
1. He regenerates the believer - the baptism of the HS @ salvation
Regeneration = born again - dead to sin & alive to God thru the HS
John 3:3-5 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
Titus 3:5-6 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
2. He indwells the new believer
1 Cor 6:19-20 ... do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
3. Seals the new believer
Ephesians 1:13-14 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. & 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
a. permanent family
Galatians 4:4-6 God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
b. permanent feats
ie Unity acts 2:1
Enables us to live the Christian life.
Romans 8:14 - 16 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, tells about the early history of property selling ...
In the early times when land was sold, the owner cut a section of turf and cast it into the cap of the purchaser as a token that it was his--or he tore off the branch of a tree and put it into the new owner’s hand to show that he was entitled to all the products of the soil. And when the purchaser of a house received possession, the key of the door or a bundle of thatch from the roof signified that the building was yielded up to him. The God of all grace has given to his people all the perfections of heaven to be their heritage forever, and the down-payment of his Spirit is to them the blessed token that all things are theirs. The Spirit’s work of comfort and sanctification is a part of heaven’s covenant blessings--a turf from the soil of Canaan, a twig from the tree of life, the key to the mansions in the skies. Possessing the down-payment of the Spirit we have received possession of heaven.
Then what ? - That’s not all!!
II. The Holy Spirit grows to a FLAME
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:18b ... be filled with the Spirit,
A. What is the difference between indwelling and infilling?
“The filling differs somewhat from the indwelling. We may speak of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as that initial act of the Holy Spirit by which, at the moment o four regeneration, we are baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ; the Spirit then comes and takes up His dwelling place within the believer. The filling of the Spirit, however, is not confined to one experience or to any one point of time exclusively; it may be repeated times without number. There is one baptisms but many infillings with the Spirit.”
from - “The Great Doctrines of the Bible”, The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, William Evans
B. The Holy Spirit fills us when we need Him if we are empty of self.
Here is a second filling of the apostles.
Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
a. We will be shaken and we will shake the place when we are filled.
ILL>>> -- A. W. Tozer
God dwells in a state of perpetual enthusiasm. He is delighted with all that is good and lovingly concerned about all that is wrong. He pursues His labors always in a fullness of holy zeal. No wonder the Spirit came at Pentecost as a sound of a rushing mighty wind and sat in tongues of fire on every forehead. ... Whatever else happened at Pentecost, one thing that cannot be missed by the most casual observer was the sudden upsurging of moral enthusiasm. Those first disciples burned with a steady, inward fire. They were enthusiastic to the point of complete abandon.
b . Acts 2 2 - Wind symbolizes the HS / We make the sound today.
- spoke with other tongues = to witness with
- as HS gave them utterance - led by the HS
III. The Holy Spirit becomes a FIRE
Nobody can be indwelt by the Spirit of God and keep that Spirit to himself. Where the Spirit is, he flows forth. And where there is no flowing forth, he is not there.
Acts 1:8“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
A. The fire of the HS spreads in a crowd v5
1. It is God’s plan move people
2. He always gives them free will
B. The fire of the HS may cause confusion v6
C. The fire of the HS may bring criticism v7 & 13 (winos)
D. The fire of the HS may bring chances to minister
VISUALIZATION
ACTION
