Receive The Holy Spirit

This sermon is taken from an a sermon preached by

Rev. Gerald Van Horn in 1968

RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT!

INTRODUCTION

Through the centuries God continued to deal with humanity by sending His Holy Spirit on specific occasions to do special things and bring about, special works.

Then, God began to promise through His prophets that He would pour out His holy Spirit on all humanity

28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:

Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. (Joel 2:28—32).

John the Baptist, the Forerunner of Jesus, prophesied the infilling of the Holy Spirit for all

Matthew 3:11 11I 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.

John 1:32-33 32

Jesus promised to send the holy Spirit

Luke 24:49 49Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city £of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

John 7:37—39 37On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those £believing in Him would receive; for the £Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 16:7 7Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Acts 1:5—8). 5for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8But 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.”

Peter identified what happened on the Day of Pentecost as fulfilling Joel’s prophecy (Acts 2:17—21).

Peter further declared that the infilling of the Holy Spirit is for all, including us today Acts 2:38-39 38Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

We do not teach that glossolalia, speaking in tongues, is the only evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The best proof that one is baptized in the Holy Spirit should he:

• a close walk with God.

• shall walk of power in the Holy Spirit.

• The fruit of the Spirit will be evident in one’s

life.

However, we believe God has given an immediate sign of the infilling of the Holy Spirit: speaking with other tongues as the Holy Spirit gives utterance.

MESSAGE

1. The Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1—21).

a. Supernatural phenomena included:

(I) the “sound of a rushing, mighty wind” (verse

2, ).

(2) “cloven tongues, as of fire” (verse 3).

3Then, what looked like flames or tongues of

fire appeared and settled on their heads

b. The human response: speaking in other tongues

(verse 4) something new;

4 All the believers were filled with the Holy

Spirit and began to speak in other languages

as the Spirit gave them the ability to

speak.

2. The outpouring at Samaria (Acts 8:5—24).

a. Philip’s ministry included:

5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and

proclaimed the Christ[a]there. 6When the crowds

heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did,