Have You Received The Holy Spirit Since You Believed?

Have You Received The Holy Spirit Since You Believed?

Acts 19.1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”

So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”

4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.

 Much common ground in this among Christians. Very little we disagree on. Yet in the past the differences have divided us.

We all need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

This is a gift of God for us.

Like all of God’s gifts it is received by faith.

Luke 11.11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!”

How much more... ! Without measure! 

John 3.34 

For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without measure.

1. Have You Believed?

That moment from Jesus a pardon received.

Born again, from above

*Regeneration.   New creation. II Corinthians 5.17

*Adoption.           Children of God John 1.12

*Justification.      Romans 5.1-5

*Assurance.          I John 5.14-15

Colossians 4.12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

2. Have You Received The Holy Spirit?

When you believe He becomes resident.

When you receive Him He becomes President. 

In your hearts set apart Jesus Christ as LORD.  I Peter 3.15

When you believe He comes and brings new life, new creation.

When you are baptized with the Holy Spirit you will receive power. You will be Christ’s witnesses.

You will have a heart for the whole world... to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Your prayers, giving will go all around the earth.

It is overwhelming today, the spiritual needs of people are beyond our ability to even process at times. Jesus faced demon possession, mutliple demons, legion was name of one for they said we are many in one soul. A legion was 5,000 men. That is how many men He fed at the feeding when He multipled the Bread and Fish, the first time.

The healing ministry of Jesus for the body went hand in hand with the soul and spirit.

There were times He withdrew when He needed rest but His mantra is found in John 9.4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

I will never forget the First Full Medical Clinic we held in Bellevue, Haiti with Dr. Rosemary Rivera in September 2017. Over 150 people came each day. We saw between 400-500 people in three days. I have never been in a building with that many sick people all together like that in all my days. It was overwhelming to say the least. We had to turn people away each day.

Today we have people who are sick in their souls. The family in America is in such serious trouble. The heroin epidemic, bullying... as Billy Graham said about 20 years ago, “We have become a nation of brutes.”

Probably one of the greater temptations we face is to become reclusive, withdrawn and even cynical and skeptical that anything can be done. Then I rememeber the words of Jesus we shared last week, “Are you not in error because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God?”

This is one the main reasons we need to receive the Holy Spirit. You will receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you... and you will be My witnesses...

The folllowers of Jesus went from hiding out behind closed doors due to fear of persecution to proclaiming Him in the streets of Jerusalem! The difference was Pentecost and what it brought.

If we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will be His witnesses. We will not give into fear or exhaustion or being overwhelmed, even when there are good reasons for it.

We need the working of the Holy Spirit today!

I Thessalonians 1.4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of usand of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

Oh for that deep conviction of sin today, the working of God’s Holy Spirit, convincing people of their sins and of God’s ability to forgive and give new life through Jesus.

Have you been believed?

Have you been filled with the Spirit since you believed?

And finally this morning...

3. Is He In Actively In Your Life Now?

John 7.37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow out of him. 39 By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Thirst

Coming to Jesus. He baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

It is for your good that I go away. If I go not away...  John 16.7 But I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

Acts 1.8  8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This is the birthright of every child of God.

This gift is for you and your children, for as many as the LORD your God will call.

Playing games with God, challenging His Word... part of the culture we contend with

Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?

Have you believed?

Are there Rivers of Living Water gushing forth from within you?

Is this your present experience with the Holy Spirit?

If It Is God's Will

 If It is God’s Will

Acts 18.19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

James 4:13-15 English Standard Version (ESV)
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”


We are faced with choices each day. A few weeks ago we looked at the portion of the Prayer that Jesus taught us to pray to the Father, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
What is meant by God’s Will?
It is have in mind, intend, to be resolved or determined, to purpose, to desire, to wish, to love, to like to do a thing, be fond of doing, to take delight in, have pleasure.
II Peter 3.9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
He loves to see people come to Him.
Psalm 40.8 I take joy in doing Your will, my God, for Your instructions are written on my heart.
Delighting in the things God delights in.


Here in Acts 18 Paul is in Ephesus. He is pressed by that church to stay on, but he is feeling called to continue his journey. He promised he would come back if it is God’s will.
He eventually did return.


If it is God’s will... not just in missionary journeys but in all of life’s journeys, in the journey of life itself.
James 4.13 validates that.
It is have in mind, intend, to be resolved or determined, to purpose, to desire, to wish, to love, to like to do a thing, be fond of doing, to take delight in, have pleasure.
Psalm 115.3
3
Our God is in heaven;
    He does whatever pleases Him.

All too often Christians want their will done. The journey to heaven is surrendered to His will.



1. Surrendering To God’s Will Is the Wisest Thing You Can Do.
Proverbs 3.5-6
ways=
Root word=to tread, bend, lead, march
way, road, distance, journey, manner, path, direction, habit,
1. of course of life (fig.)
of moral character (fig.)


In all your travels on this journey of life put God first. Become very close to Jesus, get to know Him as you make your way through life.
He will direct your paths.... smooth, agreeable, straight

Colossians 1.1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
John 3.25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.
We take our places in God’s Kingdom which He has prepared for us.
Works of service He has prepared for us to do.
Ephesians 4.11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

2. God’s Will is Revealed to Us as We Journey in Faith.

To Abraham the LORD said, “ The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12.1

It was God’s will for Abraham to move out but He did not tell him where.
I used to think that the LORD would lay out everything for us.

He doesn’t. That would eliminate the need of faith. We walk by faith not by sight. Step by step. Day By Day, sometimes moment by moment!

3. His Will Will Never Take You Where His Grace Cannot Keep You.

His will can be for you to suffer.
Isaiah 53.10
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life an offering for sin, Je will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

I Peter 4.19
So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

I Peter 2.19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

His will is the best.

It will take you to places spiritually you never dreamed of.

His will is to make you like Jesus.
Romans 8.29
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
He is the Master Weaver.
Romans 8.28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
This takes faith.
God is using my suffering for my good! His purpose is to make us like His Son.
O boundless love Divine, how shall this tongue of mine,
To wondering mortals tell this matchless Divine?
That I a child of hell should in His image shine! The comforter has come!

If it is God’s will we will...
May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The men who have turned the world upside down

The Men Who Turned The World Upside Down (And Their Followers)

Acts 17.6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”

10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica we learned that the Word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. 14 Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there.

Would that they could say about the church in America of us, “These who have turned the world upside down...” or in Haiti with all its corruption in the government, ““These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” The world is being turned upside down or should we say right side up in many places today.  China, Korea, Africa, South America, ... take Brazil. 60 years ago we had 12 people gather to form the Church of the Nazarene. Today Brazil has 190,00 members in 600 churches!

Here in America , we desperately need a fresh move of God’s Spirit.
That is our greatest need in our poor nation.
To the nation of Israel, God speaking through the Prophet Isaiah said:
Isaiah 5 New International Version (NIV)
The Song of the Vineyard
5 I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
    on a fertile hillside.
2
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
    and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
    and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
    but it yielded only bad fruit.
3
“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between Me and My vineyard.
4
What more could have been done for My vineyard
    than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
    why did it yield only bad?
5
Now I will tell you
    what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
    and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
    and it will be trampled.
6
I will make it a wasteland,
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain on it.”
7
The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
    is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are the vines He delighted in.
And He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
    for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

The Word of God and His Spirit moving on the hearts of His people in response to prayer brings renewal and a revival. The Word of God has been central to any move of God... The Bereans are an example of what we need in this day of people mishandling the Word of God.

It is on the Bereans I wish to focus this morning...

1. They had Noble Character.
Students of the Word
II Timothy 2.15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

They were rich in the things of God.

They were mature.
“Let us move onto maturity::” Hebrews 6.1

They were not falling for nonsense or accepting things without testing the spirits.
I John 4.1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Paul wrote the Ephesians:
Ephesians 4. 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

2. They were Eager to Receive the Word.

Blessedness are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness
They had a love for the Word of God.
Psalm 119.97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditations all the day.

You can study the scriptures without love for them and without really knowing them.
Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Matthew 22.29
The Sadducees

In High School they offered an English Mini Course entitled, The Bible As Literature.
In the course description it was stated that theology or doctrince would not be discussed just the study of the literary aspects of the Bible.
They were not going to treat it as the Word of God. I thought about it and knew I would be very frustrated taking it.

Hebrews 4.12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

We need a hunger for the Word of God!

We have a famine for hearing the Word of God today.
Amos 8.11
"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land-- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

LORD, put a hunger and thirst in Your people in America we pray.

3. They Searched the Scriptures.
to investigate, examine, enquire into, scrutinise, sift, question
specifically in a forensic sense of a judge to hold an investigation
to interrogate, examine the accused or witnesses


They did not take Paul’s word for it, they searched God’s Word.
They questioned it.
They investigated.
I John 4.1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Be on your guard.
I Corinthians 16.13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith
Acts 20.28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

The men who turned the world upside down.
The Bereans who were of noble character.
Let’s pray for both of them in our day!

Habakkuk 1.5 Look at the nations and watch be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.