Have You Received The Holy Spirit Since 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?
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