Filled With the Spirit

All Together In One Place

The twelve apostles and other disciples were all together in one room. The Bible indicates that there about 120 people all together. These were all followers of Jesus. The occasion for the gathering was Pentecost. This was the third of the Jewish festivals. It marked the giving of the law to Moses and occured 50 days after the festival of Passover.

The festival of Pentecost was at the beginning of June. This made traveling to Jerusalem for the festival ideal. This would increase the number of people that would come to Jerusalem for the festival. The law required all men within 20 miles of Jerusalem to come to all the festivals. However since travel conditions were so good at Pentecost we see many who lived more than 20 miles from Jerusalem attending. The environment was prime for the birth of the church. We will get to this in a little bit.

The other reason the Christ followers were together is Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:4-5

Acts 1:4–5 (NASB95)

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:8 NASB95

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

So the apostles and the disciples of Jesus were waiting for Holy Spirit to come upon them. This had not ever happened, so they didn’t know what to expect except that they would have power to be witnesses to the world. They would need the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish through them what God wanted to accomplish.

We need the Holy Spirit today to accomplish His Mission.

God’s mission for us is two fold. Mark 12:30-31

Mark 12:30–31 (NASB95)

and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Matthew 28:19–20 (NASB95)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Simply put, our mission is to love God and make disciples. While the mission is clear it is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit. Let me explain.

Love God

Our natural tendency is to love self above God. this is why Jesus demands Matthew 16:24

Matthew 16:24 NASB95

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

The first thing we must do to love God is to deny self. You cannot love self above God. However, our natural tendency is to love self above God as Paul explains in Galatians 5:16-17

Galatians 5:16–17 (NASB95)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

We must do what God wants rather than what our flesh desires. I may make some mad this morning but I must share with you the convictions of my heart. These are some of the ways that we demonstrate loving self above God.

1. Heb. 10:24-25

Hebrews 10:24–25 (NASB95)

and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

God calls us to gather together for the purpose of stimulating one another to love and good works. When we get in the habit of missing the assembly of the gathering of God’s people (church) we are putting self love over the love of God. When we habitually choose other activities above church gathering we demonstrate that we love ourselves more than God. It can be hobbies, family, work, or any other thing you choose to do rather than worship.

2. 2 Cor. 9:6-8

2 Corinthians 9:6–8 (NASB95)

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

God calls us to be cheerful givers. We must be willing to give of our time, treasure and talent. God calls us to serve. Church attendance is good but service is required. God calls us to give our resources. As God has blessed you materially you can be a blessing to the church and others by giving. God has gifted all people with a certain talent that can be beneficial to others. We are to employ those gifts for the edification of others and the glory of God.

3. James 1:22

James 1:22 NASB95

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

A person that loves God will do what He says. God’s principles are found in His Word. We are to be so familiar with His word that we live in accordance to it. We are not to live in sin but in righteousness. God’s word must take precedence over our opinion. Meaning even though the application of God’s word is difficult and we want to do something else that is more gratifying or easy, we must live God’s word.

Jesus puts it simply John 14:15

John 14:15 NASB95

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Make Disciples

There are two aspects of disciple making that are part of the disciple making process. Baptizing them and teaching them. We baptize them when they come to faith as we share the gospel. We cannot make them get saved. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to call them into salvation. When they do we can baptize them.

We must als teach them. In my 7 years of intentionality of discipling men I have discovered that there is proactive teaching and reactive teaching. Proactive teaching is teaching theology and the principles of God. Reactive teaching is walking through a difficult situation with someone and coaching them on how to apply God’s word to their situation.

We need the Holy Spirit in both proactive and reactive teaching. Proactively we cannot make them understand the teaching. The Holy Spirit must open their eyes to see. Reactively we cannot control what happens in a persons life only the Holy Spirit can. Consequently I don’t have the wisdom to address the issues of the situation, but the Holy Spirit always provides answers.

In order to live on purpose with God we must have the Holy Spirit.

They Were Filled With the Holy Spirit

As they were sitting in the upper room a violent wind and what appeared to be flaming tongues rested on them. When it did they were given the mighty power to speak in a foreign language that those in attendance could understand. This was not a language of gibberish but of an established language of other people groups. This was necessary to start the new testament church.

These Galileans were able to speak in dialects that was foreign to their native tongue. As a matter of fact Galileans were seen as the hillbillies of Israel. They were thought to be uneducated and not have the capacity to learn or speak in the more advanced languages.

This is not by accident. This happened by design. If you remember at the beginning of the message I share that Pentecost drew the largest crowd because of the favorable traveling conditions. We see as Luke describes that “devout men from from every nation under heaven” were in attendance. This is what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do. Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 NASB95

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

They by the power of the Holy Spirit became witness to all these people who were from every nation under heaven.

They spoke about the mighty deeds of God in a language that they could understand. Consequently, when they returned to their homeland they shared what was shared with their country men about the gospel.

God beautifully orchestrated the birth of the church by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This was a unique experience. They were both baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit at the same time. They were baptized in the Holy Sprit because it was the first time the Holy Spirit indwelt people. They were filled with the spirit to accomplish God’s purpose.

Today we are baptized in the Holy Spirit when we are saved through faith. Titus 3:5-6

Titus 3:5–6 (NASB95)

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

We are baptized in the Holy Spirit when we are saved. Eph. 4:4-6

Ephesians 4:4–6 (NASB95)

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Some religions believe in a second baptism of the spirit which is indicated by speaking in tongues. This is not biblical and tends to divide the church rather than unify it. Those that believe in a second baptism of the Holy Spirit see themselves as superior to those who have not had their experience.

Though there is only one baptism of the Holy Spirit, we can be filled with the spirit in order to accomplish a mission for Christ. The Bible is full of examlpes of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 4:31 NASB95

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 6:5 NASB95

The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

Acts 9:17 NASB95

So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Be filled with the Holy Spirit today

God often calls us into situations, tasks, and callings that are far greater than our capacity to fulfill. This is why He dispenses the power of His Holy Spirit into our lives. God chooses to work through us by leveraging our faith with the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish His good and perfect will. This ultimately brings glory to God