Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Good morning. Today I am thankful for all that God has done in our midst. Last week we asked God to give us an urgency for the lost. Asking God to break us for what breaks Him. To wake us up in the middle of night and to interupt our schedules so we could fulfill His mission to seek the lost and see them saved. We are in the middle of a series on the 4 Cardinal Doctrines. These core doctrines are what we are built on. They stand resolute and do not falter or fade. Many today would try and change some of these. They would try and downplay one or another because they dont understand it or feel as if it needs updated. Today we will be discussing the one pillar that separates the AG from other denominations. There is a call in our lives for us to live as Jesus full of the Holy Spirit and walking in the authority of Heaven. We can not operate in two worlds if thats the case. We cannot operate in a physical world and spiritual world the two of them must be united in each of us to walk in and operate in the authority of Heaven. Scripture proves time and time again that this is the case. I want to focus today on a few people who were operating in both the physical and spiritual and find out what the doctrine of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit teaches us.

English Standard Version Chapter 6

6 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty

It is here we find that the apostles were having to do things that they knew that they were not called to do. So we find them calling for 7 people who were full of the spirit and wisdom. These men were called upon because they were full of the spirit meaning that they had been filled with the Holy Spirit and they operated in a wisdom found because of that. They operated in the natural because they were men of good reputation. These men were not operating in a miraculous way but full of the spirit and spiritual gifts. Even though two of the men selected would go onto operate in a miraculous gifting these men were not required to have them to operate in a way they were chosen to operate. So what does it mean to operate in both the natural and supernatural at the same time.

At what point did Stephen change gears from “natural” to “supernatural?” I don’t think there was a barrier in Stephen’s life between natural and supernatural. When the church sought out deacons to distribute daily food to widows, they looked for men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. -Russel Joyner

Lets look at Peter for a moment.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders

Peter operated from the day of pentecost in this realm filled with the Holy Spirit. This was not the first time that he had operated this way. This was after acts 2 where he preaches full of the Spirit and 3000 people are added to the church. This was not even the 2nd time recorded. In acts 3 peter and john are on their way to pray when the beggar is there. He tells him full of the spirit silver and gold have i none but such as i have give i unto thee in the name of Jesus christ of nazareth stand up and walk. It was miraculous only by the power of the Spirit operating in His life. This was the same Peter that cut off a guys ear, disowned Jesus and fell into the depths of the sea because his focus changed from Jesus to circumstances. He was a faulty guy but full of the Spirit the natural and supernatural operated together. There was no shift from one to the other. I believe that the problem we have today with Petnecost and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is we try and operate them in two different places instead of the way God designed it to operate.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

Jesus was fully man and fully God yet he operated under the fullness of the Holy Spirit in His life. He was not just doing it His way. He was doing it the way it was designed to be.

Paul operated this way.

English Standard Version Chapter 9

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

Years later Paul again

English Standard Version Chapter 13

8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

For us to experience this same power we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. There are some that operate on a methodology that The baptism in the Holy Spirit is loud of boisterous. There are some that operate on the notion that it is a personal thing not be experienced in a group setting because it might harm others from hearing the gospel. I want to take a moment here a look at a couple of things and dive a little deeper into some methodology because we often times miss the forest for the trees. When we see the Holy Spirit fall it was loud it was powerful. Yet we also see the Holy Spirit fall in small groups and on select individuals and its a loud powerful moment but a deep reverent moment. We also do not see the apostles going around and praying in tongues at ever turn or see them acting holyer than thou when walking amongst the people. It in fact had the opposite effect. Imagine it like this. We are driving down the middle of the road operating in the automobile safely and on one side of the road a ditch that we will call liberalism and on the other side a ditch we call legalism. The goal is not to drive in or on the ditch the goal is to drive on the road operating safely if you go into the ditch you can hurt yourself your car or your passengers and will damage some property as well. Most christians today take the topic of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and refuse to go down the road becasue others have fallen into the ditch of either side. Thats not the way we operate. We talked about experience a few weeks ago. We dealt with the fact that God is a speaking God and that sometimes His presence is a loud presence other times its a still small voice. We don’t quarrel over that. The problem is at times in our upbringing we have seen liberalism and legalism drive others away and so at times we choose not to touch it. I have come today to remind us that its not about those things but This doctrine is a call to operate in the way God intended His church to operate both in the natural and supernatural. All the issues that come with it are becuase man stepped in and pushed His agenda. We also must realize that the experience is not the end moment of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

So what does the bible say about the purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit

To Point To Jesus Jesus left His followers with the commission to make disciples of all peoples (going into all the world, baptizing them, and teaching them; Matthew 28:19,20).

That first Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection was the occasion for the beginning of the equipping process that God started in His Church. Several weeks after having been filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter and John served some time in jail because of their persistent, powerful witness. After being released, they returned to the fellowship of believers where they experienced a powerful prayer meeting. “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31). Reggie Joyner put it like this

What was explicitly stated as the intended result of receiving the Holy Spirit’s power (Acts 1:8) is implicitly taught in the narrative described above (3:11-4:31). We conclude that one of the primary purposes of the infilling of the Holy Spirit is to point to Jesus. We are empowered, energized, enabled to make bold, clear, faithful proclamation of the person and mission of our Lord Jesus Christ. -Reggie Joyner

Another major purpose for being filled with the Holy Spirit is power to live for God.

There are 3 areas where this power is seen.

(1) power to live a holy personal life;

(2) power for service to God and to His work;

(3) power to face an immediate task, difficulty, or crisis.

We can see this play out when Paul is writing to the Church in Rome

English Standard Version Chapter 7

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Jesus said, “… let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”(Matthew 5:16). The apostle Paul wrote, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). We are urged to live a life worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1). Yet on our own strength, we are really unable to live the life, shine the light, and give all glory to Him on our own strength. If we try to do it on our own, we fail.

Paul in Romans 7 is talking about the fail. Yet he gives us the answer in Romans 8 the power to live a holy personal life.

English Standard Version Chapter 8

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

This is only accomplished when we are operating up the power of the Holy Spirt in our lives can we live a personal holy life before God.

Power for service to God and His work

The next area of necessary power is the realm of service. Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40) was an act of serving the Lord and building up the Church (2:41) for which the prior filling with the Holy Spirit was necessary. In addition, the Early Church deacons were filled with the Spirit in order to fulfill God’s call for them to serve at the food distribution tables. The word “deacon” literally means “servant.” It is the same Spirit that fills us to serve the physical needs and spiritual needs of individuals. The distinctive purpose is to live for God and to do that we need the HS in our lives.

Power to Face an Immediate Task

The third area of living for God is what may be called power to face an immediate task (which may include a difficulty or crisis). Deacon Stephen was again filled with the Holy Spirit just prior to being stoned by the people because of his proclamation. Stephen was empowered to see a vision of Jesus and to forgive his killers. When Peter confrontedthe difficult situation of his trial before the Sanhedrin he had yet another empowering, equipping him for this immediate need (Acts 4:8). When Paul had to face the power of Satan, present in the sorcerer named Elymas, Paul received his filling and entered into the crisis with the presence of the Lord (Acts 13:9). Paul walked in power into the task at hand, while Elymas walked away blind.

Each of these crisis situations was accompanied by a miracle. It is usually in this type of circumstance (immediate task, difficulty, or crisis) that signs and wonders occur. God is in the business of “crisis intervention.” The gifts are not for our greed, but for our need! God wants His Church to be “built up” — not in the sense of being flattered, of course, but in the sense of being edified.

The charismatic gifts of God’s grace are not pieces of jewelry to be worn around the neck, nor perfume to adorn the body with an air of spirituality. Instead they are tools to be utilized in the building up of the Church. Often you will have to go out to the “construction” site to find out which tool will be required to accomplish the task. You may not discover your spiritual gift until you are in the middle of the construction labor and you cry out to God to hand you a spiritual hammer or sandpaper or tube of glue. By the same token, since the infilling of the Spirit also is purposeful, let us allow God to lead us in those purposes first in order to experience the power.

The Spirit and power of God are for building the church and therefore we must step into the call and plan of God and experience both natural and supernatural not turning one on and one off but simultaneously operating in both.

So today I want to have a time of power and presence. Some of you are asking GOd for a miracle others are asking God to lead them to lost souls some are unsure if the Holy Spirit is for today. Others are struggling to decide on their faith. Today is the day lets begin to seek God and operate in both the Spiritual and natural world.