Turn On Your Light

Greeting

Good morning Lighthouse.

It is so good to be back today and to be here with you all. First off, I want to say thank you to our incredible team who served so selflessly yesterday. We celebrated the life of Angel and her deep impact on so many, and her significant impact on our church. So again, thank you Lighthouse. You served so well yesterday, and here you are again today serving our city through this worship service.

I also want to stop and appreciate all of our Veterans here at Lightouse. This week we pause to appreciate you, and I want you to know that we appreciate and honor you.

Last week we kicked off a new series called The World of the Generous. In addition, last week we kicked off our Light Up The City campaign. The primary goal of this campaign is that we would arise to the moment we are living in. We need to be fully awake to what God is doing. I highly recommend you go back and listen to last week’s message if you have not done that, because today’s message is going to feel like a continuation of what we began last week.

Let’s read our scripture once more.

Reading

Isaiah 60:1 NIV

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

Turn On Your Light

Introduction

One of the things that I love about our church is that our desire to be a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, life-giving church is becoming more real with each week that passes.

Another observation of mine is that we are coming from different backgrounds, different theological camps, different denominations, and different experiences. That is both exciting and terrifying!

I am excited because I believe you come with my heart, which is let’s agree on the essentials, and let’s pursue unity on the non-essentials. But there are times when I pray that we not allow what the world fights over, to come inside this church.

That said, here is the challenge that we work through together - all of our our theology is informed by our experiences.

So however you grew up, that experience informs what we believe about God, what we believe God thinks about us, and it shapes how we worship.

And though that might not sound bad, there is some danger when you do not personally examine what you have been taught.

But when we unite under the banner of God’s word and passionately pursuing Jesus, here is what happens:

No other book, or organizational document, is greater than the scriptures.

No tradition is greater than the scriptures.

We will go to the word of God time and time again for truth, and how we should apply it.

We will interpret the text the way it was intended for the readers back then. Then we will seek to apply the scriptures into our context today.

Let’s say this together....

The Bible was not written to me, but it is for me.

Shine

Last week we talked about the importance of waking up. For too long, there have been far too many who have been going through the motions of following Jesus, but tin reality they are spiritually asleep.

So our verse tells us to do two things: Arise and Shine.

What does it mean to shine and how does that happen?

Everyone say the Holy Spirit.

It is the working of the Holy Spirit in our life that causes us to shine.

So that said, we need to come into agreement about who the Holy Spirit is, when we receive the Spirit, and why we need the Holy Spirit in our life.

Let’s start with a question, At what point does someone receive the Holy Spirit?

The moment you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you received the Holy Spirit.

Why? Because Jesus always brings company.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV)

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

This scripture is part of the Hebrew Shema, which is the Jewish confession of faith.

It set’s the tone early in the scriptures that God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus are all one.

So when you say yes to Jesus, and you accept him into your heart, He doesn’t come in and tell the Holy Spirit, “You stay outside. He was only talking to me.”

That’s not how this works. Jesus doesn’t come alone.

In the New Testament, Paul wrote a Christological masterpiece in his letter of Colossians and here is how he explained Jesus to the church.

Colossians 2:9 (KJV 1900)

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

So it is theologically inaccurate to say that you received Jesus then, but you didn’t receive the Holy Spirit. They are one. They cannot be separated.

So when you said yes to Jesus, you also received the Holy Spirit into your life and he takes up residence inside of you.

What Is He Doing?

Now if you are wondering, well what is going on inside of me now that the Holy Spirit is here?

Here is what is happening according to Jesus.

John 14:16–17 (NIV)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Let’s hit the pause button here and point out somethings about what Jesus is saying.

He is saying that the Holy Spirit is our advocate.

The Holy Spirit cannot be seen.

He lives within you.

John 14:26 (NIV)

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Jesus, now names the advocate as the Holy Spirit and he explains that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things.

Let me read one more to you from Jesus.

John 16:13 (NIV)

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

Jesus reiterates the purpose of the Holy Spirit in our life as he guides us into all the truth.

And I love what else is said here, the Holy Spirit will hear from God, and tell us what God is saying.

So for everyone who has received Jesus, I want you to know that the Holy Spirit is actively working in your life right now! You’ve got to acknowledge that he’s working in you, and give an attentive ear to him so that we can be led into all truth.

How many of you are glad that the Holy Spirit is working in you? How many of you are glad that when you said yes to Jesus, it was more than an emotional response, but it was receiving Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God into our lives!

What about Baptism of the Spirit?

Now let’s go a little deeper this morning…

Are you all with me so far?

There is something that is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and through the scriptures we see that it is not one and the same as receiving the Holy Spirit.

First, let’s read John and Jesus’ words about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 1:8 (NIV)

I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:4–5 (NIV)

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Ok, so we are getting different language, or new language. Are these one and the same? They’re not.

Both John and Jesus talked about something that was to come, and the Holy Spirit had already been filling people throughout the Old and New Testament.

Joseph – Genesis 41:38

Bezaleel – Exodus 31:3

Joshua – Numbers 27:18

Gideon – Judges 6:34

Samson – Judges 13:25

Saul – 1 Samuel 10:9-10

David – 1 Samuel 16:13

When Jesus spoke about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, he had already talked to them about the Holy Spirit. We read that in John 14. But beyond that, he also filled them with his Holy Spirit.

John 20:21–22 (NIV)

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Prior to this moment, the disciples did not need to receive the Holy Spirit because they were with Jesus!

But Jesus has been crucified, he is resurrected, but he is coming and going. He is appearing, and then disappearing. Now his disciples needed to receive the Holy Spirit so that they would have the advocate with them to guide them to all truth.

So Jesus gives to them the Holy Spirit… but later, he says, I’m going to baptize you with my spirit.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

So let’s first analyze the words Jesus used.

He said he was going to baptize them, and that word baptize comes from the Greek word bapto, which means to submerge or to immerse.

So he tells his disciples, “don’t leave Jerusalem; in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

And now, one of the most important verses that you can read about the Holy Spirit follows;

Acts 1:8 (NIV)

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.”

The Holy Spirit gives us power to become a better witness of Jesus.

[New Stuff]

Why is that?

There are things in your life that you can’t stop doing without the Holy Spirit.

There are things in your life you can’t start doing without the Holy Spirit.

Another self-help book is not the solution, and even though we are for counseling and therapy, even those things have their limitations.

But when you are baptized with the Spirit of God - the things you couldn’t stop doing, now you have the power to stop doing. The things you couldn’t do, now you have the power to start doing.

There is a supernatural, spirit-filled empowerment and when you start doing to things that no one said you could do, everyone one around you will take notice and they will know that there is something different about you. They will know that you are no longer the same person. They will know that sometime has changed with you.

And yes, it will make YOU a better witness to THEM.

[Transition]

Prior to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we receive the Holy Spirit. But when we are baptized by the Holy Spirit WE are immersed in the Spirit.

So he was in us, but now we are in Him.

As we read on in the Book of Acts, we see just how demonstrative the Baptism of the Holy Spirit it.

Acts 2:1–4 (NIV)

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Let me just break this moment down for everyone.

Jesus tells them to wait, and that’s exactly what they did. They waited in Jerusalem, and on the Day of Pentecost, which is a Jewish feast day that occurs 50 days after the passover, the Holy Spirit baptized the believers who were still in Jerusalem. The miracle of Pentecost is that they were all Baptized with the Holy Spirit and they supernaturally spoke in other languages.

Why did this happen?

The Feast of Pentecost brought many people from around the world to Jerusalem. These were Jews who resides in other countries, and spoke foreign languages. When they were the commotion, they saw men and women of Galilee speaking in their language.

At first they thought that these people were drunk, but Peter stands up and preaches the first gospel message and 3,000 people were added to the church that day.

What did Jesus say would happen?

They would receive power to be better witnesses, and that’s exactly what happened on that day.

The Aftermath of Pentecost

So after Pentecost, what do we find in the scriptures concerning the Holy Spirit and now let’s also talk about speaking in tongues.

There are more instances of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit happening in the Book of Acts. We see it in Acts 8:17, Acts 9:17, Acts 10:44-46, and Acts 19:6.

In each of these passages, we see that the function of the Holy Spirit is empowering believers to be shine.

Today, we teach and preach that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is still something that every believer should pursue!

We live in a world and in a time where you don’t want to do it without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Why would you want to live your life as a Jesus follower and not be baptized with the Holy Spirit?

We all need more of him, we all need more of his power, and the darker than this world gets the brighter the church needs to shine.

Now, some churches don’t feel this way, and they may not teach it this way. We respectfully disagree, but let’s get our hearts in the right place on this subject.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t make me better than you, it makes me better than me.

And so we teach that everyone should pursue the baptism of the Holy Spirit here at Lighthouse.

What About Tongues?

Now I want to bring one more point into this message, and that is on the gift of speaking in other tongues. In Acts 2, we see that everyone was supernaturally enabled to speak in tongues in order to witness to those around them.

Beyond that, we see this happen in some of the other occurrences in Acts that I already mentioned, and finally, we get writings from Paul about speaking in tongues. Those are in Romans 8, and 1 Corinthians 12 and 14.

We won’t deep dive into tongues, but I will make statements that are all backed by scriptures and I’ll even share some with you.

Paul spoke in tongues and encouraged everyone in Corinth to do the same.

1 Corinthians 14:18 (NIV)

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

1 Corinthians 14:5 (NIV)

I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

Now verse 5 is when Paul begins to take us into an orderly way of speaking tongues. This was necessary because in Corinth, there was some crazy things happening in the church. People who spoke in tongues were completely out of order, and it was taking something that God gave them, and they were misusing it.

Sound familiar?

So Paul makes these statements to tell them, “Hey I speak in tongues! And I want for all of you to do it too! But I want things to be done in order.”

But here’s what I don’t believe the church should do, I don’t think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater.

As a matter of fact, here’s how Paul ends his letter on tongues.

1 Corinthians 14:39 (NIV)

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

So praying in tongues is a gift, but don’t misuse the gift. And if someone doesn’t speak in tongues, that’s OK too. Speaking in tongues doesn’t save you, Jesus saves you. That’s it.

Conclusion

As I was preparing this message I wondered why God would lead me to talk about the Holy Spirit in a series about growing in our generosity. It almost feels out of place.

But the truth is the, we need the Holy Spirit in order to produce the Fruit of the Spirit.

When Jesus said we would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, he was telling us that the working of the Holy Spirit reveals the power of God in our life. As it produces the Fruit of the Spirit, it reveals the Nature of God.

The nature of God is generous. It is who He is. For God so loved the world that He “gave” His only son.

If we are a church known for generosity and not for power, we’re missing half of our witness. If we’re known for the power of the Holy Spirit and not by the Nature of God, we’re also missing half our witness.

This world needs both.