How And When Do We Receive The Holy Spirit?

FEBRUARY 20, 2022 STUDY NOTES ACTS 2:38-39 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES HOW AND WHEN DO WE RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT? Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This past Wednesday night we studied repentance, baptism, the name of Jesus, and forgiveness Today our subject is the last part of the verse, “you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” The question is, “How and when do we receive the Holy Spirit?” The Holy Spirit Himself is the “gift,” a gift is that which we do not earn or purchase on our own God’s gifts to us are according to His Grace, God freely giving to us what we do not deserve The Holy Spirit is a part of God’s gift of salvation to the one who repents and receives Jesus, Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Within the gift of salvation is the “gift of the Holy Spirit” Scripture shares many wonderful spiritual truths that we receive through God’s gift of salvation, Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: The blessing and gift of the Holy Spirit is debated among different religious groups today There is a view among those known as Pentecostal, Charismatic, or Full-Gospel They believe that a person receives the Spirit at the time of salvation, which is true But then they must receive a second spiritual experience of the Spirit after salvation Which they identify as the baptism of the Spirit, which is received by the laying on of hands And the evidence of receiving the baptism of the Spirit is speaking in tongues That is not the view that I will teach today, so there may be those who will disagree with me A Biblical view cannot be based upon any verse without comparing scripture with scripture Acts 2, the Day of Pentecost, was the day that the promise of Jesus to send the Spirit was fulfilled The Holy Spirit came from God the Father in a new earthly ministry to those who are saved At the time of salvation all believers receive the Person and present ministry of the Holy Spirit Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit “shall be in you,” Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Throughout the OT and until the Pentecost coming of the Spirit, He was “with” God’s people The Spirit was present to empower God’s people to accomplish God’s work Since Pentecost He “dwells” or abides in the believer, the promise is He “shall be in you” Jesus made another promise to His disciples, Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The church identified in Acts and the NT letters was not previously in existence The NT church as revealed in Acts could not exist prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit Jesus gave them another promise, Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (According to God’s evaluation, what God considers the greatest) That was a great promise but hard to believe or understand before the coming of the Spirit How could there be greater works than what they had witnessed in the presence of Jesus? Jesus had already presented to them the truth of greater works, Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. Jesus’ offer of salvation is to whoever will come to Him, but keep reading Page 1 of 4 Jesus promised a never-ending flow of spiritual water which would supply never ending life, Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. That promise and the fulfillment of greater works were both based upon the same truth, Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) The promises of Jesus were based upon receiving the Spirit which was to come The conviction of the Spirit will draw sinners to Jesus through believers who receive the Spirit The Apostles and all believers in the Church Age would now minister through the Holy Spirit The book of Acts tells the story of the Acts of the Apostles through the Holy Spirit The continued work of Jesus upon the earth would now be through Spirit-Filled believers The ministry of the Holy Spirit for this age had its beginning in Acts 2 Without the present ministry of the Holy Spirit the truths of the cross would not be realized The cross of Christ made N.T. truths possible, the Holy Spirit today makes them available to us Every believer in this age is a member of the NT Church, whether Jew or Gentile All believers are united into the “Body of Christ,” a body of Jews and Gentiles united-together, 1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. That which unites all believers into the “Body of Christ” is the “Baptism of the Spirit” The New Testament Church (the body of Christ) had its beginning with the baptism of the Spirit, 1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. All N. T. believers are baptized with the Spirit the moment they are saved We receive the Holy Spirit at the time of our salvation which is called the “seal” of the Spirit, Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, The Holy Spirit is the “seal of salvation” because He is received at-the moment of our salvation Scripture has been fulfilled--the Promise of the Father has been fulfilled The promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit has been fulfilled, Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. The Spirit is identified as “the earnest” which means, “a down payment” or first installment A partial payment which is a pledge or guarantee of payment in full It teaches us that we can know that God is going to give us all that He has promised The Holy Spirit within us is God’s pledge of a completed action, Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: The Holy Spirit within us today is only the beginning of our salvation experience And the presence of the Holy Spirit is just a foretaste of what the rest will be like Our present experience of the Spirit’s blessings is only a touch of our eternal blessings We will experience a full and complete salvation, 1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. All believers are now united into the NT Church, which is the Body of Christ Which is the experience of every believer because of the “COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT” As a believer you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Pay attention to His identification, He is the “Holy Spirit,” and He is a “Person” When we receive the Person of Jesus, we also receive the Person of the Holy Spirit As Christians we have a personal relationship with God, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit Page 2 of 4 If a person does not possess the Holy Spirit they do not belong to Christ, Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. It is the Holy Spirit who applies to the believer all that Jesus purchased in His redemptive work GOD’S PROMISE TO THE JEW FIRST Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Peter speaks of the promise of the coming of the Spirit that had been fulfilled at Pentecost Following the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel was to begin at Jerusalem, Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Why? “For the promise is unto you,” unto the Jews first, Act 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Jews are the physical descendants of Abraham and still recipients of the Abrahamic Covenant “Thy seed” refers to a single individual and can only be referring to Jesus, Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, (plural) as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, (singular) which is Christ. Through Jesus “all kindreds of the earth” will be blessed, blessings are not limited to the Jews But the Jews had a privileged position, Jews are the heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant Through the Jews the Messiah came to bring the blessings of God to all nations Jesus was sent first to the Jews, Act 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. The 12 Apostles were sent forth to the lost sheep of Israel with the gospel of the kingdom, Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. God called Paul to be an apostle and sent him forth with the gospel of salvation, Rom 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, Which was to be preached to the Jews first, Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Because of Jewish opposition Paul turned to the Gentiles with the gospel message, Act 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. God’s purpose for Israel was to be a light unto the Gentiles, Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; The Messiah would come through the nation of Israel, He would be the “Light of the world,” Luk 2:32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. Israel was to be a light of salvation unto the Gentiles and to bring all nations to God, Isa 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. The promise was to the Jews who were present at Pentecost and extended “to your children” The promise went beyond the Jews and was extended “to all that are afar off” Referring to the Gentiles, the Gospel now goes out to the Gentiles, Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. Page 3 of 4 The Gentiles were considered as those who were “far off” from God Paul identified them, Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. The Jews were God’s covenant people and had been given the promises of God Compared to the Jews, Gentiles were “far off” from God Gentiles were once far away from God and far away from the Jews “But now” in Christ Jesus saved Gentiles are just as near to God as saved Jews are All believers, even Gentile believers have now been brought near to God What made it possible for all believers to be brought near to God? Jew and Gentile “are made nigh by the blood of Christ” There is nothing in scripture that is more important than the blood of Jesus The Gentiles were those who “were afar off” and the Jews where those who “were near,” Eph 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. The preaching of peace was for both to hear and receive, which resulted in, Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Exactly what Peter was preaching to the Jews on the Day of Pentecost “Through him” refers to Jesus, the one who was crucified and arose from the grave “We both” refers to Jews and Gentiles, and to all who have received the gospel “Have access” means “approach,” a bringing together, which Paul explains “By one Spirit,” the Holy Spirit who unites us “unto the Father” Those who are saved and united unto the Father are identified as those who are called (Acts 2:39) even as many as the Lord our God shall call. God’s calling unto the lost for salvation is debated among theologians Don’t allow the debate to discourage or defeat your joy of salvation Believe in Jesus, receive Jesus, live for Jesus, and trust the promises of Jesus Who are those that are called? Peter told us in the first part of this verse The Jews first, then their children, and then the Gentiles, which Jesus also explained, Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The Lord calls those who are lost from every nation whether Jew or Gentile, Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. “As many as the Lord our God shall call” refers to the “whosoever will,” Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. God’s call unto the lost is for the lost to call upon Jesus Those called have a free will, their personal will must be to receive Jesus, Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Scripture is clear, the lost must call upon the name of the Lord in-order to be saved Scripture is clear, no one calls on the Lord unless the Lord first calls them to Himself Settle the debate among theologians, know for sure that you have called upon Jesus for salvation The assurance of your salvation is the presence of the Holy Spirit abiding in you The evidence of the presence of the Spirit within you can be revealed in many different ways The song you are going to hear reveals a most important revelation of the Spirit within you Let’s listen to it and make sure it is true of you and I And true of Prairie Grove Baptist Church every time we meet Page 4 of 4