I. The Event
A. Foretold In The O.T.
1. Acts 2:16-18 quotes Joel 2:28-32
2. Ezekiel 36:26-28 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
B. Foretold By Jesus
1. John 7:37-38 37On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
C. The Event
1. Disciples obedient to Jesus, in unity, one accord, one passion
2. They are already Christians- John 20:22 “Receive the Holy Spirit”.
3. Sound of the wind
a. Pneuma- spirit, wind, breath
b. Don’t see the wind, but you see the effects of the wind
c. John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
4. Divided tongues like fire
a. Matthew 3:11 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (and fire.)
b. We might translate the phrase, “there appeared unto them tongues that were distributing themselves”. “See margin translation”.
c. The outpouring of the H.S. was distributed among them all
d. Each one of them received the outpouring of the H.S. None was left out
5. Manifestation of tongues occurs-
a. Human languages
b. Languages not known by the speakers
c. Words directed towards heaven, declaring the works of God
d. A fresh and powerful revelation of God. Spontaneous praise.
6. Some sincerely wondered at this event
7. Others mocked
II. The Purpose
A. To Be Baptized & Filled W/ The H.S. Acts 1:4, 5
B. To Receive Power Acts 1:8
C. To Be A Witness Acts 1:8
D. Receive Spiritual Gifts To Testify & Serve 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
Various gifts; various ministries; various expressions of power
Distinctions of gift; distinctions of services; distinctions of operations
III. Our Need
A. Don’t Disqualify This Experience
1. Spoken of in O.T.
2. Promised by Jesus
3. Experiences must be analyzed, approved, disapproved- Biblically
B. We Need This Experience
1. Needed by every Christian
2. We need God’s power and enabling
3. We are called to be witnesses
4. What it produces
a. Acts 4:8 Peter filled, and respectfully speaks against opposition
b. Acts 4:31 Group prayer brings shaking of room, filling of H.S., boldness
c. Acts 6:3, 5a, 8 Stephen: full of H.S. faith, wisdom, power, did miracles
d. Acts 7:55 Stephen has vision of heaven, speaks of Jesus
e. Acts 9:17 Laying on of hands; Paul’s initial filling of H.S.
e. Acts 13:9-11 Paul filled w/ H.S., opposes a magician used by Satan
f. Acts 13:52 Filled w/Holy Spirit, joy in face of opposition
5. All of these experiences are part of being a witness for Jesus.
a. Courage to speak against opposition
b. Wisdom, great faith, joy
c. Power for the miraculous
d. Dreams and visions from God
6. THE QUESTION IS THIS…
Is this what your life looks like to some degree?
Not that we are all called to the ministries that these men were called to…
But do these events happen in some degree in your life?
The work of the Spirit produces these things.
Also- The fruit of the Spirit as found in Galatians 5:16-26
What proof or evidence is there that you are filled or walking in the Spirit?
The evidence isn’t that you can talk about it, teach it, or understand it.
The evidence is that you live under the influence of the H.S.
That is God’s call for every Christian.
C. How To Be Filled & Be A Witness
1. Disciples seeking the Lord, in unity, in prayer, obeying Jesus
2. Paul humbled and obedient. Acts 9:1-20
3. Cornelius sought the Lord, prayed- Acts 10:1-8; 24-48
4. Those filled with H.S. not doing anything strange.
5. No crazy activities, no uncontrollable behavior, etc.
6. Didn’t work themselves into an emotional frenzy.
7. Recognize your emptiness
8. Recognize what you lack in power, faith, joy, witness, wisdom, courage.
D. How To Avoid Being Filled & Being A Witness
1. Don’t seek after God
2. Be disobedient to God
3. Be in conflict with others
4. Don’t pray
5. Ephesians 4:25-32
6. 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22
E. How Will You Respond?
1. Some wondered and asked about it
2. Others mocked and ridiculed it
3. The disciples received it, experienced it, and were witnesses.
4. Matthew 12:34 Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
5. What are you filled with? Holy Spirit, or something else?
6. Ephesians 5:18 “…be filled with the Spirit…”
Dwight Lyman Moody (1837–1899)
When we are filled with the Spirit, there’s no room for the other stuff.
Illustration:
A man who drank heavily was converted to Christ and lived victoriously for several weeks. One day as he passed the open door of a tavern, the pungent odor drifting out aroused his old appetite for liquor. Just then he saw this sign in the window of a nearby cafe: “All the buttermilk you can drink — 25 cents!” Dashing inside, he ordered one glass, then another, and still another. After finishing the third he walked past the saloon and was no longer tempted. He was so full of buttermilk that he had no room for that which would be injurious to him.