Real Life Community Church Sermons
Real Life Community Church, is a church located in Richmond, Kentucky. Our fellowship is comprised of authentic followers of Jesus Christ who aim to glorify God in all that we do. We have a desire to reach our community, meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of those who are hurting.What to Expect in a ServiceOur Sunday Morning services include a time of dynamic, contemporary worship. We have a full praise band, consisting of real Christ-followers who are committed to worshiping God, not just through song, but in every area of their lives. Each service will include a relevant, Bible-based message, that will inspire and challenge those who hear it, in their walk with the Lord. Come casually or formally dressed… however you are most comfortable. We hope to see you soon!
Real Life Community Church Sermons
Acts | Part 1 | Embracing the Power & Purpose of the Holy Spirit
Join us on an eye-opening exploration of the Book of Acts, where the foundations of the early church come into sharp focus, challenging us to consider how today's church measures up. Inspired by Acts 1:1-11, we kick off a year-long journey, questioning whether our contemporary practices would be recognizable to early believers. As we navigate the societal challenges facing modern Christianity, this sermon calls for alignment with the mission and spirit of the early church, advocating for discernment in the face of perceived antagonism.
Experience the Book of Acts through a new lens as we highlight the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, which could more aptly be titled "The Acts of the Holy Spirit." Reflect on the apostles' remarkable transformation, from their initial hesitance in the Roman Empire to becoming bold heralds of the Gospel.
Pastor Chris challenges preconceived notions surrounding Pentecostal experiences, advocating for a universal embrace of the Holy Spirit's power across all denominations. By sharing insights from influential figures like John Wesley and John Piper, he highlight the significance of genuine spiritual encounters that transcend traditional boundaries. This sermon encourages you to seek the Holy Spirit's influence in everyday life, with the aim of making Jesus known amongst the nations.
I'll be reading from Acts, chapter 1, verses 1 through 11. In the first book, o Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up. After he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he presented himself alive to them after his suffering, by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God Verse 4,. And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now Verse 6,. So when they had come together, they asked him Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them it is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
Speaker 1:And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who has taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. God bless the reading of his word. You may be seated. Thank you, brother Ron.
Speaker 2:Praise the Lord, everybody Excited for this journey. I want to begin today with a question how do the contemporary church's ideas about the Christian life and the church compare to those of the first century church? That's worth thinking about. We're starting our new series, as you know, through the book of Acts today and we're going to take a year and, god willing, we'll get through this wonderful book. And it's a history book that tells us about the birth. Missy's laughing. She's like you're not going to get through in a year. Where's your foe, ye of little faith? Listen, this is a history book about the birth of the church. How many know? It's a very good thing to do, a very good thing to do to read history. It's very beneficial and we need to know, we need to go back to our roots and realize how the church got started and there's a lot that we can learn through the book of Acts from that first century church. Now I have two aims as we move through this wonderful book, and the first is evaluation, evaluation.
Speaker 2:In 1924, caesar Cardini created what we know as the Caesar salad. Aren't you glad you came to church today? The original recipe was something like this Romaine lettuce, fresh parmesan croutons, egg oil, garlic, salt, worcestershire sauce, citrus juice and often even included anchovies. Now, if you order a Caesar salad in this area, you're going to get something similar. You'll get. What are you going to get, romaine? Not fresh Parmesan, but Parmesan croutons in so-called caesar dressing. But it's close. It's not exact to what the original was, but it's close enough that we could call it a caesar. But apparently around in other places of the country that is not the case. Restaurants have taken great liberty with the caesar salad. Did you know?
Speaker 2:Well, this is such big news that I came across this article in the Atlantic Post back over my sabbatical, and in it this lady by the name of Ellen Cushing writes these words, quote we are living through an age of unchecked Caesar salad fraud, and man, she's passionate about this too. Pewter of Caesars are dressed with yogurt or miso or tequila or lemongrass, and they are served with zucchini, orange zest, pig ear, poached duck egg, roasted fennel, fried chickpeas, buffalo, cauliflower fritters and rice crackers. They are missing anchovies or croutons or even lettuce. End quote. And the point of the article was simply this what many today call a Caesar salad would be virtually unrecognizable to the Caesar Cardini family. And I read that and for some reason, I don't know why in the world. I mean, that would be normally an article I'd just kind of breeze by. But something sparked to me when I read that article Because I started thinking about the church and I just wonder that if our idea of church in the Christian life would be even virtually recognizable, even remotely excuse me recognizable to the early church.
Speaker 2:And as you read through the book of Acts you've got to wonder that I think sometimes we depend more on theatrics than we do the power of the Spirit. We're not disciplined to the things of doctrine and prayer and the things that they were so disciplined about. And so as we move through the book we want to graciously evaluate our own life and practices. And not everything in the book of Acts is prescriptive. Some of it is descriptive For instance, we don't cast lots anymore to choose pastors or elders or deacons but a lot of it is prescriptive and fundamental to the church's success and mission. And so as we move through we wouldn't just evaluate our own church and say, lord, are we doing church quote, unquote the way that we're supposed to, the way that you've called us to function? So that's one goal, evaluation. The other is simply encouragement.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you've noticed, but people in our country are becoming more and more antagonistic against the Christian message. Have you noticed this Like we're beginning more and more to be hated? Now I'm careful to call what we're going through here persecution, because it's nothing compared to what is going on in other parts of the world and it's been that way throughout history. But if we're honest, I mean, we live for years as Christians pretty comfortable lives and it was a good thing in this country to be a Christian. Now it's man. The message is rejected and hated. We watch the moral fabric of our communities, our nation kind of, unravel more and more each day and that can be discouraging and it can seem like all odds are stacked against us and some churches you know many churches are closing and pastors are leaving the ministry frustrated. And you might think you know, man, I just don't know about this. How are we going to move forward?
Speaker 2:But the book of Acts is a great encouragement to us because we're reminded that Jesus started with 11 apostles in chapter 1 and added Matthias at the end of chapter 1 to replace Judas Iscariot, and he gave them this mission to change the world. And this was in the Roman Empire, like it wasn't a moral place and they had just crucified the Messiah. And yet Jesus says 11 men who were, by way, cowards, in most of them in the gospel accounts, he says I want you to go, take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Good luck, right. And it's like how could that happen? But do you know that we're here today because the disciples actually accomplished what God called them to accomplish? And by Acts, chapter 17, the apostles, some of them, are accused of actually turning the world upside down and beloved. If 11 uneducated men in the first century, in the midst of the Roman Empire, can turn the world upside down, how could a hundred people this morning, full of the Holy Spirit, turn the world upside down? Amen. This book is encouraging and I hope it encourages you.
Speaker 2:So this series is going to look a little bit different than the way that I've preached through books in the past. Like I took three years, you remember, to go through the book of Matthew almost verse by verse, and I don't regret that. We joke about it, but it was a fruitful study. I have no regrets, but I feel a sense of urgency with the book of Acts. So, no matter what Missy thinks I'm going to try to get through it in 2025. And so I don't want to skip over.
Speaker 2:As a church, you know verses and parts of the scripture, so because it's all important, but there is some redundancy and there's some key points I want to point out. So what we're doing is we're supplementing the Sunday morning teaching with study guides, and you should all have a printed one and, as Ron said, they're also online at myworldchurchorg. And we're asking you, our small groups are relaunching and our small groups are going to be going through the verses that I don't touch on this morning. And then also, we would ask you, man, go through these together with your families or in your personal devotions, and let's just saturate ourselves this year with the book of Acts. Are you on board? All right, good, so today the focus is going to be primarily on verses 4, 5, and 8, which are all about the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:Now, some of y'all are scared and my charismatics are going. Woohoo, finally, right, the Holy Spirit has become known as kind of the unknown God in the church. In a lot of churches, the Trinity is Father, son and Holy Word. Right, like people don't talk about, they don't mind when you talk about the fruit of the Spirit, like that doesn't ruffle any feathers or make people nervous, but when you start talking about power, it's like hold on, hold on, I took the chandeliers down, don't mean nobody hanging.
Speaker 2:Let me just put you at ease, but the book of Acts has a title in most of your Bibles. What's that title Do you see at the top? The Acts of Acts has a title in most of your Bibles. What's that title Do you see at the top? The Acts of the Apostles. Now, that title, I would argue, was not divinely inspired, because it was not part of the original manuscripts. That was added just I don't know why just a few years later or a few centuries later, we don't know exactly when. But that's a fine title. I mean, this book follows not all of the disciples, really just a few, particularly Paul and Peter, but there's others as well that it mentions.
Speaker 2:A better name for the book, though, would be the Acts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in this book is mentioned 55 times at least. Probably more, I'm sure I missed a couple, but it's referred to 55 times at least in 28 chapters. That's more than all of Matthew, mark and Luke combined. It's interesting that the Old Testament well, let me preface this the entire bible, within the entire bible and in every book of the bible we can find pictures or or a little bit about the father, son and holy spirit okay, the triune god, but the Old Testament seems to primarily focus on introducing us to God the Father. The four Gospels Matthew, mark, luke and John primarily focus on Jesus Christ, but, to be sure, the Holy Spirit and the Father are in those as well. But it's primarily about the story of Jesus and the book of Acts primarily focuses on the Holy Spirit. So this would be better titled, I think, the Acts of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:I want to point you first to verse 1. Look at verse 1 with me. This is Luke writing, who also wrote the Gospel of Luke, and he says in the first book O Theophilus, now Theophilus, now Theophilus is likely some Roman dignitary, and I should have written this down, I forget. I think his name means it can mean either lover of God or loved by God. So he's likely a Christian, but a Roman dignitary of some sort. And Luke says to him he says I have dealt with all that Jesus in the first book. I've dealt with all that Jesus began and I want you to underline that in your scripture journal began to do and teach. He began to do and teach. That's significant. So he says the book of Luke, the first book he wrote, was an account of what Jesus began to do and teach. Which means that in the book of Acts you know when Jesus, in chapter one, ascends into heaven. But how many know his ministry did not stop. Back this summer I taught on.
Speaker 2:We spent a lot of time on John 14, 15, and 16. And in John, chapter 14, remember, Jesus told his disciples you're going to continue my ministry, you're going to do even greater things than I have done. And then he talks about bearing fruit in his name, apart from me. He said, you can do nothing, but through me you can bear fruit. And we talked about that. And so what we see in the book of Acts is the works of Jesus continuing through all 28 chapters.
Speaker 2:But there's something really interesting, because Acts 28 is a bit anticlimactic, in that there's no the end. And they live happily ever after. Why? Because the works of they lived happily ever after. Why? Because the works of Jesus are still continuing today. We're still called out to go out and to win people to Jesus to take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. So let's go now to verses 4 and 5. So Jesus is sending his people out on mission, he's about to send them out to take the gospel to the ancient world. And here's what he says to the disciples right before His ascension, verse 4,. And while speaking with the risen Christ, like they're rearing to go and start their ministry. But Jesus says actually, just stay, stay in Jerusalem, do not depart, but wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, of the Father, which he said you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.
Speaker 2:One of the things that we see straight away in the book of Acts is that the early church's ministry was utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit. And let me just ask you today, for reasons of evaluation, let's just look at this church and then maybe the contemporary church as a whole. Would people say that we are utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit? I think we're sometimes too educated, too eloquent. We have too much technology, too many marketing resources, where we've become more dependent again on theatrics than we have the Holy Spirit. But I've reminded as I go through Acts, that oh, how much more could we accomplish. We're not a glorified business Pastors function today as glorified CEO but we're called to be spirit filled men of God, amen. And we're called to be spirit filled people who live and move and have our being in God Himself and minister and proclaim the gospel in the power of the Spirit. Let me just ask you, what would it look like today? Like what would happen in Richmond today if we were empowered by the Spirit. Like the first century church was. Like what would happen? It's worth thinking about.
Speaker 2:What is Jesus says wait on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? This is kind of debated, by the way, but can we just not let our traditions interpret this for us? Can we let the Bible interpret the Bible? So let's just look at Luke in the book of Acts and what he has to say about the baptism with the Holy Spirit. So let me start here. This is very important Every single real Christian, real follower of Jesus, has the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:Otherwise you are not a Christian. So Romans 8 and 9,. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you. Listen to what Paul said. This is Romans 8 and 9. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. Every Christian is indwelt by the Spirit and, by the way, if you're a Christian, you have the entire Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a gas, okay. The Holy Spirit is not an energy. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the third person of the Godhead. So you don't get. You know, you don't get.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of Pentecostals make it sound like, well, you have part of the Spirit. You don't get. I think a lot of Pentecostals make it sound like, well, you have part of the Spirit if you're a Christian, but you don't have all of you know, and they refer to him as the it right? No, you get all of the Spirit. However, what we learn in the Bible and you're going to see this today is that the Holy Spirit has different functions. So you have the whole Spirit, but what it may be is that you have the function of the holy spirit by his indwelling, but maybe you're missing another function of the spirit, perhaps. All right, many people believe that, and I think erroneously that when the book of acts talks about the baptism with the holy spirit or in the Holy Spirit. That Luke is referring to the regenerative or salvific work of the Spirit. So this is about salvation, and I just again, we just look at context and I don't think that's what Luke means.
Speaker 2:The disciples, at this point, right before Jesus' ascension, have already received, it seems, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In other words, they've already been born again. So let me show this to you Take your Bible this won't be in your scripture journal, but take your Bible and go with me to John, chapter 20. And if we can put verses 21 through 23 on the screen if I have it I can't remember if I put that in there or not there we go. You have it All right, here we go.
Speaker 2:So this is actually this is the evening of Jesus' resurrection and he's with his disciples. Listen to what he says to them. Jesus said to them peace, be with you, as the Father has sent me. Even so, I am sending you. And when he said these things, what's he do? He breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. So I wanted you to focus on that. He breathed on them post-resurrection and said receive the Holy Spirit. This is what I believe by faith that the disciples are truly born again.
Speaker 2:In Luke 24, 52 and 53, luke says that the disciples worshiped Jesus and returned to Jerusalem with great joy this is post-resurrection With great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. These are disciples full of joy, worshiping God. John Piper said it well, he said these are not unregenerate people. So my point, something to consider, is that I believe at this moment in Acts 1, right before Jesus' ascension, I think the disciples are already born again and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So when Jesus talks about wait for the Spirit in Acts 4, it can be a bit perplexing Do you see that? But he says look what he says Wait, right, wait, verse 4. Don't depart from Jerusalem. Wait for the promise of the Father, which he said you have heard from me for John baptized with water, but you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. He's talking to people who already have the indwelling of the Spirit, which is interesting. Wait, there's something else that you need if you're going to take the gospel to the ends of the Roman world Jesus is referring to, he's recalling a story that all four gospels tell. It's the story of John the Baptist. Remember when John the Baptist was baptizing people? He was performing this baptism of repentance, preparing the way for Jesus. And when he was baptizing he said I baptize you in water, but there's coming one after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And so that's what Jesus is telling his disciples now, who are indwelt by the Spirit. He said listen that promise that John gave. And Jesus is telling his disciples now, who are indwelt by the Spirit, he said listen that promise that John gave, it's coming. It's coming. Not many days from now you're going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:So what is the baptism with the Holy Spirit? Well, we're going to look at three key words in verse 8 that tell us almost everything we need to know about what spirit baptism is. And the first word and I want you to underline this is the word power in verse 8. Okay, let's look at it. But you will receive what Power? When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, or has come upon you, you'll receive power. Notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say you will receive salvation when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. He says power. So the evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is power. Well, what does that mean? Does that mean that you know you get some kind of like X-Men superpower or something? You're flying off buildings or whatever? It's not that. This has to do with the charismatic gifts, many of them found in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12. And you're going to see this.
Speaker 2:So let's just take a journey through Acts. I don't have time for you to turn to every scripture with me here, but we'll get to these through the series. What does the power look like in Acts? Well, in Acts 2, 4, the Holy Spirit falls on the assembled believers and they're all filled with the Spirit. And what do they do? They speak with other tongues.
Speaker 2:Now, some of you who did not grow up in Pentecostal churches, you hear that and you go oh no, he's not going there. Do you know what the word tongues actually literally means? It's languages. Why the interpreters, the translators, don't just use that word? I don't know. It's a little less scary, right? So they speak in tongues. That's a power. They were able to speak and magnify God in languages that they had never learned. By the way, I know you guys have a lot of questions about the gift of tongues. God willing, next week I have a feeling this place will be packed out. I'm going to talk about the gift of tongues. Pray for me this week. I'm going to talk about the gift of tongues. Pray for me this week Because I'm going to offend Pentecostals and cessationists. I heard one pastor say he's an equal opportunity offender, and that's me.
Speaker 2:So in Acts 2-4, the power is this ability to speak in languages unknown to the disciples, in all of those, by the way, the full 120 in the upper rooms, not just the apostles. Then, in Peter's explanation, peter explains all these people are perplexed going. What's going on? These people are speaking languages that they've never been able to speak, and Peter explains what has just happened, this phenomenon, by quoting from Joel, chapter 2. So I want you to flip over to Acts, chapter 2, with me and go to verse 16. We're just going to read a couple verses. So all these people are accusing the disciples and the others of being drunk and they're like come on, it's 9 in the morning. We don't start drinking until 10.
Speaker 2:That's a joke, so let's look at verse 16. We don't start drinking until 10. That's a joke. So let's look at verse 16. So this is Peter's scriptural explanation of what's just happened. He said this was what was uttered through the prophet Joel and in the last day it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. That's just happened. Right, this is the baptism in or with the Holy Spirit. And here's the signs.
Speaker 2:Okay, that Peter says can also. He doesn't mention tongues here, but he says your sons and daughters shall do what Prophesy. It's a supernatural gift. And your young men shall do what Prophesy. It's a supernatural gift. And your young men shall do what Visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and my female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit and they shall do what Prophecy.
Speaker 2:So in chapter two, verse four, we can see that power can look like tongues and by Peter's explanation we can know it could be prophecy, dreaming of dreams, seeing visions. And we see this, by the way, throughout the book of Acts, in Acts 4, 31,. It's power to boldly preach the gospel even when your life is at risk, like you need power for that. Remember when Peter. He was like afraid of a teenage girl who called him out for being Jesus' disciples, and he denied him three times. Well, now Peter stands up in Acts 2 full of the Holy Spirit and boldly preaches the gospel Like we need power to stand in the face of persecution. So that power can look like that In Acts 6, 8, it's the power to do miracles. In Acts 7, 55, it's the power again to withstand persecution. That's Stephen the martyr. In Acts 10, it's the power to speak with other tongues. Again In Acts 19, it's the power to speak in other tongues and to prophesy.
Speaker 2:My point is this, and I think we Pentecostals have erred here sometimes it doesn't look the same way all the time. Jesus does not say you'll have this particular gift when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. He says you'll have power, and that power looks differently throughout the book of Acts and I'll talk more about that next week. So to begin with, we learn from this first word power, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's not to do with salvation, but it is the receiving of extraordinary power. Are you with me? Shake your head. Have I offended anybody yet? Doing well, my wife raised her hand in the back. The second word that I want you to focus on and underline is the word upon.
Speaker 2:You will receive power when the Spirit comes upon you, and that preposition is extremely important. So I want you to go with me one more time to the book of John, in chapter 14. So this is pre-resurrection. The last scripture from John was post-resurrection. Look what this verse is 16 and 17. So this is before Jesus has been crucified.
Speaker 2:And here's what he tells his disciples. And I will ask the father and he will give you another helper. So Jesus is telling the disciples I'm going away, but I'm sending you the Helper. Who's the Helper? Holy Spirit. Alright, you've been listening. What's the preposition? With you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You will know Him, for he dwells with you and he will be. What's the preposition? Amen, okay, pre-resurrection.
Speaker 2:Jesus tells the disciples the Holy Spirit has been with you, he has been with you. What does that mean? Well, I think it means that, before salvation, the Holy Spirit is with us. He convicts us of sin and he helps us to see the glory and the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit's job, by the way is to glorify Christ and to lead us in the ways of Christ. The Holy Spirit wouldn't want a Holy Spirit movement. He'd want a Jesus movement. His job is to make much of Jesus so before salvation. The Lord is with people.
Speaker 2:So today, maybe you're here at church and you're not yet a Christian, and let me just say, wow, I'm glad you're here. Maybe you're listening online and you're not a Christian, I believe. If you are open, obviously you're open to hearing the preaching of the word and the gospel. The Holy Spirit is with you. We had somebody come down front before I was even finished with the altar call a couple of weeks ago and said I just had to come down here. You know what that is. That's the Holy Spirit being with you, drawing you.
Speaker 2:But then Jesus says can we put that scripture up one more time, john, yeah, there we go, so he'll be with you. That's pre-salvation that the Holy Spirit helps us, convicts us, helps us see our need for Christ, and he will be with you. Which is what? Or in you, which is what happens in John, chapter 20. Okay, I know this is a lot. Shake your head. If you're with me, all right. So when you're saved, the Holy Spirit dwells in you, transforming your heart, giving you the fruit of the Spirit, forming us into new creations in Christ. That's all the work of the Spirit and His indwelling presence. Okay, so he's with you, he'll be in you. But now, what preposition does Jesus use in Acts 1.8? When the Holy Spirit, what Comes upon you, so with you, in you, upon you. This work of the Spirit, it seems to me, is subsequent to salvation. Okay, you have the with you before salvation, the in you during salvation, and now the upon you after salvation, and now upon you after salvation.
Speaker 2:And I'm going to take a quick break right here, because I see you all fanning yourselves. Hang on a second, I can do this from my phone and here I'm going to let you do this. Come here. Are y'all hot? Oh, you're not. Well, you're. I am like roasting up here, all right, should we? All right, I'll make you a deal. If you stay awake, I won't.
Speaker 2:This is a little bit longer sermon today. If you stay awake, I won't turn the air down. Raise your hand, if you All right, there we go. Oh, you've got your jacket on up here, all right. So there are again. This is so important, guys. It's the same spirit but there are different functions of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:So when does this baptism with the Spirit occur? I'm glad you asked. It occurs when the need arises for you to be empowered for whatever it is Christ has called you to do. And, by the way, this is something we don't hear enough in charismatic churches. It's not a one-time thing. It's not a one-time thing. If you're looking back to a spirit baptism that happened 37 years ago, brother, you're dried up. You need a fresh anointing, a fresh feeling, a fresh baptism. Amen. Let me show that to you. Some of you are looking at me strange, by the way, the indwelling of the spirit for salvation. Or look at me strange, by the way, the indwelling of the Spirit for salvation. How many times does that happen? Once, it cannot happen again. Okay, you're saved one time. There's no such thing as being re-saved. You're saved once, but the baptism with the Spirit can happen multiple times. Let me show you this.
Speaker 2:You're going to have to look at some terminology in Acts to get this. In Acts 1-4, jesus talks about the disciples being baptized with the Holy Spirit, which is the language that John uses. The other gospel writers, you with me. What word does he use? Baptized, all right. But then in Acts 2- 4, when the fulfillment comes, luke doesn't say they were all baptized with the Holy Spirit. What word does he use in Acts 2 4? They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, clearly Luke uses these terms synonymously and we're going to see through Acts that that term filled is used over and over and over. So now I get that the word fill. It may bother you a little bit because it sounds more like the indwelling right and so just the way the Bible is. We're just going to have to accept it today. But Luke clearly uses those words filled and baptized synonymously In the book of Acts.
Speaker 2:I'm just going to give you a couple examples for time's sake. But we see the same people being, quote-unquote, filled with the Spirit multiple times. So in Acts, chapter 2, peter and John are there right In the upper room with many others and they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Yes, okay, Interestingly, peter is filled two other times present tense by the end of chapter four. In chapter four it says at the end, verse 31, that Peter, who was with a new group of people they were all, peter included filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to preach the Word of God boldly. Okay.
Speaker 2:So in Acts, chapter 2, the sign to Peter was this ability to speak in new languages, which was what was needed. And in Acts, chapter 4, they had just been threatened, the apostles, by the Sanhedrin, not with their very lives, not to preach or teach in the name of Jesus. So what was the sign then? It was the ability to speak the word of God boldly, though their lives were at risk. Okay, the apostle Paul upon salvation, he receives this baptism in the Spirit. And then, in Acts 13, 52, it says that the disciples, including Paul at this point, who had already been filled with the Spirit, that these people were all filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. So this happens, and you're going to see this over and over and over. So the Holy Spirit listen can fill believers with supernatural power at any point, at any time, in order to accomplish whatever task he's called you to. All right, so that's the word upon. The final word I want to look at is the word witnesses, and here we see the purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my what Witnesses in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria and to the other most parts of the earth. Now, that's profound.
Speaker 2:In Acts, chapter 2, after, the 120 are baptized with the Spirit and they're all speaking in other languages. And there's a crowd of people around and they're hearing. This is not gibberish, okay, these are real languages, other dialects that they don't speak. And it says the people hear them magnifying God. They're not speaking to men, they're magnifying God and they're perplexed. Well, if you put yourself in their shoes, this crowd of people, they're hearing these uneducated men speak in languages they've never learned and they're interested. What's going on? Are they drunk? What's happening? Well, what happens is that miracle creates a platform for the gospel to be preached and Peter preaches a dynamite sermon full of the Holy Spirit. Guess how many were saved? 3,000. What's the purpose of the gifts and the power To take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth?
Speaker 2:In Acts, chapter 3, peter and John making their way to the temple for times of prayer. They come upon a lame man who is laid at the temple gates and he begs there every single day for money. And remember the story Peter and John say to him as he holds out his little cup for change Silver and gold I do not have, but what we do have we give to you in the name of Jesus. Rise up and walk. And the man gets up the one who was lame for years and years and years and begins to walk around and praise the Lord. Well, guess what happens in the temple when they see the beggar that these people have known? Get up and walk around. I'll tell you what happens. It draws a crowd and people are asking questions. And what does Peter do? Again, he doesn't say oh man, wasn't this great? This is so cool, boy, we really had church and leave. No, he said, let me tell you what happened. This is about Jesus.
Speaker 2:See, miracles are not about us. It's not about some faith healer getting all the glory. It's about Jesus. Folks, it's about Jesus and it's about getting the gospel to the whole world. And when miracles happen, people tend to listen. Why should they listen to you and not some Hindu or Buddhist? The power, the power. It's a platform for people to hear the gospel. So, peter and John, through them, the Lord heals this lame man. Guess how many people were saved that day? So the number went up to 5,000. I think it was 2,000 extra. So now the church is at 5,000 people.
Speaker 2:In Acts 4.31, again Peter filled preaches the word of God boldly. That's the point. In Acts 5.12, the Holy Spirit empowers people to do many signs and wonders. And then in verse 14, it says and more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. So let me just clarify something, pentecostals the purpose of being filled with the Spirit is not to get your prayer language. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is not. So we can quote unquote have church, oh, we need to have church today. We've got to have people baptized in the Spirit. Well, that doesn't much matter if we go out and we're not leading people to Jesus. I've met people through the years I've been in the Assemblies of God a long time that have quote unquote been filled with the and walk out and be the meanest people in the world.
Speaker 2:The Holy Spirit it doesn't you know we're not Jesus doesn't baptize us in the Holy Spirit so we can feel good about ourselves. It's not even about making us more holy. That's the indwelling of the spirit. The purpose of the Holy Spirit Is to have power so that we can be witnesses, which begs the question. Look, power so that we can be witnesses, which begs the question look at me. If you don't have a heart to win people to Jesus, why are you asking for the baptism in the Spirit so you can speak in a cool language? It's not what it's about. So today, if you don't have a heart for evangelism, here's where I would start. Lord, break my heart for lost people. Break my heart for lost people, because the baptism in the Spirit is a glorious gift and it's for the purpose of winning people to Jesus.
Speaker 2:So the best definition this will make some of you laugh a little bit the best definition, the best sermon I've ever heard on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You know who it came from. Who are my Reformed friends in here? Yeah, pastor John Piper. No, not RC Sproul on this one, but Pastor John Piper. He actually in about 1981, all his messages are online like since before they even could record things. It's just a miracle he's old, but he had this old sermon. It's weird that 1981 was that long ago. Isn't that wild to think about. I just ruined some of your day. That was a long time ago.
Speaker 2:But he preached on how he thought the Pentecostals got it wrong. This subsequent work of the Spirit and I love John Piper because he's so kind when he disagrees and he's humble enough when he gets it wrong to say I was wrong. And then sometime in the 90s he preached another sermon to the same church and said oh, by the way, I think I was wrong, the Pentecostals had it right, you can't get away from this in scripture. And he said there are subsequent baptisms in the spirit that are not related to salvation. And he actually said he said I pray for this every single time I get up to preach a fresh baptism in the spirit, john Piper. I mean, he was telling a story of just a guy in his church that needed healing, had this issue with his knee, couldn't walk. And he said this is John Piper, folks. He said, as I prayed for him, his leg began to get warm and he was immediately healed, john Piper. So don't think this is just the Pentecostal thing, and I'll say that again in just a second with another testimony. I'm almost done here. I know I've been preaching long today.
Speaker 2:Y'all right, all right, this is an important subject. So who is this baptism for? Who's it for? I want to remind you that in the book of Acts it's not just for the apostles, the whole 120 men and women in the upper room received the baptism with the Holy Spirit. So it's not just for the apostles the whole 120 men and women in the upper room received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, so it's not just for preachers.
Speaker 2:It's interesting in Peter's sermon, quoting Joel, he says your sons and daughters will prophesy. The gifts of the Spirit are for men and women. Both Young men will have visions. Old men will dream dreams, which means it's for every generation. So if you're 103 in here this morning, I want you to know you have purpose. You have purpose. You're so valuable. And if you're 20 years old, 16 years old, 8 years old, you have purpose. My little 9-month-old grandbaby has purpose. Right Right.
Speaker 2:In Acts 6, they were to get deacons who were full of the Spirit, not just Christians, but deacons full of the Spirit. In Acts 7, stephen the martyr, not an apostle filled with the Spirit. In Acts 8, philip not an apostle, casting out unclean spirits doing healing miracles. So the empowering work of the Holy Spirit is for everybody. But then the question becomes is it for today?
Speaker 2:Well, I don't have enough time to get into this. I think I'm going to tackle this on Wednesday if you want me to make the cessationist versus continuationist argument. I can do that. But there are people who say they're called cessationists. They believe that the gifts of the Spirit supernatural gifts have ceased. They died out with the apostles and they think because we have the canonized Word of God now we don't need that. I disagree. If the early church needed the power of the Spirit, I think it's arrogant to think we don't. And there's nothing in Scripture. Like I'm a Bible guy, there is nothing in Scripture to suggest that the gifts have ceased or would cease until Christ returns. That's when it says they'll end and I can get into that with you on Wednesday if you want to look at that with me.
Speaker 2:So I'm currently reading a book called Miracles by Dr Craig Keener. Craig Keener is a theologian, a historian and a longtime professor at Asbury Seminary Brilliant, he is not your typical hang from the chandelier Pentecostal, okay. He is very quiet, almost awkward to listen to. Very humble Hope. He doesn't hear this. I'm sure he will. I'm sure he listens to every one of my sermons. In the opening chapters of this book he points out how, still today, miracles create a platform for people to hear the gospel. So listen to this.
Speaker 2:For example, keener gives the testimony of miracles that have been happening in a ministry called Iris Ministries in an Eastern African country, and this ministry was founded by his well-known friends Roland and Heidi Baker. And these are no dummies, these Roland and Heidi, because some people think, well, only uneducated people believe in miracles. Well, that's not true. That's really not true. Heidi, who speaks seven languages? Anybody in here speak seven, okay, six, okay, who speaks six? Oh, randy does All right. Yeah, we all know that. Redneck's one of them, heelbilly's one. Those are dialects, not languages. We love Randy. So Heidi speaks seven languages. He has a PhD from King's College, london, or she does, and Roland has a doctorate of ministry from United Theological Seminary.
Speaker 2:Suffice to say, these are highly, highly educated people. Their ministry supports some 10,000 orphans in this Eastern African country, and here's what Keener writes about them, quote as for their integrity, they have suffered extensively and laid their lives on the line for people they serve. So there's a well-known healing quote, unquote ministry that is known for taking a lot of money and staying in hotels up to $10,000 a night, spending the money that's received, and there's a lot of fraud. We know this. I don't need to call the ministry out, it doesn't matter. But what Craig Keener is doing here is this is not one of those people. These are people who've given their lives for these orphans. He says they also offer eyewitness reports of instant healings get this of deafness and blindness and even of people rising from the dead. Most of these, most often these experiences, occur in non-Christian villages where no one expects them. The healings generally culminate in many of the people in these villages, people who knew firsthand the previously deaf or blind following the Lord Jesus Christ. And Keener has highly educated other highly educated friends who have gone and witnessed this themselves. So this is not just the testimony of this couple, and in his book Miracles is just littered with story after story after story of God using people in these gifts of the Spirit.
Speaker 2:The Pentecostal church has its problems and there's some doctrinal things that I disagree with so much that I've thought about maybe looking at another denomination. But, man, as I've been reading through Acts, I just want to say publicly that, though I have some disagreements, I'm proud to be part of a denomination that still believes in the power of the Spirit. I really am not ashamed of that, and it's interesting that. Do you know that Pentecostalism is the fastest growing Christian movement worldwide. It's unmatched.
Speaker 2:There's a lady who is an agnostic journalist. Her name is Ellie Hardy and she has been investigating how Pentecostalism in her words and she uses this negatively is taking over the world. She writes about the mass conversions in Brazil and the high instances of North Korean defectors being born again on the underground railroads to the south. And she writes listen to this. By some estimates, this is an agnostic. The Pentecostal movement is converting 35,000 new converts every day. By 2050, the number of Pentecostals worldwide is estimated to be 1 billion, or 1 in 10 people on the earth. So we're part of the Assemblies of God, which is the largest of the Pentecostal denominations. Do you know that every 30 seconds, someone gets saved in the Assemblies of God church or ministry? That's almost 3,000 people a day, over 1 million people a year from one denomination.
Speaker 2:Why Is it that we're more educated? That's not the case. Is it that we love Jesus more than other denominations? Absolutely not, no way. Is it that Jesus has called us to a different mission? No, I'll tell you what it is. It's our reliance on the Spirit of God.
Speaker 2:That's it, and so I'm not asking you to become a Pentecostal. I don't ever call myself a Pentecostal. I hate the word because immediately when you hear that, like if some of you that are from the reform camp came in and you asked me about myself and the first thing I say is I'm a Pentecostal, what would you have done? You would have walked right out the door because you think of the people who have abused the spirit and that's a real tragedy. So many people don't want anything to do with the power of the spirit because they've seen crazy charismatics doing unruly, unorderly things in the quote-unquote name of the Spirit and that's really tragic. So I'm not asking you to come to Pentecost. Pastor Ron has said this often. He said this is not this power of the Spirit, it's not a Pentecostal thing, it's a Christian thing. So here's what I'm calling you to be. I'm just calling you to be a Christian that believes in the power of the Spirit. That's it All right.
Speaker 2:So John Wesley believed in a second subsequent work of the Spirit, though he would frame it a little different than I have. Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones Reformed Friends, you know that name believed in. He prayed all the time for fresh baptism with the Spirit. Matt Chandler pastors a massive Reformed Baptist church, southern Baptist even, and you know that he has opened his eyes to the gifts of the Spirit and they actually have services where, I mean, the gifts are truly practiced, all of them. They've seen healings and prophecies. The stories are crazy. And he just told his church. He said, listen, I pray that you get a second baptism and a 20th and a 200th baptism in the spirit. And then John Piper I've already said that already. He is so pro power of the spirit. So that's what I'll leave you with today.
Speaker 2:What would happen if we were serious about the Holy Spirit? I'm not talking about conjured up theatrics. I'm talking about true Holy Spirit moves. Let's ask today here's what I want to do let's just ask today that the Lord would break our heart for the lost. Let's start there and then, as he does that, lord, we need your power to reach. I mean, what would happen tomorrow if you went to work and you prayed for a sick person and they got up out of a wheelchair or immediately that person was made better? You know you've been threatened not to preach or teach at your work, but people will listen. Then they won't care what you preach about. So there you have it.