Intro: These were exciting
days for the Disciples JESUS WAS ALIVE / HE HAD RISEN
A) These days were a stark contrast to
what these Disciples were feeling 40 days Previously
B) 40 days before they had their HOPES SHATTERED / their FAITH DASHED as they watched Jesus Crucified
1) Left them Depressed / Discouraged / confused
C) But after 3 days heard the
report of the Rez. / then Jesus appeared to all the Disciples / was w/ them at
least 12 times
in the next 40 days
D)
After
those 40 days where HE was seen by at least 500 people at once as
well as many individually HE leads them to the Mt. Of Olives
1) There HE pronounces blessing
upon them & ascends up into Heaven
Now it was very
important that Jesus ascend up into Heaven But why ?
A) 1st Because Jesus declared in Jn. 14 that He was going to
Heaven to PREPARE A PLACE FOR US !!!
B) Great truth If you know the Lord He has gone to heaven to Prepare a Place Particularly for You !!!
1) This world is as bad as it gets for You all Up ward & on ward from
here
C) 2nd Not just to PREPARE a place but to PLEAD ON BEHALF OF YOU While still here / Flesh we sin / fail/ Blow it
1)
And
We are told in the book of Heb. that
presently Jesus is in Heaven serving as Our High Priest where He lives to make intercession
.
So it was important that Jesus Ascend into Heaven so that He
might Prepare a Place / & Plead on Behalf on but there is one more reason
A) 3rd Reason Provide Power for You
B) A Lumber Jack who could cut down & cut up 5 trees a day w/ one of those two handled hand saw saw an add in the paper
1) The Hardware store was
advertising a new saw that Guaranteed that you could cut down 15 trees a day
C)
So
He went down & bought it and set out to use it but after 2 days he
brought it back to the Story & was very Frustrated / only 2 trees a day
1)
Bought this
Guaranteed 15 trees only 2 something is wrong
D)
Manager of the Hard ware
store said
Lets take a look walked over to
that saw Chain saw Pulled the Cord engine roared /
1) Old guy jumped back What is that
..
We as
believers often make the same mistake
1)
We
want to walk w/ the Lord & be used by the Lord but we do so w/ out the
Power source provided to us by the Lord
49 "Behold, I send the Promise of My
Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with
power from on high."
A) He needed to ASCEND so
that the Promise of the Father might DESCEND from the Father & come upon them .
B) What is the PROMISE OF THE FATHER? It is the person &
Power of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer !!!!
C) We have noted already John 14:16 Turn
16 "And I will
pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; 17 "the Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows
Him; but you know Him, for He dwells
with you and SHALL be in you.
A) He is w/ you & He shall be in You
B)
The
Holy Spirit was WITH them because He was w/
Jesus ? What is the function of the H.S. WITH a
person .
Ch.16:7-11 7
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I
go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart,
I will send Him to you. 8 "And
when He has come, He will convict the
world of sin,& of righteousness,& of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My
Father & you see Me no more;
11"of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
A) According to this/ His first Job is to Convict the World of Sin- mainly their rejection of or not believing in J.C.
B)
If you are not a Christian
tonight H.S. is working on your Heart
Conviction You are a sinner / need a Savior / Only
way Escape Judgment
C) Also in Jn.15:26 - "But
when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of
truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
D)
H.S.
role is to Testify of Jesus confirm the word that these things are true
1) So that is the work of the
H.S. w/ a Person Convict / testify / Draw ..
But Jesus also said that He shall be IN YOU !!! / Now When
did that take place for the Disciples
A) Jn. 20 after the Rez. Jesus appears turn
21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to
you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He
breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive
the Holy Spirit.
B) It was at this moment that the Disciples were born
again - they were born of the Spirit . ( No one was saved
until after the Cross & Rez.)
1) Paul in Romans 10 describes the Criteria for being
saved
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
C) They believed that He was dead but here they saw Him alive they Believed but then Jesus Breathed on them & said Receive ye the ..
D)
Now When Jesus says
something like this it Happens at that moment they were indwelt w/ the H.S.
1) Their Spirits came to Life And at that moment the
H.S. took up Residence in their Hearts
E) Listen
to how Paul Describes this in Romans 8:11
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus
from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Now
if His function w/ me was to convict me of the Sin of Unbelief / warn me of
Judgment what is His Purpose IN Me ?
A)That is what we have been talking about the last several weeks He is called the Helper / teacher / Comforter
C) He is constantly involved in that role of Sanctifying us / Producing fruit thru Pruning us cutting away what doesnt belong more fruit
D)So He is WITH US before
conversion / Dwelling IN US after we are saved but there is one more aspect
of His ministry. Acts 1
4 And being assembled together with them, He
commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the
Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;
5 "for John truly baptized with water,
but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
8 "But you shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth."
A)
This is the 3rd
aspect of the H.S. that Jesus told His disciples about this is what
they needed before fulfill great Commission
B)
Go into all the World preaching the Gospel Make Disciples
of all Nations
C) Now these guys spent 31/2 yrs w/ the Lord Himself w/ the
Best
teacher & Instructor
1)
w/ the Greatest mentor & Example yet it wasnt enough
A) That is why
He told them to go to Jerusalem & wait until they were ENDUED W/
Power from on HIGH !!!
B)Jesus knew this would be the key to their
effectiveness, to their ability to
witness to the world and to serve the
body of Christ!
1.) They
needed the empowering that comes from being baptized
with the spirit!
B) Now if they needed this power in their lives how much
more do we
This 3rd aspect
of the H.S. work is revealed in the word Upon
A) Not just w/
/ not just in but He will come upon you/V.5 Baptize you
B)
Think of Baptism think of full immersion water envelopes
you
1)
Water
& the Pitcher over flowing -
C)
Several
types of Baptisms the Bible refers to : Baptism of fire trials/ suffering /
water Baptism Something you do faith in Christ
1) 1 Cor. 12:13 For
by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body
D)
That is Salvation You
are immersed into the Body of Christ
But there is another Baptism the Bible speaks of
John the B / Matt 3:11 11I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He
who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to
carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
A)Baptism w/ the HS is
something that Jesus does Purpose is so that we can be his servants
A. J.
Gordon, one of the founders of Gordon Conwell Divinity School, told of
being out on a walk looking across a field -at a house
A.)
Beside
house He saw what looked like a man at
a well furiously
pumping a hand pump to get water
A)
Gordon
watch in amazement at the Speed &
the tireless pumping as the man just went on and on- Up and down without ever
slowing or stopping
C) This was truly a Remarkable sight - Gordon
decided to head over there
for a closer look -
1)
But
as He moved closer He saw not a man /
But a wooden figure that looked like a man
D)And that Arm that was pumping so rapidly was hinged at the elbow
and ATTACHED TO THE hand pump on the well
1) And the Water that was flowing forth wasnt because the Man was pumping the water / but the water was pumping the Man !!!
That is the way it is with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
It is not - a man working hard - vigorously
A) It is the Holy spirit working through the person
- empowering the person!
B) Wait someone might say if we receive the HS when we
are saved what is this coming upon all about
C) Acts 19:1-7
Here in Acts 19 Paul comes to Ephesus and meets a group of
people referred to as disciples!
A.) Throughout the Book of Acts, without a single
exception, the term DISCIPLE is
ALWAYS synonymous with the BELIEVER IN
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
B)He asks them a very
interesting question - "Have you received the spirit since you believed?"
1.)Valid question - good question - one every believer should consider and be able to answer!
C) Paul - assuming these are believers - notices something missing with these guys! Something not there!
1.) I have been around folks like that -
know doctrine, fundamentals
down - right on - right - dead right!
Cc) Argue doctrine by the hour - some are like modern day Pharisees
1.) But something missing - worship is drudgery - witnessing is non existent - no life - no excitement - enthusiasm
D.) Word enthusiasm interesting. EN means In or full of. THEOS means God - full of God!
1.) Lack of fullness; lack of vibrancy in things of God - love toward God
E.) Paul asks - question - received Spirit?
1.) Fact that Paul asked this question makes it a valid question!
Now this is a Question we all should be able to answer as
confidently as - Have you received Jesus?
A)Many in church today are like these guys - what mean - never heard?
B) Now there are those who suggest that Paul was not referring to the Baptism of the Spirit / but to Salvation
1) In Essence they suggest Paul was asking them Are you really
disciples / are you really in Christian ?
C)That is so silly / if that is what Paul meant / that is what he would have said / plus it makes no sense to say concerning salvation : Have received spirit -
1) Given : Scriptures are clear : Spirit indwells you when saved Paul taught that Rom 8:11
The Problem these brothers & sisters have is they dont
understand why a person who has received the Spirit when saved / in dwelling
A)Why do they need a second
work or experience If you have the H.S.
in you How can you get more of Him they ask?
B)This is where they mess up / When saved - you get all of the spirit - He is dwelling in you.
1) But the Baptism of Spirit or the Empowering of the spirit / isnt you getting more of Him it is Him getting all of you
C) ANALOGY Like sail on a sail boat - half way up - wind is only getting part of the sail
1)All the wind that is there that day is available but only getting half of sail
D) Open it all the way - and boom - power the boat goes
Jesus
wants to supply us w/ a Power that is beyond ourselves
A) how do we receive this Power ( No more waiting no other
place)
B) So How ? Simple Ask -Luke
11:11-13
11 "If a son
asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he
asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12 "Or if he
asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to
your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask Him!"
A) Jesus
is contrasting how we as Human parents seek to give our Children what they
need to succeed w/ Himself
B)
You guys Know How to
take care of your Kids even though your giving is flawed Give them
something get out of your hair
1) So too if you give what is right How much more
will I give the H.S. to them that ask !!!
C)
But You have to ask
See The simple act of ASKING of making the REQUEST REVEALS A CONFESSION
THAT THERE IS A NEED!!
Now
what makes us daily come before the Lord & Say fill me today w/ Your Spirit
Empower me for this day YOU SEE THE NEED
A) Lord I confess today I cant make it w/ out
you Cant Love my wife..
B) We will look at some examples next week of some of the things that take
place in the lives of those who have received Baptism
C) Gifts tongues / Hunger for the Word / Boldness to share
Eph 5
Continually being filled