Latest / Faith Church Podcast / Not On Your Own - Pentecost | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church

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Not On Your Own - Pentecost | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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Turn with me to Acts chapter 2, and I am, in
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fact, I'm going to modify what I'm preaching
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on this morning. I can preach for hours on the
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Holy Spirit. Today is Pentecost Sunday, but we
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want to pray over you to receive a fresh touch
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from the Holy Spirit this morning. The Holy Spirit
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is our helper. And how many of you need a helper?
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How many of you are convinced that you can do
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this Christian life all by yourself? When you
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try to do that, one of two things will happen.
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You will either give up and quit, or you will
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become a Pharisee, trying to do it on your own.
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And we just freely declare, and it feels so good
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to say, God, I cannot do this on my own. I need
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what you have given me. And God has given you
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what you need for life and godliness, not so
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that you can do it on your own, but he's equipped
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you with tools. We've been given mercy. We've
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been given grace. We've been given all kinds
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of things. One of the things we've been given
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is the precious Holy Spirit, the third person
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of the Godhead. We have been given the Holy Spirit
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to help us live this Christian walk. Amen? Now,
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there are so many things that the Holy Spirit
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does in our lives, things that He equips us with,
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ways that He helps us. God helps us. Tools that
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he gives to us, the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
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so powerful, so wonderful. Jesus had told the
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apostles in Acts chapter 1, he had already given
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them, he was giving them the great commission,
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go into all the world and preach the gospel,
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and teaching them to obey everything that I have
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commanded them, baptizing them in my name. And
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then he said, and I will be with you to the end
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of the earth. He had already told them that.
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had the commandment to go into all the world
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and preach the gospel. It's why we do missions.
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But then the last thing he said was not go into
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all the world, but wait, stay in Jerusalem. And
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he said, because in a couple days, you're going
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to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. It's going
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to be the gift that I talked about from the Father.
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You're going to receive the infilling of the
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Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus did not tell them. He
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did not tell them that we know of. When the Holy
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Spirit comes upon you, you're going to pray in
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tongues. Jesus did not tell them that. When the
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Holy Spirit comes upon you, you're going to be
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able to do miracles on a level you've never been
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able to do before. Jesus did not tell them that.
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There was a whole lot that Jesus did not tell
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them. The one command that he gave to them was
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this, go and wait. And you will know when it
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happens. And so there they were in the upper
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room. It was the first experience of people being
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filled with the Holy Spirit. And we pick it up.
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They had a business meeting in chapter 1. In
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fact, the Bible also says they were in one accord
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in prayer. So they had prayer meetings. They
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had a business meeting. They elected a new apostle
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to replace Judas. They did several things during
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those 10 days. But we pick it up in chapter 2.
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Verse 1. When the day of Pentecost had fully
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come, they were all with one accord in one place,
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and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
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of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole
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house where they were sitting. And then there
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appeared to them divided tongues as of fire,
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and one sat upon each of them, and they were
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all filled with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit
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and began to speak with other tongues as the
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Spirit gave them utterance. Hallelujah. And so,
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Lord, we ask that your word, which you've given
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to us, God, not just to know how it happened
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in the past, but so that we could know what to
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expect for our lives. I pray that it would come
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alive to us today in Jesus' name. And everybody
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said, amen, amen. In Numbers chapter 11, Moses
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was asking God, how am I going to take care of
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all of these people? There are too many for me.
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And in Numbers chapter 11, God says this in verse
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17. He says, I'm giving you 70 elders of Israel,
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in verse 16, who are known to you as leaders
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and officials among the people. Have them come
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to the tent of meeting that they might stand
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with you there. Verse 17, I will come down and
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speak with you there, and I will take some of
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the power of the Spirit that is on you, and I
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will put it on them. They will share the burden
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of the people with you so that you will not have
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to carry it alone. You see, even then, the Holy
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Spirit was a helper. Moses needed the Holy Spirit
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to help. In the days gone by, Moses relied on
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the Holy Spirit to govern and to lead Israel.
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And now God is saying, I'm going to take of the
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same spirit that is on you, which was the Holy
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Spirit, and I'm going to put it on the 70 elders
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so that they can help you. And so we read in
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verse 25, then the Lord came down in the cloud
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and spoke. spoke with Moses, and God took some
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of the power of the Spirit that was on Moses
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and put it on the 70 elders. And when the Spirit
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rested upon them, they prophesied in the camp.
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Well, two of them did not make it out. And a
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young man ran and told Moses, Eldad and Medad
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are prophesying in the camp. And so Joshua, the
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son of Nun, who had been Moses' aid since youth,
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spoke up and said, Moses, my Lord, stop them.
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Because back then, the gifts of the Spirit, the
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power of the Spirit, were only for certain people.
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And Joshua thought, well, they're acting out
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of order. They weren't with the 70. They were
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in the camp. But Moses replied, and this is why
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I read this story. Are you jealous for my sake?
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I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets
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and that the Lord would put his spirit on them
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all. Wow. Moses was looking forward to Acts chapter
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2. He was prophetically replying to Joshua whether
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he... Fully understood it or not, I doubt. But
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he was looking ahead to the day when not just
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one or two were anointed by the Holy Spirit,
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but where everybody could receive of the power
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of the Holy Spirit. Moses' desire. Joshua, I
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want them all to prophesy. I don't want to be
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the only one prophesying. I don't even want just
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these 70 to prophesy. I want the whole nation
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of Israel to prophesy. Hallelujah. Oh, praise
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God. And so Moses is looking ahead to that moment.
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There were others that prophesied what would
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happen. And so we read in Isaiah chapter 44 and
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verse 3. And Isaiah prophesies, for I will pour
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water on him who is thirsty and floods on the
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dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants
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and my blessing. on your offspring. They will
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spring up among the grass like willows on the
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watercourses. I will pour out my spirit, he says,
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on all flesh. Hallelujah. Glory to God. We have
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the word in Ezekiel chapter 39. And he says,
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I will not hide my face from them anymore. The
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time is coming when I will not hide my face from
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them anymore. For I shall have poured out my
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spirit on the whole house of Israel, says the
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Lord God. Praise the Lord. Isn't that good to
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hear? This is Old Testament. And then the one
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that Peter would later preach in Acts chapter
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2, Joel chapter 2, and it's probably the most
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strong of the prophetic times. In Joel chapter
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2, verse 28, And it shall come to pass afterward
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that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
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on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall
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prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your
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young men shall see visions. And also on my men
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servants and my maid servants, I will pour out
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my spirit in those days. Glory to God. Hallelujah.
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Now, many of you are like me. I grew up in a
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church that taught Against the Holy Spirit. Well,
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who do you think would want teaching against
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the Holy Spirit? There has been a shroud over
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Christianity for millennium in some cases. That
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has stolen this from the church. Now there have
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been pockets of outpouring throughout history.
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I did research as a college student many years
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ago and found evidence of people being baptized
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in the Holy Spirit in almost every century. And
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it's pretty awesome. But at the turn of the 20th
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century, The outpouring of the Holy Spirit restored
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the gifts of the Spirit to the church in a way
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that we have not seen in a long time. And the
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Azusa Street outpouring in 1906 marked a beginning
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of a transformation in the church. The Assemblies
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of God, born in 1914 in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
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with 300 people that got together and declared,
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we are going to bring the gospel to the ends
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of the earth. And so they were believing for
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one of the greatest missionary movements of all
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time, to bring the gospel to the ends of the
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earth. And we are still, 109 years later, 10
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years later, I'm not doing my math right, we
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are still committed to bringing the gospel to
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the ends of the earth in the power of the Holy
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Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit was restored
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to the church. And here they are in this room,
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and they are... Waiting, waiting, waiting. And
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the day of Pentecost, the day of celebration.
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Oh, that's the point that I was making. Is that
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the enemy has turned this thing called the Holy
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Spirit in people's minds into something weird.
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Into something unnecessary. Into something optional.
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But the reason I believe that God coupled the
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outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the day of
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Pentecost is because Pentecost was a day of incredible
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celebration. It was a celebration of the ingathering.
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A celebration of the harvest. And they were celebrating
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with everything they had when the Holy Spirit
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came and they had even more reason to celebrate.
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Hallelujah. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is
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not something that God ever intended us to be
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cautious towards. The baptism of the Holy Spirit
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was something that God wanted His people to celebrate.
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Hallelujah. And so he coupled it with this day
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of celebration. And they were feasting and they
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were dancing and they were shouting just as Jewish
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people. And they were celebrating this festival
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together. And they turned and all the people
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in Jerusalem began to hear something. What is
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that? What is that? It sounds like a storm is
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coming. It sounds like a mighty rushing wind.
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Now, I've only heard a mighty rushing wind a
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couple of times in my life. One of them was with
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Pastor Ben in the Boundary Waters. We heard a
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mighty rushing wind. And for 20 minutes, we were
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pelted with hailstones. And I was laughing. I
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was laughing. And it was a mighty rushing wind.
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We could hear the wind blowing. from afar off,
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and it came like a train, and it hit us. I've
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got it all on video. You've got to see it. And
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they heard that sound all through Jerusalem.
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And all through Jerusalem, they gathered together,
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and they brought eyes to the place they heard
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the sound coming from. It was this upper room,
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and they turned there. And while the disciples
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are inside, tongues of fire. come into the room.
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I picture it in this room. The upper room, I'm
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sure, didn't look like this. But tongues of fire
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separating. One piece coming to rest on every
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single person as they were filled with the Holy
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Spirit. And as they were filled with the Holy
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Spirit, something happened inside. Something
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broke free inside like a river. And they began
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to pray in language that they'd never learned.
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And in this case, they were actual other human
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languages. All throughout the book of Acts, that
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does not happen. Sometimes they're called heavenly
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languages or the language of angels even. Because
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they are not necessarily always human languages.
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Sometimes they're languages that God gives you
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that only He understands. But they begin to break
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forth in these languages. And they couldn't stop.
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They kept proclaiming whatever it was in their
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heart that they were feeling. It was a heart
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feeling kind of thing. And they just broke forth
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in this praise in a language that they did not
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know what they were saying. But boy, did it feel
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good. Hallelujah. Boy, did it feel good. Boy,
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did it feel like something is happening in my
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life. Something is changing in my life. Something
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is transforming inside of me. Something is happening.
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Hallelujah. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem
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devout Jews, devout men from every nation under
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heaven. Why? They had gathered for the celebration
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of Pentecost. And when the sound occurred, the
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multitude came together and were confused. Why?
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Well, we've been standing in our own little groups
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talking with just the people that understand
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our language. And all of a sudden, we hear our
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language. And they marveled. And they began to
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speak to one another. Look, aren't those speaking?
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Aren't they Galileans? Galileans are known to
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be uneducated. They only speak their own language.
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How is it that we hear in our own language where
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we were born, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, those
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dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus,
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Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the
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parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from
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Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs.
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We hear them speaking in our own tongue. the
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wonderful works of God and so they are just feeling
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this in their heart praying in this new language
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that they've got but they are they are speaking
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forth the praises and the wonders of God in a
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language that the people around them understand
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how many of you how many of you would would just
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say that that is powerful that is a God kind
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of a thing wow wow I was in I was in Panama,
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and we were praying for people to be filled with
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the Holy Spirit. And one older gentleman, he
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did not speak the Panama language. He only spoke
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his native tongue, an indigenous tongue. And
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he was there being prayed for to be filled with
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the Holy Spirit. And he began to speak in perfect
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English. The fire of God is falling in this place.
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He did not know what he was saying. Do you know
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what he was doing? He was praying in his prayer
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language. And it was perfect English. seen a
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thing like that before or since, but it's like,
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I felt like what was happening here, the glories
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of God being displayed among them. Friends, this
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thing is real, and it's good, and it's necessary,
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and it is something that God wants to give. And
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later on, see, if it wasn't, it would have just
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stopped here. But in Acts chapter 4, guess what?
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They were filled with the Holy Spirit again.
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Hallelujah. In Acts chapter 7, and Philip went
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down to preach the gospel in Samaria, and many
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of them repented and were healed supernaturally,
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but they had not received the baptism of the
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Holy Spirit, and so they sent for Peter and John,
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and Peter and John came, and they laid hands
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on people, and they received the baptism of the
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Holy Spirit. It happened again in Acts chapter
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10. It happened again in Acts. chapter 19, and
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Paul began to ask the question. He just began
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to ask Christians everywhere, people that he
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thought were believers. If he thought that they
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were believers, he would just ask them, have
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you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?
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That was his question to people that he had met
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for the very first time, because there was a
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time in Christianity where being baptized in
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the Holy Spirit was a normal part of believing.
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I'm believing for that day to come back, friends.
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I'm believing for the impartation of the Holy
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Spirit. We've come up with these things that
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are not biblical. And so we justify it. We say
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things that are true like, well, I have the Holy
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Spirit as soon as I become a believer. And that
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is true, you do, because without the Holy Spirit,
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you never even would have become a believer.
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And so, yes, you have the Holy Spirit, but there
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is an experience called the baptism of the Holy
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Spirit that is different, that God wants to use.
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He used it in their lives to empower them so
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that they can fulfill their call in Christ. And
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Paul, I think he would go around today and he
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would ask that question. Have you received the
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Holy Spirit since you believed? And their answer
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was, well, we haven't even heard that there was
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a Holy Spirit. And he said, well, I thought,
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I'm paraphrasing here, I thought you were Christians
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already. Weren't you baptized? Yeah, but we were
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only baptized into John's baptism. Well, John's
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baptism was a baptism of repentance, but John
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came to prepare the way for the one that would
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come after him, Jesus. And so right then and
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there, those disciples of John gave their lives
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to Jesus. Hallelujah. Now, this was decades after.
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John had died. Jesus ascended the church. This
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is decades after. They had only heard about John's
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baptism. And now they were baptized in water.
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And the Bible says that when they came out of
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the water, Paul laid hands on them. And they
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received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And
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they began to pray in tongues. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
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Friends, this thing is good. It is good. And
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it is God. It is God. I need the baptism of the
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Holy Spirit to stay effective as a pastor. I
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need a baptism of the Holy Spirit in my life
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to empower me to do the things that He's called
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me to do. I need the Holy Spirit to evangelize.
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Sometimes when God, puts this flutter in my heart,
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like go talk to that stranger, which can I confess
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to you as a pastor, I'm not great at talking
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to strangers. I should be. I'm not great at it.
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But I get this nervousness, but you know what
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I do? I just pray in the Spirit. And you know
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what happens? Boldness comes on me. And then
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I can do what God's called me to do. There are
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elements of the Christian faith that cannot be
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accomplished apart from the baptism of the Holy
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Spirit. So you say, Pastor, well, isn't the resurrection
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enough? But did you notice that Peter did not
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preach after the resurrection? Peter believed.
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But Peter was still ashamed, carrying guilt.
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Jesus came to Peter and said, do you love me,
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Peter? Yes, I love you. Three times. Feed my
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sheep. Peter was not even restored then. Encounter
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with Jesus. But you notice what happens? After
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Peter is baptized in the Holy Spirit, he stands
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up with authority and with power that he did
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not have before. And he preaches to thousands.
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God amplifies his voice. And that day, as he's
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preaching the gospel, 3 ,000 people. And some
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say that's only the men. It could have been up
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to 10 ,000 people. But between 3 and 10 ,000
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people were added to the church because Peter
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was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I need the infilling
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of the Holy Spirit. I need the infilling of the
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Holy Spirit. I am dependent upon the infilling
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of the Holy Spirit. We need you, Holy Spirit.
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We need you, Holy Spirit. My whole message this
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morning was about unity. I'm going to save that
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message for another time. The unity of the Spirit.
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God wants to touch you today. Praise the Lord.
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Some of you were baptized in the Holy Spirit
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in the altar. When you came down and people laid
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hands on you, that was me. I was 13 years old.
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Came down and laid hands on me and I wept and
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cried and spoke in tongues for the very first
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time. Changed my life for it. No, I was... Yeah,
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I was 13. Some of you were in the church. Some
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of you were not in the church. Anybody baptized
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in the Holy Spirit at home? Some of you were
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filled with the Holy Spirit at your house by
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yourself. I like Dennis' story. Dennis was on
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his tractor. The Holy Spirit came on him. Filled
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him with the Holy Spirit. Driving on his tractor.
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My brother, after a year of seeking God for the
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baptism of the Holy Spirit, was baptized wondrously,
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all alone, in a field. Baptized in the Holy Spirit.
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What a good thing. Some people think, well, why
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would God fill me with His Spirit? I'm not Moses.
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I'm not Joshua. Because He wants everybody. In
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the Old Testament, it was expressed through a
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few leaders. But in the New Testament, the way
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has been made for every single one of us to receive
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the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My sister received
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the baptism of the Holy Spirit at six years old.
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She began to pray in tongues. She and her husband
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have been pastoring for decades now. She's an
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amazing woman of God. Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
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I want to challenge you, those of you that have
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never received just to begin a journey. That
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journey might culminate today. You can be filled
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with the Holy Spirit this morning before you
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leave. But some of you need to go through more
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of a journey because you're not sure. And it's
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okay to have questions and to ask and to seek
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out. There's a wonderful book called They Speak
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With Other Tongues. Who wrote that book, Kathy?
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John Sherrill, the Guidepost author, who was
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an Episcopalian and went on a journey, went to
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meetings like this, sought and sought. It's a
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brutally honest book. Is that just gibberish
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I heard in the Pentecostal churches? But his
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journey culminated in a glorious infilling of
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the Holy Spirit. And it's a wonderful book. You
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can download it and you can read it. Some of
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you need a journey. Because you need to know
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in your own heart that it isn't just emotionalism.
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And it isn't just that hype in that church that
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they do. But that it really is a gift from God.
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And in the book of Acts, in Acts 2, they had
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nobody playing music. They had nobody giving
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an altar call. They were just there. And they
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just said, we're saying, God, we're waiting.
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We don't know what we're waiting for. But we're
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waiting. And when it came, They knew. And when
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he comes on you, you will know. You will know.
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It's God's gift to you. We've watched God baptize
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people from every social structure in his Holy
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Spirit. He's no regarder of men. He doesn't care.
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what flavor of life you choose. He wants to give
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you his Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord. Praise
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the Lord. Come, Holy Spirit, I need you. Come.
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Sweet Spirit, I pray. Come in Thy strength and
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Thy power. Come in Thine own special way. And
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let's sing that song we sang earlier. Melt me.
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Mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living
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God, fall fresh on me. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
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Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lord, would you fill
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your sons and your daughters with the Holy Spirit?