A Spirit-Filled, Prophetic Church

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Today's scripture reading is from the Acts of the Apostle, chapter 1, verse 14, and chapter 2, verses 1 to 21, as printed in the liturgy.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the woman and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

When the day of the Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in their tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now they were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

When they heard the sounds, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.

Utterly amazed, they asked,

Aren't all those who are speaking Galileans?

Then how is that each of us hear them as in our native languages?

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene.

Visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,

we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues.

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another,

What does this mean?

Some, however, made fun of them and said,

They had too much wine.

Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd,

Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you.

Listen carefully to what I say.

These people are not drunk, as you suppose.

It's only nine in the morning.

No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.

In the last days, God says,

I will pour my spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophecy.

Your young men will see visions.

Your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out on my spirit in those days.

And they will prophecy.

I will show wonders in the heavens above,

and signs on the earth below.

Blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness,

and the moon to blood.

Before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Thank you for that wonderful reading, Sebastian.

Appreciate that.

Good morning.

If you were here last week,

you know that we began a new sermon series

in this great book called The Acts of the Apostles.

And we were introduced to the author of this book,

a man named Luke,

who is a doctor, a historian.

He's a highly educated companion of the Apostle Paul.

He's the only Gentile author in the New Testament.

The only of the four evangelists

who gave us a second volume of this exciting story

of the continuing works and words of Jesus

in and through the life of the church.

And we also met last week,

we met Luke's student named Theophilus.

Theophilus was like many of us,

intellectually educated and sophisticated.

He had been trained in the worldviews

of the Greco-Roman Empire

and the various life systems that were on offer to him.

But he had come to encounter Jesus

and he became a new convert.

And so Luke has written his gospel.

He's written this Acts of the Apostles

in order to teach Theophilus

what it means to trust in Jesus,

what it means to serve the church,

what it means to think like a Christian

and to live like a Christian.

And Luke is really inviting and challenging Theophilus

and people like Theophilus,

people like us,

to come to understand

and to be convinced by the great doctrines

of the Christian faith.

The doctrine of Jesus' resurrection,

that Jesus is alive.

The doctrine of Jesus' ascension,

that he has been exalted to God's throne

where he's ruling over all things.

The doctrine of Pentecost,

where Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit

to empower the church.

And so today we're going to be focusing

on this third person of the Trinity

that we call the Holy Spirit.

And we said recently that

there's a great deal of ignorance

and confusion about the Holy Spirit today.

We've heard the Nicene Creed paraphrased this way,

that I believe in God the Father

and I believe in Jesus Christ as Son,

but I'm not so sure about the Holy Spirit.

And the person and the work of the Holy Spirit

is often ignored and often glossed over.

But of all the gifts that Jesus gives,

the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift.

It is impossible to become a Christian,

let alone to live and to grow as a Christian

without the Holy Spirit.

And if you're a Christian,

all that you have and all that you are

is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

You owe it all to the Holy Spirit.

But it's also true that

wherever we look at the church

in the Western world especially,

wherever we look at the church in North America,

it seems clear that there's an evident need

for a deeper work of the Holy Spirit,

both individually and collectively.

And so we do well,

like Theophilus, the student of Luke,

to come and learn about the Holy Spirit

and to learn about what the Holy Spirit

might be wanting to do in and among us today.

And so I want to talk about four things today.

And I know this makes you nervous

when I don't have three points but four points,

but I proved to you last week

with a four-point sermon that I got you out on time.

So do not worry.

I want to talk about four things.

The signs of the Spirit,

the prophecy of the Spirit,

the new life of the Spirit,

and the fullness of the Spirit.

The signs of the Spirit,

the prophecy of the Spirit,

the new life of the Spirit,

and the fullness of the Spirit.

And let's start with the signs of the Spirit.

It's not as if the Holy Spirit did not exist

prior to the day of Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit, like the Father and like the Son,

is eternal and has shown up in history

and been given to particular people here and there.

And of course, Jesus,

His whole life was full of the Holy Spirit.

But the Holy Spirit had never been poured out en masse.

And never come in an overwhelming and unmistakable way.

And on the day of Pentecost,

the Holy Spirit comes down on this group

of 120 disciples at one time.

And then through their preaching,

the Holy Spirit comes down on 3,000 new converts,

new believers on that day.

And we read in Acts chapter 1 verse 14,

Acts 1:14

it says that they all joined together constantly

in prayer.

And that in verse 1, it says,

on the day of Pentecost, when Pentecost came,

they were all together in one place.

Now, why were they there?

They were there because the resurrected Jesus told them,

I want you to wait together

to be clothed with power from on high.

And I'm going to baptize you in the power

of the Holy Spirit so that you can be my witnesses.

And so instinctively, they went for 10 days to pray,

to pray together in a unified way,

to pray constantly in a persevering way.

And this is how the great movements of the Holy Spirit

have happened throughout the course of history,

is when the church gets together to constantly pray

for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And we'll come back to that at the end.

But who is this Holy Spirit that they're praying

so fervently to receive?

Well, we see in our text today three observable signs

or wonders that tell us who the Holy Spirit is

and what the Holy Spirit does.

And first of all, we see the wind of new creation.

The wind of new creation.

It says in verse 2 that suddenly a sound

like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven

and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

And both in Hebrew and in Greek,

the word for spirit means wind or it means breath.

And this takes us back to the very first page of the Bible.

In Genesis 1, it says that the Spirit of God

is blowing like a wind to turn the chaos into creation.

And then on page 2 of our Bible, in Genesis chapter 2,

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

it says that the Spirit of God

breathes into the lungs of Adam to fill him with life.

And so the Holy Spirit has this creative

and life-giving power.

And so here on Pentecost, when the sound in their ears

is like a Category 5 hurricane force wind,

it's telling these disciples that God's Spirit

is doing a new creation.

The new creation that he began

in the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

he's continuing in the life of the church.

And that God's Spirit has come here now

to fill the church's lungs with life and with power.

And to enable the church to breathe in the presence of God.

God's Spirit is the new wind of new creation.

But it's also the fresh fire of a new exodus.

Not just the wind of new creation,

but the fire of a new exodus.

In verse 3, it says that

they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire

that separated and came to rest on each of them.

So they can hear the wind with their ears

and they can see the fire with their eyes

and it looked like the fire in the book of Exodus.

The burning bush.

The pillar of fire that came down on the people of God

and led them from slavery in Egypt

to freedom in the promised land.

And everywhere that pillar of fire came to rest,

you knew that this is the place

where the presence of God

and the glory of the Lord dwells.

And you note that

the fire is here marking each individual believer

as a holy tabernacle,

as a holy temple of the holy God.

And this fire with its radiating light

and its purifying heat

symbolizes that this God who's a consuming fire

has come to His people to burn away

and to purify and to refine

all that's polluted

and all that's unworthy of Him

that we might be holy as God is holy.

So they hear the wind of Genesis.

They see the fire of Exodus

and it tells them that a new creation

and a new exodus is underway.

And the wind and the fire of the Holy Spirit

is releasing this immense power,

the uncreated energies of God

into the people of God.

And when the Holy Spirit comes,

what happens?

Well, the spirit that ordered the chaos of creation

and the spirit who liberated God's people from bondage,

the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead,

that spirit is now enlivening

and animating the church

and enabling her to speak.

And the Holy Spirit affects several major changes

on the speech of the disciples

which are described here as

quote-unquote utterly amazing.

And first of all,

what we see is that these disciples

begin speaking courageously.

In verse 4,

it says that all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak in other tongues

as the Spirit enabled them.

And down in verse 11,

it says,

You remember before Pentecost,

these disciples were weak

and quite helpless and afraid.

But here, after Pentecost,

they're filled with a blazing power.

And you can see the courage of Peter.

Peter, who denied his Lord,

is now fearlessly standing up

and facing this crowd,

facing the same authorities

that have the same power

to do to him what they'd just done to Jesus.

And he's totally unafraid.

These Christians who had been hiding behind locked doors,

they become a force

that will in due course

turn the Roman Empire upside down.

How do we explain that change?

Well, the Spirit of God came down.

Through the Holy Spirit,

the risen and enthroned Lord Jesus

is making his energy and his power

and his authority available

to those who are calling on his name.

But what's amazing is the disciples

not only begin to speak courageously,

but they also begin to speak truthfully.

Right?

Because what's going on here

is not just a new creation

and a new exodus,

but there's new revelation.

The new revelation that's recorded for us

in the New Testament.

And you remember Jesus' favorite name

for the Holy Spirit.

What's his favorite name for the Holy Spirit?

It's the Spirit of truth.

The Spirit who reveals the truth.

And when the Holy Spirit comes,

he brings people under the revelation of God,

under the truth of God's word.

And what is the truth that this Holy Spirit

is enabling his disciples to speak?

Well, in verse 11, it says,

we hear them declaring the wonders of God,

the megalia to theu.

We hear them declaring the megaworks of God.

We hear them declaring the mighty acts

of salvation by God in history.

And we're going to look on another Sunday

at the heart of Peter's Pentecost sermon.

But Peter begins telling them

about the wonderful works

that God the Father

has done through his son Jesus

to achieve and to accomplish our salvation.

He tells them about the wonderful work

that Jesus did in his life,

which was perfectly righteous.

And he tells them about the wonderful work

of Jesus' death

that is sufficient to atone for sins.

And he tells them about the wonderful work

of Jesus' resurrection

that he conquered over death.

That he tells them about the wonderful work

of Jesus' ascension into heaven

where he reigns from God's throne

and where he applies his righteousness

and life to us, his people.

You see, through the disciples,

the Holy Spirit is speaking

the truth of the gospel,

the truth of the wonderful salvation

in Jesus Christ.

And not only are they speaking courageously,

not only are they speaking truthfully,

but they're also beginning to speak internationally.

The Holy Spirit is dancing over the disciples

with tongues of fire

and is enabling the church

to find her tongue,

to open her mouth,

and to begin to speak

in reasonable, meaningful,

persuasive content

in languages that everyone can understand.

And if you'll notice in verse 9 through 11,

it outlines for us 15 language groups,

15 distinct dialects

that were spoken throughout the Roman Empire

that represent every point of the compass

from east to west and north to south,

from the Middle East to Asia,

from Africa to Europe.

The Holy Spirit comes upon these 120 disciples

and he transcends their ability

and he transforms their inability

and begins empowering them to do

well beyond what they could ever have imagined

doing on their own.

And it says that they're speaking

the wonderful works of God

in languages that they've never studied

and never learned to speak.

And nothing could have demonstrated more clearly

the international nature

of the kingdom of God in Christ.

That here God is creating the beginnings

of a new international family

that's centered on Jesus Christ.

And as we read through the New Testament,

as you read through church history,

the more the church is faithful to her mission

to bear witness to Christ

to the very ends of the earth,

the more this church becomes

even more international,

even more multicultural,

even more polychromatic.

And so let's pause here

for some brief application.

You know, one of the most ancient

and foundational prayers of the church

is a very simple prayer.

It's come Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit.

And when we say this prayer,

we don't expect the unique

and miraculous signs of Pentecost,

like hearing wind and seeing fire

and speaking in unknown languages.

But here's what we do expect

when we pray,

Come Holy Spirit.

When you say,

Come Holy Spirit,

you can expect that He will blow

a power into your life

like the wind.

When you say,

Come Holy Spirit,

you can expect that He will bring

a blazing purity

into your life like fire.

When you say,

Come Holy Spirit,

you can expect that He's going to put you

in situations like He did

with Peter and the disciples,

where He'll enable you

to become fearless and courageous.

And He'll put you in conversations

where you may be the only Christian

from which another person

can hear the truth of the gospel

and the wonderful works of God

and Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit,

when you ask Him to come,

He will shake up your relationships

and your priorities

so that you begin to feel a burden

for people who are completely unlike you,

people that do not look like you

and do not talk like you

and do not eat like you,

and He'll send you

to all different kinds of peoples

and cultures.

And I find myself,

when I read this,

on the one hand,

I'm quite attracted

to the power of the Holy Spirit.

But on the other hand,

I'm not really sure

if I want all the uncomfortable

inconveniences

of what the Spirit

might bring into my life,

which He's clearly doing

here in the early church.

And so I say to you this morning,

be careful what you pray for.

Be careful what you ask for.

When you pray,

come Holy Spirit,

He won't let you remain as you are.

He'll bring His wind.

He'll bring His fire.

He'll bring courage and truth.

He'll bring all kinds of people

into your life you never expected.

These are the signs

of the Holy Spirit.

But let's talk about

the prophecy of the Spirit.

Let's talk a little bit

about the prophecy

of the Holy Spirit.

For some reason,

a minority of these people

that are there on that day,

they understand none

of the languages

that are being spoken.

And it says in verse 13

that some, however,

made fun of them

and they said

they have had too much wine.

The gift of the Holy Spirit

made God's wonders

clear to so many people

and yet it was a garbled message

to others who dismissed it.

They dismissed the Spirit-given gospel

as a bunch of drunken,

incomprehensible nonsense.

And this is why Peter stands

to address the crowd.

Now, I wonder if you were Peter

and someone accused you

of behaving like you were drunk.

Would you be so biblically literate

and so Bible-saturated

that you would start quoting

the prophet Joel?

Is that what you would do

in this moment?

Peter is so Spirit-filled,

he's so Spirit-inspired

that his instinct

is to open the Bible

and gather a crowd

and say,

let's do a study

of the Old Testament.

Let's open the Scriptures

to see what God

has revealed about himself.

And that's one of the ways

you know that you're

a Spirit-empowered Christian

is that you know the Bible

and you open the Bible.

And what does Peter

want them to see?

Well, in verse 14,

he says to the crowd,

fellow Jews

and all of you

who live in Jerusalem,

let me explain this to you.

Listen carefully

to what I say.

These people are not drunk

as you suppose.

It's only nine in the morning

for goodness sake.

No, this is what was spoken

by the prophet Joel.

In the last days,

God says,

I will pour out my Spirit

on all people.

Your sons and daughters

will prophesy.

Your young men

will see visions.

Your old men

will dream dreams.

And even on my servants,

both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit

in those days

and they will prophesy.

No, Peter says,

we are not intoxicated

with alcoholic spirits.

We are, in fact,

experiencing God's

ancient promises

of the Holy Spirit.

God promised long ago

that in the last days

when the Messiah comes,

the Holy Spirit

will be poured out

and He'll be poured out

in generous

and abundant measure.

It will not be like

a little drizzle.

It will not be

a little shower of rain.

It will be like

a tropical rainstorm.

It will be an absolute

downpour of the Holy Spirit.

And it won't be like

in times past

in the Old Testament

where the Holy Spirit

came on particular people

at particular places

for particular purposes

like the judges

and the priests

and the kings

and the prophets.

No, He says,

the Holy Spirit

will be poured out

on all people.

Now, I have to clarify here

because all people

does not mean

everybody irrespective

of their inward readiness

to receive the sacred gift

of the Holy Spirit.

All people means

everybody irrespective

of their outward status.

God is not going

to give

the precious gift

of the Holy Spirit

to just anybody.

He has

certain spiritual conditions

by which

we are to receive

the Holy Spirit.

That is a

repentant heart

and a believing heart.

But this is a wonderfully

inclusive vision

because it says

that there's no category

of people left out.

Both genders,

all ages,

every class,

every race,

God gives His Holy Spirit

to all

regardless of

social distinctions.

And yet,

though it's a wonderfully

inclusive vision,

it's also a wonderfully

focused vision

because it happens

as verse 21 says,

to all who call

on the name of the Lord

in penitent faith.

Male and female,

young and old,

slave and free,

all who call

on the name of the Lord

in humble trust.

These are the ones

who will be empowered

to prophesy.

And this was the vision

of Moses,

the prophet of prophets.

He said in the Torah

in Numbers chapter 11,

Numbers 11 · chapter mention

it says,

Moses said,

I wish that all

of the Lord's people

were prophets

and I wish that the Lord

would put His Spirit

on absolutely

all of them.

And now,

here at Pentecost,

this ancient vision

of Moses

and this ancient word

of the prophet Joel

have come to fulfillment

where the Holy Spirit

is abundantly poured out

so that all of God's

faith-filled people

are prophesying.

These 120 men

and women

are declaring

the wonderful works

of God

in Jesus Christ.

And again,

let's pause

for a little bit

of application here

because last week

we heard Jesus say

that you will receive power

when the Holy Spirit

comes on you

and you will be

my witnesses.

And these 120 men

and women

are now empowered

to be prophetic

witnesses of Jesus Christ.

And they're different

than we are.

They are eyewitnesses

of the life,

death,

and resurrection

of Jesus

in a way that we are not.

None of us

are capital A apostles.

None of us

are capital P prophets.

None of us

are organs

of divine revelation.

None of us

can say,

thus saith the Lord

and add to

the canon

of God's word.

But I do want

to say that

the church today,

and that includes

every single one

of us here,

we do have

a subsidiary

prophetic calling

and prophetic

ministry

to bear witness

to the revelation

of God

that He completed

in Christ

and in the Scriptures.

And Joel's vision

is that

the people of God,

all the people of God

would be brought

under the control

of the Spirit of God

and the Word of God.

And the result

of our coming

under the control

of the Spirit of God

and the Word of God

is that our mouths

would begin

to speak

prophetic truth

about God

and about His salvation.

That all of our lips

would begin

to bear witness

to Jesus

that we

in our own generation

would declare

the mighty works

of God.

And we would proclaim

that wonderful word

of the gospel

and that we would

boldly go public

with the good news

and share the knowledge

that we've been given

of God the Father

through His Son

that's kindled

by the Holy Spirit.

What a treasure

the church has.

And Joel tells us

that it doesn't matter

if you're young

and in middle school

or high school.

It doesn't matter

if you're old

in your 80s

or your 90s.

It doesn't matter

if you're rich

and at the end

of your life

it doesn't matter

if you're poor

and you're a grad student

living on refried beans

or whatever it is

you eat.

It doesn't matter

if you're male

or female.

It doesn't matter

if you're African,

Asian,

Latino,

or European.

It doesn't matter

if you're a lay person

or you're an ordained person.

The Holy Spirit

wants to enable

each and every one of you

to know the Lord

and to know

His prophetic word.

And the Holy Spirit

wants to make all of us

into a prophetic community,

a witnessing community

that makes the Lord known.

And so friends,

if your heart is open

and humble

and repentant

and believing,

the Holy Spirit

who reveals

His prophetic truth

can come in

and make you

a mouthpiece

of that truth.

He can come

and He can make you

an ambassador

of the truth

of the gospel

to your friends

and neighbors

and coworkers

and family members.

This is the prophecy

of the Spirit

and we've talked about

the signs of the Spirit.

I want to say a word

about the new life

of the Spirit

because some of you

may be wondering

about the second part

of Joel's prophecy

and all these strange things,

the blood and the fire

and the billows of smoke

which comes up quite a lot

in the prophets

when you read the prophets.

What in the world

is going on here?

Well, let's read it

in verse 19.

It says,

I will show wonders

in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire

and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned

to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming

of the great

and glorious day

of the Lord.

These wonders

and these signs

are not only

literal natural phenomena

but they represent

earth-shattering events,

right?

Things that would shake

any society

at her foundations

and bring about

among the people

a sense of instability

and uncertainty.

For example,

if you were to see

the creator of the cosmos

nailed on a cross

and if in that moment

the sky turned dark

for three hours,

that should be a sign to you.

If three days later

you found a tomb

that was emptied out

and you met a man

who was walking around

no longer dead but alive,

that should be a sign

and a wonder to you.

It should indicate

something to you

that what the prophet Joel said

is now coming true

that the great

and glorious day

of the Lord,

the day of Yahweh,

the day of His salvation

has come.

That the long-awaited

day of the Lord

has arrived

and Jesus

our crucified

yet risen Lord,

ascended into heaven

pouring out

the Holy Spirit.

And verse 21 says,

everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord

will be saved.

Will be saved.

And the question is

saved from what?

Saved into what?

I think many of us know

the message of the Scriptures

is that we're saved

out of our sin

and our death.

We're saved

out of judgment.

We're saved out of

being eternally separated

from God.

But what are we saved into?

What's the new life

that we're saved into?

The Holy Spirit

saves us into

a new life.

And that life,

I think,

is beautifully summarized

by the Apostle Paul

in Galatians 4, 6.

He says,

God sent the Spirit

of His Son

into our hearts,

the Spirit

who calls out,

Abba, Father.

God sent the Spirit

of His Son

into our hearts,

the Spirit

who calls out,

Abba, Father.

That's what happened

to you

when you became

a Christian.

The Holy Spirit

breathed new life

into you.

The Holy Spirit

came and made you

a new creature

and He adopted you

as a son

or a daughter

of God the Father

and He enabled you

to say the name

that Jesus uses

for God,

Abba, Father.

The Holy Spirit

saves you

into a new life

of relationship

with God Himself.

But the Holy Spirit

also saves you

into new relationships

with the family

of God.

And the Apostle Paul

goes on in Galatians 5

and he says,

when the Holy Spirit

comes into your life

and He saves you

into this new life,

you should expect

for the Holy Spirit

to begin to grow up

some new fruit in you.

The new fruit

in your relationships

with your church family.

And you should begin

to see as a result

of the Holy Spirit's

work in your life

more of God's love

toward your sisters

and brothers in Christ.

More and more

of God's joy

and His peace

in your sibling relationships

with one another.

More and more

of the forbearance

of God

and the kindness

of God

toward one another.

More and more

of the goodness

of God

expressed in good works

to build one another up.

You should be expecting

to see more faithfulness

in your life

and more gentleness

in your life

toward other people

in the church.

He says you should expect

to find yourself

more in control

of yourself

so that you begin

to value others

as greater than yourself

and begin to serve others

as more important

than yourself.

This is the new life

that the Holy Spirit

saves us into.

And as Joel says

and as Peter says,

everyone who calls

on the name

of the Lord Jesus

will be saved

by the Holy Spirit

into a new life

with God the Father.

Saved into a new relationship

where we can say

on a daily basis,

Abba, Father.

Saved into the life

of a community

that's bursting

with the fruit

of the Holy Spirit

that we did not have

in our lives before.

it's an amazing

new life.

Well, we've seen

the signs of the Spirit,

the prophecy

of the Spirit.

We've seen the new life

that the Spirit

saves us into.

And I should probably

close this sermon here

but I've sensed

all week

that I should say

a word about

the fullness

of the Spirit.

And I'll just close

by talking about

the fullness

of the Spirit.

If you're a Christian,

you have received

the Holy Spirit.

You have received

God's initiatory

once for all

unrepeatable gift

of the baptism

of the Spirit

that came

on that day

at Pentecost

and that gift

of the Spirit

can never be taken

away from you.

However,

I think it's important

to say that God

intends

for you to be

continuously

and increasingly

maintaining

the fullness

of the Spirit.

And this is what

the Apostle Paul

says in Ephesians 5,

18.

He says,

Go on

being filled

with the Spirit.

He says that

to the whole church,

every single one of you.

Go on

being filled

with the Spirit.

And that's not

a tentative suggestion.

It's not a mild

recommendation.

It's not even

a polite piece

of advice.

It's an imperative.

It's a command

that comes

from Christ

with all of His

authority.

Go on

being filled

with the Holy Spirit.

It's not optional

for a Christian.

It's obligatory.

And

all of us

are to

continue

seeking

the Spirit's

fullness

in our lives.

And how do we

do that?

Well,

it's fascinating

that

the Apostle Paul

is writing

to a church

that

is filled

with Spirit-born

Christians.

Everyone

has been given

the gift

of the Holy Spirit,

but he's telling them,

go on being filled

with the Spirit.

This is not

a one-and-done

filling,

but it's a regular

pattern of,

as the Apostle says,

continually

be being filled

with the Holy Spirit.

And I think

this is important

to say because

it's possible

and it's all

too pitifully

common

for Christians

who are baptized

with the Spirit

to cease

to be filled

with the Spirit.

And when we

cease to be filled

with the Spirit,

we lose

the holiness

of life

and we lose

the boldness

of testimony

that we're meant

to have.

You know,

we can grieve

the Holy Spirit.

We can

so fill

ourselves up

with things

other than the Spirit.

We can fill

ourselves up

with sin.

We can fill

our lives

up with unbelief.

We can fill

ourselves up

with disobedience

so that there's

no room

for the Holy Spirit.

And

when we do

this,

we find ourselves

living our

Christian lives

on a lower level

than our

Spirit baptism

has made possible

because we're

not remaining

filled

with the Spirit.

You know,

if that's you

today,

and I imagine

it's maybe

more than one

of us,

if you want

to remain

filled with

the Holy Spirit,

you've got

to be doing

what these

120 men

and women

were doing

when the

day of

Pentecost

came and

the Holy Spirit

was poured

out.

And what

were they

doing?

It says

in Acts

1.14,

they were

praying

together

in unified

prayer for

the Holy Spirit.

it says

that they

were praying

constantly

in persevering

prayer,

we are not

going to

stop praying

until you

fill us

with the

Holy Spirit.

Jesus said

explicitly,

if you ask

your Father

in heaven,

He will

give the

Holy Spirit

to anyone

who asks

Him.

And so,

I just want

to encourage

some of you,

if you have

not yet found

a group

here at Christ

Church,

if you have

not yet

found a

spiritual

friend,

if you have

not yet

found a

mentor,

who can

help you

pray in

the Spirit

and pray

for the

Spirit to

make that

the highest

priority

in this

week and

in this

month ahead,

I want to

encourage you

to find that

person and

to find those

people and

say to them,

will you

please help

me pray

for the

continuous

and increasing

fullness of the

Spirit in my

life?

Because if

that's possible

for me,

that's what I

want.

And leaders

of our groups,

I want to

encourage you to

take the time

this week to

just pause and

do something

different this

week and that

is just pray

for the coming

of the Holy

Spirit.

Pray for the

fullness of

the Spirit.

Friends,

let's do this

in the name of

the Father,

Son,

and Holy

Spirit.

Amen.