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

Turn with me to Acts chapter 2, and I am, in

Acts 2 · chapter mention

fact, I'm going to modify what I'm preaching

on this morning. I can preach for hours on the

Holy Spirit. Today is Pentecost Sunday, but we

want to pray over you to receive a fresh touch

from the Holy Spirit this morning. The Holy Spirit

is our helper. And how many of you need a helper?

How many of you are convinced that you can do

this Christian life all by yourself? When you

try to do that, one of two things will happen.

You will either give up and quit, or you will

become a Pharisee, trying to do it on your own.

And we just freely declare, and it feels so good

to say, God, I cannot do this on my own. I need

what you have given me. And God has given you

what you need for life and godliness, not so

that you can do it on your own, but he's equipped

you with tools. We've been given mercy. We've

been given grace. We've been given all kinds

of things. One of the things we've been given

is the precious Holy Spirit, the third person

of the Godhead. We have been given the Holy Spirit

to help us live this Christian walk. Amen? Now,

there are so many things that the Holy Spirit

does in our lives, things that He equips us with,

ways that He helps us. God helps us. Tools that

he gives to us, the gifts of the Holy Spirit,

so powerful, so wonderful. Jesus had told the

apostles in Acts chapter 1, he had already given

Acts 1 · chapter mention

them, he was giving them the great commission,

go into all the world and preach the gospel,

and teaching them to obey everything that I have

commanded them, baptizing them in my name. And

then he said, and I will be with you to the end

of the earth. He had already told them that.

had the commandment to go into all the world

and preach the gospel. It's why we do missions.

But then the last thing he said was not go into

all the world, but wait, stay in Jerusalem. And

he said, because in a couple days, you're going

to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. It's going

to be the gift that I talked about from the Father.

You're going to receive the infilling of the

Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus did not tell them. He

did not tell them that we know of. When the Holy

Spirit comes upon you, you're going to pray in

tongues. Jesus did not tell them that. When the

Holy Spirit comes upon you, you're going to be

able to do miracles on a level you've never been

able to do before. Jesus did not tell them that.

There was a whole lot that Jesus did not tell

them. The one command that he gave to them was

this, go and wait. And you will know when it

happens. And so there they were in the upper

room. It was the first experience of people being

filled with the Holy Spirit. And we pick it up.

They had a business meeting in chapter 1. In

fact, the Bible also says they were in one accord

in prayer. So they had prayer meetings. They

had a business meeting. They elected a new apostle

to replace Judas. They did several things during

those 10 days. But we pick it up in chapter 2.

Verse 1. When the day of Pentecost had fully

come, they were all with one accord in one place,

and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as

of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole

house where they were sitting. And then there

appeared to them divided tongues as of fire,

and one sat upon each of them, and they were

all filled with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit

and began to speak with other tongues as the

Spirit gave them utterance. Hallelujah. And so,

Lord, we ask that your word, which you've given

to us, God, not just to know how it happened

in the past, but so that we could know what to

expect for our lives. I pray that it would come

alive to us today in Jesus' name. And everybody

said, amen, amen. In Numbers chapter 11, Moses

Numbers 11 · chapter mention

was asking God, how am I going to take care of

all of these people? There are too many for me.

And in Numbers chapter 11, God says this in verse

Numbers 11 · chapter mention

17. He says, I'm giving you 70 elders of Israel,

in verse 16, who are known to you as leaders

and officials among the people. Have them come

to the tent of meeting that they might stand

with you there. Verse 17, I will come down and

speak with you there, and I will take some of

the power of the Spirit that is on you, and I

will put it on them. They will share the burden

of the people with you so that you will not have

to carry it alone. You see, even then, the Holy

Spirit was a helper. Moses needed the Holy Spirit

to help. In the days gone by, Moses relied on

the Holy Spirit to govern and to lead Israel.

And now God is saying, I'm going to take of the

same spirit that is on you, which was the Holy

Spirit, and I'm going to put it on the 70 elders

so that they can help you. And so we read in

verse 25, then the Lord came down in the cloud

and spoke. spoke with Moses, and God took some

of the power of the Spirit that was on Moses

and put it on the 70 elders. And when the Spirit

rested upon them, they prophesied in the camp.

Well, two of them did not make it out. And a

young man ran and told Moses, Eldad and Medad

are prophesying in the camp. And so Joshua, the

son of Nun, who had been Moses' aid since youth,

spoke up and said, Moses, my Lord, stop them.

Because back then, the gifts of the Spirit, the

power of the Spirit, were only for certain people.

And Joshua thought, well, they're acting out

of order. They weren't with the 70. They were

in the camp. But Moses replied, and this is why

I read this story. Are you jealous for my sake?

I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets

and that the Lord would put his spirit on them

all. Wow. Moses was looking forward to Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2. He was prophetically replying to Joshua whether

he... Fully understood it or not, I doubt. But

he was looking ahead to the day when not just

one or two were anointed by the Holy Spirit,

but where everybody could receive of the power

of the Holy Spirit. Moses' desire. Joshua, I

want them all to prophesy. I don't want to be

the only one prophesying. I don't even want just

these 70 to prophesy. I want the whole nation

of Israel to prophesy. Hallelujah. Oh, praise

God. And so Moses is looking ahead to that moment.

There were others that prophesied what would

happen. And so we read in Isaiah chapter 44 and

Isaiah 44 · chapter mention

verse 3. And Isaiah prophesies, for I will pour

water on him who is thirsty and floods on the

dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants

and my blessing. on your offspring. They will

spring up among the grass like willows on the

watercourses. I will pour out my spirit, he says,

on all flesh. Hallelujah. Glory to God. We have

the word in Ezekiel chapter 39. And he says,

Ezekiel 39 · chapter mention

I will not hide my face from them anymore. The

time is coming when I will not hide my face from

them anymore. For I shall have poured out my

spirit on the whole house of Israel, says the

Lord God. Praise the Lord. Isn't that good to

hear? This is Old Testament. And then the one

that Peter would later preach in Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2, Joel chapter 2, and it's probably the most

Joel 2 · chapter mention

strong of the prophetic times. In Joel chapter

Joel 2:28

2, verse 28, And it shall come to pass afterward

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall

prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your

young men shall see visions. And also on my men

servants and my maid servants, I will pour out

my spirit in those days. Glory to God. Hallelujah.

Now, many of you are like me. I grew up in a

church that taught Against the Holy Spirit. Well,

who do you think would want teaching against

the Holy Spirit? There has been a shroud over

Christianity for millennium in some cases. That

has stolen this from the church. Now there have

been pockets of outpouring throughout history.

I did research as a college student many years

ago and found evidence of people being baptized

in the Holy Spirit in almost every century. And

it's pretty awesome. But at the turn of the 20th

century, The outpouring of the Holy Spirit restored

the gifts of the Spirit to the church in a way

that we have not seen in a long time. And the

Azusa Street outpouring in 1906 marked a beginning

of a transformation in the church. The Assemblies

of God, born in 1914 in Hot Springs, Arkansas,

with 300 people that got together and declared,

we are going to bring the gospel to the ends

of the earth. And so they were believing for

one of the greatest missionary movements of all

time, to bring the gospel to the ends of the

earth. And we are still, 109 years later, 10

years later, I'm not doing my math right, we

are still committed to bringing the gospel to

the ends of the earth in the power of the Holy

Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit was restored

to the church. And here they are in this room,

and they are... Waiting, waiting, waiting. And

the day of Pentecost, the day of celebration.

Oh, that's the point that I was making. Is that

the enemy has turned this thing called the Holy

Spirit in people's minds into something weird.

Into something unnecessary. Into something optional.

But the reason I believe that God coupled the

outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the day of

Pentecost is because Pentecost was a day of incredible

celebration. It was a celebration of the ingathering.

A celebration of the harvest. And they were celebrating

with everything they had when the Holy Spirit

came and they had even more reason to celebrate.

Hallelujah. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is

not something that God ever intended us to be

cautious towards. The baptism of the Holy Spirit

was something that God wanted His people to celebrate.

Hallelujah. And so he coupled it with this day

of celebration. And they were feasting and they

were dancing and they were shouting just as Jewish

people. And they were celebrating this festival

together. And they turned and all the people

in Jerusalem began to hear something. What is

that? What is that? It sounds like a storm is

coming. It sounds like a mighty rushing wind.

Now, I've only heard a mighty rushing wind a

couple of times in my life. One of them was with

Pastor Ben in the Boundary Waters. We heard a

mighty rushing wind. And for 20 minutes, we were

pelted with hailstones. And I was laughing. I

was laughing. And it was a mighty rushing wind.

We could hear the wind blowing. from afar off,

and it came like a train, and it hit us. I've

got it all on video. You've got to see it. And

they heard that sound all through Jerusalem.

And all through Jerusalem, they gathered together,

and they brought eyes to the place they heard

the sound coming from. It was this upper room,

and they turned there. And while the disciples

are inside, tongues of fire. come into the room.

I picture it in this room. The upper room, I'm

sure, didn't look like this. But tongues of fire

separating. One piece coming to rest on every

single person as they were filled with the Holy

Spirit. And as they were filled with the Holy

Spirit, something happened inside. Something

broke free inside like a river. And they began

to pray in language that they'd never learned.

And in this case, they were actual other human

languages. All throughout the book of Acts, that

does not happen. Sometimes they're called heavenly

languages or the language of angels even. Because

they are not necessarily always human languages.

Sometimes they're languages that God gives you

that only He understands. But they begin to break

forth in these languages. And they couldn't stop.

They kept proclaiming whatever it was in their

heart that they were feeling. It was a heart

feeling kind of thing. And they just broke forth

in this praise in a language that they did not

know what they were saying. But boy, did it feel

good. Hallelujah. Boy, did it feel good. Boy,

did it feel like something is happening in my

life. Something is changing in my life. Something

is transforming inside of me. Something is happening.

Hallelujah. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem

devout Jews, devout men from every nation under

heaven. Why? They had gathered for the celebration

of Pentecost. And when the sound occurred, the

multitude came together and were confused. Why?

Well, we've been standing in our own little groups

talking with just the people that understand

our language. And all of a sudden, we hear our

language. And they marveled. And they began to

speak to one another. Look, aren't those speaking?

Aren't they Galileans? Galileans are known to

be uneducated. They only speak their own language.

How is it that we hear in our own language where

we were born, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, those

dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus,

Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the

parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from

Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs.

We hear them speaking in our own tongue. the

wonderful works of God and so they are just feeling

this in their heart praying in this new language

that they've got but they are they are speaking

forth the praises and the wonders of God in a

language that the people around them understand

how many of you how many of you would would just

say that that is powerful that is a God kind

of a thing wow wow I was in I was in Panama,

and we were praying for people to be filled with

the Holy Spirit. And one older gentleman, he

did not speak the Panama language. He only spoke

his native tongue, an indigenous tongue. And

he was there being prayed for to be filled with

the Holy Spirit. And he began to speak in perfect

English. The fire of God is falling in this place.

He did not know what he was saying. Do you know

what he was doing? He was praying in his prayer

language. And it was perfect English. seen a

thing like that before or since, but it's like,

I felt like what was happening here, the glories

of God being displayed among them. Friends, this

thing is real, and it's good, and it's necessary,

and it is something that God wants to give. And

later on, see, if it wasn't, it would have just

stopped here. But in Acts chapter 4, guess what?

Acts 4 · chapter mention

They were filled with the Holy Spirit again.

Hallelujah. In Acts chapter 7, and Philip went

Acts 7 · chapter mention

down to preach the gospel in Samaria, and many

of them repented and were healed supernaturally,

but they had not received the baptism of the

Holy Spirit, and so they sent for Peter and John,

and Peter and John came, and they laid hands

on people, and they received the baptism of the

Holy Spirit. It happened again in Acts chapter

Acts 10 · chapter mention

10. It happened again in Acts. chapter 19, and

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Paul began to ask the question. He just began

to ask Christians everywhere, people that he

thought were believers. If he thought that they

were believers, he would just ask them, have

you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?

That was his question to people that he had met

for the very first time, because there was a

time in Christianity where being baptized in

the Holy Spirit was a normal part of believing.

I'm believing for that day to come back, friends.

I'm believing for the impartation of the Holy

Spirit. We've come up with these things that

are not biblical. And so we justify it. We say

things that are true like, well, I have the Holy

Spirit as soon as I become a believer. And that

is true, you do, because without the Holy Spirit,

you never even would have become a believer.

And so, yes, you have the Holy Spirit, but there

is an experience called the baptism of the Holy

Spirit that is different, that God wants to use.

He used it in their lives to empower them so

that they can fulfill their call in Christ. And

Paul, I think he would go around today and he

would ask that question. Have you received the

Holy Spirit since you believed? And their answer

was, well, we haven't even heard that there was

a Holy Spirit. And he said, well, I thought,

I'm paraphrasing here, I thought you were Christians

already. Weren't you baptized? Yeah, but we were

only baptized into John's baptism. Well, John's

baptism was a baptism of repentance, but John

came to prepare the way for the one that would

come after him, Jesus. And so right then and

there, those disciples of John gave their lives

to Jesus. Hallelujah. Now, this was decades after.

John had died. Jesus ascended the church. This

is decades after. They had only heard about John's

baptism. And now they were baptized in water.

And the Bible says that when they came out of

the water, Paul laid hands on them. And they

received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And

they began to pray in tongues. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Friends, this thing is good. It is good. And

it is God. It is God. I need the baptism of the

Holy Spirit to stay effective as a pastor. I

need a baptism of the Holy Spirit in my life

to empower me to do the things that He's called

me to do. I need the Holy Spirit to evangelize.

Sometimes when God, puts this flutter in my heart,

like go talk to that stranger, which can I confess

to you as a pastor, I'm not great at talking

to strangers. I should be. I'm not great at it.

But I get this nervousness, but you know what

I do? I just pray in the Spirit. And you know

what happens? Boldness comes on me. And then

I can do what God's called me to do. There are

elements of the Christian faith that cannot be

accomplished apart from the baptism of the Holy

Spirit. So you say, Pastor, well, isn't the resurrection

enough? But did you notice that Peter did not

preach after the resurrection? Peter believed.

But Peter was still ashamed, carrying guilt.

Jesus came to Peter and said, do you love me,

Peter? Yes, I love you. Three times. Feed my

sheep. Peter was not even restored then. Encounter

with Jesus. But you notice what happens? After

Peter is baptized in the Holy Spirit, he stands

up with authority and with power that he did

not have before. And he preaches to thousands.

God amplifies his voice. And that day, as he's

preaching the gospel, 3 ,000 people. And some

say that's only the men. It could have been up

to 10 ,000 people. But between 3 and 10 ,000

people were added to the church because Peter

was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I need the infilling

of the Holy Spirit. I need the infilling of the

Holy Spirit. I am dependent upon the infilling

of the Holy Spirit. We need you, Holy Spirit.

We need you, Holy Spirit. My whole message this

morning was about unity. I'm going to save that

message for another time. The unity of the Spirit.

God wants to touch you today. Praise the Lord.

Some of you were baptized in the Holy Spirit

in the altar. When you came down and people laid

hands on you, that was me. I was 13 years old.

Came down and laid hands on me and I wept and

cried and spoke in tongues for the very first

time. Changed my life for it. No, I was... Yeah,

I was 13. Some of you were in the church. Some

of you were not in the church. Anybody baptized

in the Holy Spirit at home? Some of you were

filled with the Holy Spirit at your house by

yourself. I like Dennis' story. Dennis was on

his tractor. The Holy Spirit came on him. Filled

him with the Holy Spirit. Driving on his tractor.

My brother, after a year of seeking God for the

baptism of the Holy Spirit, was baptized wondrously,

all alone, in a field. Baptized in the Holy Spirit.

What a good thing. Some people think, well, why

would God fill me with His Spirit? I'm not Moses.

I'm not Joshua. Because He wants everybody. In

the Old Testament, it was expressed through a

few leaders. But in the New Testament, the way

has been made for every single one of us to receive

the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My sister received

the baptism of the Holy Spirit at six years old.

She began to pray in tongues. She and her husband

have been pastoring for decades now. She's an

amazing woman of God. Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

I want to challenge you, those of you that have

never received just to begin a journey. That

journey might culminate today. You can be filled

with the Holy Spirit this morning before you

leave. But some of you need to go through more

of a journey because you're not sure. And it's

okay to have questions and to ask and to seek

out. There's a wonderful book called They Speak

With Other Tongues. Who wrote that book, Kathy?

John Sherrill, the Guidepost author, who was

an Episcopalian and went on a journey, went to

meetings like this, sought and sought. It's a

brutally honest book. Is that just gibberish

I heard in the Pentecostal churches? But his

journey culminated in a glorious infilling of

the Holy Spirit. And it's a wonderful book. You

can download it and you can read it. Some of

you need a journey. Because you need to know

in your own heart that it isn't just emotionalism.

And it isn't just that hype in that church that

they do. But that it really is a gift from God.

And in the book of Acts, in Acts 2, they had

nobody playing music. They had nobody giving

an altar call. They were just there. And they

just said, we're saying, God, we're waiting.

We don't know what we're waiting for. But we're

waiting. And when it came, They knew. And when

he comes on you, you will know. You will know.

It's God's gift to you. We've watched God baptize

people from every social structure in his Holy

Spirit. He's no regarder of men. He doesn't care.

what flavor of life you choose. He wants to give

you his Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord. Praise

the Lord. Come, Holy Spirit, I need you. Come.

Sweet Spirit, I pray. Come in Thy strength and

Thy power. Come in Thine own special way. And

let's sing that song we sang earlier. Melt me.

Mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living

God, fall fresh on me. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lord, would you fill

your sons and your daughters with the Holy Spirit?