The Spirit Filled Church - Jonathan Soto

Alright, good morning, everyone.

You guys with me this morning?

We ready for the word?

Do you love the word of God?

Alright.

We're gonna be in the book of Acts this morning.

And I do have a title for you if you like titles.

And we we can't possibly this morning exhaust the topic, I suppose.

But we will do our best to speak on what the Lord wants us speak on.

This morning.

This is what we're speaking about the spirit-filled church.

The spirit-filled church.

Initially I had the title as a spirit-filled church.

And then I felt the Lord press upon me to change it to the spirit-filled church.

And that's because we're not trying to be more spiritual than the church down the street.

Like here is here is a regular church, and then here's a really spirit-filled church.

No, we're not in competition with one another.

We just want to be the church that the Lord has called us to be.

And all of us together, not just momentum, but every every gathering of believers across the world.

Together we are the spirit-filled church.

And so let's just begin by reading a couple scriptures.

In Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Let's just read.

Let's just read verse 5.

Let's begin there.

He says, For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

So when they had come together, they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?

He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.

And then let's go to Acts chapter two.

In Acts chapter one, we see Jesus recalling the promise of the Father that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

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

And then very quickly, I just want to turn to 1 Corinthians 12.

In verse 13, I'll just read just the top half of the verse.

It says, For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body.

In these scriptures.

Number one, the Holy Spirit was promised to us as believers.

Number two, Jesus made good on that promise, and the Spirit has been poured out on God's people.

And now we have been baptized in the Spirit into one body.

The Spirit makes us one big happy family in Christ.

Of which kind of Christian is the best Christian.

And God moves mightily through a spirit-filled church.

In Acts chapter 2, I want to read some more scripture now.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Now that we're all settled, that we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

It ends with this declaration that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So here's our first little point for us this morning.

It's a beautiful detail that the scripture notes about Peter.

It says Peter took his stand with the eleven.

He doesn't look around and go, Yeah, this looks pretty weird.

I don't know about this one.

No, Peter takes his stand with the eleven.

And he says, No, these men are not drunk as you suppose.

No, they are drunk, just not the way that you think that they're drunk.

They've been filled with a fresh wine.

They've been filled with the Holy Spirit.

See, Peter takes his stand with the eleven.

And following this infilling of the Holy Ghost, he begins to preach Jesus.

This is the gospel, by the way.

He's preaching the gospel.

And this is the gospel.

It's Jesus.

The gospel is not, hey, God can make your life a little bit better.

No, the gospel is look at the one who has been crucified.

Look at the one whose blood has been poured out.

It's been poured out for you.

This is the gospel.

Remember Acts 1 8.

Jesus says this.

He says, You're going to be filled with the Spirit.

And then what's going to happen?

You're going to have really cool church services.

You're going to be filled with the Spirit.

And you're going to wear really cool outfits to church at the end of the day.

No.

No.

He says, You're going to be filled with the power of the Holy Ghost.

And you will be my witnesses.

And it's very specific.

Yes, it's very specific.

Let's go back to Acts 1.

Watch what it says in verse 3.

He says, speaking of the apostles.

He says, To these he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs appearing to them over the period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

I was dead.

But now I am alive again.

And here's what's going to happen.

Now that I have shown you proof, I'm going to fill you with my Holy Spirit.

And you will be my witnesses.

Witnesses of what?

Of exactly what he proved to them.

That he was dead.

And now he is alive.

I think similar to Peter, it's time for us to take our stand with the eleven.

It's time for us in a society of logic and intellect.

It's time for sarcastic, by the way.

It seems like logic is out the window more and more every day.

But in today's society, it's time that you and I take a stand.

And we are Holy Ghost filled unashamed witnesses of Jesus.

That Jesus was dead.

And now he is alive.

See, they were filled with the Spirit.

And they became witnesses of his resurrection.

And Peter does not back down from their mockery.

He confronts it head on.

And these are very, let me see if I'm getting ahead of myself.

These are very clear claims that Peter makes about Jesus.

Very clear.

When he says in verse 21, it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

The word Lord is to say this.

This is how they would have read it originally.

They would have read, those who call the call upon the name of Yahweh shall be saved.

And so he is saying, when you call upon Jesus, you're calling upon the name of Yahweh.

He was making a very clear claim that Jesus is the Almighty God.

And it's very popular these days to like the idea of Jesus.

There's successful businessmen that are successful because they take biblical principles.

But they don't know Jesus.

That it they literally take John 1 1.

And it says in their in their Bible it says that the word was with God and the Word was a God.

Because the enemy realizes that the power is not in Jesus as merely a good teacher.

The power is in the truth that Jesus is God Almighty.

So it's not enough when people go, Yeah, I have a I have a relationship with God, I talk to God all the time.

No, do you know Jesus?

Nannies lets they go around to people.

Hey, do you love Jesus?

Hey, do you know Jesus?

The question used to be, not from nannies, but in general, used to be, do you believe in God?

Which is not a bad place to start.

But if their faith and their affection is not toward Jesus, then it doesn't matter what God they claim to believe in.

A spirit-filled church preaches the gospel with boldness.

And I'll add, preaches the gospel with clarity.

Let's go to Acts, we're in chapter two, but go to verse 36.

And this is really cool what we see here.

Well, I got ahead of myself.

You can turn to 36.

But this is what's happening leading up to 36.

Peter references a psalm of David.

In which David says, He says, You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow your holy one to undergo decay.

In other words, David makes the claim seemingly of himself.

And then Peter says to the people David was not speaking of himself.

No, prophetically he was seeing into the day of Jesus.

And the top half of that scripture.

And this is what I saw.

That God would not allow his holy one to stay in the grave.

And so now Peter in 36.

And despite Pedro in the 36.

He says, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucify.

Because he's saying this Jesus whom you crucified.

So he wouldn't have been the only Jesus.

So you're saying you know Jesus?

He might have gone, yeah, I know Jesus.

No, no, the one from Nazareth.

Oh, yeah, I know a handful from Nazareth.

No, no, Jesus the Nazarene, the one whom you crucified.

Oh, that one.

Oh, ese.

God has made him both Lord and Christ.

See the spirit-filled church sees Jesus rightly.

The scripture talks about how we need correct knowledge of Jesus.

In Zechariah 12:10.

Zechariah 12:10

It says that they would look upon him whom they pierced.

And they would mourn for him.

So let's watch what happens in verse 37.

So Peter says this Jesus whom you crucified.

The one who you put on the cross.

He is Lord.

Meaning he is God.

And he is your savior.

And wouldn't that make sense?

Because Yahweh is our salvation.

We know that from the scripture.

So Jesus is God and He is Savior.

And in verse 37.

Verse 37.

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart.

Oh, this is fulfillment of Zechariah.

That they would look to him whom they pierced.

And they would begin to mourn.

Now there's really when the gospel is preached, there's really only two responses.

The heart either grows hard or the heart is cut.

And cut in a way that the growth is hard.

Great physician can come in and begin to operate.

So it says that they heard these things.

And they were pierced.

I love the way one version says they were, I don't know if this will translate, but it says they were cut to the quick, it says.

No, their hearts were pierced.

And I want us to see this response.

So they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles.

Are you with me?

They said to Peter and the rest of the apostles.

Well, brothers, hermanos, what do we do?

And I can feel the desperation in their hearts.

What do we do?

Maybe you're here today.

And you go, I've already sinned.

I've already messed up.

What do I do?

Oh, there's great news.

Buenas nuevas.

Peter said to them.

Repentance.

Each one of you and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

No, for these men it was not a stubborn and arrogant, well, what are we supposed to do now?

No, it was a my goodness.

We just put God on a cross.

And I imagine for a moment terror filled their hearts.

What do we do?

Peter, what do we do now?

He says, repent and be baptized.

Call upon his name.

And let the one who you just covered in blood wash you in the same.

A spirit-filled church.

The spirit-filled church.

Is not.

How do I want to word this?

We're not like trying to avoid the cross thing.

No, because while they put him on the cross.

You know what it says that the powers of darkness and the rulers of the world if they had understood the plan of God.

It says it like this.

They would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Because while darkness thought it had won.

But it's actually, it was actually triumph.

That's why the cross that's on top of that church.

I wish it was bigger.

Why do we put that everywhere?

It's not simply to commemorate his death.

No, it is.

But it's not just to remember his death.

It's that the cross means victory to us.

Well, when darkness thought it had won, Jesus was taking ground.

With every whip, with every last, Jesus was taking territory.

And I'm speaking poetically.

But with every nail and with every bruising.

The spirit filled church.

Verse 3.

Yeah, so when we see Jesus rightly, let me just make this abundantly clear.

When we see Jesus rightly, our hearts are moved to repentance.

And so we need to see him rightly.

And then watch what happens when we see him rightly here.

Nothing can stop the spirit-filled church.

Nothing can stop a church that is filled with the fire of the Holy Ghost.

Are you feeling tired, friend?

Are you feeling discouraged?

I have some advice for us.

Consider him.

Think about the cross.

Think about the crucified Jesus.

And how even the power of the grave could not hold him down.

Nothing can stop us.

I'm fired up.

If you're not fired up, that's okay because I'm fired up this morning.

Nothing can stop us.

Nothing can stop the spirit filled.

When you see Jesus rightly, nothing can stop us.

You know every fear that you and I may have is actually connected to the fear of death.

You're not afraid of swimming in the ocean.

You're not afraid of jumping off the cliff.

But how could we fear anything?

If we have no fear in death.

And death does not stop us.

Because the same spirit that rose Christ Jesus from the dead also quickens my mortal body.

Let's go to chapter 5 of Acts.

And watch what happens.

Let's start in verse 40.

Yeah, yeah, verse 40.

Of Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

It says they took his advice, and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.

So they went on their way from the presence of the council, watch this, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name.

And after this they never spoke of the name of Jesus again.

These men were crazy.

They were just flogged.

And they said, Wow.

Who are we, Lord, that we should be beat for your name?

And they kept right on.

Teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

No, nothing can stop a spirit-filled church.

And by the way, here in the States, no one's beaten us yet.

So I think we ought to take that as an opportunity to keep preaching and teaching Jesus Christ.

And I will stop yelling.

Acts 3.

And let's read.

But I'm gonna I'm gonna actually let's read here.

Let's read.

Let's read two.

Let's read two to eight.

Yeah, let's read there.

And a man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.

But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, Look at us.

And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk.

And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened.

And verse 9, and all the people saw him walking and praising God.

And in verse 16, and on the basis of faith in his name, whose name?

Jesus.

And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know, and the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Sixteen only.

Acts three shows us this that salvation includes everything pertaining to you.

It's right there in the scripture.

Perfect soundness.

And I've been working on something.

I've been working on changing my confession.

And I want to invite you into that with me.

When I come across obstacles in my life, I'm going to begin to confess the name of Jesus.

Because his name brings salvation.

And in that salvation, there is health, there is riches, there is every good thing that he will not withhold from us.

And our point here is this The Spirit-Filled Church is a victorious church.

And I was talking to my dad the other day.

And I was talking about moving into our apartment soon.

And I said, Yeah, little by little, we're, you know, we'll get a couch here and a pillow there and half a rug there.

Little by little, we'll, you know, we'll get some furniture in this.

Furniture.

Um, anyways, I don't know what you say.

Uh, and then and then something rose in me.

And I told my dad.

I said, wait a second.

No.

No.

I said, before we move into that thing, we're gonna we're gonna have everything that we need, and then some, and that whole thing is gonna be furnished.

And you go, well, Jonah, that sounds like the prosperity gospel.

That sounds like it's all about money and possessions to you.

I just want to give you permission this morning.

It's okay to pair just a little bit, just a little bit compared of sensible thinking with the word of God.

And here is what I mean.

Assess every situation and every obstacle in light of what you know about Jesus and make your declaration from that vantage point.

Here's what I mean.

As I look at the empty shell of an apartment and Jesus stands with me, I don't believe it is like, oh man, we need a lot of friends for Jesus.

He's not going.

He's not going.

He's not responding.

Yeah, man, I'm gonna talk to the big man and see what we can do about this one.

No, he's he's provided everything that I need pertaining to life and godliness.

And if when if he has not withheld his own son from us, will he not freely give us all things?

And so be it in health, be it in finances, be it in family that is far from God.

Guess what?

The devil cannot stop you.

The spirit-filled church is a victorious church.

So we need to change our declaration.

I don't have time to go and read it all.

But in 2 Samuel 6, we find a man named Obed-Edom.

And the Ark of the Covenant, which was the presence of God, was placed in the house of Obed-Edom for three months.

So the presence of God the Spirit of God was in the house of Obed-Edom.

And it says that because of this, the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and his entire household.

And the Lord blessed everything pertaining to him.

If the Spirit and the presence of God could do that in the life of Obed Edom in three months, what could he do with our lives when he lives on the inside of us?

No, the spirit filled church is a victorious church.

So watch what it says of the New Testament church.

Acts 434.

It says just one simple sentence.

I believe that this year.