Josh Howerton - What is the BAPTISM of the Holy Spirit (01/12/2026)
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Summary:
The sermon kicks off a long-term verse-by-verse series through Acts titled «There Is More.» The preacher argues from Acts 1:4-8 that Jesus promises a distinct post-conversion experience of being baptized/filled with the Holy Spirit, separate from salvation and water baptism. This filling brings power for bold witness and supernatural signs/wonders. He addresses objections (weird emotionalism, tongues as required sign, theological confusion that the Spirit is fully received at salvation) with Scripture and humor. Ends with personal testimony and a powerful altar call for people to come forward and pray for a fresh filling of the Spirit.
Opening Prayer and Full Heart
All right, well, good morning, Lakepointe family! It’s good to see you guys. Here’s where I want to start: I want to start with a very full heart today. If you guys could pray at all of our campuses, would you pray and repeat this prayer with me out loud? You don’t have to close your eyes. I just want us to start doing this. Just say, «God, if there’s more, I want all of it.» All right, man, I am really excited.
Church Identity: Pres-bapticostal Story
Okay, here’s what we’re doing today. Full heart, let me set it up like this. In 2019, I was preaching one day, and there was somebody at the church online campus. Someone sent me this screenshot where someone at the church online campus had been watching. They watched the worship, they watched the preaching, and then they watched the response of the room. They watched all of it. Then, a commenter on Church Online said, «What kind of church is this?»
Then, some dude named Jerry—I don’t know who Jerry is—said, «Don’t know. They’re SE pres-bapticostal.» That’s what he said, which means that we are predestined to speak in tongues at a potluck dinner. That’s what that means. Honestly, I loved it. I absolutely loved it. Here’s why I loved it: because, man, Presbyterians—they are word-of-God people. It’s like good doctrine, rich theology. Let’s be rooted in the Scriptures; love it. Baptists, they’re Great Commission folks: «Go into all the world, make disciples of all nations, » International Mission Board, all the things. So, they’re about the mission of God. Then, all the costals—all of you—all the costals, they’re Spirit-of-God people. Man, it’s like tattooed on my soul that if I could ever be a part of something that fulfilled the mission of God by preaching the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God, I’m in. I’m just like, I’m in. That’s my vision for my life—to be a part of that.
Introducing the Series: There Is More
Now, what we are doing right now, and it’ll probably take us about two years to get through this, is we’re starting a series preaching verse by verse through the book of Acts towards that goal. The title of the series is «There Is More.» That’s the title of the series—"There Is More.»
Now, I just want to give a little heads up: here’s why we’re doing this. Number one, we’re preaching verse by verse through this 28-chapter book—awesome book. The reason we’re doing this—I’ll just give you a heads-up—I have a deep conviction: it takes the whole Bible to make a whole Christian. It just does. What happens is if I’m always preaching like felt-needs topical series, I’m going to gravitate towards all the passages that I’m more comfortable with. I know they hit the sweet spot—all that stuff—but when we’re going verse by verse, it forces us as a church to get through the whole counsel of God so that we can make whole disciples of Jesus. So more and more, you’re probably noticing that in my series planning, I’m trying to go, «Let’s do a book, » and you’re going to see that more and more.
Now, why the book of Acts? Here’s why the book of Acts. The book of Acts is a story about two things: a church that explodes in growth. They just see thousands and thousands of conversions and a great outpouring of the Spirit of God on that church as it explodes. When I look at LakePoint Church, I’m seeing two things. There is an explosion in growth—we are seeing thousands of people saved and caught up into the glories of Jesus. Then we’re seeing more and more—it’s 10,000 people at a prayer meeting; we’re seeing an outpouring of God’s Spirit on the church as it explodes.
So, what I want to do anytime something like that happens is grab the Word and go, «God, tell us what to do, » and that’s what we’re doing in the book of Acts. So, let me just drop right into it. Here we go: Acts 1. We’re going to start in verse 4 and get rolling. I have a lot to get to today, and it’s really full of my heart.
Acts 1:4-8 Exposition
Now we’re going to start in verse 4. Here’s what’s happening: Jesus has just been resurrected. He spends 40 days with his disciples explaining to them about the kingdom of God. Then it says this: «On one occasion while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for that—actually, I need you to help me out—wait for the gift, the gift my Father promised.» That’s very important; we’re coming back to that. «Which you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.»
Now, don’t freak out; I’m going to help you. Then they gathered around him, and they asked him, «Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?» He said to them, «It’s not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His authority.» In other words, hey, they thought, «Oh, you’re going to give us power—you mean you’re going to take over Rome.» He’s like, «Actually, yes, someday, but not now. Not now.» He’s going, «Here’s the type of power I’m going to give you.» Watch this: «But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth.»
Now, why are we calling this series that we’ll be in for a very long time «There Is More»? Did you notice what Jesus just did? He’s talking to his disciples. Now, check this out—Jesus looks at them with a Great Commission to fulfill. Jesus looks at these guys and goes, «Hey, listen. You have seen me, you’ve studied me, you’ve been with me, you’ve believed in me, and you’ve been saved. You’ve been baptized. You’ve heard sermons. But something is missing. There’s more for you to receive.»
Can I just say something to you, LakePoint Church? Some of you here—here is where you are right now. You have studied the Lord Jesus Christ, you’ve walked with him, you know all about him. You’ve been saved, you’ve been baptized, you’ve been in church, you’ve heard sermons, but there’s more, and he wants you to receive everything that he has.
Three Experiences with the Holy Spirit
Now, this is what we’re seeing right here today. I want to give you—a we’re going to start with a lot of theology today. The sermon today—some sermons are more preachy than teachy; some sermons are more teachy than preachy. Today is theology. We’re doing a lot of theology because I need you to see—many people have resistance to what Jesus says here. I need you to see this clearly from the Scriptures.
So, here—let me point this out. Jesus, when he promises that these men are going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, he is pointing out that there are three significant experiences that God wants to happen to every Christian. Here are the experiences:
Now check this out. Number one is salvation. This is when you believe on the Lord Jesus, repent of your sins, and give your life to him. Now, heads up—that’s the most important one. If you don’t have any of the other two experiences, you’re still going to heaven; that’s the important one. But after salvation, what he wants to do is baptism. So, after salvation, baptism—that’s when you go public with your faith, and you leave the old in the water. I’ll talk about it in a second. But then when Jesus right here says, «Hey, you guys, you’ve been saved, disciples; you’ve been baptized, disciples, but don’t go anywhere because there’s this third thing I want to have happen to you.» Here’s what it is: he says, «I want you to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.»
Now, these three experiences—now, as soon as I say that, there’s like a blood pressure rising for people who come from backgrounds like mine in the room right now. That’s like the butt-clench moment. You’re like, «Oh, what are we doing? My worst fears are being confirmed right now.» That’s the vibe.
Objection 1: Bad Packaging
Now let me explain. The only reason anybody feels this way is I have a deep conviction; it’s because of bad packaging. I really believe this—bad packaging. Now here’s what I mean: a good thing in bad packaging, you’ll reject. I’ll give you some examples of this. I had a little fun with this week.
So these are examples of good things and bad packaging; you’re going to reject them. This is an actual art kit at Target—it’s just poor. All the moms in the room are immediately like, «Okay, I get it.» By the way, in all these examples, I’m channeling my inner eighth grader—just go with me and have fun.
Now before we show this next one, this is a real packaging of a bottle of shampoo; they chose this guy. This is who they chose for their packaging. I can only assume the guy has very hairy shoulders; that’s all I can assume.
Now next one—don’t throw it up yet—this one, man, I think it’s a case of poor translation. This is just wonderful, sweet, precious. I think it was maybe a Japanese company; they were doing their best. But here’s what they wrote: «It tastes like Grandma.» This jam tastes like Grandma. I don’t know what to say about that.
Now last one—don’t throw it up yet. This was at an Indian restaurant. I’m not even going to read it out loud; it makes me feel weird. I’m going to let you read it. How many of you would just want to pile this on your plate? I mean, is this what you’re going for? Let me just say—I’m just saying if I saw that, I’m out.
Now, I just also want to point this out: the most disturbing thing about this is that most of it is eaten. People chose this.
Now here’s my point: a good thing with bad packaging, you’ll reject it. Here’s what I think—this whole concept of being filled with the Spirit in the Bible, it’s a good thing that a lot of people have put inside of bad packaging, and it makes onlookers go, «I don’t know if I want to have anything to do with that» when it comes to being filled with the Spirit.
Now here’s what I mean. I’ll give you some examples. Some people, when you hear about the concept, the biblical concept—we just read it, like, from Jesus' mouth—when you’re about the concept of being filled with the Spirit, you immediately think like weird emotionalism. You know, it’s like all CHARS, tambourines, tongues, raising hands, just craziness. If you come—I’m a third-generation Baptist pastor. If you come from a background like mine, you’re going, «You’re seeing everybody doing all that; you’re like, man, the only time we raised our hands in church was when we were voting somebody out at a business meeting— that’s the only time we ever did it!»
And so you see that, and you’re like, «Ah, I don’t know.» Now can I just tell you this is an example of a good thing and bad packaging that cause you to reject a good thing? Because you’ve seen—well, here’s what you’re doing: you’re saying, «Man, everybody who ever talked about being filled with the Holy Spirit was weird.» That’s like your experience; they’re like, you know, memorizing passages from Left Behind and Flame T, you know, tattoos, and naming their kids Hebrew words.
Now can I just tell you something? I’m going to say something with a bit of an edge to it: all those weird people who’ve talked about being filled with the Holy Spirit? Can I just say something? They were just weird. They would have been weird without the Holy Spirit; they’re just weird. You just need to know that. There are weird people everywhere. I read a poll literally this week that one out of three people are by definition weird, so right now can you look to your left? Now look to your right—if it wasn’t one of them, it’s you.
So you just need to know this: some people are just weird. So man, don’t go throw out the baby with the bathwater just because the weird people were the ones that talked about this.
Objection 2: Tongues as the Sign
Now here’s the other one: the big hangup that people have when you start talking about being filled with the Spirit—some people have packaged this promise from Acts 1 with the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues. Now, I’m not—later in this series, we’ll go into what does the Bible mean by that, how’s it supposed to be; we’ll talk about that later. But can I just point this out? And some of you might not like this, but this is Bible: 1 Corinthians 12 says that the spiritual gift to speak in tongues is a gift, but it also says not everyone will receive it.
There are five times in the book of Acts that people are filled with the Spirit. Five times. Three times, they experience that gift; two times, they don’t. Here’s my point: the sign of being filled with the Spirit is not— the primary sign of being filled with the Spirit is not that you speak in tongues.
Let me show you. Jesus tells us what it is. Watch this. What did he say? He said, «Here’s what’s going to happen: you’re going to receive power.» That’s the sign. Can I just say something really gentle? I’m saying this because I love you—we have an increasing number of people in our church who come from charismatic or Pentecostal backgrounds. Can I just say something? Thank you! I praise God for there being a spirit of faith rising, a spirit of prayer, a spirit of expectation rising in our church. Thank you!
But can I just say something to you? Listen, man, I am not very impressed that you’ve got a prayer language if you don’t have any power. I’m not very impressed. Because Jesus said, «Here’s going to be the sign of somebody that’s filled with my Spirit: they’re going to have power.»
Power for what? What does he say? Power to witness. That is the sign that someone’s been filled with the Spirit of God: boldness to witness. This is what makes Peter a dude that’s running away from teenage girls at the end of the gospels, and then he stands up in front of the same crowd that crucified Jesus, and here’s his sermon in Acts 2—you’ll see it in a couple of weeks—here’s that guy’s sermon: «You killed Jesus; you’re going to go to hell if you don’t repent and be saved!» That’s his sermon.
Something changed in that man. What changed? He was filled with the Spirit of the living God: he was given a boldness and a power to witness. What is this thing that happens to you when you’re filled with the Spirit? Listen, I speak from experience. There’s a power in your life to share Jesus with people. There’s a timidity that leaves you. You begin to look in your life and you start going, «I don’t have a spirit of fear; I now have a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind.» See, this is what begins to happen to anybody that’s filled with the Spirit. In fact, watch what this passage says happens because the entire story of the book of Acts is what happens in a church when people are filled with the Spirit. That’s the entire story.
Outline of Acts and Church Mission
Check this out: so he says this: «You’re going to be my witnesses where? In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!» You just read—that’s the outline of the book of Acts! As we study this book together, you’re going to see it!
Check this out: here’s the outline of the book of Acts: the gospel going to Jerusalem and Judea—that’s Acts chapters 1-9. Samaria—which was like the region surrounding and encompassing Jerusalem and Judea—that story is in Acts 8-12. The gospel going to the ends of the earth—that’s Acts 13 all the way to the present.
By the way, keep that up. Can I just point this out? LakePoint Church started in Rockwall, Texas—that’s our Jerusalem. We now plant campuses in all of DFW—that’s our Samaria. We have now planted 70 and counting churches in North America—that’s our Samaria. We have global missions partners in 20 nations around the world—that’s to the ends of the earth. We did that! That’s what we’re doing!
So we did—listen, we didn’t just make up this strategy; we opened our Bibles and went, «That’s what the Holy Spirit said to do by the mouth of Jesus.» So we’re going to do that!
One More Cards and Personal Evangelism
Now, I also want to point this out—stay on this theme with me, okay? Power to witness. Watch who this book of Acts is addressed to. So Luke—you’ve got to know this dude that wrote this—Luke, his name is Luke. He was not a pastor, not a priest, not a preacher. This dude—he was just like a dude, a doctor that got filled with God’s Spirit and saved by Jesus.
Here’s how he opens the book. He says this: he addresses it to this guy. «In my former book, Theophilus…» What he’s saying is Acts is the second book of a two-book compendium: the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, and he wrote it to this one guy—literally this one guy, his name was Theophilus.
Now, on your way in, you got handed these little «One More» cards. This is what’s happening. I want you to see where this came from. Like, this is a biblical strategy for us. Listen, I know that people when they talk about LakePoint, they talk about thousands—that’s what they talk about. I don’t care about thousands; here’s what I care аbout: one more person knowing Jesus. Don’t care about thousands—one more person knowing Jesus.
Why is Jesus not returned yet? Do you know why he’s waiting? One more day to give one more person one more chance to repent and come to him. That’s why he’s done that!
So listen, here’s the responsibility of every Christian everywhere is for you to be able to identify: who’s the one more in my life that’s closest to me but farthest from God that I’m going to ask God to give me the ability to bring to Jesus?
So I want to give you an example: here’s what I want you to do. This is, like, literally me and Janna do this. You should take this card and write the name of the person who’s closest to you but farthest from Jesus on this card. You can do what I do—you can put it on your—like, tape it to my bathroom mirror, so I see it twice a day when I brush my teeth. See it every day, and every time I see it, I’m praying, «God, give me a chance to share the love of Christ with that one person.» Every day, you need to do that—every day!
Now, here’s what—think about who’s the person that’s just desperately in need of conversion. Just deeply wandering into egregious, a real Ruffian—like, really, really, really in need of desperate conversion. Like, you could put the name Hudson Howton on there—just kidding! That’s a joke; I got to take that out. It’s nowhere near as funny as I thought it was going to be, so we’re not going to do that in the 11 o’clock service. I thought Hudson’s doing great now, but here’s what Luke did.
Here’s what Luke did. Luke had—here’s Luke’s card: it looked like this. He was like, «Theophilus, I got one more!» And he was so committed to that one guy that he had a relationship with knowing Jesus that he writes two entire books of the New Testament just to tell that guy about Jesus. Heads up—some of you are like, «Oh, I can’t do that because what if that person asks me a question I can’t answer, or I can’t make, like, an airtight case for why Jesus was God?»
Listen, it didn’t say, «And you will be my defense attorneys.» It said, «You will be my witnesses.» This is really important: a defense attorney makes an airtight case; a witness just has to tell their side of the story. That’s all Luke is doing here. He’s just going, «I cannot help but speak of what I have seen and heard. Here’s what I saw Jesus do.»
Power Includes Signs and Wonders
Now, I also need to—let’s go a level deeper. Six times in—the now, if this makes you a little uncomfortable, I’m asking you to have an open heart and simply be going, «What does the Bible say?» That’s what I’m asking. Six times in the book of Acts, this word power—it’s the Greek word dunamis: six times in the book of Acts, that word power specifically refers to the power of God to supernaturally heal the sick and the wounded. Six times! This power—supernatural power for healing, supernatural power for miracles, supernatural power for signs and wonders—this is what God wants to see and promises that a person and a church filled with the Holy Spirit will see, and that is his strategy for the gospel to go forward.
LakePoint Church, we need to be seeing this actively in our church. We need to be seeing this actively! Now it’s awesome, man! I love the seven of you that are with me. It’s going to be awesome. Seven of us are going to see signs and wonders according to your faith; it shall be done to you!
Romans 15—I just want to point this out. There’s only one time in the whole New Testament where the Apostle Paul goes, «Here’s my evangelism strategy.» It’s Romans 15, and watch how he says it. He says this: «I’m not going to venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.» Watch this language: «to bring the Gentiles to obedience.» What he means is to bring them to faith. He’s talking about the obedience of believing in Jesus. Then he says, «I had three strategies to bring people to Jesus: through witness by word, » so telling people about Jesus, «by deed, » serving people in the name of Jesus, and «by the power of signs and wonders.» He says those were my three strategies everywhere I went!
Now, some of you hear that, and I know this is you. You hear that, and you’re like, «Power of signs and wonders?» You’re like, «Ah, that makes me nervous!» Every time somebody starts talking about that, the person gets weird or the church gets weird. Things get crazy, and you’re kind of going, «Can’t we just be okay with two out of three?» «Two out of three ain’t bad!»
Hey, listen, guys—look at the world! Look at the rising darkness in the world, the rising godlessness in the world, the rising unbelief in the world. You’re saying two out of three ain’t bad? I’m saying two out of three ain’t enough!
Listen, we need divine power to tear down strongholds in a world that is deeply, deeply affected by unholy spirits. We have to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit so that the unbelieving world is looking at us and going, «I don’t know—I don’t even know! I don’t know! One thing I know, that guy was blind, and now he sees!» That’s all I know!
Why is this so important? Look how important this is to the Apostle Paul. He said this: «For the kingdom of God does not consist, is not a matter of talk, but of power.» Power for today! This is what we should be seeking, praying for, and experiencing.
Okay, so you’re seeing these—let me move on. So bad packaging—some of you are like, «Ah, crazy people, the tongues, all the stuff.» Let’s just get that out of the way. That’s not what we’re talking about.
Objection 3: Theological Confusion
Now, here’s the third thing—the rest of the sermon. Let me finish this. The rest of the sermon—for most people, if you come from a background like mine, your hindrance is theological confusion. Here, I’m going to skip ahead. You think, «Man, Josh, you said there’s three experiences for a Christian, but I think there’s only two.» And that’s maybe what you’ve kind of been taught. Here’s what I mean: here’s why I say this. Here’s what will happen to you.
Some of you started following Jesus, and then you started reading your Bible, and there were things happening in your Bible that you were like, «Well, I’m not seeing that in my life. I’m not seeing that in the church.» And if you’re not careful, you’ll give up, and you’ll have to develop a theology to explain your disappointment when that happens to you. You’ve got a problem—you’ve got a problem.
So let me help you. Let me help you. I want to give you a theology of this. Here’s a theology of what Jesus is promising in Acts 1: «You will be filled, baptized—whatever word you want to use—with the Spirit.» Okay, there are—here’s the three experiences God wants every person to have:
Number one, the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Christ. This is 1 Corinthians 12:14: «For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.» I just need to tell you this—different sermon—you would never have believed in Jesus if the Holy Spirit had not done a miraculous work in your life to open the eyes of your heart to him. You never would have done it, so this is saying the fact that you were saved—the Holy Spirit did a work in you.
Okay, here’s the second experience: a disciple baptizes you into water. Matthew 28:19: «Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.» Now, this is important. So when you get baptized, just like in the children of Israel, they went into the water of the Red Sea, and when they came out on the other side, they left their enemies behind them in the water. When you’re baptized, you leave your enemy—your old self, sin, death, and the devil—you leave it behind in the water, and you walk out of there with power to walk in the new. See that? That’s what happens in baptism. Some of you need to be baptized! That’s very, very important!
But then here’s the third experience Jesus is talking about in Acts 1. Then Jesus fills us with the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:11: «I baptize you with water for repentance, » this is John the Baptist, «but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I’m not worthy to carry. He, » Jesus, «will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.» And in Acts chapter 2—you’ll see this in two weeks—what do the apostles experience? Divided tongues of fire come to rest on them, and the Holy Spirit fills them.
Now some of you, as soon as I say that, you’re like, «Yeah, Josh, exactly right. So, when this was promised, that was the promise for what would happen to the apostles—that was about the apostles, the twelve apostles.» Wrong! Wrong! Because this—John the Baptist says this in Matthew chapter 3. The apostles aren’t even there! The disciples haven’t even been called yet; they’re not called until Matthew chapter 4.
So, this is not just an experience for the apostles; it’s not just an experience for the 120 that were in the upper room in the book of Acts. John the Baptist is saying, «Hey, after me, another’s coming! He is so glorious! I would not be worthy to stoop down and touch his sandal! He’s going to have a ministry: this is his ministry; he’s going to baptize everyone that follows him with the Holy Spirit.» Said that—that is one of the ministries of Jesus.
So this is the third experience! Now, this is the spot where there’s like a knot in some of our theological heads. Some people are like, «No, Josh, there’s not three experiences; there’s only two because we get the Holy Spirit at salvation.»
Now can I just address this? That’s true; that last sentence is true. The Holy Spirit permanently indwells every Christian at salvation. Can I just say something with a bit of an edge to it? Some—not all, but some Pentecostal Christians—they turn people off to being filled with the Spirit by saying things like, «Well, if you haven’t been Spirit baptized, then you don’t have the Holy Spirit.» Wrong! Wrong! A—do not pass go, do not collect $200! Wrong!
Do you know how I know that? Because Romans 8:9 says this: «If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to Christ.» So we know this—so that’s how we know that some more charismatic Christians are wrong. But check this out: but then some people who come from backgrounds like mine read that verse that’s on the screen, and they think, «Well, that’s it! I had the only encounter with the Spirit that I needed at salvation. God doesn’t have anything else for me, and it’s wrong to seek it.»
Scriptural Proofs for Ongoing Filling
I’m not doing the buzzer sound again, I promise! Now let me just point something out to you, okay? Check this out. This is Ephesians 5. I’m going to throw this verse on the screen here. I think—is it on the screen or is it lower third? Okay, Ephesians 5.
Now, before I read it, class—let’s have a class teacher moment for a second. The book of Ephesians was written to the church at Ephesus. Great job! Great job! You did way better than Saturday night; let me just say that! Way better than Saturday night!
Okay: Church of Ephesus! Now, class, second question—pop quiz. Was the church at Ephesus—was Paul writing to Christians? Yes! Now, he’s writing to Christians, and what does he say? «Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery; instead, » and he’s talking to people who are already Christians, «be filled with the Spirit.» Saying there’s something else I have for you!
I’ll give you another one, and I want to show this to you from the Scriptures. John chapter 20: Jesus has just been raised from the dead. The disciples are there; they’re all like hanging out in this little bunker behind these locked doors because they’re scared about, like, «We don’t want to get crucified, » you know? And then this is what it says: «On the evening of that first day of the week when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came.» I love this! Jesus came and stood among them, and he just said, «Peace be with you.»
Now, you would need to say that to me if somebody, like, Harry Potter-style, apparated through a door and talked to me. I would need somebody to say, «Peace be with you, » you know? And that’s what Jesus does! I think he said it with a smirk. And then he said, «As the Father has sent me, I’m sending you.»
Now watch what Jesus does to his disciples in John 20. And with that, he breathed on them. Why’d he breathe on them? Because the Hebrew word for Spirit is the same word as breath. The Holy Spirit is the breath of the living God! So he breathed on them, and he said, «Receive the Holy Spirit.»
Now, you would think, «Well great! There’s no other experience for the apostles to have with the Holy Spirit.» They’ve already received the Holy Spirit? Wrong! Watch what happens. 40 days later, we just read it: «Do not leave Jerusalem, » talking to the same people, «wait for the gift my Father promised.»
Which you have heard me speak about because John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be—say it—baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now this word baptized—it’s the Greek word baptizo. I find stuff like this really cool! There was a Greek poet and doctor—his name was Nander. He lived in 200 B.C., and he wrote down on a little papyrus paper a pickle recipe. Archaeologists recovered his pickle recipe, and this is the only time I’ll ever read you a pickle recipe in a sermon, but this is what he wrote:
«To make a pickle, the vegetable should first be dipped.» The Greek word is bapto—“into boiling water.» And then baptizo, the same word as Acts 1, «in a vinegar solution.» Bapto is a temporary, short-term dipping; baptizo is an immersion for such a long time that it produces a complete change in the vegetable. It takes it from being a cucumber and changes it, by immersion, into being a pickle!
Let me put it this way: you need to be pickled! That’s what you need! You need to be so filled and immersed in the Holy Spirit that it produces a profound change in us. We’re different! We taste different, we walk different, we talk different, we act different, we live different! This is what Jesus wants from us!
Jesus' Own Experience and Patterns in Acts
Now, if—let me just take this because if you’re like me, I needed somebody to prove it to me from the Scriptures. What about Jesus? Did Jesus, who was our example, have this experience? I want to point this out. There are four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are almost nothing—very, very few things are recorded in all four gospels. In fact, I’m going to list them.
Here are the only things recorded in all four gospels: the birth of Jesus; because that shows us the incarnation; the death of Jesus; because that shows us how he saved us; the resurrection; because that proves to us that he was God; the feeding of the 5,000; because that shows us carbs are good for us; and then—and then the baptism. The Jesus filling his promise of filling with the Holy Spirit.
Can I point this out? Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit in the gospels after he is baptized in water! The Spirit descends on him like a dove, and the gospels say that the Spirit descended and remained on him! Have you ever noticed this? Jesus never does a miracle until after he’s filled with the Spirit!
Can I ask you this question—a serious question? If Jesus Christ needed the Holy Spirit to accomplish his ministry, how much more do you need the Holy Spirit to live your life? How much more do you need this?
This is just—guys, it’s just here now! So, let me just show it to you again. It’s these three experiences: salvation, baptism, fill with the Spirit. It is over and over again in the Scriptures! Again, let me just a lot of bi—by the way, are we okay with sermons with a lot of Bible? Are we okay with it? Okay, we’re doing a lot of Bible today!
I want to show you—once you see this pattern, you can’t unsee it. It is everywhere in the Scripture! You’re going to see it everywhere—these three things! Okay, I’ll give you a couple examples. Acts 2:38: Peter’s preaching, and what did he say? Peter replied, «Repent!» How is someone saved? They repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus—so salvation!
«And be baptized, » baptism: «Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will step three, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.» Salvation, baptism, filled with the Spirit!
Acts chapter 8—we’re going to preach this entire book; you’ll see all these things. Acts chapter 8: Philip goes up to Samaria. It says, «But when they"—what’s the word? —"when they believed.» Now were they saved? If they had believed, that’s how you’re saved! You believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So these people are there—salvation! When they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized—step two—both men and women.
And then, you know, the book just goes, «And then Philip went away because that’s all they needed.» No, it’s not! Here’s what it says. Two verses later, «When the apostles heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit.» Salvation, baptism, filled with the Spirit!
Let me do one more, okay? And then I’m done! Acts 19: the Apostle Paul, greatest Apostle who ever lived—the Apostle Paul goes up to the city. It says, «There he found some"—you say it—"disciples!» Okay? And he asked them, «Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?»
Now, so they were disciples who had believed, so have they been saved? Yes, they’ve been saved! They answered, «No, we haven’t even heard there’s a Holy Spirit!» So, Paul said, «Well, then what baptism did you receive?» John’s baptism, they replied.
Paul said, «John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him; that is in Jesus.» On hearing this, they were—step two—they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus! And then, when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them! Saved, baptized, filled with the Spirit.
This is what God wants for you! Can I just say this? Don’t you want to experience everything that God has for you? Don’t you want that?
Personal Testimony
If—if—if there’s anything, if there’s anything, here’s how to receive it.
Well, Jesus said this in Acts 1:4. Watch what he says: «Wait for the promise of the Father!» They wait and they pray. Let me help you. Let me tell you a little bit of my story, okay? Here’s my story. For many years, I kind of just—not—maybe nobody even taught me this; it’s just kind of what I thought. I guess, I don’t know why I thought this. I thought, «Man, there were two things that I needed: salvation and baptism, and then that was it.»
I was 27 years old. I started studying the Scriptures, and I started reading a book. In fact, I recommend it to you if you’re a more theologically oriented person. I started reading the book by a Presbyterian pastor from the 1800s, a guy named Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. The title of the book was *Joy Unspeakable*.
And he just goes through; he makes a doctrinal, theological, textual, exegetical case that, «Hey, this is something God wants you to experience!» Okay? As I’m reading this book, it begins to dawn on me. I have never asked God to fill me with his Spirit in a fresh way. I’ve never done this before!
Now, at this point, that’s a little embarrassing. I’ve been a pastor for like seven years at this point. You know, however long. But I’m reading this book, and here’s what happened to me. Before that moment, I felt like my Christian life was a powerless Christian life. I knew Jesus; I’d been baptized. I couldn’t get victory over sin; I wasn’t really confident to share the gospel with anybody. A lot of people now will comment on—and this is not—it may—I don’t—please don’t take this the wrong way—they’ll comment on my boldness in my teaching, that I was a very timid person.
And as this is happening, I just begin to get this conviction from the Scriptures. I need to ask God for this! So literally, I was in the parking lot of Cool Springs Galleria Mall in Nashville, Tennessee. I was praying in my car. I had become convinced that I needed to ask God for this—the gift my Father promised—and I was praying in my car for God to do this.
And I had been praying for two or three weeks this would happen. I don’t really have words for what I–I parked my car. There was an agony in me. If you know it, it’s almost like something was trying to be birthed in my life. I parked my car. I broke down in tears; the Spirit of God just enveloped my car. I don’t know how to say it. The best language I have for it is it felt like being attacked by love.
That’s what it felt like! It felt like being attacked by love. I–I don’t know—listen, I’ll just be honest. I did not speak in tongues. It’s not a spiritual gift that I have; I pray for that—it’s not a spiritual gift that I have. Here’s what did happen: I got freedom from a sin issue that I had my entire life. And there was a power that came to rest on my ministry that has been ever since! It’s—and it’s never been the same!
God wants that for you! He wants you to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus; he wants you to have power—power in your life, power for witness! He wants that for you!
Altar Call and Final Prayer
So here’s what I’m going to ask you to do at all of our campuses: I don’t want to just give me a few. I don’t want anybody to leave. Would you go ahead and stand up—would you do it? We’re getting ready to receive the giving that’s going to happen in a normal way. Honestly, just do your thing; ignore it—just pay attention to what I’m doing right here.
Okay, for real, just say this with me: this is really important to me. Some of you, you are just like me, and you’ve lived your entire Christian life—saved, baptized—you have never asked God to fill you with his Spirit in a fresh way. You’ve never done it!
Can I show you something in this passage? I feel like this is a prophetic word for some of you. Watch what Jesus says in Acts 1: «For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.» I feel like some of you need to hear that—in a few days, you’re waiting. Some of you are going to wait 10 seconds, and here in a second I’m going to ask you to pray. Some of you are going to wait 10 seconds; this is going to happen to you!
Some of you are going to wait 10 days. Some of you might wait 10 weeks. Some of you might wait—whatever reason, you might be like me. It might take 10 months, but let me tell you this: this is a gift God wants for you! In a few days, you will be filled with the Holy Spirit! Some of you in this room—and that is going to do something in you! You’ve never experienced a fresh power, a fresh intimacy with the Father, a new boldness to witness; your life is going to take on a purpose and a meaning you’ve never had before! You’re going to feel and experience something in you—your spirit will cry out with his Spirit in a way that says, «Abba, Father!» You’ll experience the fatherhood and the love of God in a way you’ve never known it before!
But in a few days, some of you, this is going to happen to you! Here’s what I’m going to ask, okay? All right, here’s what I’m—I’m going to ask in a second, if you’re realizing that, «Man, I just—I don’t know what that is, but whatever it is, what you know, whatever God’s got, I want it.» At all of our campuses, I’m going to ask you to do something a little embarrassing. Because I believe that often the answer to prayer is spiritual breakthroughs on the other side of your pride, and I don’t feel like there’s a way to get there without stepping over your pride.
So at all of our campuses, what I’m going to do is, in a second, if you’re realizing, «I just want to ask God to fill me with his Spirit in a fresh way, » I’m going to ask you to get out of your seat, come right down to the front—old school church camp style—and just turn every stage into an altar. I just want you to come down and just maybe kneel and just say, «God, whatever you want, whatever you got, I want it! Would you please just fill me with your Spirit in a fresh way?»
So do you have the strength to just move forward and get over your pride? I want you to start moving—like, literally right now! All of our campuses—if you’re realizing, «Man, I just—I saw it! I just—whatever! Whatever God’s got for me, I want it!» I just want you to—at all of our campuses—hundreds of people moving at Rockwall, just come down, make the stage your altar, maybe get on your knees and just start going, «God, whatever you’ve got, I want it!»
Just start praying! Offering is going to start happening. Just do your thing, but this is where we want to focus—all of our campuses just doing that right now: God, whatever you’ve got, I want it. I want to be filled with your Spirit in a fresh way! Keep moving! And some of you are like, «Ah, should I?»
Let me just say this, man—you’re going to see this: there is no breakthrough without stepping over your pride. There’s no other way to do it! People can’t even get to the altar—that’s amazing! This may be happening at our campuses right now! I just want you to keep praying, and right now I’m going to lead us in prayer, and when I’m done, I want you to keep praying and just stay at the altars as long as you want.
Okay, Father, hundreds and thousands of your kids right now are praying a Jacob prayer, and they’re saying, «God, I will not let you go until you bless me.» God, we are asking you with humble hearts: fill us with your Spirit in a fresh way! God, we confess that we are powerless without you. God, we need divine power to tear down strongholds. We need this!
So, Father, I’m asking you to pour out your Spirit in a fresh way on every one of your beloved children that took a step today just to go, «God, whatever you got, I want it! Please give it to me!»
So I’m just praying right with your Son- fill these people! Immerse them with your Spirit! I pray that you would fill them from the top of their heads to the bottom of their toes. God, I pray that even right now, I can just — while I’m praying-God, I have a sense of your great love for these children of yours. I pray that you would be pouring out, shedding abroad, the love of God in their hearts, and that from this day forward, there would be a new power, a fresh faith!
God, we’re asking this not just for these individuals but for our church! And God, I’m just-I’m praying it with a boldness. Stretch out your hand in our midst to perform signs and wonders to exalt the name of your servant Jesus! We are asking for supernatural, miraculous power! God, with humility, we’re praying for it in Jesus' name! We ask for the gift! Holy Spirit, you are welcome here!
Now, at all of our campuses, I just-if you’re praying that, I just want you to keep praying, and we’re going to move into a moment of worship just for a couple minutes. Just stay in that posture of prayer; you pray as long as you need! But the rest of us, lift your voices and sing in worship over these people. Let’s go!