Peter Tan-Chi - Be Continuously Filled with the Holy Spirit
Our topic today is simple. Let's read together: "Be Continuously Filled with the Holy Spirit". The book of Acts is the continual work of Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, to His apostles and among His people, so Jesus Christ is still at work today, but through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is mentioned 48 times in the Acts of the Apostles, so He is very prominent and important. Someone once said that many Christians today are living a failed and discouraged life. I didn't believe this at first, until I started seeing that there were actually a lot of Christians out there, who were very sincere, and you've come to Jesus, but somehow your life fails, it's like a roller coaster, and sometimes you go up, sometimes you come down and you can't live the kind of supernatural life that God wants you to have, and here's why: you haven't learned how to be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit, which can be a problem in Christians.
The most neglected truth in the world, you and I are ignorant of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because of the extremists among you who misuse the teachings of the Holy Spirit, people are confused about what it means to be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit. You have no choice. It is a command to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not optional. Because God wants us to be filled. So today I'm going to talk about the Holy Spirit, and there are three important truths that I want to make clear, in Acts Chapter 2, to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. There are three things I want to emphasize about the Holy Spirit today. First, this is the promise of God. Please tell me, God's promise. Second, this is the power of God. You have no choice. Third, it is God's will for you to have the Holy Spirit so that you can share the gospel, so you have to fulfill this duty. So that you can share the gospel, so do this.
Let's read it together: Acts 2:1-2 When the day of Pentecost came, the disciples were all gathered together in one place. What did you notice? In Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit was introduced into the whole world, they were all gathered in one place. And the Lord chose a day to manifest the Holy Spirit. He chose Pentecost. It was supernatural: suddenly, there was a sound from heaven, like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the house where they were sitting; in other words, God was active, and suddenly, without anyone intervening, God did something that caused caught everyone's attention. So let's talk about what exactly they were doing in that house first. Because in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, the Lord told them, everyone read: Acts 1:4-5 When Jesus was gathered with them, He charged them, saying: Notice that He commanded them: Do not leave Jerusalem, Imagine, do not leave Jerusalem, to wait for what the Father has promised.
So what did the Father promise? For as you have heard me say, John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So it has to do with the Holy Spirit, so don't leave now, you have to wait for the promise. Many of us today do not know how important this promise is. Before I tell you this promise, let me tell you this phrase: baptized in the Holy Spirit. In the entire New Testament, this phrase: baptized in the Holy Spirit, baptized in the Holy Spirit, is used only seven times. The first four times are used in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, where John the Baptist said: I baptize you with water, but He, Jesus, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, You will notice the connection. Water baptism is a picture of what God is going to do in your life and mine. The word baptize comes from the Greek word immerse, which is like, if you were in the textile industry, our family used to do textiles.
If you want to To dye a piece of cloth, let's say it's white, and now I want to dye it blue, I'm going to soak the cloth in water that has blue dye in it, you know? You're immersed, and then you're dyed that color, and the Bible is saying, when you're baptized in water, that typifies your death with Christ, and when you come out of the water, you have new life in Christ, so Baptism is very meaningful, but the real meaning is spiritual baptism. When you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you become one with the Holy Spirit. You become one with the body of Christ. That's what it means. So I baptize you with water, but someone will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and you become identified with Christ, you become identified with the body of Christ, you become identified with the Christian community, that's what it means.
Now in Acts chapter 1, the fifth time it says that you are to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, we have already read that, in Acts chapter 11, you are to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, Peter is recalling What happened, is only used once in the Epistles, 1 Corinthians 12:13, and all were baptized by one Spirit into one body. What does that mean? That's what it's used for. What does it mean to be baptized by one Holy Spirit? Let's read this sentence together: 1 Corinthians 12:13 For we are all by one Spirit... Note, grammatically speaking, there are no exceptions. We were all baptized by one Spirit and have been joined together. You are joined in one body, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, we all drink of the one Holy Spirit. In other words, in the New Testament, baptism in the Holy Spirit happens on the day of redemption, when you come to Jesus and when the Holy Spirit comes into your heart, boom! You become part of Jesus, you become part of the community of believers, do we understand now?
Many people are confused because they confuse the filling of the Holy Spirit with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This can happen at the same time. You can be filled with the Holy Spirit and be baptized with the Holy Spirit at the same time . It is possible. But many times, for many believers, they come to Jesus, they are baptized in the Holy Spirit, but slowly but surely, they begin to surrender every area of their life. Luke 24:14, why were they gathered together? Let me tell you why they are together. Everyone reads: Luke 24:49 Look! I will send upon you what my Father has promised, and you shall wait in the city until you receive the power from on high. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit means to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to receive power.
This statement is repeated in Acts 1:8, which we read together. Prepare, rise: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Did you notice anything? When the Holy Spirit comes, you will receive power. For what purpose? To bear witness, so this is the theme of Acts. I have learned that I cannot live the Christian life in my own strength. I have learned that I do not have the ability. I have learned that the Holy Spirit will change my heart, change my desires, and give me strength. This is the secret of the Christian life. This is both easy and difficult. Why? Simple: Let go and let God, simple, right? But it's difficult, how do you let go? Because we like to be in control ourselves, we don't like to let God be in control, and that makes it difficult.
The reason it's hard is because you don't know Jesus, you're afraid to let go, you're afraid to let God completely take over. In the early church, when they came to Jesus, it was complete surrender and surrender, because they knew that coming to Christ meant martyrdom, and they were willing to die. That's why in the first century when people came to Christ and were filled with the Holy Spirit, they understood immediately. Today, many of us don't know what it means to surrender to Christ. For us, coming to Christ means many things. For some of us, it means a pass to heaven. For some of us, for all of us, You all have come to believe in Christ, and I have come to believe in Jesus. You do not fully understand why Jesus chose the day of Pentecost. Do you still remember? On the day of Pentecost, so why did He choose this day?
Let me tell you, in the Jewish calendar, there are seven important festivals, seven important festivals. For example, Leviticus tells us, Leviticus 23:2 Speak to the Israelites and say: The festivals of the Lord, You shall proclaim the feasts as holy convocations. So in the Old Testament, God has chosen seven designated gatherings, seven specific days, and these days are not just agricultural in nature, they are not just teaching tools, they are prophetic, prophetic. Many people do not understand the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. So let me share with you the major Jewish festivals in the Old Testament. There are three major festivals, and under these three major festivals there are seven.
So what are these three major festivals appointed by God? Okay, let me show you this chart. Three major festivals: Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles. Under Passover, on the first day, there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits. This all happened within a week, very quickly, and then fifty days later came Pentecost, and then another long period later, there was the Feast of Tabernacles. Why do I say they are prophetic? They all point to Jesus, are you ready? Okay, let's talk about the first important festival, Passover. Tell me, Passover, why is Passover so important? It's like this: At that time, the Jews were enslaved in Egypt. Under the oppression of Pharaoh's powerful army, it was impossible for them to escape, so God said: Moses, I want to rescue these people out of Egypt.
This is called an impossible mission, because Egypt, it was the most powerful country at that time, the most advanced army, and there was a group of slaves here, the Israelites. But God said, bring them out of Egypt! Moses said: How can I do this? God said: I will perform miracles. So God did many miracles, but the last miracle... because Pharaoh was so stubborn, what was the last miracle? Do you guys still remember? The calamity of destroying the firstborn, the destroying angel will come, and all the firstborn will die. How many of you are firstborn? Please raise your hand. Firstborn, please stand up! I want to dramatize this. All firstborns. In a family, in theory, there should be only one firstborn.
Now, some families have two firstborns, but usually, all firstborns, I always think, imagine, just for example, I'm Moses, and let me tell you: Hey, everyone! The Lord said: Tonight, the destroying angel will come, and all the firstborn in Egypt will die. But if you want to be saved, you must kill a lamb and sprinkle the blood on the lintel and doorframe. Kill a lamb without blemish and sprinkle the blood on the door. And God promises that if there is this blood, He will will cross over, so you people, what is your redemption plan? All eldest sons will die. Rich or poor alike, Egyptian or not, you will die, Unless you put your blood on the door, will you do that now? louder please! Why would you do this? You want to save your life, don't you? And you believe me, what will you do if you don't believe me? You hold up a handkerchief and I surrender!
And the Bible tells us that on that night, all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians died, all of them. You can imagine the fright that was felt in every household of the Egyptians. They all cried because someone in the house had died, including the firstborn of the animals, except the Jews. Then Pharaoh was very frightened, and he said: Well, you people, go away! Leave Egypt! I let you go! So on Passover day they were set free. They were delivered from the power of Pharaoh. God told the Israelites: From now on, you must celebrate Passover every year to remember how I saved you. Please take a seat. Jesus chose a special day to die on the cross. What day was that? Passover. Why did Jesus choose that day? He wants people to know that He is the Lamb who will shed His own blood so that the destroying angel will no longer judge us. So Passover is salvation, everything points to Jesus, praise God!
So, my friends, you will see that the Old Testament always points to Jesus. So Passover – crucifixion. On the Feast of Unleavened Bread, you take away all sin, and that's exactly what Jesus did. The Festival of Firstfruits begins the barley harvest season. The Bible says that Jesus is the firstfruits. He was resurrected from the dead. Jesus is the firstfruits. Then you wait 50 days, why 50? Hence the word Pentecost. Because Pentecost was the time when they started harvesting wheat. So Jesus wants the church and people to know that the birth of the church, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, will happen on the 50th day, so on the day of Pentecost, there will be a harvest, and spiritually speaking, three thousand people will be saved on the day of Pentecost, because on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down, so, my friend, everything points to Jesus, so He chose a day, which day? On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, the power of God, was introduced into the world, allowing people to be saved, and 3,000 people were reborn and harvested.
Then there was a long wait, we didn't know how long. The next feast, the Bible tells us, is the Feast of Trumpets. Do you know when that was? The second coming of Jesus. The Bible says that the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will be resurrected first, and Jesus will come again. The trumpet in the Old Testament is always a summons. God said, it will be a long time from now to the Feast of Trumpets. We don't know when it will be. You must continue to do what I want you to do. Be mine. Witness, tell people about me, But one day the trumpet will sound, On the Day of Atonement, when God will take away all sin, On the Feast of Tabernacles, He will live with us forever and ever. Ladies and gentlemen, where are we today? We live somewhere here. When will Jesus come again? Friend, He may come today, He may come tomorrow. So Pentecost is very important to me.
Now let's read it. Now you understand the Bible. Acts 2:1-2 1 When the day of Pentecost came, the disciples were all gathered together in one place. 2 Suddenly, notice, suddenly, there was a sound from heaven, like a strong wind blowing. It was not wind, but it was like wind. They heard the sound. and filled the house where they were sitting; Acts 2:3-4 3 And there appeared tongues of fire, which were not blazing fire, but like flaming fire, and parted and fell on every one of them. 120 new believers, 120 of them, can experience what is being said here. The Holy Spirit fell on them. The Bible tells us, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Notice, no one laid hands on them, no one prayed to them, they just got together, boom! All of a sudden, on the day of Pentecost, these things happened. The Bible calls this a descriptive passage. Why? Then you and I will know the fact that the Holy Spirit exists. Because how can people know?
So the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is in the form of wind, like wind, with power! Fire, in the Old Testament, fire is always associated with cleansing, the Holy Spirit, holiness, purity, and the tongue, what does tongue mean? Notice, as we read together, they began to speak with other tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. What were these other tongues? Let's read it together. Acts 2:5-6 5 At that time there were Jews living in Jerusalem, and devout people from every country under heaven. 6 When the voice was heard, everyone gathered together. In other words, the voice was public, and everyone heard the disciples using Everyone was confused when they talked in their own country.
My friends, that talk is not gibberish, it 's not syllables, monosyllables, no, it's a language, folks, keep reading, Acts 2:7-8. Do you understand? They were surprised, they were surprised, because God wants His people to know that the will of the Holy Spirit is for you to preach the gospel to everyone, not just to the Jews, and I want them to hear it, and that's why they were given this wonderful gift. Let us read together: Acts 2:9-11 9 We Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, who live in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the region of Libya near Cyrene, and travelers from Rome, either Jews or proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs, Everyone reads: We all hear them... Wonderful phenomenon!
Look at this: this is Jerusalem, and these are people from all over the world, just no Tagalog, but now you don't need to understand, you just need to understand English, okay? Okay, guys, what's my point? The Holy Spirit made a very dramatic appearance. By the way, what is it called in the Philippines when you turn 18? Debut, I pronounce it debut, and if you're American, you pronounce it deboo. OK, I don't know, but do you understand debut? When you introduce a girl to the whole world... God used Pentecost to introduce the reality of His Spirit to the whole world. You see, you take this for granted, because today, we are not grateful for the promises of God, we are not grateful for the power of God.
Notice how God's power is demonstrated. They were all amazed. These are supernatural events. These are supernatural. This wind, like the sound of wind, this fire, speaking in different languages, are these supernatural? Yes or no? Do you know why? The Holy Spirit is related to supernatural power. That's what you need: supernatural abilities. Acts 2:12-13 12 Then everyone was amazed and suspicious; they were astonished. They said to each other, "What does this mean"? 13 Others sneered, "They are filled with new wine"! You see, I discovered something. Every time God works, a preacher... When you are a speaker, there are always two audiences, those who listen, and those who scoff, and the surprising thing is, when you go home and you share the gospel with your family, don't be surprised, some people will scoff at you.
Some will listen, but please note, Acts 2:14 Peter and the eleven apostles stood up and raised their voices, saying, "You Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, you must know this and give ear to my words". I'm sorry, do you remember what Peter did? What did Peter do just a few weeks ago? He denied Jesus, several times? Three times. Do you remember this with Peter? Now let me ask you, what changed Peter? What changed him? When the Holy Spirit fell on Peter, he became a very calm and solid believer. He said: Listen to my words! He would have run away before, right? What Peter preached was What?
Look what Peter said. Acts 2:15-16 You think these people were drunk, but they were not, because it was just early in the morning, which was nine o'clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel said: He is now quoting from the Old Testament to show you that the Holy Spirit is the promise of God, the power of God, the will of God. How does He do it? He quotes the scripture, Acts 2:17 In the last days, (Joel book), God said: (Everyone read:) I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In other words, My Spirit will not be given to only certain people, but will be given to all people.
Please note the next verse, Acts 2:18. I will pour out my Spirit on my servants and on my handmaidens, even on the poor, both men. Or women, rich or poor, male or female, I will pour out my Spirit on them in those days, God said, I will do certain things, now you may think of this blessing as normal, let me share it with you, How special is that? In the Old Testament, not everyone would receive the Holy Spirit. For example, the Holy Spirit was only given when God had a mission for you. Othniel, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Gideon, the Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit came upon him, Jephthah, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, Samson, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson powerfully. David, Saul, Moses, the Spirit of God was selective, not given to all. Yes, because the Spirit of God is the presence of God Himself. This is power. It was given to the Jews. Most of them were Jews. It was not given to the Gentiles. But God is saying, one day, based on my promise...
The promises, the wonderful promises, guys, I hope you're excited to look at the promises of God, Galatians 3:14. Read this: so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, even to us. Faith receives the promise of the Holy Spirit. You know what God is saying? Because of Jesus, you can now receive the Holy Spirit by faith. Now the Holy Spirit is given to all people, rich and poor, young and old. Why? This is God's promise. Do you believe God loves us? He loves you so much, He's saying, you know what? I know what you need. you need me. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God. I will give myself to you, through Jesus. God cares about you. The church is God's invention. This is why Christianity has never been a religion. Christianity is life, meeting God personally, through Jesus, through His Holy Spirit. If you see Christians without life, that's religion, my friend. Religion is just a form, but true Christianity is different. You have the Spirit of God and you are alive because of the Holy Spirit.
How do you receive the Holy Spirit? He tells us that through faith. Let's read it together: Actually, to emphasize, Gal 3:14 so that we may receive the promise of the Holy Spirit through faith. Repeated in Ephesians 1:13, please read: 13 In him, in Jesus, you also heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, now each of you read: Also believe in Christ, since you believe in Him, you are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. You see, the Bible is very clear, if you have the Holy Spirit, you belong to Him. How do you have the Holy Spirit? If you want to believe, it will be sealed. Now you and I don't fully understand this business term. The word seal in the New Testament is business language. It's like, I'm a rancher and I raise cows. You are a rancher and you have 20 cows. How do you know which cows are yours and which are mine? how could I know? Marked. When it comes time to sign a contract, how do I make it effective signature?
How do you know you belong to Jesus? imprint. You see, I tell people, there are only three people in this universe who really know whether you are a Christian or not. There are only three people who really know, number one, yourself. Have you committed your life to Jesus? Second, the devil. Third, God. Because you have the Holy Spirit. Now let me ask you, and I'm not going to ask you, do you go to church regularly? I'm not going to ask you, do you join the group? I won't ask that. I would just ask you, do you have the Holy Spirit in you? do you have? My friends, do not neglect this word. There's no real change, no real transformation, no real redemption, until you understand that the Holy Spirit comes when one fully believes, by faith, when you surrender your life to Jesus. People ask me, can I believe in Jesus and not commit my life to Jesus? Do you see this problem? Can I really become a Christian?
How can you say, my friend, that you will receive Christ in prayer, but you don't want Him to be the boss of your life? How is that possible? It's impossible. Because a Christian is a follower of Jesus. How can I say: Lord Jesus! Be my Lord, Be my Lord, Look at these words: Lord Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus, Savior, Christ, King, Anointed King, Jesus Christ, Some people just want Jesus, you don't Christ. Jesus Christ, what does Jesus mean? What does Christ, Savior, mean? The Anointed King, the Messiah, is the boss. So let me ask you, if you don't surrender everything, how will Jesus be the Lord? is it possible? Friends, I don't judge you. Don't judge your neighbor. Just ask yourself, have you been treating Christianity as child's play? It's just a game, pretending to be a believer. Now the Bible tells us, 2 Corinthians 3:17 The Lord is the Spirit. Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there will be whatever you have free!
That's good news. So who is the Holy Spirit? He is Lord! He is called the Spirit of the Lord. So the Holy Spirit is God Himself! Wow! The Holy Spirit of promise, the promise of God himself, the very being of power, who is the Holy Spirit? So you understand the amazing truth about God, there is only one God, tell me, one God, one more God, three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, but this The three are different. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father, but these three are God. Are we clear? I am not teaching that there are three Gods, no, no, one God manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite. Let me ask you, what is infinity? What is the infinite number? Can you give me an infinite number? you can not. Because we think in terms of finite numbers, one, two, three, four, five, if you tell me God is infinite, what number can you attribute to Him?
You see, God is Spirit. By the way, if you don't understand, don't worry, I don't understand either, OK? But by faith, by faith, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. John 14:16 I asked the Father, Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit. And the Father will give you another Comforter. And this word is a very special word. In Greek, there are different words for substitution. For example, if I am driving a Toyota, if my Toyota suffers What, let's say I'm renting a car, the rental car company will give me a replacement car, right? But the replacement car may be a Kia. That's not what's going on here. I'm going to give you another car that's exactly the same model. So if I'm renting a Mercedes, if something happens, the rental company will give me another car that's exactly the same model. The same Mercedes-Benz. So God is saying, I will give you another Advocate who is exactly like me.
Paraclete, some translations translate it as advocate, comforter, but its true meaning is paracletos, which comes from two words, Para, Cletos, para means togetherness, so God is saying, I'm going to send someone to go with you, to comfort you, to encourage you, you know, my friend, I found that when I went to the funeral, when we gave Counseling people, sometimes my words don't mean much, but as long as you're there, just put your arms around this person, Paraceletos, God is saying, I'm going to send you another Comforter, and He's going to be with you. When you go together, He will help you and He will encourage you. My friend, my job is to connect people to the Paracletos Holy Spirit, because I am limited, I can't be everywhere, but God can help, so that's the Holy Spirit, it's a wonderful promise, wonderful power, the Holy Spirit is a person Ge, you can grieve the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says, don't grieve the Holy Spirit. He loves you. The Holy Spirit is eternal. Only God is eternal. The Holy Spirit is omnipotent, and only God is omnipotent. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent, and only God is omnipresent. In summary: the Holy Spirit is God. John 16:13 Just wait for Him, the Spirit of truth, notice that pronoun, not it, the Holy Spirit is not a power, I know you guys like Star Wars, right? Jedi, the power, the Holy Spirit is not a power, He is a person, a living person, and you can grieve Him, you can grieve Him, and the Bible says that when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will do What? He will guide you. That's why, without the Holy Spirit, you can't understand the Bible. Why do you think so many people struggle? Read the Bible? There is no Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us, John 16:14 The Holy Spirit will glorify, He will glorify me, He will glorify Jesus, the Holy Spirit does not glorify Himself, the Holy Spirit does not glorify man. Listen to me, anytime you have a ministry, you have a church, if it's to glorify one person, my friend, that's not the work of the Holy Spirit. The church should honor Jesus, amen? You should glorify Jesus, so the Bible tells us, what does the Holy Spirit do? John 16:14 He will glorify Jesus, for he will declare to you what he has received from me. So when Peter preached that great sermon, and the Holy Spirit was poured out, he just said, the Holy Spirit is a promise of God. Now in the last days, He is pouring out the Holy Spirit, and He tells us that the Holy Spirit is the power of God. Do you know why? To do God's will, you need His power. Please pay attention to what is happening.
Peter said, Acts 2:19 I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs in the earth below: blood, fire, and smoke. Acts 2:20-21 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and obvious day of the Lord comes. Ladies and gentlemen, this hasn't happened yet, so what does this mean? We are living in the last days now. The last days began when Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit. So the clock started ticking, and it's ticking now. This has not happened yet. But soon it will happen that the sun will turn to darkness. The Book of Revelation tells us that in the last days, the heavens will shake. Everyone will be afraid. You will see shooting stars. You will see stars falling. The whole universe will be shaken. The Bible says that in the last days, the moon will be shaken. Become blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
Notice the word glory is used here. Another passage says that in the great and terrible day... for those who are saved, it is glorious, for those who are saved, Those who don't know Jesus are terrible. Then look at this wonderful promise, everyone, please read: At that time, everyone read: Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Have you called on the name of the Lord to save you? Do you have? Well, when you call on Him to save you, the Holy Spirit comes. Is it any wonder that in Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was introduced, and what happened? Harvest. Next week we will discuss the content of Peter's sermon. But Peter said this, the first sermon, Acts 2:38 Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us that a wonderful thing happened. Acts 2:41 So those who accepted his word were baptized. Approximately how many disciples were added to the disciples that day? Three thousand people; based on the original 120 people, on that day, the power of the Holy Spirit was released. God used Peter's mouth and His Holy Spirit to speak to every heart. The Bible tells us that if you read it, they felt condemned and they asked, what can we do to be saved? Peter said, believe in the Lord Jesus and repent, and 3,000 people will be saved. So my friend, does the Holy Spirit matter? Yes. Romans 8:9 But you are not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in your hearts. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Ladies and gentlemen, Christians are not churchgoers. Just because you go to a parking lot, you don't become a car. Just because you go to church doesn't make you a Christian. When did you become a Christian? According to this verse, But you are not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in your hearts. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. Ladies and gentlemen, do you now understand why I have so much confidence in all of you? I believe you will complete your journey to the end? Because what about the Holy Spirit? In your hearts. If you teach the Bible and people don't have the Holy Spirit, then everything is short-lived. They go to the Bible study and they're excited, wow, the Bible study is great. They go to Sunday worship and wow, the sermon is great. Is this all? No, you need the Holy Spirit so that He will always be with you and He will want to come into your heart.
What's the difference between the two? What is the difference between the indwelling and presence of the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, indwelling by the Holy Spirit, that happens when you're saved, baptized into the church, so when you have the Holy Spirit, the Bible tells us, you're saved, you're baptized into the church, once baptized, many times filled, what do we mean? ? Being filled with the Holy Spirit occurs in complete surrender. So for many people, being filled with the Holy Spirit occurs simultaneously with salvation. Do you know why? For many of you, once you come to Jesus, you will understand. So you surrender everything, and boom! When you have Jesus, you are filled with the Holy Spirit. Do you know why? You understand. But for a lot of other people, when they come to Christ, they're filled with the Holy Spirit, and then as the days go by, you get angry at your husband, you get angry at your wife, and then you have sin in your heart, You don't know what to do, so the Holy Spirit no longer controls you. You take back control. Is this possible? Yes. is very possible.
So you need to understand that the filling of the Holy Spirit is surrender, and you need His power, which is by faith, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, whether you believe it or not, it is by faith, and by faith, everything is by faith, through prayer, Surrender, surrender, obedience, so everything is by faith. Once and for all, once the Holy Spirit enters your heart, He promises, I will never leave you. But this isn't a one-off. This is every moment, meaning every moment, for example, my wife and I, we have been happily married for so many years. But my wife will admit to you, sometimes, when she does things, when I do things, it causes her to get angry. Honey, do you sometimes get angry? OK, yes. Sometimes she does things that make me angry, like last Sunday, you don't know what happened last Sunday.
You know, last Sunday, God blessed her heart, after the second church service, we were all supposed to go home, and then she decided, inspired, I don't know what inspired her, to go to the supermarket. Shopping. In my mind, after the second service, I wasn't feeling well, remember, I felt like I was going to catch a cold, and I wanted to go home, go home. But my wife is nowhere to be found. Then someone said, no, no, she asked me to tell you, you are going to pick her up at the Hypermart supermarket. OK! no problem! I was almost excited to pick her up. When I was about to go, then I got a call from her, where are you? I'm around the corner. The corner of CCF Church on Frontera Road, I said: Which corner? I thought you were at Hypermart. No, no, no, no. So am I angry? No, Jesus, take control of me! Fill me with your Holy Spirit!
So when I see her, I have to go around again, because CCF, they put the parking lot... Pastor JP, I don't know how it's so complicated in that place, I can't go right out of here, I can't There's always only one way to drive to the left. Anyway, I'm not blaming you, but I have to submit to authority, you know, so I finally found her, and she sat next to me, and of course she said she was sorry, and I What have you done? No, Jesus, take control of me! Do you believe it? I didn't say anything. Do you know why? Being controlled by (the Holy Spirit), even though I have a lot to say, I want to send her a message, you know, be considerate, no more, no more, you know why, just stay quiet, praise God, it's all God made.
That's why the Bible says, Ephesians 5:18 Do not be drunk with wine, for wine leads to debauchery; but be filled with the Holy Spirit. You see the grammar here is this, don't let alcohol control you, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, and the word filled is best translated as controlled, controlled by the Holy Spirit. Do you understand? So the word filled means to be controlled. So when alcohol gets the better of you, be honest with me, how many of you have ever been drunk? At least once or twice in your life, raise your hands, drunks, I get it, I'm telling you, this is made up of drunkards and sinners, by the grace of God, no problem, no problem, but you pay attention Didn't you get anything? It says here, don't get drunk, stop getting drunk, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. What does being filled mean grammatically? Continuously filled, this is grammar, present tense, Continuously filled, please note, this is passive voice, you let Christ take control of you, continuously, day after day, every moment, so you must Do this, day after day, every moment.
So to me, the best example is driving, if you're a natural, you don't have Jesus, you know, it's like your life, look at yourself, you don't have joy, you know why you don't have joy? Because you are driving your own life, you are in control of your life, where is Jesus? outside. A Holy Spirit filled (controlled) Christian, Jesus is driving, what do you do? You just rest and trust Him. Notice you are laughing, this is a Holy Spirit filled (controlled) Christian. In the early church, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Do you know why? Who is in charge? Jesus. But I discovered that it is possible to have a driver in the back seat. Have you ever heard of a driver sitting in the back seat? I tell you, I've been a backseat driver, because I've been a backseat driver sometimes, and when my wife wants to drive, I tell her what to do, and you know what she tells me? Honey, just open it, OK, just open it. Because we like to be in control, no, no, no, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and let Christ take control.
So, this is... I call this an abnormal, sick Christian, and you know why it's abnormal? Christ was not driving, Jesus was in the car, but He was not happy. I have never seen a true Christian who was happy without letting Jesus control his life. do you know? Happy Christians are Christians who surrender everything. Do you know why they are happy? They don't need to be in control. They don't need to be in charge. Someone asked me on Friday night, how do you deal with challenges in CCF churches? I said, very simply, the way I deal with the challenges in the CCF church is, first, I don't think that things are directed at me, and second, I know that I am not in control, Christ is in control, so I take this matter I leave God's work to Him, and it becomes easy. I'm not here to prove anything. Because God is in control, amen?
Now some of you, you like to be in control. I tell you, if you want to be in control, you're going to be disappointed. If you want to be in control, you're going to be irritated. You're going to be angry because things don't go your way. You see, being filled with the Holy Spirit is very powerful. Simply, you say, Lord Jesus, you control my life. You come to control everything about me. All I should do is follow you. If you come to be the driver, you will experience joy and you will experience peace. God commands us to be filled, and if we are not filled, it is because we are not living our lives to the fullest extent of our privilege. What privileges do God's people have? As we come to the end of our sermon, let's read this scripture together: Acts 13:52 The disciples were filled with joy and were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Friends, are you filled with joy today? Do you have? How many of you are filled with joy today? Please raise your hand. Suddenly, you are happy, ha! very good! So I tell you, every time you lose your joy, ask yourself: Why did I lose my joy? ah! I want to be in control. Oh God! I surrender, I surrender, so I give you a simple prayer now, how to be filled with the Holy Spirit, do you have this? So you have to practice this, how to be filled, OK? It says here that you have to have the desire to confess all known sin, but the miraculous words are this: surrender, surrender, do you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit all the time? Then surrender and surrender. Gal 5:16 I say, Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Meaning, you have to submit to the Holy Spirit. Day after day, hour after hour, do not indulge the lusts of the flesh. That is, the lust of the flesh always wants to take over you.
You will encounter temptations and temptations, and you will have struggles, but follow the Holy Spirit. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against flesh. So do not be afraid of temptation and temptation, for it will come, but when temptation comes, what must you do? When temptation comes, what must you do? You follow, you follow the Holy Spirit, you keep following the Holy Spirit, what happens? As we near the end, everyone reads, What will happen to us? Gal 5:22 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness... Ladies and gentlemen, do you have the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace... that's the fruit of the Spirit. It's given to all of us. It's God's promise. It's God's power to produce that fruit. It's God's will. So you'll have the power to do it. People bear witness.
Let's read this together, quoted from Dwight Moody, let's read it together: I also believe that many people pray to God for the filling of the Holy Spirit, but they have been filled with something else entirely. Before we ask God to fill us, I believe we should pray for Him to empty us first. It must be emptied before it can be filled. When the heart is turned over, everything that is contrary to God is poured out, and then the Holy Spirit comes. But you have to empty it, you have to get rid of sin. If we are filled with pride and complacency, ambition and self-seeking, pleasure and the world, there will be no room for the Spirit of God. Has God spoken to you? How will it last? Be filled with the Holy Spirit. How do you do it? How to do? You ask the Holy Spirit to take control of you. By faith, you don't have to beg. He wants to take control of you. The problem is never with God, the problem is with us. You have to remove what He tells you to remove.
I know some of you are in a relationship and you refuse to let go of that relationship, and you won't feel the fullness of God's Spirit until you surrender that sin. For some of you, it's a habit that you don't want to give up. What God is telling you is to reject it. You're afraid you're going to fail, my friend, you're going to fail, and you need the Holy Spirit. So whether it's porn, whether it's a relationship, whatever it is, you have to surrender and surrender to the Lord. Let's pray. Why don't you pray quietly to yourselves? And hand over whatever God reminds you of, now whatever that is, you hand it over to the Lord, it could be a relationship, it could be money, it could be an action, whatever it is, it could be Your own ambition, if God lets it cross your mind, surrender it. Give it to the Lord.
Lord Jesus, there may be some people here today, maybe they have unhappiness, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, or greed, or any kind of immoral relationship, or selfish ambition, Lord, whatever that is, please pray to me. Speak to them, Help them surrender to you and give it to you.
Those of you who want to give something to the Lord, please raise your hands. Yes, you want to surrender something to the Lord, and here we are.
Lord, with our hands raised, confessing the things that we want to surrender. Please fill us with your Spirit, Lord Jesus. By faith, we ask you to fill us now. We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen! Amen!