This message was preached by Colin D'cruz at Word of Grace Church on June 4th, 2017. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.
We celebrate Pentecost Sunday
today, 2 thousand years ago.
4 times in the gospel, Jesus is
introduced by John the Baptist. Matthew
3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16 and John1:33- All introduce Jesus as the one who
will baptise us with the Holy Spirit and Fire.
In verse 35,
he looks at Jesus and says behold the Lamb of God. We all know Jesus as the Lamb of God. He takes away our sin.
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Jesus shed his
blood for us. We are so aware of that and thankful. But 4 times John the Baptist said he is the baptiser who baptises us in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus appeared
to his disciples after rising from the dead. He came alive and went to his
disciples- he spent 40 days with them. Then he asked them to wait for the
promise of Father.
Acts 1:4- 11 “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you
heard from me; 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 asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore
the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or
seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when
he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a
cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he
went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you
into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.””
Q. What is the purpose of the Baptism of
the Holy Spirit?
In Acts 1:8- The
reason is that we will receive power. It is not for ourselves, but to go into the rest of the world and tell
them about Jesus. As we go out and preach the word, there is power for
wonders and miracles.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was
poured out on specific individuals from time to time. Judges 6:34- the spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon. It was only on
this one person.
In Judges 14:19- The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Samson. Over
and over, God’s spirit
came upon individuals.
But there was
a promise that the same power, would be on us. Joel 2:28-32 ““And it shall
come to pass afterward ,that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your
young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days
I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the
earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to
darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord
comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those
who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom
the Lord calls.”
Baptise is another word that means immerse.
There is no significance in the word. It is like dying a piece of cloth. You
baptise the cloth, and when it came out, the cloth was transformed. When we are immersed in the Holy Spirit,
there is a transformation that takes place.
Romans 15:18-19- “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has
accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by
the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from
Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of
the gospel of Christ”
Paul is saying
that by the power of the Spirit of God, I have preached the Gospel. They are
able to tell people to repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
On the day of
Pentecost, in Acts 2, two things took place
1.
They were all together in one place
2.
They were all praying.
Q. what were they praying for?
Jesus said
they will receive the Holy Spirit. So maybe they were praying for the Holy
Spirit.
The Father is not reluctant to
give us the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16- Jesus too is praying for us
to be Baptised in the Holy Spirit. So, it is not just us, but also Jesus who is
praying for us.
John 16:7- Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
Acts 2: The
jews had 3 pilgrimages they celebrated. All the jews from around the world come
to Jerusalem. Pentecost was one of those days. It is 50 days after the
Passover. It is also the feast of the harvest.
In verse 2-4 “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound
like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were
sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on
each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
This was a supernatural manifestation of
the Presence of God. This was the result of being filled with the Holy
Spirit.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews,
devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude
came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them
speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are
not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of
us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents
of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in
our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
When people
are baptised in the Holy Spirit, everyone was amazed. They thought they were
all drunk. Then Peter stood up and said this.
Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,
let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not
drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.[b] 16 But
this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel
Later, through
a vision to Peter, he received revelation that the Spirit was poured out for
Gentiles as well. One of the signs of
being baptised in the Holy Spirit is that they were speaking in tongues and
declare God’s praises. That is what they saw the Gentiles doing.
Paul on the
road to Ephesus- he meets some people who were not even believers. So Paul
preached the gospel. Then he laid his hands on them and they were baptised in
the Holy Spirit. Although Paul is laying
his hands, who is one baptising? Jesus. He is the baptiser
Acts 9:17- this is how Paul got filled
with the Holy Spirit. Ananias laid his hands on him to be filled in the Holy
Spirit.
John 7: 37- “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried
out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in
me, as[f] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water.’””
Jesus is saying that a thirsty person will
become the source of that water. In all these things, we need to believe.
Gal 3: 2- “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the
law or by hearing with faith?”
Verse 5- “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and
works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith”
We need to believe Jesus. Take him at his
word that we will be filled and streams of living water will flow out of us.
We need boldness. Peter, on the day
when Jesus was crucified, he was so afraid. He denied Jesus to a servant girl.
But after being baptised in the Holy Spirit, he stood up boldly and proclaimed
the gospel.
We can’t do what we are called to do, without
the Holy Spirit. We need Him for the wonders and Miracles that point to
Jesus.
D L Moody was
a great evangelist who preached and 2 old ladies would pray for him to be
baptised in the Holy Spirit. On the road one day, he got Baptised in the Holy
Spirit. When he came back and preached the same things, multitudes were
converted. This is a supernatural power.
Our motto is
enjoying God, making friends, changing lives. We want to see transformation of
lives. This weekend, there was another terrorist attack in London. I was
thinking about the power of the Bible and the work of the Holy Spirit. The
terrorists, who come from an Islamic background, were filled with another
Spirit and they killed many people. On the other hand, there is Abdullah from
an Islamic background, filled with the Holy Spirit. What is he doing? He is
preaching the Gospel. Look at the difference!
When the Holy Spirit fills us, it is an
amazing thing. He manifests in different ways, as He wills. Expect to receive
him.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
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