#430 The Jesus Trip, Pentecost and You!

#430 The Jesus Trip, Pentecost and You!
By: Zach Sloane

(Sermon notes, PowerPoint & Group Discussion Question links at the bottom of the page)

Re-cap: Easter in Nov. Not a cat-scan of cross, practical applications of Jesus’ approach to the cross and what that means for us. This sets us up to help us understand today why he did what he did: Pentecost!

Intro:
We are going to look at Pentecost but as a very real and present experience for us, right here and right now.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is and was the whole point, goal, aim, priority, and ultimate purpose of all the Jesus did, taught, and then suffered and died for.

5 Points About the Baptism in the Holy Spirit:

It is necessary
It is personal
It is empowering
It is purposeful
It is received

Let’s go: What is the baptism in the Holy Spirit and why is it important?

Acts 1:4-5 (NIV)
“…4 Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Mark 1:8
“I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In all 4 Gospels the ministry of Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, is described only as culminating and having been fulfilled not at the cross, not at the Resurrection, the Ascension, nor His Glorification at the Right Hand of the Father, but in his ability, willingness and qualification to baptize human beings in the Spirit of God.

This why he died. He died for our sin to destroy its destructive distorting power upon us. He rose from the dead to make us right and suitable for union with God.

Romans 4:25 (NIV)
“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

Acts 2:33
“Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

Galatians 3:14 (NIV)
“He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”

The promise of the Spirit was and always has been the great hope for humanity. Jesus prequalified us, made us suitable, and opened the way for it.

Something is missing if you don’t have it. Not saying your not a Christian! But, there are actually three baptisms in the Bible.

Three Baptisms:

Spirit baptizes the believer into Christ / Body
Disciple baptizes a believer in water.
Jesus baptizes believer in the Holy Spirit^[1]

John 20:22 (NIV)
“And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

When you come to Jesus you are re-born, recreated in His image by His Spirit inside you. But there is more.

There is more than just being spiritually alive. There is being empowered. There is more than just being saved… there is what you are saved for.
There is more than just having a relationship with God, there is being actively engaged in it.

So Jesus empowers us to live with Him, partner with Him, do life with him at his level, by baptizing us in His Holy Spirit. That literally means he:

Matthew 3:11“… He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:”

^[1] Ps. D. Karl Thomas. “But Wait! There’s More: Power.” Oct. 13/14, 2019. https://www.impactlondon.ca/373-but-wait-theres-more-series-3-power/

“Baptizo”:– to submerge, to immerse, to pickle, to saturate causing a permanent change

This experience frequently results in manifestations of the Spirit’s person and presence. When he comes who he is comes into manifestation because it is who he is.

Just like when you walk through the snow you leave a footprint, Holy Spirit when he immerses us with Himself leaves marks of his presence, his footprints in our lives – the fruit of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit – demonstrations and power.

It’s like the wind, you don’t see it, but you see what it does. You may not see Holy Spirit, but you see His impact… not on tree branches and power lines, but in lives and communities. And it looks like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. It looks like tongues, interpretations of tongues, discerning spirits, faith, miracles healings, prophecies, supernatural knowledge and wisdom.

It’s necessary!

Jesus told his disciples “wait.” You’ve got a job to do, but don’t go trying to do it yet. Wait till you receive this promise. You need the power.

The issue is one of power vs powerlessness. This is the real difference between law and grace, old convent and new covenant.

Romans 8:3-4 (NIV)
“For what the law was powerless to do…”

Romans 7:12-14
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good…”

The law is good, righteous, holy. God says the law is actually spiritual. The law was not the problem. Both Jesus and Paul both summed up the law and its highest priority as loving God and loving people. Something that very accurately reflects the heart and nature of God. The problem with the law is YOU! It required something of you that you were not capable of. All it did was condemn you for what you couldn’t do, even though it told you to love.

The questions is not are we saved by the law or grace, the problem for most believers is are we using the law or the Spirit to be a witness for Jesus and His life, power, and goodness. Are we trying to fulfil our destiny and walk out relationship with Jesus, witness to Him in our own strength, by written codes, or by the power of His Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV)
“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Its personal

You ability to manifest His gifts and His power in your life is not dependent upon you learning how to connect to or manipulate a power source. Its about relationship with a living person.

Acts 11:15 (NIV)
“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.”

Luke 15:20 (NLT)
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”

Came, fell, embraced: ἐπέπεσεν Strongs # 1968. epipiptó

Same word. Picture you need to see is that of a person embracing you, covering you, cuddling you. Not a picture of you being plugged into an electrical current or power socket.

Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV)
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.”

Its empowering

Acts 1:8
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”

Power: dunamis δύναμις, εως, ἡ: (miraculous) power, might, strength

Definition: (miraculous) power, might, strength…properly, “ability to perform” (L-N); for the believer, power to achieve by applying the Lord’s inherent abilities. “Power through God’s ability…”

Funnily enough 120 people in the Upper Room, this word for power used 120 times in the NT.

Its purposeful

Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
“…and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

You have power from God to affect others with the influence of Jesus Christ, being his witness, in your daily life (Jerusalem), your wider circle (Judea and Samaria), and that realm of influence you have that is beyond the horizon of your physical presence, the realm when you are talked about and your influence felt when you are not there (the end of the earth).

It is received

Acts 19:2 (NIV)
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

Did you receive the Holy Spirit? He is a person, but he comes, and you need to receive Him.

Receive: lambanó λαμβάνω: to take, receive
Transliteration: lambanó

HELPS Word-studies
2983 lambánō “actively lay hold of to take or receive,” – properly, to lay hold by aggressively (actively) accepting what is available (offered). 2983 /lambánō (“accept with initiative”) emphasizes the volition (assertiveness) of the receiver.

Need to be open and assertive about wanting Him. BUT let the force of your assertion and desire be the fact that you know he qualified you, you know he has made you righteous and worthy of this experience by nothing you did, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Be assertive in your expectation knowing that God wants this for you – its His idea, you don’t have to convince Him.

Final Thoughts: 2 Things

(i.) Don’t get caught up in the religious rig-a-ma-role around what you need to do to qualify or force or twist God’s hand. This is who Jesus is. He does this to people freely in response to your faith.

Pentecost is part of the finished work. If you embrace salvation by grace through faith but then work hard to attain the gift of the Spirit – you have not yet fully embraced the finished work.

(ii.) Engage the experience. Being baptized and then filled again and again with the Holy Spirit is not a one-time deal, and its not something you can “fake it till you make it.” Remember Paul knew who was and who wasn’t at Ephesus.

We don’t like definite, definitive experiences because in our insecurities we turn them into exclusive group membership tickets, using the definite experience to make us feel like some people are in and some people are out.

Cold hard facts… some are and some aren’t, but everyone can… thanks to Jesus. So, don’t shy away from it… embrace it. It’s really as easy as asking. Be secure in His love and desire to give you this experience, don’t shut it down because you’re afraid you won’t get it or what people will think.

Jesus Christ will baptize you in his Holy Spirit. He will immerse you, pickle you, saturate you so that you become different person. Not different in essence, you are already born again. But, you will be become different in the sense that the impact you make in your world, the footprint you leave… it will now look and smell like, and sound and feel like, the footprint of the Holy Spirit of God.

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NLT)
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

The Jesus Trip, Pentecost and You, Sermon notes to print, PDF

The Jesus Trip, Pentecost and You, PowerPoint Slides, PDF

Group Discussion Questions – Week #9, to print, PDF