Place this morning.

Shout, Lord, you are good!

I don't know what's going on everywhere else, but this morning at Word of Faith, we're saying, Lord, you are good and your mercy endures forever.

Lord, you're good when things aren't good.

Lord, you're good when things are regular.

Lord, you're good when things are good.

But most importantly, all the time, every day, Lord, you are good.

We'll magnify your name.

We'll glorify your name.

We'll lift you high above every problem and every circumstance.

We'll lift you high above everything that's going on in this.

We thank you. Amen.

I know sometimes it doesn't seem like it can be that simple.

But I will tell you this as a fact.

If all you ever do is give attention to the problem and never magnify and glorify God over the problem or in the problem, you'll always have a problem.

How many of you figured out since the day you understood what a problem was, you've had a problem?

There's been a problem of some sort.

Problems are going to be a part of this world, but the solution is to magnify Jesus and to glorify Jesus because he's the only one that can get you out of the problem. Amen.

But anytime I've ever sat there and dwelt on the problem, the problem just gets worse and worse and worse.

But when I say, you know what, I can't find the end of this problem, but I can find Jesus in this problem.

And I can magnify Jesus in this problem.

And it's not long I find myself with a problem that doesn't seem as big as what I thought it was. Amen.

How many of you know he's good?

Somebody need to, some of y'all need to, myself included, tell yourself to shut up when you want to magnify the problem and start magnifying Jesus.

How come it's so much easier to magnify the problem everywhere you go and not magnify Jesus?

Some of you, if I sat down this morning and said, okay, we're going to have problem story time.

Everybody tell me your problem.

Every person when I got up here, I'll tell you what, I'm having this problem.

I'll tell you what, I'm having that problem.

But when I stand up here and I say, hey, let's shout God is good.

That's your problem.

Your problem is better than God is good to you.

Come on, let's shout God is good.

Come on, shout it as loud or louder than you would if you said the problem.

God is good, amen. Hallelujah.

That is the victory.

That is overcoming, that Jesus Christ has overcome every problem, even death.

If he's overcome death, he's overcome any little thing that's going on in your life.

He's overcome death, hell, and the grave.

But some of us have let the problems of this world be bigger than what Jesus has already conquered for us.

He says that in him we are victorious.

That no weapon formed against us shall prosper.

And say, you don't know what's going on.

Everything's gone to hell in a handbasket.

Yeah, but it won't prosper because at the end of the day, I am a child of God.

You are a child of God.

And he has overcome death, hell, and the grave. Amen.

He's overcome it.

Well, I don't really feel like he has.

It don't matter how you feel.

What matters is the reality of who Jesus is and what he's done.

And we don't look at what's going on in this natural world, but we fix our eyes upon the author and the finisher of our faith. Amen.

Somebody shout, he's good.

Somebody say, we have a hope. Amen.

The Bible says we're not to mourn as those with no hope.

Why?

Because we have a great hope in Jesus Christ. Amen.

That's where you'll find freedom.

And I'm not sitting up here today acting all special.

I've been in my feelings just like you've been in your feelings before.

But at some point, my faith has got to override my feelings.

If I'm going to be who God has called me to be, which is victorious in him.

You say, I don't have, you don't understand.

I don't have no friends.

Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

Well, I need something more than Jesus.

If you need something more than Jesus, there's no amount of friends that could ever help you in this whole world.

Well, you don't understand.

I don't have the money that I need.

Well, Jesus says that he wishes above all things that you prosper and be in health as your soul prospers.

You're richer than you know.

You're richer than you know.

What profit is it a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul?

If Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, you're not losing your soul, so you're richer than you know. Amen. Hallelujah.

Father, thank you.

Perspective.

Sometimes we just need a perspective change.

The enemy wants you to look at things from the natural perspective.

Thank God we have something more than the naturalness of supernatural life that we have in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Praise God.

Father, we thank you.

We magnify you.

We glorify you in this place.

Thank you for the freedom of the Holy Spirit that's here.

You're fixing things.

You're rearranging things.

Lord, we lean not on our own understanding, but in all of our ways, we acknowledge you, and you direct our paths.

Lord, you're setting paths straight.

You're setting paths right.

We thank you. Hallelujah.

In Jesus' name, everybody said.

You glad you came to the house of the Lord this morning? Amen.

We're so glad that you're here.

You can go ahead and be seated.

We do have a few announcements for you.

Good morning, good morning.

I've got something also.

We've got new Word of Faith t-shirts.

These are at no cost to you because we want you guys to get them and help represent.

And a good-looking t-shirt.

Mainly we're trying to get them for our Easter at the ballpark.

And just a note on that, you know, whether you feel like you have the capacity to actually do anything or not, we want you there.

We want you representing because this is a time for us to go and bless our communities. Amen?

And to show that we love our communities and we want to magnify and glorify Jesus in our communities, especially around the time of Easter.

So it's just been a great time.

We actually have had people donate enough for us to have over 20,000 eggs to be dropped.

And we're going to be dropping those from a helicopter.

So thank you very much.

Y'all, let's give them a hand for doing that.

And if you'd like to help in any other costs, you definitely can give towards that.

That would be greatly appreciated.

But the main thing is we want our whole church there on that Saturday and just helping.

It's not very long.

We've kind of cut down the time frame from 10 to 12.

It's going to be pretty quick.

But also I think it will be a big impact for our communities.

Like I said, we're blessing them.

We're giving away bikes and stuff to the kids.

And, you know, we'll have 10 to 15 bikes or so, our different prizes.

Also dropping the Easter eggs will have prizes in them and as well as probably some candy and stuff like that.

But we'll also be inviting people to our service the next day.

So as we did the last time we did this, we're believing God for at least 2,000 people at the Easter at the ballpark.

We got really close the last time.

And then also something to be believing with us for.

I want to see 500 people in this room.

I want to see what it looks like. Amen.

And so you say, is that for prideful reasons?

No, it's for the kingdom reasons. Amen.

I mean, I hear a lot of people say, well, God's not about numbers.

Yes, he is.

He wrote a whole book about numbers.

Whole book.

But I guarantee you if you ask the Lord, you know, would you like 100 people in heaven or 100 million people in heaven?

He'd say 100 million.

And so I think it's dependent on what God has called you to do and the capacity that God has put on a local church.

But I think we ought to do everything that we can do to present Jesus in the best way possible to as many people as possible. Amen.

So that's part of it.

It'll be the easiest outreach you ever did.

We slim lined it from the last time we did it.

We learned some things.

I believe last time we did it was great, but we did learn some things.

So it definitely will not be as labor intensive, but we will need a lot of hands because a lot of hands make what light work. Right?

And so, and then I just need your beautiful shining face, smiling at people and saying, we're glad that you came. Amen.

And so be sure and come to our meeting about that on Sunday night, April 6th.

And then also make sure you make plans to actually be at the event on the 19th, April 19th.

Oh, and the reason why I brought the shirt up is because we need to order these ASAP.

So you can fill out your order online or you can do it today in the foyer.

But we have got to order those this week so that we have them in plenty of time to pass them out and get them on the day of the actual event. Amen.

If you're not planning on coming to the event, you're still welcome to get one.

Only stipulation is if you feel like when you wake up in the morning, today's the day I'm going to act a fool, just don't choose that shirt.

Okay, that'll be good.

You know, and so anyway, only on days you feel like I think it's going to be a good day. Right?

But anyway, you guys ready to give this morning?

I will add something else in there.

I don't know that it's technically a part of the online tabs, but there is a mission tab in there.

But we are doing our mission trip to Leon this year.

It's going to be at the end of May going into June.

And if you would like to give to kind of help offset the cost of the ones that are going, we do have that locked in.

If you were still thinking about maybe wanting to go, please let me know about that.

We have cut off.

We've locked those people in.

But if for some reason someone who is locked in to go has an issue or something like that, please let me know that you would like to be on the reserve list for that.

It won't be, we're probably going to get plane tickets this week.

So it'll be really quick if that was the case.

But I feel like everybody's locked in.

So if you kind of weren't sure about that, then I promise you we'll be back next year.

We'll be going next year.

So just start planning for that.

And as soon as we have dates for the next year, I'll let you know.

And so anyway, but if you'd like to give to kind of help offset the cost of people going or sponsor somebody, that would be greatly appreciated.

You can give online.

Just give it into missions and we'll know where it goes.

We'll try to get an actual link set up for Leon missions.

Or you can put in the offering today, Leon missions, and we'll make sure it goes where it needs to go. Amen.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you.

Thank you for this wonderful church.

Lord, thank you for the things and the vision that you put in our heart as a church.

Father, Lord, we just go ahead and pray right now for our Easter outreach.

Father, Lord, that we just are able to touch many lives.

Lord, during this Easter season, Father, where we're magnifying you and glorifying you for being the risen Lord and Savior.

Lord, that we want to make your name known and people to experience the love of Christ.

And Lord, bless a ton of kids and families, Father.

And we just pray right now, Father, Lord, that that place is packed.

And Lord, the impact is great, Father.

Lord, we thank you, Father, for our Easter Sunday.

Lord, I thank you that you give me a message that would touch every heart, Father.

Lord, and not just touch people's hearts, but bring them to a place to surrender to you or to rededicate themselves to your kingdom, Father.

Lord, we just thank you, Father.

Lord, that you are working all things out to our good, Lord, because we love you.

And Lord, we just magnify you and glorify you.

I thank you, Father, for every ounce of finances that are needed to do what you've called us and created us to do right here at Word of Faith.

I thank you, Father, for every giver, every tither, Father.

Lord, I thank you that we stand on your word that says if we bring the tithes to the storehouse, Lord, that you would open up the windows upon our life and pour out blessing that we have room, none enough to receive.

And I thank you, Lord, that it's all for your kingdom.

It's all to further your kingdom.

And Lord, we thank you, Father, for just blessing in every home, Father, that's represented here.

In Jesus' name.

And everybody said? Amen.

Amen.

You can give this morning if you choose to do that.

And then after that, if you would, they're going to play.

Thank you.

All right.

Absolutely.

I like it.

Hallelujah.

Man, it sure is good to see you all this morning.

Getting a little bit of sunshine lately.

Looks like maybe a little storm coming back right here, but I'm kind of glad it's getting springtime.

I know the trees need the pollen, but I could do with less. Amen.

Well, if you've been here over the last several weeks on Sunday morning, we've been teaching on the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

And I wish I could go back every week for people who have not gotten all the other teachings.

But if you haven't, you can go back on our Facebook page and watch the live services.

Or you can go back on our podcast, and they're all there for you guys.

So I'll try to do as best I can to make sure it all matches up.

But a lot of it's just been teaching that it's just kind of compounded on itself.

But go over to John, the 7th chapter, and the 37th verse.

John 7, 37.

And read 37 through 38.

It said, So this word, and we've gone over this, maybe the first message that we preached, but this word that they used in the Greek that we translated into the word flow depicts a river.

That is not just full, but it's so full that it's flowing outside of the banks and reaching places that the normal flow doesn't reach.

And so when he said this, he wasn't talking about a little stream.

He wasn't talking about a little creek.

He wasn't even talking about a river in its normal stages.

He said, If anyone believes on me, as the scripture has said, then out of himself will flow a river so strong that it'll be overflowing, and it'll touch all kinds of different areas. Amen.

The Amplified says, He who believes in me, who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on me.

Who adheres to, who trusts in, and relies on me.

And if you're unfamiliar with the Amplified version of the Bible, basically the Amplified takes the King James, and they also take the concordance, and it tries, and it's best to take key words that maybe sometimes we will mentally assent, and they're not as powerful to us, and it actually gives the actual meaning behind or the definition behind the Greek word, what they were trying to convey in that scripture.

And so when the scripture says, He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water, the Amplified says, He who believes in me, who adheres to, who trusts in, and relies on me.

So that, to us, would go a step further than, Hey, do you believe in me?

I believe in you.

But no, do you adhere to, do you trust in, and absolutely rely on me?

So he was talking about that type of belief.

The Aramaic Bible, in plain English, says it this way, Anyone who trusts in me.

You know, trust is a big deal these days, because there's so much that has gone on that is untrustworthy, right?

You hear people say all the time, You know, you just can't trust people like you used to be able to trust people.

And it's because a lot of times this society has gotten to a point where someone, you can only trust them as long as it's good for them, but as soon as it looks like they're not going to receive something or something could be negative, then you can't trust them anymore, right?

Because it's every man for himself a lot of times.

That's not how it used to be.

It used to, if I said I was going to do something, even if it was to my detriment, then that person would do what they said they would do.

That was the agreement that you made, even if it was to their detriment, right?

Nowadays, people, you can only trust them a lot of times.

I'm not saying everybody.

This is a blanket statement.

But you can only trust as far as it's good for both parties, right?

But when we trust God, we trust the Scripture, we can't trust the Scripture just as far as we mentally agree to the Scripture.

And I know nobody in here would ever say that, no, I believe every word of the Scripture.

Nobody in here would say, I believe some of the Scripture, or I agree to some of the Scripture.

Everybody in here would probably say, I agree.

Every bit of the, I agree that's the Word of God.

It's every bit of it.

But a lot of times in our heart, when we come across things that maybe we don't understand, or maybe we've been told different things about, we tend to not want to trust only what we can understand.

Does that make sense?

We only want to trust what we can understand.

And there's a lot in the Word of God that we have to trust, yet we don't quite understand how. Amen?

And that's where faith comes in.

Why?

Because faith is believing in those things that aren't as though they were. Right?

So, let's move on.

So, when it comes to the matter of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, with the power and the evidence of speaking in tongues, you have to ask yourself one question.

Do you believe in and trust in the words of Jesus?

Do you believe in and trust in the words of Jesus?

And I'll go a step further.

Believe in and trust in the words of Jesus, not in the words of a preacher.

You say, well, you're a preacher, and you're up here preaching this.

Exactly.

But I'm asking you to believe in what the Word says.

Not in what I say, but what the Word says.

And I try my very best to get my opinion and different things of that nature out of it, and where you can just believe on the Word.

But do you trust in the words of Jesus, not in the words of a preacher, not in the words of a family member?

Not in the words of a denomination or community convictions and beliefs.

Do you trust what Jesus said?

Because Jesus had a lot to say on the subject.

But a lot of times we'll believe what Jesus said as long as it lines up to what I've been told my whole life or what my denomination believes or what my community convictions are.

But we ought to be able to take all those things and scrape them aside and say, what did Jesus say? Amen?

So what does the Scripture say?

Well, Joel is in the Old Testament, but he comes back up in this subject in the New, and we'll get to that in a minute.

But Joel 2:28 says it this way, 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.

Now I'm fully aware that you could take that Scripture and you could make it mean a lot of things.

But it's a good thing that we don't have to interpret that the way that we feel like it is, because if you follow the Scripture, and if we're going to believe on the Scripture, this Scripture actually comes back up.

And when it comes back up, Peter is repeating that Scripture, and he is tying it directly to what happened on the day of Pentecost.

We'll read it here in just a minute.

So we don't have to speculate what Joel was prophesying about, because when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost full of the Holy Spirit, and he's trying to describe to the people that don't know what's going on what it is, he actually pulls this Scripture out, and he says, this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.

So he's not giving us a reason or a way to interpret that.

He is literally telling us, when someone says, this is that, are we going to go, well, you know, I don't know about that.

I kind of think it's this, or I kind of think it's that.

No, the Bible doesn't really leave us room to interpret that.

If Peter said, I don't know what this is, but I think it's from God, then there would be some room to interpret.

But when Peter stands up, and he says, what you are hearing, and what you are seeing, this is what Joel prophesied about.

There really should be no question about it. Amen?

So this isn't the only place where we find the infilling prophesied about in the Old Testament, but it's a good place to point out and see that it's the first Scripture pointed to on the day of Pentecost.

Let's go over now to Matthew, the third chapter.

Matthew 3.

We're going to read Matthew 3, 1 through 3, and then verse 11, and then we're also going to read Matthew 3, 16 through 17, and then we're also going to read John 1, 33.

So this is John the Baptist's message in the wilderness, Matthew 3, 1 through 3.

Because I want to make some connections.

We kind of made them a little bit last week, but I want to double down on that.

Matthew 3, 1 through 3 says this, In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.

So John the Baptist is fulfilling a prophecy out of Isaiah.

And so this is John doing this, and then verse 11, we skip to verse 11.

It says, I indeed baptize you with water under repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

I want you to remember this, because I know this is a very popular scripture, and we talk about it a lot, but I don't know that a lot of people take the scriptures and the prophecies and what was going on when Jesus came on the scene and John the Baptist baptized him.

I don't know that we always take those scriptures and connect them to what's being talked about in the book of Acts when the infilling of the Holy Spirit came, or the power of the Holy Spirit, or however you want to say it, people began to get baptized with the Holy Spirit.

But right here, we should know, because right here, John the Baptist is saying, I'm baptizing you in water and repentance, but there's someone coming after me who I'm not worthy to even lace up his shoes.

He's not going to baptize you in water.

He's going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

That's what John said.

And again, a lot of us will interpret that because of maybe by the way we were raised, or maybe the denomination we've been a part of, or whatever.

We will take that instance in the Bible, and we will categorize that somewhere else, but we will not put it in what happened on the day of Pentecost.

We won't put it there because we attach it to other places, and we think it's left up to interpretation.

Well, what was John talking about?

Well, I'm not quite sure what John was talking about.

We don't have to be not sure, because we're going to find out that all throughout after the day of Pentecost, that these scriptures here, and what happened when Jesus was baptized, and when John was prophesying about Jesus saying, there's someone coming after me who I'm not even worthy to put his shoes on.

He's going to baptize you, not with water, but he's going to baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.

And we're going to find out that on the day of Pentecost, and after the day of Pentecost, 10 and 20 years later, they're still connecting the infilling of the Holy Spirit with what John was talking about when he was baptizing people in repentance with water.

So watch this.

Matthew 3, 16 through 17.

So just a couple scriptures further.

At this point, in the first through the 11th chapter, our verse, John doesn't know who he is.

But in Matthew 3, 16 and 17, Jesus meets the requirements for the person who's been being talked about.

Matthew 3, 16 and 17, it said, when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him.

And suddenly, a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased.

Well, if we go to John, the first chapter, the 33rd verse, it says this.

This is what John was saying, so it's kind of backing up in time.

John said, I didn't know him, meaning I don't know who I'm prophesying about.

But he, that's capitalized, so he's saying God, he who sent me to baptize with water, said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus meets these requirements.

And I don't think anybody in here is debating that.

But what I want you to see is every single time it's mentioned about what John was doing, John's saying, I don't know who it's supposed to be, but the one who sent me told me when I see the dove or when I see the Holy Spirit descend and remain, that's the one who's going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.

And then you see Jesus coming out to be baptized of John.

And of course, the whole little thing that happened there, because John understands that that's his cousin, Jesus, right?

And you say, yeah, they probably concocted that little thing, like, hey, you go out there, start a ministry, and then I'll come, and I'll, you know, no, no, no, no, because John said, I shouldn't be baptizing you, you should be baptizing me.

John understood something was different about his cousin, Jesus.

But he still didn't know.

He didn't know until he baptized his cousin, Jesus, and when he did, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove on him and remained, and a voice came from heaven saying, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased.

Then at that point, John understood, this is he who comes to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, this is he, amen?

So upon who you see, this is he.

That's what John said that the Lord told him.

Verse 39, he who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water, so we're going back to our first scripture there, John 7, we read, I'll read it all over again, 37 through 39 this time instead of 38.

On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood out crying, saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

And then verse 39, he continues, and he says this, he who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Verse 39, but this he spoke concerning the spirit.

So there again, Jesus is not leaving this up to interpretation, right?

It's real plain if we take the skepticism and all these things out and we just read what they said.

So he's not saying, well, you know, I think that when Jesus said he's coming to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, I kind of think it's this, I kind of think it's that.

We don't have to guess.

Where did all this guessing come in?

I think all the guessing came in is when Jesus is telling us about stuff that our little old mind can't understand.

Then we go to guessing.

But they didn't leave any guesswork, did they?

They didn't leave any guesswork.

Why?

Because when it happened, and we'll get to it in a minute, but when it happened, Peter stands up and said, this is what Joel was talking about.

When Jesus gets baptized, John has been preparing the way saying, I'm doing this because that's what the Lord told me to do.

He told me to come out and baptize people in water under repentance, but there's somebody coming after me.

And the one that's coming after me, I'll know that it's him because the one who sent me told me the one that I see the Holy Spirit descending on and remaining.

This is he who is the one that is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

And Jesus says, when he stands up at the last day of the feast, he says, if anybody's thirsty, let him come to me and drink, and out of him will flow rivers of living water.

And we don't have to interpret that either because Jesus interprets it for us.

He just says it right out loud.

He says, but this he spoke concerning the Spirit, who those believing in him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.

And you say, see there, the Holy Spirit hadn't yet been given.

No, no, it said at that point in time, it hadn't, the Holy Spirit had not been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified, but we know that Jesus has been glorified.

So therefore the Holy Spirit couldn't come until Jesus was glorified.

So what is glory?

What does Jesus being glorified mean?

That means when he went to death, hell and the grave, and then he resurrected, and then he ascended on high, he even said of himself, he said, I'm leaving, but I'm praying that the father would send you another helper.

However, we're going to get into that a little bit today where he sent his disciples in and he told them to wait for the promise.

The promise of what?

The one that he was saying that would come, the Spirit of truth, the helper, the other helper, the one that was going to be just like him.

And they said, we don't know who this is.

He says, yeah, you know who he is because he's with you right now.

Meaning that the Holy Spirit was with them in that present moment through Jesus.

He said, he's with you now, but on that day, he's going to be in you. Amen?

Is everybody tracking?

Sticking with me?

So remember what the prophet Joel said.

He said, it shall come to pass that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.

So let's fast forward to the day of Pentecost here.

Jesus' last words recorded in the book of Luke.

Now his actual last words as him here in his glorified body are in the book of Acts and we'll pick up there.

But the last thing that's recorded in the book of Luke that he says is Luke chapter 24, verse 49.

Watch what Jesus says.

Now, mind you, Jesus has already been crucified, buried, and he's been raised again, and he's in his glorified body at this point.

He has not yet ascended into heaven.

It's the last thing that he says to him in the book of Luke.

He says, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry or wait in the city of Jerusalem, and to your endowed with power from on high.

Now, going over into the book of Acts, which Luke wrote the book of Acts also, so this is kind of a continuation of that conversation.

It says, And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You have heard from me.

Now, watch.

It's going to tie it all together.

For John truly baptized with water.

So, what is about to happen, we have the wonderful position to know what is about to happen.

But at this point in time, Jesus is connecting what is about to happen that they have no idea what is about to happen.

He's just telling them, Be obedient to me.

Wait here for the promise.

But what he does is he connects what John the Baptist was prophesying in the wilderness to what was about to happen.

Now, this is Jesus.

This isn't some preacher somewhere.

This isn't some denomination somewhere.

This is Jesus' own words.

And he says, And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, one of the last things that he tells them, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You have heard from me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

He connects it.

And we're going to find through the next several scriptures where every time there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit where people were filled with the Holy Spirit and then had the evidence of that by having their heavenly prayer language to speak in tongues, it always got connected back to what Jesus was here to do in the first place, which was to baptize people with the Holy Spirit and fire. Amen?

You say, I thought he was here to save humanity.

He was.

That was the main thing.

But every time it's talked about Jesus' mission, his mission was to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Every time.

Every time.

Now, verse 8.

Acts 1 says, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

So going over to Acts, the second chapter, 1 through 4, it says, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

So they were doing what Jesus said to do. Right?

He said, Wait.

Tarry here until the promise.

So they had been there, and I can't remember.

I've done the research before, but it wasn't an hour service.

Sometimes I wonder if we shortchange ourselves by what God can do in our life because we limit God to doing something in and with us as a corporate body to an hour on Sunday morning.

Because these people weren't here an hour.

They weren't here two hours.

They weren't just there for a three-day church meeting revival.

Days and days and days and didn't leave.

They stayed.

It says, And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one set upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

So this event is directly linked by Jesus himself to what John was speaking of in the wilderness.

Therefore, it is directly linked to what Jesus was proclaiming during the feast about the rivers of living water.

So this event right here is connected to all that.

This is the fulfillment of what was always being said.

And I know we want to compartmentalize all that stuff, but there's no way that we could separate what was being said in the ministry life of Jesus, because at every point it was pointing back to what Jesus was here to do, what John said Jesus was here to do.

And now what Jesus told them to wait for has been fulfilled, and it gets pointed back to that same thing. Amen?

So, you say, well, I know Jesus said it before it happened, but what about after it happened?

Well, Peter links it up.

Go to Acts, the second chapter.

We're still in Acts, the second chapter, but go to the twelfth verse.

Let me get there.

I had written it down.

Acts 2, 12.

So, this is the response from, I'm just going to say the town people, when the 120 received the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, what Jesus told them to wait for, when they had received that, they left out of the upper room where they were at and obviously caused quite a commotion, because they didn't look normal, they weren't acting normal, and you say, see there, that right there is what I don't want to happen to me.

I want to remain normal, and I understand, and I've said this before, that there's been a lot of detriment done to what Jesus was trying to get to his church, which was the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we could have power to be a witness.

There's been a lot of detriment done by people who did a lot of things in the name of the Holy Spirit, but it does not take away the fact that whatever happened in the 120, it did make an outward effect on the way the people were acting, because when they came out of there, it was early in the morning, and people were mocking and laughing at them because they thought they were a bunch of drunk people that had stayed at a party a little bit too long, and then they were getting out in the morning, and Peter corrected this, but in his correction of this, he actually links it up to what was being said about Jesus being the one that is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

So in verse 12, it says, And he goes into talking about what Joel's prophecy was.

And he goes into that prophecy.

So Peter links up what happened, what was going on right there to the prophecy that was said in Joel. Amen?

So all throughout the book of Acts, you see the common thread of people hearing the gospel.

I want to show you this, and we're only going to look at two specific places, but there's more.

But that's all the time we have.

But actually, we're going to look at three places.

Sorry.

But all through this, we see this common thread.

When an area or a group of people would be evangelized, there would be this common thread of them receiving the Holy Spirit.

Now, when they receive the Holy Spirit, there would be other, if we want to say manifestations to that, like some of them prophesied, some of them this, that, and the other.

But the common thread in all of these instances where people received the Holy Spirit was that they understood that they had received the Holy Spirit because there was the evidence there of speaking in tongues.

And so that's why when we say being baptized with the Holy Spirit, the evidence of speaking in tongues, the reason why is not because somebody somewhere just said, I think we're going to make that the evidence.

It's because every single time you see this happening in the book of Acts, there was the evidence of that.

Now, I want to get rid of some misnomers that I think that probably has, I don't know who created this or what happened, if it's been the Spirit-filled church or the non-Spirit-filled or whatever.

But a lot of people think that the Holy Spirit is tongues.

The Holy Spirit is not tongues.

He's not a big tongue, right?

It's a prayer language that you get, and we can go more into that if we've talked a little bit about it.

It's not of the devil.

You say, well, how do you know it's not of the devil?

Well, because over and over, Jesus talked about it.

Over and over, Peter talked about it.

Over and over, Paul talked about it.

So if Paul, let's just take Paul and Peter.

If they were pushing it, are you willing to say that Paul and Peter were of the devil?

Let's use our brains here and not just listen to what some skeptic has said, right?

Tongues is strange to our mind.

But if it's weird, it's because somebody's made it weird, not because the Holy Spirit's weird.

And believe me, there's been plenty of people make it weird.

There's been plenty of things that people, I'm not questioning or debating whether they're Spirit-filled or not, but maybe they ought to, have done things and said the Holy Spirit said or the Holy Spirit did.

I found the Holy Spirit to be very classy.

I found the Holy Spirit to be very respective of people.

I found that when the Holy Spirit does do things that are strange to our mind, that even non-Spirit-filled people go, I don't know what that was, but that was God.

But as a Spirit-filled person, I've been in meetings, even with people that I've known for a while or whatever, and things have happened in the name of the Holy Spirit, and I went, nope, that wasn't, nope.

And it wasn't because it was, got me out of my comfort zone.

Now, as one old minister that's gone on, the Lord used to say, is you get into areas where people say this is the Holy Spirit or that's God or this, that, and the other, and he said, the only way I know to describe it, it just kind of feels like you're taking a shower with your socks on.

Right?

But when the Holy Spirit comes into place, and he does what he does, and he's welcomed, nobody, I've never seen it, where anybody walked out of the room and said, that was weird.

Even people that didn't understand what went on, they walk out and they go, something, something happened to me.

I had an experience with God. Amen?

So this isn't me pushing anything on you.

This isn't our church pushing anything on you.

You can go here for the rest of your life.

Never received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, not going to be treated any different, not going to be loved any different by God.

But I can't go on.

Not preaching a truth in the Word of God, but even more than that, not giving you something or offering you something that has completely changed my life. Amen?

There are days in my life that I don't know how I got through it if I hadn't been filled with the Holy Spirit and when I didn't know what to pray for.

This is straight out of Romans, the 8th chapter.

Because he says, when you don't know what to pray for as you ought, that the Holy Spirit will take hold with you and pray out the will of God.

There's been so many times where I didn't know what to say.

I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know what God's will was in that situation.

And I just began to pray in tongues.

And sometimes I get the answer.

You say, how does that work, brother?

That's another message.

We can talk about that.

Sometimes I don't hear anything at all other than me praying in tongues.

But every time, every time I walk out of there with peace and understanding that he's going to guide my steps and that his will is going to be done.

And I'm going to keep my spiritual ear open to what my part is to play in that. Amen?

I'm not of those who believe because I don't think you can prove it in the Bible.

I'm not of those who believe that you got to be filled with the Holy Spirit with evidence and speaking in tongues to be saved, to go to heaven.

I don't think you can find that.

I do find whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Amen?

And I'm not trying to backdoor that statement.

But my experience is I don't know how or where or what my life would look like if I had not also been filled with the Holy Spirit.

There is definitely situations I know that would have broke me.

There are definitely situations I know that would have changed me for the not so good.

There are situations that I've been put in as a minister or as a pastor that naturally there is no way I would have had the capacity to navigate.

But the Holy Spirit gives us power to be a witness. Amen?

And the tongues part that everybody gets hung up on and I'm not trying to downplay it or downgrade it but it's the thing that has been scrutinized the most.

And plain and simple not that it is plain nor simple but plain and simple it's a way to communicate to God that is not on a natural playing field.

It's on a supernatural field.

You say I don't get that.

That's because most of the time all we do is think naturally.

And if all you ever were were a natural brain and a natural body then you would not need anything that communicated to the supernatural or the spirit.

But a simple study in the Bible will tell you that you're not just a natural brain or a mind and you're not just a natural body that you're also a spirit.

The real you is a spirit.

And so we watch ads all day long on Facebook or on TV or whatever that says you know you're fat and overweight and you don't feel good we got a supplement.

You start feeling like your mind is not working good or whatever hey we got we got an app that you can take these little things and work your mind out we've got supplements to help you remember better and you're like man I need to remember better and I need my body to feel better but when we talk about what is there to do to strengthen our spirit man we go I don't even know anything about that it's just so beyond me.

When really your spirit man is the real you and you don't need a supplement you don't need an app you need baptized in the Holy Spirit and then you need to pray in the Holy Spirit and that will exercise you to leaning on the spirit rather than leaning on your own understanding because most of us just get along myself included a lot of times by leaning on our own understanding by leaning and coming and following as you can see in the Holy Spirit it's hard to be I mean, I think I'm pretty smart.

How about y'all?

But even in my smartest days, I ain't that smart.

I don't think I'm very smart, believe me.

But I know there's been some things that made me look real smart, but it was because I relied on the Spirit. Amen?

How much time do we got?

None.

Absolutely zero.

Well, I had a lot better stuff, but I know y'all got to get to the chicken.

No, it's a good place to wrap it up.

I do want to get into these different places because it's so interesting.

Peter at Cornelius' house, Paul, who met some certain disciples in Ephesus.

It's very interesting.

One thing I will leave you with as a teaser for next week is a lot of times when we read the Bible, we read this as it happened as fast as we can read it, but we don't realize how many years or days or months or whatever pass between the testimonies and the stories.

And so one thing that I'll share with you before we go, really when Peter went to Cornelius' house, it was about nine to ten years after the day of Pentecost.

So this wasn't like the next week.

It's like nine or ten years later.

And when Paul met some certain disciples up at Ephesus, it was like 20 years after the day of Pentecost.

So this isn't just like a wham-bam type situation, day of Pentecost, then we got all these different people being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.

These are years and years passing between.

Not that there weren't other instances, but those are the ones that get recorded.

Because one place in the Bible says that as the apostles prayed daily, that the church was added to daily.

So this was happening all the time.

But these were the big instances they thought necessary for us to know about.

One was Cornelius' house, another one 20 years later up in Ephesus.

And so it's very interesting to read those because the same thing happens to these people, but yet there were slight differences in it.

But the main thing was is they believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then they were filled, and then the evidence was they spoke with other tongues.

And so, you know, a lot of times people want to go to the book of Corinthians, the letter that Paul wrote the Corinthians, where he is correcting the Corinthians.

And correction is the key word there.

He was correcting them.

He was not telling them that there was no Holy Spirit.

He was not telling them that they should not pray in tongues, but he was bringing order to that because they had been saved, they had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and then they began to take it their own direction.

And Paul came and brought some correction to that.

And I think that in today's church, I was thinking about a scripture that talks about, in the last days, that people will have a form of godliness, but they will deny the power thereof.

Well, the only thing that Jesus ever linked to, or the New Testament especially, ever links to the power of God on the earth is through the Holy Spirit.

And so, I think it's, we're at a place in time where we know that end times are coming.

And I think the church has gotten to that place where we love Jesus, and we love the blessing, and we love the peace that we gain from him, and we love the grace, and we love the mercy, and we love all those things.

And we've learned how to have a form of godliness.

But we need to make sure that we're not like those that were prophesied about, that we have a form of godliness, but we deny the power. Amen?

Is that okay?

Praise God.

Stand on your feet.

Father, we thank you.

We praise you.

We magnify you.

I know this has been different, Lord.

It's not different for you.

It may be different for some.

I'm just relying and trusting on you, Father.

I'm not signing people up for timeshares.

I'm not selling anything.

Lord, I just want to preach the truth so that people can have all of you that you offer in the here and now.

And, Lord, we don't just enjoy the benefits and have a form of godliness, but that your church has the power of God living in and through them.

And that was your desire, not just to save them, but to also give them power to be a witness to do what you've called and created your church to do, Father.

And you're so good, Lord.

You didn't just leave it at that where it was just something to do the ministry with, but Lord, also for personal benefits of being able to pray for peace and we don't know what to pray for as we ought, we can pray in the Holy Spirit.

Lord, you said that if a man prays an unknown tongue, he doesn't speak to men but he speaks to God.

You said if a man prays an unknown tongue that he builds himself up, he edifies himself.

So there's great benefits personally, but Lord, all of that is to be a powerful witness in the earth.

So I thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Father.

If any person has just major questions or maybe even strong opinions, maybe even some of what I've said has offended, you know that's not my heart, Lord.

So I thank you that you take what's said.

I read straight out of your word, Lord.

You're able to present that in a way that could bring revelation and unlock that truth in that person's heart.

Lord, my desire is simply for people to have everything that you've told us is available to us as sons and daughters of you, Lord.

So I thank you for it and I praise you for it.

Thank you for this week, Lord, that's coming up.

Thank you for safety over every person's life.

Thank you for that deal going through.

Thank you for that bill being paid.

Thank you for that disease being healed.

Thank you for that broken heart being mended.

We thank you that that depression and confusion, we stand against it right now in the name of Jesus.

We declare the peace of the Lord, the joy of the Lord, the fullness of God.

Thank you for our church, Lord.

Thank you for vision.

Thank you for unity.

Thank you for your love and your joy and your peace, your mercy ruling and reigning in this place.

In Jesus' name.

And everybody said amen.

Amen.

I love you guys.

So glad you're here.

We'll see you back Wednesday night at seven o'clock.

Thank you for your time.

You, um, you, you.

Thank you.