THE HOLY SPIRIT ADVANTAGE SERIES PART 3 THE SPIRIT UPON YOU2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

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Date: 2010-11-16

Title: The Holy Spirit Advantage Series Part 3 The Spirit Upon You

Teacher: Jerry B Simmons

Series: 2010 The Holy Spirit Advantage Series

Teaching Transcript: The Holy Spirit Advantage Series Part 3 The Spirit Upon You

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

Well, as we're talking about the Holy Spirit's advantage, we've been referring back to the importance or the need for the Holy Spirit. We need the advantage of the Holy Spirit because life is hard. There's a lot of difficult things that we face. There's a lot of trials and troubles.

There's a lot of things that are before us that we're not capable of overcoming and we're not capable of walking and being a witness of Christ and being able to represent Christ to the world around us on our own. And so we need some help.

Life without Christ is hard enough, but then you add in the Christian life and the temptations that come with this world, the seduction that is there. The world tries to lead us astray from Christ, and our flesh jumps in and joins in that as well, and seeking to lead us away and causing us to stumble. There's the willingness of our spirit, but our flesh is weak, and so we fall and fall

and there's difficulties and we're lazy and those types of things. And then, of course, we have the attacks of the enemy who looks at us and analyzes us and strategizes on how he can trap us and cause us to fall and seeks to devour us that we might turn away from God. And so there's these battles that rage within us and outside of us

for our souls and in relation to our relationship with Jesus Christ. And so we need some help in order to live the Christian life, in order to be the people that God has called us to be. We need some help. We need some kind of advantage because we can't do it on our own strength. And that is why Jesus said he was going away.

So that we could have the advantage that we need to be successful as the Christians that he's called us to be. Here in John chapter 16, we're looking once again at verse 7. It says, 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 depart, I will send him to you.

Here in John chapter 16, verse 7, we've already looked at it a couple times, but it's important for us to remember. Jesus said, it's better for you that I go away so that I can send the Holy Spirit. It's to your advantage that I leave and send the Spirit because He is the helper. He is the one who comes alongside of you and He's the one who's going to enable you to live the Christian life.

And so we've been studying this advantage. We started out on Sunday night looking at the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, how the Spirit dwells within us and abides within us forever.

The Holy Spirit dwells within believers always and forever and no matter what, whether we're in a good mood or in a bad mood, whether we've been doing really good and righteous deeds and been faithful in our reading and going to church, or whether we've been messing up and blowing it and falling into sin, as believers, the Holy Spirit dwells within us permanently, always and forever.

And we looked there in that study at nine advantages that we have as a result of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. And we learned that in order to receive those advantages, we had to ask and walk. We had to ask God to work in us by His Spirit. And then we have to walk in faith, believing and trusting that the Holy Spirit is accomplishing the work that God has begun in us.

Well, last night we studied the fruits of the Spirit there in Galatians chapter 5. And we learned there about the things that the Holy Spirit produces in us. And we have this great advantage because it's not up to us to generate these Christ-like qualities in our life. It's not up to us to determine or to have the willpower or discipline to take care of these qualities.

Christ-like qualities, but the Holy Spirit instead produces these things in our lives. It's a work of the Holy Spirit. It's the fruit of the Spirit. And we looked at those nine things that the Holy Spirit produces in you. And we learned how to allow the Holy Spirit to do that was that we need to cultivate our lives spiritually.

That is to give ourselves the spiritual nurture that we need and the protection that we need to spend time in fellowship, to spend time with Jesus, to spend time in the Word, and those things that help us cultivate our spiritual life so that the Spirit has the resources He needs to be able to produce the fruit in us that He desires to produce. And this evening we continue looking at the advantage that we have as Christians, the advantage of the Holy Spirit,

with the subject of the Holy Spirit upon you, or the Spirit upon you. The Spirit upon you is a different and unique relationship that we have with the Holy Spirit, that, well, as we'll see tonight, has some different results than what we've studied thus far. It also can be called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And so as we begin looking at the Holy Spirit upon you, would you turn with me now to Acts chapter 1.

the book of Acts chapter 1, to get a better understanding of the advantage that we have of the Holy Spirit coming upon us. In Acts chapter 1, we see Jesus here. It's right at the end of his ministry. He's already resurrected. He's already been with the disciples for many days after his resurrection. And he's about to ascend to the Father. He's just given the disciples the Great Commission.

And he said,

And as the disciples are gathered together, he has some final last words for them. And they're in regards to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Here in Acts chapter 1, look at verse 4. 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. Verse 5, For John truly baptized with water.

but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And so Jesus in his final instructions to the disciples says you guys need to wait in Jerusalem. There's a promise that you need to receive before you can fulfill the great commission that I've given to you. And he makes a distinction. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is different than baptism with water. He said John baptized with water

And that's something we still practice today. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the baptism in water, but it's the baptism with the Holy Spirit. And he says, you're going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Now, what Jesus is talking about here in the baptism of the Holy Spirit is different from the indwelling of the Spirit that we studied on Sunday evening.

The indwelling of the Spirit for the disciples has already happened. After Jesus resurrected, in John chapter 20, verse 22, He's with His disciples, and it tells us there that He breathes on them and says, Receive the Holy Spirit. And so it was earlier that the disciples received the Holy Spirit and experienced the Holy Spirit dwelling within them.

And so as Jesus is talking to them in Acts chapter 1, they already have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. But Jesus says there's something else. There's something else you need to wait for, and that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's a different relationship with the Holy Spirit than is indwelling.

They received the Holy Spirit in John chapter 20 verse 22. Then in Acts chapter 1, Jesus gives the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And then that promise is fulfilled in Acts chapter 2, which we'll look at later on this evening, when the disciples and those who are gathered there in the upper room are filled with the Holy Spirit. Now as we talk about this subject of the Holy Spirit upon you, there's really three descriptions that are used throughout the New Testament that are

Interchangeable. Describing the same experience or the same event. And that is... Number one, the Spirit upon you. And then number two, the baptism of the Spirit. And then number three...

being filled with the Spirit. The Spirit upon you, the baptism of the Spirit, and being filled with the Spirit are essentially interchangeable. They're all describing the same experience, the same type of relationship with the Holy Spirit, and they're used interchangeably. We'll see that as we go through some passages in the book of Acts together this evening. And so this is a unique experience. It's different than the indwelling of the Spirit.

And it's something that is promised to all believers. In Acts chapter 2, when Peter is sharing with those who have gathered around to see what's going on, he tells them in Acts chapter 2, verse 38 and 39, he says, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But then he goes on to clarify. He says, The baptism of the Holy Spirit is, well, it's something that is promised to all those who God will call, to all followers of Jesus Christ. It's not limited to the apostles, and it's not limited to those who were there on the day of Pentecost. It is something that is promised to,

for all believers, for all disciples of Jesus. Another thing that we find about the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that it's not just a one-time occurrence. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a one-time occurrence. As we are born again, the Holy Spirit takes up residence and dwells within us. He doesn't come and go. We dealt with that back on Sunday. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit coming upon you, the filling of the Holy Spirit, is something that is repeated repeatedly.

throughout our Christian life. And we can see that very clearly in Acts 4, verse 31. There in Acts 4, there's a group of believers. Many of those are the same ones who were involved in the filling of the Spirit back in chapter 2 of the book of Acts. And they pray for God to fill them with the Holy Spirit, that they might speak the Word of God with boldness. And then God responds by filling them with the Holy Spirit. And then they go forward and speak the Word of God with boldness.

Just exactly as they requested and asked of God. And so it's something that happens repeatedly throughout our Christian life. Also, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that is commanded. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5, verse 18, where the Apostle Paul says, don't be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation or excess. He says, but instead be filled with the Spirit.

And that command to be filled with the Spirit is in a particular tense in the Greek, which means that it's a command that you must do it. You must be filled. Not only that, but it's in the present tense, which means it's to be constantly, continually, and repeatedly done. And so we're continually and repeatedly commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And so this commandment,

experience, this relationship with the Holy Spirit where He comes upon us is something unique and separate from the Spirit dwelling within us. It's something that's promised to all of us and it's something that we're to be practicing and being filled with the Spirit continually and repeatedly throughout our Christian lives. Now, that's a quick overview of the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

We're not really focusing so much on the doctrine. We're trying to focus more on the application and what does it look like in our lives. And so what does that mean, the baptism of the Holy Spirit? What does it mean for us and what is its purpose? What does it look like in our lives? Well, I think Jesus gives us a good answer to that in verse 8 here in Acts chapter 1. Look at verse 8. It says,

Here Jesus says this is going to be the result. This is the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And this is what it will result in when you experience it. Now notice the interchange of the description there. He says in...

Verse 5, he says you'll be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And then in verse 8, he says when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. They're interchangeable. He's talking about the same event, the same experience. The baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit coming upon you are the same thing. And he says what's going to happen when the Holy Spirit comes upon you is that you will receive power. That is the purpose of

Of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That is the purpose of the Holy Spirit coming upon you. So that you would be empowered. So that you would receive power to do the things that God has called you to do. The word power in the Greek, it's dunamis. It has the basic meaning of being able or capable.

God is making us able and capable to do the things that He's called us to do by filling us or baptizing us with the Holy Spirit. That word dunamis, it's the word that is the roots of our English word dynamic and dynamite. That explosive power, that power that comes from the Holy Spirit coming upon us.

Remember that Jesus had given the disciples a very big task. Their task was to go into all the world and to make disciples. Matthew chapter 28, verse 19 and 20, that's the great commission. He had delivered that to them, but then he tells them to wait. Now, when I have a big job to do, my tendency is to jump on it right away because there's a lot to be done.

There's a limited amount of time and I better get to work. But Jesus gives them this great big task of evangelizing the world. And then he tells them to wait. Don't get started just yet. Hang on. Wait a minute. Because not many days from now you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The disciples were not capable of fulfilling God's plan for them until the Spirit came upon them. They were lacking. They didn't have the power to

to make disciples until the Holy Spirit came upon them. In the same way, you are not capable of fulfilling God's plan for your life until the Spirit has come upon you. You are not capable of doing the work of God until the Spirit has come upon you. You are not capable of advancing the kingdom of God until the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Nothing of eternal value can be done

Without the power of the Holy Spirit. And so Jesus said, wait. It's a big job. It's a big task. But wait. Consider with me for a moment Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10. You don't have to turn there. But the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2 verse 10 says that we are God's workmanship. And we're created in Christ Jesus for good works. And he tells us God prepared those good works beforehand that we should walk in them.

So understand what Paul is saying there. We are created, the purpose that we are new creatures in Christ is for good works. To accomplish good works. To accomplish the plan of God, the purposes of God, and the work of God. And those good works God has prepared beforehand. And so if you could envision a path in front of you, which is your life. And along that path, God has set up all of these stations of good works.

And as you are living your life, you come up to this station and it's something that He's prepared. It's a meeting that He has arranged. There's a need that He has prepared that you are able to meet. And He has set up these good works along the path of your life so that you could walk down that path and do those good works and accomplish those things in His name and for His glory. God has a plan for

for your life and good works that He has set up and established for each one of us. Now overall, kind of generally broad brush stroke speaking, we all have the same mission to make disciples, to glorify God. We all have that same calling. But individually, there's great variety. And what God has laid before you is very different than what God has laid before me.

They're these good works that He has set up before us. But we need to understand that we're not capable of fulfilling those good works and fulfilling God's plan for us until the Spirit has come upon us. So the very important question that we need to ask is, have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Do you have power right now because the Spirit is upon you

to accomplish the work of God in your life. One thing that I think is very interesting about the study of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit and all these things that we're talking about is you really don't have to understand all of these things to be able to live it out. You don't have to have the theology squared away. You don't have to have the understanding intellectually accessible in your mind.

Christians live out these things all the time without really being aware of it, without really knowing it. And so it's not a matter of you have to be really smart or you have to attend that specific study or you have to go through that one course. It's really a matter of asking God and relying upon God and looking to Him. And He does the work in your hearts and in your life.

And so as we're looking at these things, you might be scratching your head and saying, but I still don't quite get it. It doesn't quite make sense. I don't quite understand it. Don't be discouraged. Don't think, if I don't have it all figured out, I won't be able to be baptized in the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit will not come upon me. No, He doesn't wait for you to have it all figured out. I guarantee you the disciples were confused. They were scratching their heads. In fact, in Acts chapter 1, actually it's...

Yeah, it's Acts chapter 1. We won't get into that passage, but, you know, they're sitting around, they're waiting, they're wondering, well, what are we supposed to do? They think, well, let's nominate another disciple. Yeah, Judas is gone, you know, let's fill his spot. They didn't know what to do with themselves. That wasn't an instruction that Jesus gave them, but they were just like, well, it seems good, this seems to make sense, let's do this. They didn't know what they were waiting for. They didn't have it all figured out. They didn't know what was going to happen on the day of Pentecost.

You see, God works beyond our understanding, which is really good because we understand very little. So don't be deceived, don't think that you cannot be used by God in this way, that He will not fill you or come upon you unless you have it all figured out. You can be filled with the Holy Spirit. You can be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And I think the next question that we ask then is how? How are we filled with the Holy Spirit? How do we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Now, throughout the book of Acts, there's a variety of ways that people receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Here we saw that Jesus told his disciples to wait. And that has prompted some people, some churches, to have the waiting meetings or the tarrying meetings. Because they figure you have to wait. You have to wait for a certain amount of time in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But that's not what we see throughout the book of Acts.

Throughout the book of Acts, there's different ways. In Acts chapter 2, again at the end of Peter's sermon, he tells them the people to repent and be baptized, and then they would receive the Holy Spirit of promise. In Acts chapter 4, we see that the disciples, as they were gathered together, they prayed for boldness, and they prayed that they would be able to obey, and they prayed that they would be filled with the Spirit, and then they were filled with the Spirit. In Acts chapter 8...

There's a group of disciples that have turned to Jesus and the apostles go and lay hands on them and pray for them. And then they receive the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 10, Peter is teaching or preaching to Cornelius' household, these Gentiles. And while he is speaking, while he's preaching the message, the group that is gathered together to listen are baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Acts chapter 19, we see another account of believers who are gathered together and Paul comes and he says, hey, there's something missing, there's something lacking. Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? And they say, well, we don't even know that there is a Holy Spirit. And so Paul gives them some instruction. He lays hands on them and prays for them and then they receive the Holy Spirit. There's a variety of ways throughout the book of Acts that we see the Holy Spirit coming upon believers. I...

liken it to the miracles that we see Jesus perform throughout the Gospels. It's always different, the methods that he used. Sometimes he spit on the ground to make mud. Other times he spoke from a great distance away. Sometimes he laid hands. He did it different all the time because it's really not the method that is so important. It's not some formula that, you know, you jump through these hoops and you do these somersaults and then you're

this miracle will be performed or then you will be filled with the Holy Spirit. And so I look instead in all of those instances in the book of Acts when people are filled with the Holy Spirit and I ask, what do they have in common? And I would suggest to you that the thing that all of them have in common is number one, they needed to be filled with the Spirit. There was a lack. They weren't filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not come upon them

And that's the first thing. And then the second thing that we see in all of those instances is that then God filled them with the Holy Spirit. That's really the point. There was a need, there was a lack. They were not filled with the Spirit. And then God filled them with the Holy Spirit. You see, we really don't have to persuade God to fill us with the Spirit. We don't have to convince Him to send the Spirit to come upon us.

It's His command to us that we be filled. It's His desire that we be filled. We don't have to convince Him or persuade Him. You remember Jesus there on the temple steps in John chapter 7. He was there for the feast. It was the great day of the feast, the last day of the feast in John chapter 7, verse 37 through 39. And He stands up and He says, "...if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."

And whoever believes in me, as the scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers or torrents of living water. And then it goes on to explain to us, this he spoke of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, look, if you're thirsty, come to me and drink. In torrents of living water, the Holy Spirit will burst forth from your life, will gush forth from your life. How do we be filled with the Spirit? How do we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

We go to Jesus. We ask, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. And then we walk. That's important. We ask. We need to believe. We need to receive by faith the promise that Jesus has given to us. And then we need to walk accordingly. To go forward knowing, trusting, believing that the Holy Spirit has come upon us. And so once again,

As we look at the results and what it looks like in our life, how to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, we need to ask and then we need to walk. As we talked about on Sunday evening, sometimes we miss out in regards to the things of the Spirit because we sit back and we wait for some kind of takeover, for the Holy Spirit to just take over and make us do the works of God that He wants us to do.

We see a situation, we see a need, we know God's speaking to our heart, and we sit there and we say, okay, Lord, whenever you want, just go ahead and take over. Here I am, right here. But we just sit there and wait as if we're not going to have control. But that's not the way the Holy Spirit works. What we need to do is we need to ask, and that's important that we ask, that we have the thirst and we come to Jesus and we drink deeply of all that He has to offer us.

But then we need to engage in the work that God has called us to do. And we need to take the step and start the conversation and begin to share and to go forward in those things that God has placed before us, those good works that He's laid out before us. And as we do, the Holy Spirit upon us gives us the power. So many times we wait, we sit back and we think, okay, do I have the power yet? I don't think I have the power. I'm pretty sure I don't have the power yet. We're waiting so...

I need some kind of evidence, some kind of proof. How do I know if I have the power? You can't wait. You got to go. You got to walk. You got to do the things that God set before you. And as you do, the Holy Spirit upon you empowers you and enables you to do those things that God has placed in your path. And so the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit, it's received by asking and then walking. Now, what does it look like?

That's what we want to spend the remainder of our time here this evening looking at. What does it look like? What's the result of the Holy Spirit coming upon you? Well, there's five things this evening that we see as the result of the Holy Spirit upon you. And the first thing we see here in verse 8 still is that the Spirit empowers you to be a witness. The Spirit empowers you to be a witness. Look again at verse 8 here in Acts 1.

He says,

You will receive power and you will be a witness, Jesus said. This is the primary purpose and the result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In fact, all of the other things that we'll be looking at tonight really are included in this idea of being a witness to Jesus. This is the result. This is the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The word witness is the word martis in the Greek. It simply means one who can give information.

One who can bring something to light or confirm something. You could think about it this way. Lawyers seek out eyewitnesses in order to build their case. Or they seek out expert witnesses who can add to their case.

Reporters who want to write a good story seek out those eyewitnesses, those who were there, those who have something to offer. They can give information because they were part of the event. They can bring to light the facts and the truth because they were there. They can confirm what really took place. That's what a witness is. And Jesus said, the result of the Holy Spirit coming upon you will be that you will be

A witness. You will be able to give information. Information about what? Jesus said, you'll be witnesses to me. The point is, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit has come upon you, you will be able to tell people about Jesus. The Holy Spirit empowers you to testify of Jesus. To give information about Jesus. To bring Jesus into the light. To confirm the truth about Jesus to people around you.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit results in us being witnesses to Jesus, testifying of who He is. You know, for many Christians, the closest that they come to witnessing is to invite people to church. And it's not bad to invite people to church. It's a great thing to do. But the Spirit empowers you as a Christian to go beyond an invitation to an event or to a church service.

You know, it's not, hey, come to church so that my pastor can tell you about Jesus. The Holy Spirit empowers you so that you are witnesses to Jesus. And so that you can give that information about Jesus. That you can reveal who Jesus is and what He has done. In the power of the Spirit, you are an authority on Jesus. You are an expert witness on who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He can do in a life that's submitted to Him. You are an expert witness.

We disqualify ourselves so quickly, don't we? Oh, I'm not equipped. I'm not ready. I'm not prepared. I can't share with that person. I can't talk to that person. You know, that's something for someone else to handle who's been trained in apologetics. Jesus says, no, look, the result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that you will be expert witnesses on my behalf. You're an expert on Jesus because of the Holy Spirit empowering you.

You're able to testify of Him. Not because you have the exact right words and the answers to every question and the winning strategy for every debate, but because the Holy Spirit is working as you share, as you talk, as you bear witness of Jesus Christ. Again, in Matthew 28, Jesus tells His disciples to go forth and make disciples of all nations. It's a huge task. But He begins that command in Matthew 28, verse 18, saying,

By saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. So go therefore. The command to go is connected to the fact that Jesus says, all authority has been given to me. And then he gives his disciples authority to go and make disciples. You are an authorized agent of Jesus. You're authorized to make disciples and to teach them how to walk with Jesus.

and to obey all the things that He has commanded. You are an authorized expert witness because you've been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Do you desire to be involved in bringing people to salvation? Do you want to be part of that work in people's lives? Do you want to see them turn to Jesus Christ and put their faith and trust in Him and have their sins be forgiven? Do you want to be a part of that work in their lives?

Do you want to be involved in discipling people and teaching them how to follow Jesus? Listen, if that's your desire, I have good news for you. You have a great and huge advantage. And no, it's not all of your education or it's the classes that you took or even coming and being a part of this Holy Spirit series. That's not the advantage that you have. The advantage that you have is the Holy Spirit. And God has given us the promise of the Holy Spirit. Again, it's to all believers.

He's given us the command to constantly and continually be filled with the Holy Spirit because it's to our advantage so that we are capable, that we have the power that is necessary to be involved in people's lives in that way, to make an impact. How? How do we do this? How can we be empowered to be witnesses to Jesus? Ask and then walk. Ask. Ask God to fill you with the Spirit. Ask God.

to baptize you in the Holy Spirit, and then walk. Start the conversations. Begin to share. Take steps of faith. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and you'll receive power to be an authorized agent and expert witness of who Jesus is. Well, the second thing that we see as a result of the Holy Spirit coming upon us is that the Holy Spirit empowers you to serve.

The Holy Spirit empowers you to serve. And for that, we're flipping over to the next chapter, Acts chapter 2. And look at verse 4. In Acts chapter 2, verse 4, the Holy Spirit has come upon them. And in verse 4, it says, And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And so the result, the promise we read about there in chapter 1, the actual events taking place is here in chapter 2. The disciples are gathered together. The Holy Spirit comes upon them. They're filled with the Spirit. And what we see is the immediate result there among the disciples is that they begin to speak with other tongues. Notice, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And so the result is that those who are given utterance by the Spirit are speaking in other tongues.

And then if you go down a little bit further, Peter's explaining what is happening to the crowd that's gathered together because they're mystified at what is going on. And in verse 17, he quotes from the book of Joel and he says, "...and it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh." And then notice what the result will be. "...your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams."

Verse 18, And on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. You see, there's a connection to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and then the result is, well, it's empowering you to serve, to be involved in the work of God. Immediately, as they're baptized in the Holy Spirit, they begin to serve God by speaking in other tongues,

And there the crowd, as they gathered, everyone heard in their own language, praise to God. People being expert witnesses and testifying of who Jesus is in their own language. There was prophecy that's going on. Peter says, look, this is the fulfillment of Joel. The result of the Holy Spirit is this type of work, this type of ministry. The baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers you to serve. Peter, standing up to preach Jesus,

And teach to that crowd that gathered was the result of him being filled with the Spirit. He was empowered to serve. This is the same guy who constantly put his foot in his mouth. This is the same guy who just days earlier was frightened and fearful with the door locked, gathered with the other disciples because they were afraid of what the Jews thought and the religious leaders were going to do. And here he stands up and teaches a message about

And 3,000 people get saved. And so he's not just sharing with a small group. I mean, he's loudly and boldly proclaiming. Why? He was empowered to serve. Now, not everybody had that role, had that call that they were to stand up and preach to that crowd. But Peter did. That was one of the good works that God had laid out before him. And as the Holy Spirit filled him, he was empowered to do that work that God had set before him.

And so the point is not that everyone will speak in tongues or everyone will prophesy or do this exact thing, but that we will be empowered to do those things which God has set before us. Our individual callings, our individual paths are different and unique to us in the life that God has set up before us. But the Holy Spirit empowers you to serve Him and to do those things by supernaturally gifting you to accomplish those things that He set before you.

We're talking about the gifts of the Spirit. Now, that's about all I'm going to say on this area because the next four nights as we continue this study on the Holy Spirit advantage, we'll be looking at and examining the gifts of the Spirit. And so we'll deal with those in more detail in the coming nights. But Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4, verse 10, that each one has received a gift. And as we have received it, we're to minister it to one another.

as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We are to use that gift to exercise the gifts that God has given to us. How? Ask and walk. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you're empowered to serve. So how do I get empowered to serve? I ask. Those good works are laid out before me and I come to that station. I come to this good work that God has set up. There's a need that's right there. There's a conversation that needs to take place.

How can I be empowered to do the thing that God has set before me? I ask. I ask God to baptize me, to fill me with His Holy Spirit, to empower me to serve, to empower me to use the gifts that He's given to me. And then I don't sit back and wait and then keep on waiting and then keep on waiting and then keep on waiting. No, I take this step trusting and believing God that He has empowered me by His Holy Spirit to do the things that He has set before me.

Well, then the third result that we see of the Holy Spirit coming upon us is the Spirit teaches you what to say. The Spirit teaches you what to say. Let's jump now to Acts chapter 4, a couple chapters ahead. Acts chapter 4, we find the situation is that Peter and John are on trial. The Sanhedrin, that's the Jewish leaders, the Jewish authorities say,

have called them in. They've imprisoned them. They've called them in to testify because of this great healing that took place. And they're standing trial as a result. And there in Acts 4, verse 7, it says, When they, that is the Sanhedrin, had set them in their midst, they asked, By what power or by what name have you done this? Now remember, these are the same guys who crucified Jesus or handed Him over to be crucified. So this is a serious situation here, this trial that's going on. Verse 8,

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole.

This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Verse 12. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. And then verse 13. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. Verse 13.

powerful passage here. We look and we see Peter and John there before the Sanhedrin and the boldness of Peter to proclaim loud and clear what has really gone on and who Jesus is and the fact that salvation is found in Him. Now consider this. Because you know what it's like to be put on the spot. You ever been put on the spot? You know that feeling?

when your mind just goes completely blank you know we watch people on game shows and we kind of laugh right like oh i could solve that i i know the answer to that because at home sitting on your couch it's a whole lot easier to answer the questions than when you've got when you're you know you're right there and the spotlight's on you and the camera's on you and the audience is there and the whole world is watching oh man that's tough to be on the spot it's just

The answers flee from your mind. You forget some of the simplest thing. And we feel this great pressure. And when we're on the spot, short periods of time feel like hours, don't they? You're scrambling, looking, and it's only been a split second, but it feels like everybody's staring at you and they're laughing at you because you've been sitting there for five minutes looking like a dummy. That's what it feels like, right? That's what it's like to be on the spot.

And here's Peter on the spot. They bring in Peter and John. It's a serious issue. Hey, what have you been doing? How did you do this miracle? I think being on the spot is amplified even more when you're in that kind of a serious situation, when you're standing before a judge. I remember. I'm not really proud of the facts, but I know what it's like to stand before a judge. There was a time in my life last week. No, it was a long time before that.

I was caught. I was driving with a suspended license and expired registration and without insurance. Multiple tickets, failures to appear, warrants for my arrest, you know, that type of thing. And I had to stand before a judge. And so I went to the court and I was sitting there through my day, you know, it's my time to come. And I was waiting for my turn. And there's all these other cases that are going before me. And I'm just sitting there watching them. Well, there's this guy who goes before me who really gets the judge upset.

Because of what he did and because how he was answering, the judge just, he gets upset. And he says, "Baliff!" And you hear these chains, "Shing-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling!" And he hauls the guy off to jail. And then it's my turn. And oh my goodness, am I on the spot, right? And the judge, I'm standing there, I'm so freaked out, I have no idea what really is going on. And the judge asks me, "Are you representing yourself? Or do you have a lawyer? Do you need a lawyer to be appointed to you?"

And I could not figure out what to say. My reply, it took forever. I'm sure my face was completely white. I know I was shaking like crazy, like you've never seen before. And finally, with a very shaky and quiet voice, I told the judge, I don't know. He's like, well, you've got to make a decision. Are you going to represent yourself or are you going to get a lawyer? And then so I'm like, well, what's the consequences of whichever way I answer? And man, I didn't know what to say.

I was freaked out. But here's Peter. Before these guys who intensely hated Jesus, and they turned him over to be crucified, and he, there on the spot, under this great pressure, he had an advantage. It says in verse 8, Then Peter, filled with the Spirit, said to them. You see, he asked, he was filled with the Spirit, and then he walked. He said to them. And he's able to give a clear answer today.

A righteous answer. He's able to bear witness to Jesus. Well, in that intense and high-pressure situation, because he was filled with the Spirit. The Spirit teaches you what to say. Notice, it says in verse 13, they're marveling. It says they perceived that he was uneducated and untrained. But the Holy Spirit had taught him, you see. So they marveled. Hey, this guy, he's not been trained. He's not been taught.

But what a great answer! Caused them to marvel. They're perplexed. They didn't know about the Holy Spirit advantage. The Spirit taught him what to say. Jesus said in Luke 12, verse 11 and 12, He says, look, when they bring you into synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, don't worry about how or what you should answer or what you should say. He said the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. See again, you see the ask and the walk?

You don't have to think about and worry about and stress about, you know, the weeks in advance. You need to ask. But then in that hour, as you're walking, as you're answering, the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say, Jesus says. And so the Holy Spirit teaches us what to say. You know, when the boss calls us in, when our friends call us up, when our relatives say, hey, what's up? How's this going on? What's with this situation? What does the Bible say about that? The Holy Spirit will teach you what to say.

If you're filled with the Spirit. And so we need to ask, and then we need to walk. Don't back away, don't run away from the conversation. Trust, and go forward, believing God at His Word, that the Spirit will teach you what to say in the very hour that you need. Well, then the fourth thing that we see is that the Spirit empowers you to speak the Word boldly. Still here in chapter 4, look at verse 29. It says,

Well, a little bit of background first. After this trial, they're beaten and

forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus. And so they go back and give an account to the rest of the congregation there. And so they have a prayer meeting. And it says in verse 29, this is their prayer. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal and that the signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. They recognized the threat. They recognized the need. Now, we need boldness because they don't want us to teach in his name, and we're fearful. There's a threat here. And so, Lord, grant us boldness to speak your word. And the result of that prayer is,

They were empowered to speak the word boldly. And they went forth and they spoke the word of God with boldness. That word boldness, it means freedom or frankness in speaking. They had a freedom to speak the truth and to share the word of God. They weren't restricted. They weren't held back by their fears, by the threats of the religious leaders. Now, there's some people who are naturally bold and they're not afraid to say whatever they think and whatever they want.

And then there's others who are called by God to be evangelists, and they're gifted by God to be bold, and they're sharing with people constantly. But this kind of boldness that is being referred to here goes beyond both of those. It's not just a natural condition of a person, and it's not just limited to those who have that special gift of evangelism. Notice there in Acts chapter 4,

It's not just the apostles who are praying. The whole congregation is praying, saying, Lord, give us boldness that we would speak your word. And then the result is the whole congregation is filled with the Spirit, and they go forth from that prayer meeting speaking the word of God with boldness. And so it's not limited to a select few or those who have that calling or those who are just naturally that way. No, this is a boldness that's given to us by the Holy Spirit. He empowers us to speak the word boldly.

And so don't blame your personality for not speaking boldly. Don't blame that, you know, it's not my gifting or it's just not the way that I am. No, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit when we're filled with the Spirit to speak the Word of God boldly. In Acts chapter 8, we find the persecution of Saul of Tarsus and the church is spread, the disciples flee from Jerusalem.

Because of this persecution. But it says in Acts chapter 8 verse 4. That those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. They had this boldness to preach the word. To deliver the word of God to the people. Even though they were being scattered as a result of this intense persecution. The Holy Spirit empowers you to speak the word boldly. To be free or frank. In saying this is what the Bible says.

This is who Jesus is. This is what the Bible calls sin. This is the way of salvation. It's a boldness. It's a freeness to speak the truth without fear, to not be restrained or restricted by whatever threats might be present. You want that kind of boldness? Is that something that would be good in your life or useful in your life? How do we get it? How do we get empowered to speak boldly the word of God? We ask and then we walk.

We ask God, Lord, give me boldness. That's what these people prayed for here in verse 29. Lord, grant us that we would with all boldness speak your word. And then they walked. They went forth from that meeting and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Don't wait for some overwhelming overtaking. You don't have control anymore that God's just doing it. And again, as I shared before, it's not like demon possession. You know, in demon possession, the person who's possessed doesn't have control.

But being filled with the Spirit is not like that. And we want it to be so bad because that step of faith is tough for us. But we need to have faith and we need to trust God. And we need to have the conversation. We need to begin to share those words and share those verses and share what the Bible says. And the Spirit upon us will give us boldness to speak it boldly. Again in verse 13 of chapter 4.

The Jewish leaders marveled when they saw the boldness of Peter and John. They said, wow, look how free and how bold they were in giving their response because they had the Holy Spirit advantage. Well, the fifth thing, the final thing for this evening, we look at as a result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is the Spirit empowers you to fellowship. The Spirit empowers you to fellowship. Turn a few more chapters now to Acts chapter 11.

Acts chapter 11, verse 23 and 24. Here we see a situation where there's some people in Antioch that have begun to follow Jesus. And so the disciples send Barnabas to Antioch to minister to those who are turning to Jesus.

And in Acts 11, verse 23, it says, Now that's Barnabas. The Spirit empowers you to fellowship. Fellowship is so important.

for us as believers. We need one another. God has designed the body of Christ that way that we are dependent upon one another and we can only grow as each of us performs our role within the body of Christ. You can check it out in Ephesians 4:16. We need one another.

And so Barnabas here goes into this situation where there's these new believers, there's these disciples that are gathered together and he sees the work of God and he says he encouraged them all. And why did he encourage them all? How was he able to encourage them all? Well, he goes on to explain, for he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit. He was full of the Spirit and as a result, he was able to encourage them all. The Spirit empowered him to fellowship with those believers.

and to be a part of their growth, to be a part of their edification, to be a part of the work that God was doing in their life. And you and I as believers, we need that kind of fellowship. We need fellowship that goes beyond the casual conversation. We need fellowship that is empowered by the Holy Spirit to build us up and prepare us for what lies ahead, to equip us, to help us to grow. That's the kind of fellowship we need.

Have you ever experienced someone sharing with you things that you already knew, and yet it was a great help and encouragement to you? You ever experienced that? It happens all the time. That's the result of the Holy Spirit working. You see, fellowship is not about new information. It's not about, let me show you something you've never seen before. No, it's about encouraging one another in the things that God has taught us. And the power of the Holy Spirit...

is what makes that fellowship sweet and powerful. It's what causes growth. It's not that you have to come up with some clever saying or phrase or some new thing. No, but it's sharing the right thing. Probably that's already known. But because the Holy Spirit is at work in the fellowship, because you've been empowered by the filling of the Holy Spirit, sharing the simple things, the simple truths, have great effect in the lives of those that you're ministering to.

The Holy Spirit is working in our words and in our actions. And he empowers us to fellowship. In that passage, Ephesians 5.18, where we're commanded there to be filled with the Spirit, the passage goes on to say, Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another in the fear of God.

The result of being filled with the Holy Spirit and obedience to that command in Ephesians 5.18 is fellowship. We're empowered to speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. To minister to one another in the Word of God and in the praise of God and worship of God. We're empowered to give thanks to God always, even in the midst of difficulty. And we're empowered to, we don't like this one that much, but to submit to one another.

to receive from one another, to benefit from one another, to serve one another. The Holy Spirit empowers you to fellowship. And it's what makes fellowship awesome. You know, it's not just a club. We don't just have similar interests, you know, and so it's like any other club that's gathering. It's a book reading club or a chess club or I don't know, whatever other kind of clubs there are. It's not just, you know, some people gathering together and we just talk about the same things.

No, no, no. There's a supernatural work that's involved. And the Holy Spirit empowers us to fellowship and to make an impact, to receive from one another, to be a part of the growth of the body of Christ. Nothing of eternal value can be done without the power of the Holy Spirit. And so if our fellowship isn't powered by the Spirit, it's not valuable. It's not accomplishing anything of eternal value.

So how do we have this type of fellowship? How do we become capable of ministering to one another in this way? We ask and then we walk. We ask, Lord, fill me with your Spirit that I would be able to minister, that we would be able to share with one another, that we would be able to submit to one another, that we'd be able to worship you together. Lord, baptize me in your Spirit. Empower me to fellowship. And then walk.

On Wednesdays, as we have the time of ministry, walk, go and minister, go and share, be a part, involve yourself, call up the person, meet up with them, engage with members of the body of Christ, engage in fellowship, and the Spirit who has come upon you will empower you to fellowship with those that He has placed in your life.

And so we see these incredible results of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We're empowered to be a witness. We're empowered to serve. We're empowered to know what to say. We're empowered to speak the word boldly. We're empowered to fellowship. And how? By asking and walking. J. Oswald Sanders says something that's, I think, so key. He says, we are filled with the Spirit as much as we choose to be. It's not about persuading or convincing God or

Doing good works, it's about grace, it's about faith, it's about choosing by asking and then walking in obedience to the things that God has set before us. Let's pray. Lord, as the disciples were gathered together in the book of Acts chapter 4 and they prayed, Lord, that they would have boldness to speak your word in the midst of great opposition and threat. Lord, in a similar way, we pray this evening.

God, would you grant us the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Lord, that we would be empowered to do those good works that you have set before us. Those good works that you have in store for us this evening. Lord, the fellowship that you have in store for us this evening. The things that you have established and set up for us tomorrow. Lord, would you empower us and embolden us? Lord, would you give us the strength and make us capable to accomplish the things that you desire for us to do? Lord, we ask now.

not because of our goodness, not because of our works, but because it's the promise that You've given to us. Lord, we ask, would You fill us with Your Holy Spirit? Baptize us. And Lord, now help us to walk and to be obedient and to take those steps of faith and start the conversations and minister to the needs that You have set before us. And Lord, as we do and as You work, because You've empowered us by Your Holy Spirit, help us, Lord, to give thanks to You always.

to give the glory and praise for the work that you accomplish to you and you alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.