You are invited to examine the truth of the Holy Spirit through Scripture rather than relying on tradition. Take the step to ask and believe for His baptism today, knowing it is a gift based on Jesus' work, not your performance.
Hey, Real Church. Thanks for tuning in to the Real Church podcast. Today, we are continuing our series foundations. We're talking about the *Holy Spirit*. Have you ever had some questions about the Holy Spirit or what is baptism of the Holy Spirit or being sealed in the Holy Spirit, "filled with the Holy Spirit"?
When does that happen? How does it happen? Are they different? Are they the same? Now we're gonna dive into all that stuff.
Who is the Holy Spirit? So get ready and listen, and if this encourages you, don't forget to share it with some of your friends. God bless, and thanks for tuning in. So this week, if we were talking about hearing the Holy Spirit last week, we talked about hearing God, well, it makes sense to just teach on part 4, the Holy Spirit, doesn't it? So, today, we're gonna be talking about the Holy Spirit.
And, we're gonna be getting into quite a bit of scripture. And, I would encourage you. See, there's a lot of people that grew up learning a lot of things about the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, the Holy Spirit is a point of contention in the church. It's a point of it's a he's a very divisive topic.
Would you agree? So, with that, I would encourage you to take what His Word says. Everybody says, take what His Word says. Take what His Word says. Don't take what I say.
Take what His Word says. If I show you in Scripture, you go back and search it to see what I was saying is true, then, and it disagrees with what you always believed, maybe we need to shift what we always believe to what his word says. So I would encourage you to be "Berean about the message". Berean. Paul went through this city called Berea, and he said the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians.
Because the Bereans didn't just take what Paul said at face value, they went and searched out the scriptures to ensure what he said was true. Amen? And I'll encourage you, if what I say initially, today talking about the Holy Spirit, you're like, woah, that can't be right. Well, don't just put up a wall and say, well, you know, I'm never going back there again. No, search it out.
But if we agree on Christ, we can do ministry together. Amen? We're unified based on Christ. And if we disagree on something, then there's only 1 truth, truth is in Christ. So, as you grow in truth, and as I grow in truth, 1 of us will realize we're wrong, maybe it's me, but we'll unify together.
Right? And that's God's goal is unity in the body of Christ. Amen? So let's just dive in to the Holy *Spirit* together and see what happens. You good with that?
Yeah. Hallelujah. Alright. Well, I'm a put my teacher's hat on today. We're gonna go through quite a few scriptures and quite a few things, and I might pull out the preaching hat a little bit later.
We'll see what happens. Let's pray. *Holy Spirit*, we ask you to reveal who you are today. We pray that you impact us maybe in a way that we've never experienced before. Lord, any old thinking or any anything that would hinder us from any lies that we've always believed because somebody taught us, but we didn't see it in scripture or maybe they had a misunderstanding or whatever.
Lord, get it out of all of our minds, mine included. Lord, let us hear your voice. Well, we we submit ourself to your word. In Jesus' name. Amen.
So the first question I'm gonna ask is who is the Holy Spirit? Now these, we're gonna flip to quite a few scriptures. We'll show you in scripture. And because I wanna back everything up by scripture today. Because it's such a topic he's a such a topic that's divisive.
But at the same time, he's so important. That's why it's so divisive. The devil wants to divide you on this because it's important. Amen? Amen.
Alright. Who is the Holy Spirit? John-16, we'll start there. Verse 13. I'll say this.
Verse 12 says, I have much more to say to you, but it's more than you can now bear. Jesus said that. You know, Jesus always has much more to say to us. And sometimes, we have a lack of understanding because the understanding would be more than we could bear in the moment. So, wants to wait till you're ready.
Right? So, we can have peace in the midst of our lack of understanding. It's verse 12. But, verse 13. But when he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into some truth.
It's not what it says. It says all truth. Right? So, 1, we learn whenever you see s, capital s in the Bible, it's it's talking about the Holy Spirit. So, he is the **"spirit of truth"**.
Now, just to give you a little bit more. The Bible says, if you remain in the truth, the truth will set you free. Right? But he's also called the *spirit* There's freedom in the Holy Spirit. Right?
So, you can't have truth without the Holy Spirit because he is the spirit of truth. And you can't have freedom without the Holy Spirit because he's the spirit who gives you freedom. So, truth and freedom are both found in the Holy Spirit. There's a lot of people that shirk the power of the Holy Spirit, but say, I'm just about truth. You can't be about truth without the spirit of truth.
Yeah. Okay. We got 1 person that likes that. Anyway. So, verse 13, but when he, the spirit of truth, so he's the spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
He will not speak on his own. He will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. So he shows you what's yet to come. He will glorify me, this is Jesus speaking, because it is from me that he will receive what he makes known to you. All that belongs to the father is mine.
That is why I say that the spirit, holy spirit, will receive from me what he'll make known to you. So, you see this relationship between father, son, and holy spirit here. Right? The father wills the Father wills it, and he tells the Son, the Son delegates it to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit does it throughout the earth. Yeah?
Okay. So, we also see that he's he's all knowing, right? If he knows all truth, he's he's 1 with the father and the and the son, and they're in this relationship. He's all knowing knows the future. Hebrews-9:14.
Just some things about the Holy Spirit as we're slowly diving into the message. Hebrews-9:14, how much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciousness from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God. You guys see something about the Holy Spirit there? He's what? Through the Eternal.
*Eternal spirit*. So he's eternal. You guys see that? You can talk back to me a little bit today. Are you awake?
Hello? Everybody say amen. Amen. Good. Good.
It's encouraging to hear you talk back. Okay, the eternal Spirit. So, He's eternal. He always was and always will be. Okay?
So, we'll always be growing in our relationship, understanding more of who Christ is, He's eternal, of who the Father is, of who the Holy Spirit is. Always was and always will be. Even in the sweet by and by, we will continually be growing in our understanding of what it looks like to walk with the Holy Spirit, because He is eternal. That means infinite. Amen?
Amen. It's awesome. Thank you. It's encouraging. Alright.
Psalm 1 39. I feel like after that introduction, everybody's on the edge of their seat waiting to see if he says a misstep, waiting to it's okay. Alright. Psalm 1 39 7 and 8 says, where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. So, he's everywhere. He's omnipresent. He's here in the room.
Right? Wherever you go, he's everywhere, omnipresent, the Holy Spirit. *Acts-5:3-5*. I wanna make a point about this. Here we go.
Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart that you have lied to who? The Holy Spirit. Lied to the Holy Spirit, and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land. Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?
What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings, but to? God. Okay. So, he lied to the Holy Spirit.
By lying to the Holy Spirit, he was lying to God. So, therefore, the Holy Spirit is? God. You guys see that? Yeah.
Okay. *1 Corinthians-12:11*. I know it's a lot of scripture right now. Got my teacher's hat on. Verse 11, it says, all these are the work of 1 in the same spirit, capital s.
That's the Holy Spirit. It's talking about all the gifts that he gives. Okay? It says, and He distributes them to each 1 just as He determines. Other version says, just as He wills.
So, the Holy Spirit gives gifts as He wills. That means the Holy Spirit has a will. That means the Holy Spirit is a person. He's not just a force. He's not just a thing.
The Holy Spirit is a person in relationship with the person of Jesus, in relationship with the person of the Father. Okay? So, he is God, he is a person, he is eternal, he has a will, he is all knowing, knows the future, he's the spirit of truth, he gives us freedom, amen? Amen. And, Acts-2:38.
I'm a run through quite a few here in just a second really quick. But I just wanted to get you guys seeing all of these in scripture, and you can go back and look at those other scriptures in a minute or later. *Acts-2:38* said, Peter replied, repent and be baptized, every 1 of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So he's also a gift. Okay.
What does the Holy Spirit do? I'm a go through these real quick. *Romans-8:2* says, hey, he gives life. *Romans-8:4* and 5, he leads us. We live by the Holy Spirit.
He leads us in our daily life. *John-14:26*, He comforts, He helps, He advocates, He teaches. John sixteen:eight, He convicts. *Acts-1:8*, He empowers. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses to the ends of all the earth.
You guys follow me so far? Ephesians-1:13, He seals us. First Corinthians twelve:four-seven, He gives good gifts for the common good, for the good of everyone. Acts-4:31, He fills us and gives us boldness in our witness. There's a whole lot more about the Holy Spirit, who He is, what He does.
Amen? Amen. Okay. So, the question then is, who is the Holy Spirit for? There's a verse for that.
*Acts-2*, verses 17 and 18. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. So, who's the Holy Spirit for? It's for the old men, it's for the old women, it's for your sons and daughters, young men, young women, it's for everybody.
I will put my spirit on all people. So, it's for everyone. How do I receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Next question. How do I receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?
Let's go to Luke-11. We're gonna get into the juicy questions here in a minute. *Luke-11* verse 13. It says, if you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? So how do you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?
Ask. You ask. Alright. You guys ready? Are are you sure?
Alright. Growing up in church, I've I have an eclectic church background. Like, a very eclectic church background, you know. My mom grew up strict Southern Baptist. My dad, kinda more full gospel, if you will.
And and then they got married, and mom's a really strong woman, so they compromised and went to a less strict Southern Baptist Church. And then dad, dad, he started, you know, just serving where he was, and all of sudden the youth group just started exploding. He was serving in the youth, you know, and revival started happening in the youth. And then, all of a sudden God told dad he's gonna be a Southern Baptist pastor. And he's like, wait a second.
You know, they don't believe everything I believe. Next thing you know, he becomes a Southern Baptist pastor, And the this that little Southern Baptist church starts exploding, you know, went from 50 people to to a 100 families, and just God doing amazing things. And and, some of the, not all Southern, I'm not doubting Southern Baptist, right? In any shape or form. I believe there's a lot, I have a lot of good strong Southern Baptist believers in Christ that are amazing.
I'm so super thankful for the Sunday school that I grew up learning in Southern Baptist. But, there's some deacons that got together and said he's taken over the church. You know, they they didn't like the fact that, you know, the riffraff, the drug addicts and stuff were coming to church and getting set free, and now they're there. They didn't like the fact that we baptized a little black girl. This was year 2000 by the way.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And so, had a surprise business meeting and kicked him out. The people still wanted him to be the pastor. So, then they said, well, know, you're still a pastor dad's like, well, we can just go and join this other church, you know, and just be a part of that.
So, no, you're a pastor. So they, back in year 2000, they bought an old bar, River of Life. They called it River of Life Church and it's been growing and blessed ever since. Just a non denominational church that loves Jesus and and it's amazing and it's a lot of fun. And man, people of all races, all all denominational backgrounds, all kind of stuff come there and unify under the under the work of Christ.
Amen? Don't know why I share all that. But growing up I do. Growing up, man, you hear a lot of stuff about the Holy Spirit, you know. And and people divide.
There's whole denominations on when the baptism of the Holy Spirit happens. What happens when the baptism of the Holy Spirit happens? You know, does the baptism of the Holy Spirit happen at when you're born again? Does it a second? Does it happen later?
When when are you are sealed with the Holy Spirit? Is that is that 1 in the same thing? Is there a difference? When are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Is that 1 in the same thing or is there a difference?
Alright. Can you be filled over and over? All of these things. Well, let's let's dive in and see what scripture says. And once again, don't get mad at me.
Let's just look at what Bible says. Okay? Alright. So, the question is, those those words sealed with the Holy Spirit, baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit, let's find them in scripture and see what it says. Okay?
*Ephesians-1:13*. I still got my teacher's hat on. Is that okay? Yeah. Alright.
1 guy said it was, so we're good. Ephesians-1:13. It says, and you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of salvation. When you Believed. Believed, you were marked in him with the seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
So, when were you sealed with the Holy Spirit? When you That's when you were. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit when you believed. Now, what is the seal of the Holy Spirit? Let's go to John-4:14.
But everyone, or but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a "spring of water" welling up to *eternal* life. That's the seal of the Holy Spirit. *John-17:3*, *Jesus said, eternal life is knowing God*. Spring of water in you, welling up to knowing God.
I told you last week, when you're born again, your *spirit* is made new, complete total new creation, and communion with the Holy Spirit. Means, you have the capacity to pray, to speak to God, and to hear his voice. So you you have a personal relationship when you're born again. A spring welling up to eternal life. You guys follow me?
Amen. Alright. There's your seal. Now, *Acts-1:5*. And I'm gonna start in verse 4.
Actually, let's talk about this. When were the *disciples*, the apostles sealed with the Holy Spirit? I don't think I gave you this verse, so I apologize. *John-20:21* says, again, Jesus said, peace be with you. He's talking about peace between them and the father.
Why? Because Jesus had just been crucified on the cross. Blood spilled for the forgiveness of this sin. Now, have peace with the father. Now, they're clean.
And he said, as the father has sent me, I'm sending you. And then he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. That's when it happened. They were sealed. They had relationship with the heavenly father.
They no longer like Jesus said, no longer will you say no, he said he said, my father and your father. That's what he said, my father and your father. Meaning, at that moment, all of a sudden, they're sons of God. Now, they can call him our father. They can pray like Jesus did because they had relationship.
You guys follow me? Alright. But then, in *Acts-1* verse 4, it says, on 1 occasion while he was eating with them, Jesus was eating with the disciples, he gave them this command, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized you with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Verse 8, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my *witnesses* in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
So, seal of the Holy Spirit gives you the capacity to have relationship with the heavenly Father. The baptism of the Holy Spirit enables you to be a powerful witness, your life, his life transforming the lives around you through your life. The power to be a witness. I'll show you that in John, just like I did the seal. John-7.
Still got my teacher's hat on. Okay? John-7:38 Says, whoever believes in me, as scripture said, "rivers of living water" will flow from their will flow out from their bellies, will flow from within them. You guys see that? By this he meant the *spirit* whom those who believed were later to receive.
Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. So, the first 1 was welling up to eternal life, knowing God. This 1 was flowing out from within them, impacting the world around them. One's the seal of the Holy Spirit, the other is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the power to be a witness. Amen?
Amen. Some of are like, I'm still thinking about that. That's okay. It's good. Be Berean.
Go search it out for yourself. So, the question then is, does the baptism of the Holy Spirit we the seal of the Holy Spirit we saw happens when you believe, Ephesians-1:13. Next question is, does the baptism of the Holy Spirit happen automatically when you believe? Is it does it happen at the same time? Does it happen separately?
Well, let's go to scripture. Let's search it out. This is important. And I'll show you how important it is. Well, I'll tell you, it's the power to be a witness.
And you're all supposed to be witnesses. You're all meant to multiply. And you need the Holy Spirit's power to do that. Okay. You guys are sitting on pins and needles for this 1.
Let's go to Acts-8. Now, if this is different from what you've always seen and what you always thought, I'm just gonna read it. Verse 14. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they may receive the Holy Spirit.
Verse 16, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them, They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. I just read it. You guys see it? They were baptized in the name of Jesus.
They were believers. They had a relationship with the Father, but they hadn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit. *Acts-1:8* 1 5 and 1 8, the power to be a witness. It's right there. Well, but I always thought that it was just 1 in the same and it had to happen at the same time when you believe.
That's okay. I know you always thought that, but here's example in Acts of when that didn't happen. So, you're gonna have to change how you always thought. Or just say, I don't believe that verses for today. Right?
Yep. Alright. Now, does the baptism of the Holy Spirit now, we we we've we've said it's it's it can be something separate. And the question is, does it have to be separate? Does it have to be you believe in Jesus, you're baptized in water, then after water baptism?
Or does it have to be you believe in Jesus, then at a later time, you're baptized in the Holy Spirit? Well, there's a verse for that. *Acts-10*. I'm just gonna read it to you. Verse 44, there we go.
While Peter was still speaking, so he'd gone to this place and he was preaching the gospel. While he was still speaking, these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, surely no 1 can stand in the way of their being baptized with water.
They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. So, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Lord Jesus. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. Peter speaking, they just believe. They believe, so then they're saved.
And at the same time they believe and are saved, the Holy Spirit's like, I'm gonna baptize them in my presence because I have a will, I can do whatever I want whenever I want. Boom. They're baptized in the Holy Spirit. Guys are like, wow. Now, we need to baptize them in water too, I guess.
So, so you know, the way I say it is, Holy Spirit's a big boy. And it we walk in relationship with him. So, he can do what he wants, when he wants. But, he's not gonna force himself on anyone, just like the father want. He will invite you and he wants you to invite him.
The father gives a spirit to all who? **ask and believe**. Yeah. Believe. All who believe.
Yes. But Luke-11:13 says, to ask and he'd be sure to give it to you. You agree? Yes. You see it?
Yes. Does it challenge your theology? No. Maybe. Some of you.
Let me ask you this. How important is it being baptized in the Holy Spirit? I've asked this question. I've been asked this question before, too. Well, you know, I have a relationship with God.
I don't need to share my faith. I have a relationship with God, I don't really need that. It's just kind of an extra gift that I, you know, I'm kinda scared of. *Acts-19:1-2*. While Apollos was at Corinth, that's important, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.
There he found some disciples. So, this between Corinth and Ephesus is a pretty long journey. Okay? It's not just like a hop, skipping a jump, half a mile walk and he's there. Right?
This is this is a long time that he traveled. When he got there, he found some disciples and he asked them, how's your mom doing? How's your family? No. The first thing he asked them wasn't that.
The first thing he asked them was, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? That's how important it is. The baptism of Holy Spirit is that important. Why? Because *Jesus* gave the commission to the disciples to make disciples of all nations.
And the only way that you're effective at making disciples of all nations is by the power of the Holy Spirit. This isn't just a personal relationship that doesn't impact the world around you. You're meant to be baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit so that you can more effectively impact the world around you with what He's impacting you with personally. Yeah? Okay.
Cool. I gotta say this. There's whole denominations of of the church that don't believe what I just told you. Right? Right.
Maybe you grew up in 1. What does that mean? *Acts-19, and this is just kind of an extra little bunny trail for you guys, just a little extra tidbit. Acts-19:1*, it says, while Apollos was at Corinth. Right before it, *Acts-18:24*, it says, meanwhile and that's important.
Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria came to Ephesus. So, Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a learned man with a thorough knowledge of scriptures. He had been instructed in the ways of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately. Everybody say, accurately.
Accurately. Okay. He taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the "baptism of John". There are whole denominations of the church today that only know the baptism of John. The baptism of John is the baptism of repentance.
They repent, and they're born again, and they have a relationship with the father, but they don't know the baptism of Holy Spirit. Just like Apollos. They still teach about Jesus accurately. They're still our brothers and sisters in Christ, And, we dare not down them, but only build them up. As a matter of fact, what we should do is what Priscilla and Aquila did.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue when Priscilla and Aquila heard him. They invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. You can teach about *Jesus* accurately and still not be as adequate in teaching about Jesus as others and have room to grow. What was it that they explained to them, to Apollos? Remember, he's in Ephesus.
I'm sorry about this bunny trail if I'm losing people. This is this is when Apollos wanted to go to Achaea, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the *disciples* there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who had by grace believed for he had vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public. Anyway, verse 19, while while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road to the interior, arrived at Ephesus. Now, Apollos was teaching Jesus in Ephesus and making disciples, but didn't know about the baptism of Holy Spirit.
Apollos goes on, so he still has all of those converts in Ephesus. Paul later comes to Ephesus and the people don't know about the baptism of Holy Spirit. So, Paul then prays and and they're baptized in the Holy Spirit. Meaning, once again, there's whole sections of the of the church, the global church that don't know about the baptism of Holy Spirit. All they're all they're teaching is is repentance and being born again, and that's great and wonderful.
And, man, it's part of our role to help them to see that, hey, the baptism of Holy Spirit is important. If they shut you down and put walls in front, just pray for them and love them anyway. You know, invite them in your home, pray for them and love them anyway. But, let's go on in the power of the Holy Spirit to have the power to be a witness to make disciples of all nations. Amen?
Amen. Okay. Do you mind if we just keep in the controversial lane? Yeah. Is that okay?
Let's do it. Sure. Yeah. Alright. Fair enough.
What happens when I'm baptized in the Holy Spirit? Let's go to Acts-2:1-4. Like, they were waiting on this. They waited, was it 50 days, 40, 50 days, something like that. And then, when the day of Pentecost come, they were all together in 1 place.
Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a "violent wind" came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated on them and came on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the gift, the baptism of Holy Spirit. And be and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit enabled them.
Everybody say, as the spirit enabled them. As the spirit enabled them. He enforced them. He enabled them. That's key for the rest of this discussion.
Now, they were speaking in other tongues. Okay? Meaning, they didn't necessarily know what they were saying, but the next paragraph if you read it, all the other nations that were there understood what they were saying in their own tongue, and they were speaking the word of God. And, it was preaching the gospel to them. Some of it rejected it.
Some of them rejected it, and some of them said, wow, this is God. It's amazing. And then Peter gets up in Acts-2:14. He stood up with the 11, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd. He said, fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you.
Listen carefully to what I say. I still have my teacher's hat on. These people are not drunk as you suppose. It's only 9 in the morning. No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
So, what you see happening is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. What did Joel say was gonna happen? He quotes it 17 and 18. In the last days, God said, I will pour out my *spirit* on all people. Your sons and daughters will Prophesy.
Your young men will see Visions. Your old men will dream Dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days. And it goes on. You know what?
Joel didn't say, your young men, your old men will all speak in tongues. Did he? He didn't say that. He said this is that though. The Holy Spirit was manifesting through these people with them speaking in tongues.
But he said, hey, Joel said that they would prophesy and dream dreams and have visions. Ain't that interesting? Meaning the Holy Spirit is a big boy. He can manifest himself through you however he wants. It's up to you if you're gonna allow him, if you're he's going to enable you.
Will you walk in faith as the Holy Spirit enables you? You hear that? Some people are like, oh. Let's keep on the controversial topic. *1 Corinthians-14*.
So, the tongues chapter. Says, follow the way of love and eagerly desire the gifts of the spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Now, this is talking about **prayer in tongues**. He's not those they were speaking to people.
The people were hearing the gospel. So, there's a difference. This is talking about prayer because they're not speaking to people, they're speaking to God. Right? Now, there's a lot of people like, I ain't going to that church because they speak in tongues and all this kind of stuff.
Hey, what you're saying is, I don't believe that what's applicable in the Bible is applicable for my life. It might make you feel uncomfortable, but if it's truth, then maybe we need to put our own comfort away and say, God, if this is applicable for me, I'm gonna put my uncomfortable uncomfortable way and I'm gonna trust your word even if it doesn't make me comfortable. Amen. *Holy Spirit*'s the comfortable the comforter. He'll comfort you through it.
Now, me tell you my opinion. You can disagree with me on this. Okay? We can still be brothers in Christ and minister. You can still come to this church.
Verse 3, but the 1 who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort. Verse 4, anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the 1 who prophesies edifies the church. Now, let's talk about praying in tongues here, Edifying themselves. Later in chapter 14, it talks about speaking in tongues, like having a word in tongues and somebody having an interpretation. This is different.
This is edifying themselves, speaking to God. You guys see that? Okay. I believe that everybody who's baptized in the Holy *Spirit* has the ability to pray in tongues. Now, I don't believe everybody does.
And, here's why I say that. And, this is why I'm saying this is my opinion. Okay? It doesn't make sense to me that the father would give Nate the ability to edify himself, but not give Jerry the ability to edify himself. And, what does tongues do?
Praying in tongues edifies yourself. And, *Jesus* taught we're supposed to love others as we love ourself. So, if I pray in tongues, you guys, it's not about you. You don't even need to hear me. It's edifying my *spirit* so that I can more adequately walk in the other gifts of the spirit to edify the church.
That makes sense? The power of the Holy *Spirit* is enabling you to supernaturally walk in the power of love, loving the body. Whether it's healing, prophecy, and other things. Praying in tongues is edifying me so that I can more adequately love you supernaturally. Amen.
Now, my wife was baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit when she was like 14. But she didn't pray in tongues till she was in her mid twenties. You know why? Because she was taught that was wrong. So so, the Holy Spirit might have wanted to enable her to do that to edify herself, but she never did because she was scared of it because everybody made it out as if it was demonic when it's in scripture.
So because of unbelief or because of ignorance which is just not knowing, she she didn't take the step of faith when the Holy Spirit may have prompted her. Right? Maybe there's a lot of people in here the same way. Does that make you less of a Christian than me? No.
Not at all. Paul said, in that same chapter, I pray in tongues more than you all. I wish that all you would. But I'd rather you prophesy and edify the church. Is tongues good?
Yes. It's not demonic. It's important. And, I want you to walk in all the gifts of the spirit. Is that clear?
I know we just went the controversial route. I would encourage you to pray about what I said. If you're just like, woah. Oh my gosh. Go back to scripture and if what you always thought doesn't line up with scripture, you're gonna have to choose what's Lord, what you always thought or what's or scripture is.
Is your comfort, Lord? Is that preacher that taught you Lord? Or is scripture Lord? Hey, and if I'm wrong, okay. Be berean about it and go with how the Holy Spirit's leading you when you go through this.
Okay? But go through this. Amen? So, what must we do? What's the prerequisite?
How do we get this baptism of the Holy Spirit? If you've never been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and you'll know when you're baptized in the Holy Spirit. He fill you with power. You will experience something. You may experience speaking in tongues, and many times in Acts they did.
You may experience prophesying. You may experience dream, having a dream, or you may experience a supernatural sense of peace. You may experience boldness. All of a sudden, you go to work and you're boldly proclaiming the gospel when you're all timid and fear before. You will know because you will begin to walk in power that you never had before.
Amen. So, how do you experience the baptism of Holy Spirit? Well, you ask, but there's there's there's some prerequisites that have to happen. Just stick with me here. The prerequisite for you to be forgiven was Jesus spilling his blood.
Without the "shedding of blood", there's no forgiveness of sin. Right? Okay. So, Jesus filled that prerequisite. We have to believe.
The prerequisite for your life to be transformed, for you to be a new creation, old man dead, new life in him, is Jesus dying and rising again. You agree? Amen. What we have to do is believe. To the extent that we believe, that's the extent we experience the new life.
What do you think the prerequisite then for being baptized in the Holy Spirit is? Probably something Jesus did, I bet. *Acts-2* verse there it is, 32 and 33. *God* raised Jesus, God raised this Jesus to life and we're all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and poured out what you now see and hear.
The prerequisite was Jesus being exalted to the right hand of the Father. Jesus was exalted, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit. What do you have to do? Luke-11:13, ask and believe. There's no performance.
There's no amount of, you know you know, you already receive if you've been born again and you're already holy in Christ. Not in yourself. You're already clean. The cup's clean. You have to believe it.
There's no amount of well if I if I do this enough and I do this enough and I do No. It's an identity thing. It's a I'm trusting in who Christ is. I'm gonna trust in you and I'm gonna ask and I'm gonna believe that you're gonna give me what I asked for because your word says you will. Does it have to app happen immediately?
No. It doesn't. But, it will happen. Does it happen a lot of times immediately? Yep.
There's so many testimonies of missionaries, man, who went in the mission field 1 way, not not even believing anything about the Holy Spirit. All of a sudden, they're impacting the power of the Holy Spirit. They asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And about 2 weeks later, all of a sudden he comes on them in their room. And next thing you know, they preach the same words.
And when 10 people gave their life to Jesus before, now hundreds are. Because it's the power to be a witness. Others lay hands on them all of sudden, boom. You know, what happened in Acts is happening. You're like, woah, that's cool.
And then just their lives transformed. Can we are you guys ready to can you guys come up and play a song? That'd be great. And the other question I didn't answer is can you be filled again after you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit and baptized in the Holy Spirit? Because that's a valid question, isn't it?
Can you be filled again? You know, I hear in in church often, you know, our churches and different things, just a continual infilling of the Holy Spirit. Fill me afresh in you. Can can that happen? There's a verse for that.
There's a scripture for that, guys. *Acts-4:31* says, after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all, everybody say all, filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Context, verse 23, the beginning of that. On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all the chief priests and elders said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer.
So Peter and John, with the believers, started praying. At the end of the prayer, what happens? They're filled afresh with the Holy Spirit. So yeah, you can be sealed, *eternal relationship with the Father*, hearing His voice, baptized in the Holy Spirit and power, and man, just like Peter and John, you can be filled again over and over and over. I can't tell you how many times I go in my living room at night, last night, just laying in my bed because I was exhausted.
Just felt His presence all over me. Not because I earned it because I know who I am. And I just asked, do we seek this experience? Do we seek this feeling? Do we seek this?
No, we don't worship that. We worship Him. We worship the Holy Spirit. We worship the Father. We worship Jesus.
We worship God. And this is a benefit. It's a gift to be enjoyed by His sons and daughters. Thank you for tuning in today to the Real Church podcast. I pray that you walk away from today encouraged with a deeper understanding of how much God loves you.
If you'd like to connect with us, we can't wait to reach out to you and pray for you. You can go to www.realchurch.us/connect. And then also, if you would like to give to what God is doing in and through our ministry, you can do so at www.realchurch.usgiving or you can text any amount to 840-0321 and then just search in the link that comes up. Search for Real Church Clearwater. God bless you and the best is yet to come.