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Pastor Mike will be speaking on What Does it Mean to Receive the Holy Spirit Part 2. He will be reading out of Acts 19:1-7
You should not pursue those signed gifts. They have been completed because that which is perfect has come, Church. You have everything that God wants you to know relating to your eternal destiny and your spiritual life right here in the Bible.
Hello, this is Pastor Mike Sanders with Hope Worth Having, and we are excited to be able to broadcast the program today to you, Acts chapter 19, verse 1 through 7. We’re going to be back studying what does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit.
So I hope you have your Bible, and let’s begin to dive into the Word of God. Now, last week we began a study on Acts chapter 19, verse 1 through 7 about answering this question, what does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit?
The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit presence in our life is really a foretaste of heaven, of what it’s going to be like for us one day when we leave this world in the constant presence of Jesus.
There are moments that you are so filled with the Spirit, and you are so anointed with the Spirit, that you have such a euphoria in your heart, that you have a sense of utopia in your life, but it does not remain with you.
It is just God helping you understand what is to come for all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, by this we know that we abide in Him, meaning Christ, and He in us. because He has given us of His Spirit.
What I want you to know this morning is that faith in Jesus Christ leads to the gift of the Spirit and the gift of the Spirit is evidence that you have faith in Jesus Christ. When we read our text this morning in Acts chapter 19, what we see taking place is that the Apostle finds 12 men who were following the ways of John the Baptist, but it was incomplete.
They did not fully understand that John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ and that he was pointing them to Jesus and that they had not truly yet received Christ because they had not received the gift of the Spirit upon them.
We pick up in verse 1 of chapter 19, it says it happened while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus and finding some disciples, he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
So they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said to them, into what then were you baptized? So they said into John’s baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is on Christ Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about 12 in all.
When Peter preached in Acts chapter 2, he told the large Jewish crowd to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And in that moment, the Bible teaches us that many believed over 3,000 in one point, and then another 5,000 at another point believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. The gift of the Spirit fell upon the people and was manifested in their life in that they spoke in another language.
When you read the Bible, you see this word tongues. And it’s just a Greek word that simply means language. And they spoke in another language. That is, they were not trained in the language. but they spoke in that language and the people understood in their own language of what the Bible was teaching or what the prophets or the apostles were teaching.
The story of the book of Acts shows the spirit being poured out on believers. And what we see in Acts chapter 2, and again manifested it in chapter 8 and then chapter 10 and finally in chapter 19, is that the gift of the spirit like the gospel follows the pattern of what Jesus had taught, that the gospel would be taken first to the Jews and then it would be taken to the Samaritans and then it would be taken to the uttermost parts of the earth.
And so in helping the church in Jerusalem to understand not only the scope of the gospel, but the scope of the gift of the spirit that we see in Acts chapter 2, that the spirit came upon the people. We see it again in chapter 8, chapter 10, and now we’re seeing it in chapter 19 in the city of Ephesus on the apostle’s third journey, and it is being manifested to these Gentiles.
And it is a confirmation, the outpouring of this spirit, is a confirmation of the message that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He has come in the flesh and lived a sinless life, that He was crucified on the cross for our sins, and on the third day He rose again, not only affirming that His sacrifice was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins, but setting the course for our future as believers.
The Bible says there are three that testify, or that as they witness, it is the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree. What do they testify and what do they agree upon? They agree upon that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He is the Savior of the world, and that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The Bible says the spirit and water and blood all testify. The Spirit of God testifies that Jesus is the Son of God, and baptism, water, testifies that Jesus is the Son of God, for baptism is a picture and a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior, and then the blood, the crucifixion of Christ, testifies that truly, as the centurion soldier said at the foot of the cross, truly this is the Son of God.
They testify together. Now in understanding the manifestation of the Spirit, the life of the Ephesian believers, these 12 men who were Gentiles, the Bible says that they spoke in tongues and that they prophesied.
I want to again give you an overarching context so that you can see and understand what has taken place in the detail. The Bible teaches us that we have spiritual gifts and these spiritual gifts are manifested in our lives when we believe in Christ and the gift of the Spirit is given to us and they fall into three categories.
There are the speaking gifts, there are the serving gifts, and then there are the sign gifts. Our thoughts today are upon the sign gifts, the apostle said in 1 Corinthians 12, 1. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant.
God doesn’t want you to be ignorant about the spiritual gifts, which are a manifestation of the presence of the Spirit in you. What I want you to see in these three categories, the speaking gifts, the serving gifts, and the sign gifts, that the sign gifts are the transitional gifts of God.
From the old covenant to the new covenant, what you are witnessing in Acts chapter 19 is a transition. It is a transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and that God is bringing together the entire scope of the universal church, which is beyond the Jewish nationality or ethnicity, and encompasses all people that are on this planet.
These sign gifts had a unique purpose as they were manifested. They were to identify the authenticity of the messengers of God, and they were validating the message of God. So these sign gifts were given.
Now, if we were to take our Bible real quickly and go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, go ahead and join me in there real quickly. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and chapter 13 and chapter 14, you can learn so much about not only the spiritual gifts, but particularly the sign gifts.
And I want you to see something, we’re not gonna read the three chapters, don’t worry, but I wanna highlight a few things to help you understand why does Pastor Mike believe the sign gifts are transitional and not designed for today.
I want you to know and understand that as the apostle is teaching about the spiritual gifts in chapter 12, that he comes down to verse 28 of chapter 12 and he says, God has appointed these in the church.
First apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations. and varieties of tongue. And he asks a question, are all apostles? And the obvious answer is, what church?
No. Is everybody an apostle? No. Here’s the next question, are all prophets? And the answer is, what church? Are all teachers? No, thank you. Are all workers of miracles? Do all have the gifts of healing?
Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret, meaning interpreting tongues? No. Now we got a dilemma here because there are some who build their theology in Acts chapter 19 and saying that you cannot be a Christian unless you speak in tongues, but yet Paul would later say not everyone has the gift of tongues.
And some believe that you’re not spiritually mature unless you speak in tongues. But again, the apostle tells us not everyone speaks in tongues. But in verse 31, he says, earnestly desire the best gifts.
And yet I show you a more excellent way. Chapter 13 is that more excellent way, which is love. It is that we are to love God and we’re to love one another. That more excellent way is to love God. And then we come down to verse eight.
He reminds us about love, that love never fails. See, love will never fail you. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail. Whether there are tongues, they will what? Cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part. Why would the apostle say that? Because he again is speaking to a church that is in transition and he is reminding them that now we know in part and we will prophesy or teach the Bible and proclaim the Bible in part.
But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. What is the part? The part are the sign gifts. What is the perfect? It is the word of God. When the word of God has come, then the sign gifts are no longer needed, as been taught, tongues will cease and that which is in part will be done away with.
And then he illustrates this transition. When I was a child, I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. What he is saying is this, that the church is growing up and the church is no longer in transition and it’s time for the church to step up and understand that those sign gifts that were in transition and those sign gifts that were for an infant church that was transitioning from the Old Testament to the New Testament,
that like a child, there comes a time when you set aside childish things, there comes a time when you step up to the plate and you become an adult and you step up with responsibility and accountability.
and you begin to quit depending on everybody else, and you start being responsible for your life, and so it is that the church has to grow up. Now there are many denominations and churches that are still trying to go back to their childhood.
They still wanna go back to the sign gifts. But now you have that which is perfect, which is the word of God. Listen, you now don’t have the Holy Spirit just giving you all this wonderful insight and all this wonderful information.
You have to actually step up and read the Bible and study the Bible. How about that one? You have to grow up. You have to be an adult spiritually. And so the apostle says, look at verse 12 of chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians.
For now we see an Amir dimly, but then face to face. One day I’m gonna see Jesus face to face. I see dimly now. I don’t understand everything that’s going on in this world, but one day I’m gonna see more clearly in heaven.
When you suffer, you see dimly. When you struggle, you see dimly. You don’t understand the what and the why of what is going on, but I’m telling you church, one day we’re gonna be in the presence of God face to face and we’re gonna understand everything crystal clear as to what God is up to.
Can God’s people say amen? I’m still in verse 12. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. People say to me, pastor, will I know my loved ones in heaven? Charles Spurgeon said, I’d hate to think that I’m dumber in heaven than I was on earth, amen.
You’re gonna know and you’re gonna be known just as you are known today. How wonderful is that? So maybe you don’t wanna be known like that up in heaven and you wanna be somebody different, but you’ll be known as who you are today.
Verse 13 of chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians, and now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is what church? So he tells us in chapter 14 to pursue these things. He tells us that we need to pursue these things and he begins to give us instructions that if we are to speak with tongues, because at the time of the writing of 1 Corinthians, that which is perfect, the word of God had not yet been fully completed.
He gives them instructions on how they are to do it and you don’t even want me to go there because you talk about sending this church into a tizzy and setting everybody’s theology up inside their head.
That’s another day. But he tells us we need to understand these gifts and how they’re to be exercised and how we are to live them out. And he tells us at the end of verse 40 that we’re to let all things be done decently in order.
We’re back in Acts chapter 19. What I want you to see is that Paul teaches three basic truths in 1 Corinthians 14, and that is tongues are secondary. They’re not the primary spiritual gift. He teaches us the purpose of tongues in verse 23.
through 25 in 1 Corinthians, which is for unbelievers as a sign gift, the unbelieving Jew. And then he says, here’s how to properly use tongues and how to do it in an orderly way until that which is perfect comes.
So what I want you to see is that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are permanent, those serving gifts, those speaking gifts, they are of greater value than those transitional sign gifts. Any believer that’s trying to pursue the sign gifts is only manifesting their immaturity.
They’re like a child who’ll never grow up. They’re holding on to their immaturity when God is prompting them to go on to full maturity and adulthood in Jesus Christ. And so you must understand that you should not pursue those sign gifts.
They have been completed because that which is perfect has come, church. You have everything that God wants you to know relating to your eternal destiny and your spiritual life right here in the Bible, Genesis to Revelation.
You don’t have to pursue anything. So now we’re in Acts chapter 19, and this chapter is focusing on the ministry of the apostle in the city of Ephesus. He’s on his third missionary journey, and we see this first experience as an illustration of transition.
Galatians 3, 14 says so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promise spirit through faith. Coming to Christ is more that I’m gonna spend eternity in heaven.
Coming to Christ is that I have the gift of the spirit that was promised all the way back to Abraham for everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. So what does it mean to receive the gift of the spirit?
We taught you last week, first of all, that the believer receives the spirit experientially, that it’s not anything mystical. It’s not anything that is unknown, but rather just the opposite. If believers have the Holy Spirit, they know it, because the Bible tells us in Hebrews 10, 15 that the Holy Spirit also testifies to us.
Now he does not testify to us through tongues, but he does testify as we learned last week, how do I know the spirit lives in me? That is, I’m convicted of sin. When I was not a believer, I loved sin.
But now that I am a believer, I’m convicted. Second of all, I know the spirit lives in me because he is changing me. I look back on my life and I see that there’s changes in my life. The old man is passing away and behold, All things are new and the new man is being embraced by the believer.
That is evidence that the spirit of God is living in you. Third is you are comforted in your time of sorrow, in your time of suffering, in your times of struggling. The spirit of God is comforting you.
He is the parakaleia, the Bible says. That is the one who comes alongside of you, picks you up and encourages you and comforts you through the trials of life. So what does it mean to receive the spirit?
Second of all, that the believer becomes a member of God’s church positionally. We see in verse four that they responded to this question. Have you received the gift of the spirit? And they said, we have the baptism of repentance from John.
and we are following his way, we’re his disciples, but we don’t know about the spirit, but Paul goes on to teach them that they’re called to believe on Jesus Christ. And he says, now you must be baptized because you first receive Christ, and then you are baptized.
You are not baptized and then received because the Bible teaches us that it’s believers baptism. That’s why we don’t practice infant baptism at the Open Door Church, because infant baptism is only an expression of what parents believe, but it’s not an expression of what you believe.
That’s why every believer is called to be baptized after they believe. And that’s what you see taking place here is that now they truly believe. Yes, they were disciples of John, but they were not disciples of Christ.
And when they became disciples of Christ, once they were taught the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and the apostle helped them to understand that now they need to be looking forward for the redeeming work of Christ, that Christ, he had already gone to the cross, he was now at the right hand of the Father because he had already resurrected, ascended into heaven, and now they did not have to wait.
John’s baptism was looking forward for the Messiah to come, but the baptism of Christ is a baptism that looks back to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the distinction that you and I are seeing.
And the Spirit is given to believers to lead us into all truth. And we are then positionally placed into the family of God. And now our identity is not with the world, and our identity is not even in our performance or our achievements, but our identity is in Christ and in Christ alone.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 13, for by one Spirit, we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greek. whether slaves are free. We have all been made to drink into one spirit. He is speaking metaphorically here and he’s helping us to understand now that we are believers and we have the gift of the spirit, we drink from one spirit and we are in the family of God and we are part of the body of Christ.
People who are added to the church through faith in Jesus Christ are members of the body of Christ. And this is verified by the gift of the spirit in them. The Bible says in Ephesians 4.30, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let’s back up into this verse. The day of redemption is referring to that day that we are fully redeemed in the presence of God in this sense that we are redeemed in body, soul, and spirit. Now we are redeemed in spirit.
spirit, but we still wrestle with the flesh. We are still in the presence of sin, but one day you are glorified completely before God Almighty and all of this flesh is shed away and we are inheriting a new body that is incorruptible, a body that is immortal, a body that will never suffer any pain.
And one day we will be in the constant presence of Jesus Christ where there will be immense joy beyond our ability to even contain it and there will be no sin, there will be no sorrow, there will be no death, there will be no struggles in life, there will be no offenses, there will be no hurts, there will be no disappointments.
Can you my friend, imagine what that’s going to be like. It’s going to be stupendous. That’s the day of redemption, but the Bible says don’t grieve the spirit by whom you were sealed. You have been sealed for the day of redemption.
You think of sealing an envelope. You’re thinking about sealing something so that it cannot get away or get out, but that’s not what that word means. It is simply this, the idea of being sealed, that is the mark of identification.
It is the mark of you might get a paper from an important person or important office or important government position and they have their seal of identity on that. God through his spirit, hear me, has stamped his identity upon you as a believer in Jesus Christ and that you walk around with the mark of ownership upon you.
It’s not that you belong to yourself or that you belong to the world, but that you belong to God and the Holy Spirit is a seal that speaks of God’s ownership of you. 2 Corinthians 1, 22 says this, for God has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Many of you may have bought it. bought a house recently, or you bought a house sometime in your life, and you were required to put down a deposit, and the deposit was designed to say, I’m serious, I mean business, I’m not backing out of this deal, and if I do back out of the deal, it’s gonna cost me.
Here’s what God the Father has done. God the Father has put a deposit in your life. The moment you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, he gave you the gift of the Spirit. He is not only a seal that marks his ownership of your life, but the Spirit is a deposit of what is to come for you as a believer.
It is God saying to you that one day, we’re gonna finish out this contract. One day, we’re gonna finish out this covenant. One day, we’re gonna finish out this promise, and you are gonna stand in the presence of God because you have the seal of the Spirit upon you.
By giving believers the Spirit, God seals. He stamps his ownership on them. and he protects them and guarantees that they will make it to the end, no matter what trials we go through, no matter what tests we have, we have the seal of God upon us.
What does it mean to receive the Spirit? My final point, and I know you’re super excited, believers are to be filled continually. In this passage of Scripture, we see the manifestation of the Spirit and the life of those believers at Ephesus.
But that wasn’t all that God was calling them to. He was calling them as believers to be filled. Paul would later teach in the letter of Ephesians that in chapter five that they were to be filled with the Spirit.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be controlled or guided by the Spirit. That is what he’s calling us to do. Now, the believer is to be filled with the Spirit, so how can we be filled with the Spirit?
First, saturate your mind in the word of God. The Bible tells us in Colossians 3.16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. I’m telling you that the Bible is so good. Some of you are surface Christians.
The only Bible you get is when Pastor Mike gets up here or when your Sunday school teacher teaches. I’m telling you, the Bible is deep. Saturate your life in the word of God. Spend time in the word of God.
Feed yourself a steady diet every day of God’s word. What are some ways that I can saturate? Just write these down real quickly. Read, read the Bible every day. Here’s what the Bible says. Read his word and you’ll get a blessing.
You’re looking for a blessing? Open the Bible up and get his blessing. Memorize, how do I saturate my mind? Memorize the Bible. Some of you saying, pastor, I cannot even remember where I left my keys or why I walked into this room.
How could I ever? memorize the Bible. Let me tell you an amazing story. Pastor Carl and I were visiting one of our shut-ins who’s dealing with dementia. He can’t remember hardly anything, but she said, Pastor, he remembers the Bible and he remembers the hymns.
There’s just some things that never leave you, church. There’s just some things that are imprinted upon your mind and the things of this world may be fleeting and they may dissipate in our minds and memory.
But would you understand, church, the eternal Word of God and singing the truths of God will not leave the believer. Make every effort, if it’s just one word a day, memorize there is more power in one word in the Bible than any word that a human can see.
I want to encourage you to check us out on Facebook, just type in Hope Worth Having, and you can watch us live each Sunday at 11 a.m. You can also interact with us and be able to comment to some of the things we’re posting or even share questions or prayer concerns on the Facebook page, and so we hope you’ll take advantage of that and we’d love to hear from you.
This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.