To be baptized with (or in) the Holy Spirit
December 1, 2018
D.P. Weary
The difference between the filling of the Holy Spirit (being born again by the Holy Spirit) and the
Baptism or covering with the Holy Spirit (being endued with the power of the Holy
Spirit).
The disciples are born again.
[John
20:19-23 NASB] 19 So when it was evening on that day, the first [day] of the
week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace [be]
with you." 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and
His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said
to them again, "Peace [be] with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also
send you." 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to
them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 "If you forgive the sins of
any, [their sins] have been forgiven them; if you retain the [sins] of any,
they have been retained."
Receive the Holy Spirit: Jesus
gave His disciples the Holy Spirit, bringing new life and the ability to
carry out their mission. It seems John noted a deliberate connection between
this breathing on the disciples and when at creation God breathed life into
man. This was a work of re-creation, even as God breathed life into the first
man. This is where the disciples were born again. (Guzik) (Note: 10 disciples
were present here)
The disciples and other believers are
baptized with (or in) the Holy Spirit.
[Act 1:4-5, 8 NKJV] 4 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; 5 "for John truly baptized with water, but
you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
... 8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (The 11 disciples)
[Act 2:1-4,
16-18 NKJV] 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and [one] sat upon
each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ...
16 "But
this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in
the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your
old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I
will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
The Promise of the Father - Being
baptized or covered over with (immersed in) the Holy Spirit is a gift the
power of the Holy Spirit to equip believers to be God’s witnesses in all
the earth.
“You shall be baptized with the
Holy Spirit: The idea of being baptized is to be immersed or covered
over in something; even as John baptized people in water, so these disciples
would be “immersed” in the Holy Spirit. It may be more useful to describe the
baptism of the Holy Spirit as a condition than as an experience. We
should perhaps ask, “Are you baptized in the Holy Spirit?” instead of asking,
“Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?” (Guzik)
The difference between the filling of the Holy Spirit and
the Baptism (or covering) with the Holy Spirit.
“The difference
between the filling of the Holy Spirit and the Baptism, or covering with the
Holy Spirit. The
filling of the Holy Spirit is just as the word implies. Your life is filled
with the Holy Spirit. This takes place at conversion. This is what being born
again is all about. It is being born of the Spirit into the new life of the
Spirit. The idea of baptism is that of being
immersed, covered, and overflowing. Thus,
Jesus wants to immerse you, cover you, and overflow you with the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the baptism with the Holy
Spirit is to give you the power to be a witness of Jesus Christ. It was
seven days after Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem that the Holy
Spirit came upon the waiting believers.” (Smith)
“There are three Greek prepositions that refer
to the different relationships that the believer has with the Holy Spirit.
1. Para: "He is with you."
a. With us to
convict us of our sinful state.
b. With us to
draw us to Jesus Christ as the only answer.
2. En: The same as our English in.
a. Dwelling in
your body.
3. Epi: Over, upon, overflowing.
a. Flowing out of
your life like a torrent of living water.”
(Smith)
The Holy Spirit comes upon about 120 disciples in an upper room in
Jerusalem:
[Acts 1:13-15 NKJV] 13 And
when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were
staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and
Matthew; James [the son] of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas [the son]
of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,
with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. 15 And in
those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number
of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, (about 109 believers and
the 11 disciples)
The ten disciples were born again in
John 20:22. In Acts 1:4-8 they were told to wait in Jerusalem for the “promise
of the Father”, the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit. There were about 120
believers in the upper room there in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost when
they were baptized or immersed in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a
question as to just when the other 110 believers were “born again”. Because
they did already believe that Jesus is Lord, is the Son of God, and is the
Messiah (their savior), and had openly confessed their belief, were they
already “born again of the Spirit” or did this occur here on this Day of
Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon them? (Romans 10:8-11, John 1:12-13,
3:3-6, 1 Peter 1:23, Acts 16:31, 1 Cor 12:3, 1 John 4:16) It is not
unreasonable to assume that the other about 109 believers/disciples were “born
again” sometime after Christ’s resurrection because of their faith and
confession, but before this gathering on the Day of Pentecost. It is also not
unreasonable to see that these could have been “born again” at the same time as
the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit was given to them on this Day of
Pentecost. As we shall see, there is no fixed formula or pattern for this
“baptism with the Holy Spirit”. Scripture will tell us that there is a variety
of experiences, methods, and ways by which the people received the gift of the
Holy Spirit, or the filling of the Holy Spirit, or the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. Yet it is something that all believers need and should seek.
The
believers in Samaria receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
[Act 8:5,
12, 14-20 NKJV] 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached
Christ to them. ... 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things
concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women
were baptized. ... 14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who,
when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and
they received the Holy Spirit. 18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on
of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19
saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may
receive the Holy Spirit." 20 But Peter said to him, "Your money
perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased
with money!
“For as yet He had fallen upon none of
them”: "Obviously, there was a subsequent experience with the Holy Spirit that
these Samaritan believers did not know until the apostles came and ministered
to them. They laid hands on them: Often, the empowering and filling of the Holy
Spirit is received as hands are laid on a person and prayer is offered for them
(Acts 9:17, 1 Timothy
4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6).
We should always be ready to receive whatever special graces and gifts God has
to give us through the laying on of hands. They received the Holy Spirit: We
don’t know exactly how this was evident. Perhaps certain spiritual gifts were
manifested (1
Corinthians 12:7-10). Whatever the
Samaritans experienced, it seems to have been more than the “regular” bestowal
of the Holy Spirit at salvation. This is a filling of the Holy Spirit we should
always desire and seek.”
(Guzik)
The house of Cornelius receives the Holy Spirit.
“Salvation came when each one of these
Gentiles responded to Peter’s message with believing faith in their hearts, so
that they were actually born again as they listened and believed. Their filling
with the Holy Spirit was accompanied by the demonstration of spiritual gifts.
This was a filling with the Holy Spirit in two senses: First, in the sense that
He indwells and abides in every believer; second, in the sense of a special
empowering with gifts and graces from the Holy Spirit. When they spoke with tongues, it was
to magnify God, not to teach men. The audience was God, not man, as is
consistent with the principle of 1
Corinthians 14:2. This was unique. It was not common in the Book of
Acts or in subsequent Christian experience for those who were not previously
converted (born again) to instantly be born again and receive such evident
spiritual gifts. Yet it was good and even necessary on this occasion, to show
that they received the exact same Spirit, the exact same blessing as
the apostles and first followers of Jesus did on the morning of Pentecost (Acts 2).”
(Guzik)
“The Gentiles are
brought into an exactly parallel position, not merely with normal Jews (or even
Samaritans) who had believed on Jesus, but with the apostles themselves.”
(Boice)
The Holy Spirit comes upon the
believers in Ephesus.
[Act 19:1-6 NKJV] 1 And it happened, while
Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions,
came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 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." 3
And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they
said, "Into John's baptism." 4 Then Paul said, "John indeed
baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should
believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." 5 When
they heard [this], they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when
Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke
with tongues and prophesied.
“Apparently there was something about
these disciples that prompted this question from Paul. We don’t have
any indication that it was his custom to ask people if they had received the
Holy Spirit when they believed. ‘We have not so much as heard whether
there is a Holy Spirit’. By their reply, these
Ephesian disciples showed they didn’t know much about God’s nature as
revealed in Jesus. They knew enough to be saved and to be students of Jesus
(they were called disciples), but they didn’t know much about all Jesus
did for us, especially in His promise to send the Holy Spirit when He ascended
to heaven. These Ephesian disciples sensed their need to get right with God,
and knew the answer was in God’s Messiah – but they had gone no further than
that. They need to go all the way, to trust in everything Jesus is and
everything He had done, and to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. These
Ephesian disciples had only a basic understanding of the Messiah Jesus and His
ministry, only what could be gained through the message of John the Baptist.
They were in the same place as Apollos before Aquila and Priscilla
explained the way of God more accurately (Acts
18:24-26).” (Guzik)
24Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a
native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough
knowledge of the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed
in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor a and taught about Jesus
accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He
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.
“Have ye then received the Spirit since you
believed? Beloved, are you now receiving the Spirit? Are you living under his
divine influence? Are you filled with his power? Put the question personally. I
am afraid some professors will have to admit that they hardly know whether
there be any Holy Ghost; and others will have to confess that though they have
enjoyed a little of his saving work, yet they do not know much of his ennobling
and sanctifying influence.” (Spurgeon)
_______________________________________________________________________
WHAT DOES THE SCRIPTURE TEACH ABOUT
THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT (by Chuck Smith)
A. Note baptism in the Holy Spirit.
B. When John was baptizing at the
Jordan River, he declared to the people, "There is one who is coming after
me, Who is mightier than I, and He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and with fire."
1.
The difference between the baptism of John and the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
a.
John was the baptizer, the water was the element, and repentance from sin was the issue.
b.
With the baptism in the Holy Spirit, Jesus is the Baptizer, the Holy Spirit is the element, and
power to witness is the issue.
2.
Jesus had told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father
that Had been speaking to them about, for John did indeed baptize with water
unto repentance, but they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit in a few days,
and they would receive power after the Holy Spirit had come upon them and would
be witnesses unto Him both in Jerusalem, all Judea, and Samaria, and to the
uttermost parts of the earth.
3.
This baptism was to be subsequent to their believing, for they already believed,
and had been regenerated, for Jesus breathed on them earlier as John recorded
and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
C. In the section that we have before
us tonight, it is quite obvious that Samaritans had believed the gospel of
Jesus Christ, and were baptized. We are told that in verse 12.
Act 8:12 But when they believed the
preaching of Philip concerning the things of the
kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
1.
They however had not yet received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. For when the
church in Jerusalem had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they
sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Ghost: For as yet he was fallen upon none of
them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
D. The baptism of the Holy Spirit
seems to be identified with this Greek preposition epi. You shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes upon (epi) you. As yet the Holy Spirit had not come
upon (epi). In chapter 10, at the house of Cornelius
[Act 10:44-47 NKJV] 44 While Peter was still speaking these
words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of
the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,
47 "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have
received the Holy Spirit just as we [have]?"
[Act 19:1-6 NKJV] 1 And it happened, while Apollos was at
Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus.
And finding some disciples 2 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." 3 And he said to them,
"Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's
baptism." 4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of
repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come
after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." 5 When they heard [this], they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
1.
I believe that the scriptures differentiate between the Holy Spirit dwelling in
your life and the Holy Spirit flowing out of your life. And the sign often was
their speaking in tongues.
2. [Jhn
7:38 NKJV] 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of
his heart will flow rivers of living water."
Further commentary on the baptism of the Holy Spirit by Chuck
Smith:
“Now as we
have looked at these cases in the Book of Acts, what we have observed is that
there was a variety of experiences, methods, and ways by which the people
received the gift of the Holy Spirit, or the filling of the Holy Spirit, or the
baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 2,
they were all sitting there, when suddenly there was a noise from heaven that
sounded like a mighty rushing wind filling all the house. There were cloven
tongues, like as of fire, sitting upon each of them. And they all began to
speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them the ability.
In Acts 8,
the gift of the Holy Spirit was imparted by the laying on of hands by Paul and
by John. It is interesting that this was not done by Philip, who was an
evangelist and used mightily of God in working miracles. But Philip was not
used of God in the imparting of the Holy Spirit. And we will talk about that in
subsequent lessons.
In Acts 9,
the Holy Spirit was imparted to Paul by an average believer. Ananias? Who is
he? He was not an apostle. He was just a certain disciple in Damascus, but
really not of any spiritual hierarchy. Ananias was just a common believer in
Damascus.
Now the Holy
Spirit was imparted to those in Samaria when Peter and John laid their hands on
them. Yet there is no mention of any supernatural phenomena accompanying their
being filled. However as we pointed out, there obviously was something that
occurred, though the Scripture does not record it; or else Simon would not have
sought that power.
When Paul
received the Holy Spirit, there was the healing of the blindness that took
place at the same time. But there was no mention of any other supernatural
phenomena accompanying his receiving the Holy Spirit. However, it should be
mentioned that later when Paul was writing to the Corinthians about the gifts
of the Spirit, he declared that he did speak in tongues more than all of them.
In Acts 10,
Peter did not get a chance to lay hands on them. While he was speaking,
suddenly his message was interrupted by the Holy Spirit, who just fell upon
them and they began to speak in tongues. As Peter was speaking to them, there
was just that sovereign move of God's Spirit, and this empowering, this filling
of the Spirit.
In Acts 19,
when Paul was there in Ephesus, again he laid his hands on them and they spoke
in tongues, and they prophesied. So that in all of the illustrations that we
have of the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts, there are no two
identical experiences. There was not a repeated experience recorded. In every
scriptural passage that was identified, the closest thing was perhaps the
experience of the house of Cornelius with the disciples. But there was no
mighty rushing wind and no cloven tongues of fire. They were just speaking in
tongues, which says to me, that God is not bound by a particular method or by a
particular way.
God can do
things as He wants to do them and we are wrong in trying to pattern our
experience after somebody else. We are wrong to look for the same kind of an
experience that someone else has had. And I think that there is a real danger
of this in the church. God deals with us as individuals according to our own
nature and according to our own temperaments. You cannot formulize God and say,
"Well now, do this and lay your hand there, and touch this spot. I mean,
there is no formula. God is sovereign.
There are
people who have testified of their experiences and I accept their testimony as
legitimate. I am not going to disclaim what they are saying. Finney described
these waves of liquid love that just kept flowing over and over him, until he
had to shout out to God crying, "God, stop! I cannot take any more."
Now that is wonderful, and that is glorious, and that is how Finney experienced
the baptism with the Holy Spirit. But it does not mean that is the way you are
going to experience it or that I am going to experience it. And you see, the danger
is to hear someone else's experience or to read about someone else's experience
and think that such an experience is what happens or that is how you are going
to feel.
I have heard
people talk about how they felt like there was electricity going through their
body from the top of their head and out through their toes or something. Well,
that is great. I have never experienced that. I was struck by lightening once
and I felt like there was electricity going through me, but I would not
attribute that to the Holy Spirit. It was a bolt of lightening and I was laid
on the ground by it. But their experience is wonderful!
I am not
discounting the experience of others, but I am saying that not everybody has
that experience and it is wrong to look for a particular experience. Because
when you are looking for a particular experience, then the tendency is to put
your faith in the experience rather than in the promise of the Word of God. And
so often, when you are looking for a particular experience that someone else had-because
God does not follow a pattern-it may be that you will not have that kind of an
experience. This does not mean that God is not working in your life. It does
not mean that you are not filled with the Holy Spirit because you did not have
the similar experience that someone else had.
And so God
shows us in the Book of Acts that there is a wide variety of ways by which He
operates in the lives of individuals. And it does not follow a consistent
pattern all the way through; rather there seems to be a total inconsistency of
the way God did it all the way through the Bible. Experiencing the gift of the
Holy Spirit was never exactly the same; and thus, the testimony of scripture
leaves room for you to experience God in your own personal way. God is not bound
to a formula.
Thus, my
suggestion to you is just to be totally open to whatever and however God wants
to work in your life. You should not look for a particular sensation, not look
for a particular gift, not look for a particular reaction or a response. But
just be open to let God work and to do however He desires through the imparting
of this glorious gift upon your life. It may be that it will be through the
laying on of hands by someone-one of the pastors, or one of the laymen in the
church, as it was with Paul. It may be that no one will lay their hands on you,
as was the case in Acts 2,
when the believers were just all sitting together-and notice they were sitting.
And I have heard of people who were standing, and I have heard of people who
were lying on the floor. It does not matter-even lying in bed. God is not bound
to one particular way.
And just
open your heart. As Peter was preaching in the house of Cornelius, the hearts
of the people were opened by the Spirit. The Spirit was bearing witness of the
truth to their hearts. And as their hearts were opened by faith, they were
receiving the Word of God. And as they were receiving the Word, the Holy Spirit
just came upon them and it was beautiful!
So just be
open. Do not try to pattern God. Do not look for a particular experience, but
just receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Receive that power-that dynamic power
in your life to be what God wants you to be. Receive the power to be a true
witness for Jesus Christ in this world.
Shall we
pray?
Father, we
need, we desire, and we long for the power of Your Holy Spirit in our lives.
And we thank You that You have promised that if we ask anything according to
Your will, then we have received those things that we have asked of You. We
know that it is Your will that we be filled with the Spirit, because it is Your
command. And thus, Lord, we ask that we might receive. We seek that we might
find that power-that dynamic. And as You work Lord, in Your own sovereign,
special way, may we be open and may we receive, even in this moment. In Jesus' name.
Amen. (Smith)
_________________________________________________________________________________
“Have
ye then received the Spirit since you believed? Beloved, are you now receiving
the Spirit? Are you living under his divine influence? Are you filled with his
power? Put the question personally. I am afraid some professors will have to
admit that they hardly know whether there be any Holy Ghost; and others will
have to confess that though they have enjoyed a little of his saving work, yet
they do not know much of his ennobling and sanctifying influence.” (Spurgeon)
If
someone doesn’t seem to know if they have the power and presence of
the Holy Spirit in their life, it’s fair to assume that they don’t have
it. If you have it, you should know it. “Give a man an electric shock, and I
warrant you he will know it; but if he has the Holy Ghost, he will know it much
more.” (Spurgeon)
This isn’t
something to hope about; we can know – one can and should know they
have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to live the life the Lord calls
His disciples to live. His disciples can and should know the authority they
have in Jesus’ name, and the power of the Holy Spirit to exercise that
authority. And how can they know unless they are taught?
The baptism with (or in) the Holy Spirit, this gift of the
power of the Holy Spirit, is something all disciples need to fully live the
life Christ calls us to live and to truly be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea,
and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth.
[Act 1:8
NASB] 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and even to the remotest part of the earth."
David
Guzik is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara, California. Before that he
served as director and teacher at Calvary Chapel Bible College, Germany,
following more than 20 years of pastoral ministry. He currently serves now as
the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara.
Charles
Ward "Chuck" Smith was an American pastor who founded the Calvary
Chapel movement. Beginning with the 25-person Costa Mesa congregation in 1965,
Smith's influence now extends to "more than 1,000 churches nationwide and
hundreds more overseas", some of which are among the largest churches in
the United States. Pastor Chuck Smith was best known for his expository
style of preaching, as he unpacked the truths of Scripture while working his
way through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. These teachings are
still being broadcast daily around the world on his radio program The Word for Today. He founded and pastored Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California, in the late
1960’s and faithfully served there until October 3, 2013, when he entered into
the eternal presence of our Lord.
Charles Spurgeon was one of the most
evangelical and puritan of protestant minister's in the 19th century. These
charismatic and inspiring sermons are enough to encourage, convict and inspire
anyone who seeks a closer and more intimate relationship with God. Charles
Haddon Spurgeon was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains
highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is
known as the "Prince of Preachers".
The Issue of Authority and the Power to Enforce the Authority (by
D.P. Weary)
1. What happened to us at the cross?
·
He delivered us from the kingdom of darkness
and transferred us to the Kingdom of Light - Col. 1:13-14.
·
He gave us the power to live the life He
called us to live - 1 Jn. 4:4.
·
He gave us back authority to exercise on the
earth -Lk. 10:19.
·
We exercise our authority by obedience. Legal authority must become exercised
authority.
·
In the book of Acts, God gave us the power to
exercise our legal authority. We must
activate our will and choose to exercise our authority. We must pursue the enemy, confront the enemy,
and finally “arrest” the enemy. It is
the dunamis power of God that is within that is the power to enforce Jesus’
victory on the cross.
[Act 1:4-5, 8 NASB] 4 Gathering
them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what
the Father had promised, "Which," [He said,] "you heard of from
Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now." ... 8 but you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of
the earth."
[Acts 2:3-4 NASB] 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire
distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
2. Now all authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to Jesus. He in turn now gives it
to all those who are His disciples, His Bride, the sons and daughters of God in
order that they can continue His work on earth; making disciples of all nations
and destroying the works of the enemy.
·
Matthew 28:18-19 - Then Jesus came to them
and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit.
·
1 John
3:8 - He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been
sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy
the devil's work. (NIV)
3. The power and the right to exercise that power,
which is authority, that has been released to the saints of God to use on earth
is to be used for specific things.
·
It is authority
over evil spirits, demons and the power of the enemy: It is also authority over sickness and the
authority to heal diseases.
·
Matthew 10:1 He called his twelve disciples
to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal
every disease and sickness.
·
Luke 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve
together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to
cure diseases,
·
Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to
trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy;
nothing will harm you.
·
Mark 6:7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent
them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.
·
Mark 16:17 And these signs will accompany
those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in
new tongues;
·
It is the authority to bind and to loose things on earth.
·
Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
·
It is the authority to encourage and build up the saints of God on earth.
·
2 Corinthians 10:8 For even if I boast
somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up
rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
·
Titus 2:15 - These, then, are the things you
should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone
despise you.
·
It is the power and authority to be His witnesses in all the earth.
·
Acts 1:8 -
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth." (Matt.
28:18-19)
4. To
those who are over comers and do His will to the end, He will give power and
authority over the nations.
·
Revelation 2:26 To him who overcomes and does
my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations -- (NIV)
·
The Church, Jesus' bride, is to rule and
reign with Him as kings and priests.
Lk. 12:32, Rev. 3:21, 1 Cor. 6:2-3, Jn. 17:22, Rom. 8:17, 1 Pet. 2:9.
