The Promise of the Father: Embracing the Life-Changing Power of the Holy Spirit

Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYCcom. That's CityLightNYCcom. Pastor Bojan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that He has a real hope and a future for you.

0:00:41 - Speaker 2
Let's celebrate the day of Pentecost, huh, something that there's a lot of confusion about, a lot of misunderstanding about, and that's because whenever there is power, breakthrough, the supernatural associated with any truth, there's going to be confusion, there's going to be misunderstanding, because the enemy does not want you to have breakthrough and power and transformation, so He's going to endeavor to bring His confusion and His half-truths and then a lot of people just get paralyzed and stuck and don't know what to make of it. So they go next and then years go by and they never revisited this essential truth. And it is essential, luke. It is so essential that Jesus Himself put great emphasis on it. Luke, chapter 24 and verse 49,.

By the way, the day of Pentecost is the 50th day after the Passover, pente-meaning 50. 50 days after the Passover. And it's the day that the Holy Spirit came And guess what? He's never left. He's been here since, But thank goodness that He was given. And do you know, prior to the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was not given. Sometimes you just got to wake up in the morning and look to heaven and say thank you, jesus, that I was born AD. You know what happened BC all throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit wasn't given to whosoever will. The Holy Spirit came at particular times for unique assignments, on particular people, most namely the high priest, the king and the prophet, and sometimes some of the judges, and the Holy Spirit's hand would come upon them and then recede back. Why couldn't the Holy Spirit come in the Old Testament? Because the Holy Spirit will not live in a sinful house. But on the New Testament every single one of your sins has been taken away by the blood of Jesus And He has pronounced you clean And He has pronounced you justified, not guilty, and now the Holy Spirit can make us abode inside of you. But that could only happen after Jesus was glorified on the cross and at His resurrection. Hallelujah, and that's what we're celebrating on the day of Pentecost, that the Holy Spirit came. He didn't leave. He's still here today, like He was in Jerusalem on that day, and He is available to all You. Yes, you Amen. Luke 24.49,. Behold, jesus says I send the promise of my Father upon you, but Terry and you don't have to Terry today. Terry means to wait. They had to wait. We don't know how many days they waited, but Jesus left about 40 days after His resurrection. Pentecost is 50 days after the Passover. So they were waiting for about a week or so. You don't have to wait. They had to wait because he came on the day of Pentecost, but you don't have to wait because he's here already.

And remember this the Father, it's not his job to give you the Holy Spirit. This is important because too often people have this transactional image in their mind like the Father is gonna give and I have to convince the Father that I'm worthy. I have to convince the Father that I'm desperate enough or I have to clean my life up and show the Father that I really mean business. The Father does not have to give. He has already given past tense, 2000 years ago, on the day of Pentecost. We just must receive a gift that has already been given. Seems like a minor thing, but this is important for those of you who are gonna be filled with the Holy Spirit to understand. So you're not of this inner attitude of I'm coming and he's withholding the Holy Spirit up there and I'm coming kind of in a beggarly way and I have to strong arm the Lord to please give me. No, he's already given. You must make like a sponge and receive, and a lot of what I'm gonna be doing today is helping you become a better sponge, because that's really how you receive. You gotta be a good sponge And we know when people come in they got all sorts of things going up in their noodle and the things in the world and stresses from work and scrolling around, and then they come into church and I'm trusting the Lord that in a short amount of time he's gonna knock him out of the natural and get him into the spiritual, where they can make like a good sponge and receive. Behold, i send the promise of my father upon you about weight in the city of Jerusalem until you are in dude with power. And that's what the Holy Spirit, when he fills you, will bring to you power, power from on high.

Now, what's important to note here is that Jesus was speaking to his disciples. This is a crew that was with him from three to three and a half years. These were his A students. These are the ones that were there for every miracle heard, every sermon, could ask him questions in private. These were the most qualified to preach the gospel right. And he still said don't, not yet. You'll be doing yourself a terrible disservice if you just run off now. They were saved by the way. Jesus was resurrected, he'd already presented his blood in the heavenly place, on the holy altar of heaven. They were saved, but they needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said don't go out there. Your job is to preach the gospel to every creature, but not until you're filled with the Holy Spirit. If he said that to his disciples, who were his A plus students, right there in person, how much more is that for us today? Hallelujah, i'm hungry for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I know what a change it's made in my life.

The Holy Spirit, he's the one who's here. The Father's in heaven. Jesus is in heaven, but the Holy Spirit manifests. The Holy Spirit is God and he manifests Jesus here on earth and he manifests the Father on earth. And the Holy Spirit is often relegated like he's in third place. You know he's even called the third, the third person of the Godhead. Well, the Bible doesn't call him the third person of the Godhead. We just made that up As though. You know, the Father gets the gold medal. There's Jesus in second place with the silver And there's the Holy Spirit on the lowest pedestal with the bronze. The third person. The Holy Spirit is just as much God as Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Father is God. And guess what? The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty and freedom. Amen, hallelujah. So let's go into the Gospels. Oh, acts 1-8.

Speaking of Jesus's last words, these were literally his last words. So pay attention in the Bible to someone's first words and to someone's last words, especially Jesus's, and I think it's very notable that these were Jesus's last words on earth. And then he was caught up and an angel appeared and said why are you now standing around Jesus, who was taken up in like manner? he'll return to you, but these were his last words. So he could have said anything, but note what he decided to talk about. Note who did he decided to talk about Him. It was the Holy Spirit.

And so what point am I making here? I'm making this point If Jesus placed such great emphasis on the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit, that is the emphasis we should place. This isn't rocket science, right? And I have to say that, because there's this trend where churches that believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They really do so only on the statement of faith on their website. You go on the website, you see the statement of faith. We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit according to Acts, chapter two, verse four, but then nobody's been filled with the Holy Spirit in the church for years because nobody talks about it And they don't give any place or space for people to get filled with the Holy Spirit. And, god forbid, we become a dusty and crusty Pentecostal church where it's just in our long forgotten statement of faith and nobody has been filled with the Holy Spirit. And then God has to work all sorts of miracles just to get them filled.

I've interviewed people from churches like how did you get filled? Oh, you know, i was across the country in a conference and the Holy Spirit got me. Oh, you know, somebody pulled me aside. I was in a home group and I got filled. Well, thank God, the Lord will try any means. But I don't wanna put up obstacles for the Lord. I wanna honor who Jesus honored the Holy Spirit. I wanna put an emphasis on the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the way that the New Testament does, in proportion to how the New Testament does, and you'll see the first century church in the book of Acts. They placed great emphasis on being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is final words on earth, but you shall receive power, power, dunamis. This is why I got saved. When they first presented the gospel to me, they made it very clear They weren't asking me to become religious. That would have not worked for me. They weren't asking me to join their cute little bless me club of a church, 16 years old, totally given over to Satan and sin me, no way. But I did want change, i did want God, i did want power, and one of the first verses they read to me when they were witnessing to me was you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. I want you to know this morning that the Lord wants to come to you and fill you with dunamis, holy Ghost power, hallelujah. Power to witness, power to live a holy life, power to love the unlovable, power to live in victory Christianity. It will stutter like a car with a bad engine D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d. If you're not filled with Holy Ghost power, it's like eating ice cream with saran wrap around your tongue. So close, but so far Some things. I could smell it, i could feel it, but it's something's not quite right, amen. Let's go to John.

The words of Jesus, john chapter four and verse 13. This is Jesus talking to the woman at the well. And Jesus answered and said to her whoever drinks of this water motioning to the well whoever drinks of this natural water, will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain. Everybody say fountain, fountain, a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. So please know, jesus here is talking about a fountain blessing And that fountain blessing is eternal life. It's for you. You get to drink in this water. Analogy of the fountain that he puts inside of you. It's for your benefit, it's to bless you. It's the fountain of eternal life. Say it one more time, just so we remember fountain, cause we're gonna do a compare and contrast here.

Fountain Fountains are good. If you're in the desert, a fountain will more than satisfy, right. But what if you could have more than a fountain? Let's fast forward just a few chapters into John, chapter seven. This is at the Passover On the last day, that great day of the feast.

By the way, if you're new here and you're wondering, why does Pastor get loud sometimes He's an excitable fellow, isn't he? It's because Jesus cried out hey, you may have come from a church where they just whisper. They're afraid you're gonna get scared. Ooh, i cry out. Jesus cried out See you, for my father's house has consumed me. Amen. He cried out If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow rivers, rivers, rivers. You have a fountain and you have rivers. A fountain and rivers, rivers, zz, zz, zz, zz, zz, not even a river, but plural rivers.

If you're in the desert, a fountain is good, i'm telling you. Clear, refreshing, pure rivers, zz, zz are even better. A fountain is for you. Eternal life is for you. The gift of salvation it's for you. It won't extend to others. They have to make a decision for themselves. But when you're filled with the Holy Spirit, it's rivers for those around you. And there is a difference. Note there is a difference. Thank God for salvation, but thank God for the baptism and indwelling of the Holy Spirit also, and I'm so glad that when I was first presented with the gospel I was presented in a very scriptural book of Acts manner.

We have to always look at how do they do it in the book of Acts And then sometimes you'll compare it to modern day American Christianity and realize we kind of maybe lost a few things along the way. Because what you'll hear in American churches pray Jesus into your heart That's step one. First of all, the scriptures never tell you to pray Jesus into your heart. They tell you to repent and surrender your whole life to Him and trust in Him for His righteousness. But it's pray Jesus into your heart and then maybe sort of, if you get around to it, get water baptized, whereas in the scriptures they did it the same day. The same day you said Jesus, i want you. They were baptized. We would do them here all the time if we had a baptistry, but we do them twice a year because we have to cross the river into Manhattan and that's the deal we have. And then they were filled with the Holy Spirit that same day.

That's why in Acts, chapter two, peter said repent every one of you and be baptized. So repent number one, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. That's two be baptized in water and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's three, and that's how I was witness to one, two, three. Now maybe that's not your story, but we're gonna fix that. Today You can have one, two, three. You can have rivers.

Oh, you might ask, how do you know that Jesus? just keep the last verse, please. How do you know that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit here? Look what the next verse says. But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, the Holy Spirit whom those believing in him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. So we know that. We know.

Look, the scriptures can maybe be obscure about certain things. This isn't one of them. He was talking about the Holy Spirit And it says that they couldn't receive yet because they weren't saved yet, jesus hadn't been crucified and resurrected. They didn't have their sins forgiven, but when Jesus was glorified, as he has been at his crucifixion and resurrection. Now, the Holy Spirit is available to you, to all, right now. Today, some of you are gonna get filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in other tongues. You don't even know it yet. That's how you're gonna walk out of here. I've seen him do it faithfully over 21 years. He did it this morning. He'll do it again.

Let's look at Acts, chapter two, the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given, and I'm going through a lot of scriptures this morning once again, because I'm laying a biblical foundation. I don't want you to take my word for it, i want you to take the Lord's word for it, and I'm also filling you with faith, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You don't even know. You're getting stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey right now, full of the word of God, and it's gonna produce faith. And you're gonna come up here if you haven't been filled yet, and you will be filled.

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord, in agreement, in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire, and one sat upon each of them, and they were all filled. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance, the Holy Spirit filled them and there was this initial physical manifestation. Can we get comfortable with that word? And this is usually the part in the message where you just feel some discomfort enter the room, because this is where the rubber meets the road. It's all fun and games until you actually get to step into the supernatural. Then it's whoa. I can keep it in analytical, frontalobian Christianity, but now whoa? It's experiential. Yeah, we get to experience him. That word manifestation shouldn't be scary. It just means that when there's an invasion of God's supernatural power in this natural word, there's gonna be a repercussion, a manifestation in the natural world. Here the initial physical evidence or the initial physical manifestation was they all spoke with tongues, they did the speaking. the Holy Spirit gave them the utterance, amen.

The Bible says let out of the mouth of two or three witnesses everything be established. That means when it comes to important doctrine you can't just find one passage and build a whole doctrine around it, but you have to find two or three. More is even better, the more the merrier Two or three passages versus chapters in the Bible that you can look at and build a doctrine on top of. So let's look at every instance in the book of Acts where someone was filled with the Holy Spirit. That sound good, because there's a lot of confusion about this And people say the strangest things.

You'll be talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and someone go, uh well, doesn't there need to be an interpreter? And that's like a whole nother message. I'm like no, the interpreter comes when it's a gift of the whole, the gift of speaking in tongues. Then there'll be the gift of interpretation of tongues. We're not talking about that this morning. We're talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit and you getting a prayer language Amen. Then people will say things like well, that's fine. I mean, i believe that I'll do it If God wants and when God wants.

Why do you see anybody approaching Jesus in the gospels with that attitude? Do you see any sick person? You know, i believe he's the healer and I'll be healed if he wants, when he wants. Whatever, they never have a passive attitude. The kingdom of heaven suffers, it allows, it gives place for violence, and the aggressive, the violent, take it by force. Everybody who received anything from Jesus. They ran, they pushed, they, they, they illegally pushed through mobs to get to him. They climbed up houses and ripped off roofs to get to him. Blind Bartimaeus was told to shut up and the Bible says when they told him shut up, he cried all the more. There has to be a zeal and an aggression in the eye will not let go of you until you bless me, amen. Hallelujah. Acts 10 and verse 44. We're going through every instance The Holy Spirit was given where he baptized somebody, filled somebody or they received The Bible uses those terms interchangeably filled with the Holy Spirit, baptized in the Holy Spirit, received the Holy Spirit. And remember, baptized means to immerse and to submerge, and so being baptized in the Holy Spirit is being immersed in the Holy Spirit and he's immersed in you and you're immersed in him. Acts 10 and 44. Remember, this is all new stuff, right, first century church. This is all brand new to them.

Peter is in the middle of a fiery sermon and the Holy Spirit didn't even have the courtesy to let him finish, very rudely interrupted him mid-sermon Oh Lord, do more of that here. Lord, do more of that here. While Peter was still speaking these words. You know what words Peter was just speaking. He had just finished preaching one fiery message and he had just finished this topic. He had just pronounced the forgiveness of all sins through Jesus and it was like the Holy Spirit said oh, i love that message on the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins so much. You don't even got to finish Peter, and he came in and fell on The Greek.

There was bear hug. He came and bear hugged that whole room full of people. They weren't even saved. Then the Holy Spirit fell on them. I think something happened in between them hearing the word and the Holy Spirit falling on them. They got saved. No altar call, no connection card, no, nothing. They just the weight of the anointing and the word. And they just made a decision on the inside. I believe Jesus. He takes away my sin through his substitutionary death on the cross, and the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. And then verse 45, those of the circumcision.

The Jewish people 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. Later you'll read it if you go into Acts 11. They're exact words where we were astonished because the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he did on us at the beginning. In other words, they got filled in Acts, chapter two, and now they're seeing these non-Jews get filled the same way, and it says that they were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured on the Gentiles. Also, here's a question for you How do they know that they were filled with the Holy Spirit? Because there's entire places where they'll say, well, you just, you never really know, you just kind of know by faith. I'm going to take an oily finger and make the sign of the cross on your forehead. You'll feel no different, nothing will happen, you just kind of believe it. But here they knew that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. How, i'm so glad you asked The next verse, for they heard them speak with tongues. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God, hallelujah. And then Peter said they weren't even baptized yet. Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? The Holy Spirit is the same yesterday, today and forever. He's been given on the death Pentecost. He's here right now.

And I know, when it comes to the subject of speaking in tongues, people either have never even heard about it or their first encounters with it were through Hollywood And have you ever noticed Hollywood is always mocking that whenever they show Christians And when, if someone's speaking in tongues, they're barefoot, dancing with snakes, drinking strict. Nine and yaga, yaga, yaga, yaga, yaga, yabba, dabba do, yabba, dabba do, and then it was always that was speaking in tongues. Is no speaking in tongues or other languages? even the term speaking in tongues right For a teenager? what? When they first said speaking in tongues? the only reason that wasn't so freak is because in my language the word for language is tongue. But today, speaking in tongues I mean speaking in other languages.

But supernaturally, you didn't learn them in school, you don't learn them from your parents. You open your mouth and you speak in other languages and the Holy Spirit gives you the utterance and it doesn't make you weird, it makes you empowered and it makes you more in love with God and I thank God for praying in other tongues. I know several things from the Bible What happens when I pray in tongues. Number one Paul said when I pray in tongues, i give thanks. Well, well, that's good news, i'm offering great praises to God. Two, he said my spirit is edified. Well, great, i'm strengthening, i'm building myself up when I'm praying tongues Three in Romans eight. He said we have this weakness We don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Holy Spirit will pray through us And when I hinted, i'll be able to see the perfect will of the Father. I don't have to wonder am I praying? all right, i have no insecurities about my prayers when I pray in tongues, cause the Holy Spirit, who is God, is praying through me. It's like cheating. He's praying through me, using my vocal cords to pray the mind and will of God to the Father, who's also God. Wow, hallelujah. It's like it's blessed to have the Andrews family here today, pani and company scattered all throughout the congregation. But it'll be like your dad saying to you look, i'm thinking of a number from one to a million, and if you can guess that number I'll buy you whatever you want. And then he comes around to the other side of you and says the number is 258. 10% of them got it. But that's good, amen.

Let's go to Acts, chapter 19. We're looking at every instance. Someone was filled with the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, acts 19 one, and 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? And so they said into John's baptism. 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. And 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 once again, what is the initial physical evidence? They spoke in tongues And in this case, they prophesied also. But initial physical manifestation was they spoke in tongues. Someone says do I have to speak in tongues? No, you get to speak in tongues. And when you're first being filled with the Holy Spirit, it's like bungee jumping. I don't know what else to compare it to, because people will ask well, i asked that, what am I gonna say? Well, what will I speak?

0:31:52 - Speaker 1
Well, I don't know.

0:31:56 - Speaker 2
When I got baptized in the Holy Spirit, they told me I spoke four distinct languages And that's just because I finally let go. The only thing that'll get in your way is getting the paralysis of analysis and getting caught up all in your mind, People coming to get frozen and they wanna analyze it all. It's. Believe it, you cannot. That's not the time for an analyze later, Amen.

0:32:21 - Speaker 1
Figure- it out later.

0:32:24 - Speaker 2
He's not the Holy Brain, he's the Holy Spirit. So he's not gonna make sense to your mind, he's gonna bypass your mind and the Holy Spirit is gonna come into your spirit. Hallelujah, thank you. Thank you, jesus. This is, frankly, why it can even come down to a cultural thing. This is why, when we do mission strip, there's some cultures that they're more in tune with the supernatural and they don't get paralyzed with their mind, and so we can get them to receive quicker. And then you can have a culture where everything is frontalobian, everything's gotta make you know, they gotta do them the theological mathematics up in their head, and they have a hard time receiving. Remember, god doesn't have a hard time giving, he's already given, but they have a hard time receiving because they want it all to add up. It's not gonna add up. You're gonna have to bungee jump, take a step of faith, open your mouth.

When I was sitting there, 16 years old, they said be filled with the Holy Spirit. I went huh and I could feel. I could feel God's presence. It wasn't familiar to me at that time, it was new, and I just started to breathe heavy. I knew I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what. And it first came out as this one syllable ah, ah. They said speak more. And I went ha, la, la, la, la, ah, raw, i wasn't actually saying this. It comes out different each time. And as I began to just forget about the people around me, you gotta forget about people, forget about what they think, cause Satan is right there, he's telling me the whole time. Boy, you're making a fool of yourself. You have no clue how weird you look right now. You are odd. And there was that moment where I had to just be like you know what I'm going, for God, i don't care. And I went ha, oh, ye. And then, of course, satan said you're just making stuff up. And I thought yeah, a-o-e, that sounds like you're making stuff up. And then, when I just let go a-o-e, look first it gives you a syllable. The Bible says with stammering st-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, with stammering tongues, with stammering lips and another tongue, will he speak to these people? So he first gives you a few words, maybe a few syllables, that become words. And if you're faithful and you, just by faith, speak out the words, words become sentences, sentences become a language. And I went from ha-o-e to hallelujah And I felt stronger, lighter, better. Just how I felt, hallelujah, and I felt stronger, lighter, better. Just how I felt, hallelujah, and I feel stronger, lighter, better. Just having demonstrated that right now. Amen, hallelujah. I encourage you to be greedy for all that God has for you.

We're finishing up here in Romans in Acts, chapter 8. So we saw Acts chapter 2, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They spoke in tongues. Acts chapter 10, they're all filled with the Holy Spirit. They all spoke in tongues. Acts chapter 19, paul laid hands on them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. What happened? They spoke in tongues.

Acts chapter 8, a phenomenal passage on being filled with the Holy Spirit. There's some great takeaways from it. Now, when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, so can you imagine that an entire city gets saved? They weren't saved. They heard the Word of God. They received the Word of God. They sent Peter and John to them. Catch this, please. I rebuke that spirit of Sandman off of you. That's that demon that comes in church that tries to lull you to sleep. It's the Sandman's spirit Who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet he had fallen upon. None of them. They had only look at the language. The Bible says they were missing something. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let's read that all over again.

I want you to catch this, because if I came from a missions trip and said, hey guys, it was amazing, thanks for sending me overseas. It was an open market and I preached Jesus and Jesus crucified, and all these people raised their hand and said they were now trusting in Jesus, you'd be like great job, jobs done. That's not how the first century church treated it. The whole city received the Word of God and they. Can you just go back two verses? I want them to see it again. I'm going to really I want to forgive me. I'm not trying to talk down to you, but there's so much confusion here. Forgive me, i have to idiot proof this sermon. I want you to see it with your own eyes and get it in you, because this is what the enemy does not want you to get.

Samaria did it receive the Word of God, yes or no? Can you please just that one verse that we started with Samaria did it receive the Word of God, yes or no? That means they got saved, right, we know they got saved because they were baptized in the name of Jesus. Yes, right, but they said that's not good enough, they can have more. So what do they do? They send their 18. Peter and John. Today we'd be like, oh, that's good enough. They'll stumble upon the other truths later, first century church. You're like, no, all right, this Peter and John, you're not going to mess this up. You know what's up. You're going right back there. You're sending Peter and John that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit. Next verse, please. Who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit? Verse 16, because they were only so far. They were only baptized. Today you show baptism video. Everybody loses their mind. They were only baptized because God is hungry and greedy for you. It's like I paid a heavy price with my own blood for you to have all this stuff. Get all the stuff then, amen. Next verse then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now look at the next verse.

We have three passages that show they all spoke in tongues when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Here it doesn't say they spoke in tongues. It doesn't say anything happened, but we know something happened. How do we know? And when Simon saw, when Simon saw, that means there was something to see. That's deep, right. It's.

After hours of study, hours and hours of study, i realized that if Simon saw something, there was something to see. Right, i had to dive into the original Greek call up my best friends, colleagues in the ministry, phds in theology. We met, we had a council and we all agreed that if Simon saw something, there was something to see. And when Simon saw that, through the laying on of the Apostles' hands, something happened, what happened? Well, based on those three other passages, there was a physical evidence. There was an initial manifestation. They spoke in tongues, like they did in Acts chapter two, acts chapter 10 and Acts chapter 19.

And when Simon saw that, through the laying on of the Apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, worshiped him, you can come up. He offered them money saying give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah, hallelujah, jesus. He said. Don't do a thing, but go to Jerusalem and be endued with power from on high. It's the promise of the Father. Once he spoke about a fountain. He spoke about rivers. You can have both and you don't have to limit yourself. Jesus' final words on this planet, where you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

And now I'm going to open up our altar to whoever wants to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And right about now there is a voice in your head messing with you, telling you tomorrow, telling you, not now, telling you what will people think. Telling you what will happen if you don't get filled. Yeah, what will happen if you do get filled. There comes a point where you have to just not care anymore and say God, i'm going to be filled because your word says you have already given me the Holy Spirit. I've seen it happen over and over again. I see a line of people this morning, about two minutes in, and it looked like the Lord had poured kerosene on all of them and lit them on fire. And He'll do it again right now.

Hallelujah, i want you all to stand. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, lord. Thank you, lord. You're the same yesterday, today and forever. Thank you, Lord, that your presence is here. Thank you, Lord, that we're forgiven. For Jesus' sake, if you're out there and you're saying I don't know if I can receive the Holy Spirit I've sinned in my life. look to Jesus right now and, out of your mouth, say Jesus, i believe in you. Jesus, i receive you as my Lord and Savior. Jesus, i give you my life, i trust in you. In fact, that's all you have to say. We don't have to overcomplicate it. You can say Jesus, i trust in you, Jesus, i trust in you. Thank you, Lord.