Isaiah 32:15 Until the Spirit is poured out from upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest

Acts 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth

Key thought

When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, radical changes and effects take place internally and externally. The Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father and all of us must expect to receive Him and be filled.

We receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. Power shifts things! Every time when power is released there is a reaction. One cannot receive the Holy Spirit and remain the same unless you intentionally indifferent.

Being Pentecostal is beyond belonging to a Pentecostal church, it about being filled with the Spirit of God. It is about being baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit affects our whole being, physically there is the evidence of tongues, and this is the norm we see in the books of Acts. There may be many other unique physical reactions from time to time.

Internally we have a transformed life, the Spirit works on us. He sanctifies us and leads us. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is normally regarded the when you are being filled with Holy Spirit after or simultaneously with the born again experience.

If you have this baptism then you her filled and refilled!!

Controversies about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Why do some stumble on the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

On the Day of Pentecost the people were mocked and thought to be drunk as they were filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues.

But Peter and the eleven disciples did not take offense, they addressed the mockers; and said these people are not drunk. This is what the prophet Joel spoke about

Joel 2:17 In the last days it shall be, God declares that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and even on my male servants and female servants, I those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy

Pentecost is prophecy fulfilled, when people are confused and mocking you, tell them this is prophetic fulfillment.

Being Pentecostal is experiential, we not only talk about the Holy Spirit but we experience Him as we are filled.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit and its initial evidence is counter-intuitive. You speak what you don’t understand, of course sometimes there is interpretation.

1 Corinthians 14:4 for if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful

This can unsettle people; it does not make sense for those that have never been filled with the Holy Spirit, and even for some of us that have been baptized we hold back because we are not very sure.

You are better off with the Holy Spirit than without Him!!

He is our Comforter; He is our Helper; the one who walks alongside us.

He is the Spirit of the Lord and or the Spirit of Jesus. He is the Spirit of God – He is God himself.

Three things about the Holy Spirit – The first two are just an amplifying the empowerment

1. When the Spirit comes we receive power to effectively participate in the divine agenda
   • The Holy Spirit helps us refocus and participate in the mission of God, which is to redeem humanity. Through the power of His Spirit we are enabled to cross barriers and to go to the nations.
   • The Jews would not ordinarily go and mix with gentiles, they were inward looking but the Holy Spirit turned them to the nations. It took the Holy Spirit to break the barriers on race and ethnicity.
   • The Holy Spirit amplifies and empowers us to participate effectively in the mission of God.
2. The Spirit speeds up the harvest
   • Isaiah 32:15 ‘The wilderness becomes a fertile field’
   • The spirit convicts sinners, the most stubborn hearts easily melt when convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit.
   • Hard to reach areas are opened as we move in the power of the Holy Spirit
   • Isaiah 32:15 ‘Fruitful field becomes a forest’
   • The work of missions becomes doable and effective when we go in the power of the Spirit.
   • Individually and collectively, we move below our potential when we don’t yield to the Spirit, basic to that is to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
   • The infilling of the Holy Spirit enhances our sensitivity to the operations of the gifts of the Spirit.
3. It is God’s desire that we operate in the fullness of the Spirit
   • The Holy Spirit is a promise of the father available to all Acts 2:38-39. After Peter sermon on the day of Pentecost, the people were convicted by the Holy Spirit and told them to;
   • 38 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. 39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God would call to himself.
   • It is therefore NOT correct to say that the gift of the Holy Spirit was a reserve of the early church, the promise and the gifts they received are applicable even to us here and now, and our children and those far off –in the years to come.

Conclusion

Ask and expect your heavenly father to give you the Holy Spirit!

You will not get a snake for fish! Neither will you get stone for bread!

God is faithful to give us the Holy Spirit; we can all get baptized and filled with Holy Spirit.