"The Holy Ghost Is for You" By General Pastor Peter F. Paine February 7th,
2016
It’s great to be with you. I love you.
I appreciate you. Let’s get a
little stink out of the air: Who’s here
rooting for the Broncos today? Would you
stand? Who’s here rooting for the
Panthers today? Would you stand? Stay sanding Broncos. Stay standing Panthers. Who doesn’t care who wins today? I’m happy for you if your team’s in the
Superbowl. I really am. I don’t have a
dog in the hunt. I don’t care who wins,
because the Steelers aren’t in the game, so…
So, that’s just a little humor, and, for those of you who might not
understand the game, it’s fine to have your team, and it’s fine to root for
your team; I think it’s great to have—I’m a Steelers fam because I grew up in
Pittsburgh, and I don’t really even watch it all that much, to be honest. I’m not a die-hard fan. Would I like to see the Steelers win? Sure,
because I’m from Pittsburgh. Does that
make sense? How many Bears fans do we
have here? Well, we’re in Chicago,
sure. And that’s good. And it’s fine to have your team,
but I want to ask you today, “How are you doing on rooting for Jesus?” What I want to ask you today is, “Are you a
fair-weather fan?” And this is all
leading up to the message today. Are you
a fair-weather fan for Jesus? You know,
our son, Adam, is a Forty-niners fan.
I’m not sure how or when that started.
Debbie just said that he was two, and perhaps that is, that far
back. And the thing about Adam as a
Forty-niners fan—and for those of you who don’t follow it at all, that’s just a
football team out of san Francisco, the Forty-niners—but he roots for the
Forty-niners, win or lose, and he’s not a fair-weather fan. And I, really seriously, as I lead into the
message today, I’m asking you, “Are you a fair-weather fan of Jesus?” Are you a fan of Jesus when everything is
going good? Are you a fan of Jesus when
it seems like your prayers are being answered?
Are you a fan of Jesus when it looks like He’s answering your prayers,
and meeting your needs, and ministering to you?
It’s good to be with the Lord.
Amen? Or are you a full-time fan
of Jesus? And I know there’s a book out,
and a whole course that goes with it, “Not a Fan,” and it says you don’t really
want to be a fan of Jesus, you want to be a follower of Christ. It makes a distinction between a fan and a
follower, and I get that, but, for the purpose of my question today, “Do you
root for Jesus all the time?” And I ask
you that, because we’re speaking this month about, “Receive Ye the Holy
Ghost.” And, some of you might have got
stuck somewhere on your journey. And I
hope I can bring you something today that will help you. Have you heard the story about the
boy who went to first grade, and his parents celebrated his first report card,
which came six weeks after he started the first grade, and he got all A’s? And so, Abby, you’re a principal of an
elementary school, right? You can
imagine the joy of the parents. The
first report period ends, and, this student gets all A’s in the first grade,
and everybody’s thrilled and happy, Mom and Dad. So, what they decide is, “We’re going to pull
him out of school, and wait until next year, and then we’re going to do it
again.” And again he gets A’s. I mean, the first grade report comes, and
everybody’s happy, and so proud of him, and they decide, “This is such a great
experience, we should do this again.”
So, they pull him out of school and the next year comes, and, of course,
he hasn’t graduated first grade, and so, he starts gain in first grade, and the
first grading period comes, and I won’t do this too many more times, but I want
to make sure you’re following this silly, silly story that I’m trying to lay
out before you. So, now he’s eighteen
years old, and his parents are proud of him, because the first grading period
is done, and he, among all his first grade peers, has got all A’s again, and
now, he’s never made a mistake in his life.
Every single time he takes a test, he aces it. He is the best first-grader in the
world. And, so, you know, if you can
take this story, and say, “The first time he did it, it makes sense that his
parents are proud of him.” But, at some
point he should go to second grade. Are
you listening? And we’re talking this month about
receiving the Holy Ghost. And I started
with that story because I wanted you to think about what it’s like to just stay
in first grade, spiritually. What it’s
like to just, you know, “He, I got baptized in Jesus’ name; I came out of the
water. I was buried with Him in baptism,
as we read in Romans, raised to walk in newness of life. Man, that was great! I’m going to celebrate that again.” And then, next week, “I’m going to celebrate
that again.” And then, next week, “I’m
going to celebrate that again.” But not
grow. Not say, “Lord, what would You
have me to do with this experience? What
would You have me to do with this life that I’m living for You?” Amen? Some of us get frustrated when
trials come, and I started out by asking you, “Are you a fair-weather
fan?” Or, when there’s trials, and when
there’s tribulations, and when there’s tough times, when you have fears or
doubts, where you slip and you fall and you’ve embarrassed your own testimony
and embarrassed your family, do you still stand up and face forward, and say,
“I know there’s a God in heaven who loves me, and I know that I can embrace the
promise of Romans 8:28, that all things work together to them that love the
Lord and are called according to His purpose, and that something good can come
of this?” Or, do you want to celebrate
the first grading period of first grade again? We’re talking this month about the
Holy Ghost, and I want to ask you, some of you set up here today—I don’t
remember who it was, it might have been Andy—but somebody said, “You know, it’s
not just speaking in tongues and that’s the end of it.” Was it Kirk, was it Andy? It was Andy?
Andy, you said that, and it’s not just, you know, receive ye the Holy Ghost
and speak in tongues and then I can check that box and then, let’s go back to
that first grading period of first grade again, because that’s a good comfort
zone. “I’m a Christian. I’ve got my bumper sticker. I go to church ‘most every Sunday. You know, I give ten percent.” Or, is there something for us to do in this
journey? Is there something for us to do
in this life? Does that make sense? I saw a documentary on Michael
Jordan recently. A brief
documentary. It was one of those YouTube
things; it lasted about eleven minutes, I think. In one of the sections of that documentary,
he gave the statistics on his losses.
How many times he had the opportunity to make the winning shot in the
game—in other words, they were down by one point and if he had made the basket,
they would have won—and he took the shot, and didn’t make it. How many times that, and he went down a whole
list of things that, that was a failure.
And it was big numbers. And he
said, “But the reason I’m a winner, is because I’m not afraid to lose.” And I thought that was an interesting
teaching point, because, you know, as Christians, if we really keep living for
and working for Jesus, we’re going to make some mistakes. Now, I’m not here to say that mistakes don’t
matter; we should try not to make those mistakes. And, when we do make a mistake, we should
quickly get back up, face the right direction, look forward to what He has for
us, and get on with the business at hand.
Amen? But I’m talking to you today about
the Holy Ghost, and I wanted to lay that foundation for the fact that life is a
journey. It’s intended to be a
journey. We’re not supposed to live this
life in a vacuum. We’re not supposed to
live this life in first grade. We’re
supposed to grow in the Lord. And, the
remainder of my time will probably be spent more sharing Scripture than sharing
thoughts with you. And I hope that you
can stay with the amount of Scripture that I have, that I feel the Lord has
laid on my heart to give today, and that you will get something wonderful from
it, you’ll be blessed by it. Come with
me, if you would, to John chapter fourteen.
Jesus is speaking here, and He is speaking words that are important to
us in first grade, and they’re important for us after we graduate with our
doctorate, using that as a metaphorical reference. Does that make sense? John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled... Let not you heart be
troubled… That makes sense, doesn’t it,
as a beginner? You say that to a child,
you say that to a newly-baptized believer, “Let not your heart be troubled.” But, how about somebody who has been in the
ministry for forty years, or they’ve lived life for forty years, and they’ve
slipped and they’ve fallen, they’ve made a mistake, others have treated them
bad, they have gone through some trials and tribulations of life; they’ve got
the scars to prove it. Some of you have
the scars to prove it, that you’ve been living for the Lord a long time. I remember one time, we were sitting at the
dinner table, and our daughter, heather, was, at that time, probably fourteen
or fifteen years old, and, you know, we were just having family discussion
after dinner, and she took my hand. And
she was just kind of gently looking at my hand, and she was looking at my hand,
and my wrist, then she took note of my left thumb. She spent a lot of time on my left
thumb. She said, “You’ve got a lot of
scars, Dad.” I said, “Yeah.” She said, “It looks like you got stitches
here,” I said, “Yeah.” She said, “It
looks like you got a bad cut there,” “Yeah.”
Like any person, you know, through the years, you get those little bumps
and bruises. Then she said, “Did you
used to work?” I said, “Yeah, a long
time ago, I used to work.” She said,
“Your hands are soft, but you’ve got lots of scars.” And I’m going to ask, this morning, “Is your
heart soft, even though it’s got lots of scars?” Is your spirit soft, even though you’ve maybe
got lots of scars? Are you tender
towards the Lord, even though you’ve had lots of battles, lots of bruises, lots
of scrapes? Or, have you learned how to
deal with it by toughening up? “I don’t
let things bother me anymore. I don’t cry
anymore. I don’t get sensitive
anymore.” That’s a scary place to
be. I spent a little bit of my Christian
journey there. I got tough enough. I got tough enough that I’m just going to
plow through this, but I realized that that’s a dangerous place to be. And, if you think I’m just wandering right
now, I hope it will all make sense as we tie it together with Scripture. Because, in our journey of life, you see,
there’s a Holy Ghost, and God want to empower us with His Holy Spirit. And He wants us to grow in him, and He wants
us to be yielded to Him, but we won’t hear the still, small voice if we’re
still screaming. I’m going to say that
again: We won’t hear the still, small
voice if we’re still screaming. God has something for us, today,
Saints. John
14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in
me. He’s talking about His divinity right
there. He’s talking about what His
mission is, and who He is, and He’s sharing with them something that they just
can’t quite understand, and that’s the theme of this message today, is that
those who were closest to Christ couldn’t understand what was happening at this
point. But, you see, we have a blessing
that they didn’t have: We have the
Book. Amen? We have the story. We know how it ends. They had the moment they were in. They didn’t have the New Testament to
read. They couldn’t say, “Okay, let’s
see what happens after the crucifixion.”
Jesus was telling them, but it hasn’t happened yet, so they couldn’t
understand it. Does that make
sense? He said: John 14:1-2 Let
not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father's house are many mansions… He’s
talking about heaven, isn’t He? John
14:2 …if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. He’s
talking about leaving His ministry on earth, and going to do the Spiritual work
of preparing a place for us in Heaven.
It’s a very powerful thing that He’s sharing with those who were closest
to Him, but they couldn’t quite comprehend it, now. We’re talking about the Holy Ghost this
month, and it’s the Holy Ghost that’s going to help us understand things. It’s the Holy Ghost that’s going to let us
know what to let go of and what to embrace.
It’s the Holy Ghost that’s going to help us to grow. Can the church say amen? He said he went away to prepare a place for
us. He said: John
14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. So,
think of the words of comfort he was speaking that they couldn’t quite get
yet. If your mother or your father or
your rabbi or whoever it is, said to you, “I’m going to die, but it’s okay;
I’ll be back.” What would we say? Has any of us ever known any human being
that’s said to us, on their deathbed, “I’m going to die, but it’s okay; I’ll be
back.” Hello? And, when Jesus said it to them, they had no
experience, of—we know that He’s returning.
We know that He’s coming back.
He’s going to spend forty days with them. He’s going to reappear and teach them what He
has to teach them, and show them what He has to show them. And we're going to wind up, in a few moments,
in the Book of Acts, where the Holy Spirit is falling, and people are receiving
the gift of the Holy Ghost. But, right
now, imagine the trial of them understanding, imagine the challenge, is maybe a
better word, for them to understand that Jesus is saying, “Look, I’m going to
go get Heaven ready for you guys. I’ll
be back. It’s all good.” And, I really hope that I’m helping you to get
a snapshot of that moment in the disciples’ lives, because, sometimes, we’re in
that snapshot. Sometimes we’re in the
moment where none of this makes sense.
Sometimes we’re in the place where this moment of life, it just seems
like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong or soon will go wrong. Right?
Sometimes in our life, things aren’t rosy and merry and healthy and
happy. Sometimes we’re acing bad news,
and then there’s worse news to follow.
He said, in the last part of verse three: John
14:3 ...that
where I am, there ye may be
also. And
then in verse four, He said: John
14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way
ye know. Come
with me, if you would, to the sixteenth chapter of the same Gospel of
John. Just come over a couple of pages,
here. And, in John sixteen, let’s look
at these first seen verses: John
16:1 These things have I spoken unto you,
that ye should not be offended. He
said, “I’ve spoken these things to you that you shouldn’t be offended, you
shouldn’t be upset, you shouldn’t be challenged, you shouldn’t be—you shouldn’t
wonder, ‘Is this going to be all right?’
It’s going to be all right.”
Amen? And if you don’t hear
anything else in this message, please hear this: That God can say to you and to me, “It’s
going to be all right.” You know, when I
say to you, “It’s going to be all right,” you think, “Well, you know, it’s nice
of Pete to say that. I’m really glad he
did; it’s nice, but…” But when God says
to you—hello? “It’s going to be all
right.” He said in verse one: John
16:1-2 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
They shall put you out of the synagogues… Now,
Jesus—do you where we’re at here, in John sixteen?—He hasn’t been crucified
yet. He’s telling them, “It’s going to
get worse before it gets better.”
Hello? Hello? And I started by asking you, “Are you a
fair-weather fan?” It’s going to get
worse before it gets better. Some parts
of our life, some parts of our journey, it’s going to get worse before it gets
better. “How about a great
marriage?” Good! God can do that for you, but there’s going to
be a moment in that marriage where it gets worse before it gets better. “I want
a great relationship with my adult children!”
Great! But, between the times
that they’re born and that great relationship with your adult children, it’s
going to get worse before it gets better.
Some of you might think that’s doom and gloom preaching; it’s not! It’s the reality of the journey of life. It’ll get worse, and then it’ll get worser—I
know that’s not a word; work with me—if you let go of God in the middle of the
battle. Hello? So He said, “They shall put you out of the
synagogues.” This is not good news. This is not good news. He said: John
16:2 …yea, the time cometh, that whosoever
killeth you… I’ve
been in a couple of fights in my life, but no one’s killed me yet. John
16:2 …whosoever killeth you will think that
he doeth God service. This
is not good news. This is not good
news. I don’t care who you are, this is
not good news. John
16:3 And these things will they do unto you,
because they have not known the Father, nor me. Who
was speaking? Jesus. He said, “The reason that they’re doing this
is because they don’t understand the message.
They don’t know the Father, they don’t know Me, they don’t have the Holy
Ghost, they don’t get it.” He said: John
16:3-4 … they have not known the Father,
nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may
remember that I told you of them... Put
this in your memory bank. Put this in
your tool chest. You’re going to need
it. Amen? You’re going to need it. John 16:4-7 … And these things I said not unto you
at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go my way to him that sent
me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said
these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you
the truth; It is expedient [it’s necessary, it’s advantageous, it’s
expedient] for
you that I go away… Nevertheless,
I tell you the truth: It’s expedient for
you that I go away. It’s good for you
that I go away. This bad thing that’s
about to happen, my crucifixion, and all that’s going to be surrounding
it? Good stuff, guys. Embrace it.
We’re talking this month about the Holy Ghost. Do you know bad things are going to happen to
you; if you have God’s perspective, you can see the good in it? Amen? Then
he said: John
16:7 … for
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you… If
I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. Remember the story I told earlier, the first
grade? “You can’t just stay here, with
Me, and that’s the end of the story.
We’ve got to advance here. We’ve
got to go forward. If I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you.” John
16:7 …but if I depart, I will send him unto
you. “I’ve
got to leave you so that I can come back to you. I’ve got to leave you so that the Holy Ghost
can come upon you. I’ve got something
good for you, but you can’t get it until you go through this trial. You can’t get it until this happens.” And sometimes in life, that’s just the way it
is, Saints. We’ve got to go through this
trial, we’ve got to go through this tribulation, we’ve got to go through this
misunderstanding, we’ve got to go through this battle. We’ve got to be refined and honed so that God
can really do for us what he wants to do for us. You know, I laugh at myself, because, at this
stage of my life, there are things that I know are not important to me anymore
that used to be so important, that I laugh and wonder, “Why was that ever so
important?” Debbie and I drove here this
time from Norfolk, Virginia, and, so, you know, if you drive from Norfolk to
here, this time of year, you get all that white, powdery tuff on your vehicle,
right? I have not washed my car since
I’ve arrived in town. Exactly! Wooo!
Thirty years ago, if I had made the same trip, I know I would have
washed the car at least three times by now.
I know I would have washed the car at least by Indiana, I would have
washed it on the South side of Chicago, and then I would have washed it when I
got in town. It really just doesn’t
matter that much to me anymore. I suppose,
by comparison, my car is probably pretty clean.
By comparison. But, you know what
I realized, somewhere along my journey?
That whatever car I’m driving now, it’s going to be rusted out a few
years from now. And, then, whatever suit
I’m wearing now is going to be gone a few years from now. Hello?
I’ve kept a few of the suits in my closet that I’ve outgrown, because
I’m trying to ‘grow’ back into them.
Don’t laugh too much. Some of you
can pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Go
back to the Gospel of John fourteen for me for just a few moments. I’m just going to read two verses here, right
now. John
14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. We’re
talking about the Holy Ghost, but this verse doesn’t change, after the death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
John fourteen and fifteen; those are pretty strong words: If you love Me, keep My commandments. Even if we grew up in a strict home, imagine
Dad saying, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” It’s true; it’s fine, but you’d better know
there’s some love involved if somebody’s going to say that, right? I mean, that can’t be a one-way street. That better come from a loving father who’s a
provider and a provider and always watching out for your best interests and you
know if they say, “If you love me, keep my commandments,” that there’s no hook
in it. Right? “If you love me, keep my commandments.” You’ve got to know where the source of that
is if you’re going to be happy about it.
Does that make sense? Well, we do
know who the source is, and it’s fair for Him to say that, because there is no
hook in it. He’s just saying, “I’m
always looking out for your best interests.”
We’re talking about the Holy Ghost today, but we’re talking about this
earthly platform, we’re talking about Heaven, we’re talking about the bridge
between the two. And then, in the next
verse, He said these words: John
14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide [stay] with you for ever; That
He may abide with you forever! Here’s
Jesus saying, “I’m going to pray.
Another Comforter is coming, and He’s going to abide with you forever. Come down to verse twenty-six with me,
please. John
14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all
things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. “…Whatsoever I have said unto you.” He’s going to bring it unto your
remembrance. And this whole thing, here,
that we just read in these portions of John the fourteenth chapter and John the
sixteenth chapter, all of this is stuff that they need to learn and know, but
it’s not going to apply to them right now, it’s going to apply to them later,
but they need to get it. How many of you
are like me; when you sat in science class or geometry class, you thought, “I’m
never going to use this stuff,” and somewhere on your journey, you were on your
job or doing something, and you thought, “Wow!
I wish I’d have paid more attention?”
Anybody can relate to what I’m talking about? Does that make sense? And, of course, I meant that to be a little
humorous in how I worded it, but, think about the reality of it: There you were in your teen years, there I
was in my teen years, thinking, “There is nothing that this man is going to say
to me that will ever apply to me in my life,” only to become an adult, and say,
“Wow! I really wish I’d have studied a
little more, because that would be helpful right now.” Does that make sense? And here’s Jesus speaking to His disciples,
and He’s speaking to us. And He’s
speaking to us, but now, we know where we’re at, chronologically, we’re after
the fact. Some of you are anxious to get
to that part of the story; come with me now to the Book of Acts. We’re going to start with the first chapter
in the Book of Acts. If you’re with me,
say amen. Saints,
we’re talking about the Holy Ghost, today, and here’s the thing I want to say
to you, that many of us are living beneath our privilege. I’ve got to help you understand what’s in the
message for you, so that you don’t miss it.
Here’s the deal: How many of you
grew up in homes where, at Christmastime, you got gifts for Christmas? Many of us did. And, in my house, usually, there’d be two
gifts, maybe three. It wasn’t just one
gift; I liked that, it was cool. Once I
opened a gift that said, “Pete” on it, I was looking for the next one. Does that make sense? So, in my house, when I was a young kid—and
my mom was a practical person, and we lived in a pretty practical house, so,
for Christmas I’d get things I needed, you know, clothing items, and there’d
always be one fun thing that I didn’t need, I just wanted. But, six kids, it was sort of a practical
time to give gifts to your kids. “Oh,
Pete needs a sweater, Pete needs a pair of shoes,” that kind of thing. Does that make sense? Pete didn’t need, but he wanted, this
toy. Okay? So, once I opened one gift, I wasn’t saying,
“Hey! I got a gift!” Are you with me? I’m checking to see if there’s any more. I’m checking for more gifts. Where’s what I’m asking today: We’re talking today about receiving the Holy
Ghost; anybody here think maybe you’ve got a few unwrapped gifts? What if God’s got something for you, it’s
already got your name on it, it’s been bought and paid for, it’s been wrapped,
it’s there, but you haven’t opened it yet?
Wouldn’t it be cool today to go home and find a gift that’s yours that
you haven’t opened yet? How about maybe
right in this service that you would get a gift that God had for you,
throughout your journey, throughout your life, but you haven’t opened it yet? God’s got gifts for us, Saints. And,
now, I’m going to get real personal.
That was meant as an encouragement statement, but this one, now, I’m
going to step on your toes with it. Are
you ready? Sometimes the gift that God
wants to give you isn’t about you; it’s so that you can do what you’re supposed
to do in the body of Christ. Amen? In First Corinthians chapter twelve,
somewhere along in there, it talks about this whole idea of the body of Christ
(1 Corinthians 12:8-31), and it takes the idea of the eye, and the nose, and
the ear, right? It talks about he put them
all severally in the body as it pleased Him.
God wants to put good gifts in the church as it pleases Him. What if he wants you to have a gift so that
you can bless your brothers and your sisters?
Amen? And I say that because,
some of us, our personality is such that we’re so modest, so humble, so meek,
“I’ve got enough gifts; I’m happy.”
Yeah, but what if God wants to give you a gift to bless this body? What if God wants to give you a gift to bless
others? What if God wants to give you a
gift so that you can encourage, edify, walk through the valley of death with
somebody? Amen? I
want to tell you a short story to make a point.
Many of you that have known me through the years know this story, but
there was a time in 1995 when there was a family tragedy; my brother and his
wife and three children were killed in a plane crash. Now, fast-forward to a year later, there was
a young man that came to our church; he was in the Navy. And, somebody came up to me and said, (we’ll
call him John) “John’s really hurting, because, last year, his father and
mother, and three of his siblings were killed in an accident. All of them were killed in one tragic
accident, and John is the survivor. He
wasn’t in the accident, but he’s the only survivor of his family; everyone else
in his immediate family was killed. And
he’s really hurting and he wants to talk to somebody.” And I said, “Well, I’d be glad to talk with
him.” And, so, after service, I sat down
with John, and a quickening of the Holy Ghost said, “Don’t tell him your
story.” So, I sat down with John and I
listened. And we talked for about an
hour. I didn’t say much. And, after an hour, John said something very
interesting. He said, “I’ve talked to
lots of people in the last year about this, but it seems to me, you’re the
first person that understands my grief.”
Now, why did he feel that?
Because, I didn’t have the exact situation, I had a similar situation; I
could draw a little bit from my experience on how he might have felt. I think his situation was worse than mine, by
far. Does that make sense? But I had some empathy for what he went
through. You can’t even believe it when
you get the news. It doesn’t even make
sense. What
if the trial or tribulation you’re going through is meant to strengthen the
body? What if the gift that God wants to
give you is meant to strengthen the body, and you’re complacent and happy? “I’m saved; I’m going to Heaven. It doesn’t matter if I get any more
gifts.” It might to your brother or your
sister. I’m not saying that to yell at
you, I’m saying it to help you today to say, “God, give me all You want me to
have, so that I can be all You want me to be.”
Does that make sense? I know that
I don’t have a personal relationship with all of you; if it seems like I’m
yelling at you today, I’m crying out to say, please don’t miss what God has for
you. Please don’t miss the blessing that
God wants you to have. So,
now, let’s come back and look at acts chapter one. You know, when I was deciding what I wanted
to share today, I wanted to read all of acts one, and two, and three, and,
four, and five, but we couldn’t do it all, so here we go: Acts
1:4 And, being assembled together
with them… Just
in case, I want to make sure that we completely understand, everything that
I’ve read up until now has been prior to the crucifixion. Right?
Now we’re talking New Testament Church, post-crucifixion, after. It makes a difference. It makes a difference. For those of you who wonder—I don’t really
have time to make this point so big, but I’ll just distill it down to
this—there is a big piece of understanding that comes by realizing whether
we’re talking pre- or post-crucifixion.
It makes all the difference in the world. Amen?
Prior to us becoming a country, who’s rule were we under? England, right. I remember hearing an English historian, and
he was being interviewed on a radio show, and they opened up the lines for
call-ins, and somebody called in. I
don’t know if they did it humorously, or if they just didn’t realize how
humorous it was, but they said, “Do you celebrate the Fourth of July in
England?” and he said, “Not quite like you chaps over here do.” Think about it. So, it makes a difference if we’re talking
about pre- or post-crucifixion. Acts
1:4-5 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should
not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly
baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days
hence. Prior
to the resurrection of Christ, this baptism of the Holy Ghost wasn’t available.
Because, he hadn’t gone away to the Father.
He hadn’t gone. He said, “If I go
not away, the Comforter cannot come,” we just read that, remember? So, now He has gone away, and, now, the
Comforter has come. And it said, here: Acts
1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying,
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? They
had questions. You have questions. I have questions, but God has answers. Acts
1:7-8 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or
the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power… How
many want more power? How many want more
power? Acts
1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and
in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Why
do we get power? So we can witness for
the Lord. So that we can tell others who
He is, and what He’s about, and that he has an ear that is not heavy that it
cannot hear, and His hand is not short that it cannot save (Isaiah 59:1), and
the people have separated themselves from God because of their sins and their
iniquities (Isaiah 59:2), but if you draw nigh to God, he will draw nigh to you
(James 4:8). That’s the importance of
receiving power. Acts
1:9-10 And when he had spoken these things,
while they beheld [while they watched],
he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven
as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Who
were these men? Angels! Angels! Acts
1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Saints,
we’re living between the crucifixion and the return, and this Holy Ghost is for
us. We’re part of the New Testament
Church. Receiving the Holy Ghost is more
than speaking in tongues. I believe that
speaking in tongues is an evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost. I do.
It can be in the form of a prayer language, or—and we can talk more about
that, I suspect, in the days and the weeks ahead, as you study this topic, you
will, but, for right now, here’s what I want to say: The Holy Ghost is for you. The Holy Ghost is for you. It’s not just for somebody else in the
church; it’s for you. And, if you
haven’t received the Holy Ghost, you haven’t received the power that comes with
the Holy Ghost. Amen? Come
with me to the second chapter of the Book of Acts. Acts
2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come… “And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come…”
They went to Jerusalem. They knew He was coming. Something powerful’s happening; people came
from all around. They arrived there, and
they were waiting for the message that God had for them in this time and in
this place. Acts
2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place. That
one accord part is very important. That
one accord part is very important, it’s critical that you understand how
important it is that you get in harmony with your brothers and sisters. How many of you grew up with siblings,
brothers and sisters, even if it was only one sibling? Many of you.
How many of you are parents of children, you have more than one
child? Ever fight with each other? Anybody here have siblings, or you’re a
parent of more than one child, and you’ve never had them argue with each other,
fight with each other; never had any disagreements? Anybody?
Do they do that in Tyler, Texas, Ty?
Do siblings fight with each other?
They do it here, too. I have a
feeling they do it all over the world.
You know what? My brothers and I
would fight with each other, but, if, at school, somebody said something about
one of the Paine boys, all the Paine boys felt like they had to take up the
cause. Yep. My brother Steve would beat me up on Monday
night, and defend me Tuesday at school. And
then he’d beat me up Tuesday night, and I’m thinking, “How about if you just
defend me? I mean, what’s the beatings
in between? What’s that about?” You know?
A little humorous, but, it’s more funny, now. Yeah. Acts
2:1-2 And when the day of Pentecost was fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. No
one knew it was going to happen exactly like this. It happened for them—we’ve read it, we know
it, we understand it, and, if it happens again, we know what the reference
is. But they were experiencing something
very powerful for the very first time. Acts
2:2-3 …it filled all the house where they were
sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it
sat upon [some of them. Did I read
that wrong? It sat upon] each of them. Okay. Acts
2:4 And they were all filled with the… What? Holy Ghost. Acts
2:4-6 …and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews,
devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard
them speak in his own language. We
could get into a real study—and maybe you will this month—about the difference
between the prayer language of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues, when
it’s meant as a Word for the church, and, also on this occasion, when people of
different languages all got together, and God, through the Holy Ghost, spoke to
everyone in their own language. Amen? Where
were we? Acts
2:7-8 And they were all amazed and marvelled,
saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans? And how
hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? They’re
from all over the world. They’re: Acts
2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia,
and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, And
all these hard names to pronounce, like Waukegan. So, they’re from all over the world, and they
all had their own language, right? They
heard them in their own language, didn’t they?
And it goes on to say: Acts
2:10-11 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about
Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do
hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful… What? Works of God.
Everybody’s hearing this message, this work of God in their own tongue,
so it can’t be misunderstood. I was
preaching in Africa one time; I had an interpreter. And, I remember the bishop of that church
stood up, and he went over, and he started to whisper in the interpreter’s ear,
and he gave me, like, a ‘hold on a second,’ as I was preaching that day. And it was a large church; there were a few
thousand people there. Do you remember
that, Debbie? Some of you were there. Becky, you were there. Do you remember that incident? He said, “Just a minute, Pastor Paine,” and
he went over to the interpreter, and he whispered something in his ear. I didn’t understand what it was, but after
the service, he told me, “He wasn’t interpreting; he was explaining.” He said, “I told him to stop explaining, and
just say what he says.” See, that was a
real benefit of what was happening here.
There was no one interpreting or explaining, it was happening
simultaneously. Everyone was hearing it
in their own language at the same time.
God can speak any language. Acts
2:12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt,
saying one to another, What meaneth this? What
meaneth this? Well, the Holy Ghost is
here. The Holy Ghost is here. That’s what it means. That’s the bottom line. That’s what it’s all about. And, saints, I want to tell you today that
the Holy Ghost is here. The Holy Ghost
is here; God has something for you. And,
you know, we could read 1 Corinthians 14, they got a little out of balance on
worshipping, and speaking in tongues, and what is was for, and when it was to
be used, and how it was to be used… I’d
rather get out of balance, I’d rather make a mess and let God speak to us and
clean it up than just avoid it. I’ve
heard some pastors say, “This Holy Ghost thing, this speaking in tongues, we
just don’t do it in our church because it creates confusion and God is not the
author of confusion,” but God is the author of the Holy Ghost. Can the church say amen? Amen? My
dad came to visit the church once, and, I know, I tell a lot of childhood
stories, and I hope that they don’t frustrate you, because, for me, it’s one of
those things where a picture is worth a thousand words. And, there was a young guy in church, and,
not everybody was shouting hallelujah at this moment, but he had his hands
raised, and he was shouting hallelujah, and he was speaking in tongues, and it
was in decency and in order, in that moment in the service. And my dad said to me afterwards, he said,
“What was he reaching for, Peter? He
kept going like this (raising his hands).”
I said, “Well, I don’t know, dad.
Remember when I was a kid, and you took me a Pittsburgh Pirates game,
and somebody would hit a homerun, and I’d stand up and do like this (raising
hands again)?” He said, “Yeah,” and I
said, “I think that’s pretty much the same thing. I think he thought our team was winning at
that moment, and he was just real pleased with it.” I mean, how do explain that to somebody who
doesn’t go to church? Something
powerful was happening in this place, wasn’t it? Something powerful was happening. Acts
2:13 Others mocking said, These men are full of
new wine. They
thought they were drunk. “These men are
full of new wine.” Acts
2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven,
lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell
at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: He’s
saying, “You guys, pay attention. Listen
to me. I’ve got something to tell you
here. You need to know this: Acts
2:15-16 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third
hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; We’re
going all the way back to Joel, now. Acts
2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last
days… Saints,
we’re living in the last days. I know,
in our society, in our culture, with our lifespan, you say, “Last days? This was two thousand years ago!” That’s right.
We’re in the last days. It’s
getting closer to the end, every day. I
didn’t think we’d last this long, but we’re in the last days. Acts
2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last
days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams: Parrish
and Andy and I were talking yesterday, and we were talking about people who
were having this spiritual revival in their lives. Some of you are seeing that awakening, and I
believe it’s because the Lord is soon to return. But I believe it’s because, what we do, we
must do quickly. I believe God has a
work for us to do, and I believe some of us have become complacent in our walk,
and it’s time for us to revisit this thing, and say, “God, what would You have
for me?” But I have a word for you from
the Lord. I really feel like the lord
gave me something to give to you. I
touched on this briefly in Men’s Fellowship yesterday, but I want to share it
with the whole congregation right now. I
tried to plow the field earlier for this statement by saying, you know,
siblings, and fights and all that stuff.
You know what? This is a pretty
big family. You don’t think there’s
going to be personality conflicts, and challenges, and moments where I think
somebody’s left not carrying their fair share of the load, or somebody
shouldn’t have said this, or done that, or done this, times where I get my
feelings hurt, times when I hurt other people’s feelings. That’s part of being part of a family. If you don’t want that, go live alone in a
cabin in the woods, right? Because, if
you’re going to interact with other human beings, that’s the price you pay. Does that make sense? That’s part of interaction with other human
beings, whether you’re related to each other, or whether you’re a church
family—we’re all related, because we all have the same Heavenly Father. That’s going to be part of it. But, here’s the word that I feel that the
Lord gave me. If I’m not able to share
anything else this week-end, I would lie to share this: Lift your brothers and sisters up when you
see that they’re doing something wrong.
When they’ve done something that offends you, pray for them. When they’ve done something that you don’t
like, pray for them. That’s whether
they’re your leader, or you’re their leader.
If you see your brother or sister in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
restore such a one I the spirit of meekness (Galatians 6:1). Somebody should put that in the Bible, don’t
you think? Work with me, Saints. If you see your brother or sister in a fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such a one I the spirit of meekness,
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
We’re going to reap what we sew (Galatians 6:7-8). I think one of the reasons that God—I don’t
mean this boastfully; I’m going to use Apostle Paul’s words, “If I boast, I
boast in Christ.” I think one of the
reasons that God’s been so merciful to me, and I’ve been allowed to live and
serve as many years as I have, is because I haven’t sent too much of my life
finding fault with others. I don’t mean
that boastfully, I just needed to say, you know what? I’ve been offended, I’ve
been hurt, I’ve been disappointed, I think I’ve even been mistreated at times,
but I try not to spend too much time on it, because a grudge is a heavy thing
to carry day after day after day after day.
And I’m not saying that to make light of what you feel you have been
cheated, you feel you have been done dirty, done wrong… You
know, one more childhood story (I promise it will be the last one, only, it
occurs to me that this is not rally a childhood story, because it spans from my
last day of my senior year of high school until our first child was born. Whatever that would have been; that would
have been eight years later. So, my dad
didn’t come to my high school graduation, and it really hurt my feelings—I love
my father; he’s my hero, and I try to tell all my stories in a light that
favors him—but, on the day of my high school graduation, he decided to stay
home, and he stayed home that day. When
I came home, I said, “Hey, dad, I graduated high school today.” And he said, “Oh, that was today?” I said, “Yeah, it was today, dad, and I sure
was hoping you’d be there, too. I’m
disappointed you didn’t come.” He said,
“Well, I’ve been to other graduations; I figure they’re all pretty much the
same.” I said, “I guess they are, dad,
except, today was mine.” And he sort of
dismissed it, and I didn’t feel any resolution.
Fast-forward eight years or so later; I’m dropping my dad off at the
airport after he’s come to visit us and see his grandson, Adam. I said, “Hey, dad, remember when I graduated
high school, and you didn’t come to my graduation?” And he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking
about, Pete. I don’t know what you’re
talking about.” I wasted eight years of
my life being angry about something that didn’t matter. I wasted eight years of my life because he
made a mistake that day. It hurt
me. And then he said, “Peter, I don’t
remember that day, but if I hurt you, or if I ever do, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.” And it was like a concrete block was lifted
off my chest. Somebody
here, today, you’re interfering with what the Holy Ghost wants to do for you,
because you’re holding grudges from a long time ago. And God wants to heal you and forgive you—I’m
not saying that they weren’t wrong; if it was with me, I’m not saying I wasn’t
wrong—but what I’m saying is receive ye the Holy Ghost. Let’s get on with the business at hand. Let’s be about our Father’s business,
because, at the end of our journey, we’re not going to hold court with those
that we hold grudges with. It’s going to
be you and God, and it’s going to be me and God, and He’s not going to say,
“Tell me who else you’ve got gripes with, because I’m going to get to them
soon.” It’s just, it’s a very personal
thing, come the end of our journey. Amen? And I wanted to be ready, how about you? Singers,
musicians, could you come up and sing the song that you sang just before I came
up? We’re going to close with these two
verses in Acts chapter two. So, the Day
of Pentecost has fully come, and they’re all in one place, something big and
powerful is happening, people are receiving the Holy Ghost; they’re
experiencing the Holy Ghost, in most cases, for the very first moment in their
lives. Acts
2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked
in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and
brethren, what shall we do? And
so, if you’re asking today, “what shall I do?
What shall I do with this message?
What shall I do with this Holy Ghost?
He said: Acts
2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent… And
before we go any further, I want to pause right there, because, if you’re
familiar with that verse, it might be easy to gloss over that word. But, there’s a lot of power in that
word: repent. Repent:
Be sorry, and change. I’m going
to do that again. Repent: Be sorry, and change. Be sorry, and change. Don’t hold that grudge any longer. Don’t find that fault over and over and over
again; it’s a bitter pill to swallow day after day. It’s a bitter pill to swallow day after
day. I’ve been there, I’ve done it, I’ve
wasted time in my life, swallowing that bitter pill every day. To no gain, and it interferes with receiving
the Holy Ghost. I’m reaching out for
somebody today, to say, “God, what would You have me to do with this? What would You have me to do with this?” So, the first thing he said was repent, and
repent means to be sorry and change. To
be sorry and change. Amen? You
know, there’s all kinds of jokes, and all kinds of stories about people that
are driving down the road, and they find out they’re going the wrong way, but
what do they do? They just keep going
the wrong way. They like the view, or
whatever it is. One time Debbie asked
me, she said, “Pete, do you think we ought to stop and ask directions?” And, this is silly; I know it’s silly, but I
really said to her, I said, “I don’t think I’m that lost yet.” How lost do you want to get before you ask,
“What is the direction you have for me, God?
What’s the direction you have for me, God? Is today the day I stop holding this grudge?” He
said, repent. What’s the next thing he
said? He said: Acts
2:38 …be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins… That’s
the baptism in water that we read about in Romans, the burial. He said, “The old man has passed away. Behold, all things become new.” (Romans
6:3-6) And the next thing he (Peter)
said after that is what? Acts
2:38 … and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost. What
he said applies to use right here, right now.
Acts
2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your
children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. Receive
ye the Holy Ghost.
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