What does the Holy Spirit do (part 2)?

Let's go to the word of the Lord in Luke chapter 5. We continue with our theme about the Holy Spirit. We are preaching a series of sermons that we have called orthodox sermons. The word orthodox means biblical, correct, pertinent to sound doctrine, the historical doctrine of the church. We want to instruct God's people in the essential doctrinal truths that are of fundamental importance to the Christian life. And we've been visiting a number of different doctrines.

We visit the doctrine of grace, salvation by grace not works. We also visited the doctrine that works are important, we have talked about the responsibility of each individual before God, we have talked about the call to preach the word, to be an evangelistic people, to let our light shine, put it on high , we have talked about the fact that God does not want anyone to be lost, but rather that all proceed to salvation.

And speaking about works and the importance of works in the Christian life, we move on to the work and the presence of the Holy Spirit, why does this sequence of works and the importance of lives give good behavior, of good fruit, of fruits of justice, as the word says to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Because we have said that the work of the Holy Spirit is what allows us not to fall into the trap of legalism and doctrinal rigidity into which churches and movements that emphasize holiness and works often fall.

It is very easy to fall into a belief that works are what will save me even though we say the opposite with our mouths, but like... without the Holy Spirit the spirituality of the human being it loses its fluidity. Remember how we were saying that oil, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, is required to lubricate the parts of a machine to keep the parts flowing and moving? When the oil hardens, the machine stiffens and the engine burns, and that is why God has provided the anointing of the Holy Spirit, to lubricate the Christian life, to keep it flowing and moving because otherwise we fall into works.

And I am going to tell you something about that as well, that the Lord spoke to me recently about what happens when a religion or a denomination or a church or an individual loses contact, loses intimacy with the Spirit Holy, it falls into the matter of works. The concept of God's anointing is lost.

Look in Luke chapter 5 verse 33, this contrast that is presented to us here between a spirituality filled with the Holy Spirit with the presence of Jesus who is the spirit nearby, moving and a religion or a Christian religiosity, a Christian spirituality that does not have a spirituality, that does not have the presence of the spirit.

Look what happens here… 5:33 Luke 5:33 says: “…Then they (they are the Pharisees, rigid religion, dead religion, religion of works) ....they said to him? Why do John's disciples fast many times and pray?" and likewise those of the Pharisees, do you see there? works, works, works, religiosity, prayers, fasting, washing hands, all things that have to do with religion, it is not that these things are bad, the rites of religion and spirituality are not bad but when that it is all there is, when it is not the life of the spirit, then there is a serious problem in the spiritual life. He also says of the Pharisees

Now “.....but yours -they say to Jesus, the disciples of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus- here you have men who are close to Jesus, they are they are filled with the spirit, they are close, they are receiving directly from Jesus Christ. He says: “…but yours eat and drink…” -meaning, yours are not with all those ritualistic issues, they have a more vital life, they depend more on the grace of the Lord, you see?- “…but yours eat and they drink…” -Do you remember that Jesus Christ was accused of being an eater and a drinker? Because he didn't go around with that stretched, starched, rigid religiosity. The Lord did not have that guilty conscience that he always had to present a face of holiness, right?

That is why the disciples are surprised when he is with the Samaritan woman talking at noon in the town square and the Pharisees, you would never have seen them with a woman talking because that was casting suspicion on his holiness and his spirituality.

But the Lord did not have that complex, he flowed freely. He was at a wedding, for example at the wedding in Canaa, he prayed there for the wine, he dined with the Pharisees, pardon the tax collectors, he had conversations with the prostitutes, he did not have those complexes.

You see what happens when one is secure in God and one is filled with the Spirit and one's spirituality flows and hears from God and adjusts to circumstances and discerns the spirit. Because the spirit is within you, it enables you to discern what is of God and what is not of God. You don't have to go around with those complexes. Your spirituality is a healthy spirituality.

Remember what I told you about when you see a church where people are that you don't eat, don't drink, don't touch, don't do, don't say and everything is sin and everything is the devil around here , the devil is going to do this to you... that is not healthy spirituality, that is a compulsive, neurotic, carnal spirituality that has been losing contact.

Now where you see a spirituality that there is holiness but it is a fluid holiness, it is spontaneous, there is joy, there is contact between the brothers, there is freedom to express God, not that rigidity.

Sometimes things are done that may not seem to be of God, but they are of God because the spirit is being discerned. There are times when if you discern the spirit, you will be led to do things that will appear to the religious as not of God. For example, when the disciples ate the bread, the wheat, they gathered ears on Saturday, uhh that scandalized the Pharisees, because nothing was supposed to be done.

Did you know that to this day Orthodox Jews don't even turn on a light on the Sabbath? Because turn it on, give it a switch, that's doing work, that's working, imagine.

Why? What happens when religion does not have the continuous updating, the continuous discernment of the spirit? then one gets into rigid systems. And the systems take control instead of the continuous discernment of the Spirit. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ when they accused him of being so free, he became furious with the Pharisees.

Another passage that he reminded them of, he said to them: do you remember when David and his men were running from Saul and they were starving and they came to the temple and there was no food and all they had to eat? food was the showbread that was on the consecrated altar and anyone who ate of that bread was sentenced to death? Because so sacred was the showbread, no one other than a priest was supposed to touch it.

And when David and his men got there hungry and the priest said to them, “well look, all there is is shewbread” and you know what? they ate it and the Lord told them and you know what? What is more important, the rites of man or man himself? For whom was Saturday made, for man or man for Saturday?

There was hunger, life is more important to God than taking care of a rite, do you understand? There are many times that in the counseling process, dealing with people, the spirit will guide you to a moment of mercy.

Now I'm not telling him this so we can be, you know? Libertines, no! But I have seen moments in which the rigidity of the religious patterns has to be stretched a little so that the Holy Spirit can fit. Yes or no? How many say love to that?

And only a person filled with the Holy Spirit, who is in tune with the voice of God in the moment, can have the discernment to know how to handle a situation that is not in the manual and know how to navigate that strait. and get to the other side.

That is why the Lord… and that… all Christian spirituality that has the flow of the Holy Spirit, the presence of the Holy Spirit is not going to fit within the rigid patterns of dead religion. Because the spirit cannot be contained. That is why later the Lord speaks of the old wineskins, that you cannot put the new wine in an old wineskin. I know that nobody here knows about wine or anything because nobody drinks wine here, but let me explain what they told me, I read that years ago, okay?

When the wine is new, the alcohol that is in the air bubbles is still in the process of expanding, they begin to expand and the wine when it is new expands, it grows because it is like yeast, the bread that inflates, right? So if you take a new wine that is not yet ripe and you make it in a skin, that is to say… before, the wine was put in some leather things, right? leather containers and when a leather wears... what happens when a leather ages? It gets hard, it loses its flexibility, it doesn't flow, it doesn't move, it doesn't stretch with pressure, it's already hard.

So, if you introduce new wine that has to expand and look, the Lord spoke... this was a sign of what? Holy Spirit. Wine is always associated with the Holy Spirit, yes or no? And the Holy Spirit is associated with effervescence, with things that expand, things that jump, water, rivers of living water will run from within, will jump from within. Wine is a symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Then the Lord tells the Pharisees: new wine cannot be put into an old wineskin because otherwise when the wine expands it breaks. Let me tell you the atomic force is irresistible. When an atom, which is what is inside the wine, begins to carry out its process, look, it breaks, I am not saying a leather skin, it breaks a steel box, it breaks it because that is what is atomic. Look what the atomic force is. It cannot be contained. The Holy Spirit can never fit into a dead religion, the Holy Spirit requires a living, healthy, open spirituality, do you understand?

And that is why the truth of Jesus Christ could not fit within Pharisaic Judaism, it had to be destroyed and set aside for something new to come. Because those who were going to do this afternoon always went, is to fit in, to fit into the spirit of God, it is not possible.

So that's why the Lord... they say: because John and his disciples who belonged to John even knowing Jesus Christ but remember that he says: I will baptize with water, John only knew ancient spirituality, as there are so many Christians, good people, they go to heaven with everything and shoes but they do not have the experience of the Holy Spirit.

So they are limited, I am not saying that a person who does not have the filling or the anointing or the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not going to be saved, God forbid. Because what you need is Christ, faith in Jesus, his grace.

But listen to me, how much more power would there be if one had the filling and the baptism of the Holy Spirit in his life? I say this with great respect because Mother Teresa is a woman worthy of admiration. You know Mother Teresa right? She died recently and a woman who did incredible works, dedicated her life to the Lord, served the Lord, did tremendous things for humanity, won the Nobel Prize indeed, and a woman of complete integrity. He dared to say things to President Clinton to his face that no one else would have dared to say to him in public. A completely upright woman.

But a book recently came out about the terrible doubts she suffered from all her life. About whether God loved her, whether Jesus Christ was with her. And I know that doubt is important in the Christian life. And I know that we all have struggles and I think it is important to recognize those struggles but I believe that when... look brother, when one has had an encounter with the Holy Spirit, one can have their moments but our life is not going to be defined by doubt and fear, and the doubt of whether or not God loves me and I say this with tremendous and deep respect.

Sometimes I see that from people I love, evangelicals who love God, serve the Lord, are people of the word, have more integrity than many evangelicals filled with the Holy Spirit. And I'd rather, when I'm in a trench, be with them than with a Pentecostal sometimes let me tell you, but I say wow, if they had experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit in their life? If they had a life that was continually refreshed by the water that refreshes and the oil of the Holy Spirit that lubricates, how much more powerful would they be?

I wonder if Mother Teresa had experienced the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit, what things would that woman not have done? My God. It's not that we're impoverishing what he did, but that's the way it is with so many evangelicals as well. Many churches and like the Ephesian disciples of which we spoke with you, ask did they receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit? and they say: look, we don't even know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. We convert, we accept Christ as Lord and savior, we have gone to church, we tithe, we sing hymns, we try to live a holy and pleasing life to God, but we don't know. There are so many people who are ignorant of the need for the Holy Spirit, brothers, because I believe that one can have a lot of mercy but not have the joy of the spirit.

And that applies here, I'm not pointing to Mother Teresa because she's Catholic, I'm pointing as an example, because I see it in so many other places too, what's more, right here in our church there may be I am sure there will be people who need a visitation from the Holy Spirit, there are, and that is why I take this time. I am not always talking about the Holy Spirit because one cannot… there are so many other doctrines that are important but when it is time, one speaks and refreshes that doctrine. Amen.

Because there is a church, they are always talking about the Holy Spirit and everything is always a question of always keeping this egg of the Holy Spirit beaten and you can't!! Because there are so many other things, there are so many other important things, there are churches and people, I resist that, that depend on an artificial Pentecostalism, where continuously, each service, people have to come to have their tires inflated again, because they it deflated him during the week. And I rebel against that, do you understand? I could have a Pentecostal show every Sunday that you come here, but I refuse to do that because the spiritual life is not that they come and blow you on artificial respiration to last you until the Sunday you come back here broken and dragging for that they return to fill the tire again, it is not possible.

There comes a time when you have to take responsibility for your spiritual life, do you understand? And when you come to church, you seek the filling of the Holy Spirit and when you have a challenge like our sister here today to stand here in front, then go in at 6 in the morning to seek the courage and the power of the spirit to that when she stands here, she does the good work she did when she got up here. And when you have a problem, do not come: "Pastor, please pray for me, that the devil is this..." No, seek the filling of the Holy Spirit directly, fight, you have the power of God in your life, you have the filling of the Holy Spirit as the word says, the anointing of the saint is in you too.

I think we have to ask others to pray for us, of course, that is important, but listen to me, you are missing the opportunity to use the sword that God has placed in your hand. The word says that we put on the whole armor of God so that when the bad day comes we can resist and having finished everything, stand firm, hallelujah. Each one of us has to put on his armor, we have to be filled, we have to be lined with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Brothers, God wants a people who know how to make war against Satan individually. When the devil appears to hurt you, you have your sword, you have your chest, they have your boots, you have your helmet, you have your shield and you know how to defend yourself from the devil's attacks. But you have to do that, you!

I can instruct you, we can teach you, we can give you excuses that give you a doctrinal theological foundation, but if you don't use the weapons of God, it won't do you any good. You have to be continually searching.

As a pastor I need... imagine, I can't... I could never survive, I assure you, if I didn't seek God's bread every day through prayer and word and meditation and the continuous reminder of God's truths in my life. Because ministerial work continually exhausts me and if I didn't look for that fullness, that refreshment... one has to continually have a meter of his spiritual fullness, always. You have to have… that has to come with the thermometer and with the other things that you have in your life. There has to be a spiritometer where you measure where the Holy Spirit is today in my life, do you understand?

And you look at it and ehh it's about a quarter away, time to fill myself with the Holy Spirit again, do you understand? How many say love to that? Give glory to God.

What do you do with the gasoline in your car? one is always looking, unfortunately one always has to be looking and even more so when it costs 3 dollars a gallon, how it hurts, right? But one always has to be looking: ohh, today it's ¾, it's fine, I can keep driving, already in a couple of days when you went there to Woburn or you went there through Providence, whatever, uff!! It's already at ¼, it's already a little lower, and if you're like me, that's it, the car is already coughing, using nothing more than the smoke from the gasoline and you arrive there at the gas station to fill it up again.

But if you don't look where you are continuously, we are expending spiritual energy, continuously. So we have to go back and be filled again with the Holy Spirit.

That is until you die, then when you die, the danger has passed because then God will continually fill you with his presence for all eternity. Hallelujah.

But while you are here, you are a spiritual athlete, you have to be looking for the filling of the Holy Spirit, you cannot depend on yesterday, on that little song that says "anointing God, pour out on me, anointing God pour out on me” right? You have to ask that the power of your spirit flow in me.

Anointing God, pour it out on me, right? Today, you cannot live on yesterday's anointing. The manna had to be collected, when? Every day. That is a sign because the manna came from heaven, food from God for his people. And there is a lesson there, if you collected manna for two days, on the second day it smelled bad, it rotted, it had to be every day. And every day you have to seek fresh anointing from God.

Listen carefully, and when you come to the house of the Lord and you come tired or troubled or with a problem or worn out, don't start singing like that dryly, look for a time to be in the presence , close your eyes, ask that the anointing of God fill you, that God make you porous, that he move your earth with a rake so that the seed of the Holy Spirit falls deep in your life and can bear fruit. It takes time, that's up to you. You have to do it. There is a part that we can do up here but there is a part that you have to do, the worship of God has to be interactive. You and us, all working to raise a great symphony that pleases the ear of the Lord.

United people are going to have an anointed worship, people who have fanned the fire of God's gift in them are going to have a proper worship and a proper life.

Brothers, please record this and take it home and play it every day if necessary, to remind yourself of that fact, because I'm not going to be reminding you all the time, no, no, exactly , I can not be crushing this continuously.

There comes a time when you have to take responsibility for your own anointing. Just because I don't talk about it on a Sunday doesn't mean I've forgotten. I do my part, I know what is up to me, as a man, as an individual and what is up to you. That is in your responsibility.

How does Paul speak to Timothy? He was a young pastor who needed to have God's anointing and who knew these doctrines. And Paul tells him in second Timothy, chapter 1, he says: “…for this reason I advise you…”, second Timothy 1:6 “…for this reason I advise you to fan…”, everyone say fan, “…fan the fire of the gift of God that is in you by the imposition of my hands…”

Look what it says here, fan the fire of the gift of God that is in you. And one would say: well, if it's in it, why do you have to revive it? because the gift of God must be revived. The idea is blow, fan the gift of God in the original Greek the idea fan into flame the spirit of God.

Because a flame has to be blown to stay alive and Paul says this to a young man who was serving the Lord in a profound way. You have to fan the fire of the gift of God, the Holy Spirit is in you, you received it when you received Christ as your Lord savior but the Bible calls you to fan it, to fan it.

There are times when you… I understand that so, so well, because all these years that I have served the Lord I… and it is fluid… and I have to know when I am wearing myself out and when I have to refill.

And what's more, apart from my daily devotionals, there must also be times and moments in which I have to seek God in an even deeper way. Take a day, two days and withdraw and fast or be filled with the presence and dedicate more time to prayer and other things and I immediately see how the spiritometer goes up to full. And it's different, I feel completely different.

Look, this morning when we began the service, we took time to seek the presence of God, we chose choirs that exalted the work of the Holy Spirit, didn't you feel a difference in praise? Yes or no? You see, unlike many times when we don't… we hit but the ball doesn't leave home plate.

Because it is important, brothers, taking time, it is effort, but God does not do everything for us, we must live a life filled with the Holy Spirit and that is what prevents our spirituality from becoming rigid, becoming return solely to works as the Pharisees were.

The Lord said something very interesting to the disciples here in this passage from Luke chapter 5, when they asked him about that he said, he told them: "...can you perhaps make those who are at weddings fast While the bridegroom is with them, more days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, so in those days they will fast…”

That was very profound. He was talking about something very specific here and it was that he knew that one day he was going to ascend again and they were not going to have him with him anymore and at that time it was going to be necessary to do what we do: fast, pray. Because we could no longer depend on his continued presence like these disciples

.

Now a little more effort is required. But there is also something that I see very important here and it is this, that the more powerful the presence of God is in your life, the less you have to be killing yourself with works and rites and things.

Now, according to… it is what happens that the more the churches move away from the presence of the husband and from the intimacy with the husband, the more distant they feel and the more they have to work to produce the same effect More work needs to be done so that there is joy, there is fluidity, there is growth, there is effectiveness, there is impact. But when the spirit is near, everything is done with less effort. The mountains fall with cries of grace, grace as one of the prophetic passages of the Old Testament says, you don't have to go around with cranes and dynamite, you don't need to do all those things. See when the Holy Spirit is in your life, your spiritual life does not require so much effort, killing you so much.

The Lord I think I clarified something, listen to this because it is very interesting. All Christian spirituality that distances itself from the presence of the Holy Spirit and from intimacy with Christ Jesus ends in works. Look at a certain wing of Pentecostalism. There are Pentecostal groups that, despite the fact that they speak of the Holy Spirit, but in reality have distanced themselves from the Holy Spirit and fall into rigidity, doctrines of men, retain all the apparatus and wiggle their bows and their hair falls out, and that they fall on the floor and this and this, but they lack… their spirituality does not have the beauty of the presence of the Holy Spirit and what happens? They stiffen.

How long is the dress? How much makeup does the poor woman have on her face? Whether he cut his hair or not, whether he shaved his legs or not, whether the man has a mustache or beard or not. Everything is rigidity, ritual, externalization of spirituality.

Again with respect, look at when the reforms come to Rome in the 16th century, Martin Luther rebels against the emphasis on works, on doing penance, on indulgences, on the whole external aspect of the spiritual life of Catholicism in Rome. As there were so many monastic movements throughout history that sought the renewal of the Roman religion, because it was…

That's what happens brothers, any spirituality is like a musical instrument, that if it is not tunes periodically does not play well. All spirituality by dint of being used is losing its perfect tonality and it must be tuned again. Everything, pick up a guitar after you've used it for a long time, you have to retune the strings, because they stretch and lose their precise tonality.

This is the case with all spirituality, every church. By force of use and friction and work, it becomes out of tune and if it is not anointed again and filled with spirit, it loses...

Then Martin Luther finds that this externalized spirituality does not fill him. He is a man who loves God, behaves well, does everything possible, he is a monk who goes too far... he does not eat well because he is fasting. He says that once he nearly froze in the night from torturing his body by not putting on a sheet in the middle of the cold of Germany on a chilly night. He was a man who loved God but had no peace in his heart. Because the Roman religion had drifted away, getting more and more into politics and human things and vanity and then there was no presence of the spirit, it fell into works. So everything external.

Look, the same thing happens today with Protestant liberalism, so many liberal evangelicals that there are today. All these mainline church, paradise and church, what happens is very interesting.

Look at this, the liberal modernist evangelicals, today have moved away from the word of God, they have moved away from the spirit and have also fallen into works, what works? works of social justice.

I believe in social justice, listen to me, our church works hard on social justice. Today we talk about youth programs, we talk about English classes, we talk about a workshop for health insurance. We believe in works of justice, but you know what? works of justice are entirely secondary to the presence of the spirit.

But many of these liberal religions, since they have lost the presence of the Holy Spirit in their services, the only thing left to justify their existence is to do good to others.

And many will complain about what I say but I believe I say it with authority, I have meditated a lot on this.

And then they go on doing something that justifies their faith. It is not that this is bad, but the origin of this movement is not a spiritual biblical origin, it is a compulsive origin, it is human psychology, the subconscious trying to compensate for the fact that they lack the living presence of the Holy Spirit. That they cannot evangelize, that people are not coming to their churches, their church is dying, there is no transformation of life, they are not effective in changing the true... the true change in society, there is no joy of the spirit in their meetings, the spirit does not flow, the word does not flow, their preaching is not anointed preaching, people do not experience the joy of the Lord. They are just as tied up as when they were unconverted and then all that remains is to do good deeds to make themselves believe that we are okay.

See? Because any Christian spirituality that does not have the fluidity of the spirit, since there is no spirit, ends in works. This church, if it is not kept alive in the spirit, ends up the same. Because the works are manifested in many ways, it can be social justice, it can be doctrinal rigidity, it can be legalism.

There are many ways in which the lack of the spirit can be … and that is why you have to look for the filling of the spirit in your life, the anointing because that is what keeps the joy of the Holy Spirit inside of you. you. You understand?

That is why these people could not understand how the disciples could enjoy themselves and eat and have that freedom they felt, because they had Jesus who was continually teaching them and showing them the true truth of the Father, interpreting from the things continually.

You have to be filled with the Holy Spirit and you have to continually seek that because without it, we are lost.

I'm going to end because I want to… and I'm going to go further because this doctrine is very, very important. The Filling of the Holy Spirit

You know what? I want to show you something biblically. You can be religious and Christian and have an acceptance of Jesus as your savior but not be filled with the Holy Spirit. There are two things... there is what the Bible calls John's baptism, which is water baptism. And there is what the Bible calls the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is that experience with the spirit that is like a second experience.

And I want to talk to you about that later, what characterizes that second experience. There is a lot, there is a lot of bad teaching about how to receive the Holy Spirit and what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And I hope to have the opportunity to do that later as well but look for now at this fact that it takes… there are two baptisms, the baptism of John and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Look for an example, you already remember a passage, it is further on, Luke chapter 3, verse 16, Luke 3:16, let's start there, 3:16, you will remember, John the Baptist told you to his followers the following: “…says responded John saying to all…”, 3:16 “…I truly baptize you…in what? .....in water, okay? But one more powerful than I is coming, whose shoe strap I am not worthy to untie, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.....”

The baptism of Jesus, Jesus specializes Who baptizes in the Holy Spirit? Jesus Christ, that's his specialty.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit have a very deep intimacy because they are two of the three persons of the trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Look there, two baptisms, John's baptism that is with water and baptism with the spirit... I don't care how much complexity you want to put into this matter, and there is.

What I continually see in scripture is that over and over again that difference is drawn between a spirituality based solely on the nominal of the Christian life, the basics, and a flowing, powerful, vital spirituality that is filled with the Holy Spirit. That is something that no one can say no to me.

And throughout history, different great thinkers of the Church and different great movements of the Church have understood that there is that difference, that there is a… like two baptismal experiences in the Christian life. Some have manifested it in terms of the Pentecostal gifts and others have manifested it in terms of holiness, a life of closeness to the Lord, without emphasizing the gifts but always recognizing that there are two spiritualities so to speak. Two fillings or two experiences regarding Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And you look, read the theology of the Church through the centuries, through the centuries because some say only ohh the Pentecostal movement; Look, there have always been manifestations of the Spirit throughout all of history. There have always been movements that are characterized... within the Catholic Church there have been, within the evangelical church there have been in the 18th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, there will always be because people have always recognized that They have recognized it experientially or have recognized it theologically through the Bible.

Well, there you have a passage, Juan tells you that, right? Now go to Acts chapter 8, verse 16... that's why I tell you: bring your Bible, bring your Bible, how many brought their Bible this day? amen, if you don't have a bible brother we will try to get you one but bring your bible to church, it's important, your bible is a symbol that you are not ashamed of the gospel, ok? And if you need your Bible, if you use your Bible, bring it to church so that…it's a statement that you make to yourself and to others. Also needed, look at this is…

The Samaritans, a group of people in Samaria says, Acts 8.14, says: “…when the apostles who were in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John there....”

Look at this: these Samaritans convert to the Gospel, they have received the word of God, but then when the apostles who are the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem send a procession at once to teach them the deepest truths of the Gospel and disciple and indoctrinate them.

It says: “…who, having come, prayed for them, for what? so that they might receive the Holy Spirit....” Look, they believed in Jesus Christ but now the apostles are sent to receive the Holy Spirit.

There are many people who say: I already received Christ, I don't need anything else, the package is complete. Now remember one thing that many times the Bible talks about receiving the Holy Spirit, not in the sense of having it inside one, but in the sense of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What happens is that they do not use the word in a technical way, but receiving the Holy Spirit many times in the book of Acts means receiving the filling, the anointing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And that is what I think it means here; they sent them to make sure they received the filling, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

That is why, brothers, I tell you, later I am going to talk more about that, how to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but if you are not sure, if you have not received the Holy Spirit If you have simply settled for an essential religiosity, I encourage you to worry.

My wish on this day is only to worry you so that you seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit in your life. This church believes in the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

I know... remember that, I don't talk about it all the time but in my life I couldn't live if I didn't have that filling of the Holy Spirit. And this church, its official doctrine is a Pentecostal doctrine, not in the denominational sense of the word, but in the biblical sense of the word.

Then the Apostles are sent to pray for them, so that they receive the Holy Spirit, they say: “…because it had not yet descended on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of Jesus ....”

Look how interesting: they are baptized in the name of Jesus, they believe in Jesus but they have not yet received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. How many people believe in Jesus Christ but have not had that Pentecostal experience? and they need…

Now you can, I tell you so in advance, you can receive the Holy Spirit either because an anointed person and filled with the Holy Spirit pray for you and in faith you receive that prayer or you yourself can receive the Holy Spirit by directly praying for the Lord to baptize you. That is for those who are close, those who are far from the Lord, the Lord wants to do it, the Lord does it.

Now what happens is that we have filled that experience with so many bad teachings that today many times people receive but do not know what they are receiving because they have been told that it has to be this way and since they do not know he gives it this way because the Holy Spirit flows as he wants; for it says: I did not receive. You see that they are always looking for the Lord to baptize them again because they have not had a definitive experience, they have not appropriated it... I already have it and I do not have to be looking for someone to help me, or that such an apostle or that so and so or that... there are people who always live looking for a magician to do the job for them.

It is you who have to receive it and say: I have it by faith and it's over, problem solved, where is the Devil to hit him?

It says here then, “.....because they had only been baptized in the name of Jesus, it says, then they laid hands on them and received the Holy Spirit...” < p> Do you see? two baptisms, two spiritualities in a sense so to speak, in the name of Jesus, a saved Christian, sure of his salvation but still in need of that infusion of Holy Spirit power, like the disciples of old…. in the book of Acts at the beginning: “…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and in all the earth”

Ya They had Jesus, they had him there alive and kicking next to them but they hadn't received the baptism of the Holy Spirit yet and they needed it in order to move forward.

So here's another group, the Samaritans.

Let's go to another group plus chapter 19, book of Acts and with this I'm done, it's just that wow brothers, time has passed, that's what happens when there is a Pentecostal service, we lose time, don't worry, the food is still there waiting for you.

We're going to 18, Chapter 18, thanks Samuel, chapters 18, verse 24 to 26. We already read about the Ephesians too, right? that the same thing had happened to them... he says:

"...Then a Jew came to Ephesus..." oh no, this is another, this is Apollos, I have so many quotes that come across me, this Apollos , a man loves the Lord, he is preaching, he is a tremendously illustrious man, he is a scholar, it seems he was a Pharisee, a philosopher, Apollos had tremendous philosophical training, he meets Jesus Christ, receives Jesus and begins to preach the word and he is doing well effective in preaching. Look what happens here it says:

“…then a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus, an eloquent man, powerful in the scriptures, he had been instructed in the way of the Lord…” do you see ? he knew Jesus Christ as his savior, he was preaching it... "...and being of a fervent spirit...", that is interesting, he had a fervent temperament, he had an enterprising, diligent temperament and that is why he was an evangelist, but look, it was more in the sense that he had a fiery temperament. When the person has not received the Holy Spirit many times what he does, he does it due to his own personal natural faculties.

There are many people who are effective in the gospel, not necessarily because they have the gasoline of the Holy Spirit, but because they are very intelligent, they have a big heart, they are dynamic, they are enterprising, they are active and there are many churches like that They do a lot of things, but it's only because there are strong, dynamic, enterprising pastors, they are always giving the handle to keep people happy, right? and they have programs, and they have campaigns and they have parties and all that, and people are always electric, but it's just because it's just a temper, right? It's not… it doesn't necessarily mean that there's spirit energy in them.

Apollos preached and served because he was faithful, he was a dynamic, enterprising man, he had drive, but he did not necessarily have what he needed. It says: "...he was of a fervent spirit, he spoke and taught diligently concerning the Lord", look at what he says here, this is very revealing: "...although he only knew the baptism of John, although he only knew the baptism of John ....” that's very revealing.

Again, Apollos was very fervent, very active, very dynamic, very enlightened, but he did not have the fullness, the baptism of the Holy Spirit yet. That is why this is clarified and look how interesting, now with this… please be patient for a moment. And he says: "... and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him" Priscilla and Aquila were a very interesting couple, I love that couple, because they were humble, simple people, not very enlightened, but they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were missionaries, I think they had never been to a seminary nor had anyone commissioned them to be missionaries, but they preached the Gospel.

And I have met people like that in the Dominican Republic, in Puerto Rico, in Latin America, everywhere, they are people, you know? that old lady with her little bow up here full of gray hair that is full of the spirit and you look at her face and know that the fire of God is in them even though they never preached a sermon and never went to a seminar but they know the presence of God.

Because that doesn't require an academic pedigree or anything, on the contrary, academics are often an obstacle, I tell you the truth.

And that couple sees this man so illustrious, so well educated, so dynamic, but when he listens to his preaching they realize that something is missing, and how many times do you see people who are also very enlightened? They talk about God in an eloquent way and everything, but from what they say and what they don't say, you know something is missing.

There are churches like this, everything is very nice, very good, very beautiful, but something is missing. And Aquila and Priscilla sensed that, that this man was missing... there was an important component that needed to be added to his spirituality and he says then that ".....they took him apart.....".

If you want to correct someone, correct them separately, discreetly. There are many people who: Oh, these are useless, these evangelicals without the Holy Spirit and ridicule them, no, no, look for the right moment, take them aside and talk to them humbly, simply…

“. .....they took him aside and explained to him more accurately the way of God....”

Do you see? they instructed him about that other part that he needed in his life, and then Apollos already had courage, he had instruction, he had knowledge, but he also had the fire of the Holy Spirit in his life. just imagine.

Years later, Paul speaks of an Apollos who even, there are many people who follow him before Paul, and say: we belong to Apollos. It seems that Apollos had acquired a very great prominence in the Gospel and I believe it was because of the anointing of the Holy Spirit on his life. That's why you hear: "I sowed, Apollos watered, but growth is given by God"

Apollos, I think he learned his lesson and received what he had to receive. That humble couple, how many times have I benefited from simple people with humble hearts who have helped me improve myself and walk with God? I adore this type of people in my church, I thank God for them, so that they are always in my congregation because these humble, simple people, with God's anointing, are always an example for those of us who have studied a little more and We think we know everything. It is a lie, you need the filling of the Holy Spirit in your life, that is what ensures that you will be effective in the Christian life.

Without that, his studies and everything else, he is a stumbling block and an obstacle rather, human reason that cannot receive or perceive the truths of God.

There are many passages I could show you more, the other passage is the passage from Ephesians that Paul also tells you: did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? and they say, we don't even know, we knew that there is a Holy Spirit, they didn't know. And it says that Paul laid hands on them and received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues and prophesied.

Not every time you receive the Holy Spirit you have to prophesy or speak in tongues, but there is something that you feel, there is a difference, there is an intensity, something that you perceive that God has touched your life. And that is what we have to look for in our life.

You have entered into the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ but you need something more. You need that filling of the Holy Spirit in your life, you have to continually seek that in your life. We all have to look for it.

I want us to stand up for a moment, let it be clear brothers, I am going to continue talking about this doctrine, but let it be clear that you and I need a daily meeting, continuous with the spirit of God, we need to renew ourselves.

If you want to have a real impact, don't depend, don't depend on religion, don't depend on that Oh I met Jesus Christ 10 years ago and everything is fine, don't depend on people, don't depend on the church, do not depend on the service, do not depend on being prayed for you, do not depend on the fact that your grandmother was an evangelical. You have to look for your daily bread, if you want a powerful life, if you want a powerful ministry, if you want God's anointing in your work, if you want God's anointing in your contact with people, If you want your emotional and mental problems to be tamed, you have to seek the Lord's anointing in your life, it is the only way.

When a person lives avid, hungry for the presence of God, that is felt, and you will be the first to feel it and others around you will also perceive it because it is necessary, brothers.

I don't want to say that you go around bragging all the time, no!!! you walk softly, but the Devil is afraid of you because he knows you can't play games, because there is God's anointing on you. We must seek the presence of God or that God raises up a Pentecostal people in us, in our lives, that this morning serves to disturb you about the importance of having the filling of the Holy Spirit, that is for you and for you and for you .

Says the Apostle Paul, or Peter for those who are far away, and for those who are near, for all those whom the Lord will call, hallelujah. It is for the newest in the Christian path and for the one with more years in the Christian path. You can do that in private, you can do it in public, but it is necessary that you seek the anointing of the Lord in your life.

Take your hands like this and put them in front of you, raise them a little as a sign of asking the Lord, as if you were... you want God to put something in your hands, if you were to ask someone something, do it like this right now, extend your hands to the Lord and say: Lord, I need your anointing, I need your oil in my life, refresh me, anoint me again, put your anointing on my hands, put your anointing on my heart, put your anointing in my mind. I am the first to say it from up here like you right now, Lord, I need you.

I need a fresh anointing this morning, fill me up, renew us, renew this church Father. The times call for a fresh anointing, as we never need the latter rain for these difficult times Lord in which we live, we need you to renew us and touch us.

Holy Spirit, that this church can eat today from your food, from your manna, from your table, and that we can feel, Lord, the strength, the fresh spirit of having had contact with you. We have adored you spirit, we have exalted you this morning, visit us and fill us, come Holy Spirit, pour yourself out on your people.

Ask the Lord to refresh your mind. Give up a vain, automatic, mechanical religion and ask the Lord to give you the presence of your husband, your husband in your life. Thank you Lord Jesus, we received your blessing this morning, we received, we received more from you Lord, more from you. Ohh, spirit of God, thank you Lord, there is a chorus that says: give me a drink of your water Lord, if you have it there, give me a drink; Gonzalo, help me because I don't know him completely but maybe you remember him, if you can put him up there, AH perfect, here he is, OK. (song)

Let's say Lord, give me a drink, I need more of you, drink of the Lord's water this morning, ask the Lord to fill you again, leave here refreshed, amen, glory to the Lord, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, we adore you Lord, hallelujah, hallelujah. (song)

Give me a drink of your water, Lord

I don't want to be thirsty anymore.

Give me a drink, I need more < p>I never want to be thirsty anymore

Give me living water

Fill my being today

Come and quench me with your truth

I want to drink of the water of eternal life