We're going to be looking over the next few weeks looking at the fruit of the Spirit. We're starting out today with a little bit of a groundwork on that, looking at actually being filled with the Holy Spirit. It doesn't make much sense to talk about having the fruit of the Spirit or the. I don't like to use the word evidence of the Spirit because we'll get into that in a little bit. Why?

I don't like that. But the idea that when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, there will be something in your life that shows that you can call that evidence. But I want to get away from that a little bit because there are some groups that say, well, there's a certain kind of evidence, and if you don't have that evidence, then you don't have the Holy Spirit. That's not scriptural. And so we're gonna go through some scriptural things about what it looks like to have the Holy Spirit of goddess filling your life and what that will mean for how your life is different when you're filled with the Holy Spirit.

And we'll set up a couple guardrails for our conversation to flow on that. And you say, well, conversation, yes, I'm talking right now. Later you can talk back with me about it. And also, more importantly, the conversation originates in the word of God. And so your responsibility is to read the scriptures.

Your responsibility when you hear the message proclaimed today, is not just to take my word for it or to think, well, that's sufficient. You see, I'm just whetting your appetite. This is an appetizer. Your work, your job for your life is to dig into the word of God to see what his holy spirit is doing in your life, who he is and what he is, what he means to you or for your life. And then from there, to seek the presence of the spirit of God in your life, for daily walk, for ministry, and that you would then take that and be changed by the way you live.

So we're gonna look mostly in acts, chapter one, and you'll be able to turn there if you want and just kind of hold your finger on it. But today we're looking at the holy spirit. The next four weeks, we'll be looking at some of the fruit of the spirit, but talking more each week about what it looks like to have the spirit of God in your life. And, you know, it's interesting to me that you don't have to read very far in the gospels. In fact, it's Matthew, chapter one, verse 18.

You don't have to read very many verses at all in the New Testament before you see that the Holy Spirit is active, that he's working in that not just the life of Jesus, but in the life of those who had become believers in Christ. In fact, Matthew chapter one, verse 18, says that Mary, the mother of Jesus, that she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. In other words, it was not a human act. It wasn't natural. This was supernatural.

So we see the spirit of God at work in supernatural ways, in the lives of human history, of human beings, throughout history, specifically in the life of Jesus Christ. That Jesus, even though he lived a natural human existence, in the sense of he was fully human, he wasn't just some kind of apparition. He was a human being, and he lived this life as a human in that natural way. And yet there's something supernatural about how Jesus lived. Yes, he's completely God as well.

He's 100% human, 100% God. And yet, in that union, that Jesus somehow lived life powered or empowered by the Holy Spirit. And because Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit, we see that Jesus is setting an example for how we would live our lives. As you continue reading through the scriptures, you see things like John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, saying things like, I'm baptizing you with water. Now, this water symbolizes the repentance and forgiveness of your sins.

But after me, the one that I'm preparing the way for, after me comes one who is more powerful than me. In other words, John understood his role. John understood what he had come to do. John hadn't come to be the main character. John hadn't come to be the guy.

John wasn't the one that this whole ministry was centered around. You see, John was the one that came to. To prepare the way for Jesus. But not only preparing the way for Jesus by teaching us to repent, by teaching us to focus on the fact that we are sinful, that we need to repent of our sin and be cleansed of it. But he also prepared the way for us to understand that something new is coming.

Not just salvation in Jesus Christ, not just baptism for the forgiveness and remission of sins and the new life that comes, but that there was the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus disciples hadn't fully understood this. And in some of the last things he said, as Jesus was eating the Passover meal with them, his last supper, as Jesus was eating that meal with them, he also was teaching them about the coming Holy Spirit and saying what the spirit would do. We call it his farewell discourse in John, starting around chapter 14, that Jesus kept teaching his disciples certain things that they needed to know before he died as a sacrifice for their sins. But Jesus also, we see when he was baptized by John in the rivers of the Jordan, in the waters of the Jordan river, when he was baptized, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens opened up.

The spirit of God descended on him. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form or like a dove would. And God spoke from heaven, his father. And he says, this is my son. I love him.

I'm pleased with him. Now listen to him. We forget that part sometimes, the listening part, you know, like Jesus, we think, oh, well, he set an example that we should follow. He did things that we should also do. We think, well, we need to follow along with the example of Jesus, and we need to have our sins forgiven because he died for that.

And yes, that's all very well and true, but at the same time, Jesus also gave us teachings and commands. He told us how to live. He taught us about how to love others, how to avoid sin and in a lifestyle of sin, and how to walk in righteousness and holiness as our target, one day is eventually heaven. We walk in that light today. And so when God the Father is speaking to all those who are in attendance, and fortunately for us, the gospel writers recorded those words.

We know that God has said that he wants us to listen to Jesus. Now, we aren't, we don't have the benefit of knowing every single thing that Jesus ever taught, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we have four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that record many of the words that Jesus taught. And through those, we believe that there is sufficient, you know, just content for us to know how to live this christian life. In other words, there's a lot of things we want to know more about. There's a whole lot of questions that we have.

And sometimes we say, when I get to heaven, I'll ask him that. If you even care at that point, at that point you might not even care about those answers anymore. Or maybe you'll just know all things and all knowledge will be available for you without even having to ask. I don't know. That's the point of it.

But we have the words in the scriptures, in these gospels. We have a sufficient amount of words that the Holy Spirit of God has preserved for us and given to us so that we can know what Jesus would command us for life and for love and for eternity. So Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and his baptism. Does that seem weird? Jesus, second member of the Trinity, God the father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

All three are three persons with one essence, one nature. They are the three in one, the trinity of God. And yet he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Why? Because he was living as a human being.

And as a human, he needed the presence of the spirit of God. Now, when you think about. It's weird to think about spirits and being filled with a spirit, right? I mean, Halloween's coming up soon, and everybody does all this weird, spooky stuff, and you think about spirits and ghosts and all that, and we're like, well, we kind of avoiding that stuff, you know, that's not who we are. We don't believe in that.

That's good. Why would we then be talking about being filled with a different spirit, with the spirit of God? You see, the thing is, we are flesh and blood, but we are also. There's a spiritual component to who we are. We're created in God's image, and therefore we have this spiritual nature about who we are.

It's that part of us that kind of continues. It's that part of us that communicates with the divine, that communicates with God. And as such, he communicates to us with his holy spirit. So we personally need the Holy Spirit of God in our lives as a way to be able to talk with God, our creator, who loves us. But we also, as we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

He empowers us. He convicts us of sin. He gives us gifts. He gives us special things to carry out this christian life. And because of that, I want to set a couple like guardrails, because I believe there are two theological cliffs, one on either side of this road that we travel.

And on one of them, there's what I would consider extreme charisma, the charismatic approach. That's extreme. I'm not talking like people that are, you know, that everyone in a charismatic church is bad. By no means. What I'm saying is this.

There is this extreme side of certain charismatic circles that says if you have been baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit, you will automatically begin to speak in tongues, other languages. And if you don't have, then clearly you weren't filled with the spirit. I want to say right now, as lovingly as I can, that's not found in scripture. That's human doctrine that's made up. And I believe it has caused spiritual damage to a lot of people who feel somehow inferior because they say, well, I know I was filled with the spirit.

I was there when it happened. And yet at the same time, I've never talked in a different language, I've never spoken in tongues. This has never happened to me. So is it a lie or am I living a lie? Did it not really happen?

I don't know. And it leaves them struggling in that way. But then you've got on this other side, this other cliff, where we need to have a guardrail, this idea, this concept where people sometimes in a lot of theologically ultra conservative, I'm not talking politics, but I'm talking conservative theology that says the Holy Spirit was a gift for a certain time in the time of the apostles, in the time of the early church, but that he is not given to christians anymore, that is also a lie that is nowhere supported in scripture. It's not true. And praise God for that, because we need something in this life.

If you've ever felt like you're walking alone, even if there's a crowded room of people around you, that's that longing for goddess that says, I can't just make it on my own. I need the presence of somebody bigger than me, somebody more powerful than me. And so that's one of the ways that the Holy Spirit approaches us. Now, I have one more caution. I'm standing in a nazarene church, ordained as a Nazarene elder, putting this out later on the Internet for anyone that cares to listen, all twelve of them.

And there's a problem with our approach as well. Now, take my credentials. I don't care. I'm going to preach the truth as I see it in the word. That's my statement on that.

The Nazarene approach, typically, has been the Holy Spirit's good desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, just keep it under control, keep it toned down. Control the Holy Spirit within you. You know how foolish that sounds? I would rather be, like, just crazy in church or in public, as I'm filled with the Holy Spirit, than to be basically empty and powerless but in control.

You see, here's what I mean. Like, there was this time where King David had been filled with the spirit and people were worshiping. They're dancing, they're singing, they're playing music. He was the king, and yet he stripped off his royal robes down to probably his 7th or 8th century BC underwear, whatever that looked like. It wasn't like our normal skivvies, but his tunic thing or whatever, his wife that didn't like him because he had kind of taken her dad's kingdom after her dad died.

And now David's the king, and he had married the king's daughter at one point, so now he's the king's son in law, but he has a new dynasty set up, and she just didn't really respect him that much. There's probably also the time where he had kind of abandoned her and she was given to another guy to get married. And then when he became king, he stole her back. Like, the Bible's full of some stuff. Even the good guys weren't so good sometimes.

You know, it's a weird story and it's like. But in the midst of that, God still works through all these people. And so here's David, and his wife is seeing him basically stripping down and dancing before the lord. In other words, he says, my status as king doesn't matter because. Because I'm worshiping the king of kings.

I'm filled with the spirit of the king of kings. And so I don't need anybody to think, oh, the king's dancing. I should, too. He stripped himself down to the role of a commoner, a common person dancing with the servants, as it were. And his wife says, oh, how you've distinguished yourself today.

Dancing with the slave girls out there. Dancing with the common folk out there. Ooh, you've really, really brought some dignity to the throne. He says, sweetheart. I don't.

The Bible doesn't say he called her sweetheart, but I think he said it in a real mocking way. Listen here, sweetheart, I will become more undignified than this. In other words, David understood that if the spirit of God fills me and that this is what it turns out to be, I would rather be that guy than to be the most dignified king sitting on a throne. You see, we in the nazarene church for so long have taken a few verses, a little section of the writings of the apostle Paul that talked about order and dignity within the church services. And we have taken that to and broadly applied it to the entirety of our christian existence.

And in such a way, we have essentially sent a message to the Holy Spirit. You're a little bit too wild for us. I need you to just kind of keep it calm. And every now and then, when I need a supernatural dose of power, you can show up. We've given him boundaries in which he can show up, and you can't contain the spirit of God.

What does somebody do when they're not wanted in a place? They just don't come, do they, Joyce? They just don't show up. I don't believe the spirit of God is angry. I don't believe he's petty or pouting or anything like that.

I just think that he says, if you don't want me, that's okay. I'm here when you're ready. I don't know whose alarm that is, but somebody sat on their keys, or somebody's trying to break into cars. I'm not sure which, but that's great. Maybe Matt can look out and tell me what car it is, and we'll get it figured out from there.

It happens every now and then is think it's Ed's? All right, good stuff. We'll try to remember to cut this part out of the video fun times or leave it in. I listen to podcasts, and they always say, we'll cut that part out, and they never cut it out. And I think that's hilarious that they just leave it in there.

So, you know, he does that all the time. So I want to look at acts, chapter one, verses one through eight. If you're using the blue Bible and the racks in front of you for those who are sitting in the pews, is page 1229. But this is something that Jesus, this is his final words to his disciples. And he says, I wrote, now, this is Luke.

Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of acts as, like, part one and part two. So this is Luke giving us a little, you know, editor's note at the beginning, and he's saying, who he wrote this to? A guy named Theophilus. He says, I wrote my former account, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day that he was taken up to heaven, after he had been given orders by the Holy Spirit, or after he had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. Now, notice that, by the way, Jesus, we think, well, he, you know, he doesn't need anybody to tell him what to do.

No, the Holy Spirit is giving jesus the words to say to his apostles before he leaves and ascends into heaven. Jesus had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. By the way, Jesus, when he had chosen those apostles, he had a lot of followers. But on the night where he decided the next day he was going to choose, select which ones were his apostles, he spent the night in prayer. Jesus was guided by the Holy Spirit in all areas of his ministry.

To those same apostles also. Verse three. After his suffering, he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a 40 day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God, while he was with them, he declared, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait there for what my father promised, which you have heard about from me. For John baptized with water.

But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, Lord, is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He told them, you're not permitted to know the times or dates or periods of time that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive. What's the word?

Oh, that was so weak. You will receive power. Let's try a third time. I know you have this, but you will receive power. There we go.

I feel like you're believing it when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the farthest parts of the earth. Now, listen to me here. Jesus is saying that you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes. And boy, did they.

I mean, you turn to the next chapter, to acts, chapter two and you read the story of how there's 120 believers, the Twelve apostles, there's the rest of the people that are associated with them. Jesus had his ministry that at one point, Washington, 5000 men plus all the women and children that came with him, he fed them out of one small, like, little grocery order that a boy was carrying and got sidetracked on the way home, you know, his mom said, hey, go to the market, get some fish and bread. And then he saw this Jesus guy and the crowds following him. And the kid didn't go home for three days. His mom's worried sick about him and hungry, you know.

And Jesus says, well, let's take that boy's groceries and feed everyone. I know most pastors told you it was the little boy's lunche. No, he didn't plan to pack a lunch. He just went along with the crowd when he's coming back from the market, bringing that day's groceries home. And so Jesus took one family's food that this boy had brought with him and spread it out over all these thousands of people.

And then through the preaching of Jesus, somehow or another he preached it down from, you know, five to 10,000 people down to about 120 that were, I mean, there was others that were still like followers of his but, like, he got it whittled down to that group of people and you're thinking, there's no way that this group of people can do anything. Like, there's no way they don't have the numbers, they don't have the income. There's no way they can weather through the storms of ministry. And yet Jesus says, when you are obedient to me and stay in a place of prayer and don't leave that place, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. On 120 people in this upper room outside the temple courts, they're gathered in there, and the Holy Spirit shows up on them.

They didn't know the date. They didn't know the time. They were being faithful in prayer, seeking the gift that the Father had promised through the mouth of his son Jesus Christ, and they were seeking that gift, and they were spending time in prayer. And then the Holy Spirit shows up, and immediately. Now here's the thing.

Now remember I did set two guardrails and I said, the Bible never says that the immediate evidence of being filled with or baptized with the Holy Spirit will be speaking in tongues. That doesn't mean that there is not times where that was the evidence. Certainly this time was one of those times. All these 120 people begin speaking in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them the utterance or ability. Now, I want to note here also that this was speaking known languages, specific languages, and it was heard by people who were attending there, attending the worship festivals or the religious festivals there.

And those people came from all over the known world, and they heard in their own languages the words that these believers were speaking. The Holy Spirit had given them the power to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their native tongues that these people came from, so that they could all hear the gospel, and there would be no barriers to how far the gospel would reach. Do you hear me? Those languages were specifically for that. Now, there's also other times in the scriptures where, for instance, the apostle Paul talks about it, and he says, listen, and I speak in tongues.

I pray in tongues probably more than any of you guys do. And he says, I want you to have that gift. I want you to have that ability. He did say, and I'll say, this is probably where the nazarene church has gotten hung up on so much. He says, but don't, like, just come in the church and just start praying in tongues and all that.

I think we've taken that so far as to say in prayer time, whereas corporate prayer don't pray in tongues. I don't believe that's what Paul was saying. He's saying, you don't want to get somebody. They didn't have microphones, but you don't want to get somebody up on the microphone that's just praying in a tongue, and nobody understands what's going on, and nobody understands the word he's saying. He says, the only person that's getting built up by that is the person praying because they're speaking to God in a language that his spirit has given them, and nobody else has any benefit or blessing from that.

He says, I'd rather you speak words of prophecy when you're gathered together as the church, because those words build up and benefit everyone. I'd rather you speak intelligible words, like words that people understand when you're gathered as a body, because that would help. If somebody walks in off the street and doesn't know what's going on, they'll be able to hear the things of God in a language, in words that they understand. But Paul didn't say that means never pray in tongues. He didn't say, nobody can ever pray in a tongue in a corporate prayer time.

He was just saying, that's not like the people who are leading the service are stepping up front. Don't do that. And so that's just a little side note there. But that's one of the cliffs we need to avoid as we talk about this, because the shameful thing for us to do would be to say, well, we've got our rules, we've got our guidelines, we've got our traditions, and we just want to make sure that the Holy Spirit fits into those. Well, he'll fit in just fine.

He'll stay far, far away. We don't want to do that. We don't want to push the spirit of God out of our midst. Why would we want to do that? You see, we would live our lives with such a lack of power.

These people received that power. They received the power of the Holy Spirit, of God, as they were, as the Holy Spirit fell on them that Pentecost day. And one of the most beautiful things that could ever happen happened. People heard the word of God, they heard the good news, and they were convicted of sin in their lives. I know it's not popular to talk about sin very much these days, is it?

You know, you hear people talking about it and they say, well, you know, that's my private area. I don't want you to talk about my sin. I don't want you to talk about these things. I don't even like the word sin because it's archaic, because it talks about old concepts that haven't. We moved beyond those things yet?

The problem is the Bible never moves beyond the concept of sin. The problem is the Bible never says, well, there's a time where you'll live on this earth and everything will be fine. I mean, it does. It talks about when Jesus restores all things and there's the new heavens and the new earth, then sin will be dealt with once and for all. As far as there will be no more sin, there will be no more crying, no more pain, no more tears, no more surgeries, no more cancers, no more job hunts.

None of those things. No more hurricanes. I don't know. Some of us enjoy them, but, like, I don't think there will be hurricanes. I love extreme weather.

I love storms. Being through this, I don't wish it on any of us. You know, like, is part of me that says God will have to provide some other adrenaline rush for me. You know, like, I get an adrenaline spike from storms. I also love coming and helping people out when they're in need.

But my prayer would be that there is a time where we don't have to have those tragedies anymore. And the good news is Jesus is bringing that day about. But until then, we still have this problem of sin in our lives and in this world, and it still needs to be dealt with. And so as these believers were preaching in other languages and people were hearing it, they were convicted of their sin. Let me translate that word for you.

They were face to face with their sin in such a way that they couldn't deny that it exists. They had to agree with God and say, there is sin in my life. I need help. So they responded. Now, I don't know how all these people responded in one voice, but they're recorded as saying one thing, brothers.

Because that's who was preaching, brothers and sisters. But they called them brothers. They're like, what do we have to do? We're cut to the heart. It said they were cut to their heart, cut to their very core of their being, and what must they do to be saved?

Now Peter steps up. This is how you know it's the spirit of God. If you know anything about Peter, like, he was the boldest one and the dumbest one sometimes at the same time. Amy and I were just talking about this this morning. Like, the passage, was it Matthew 14?

Peter walks on water. Cause they saw Jesus walking on water in the middle of the night, and they're all scared to death cause of this storm. And Peter says, well, lord, if it's you, command me to come out of the boat and walk to you. Like, if he was really at that level. He would have said, cool.

I'm hopping out of the boat and I'm walking on water to meet my savior. He's like, okay, jesus, you're going to have to tell me to do it. Some of us live that way sometimes, right? Like, jesus, I'm willing to do it, but you're going to have to tell me to do it. He's like, I already told you to do it.

I said, go into all the world and make disciples. I said, I'm going to give you the power of the Holy Spirit. There's nothing you can't do. I already told you, if you have faith to look at that mountain and say, mountain, throw yourself into the sea, it'll happen to, please don't do that. Like, I think it would cause catastrophic problems throughout the whole world to throw a mountain into the sea.

So I'm just saying, like, have some good faith. Maybe don't throw mountains into the sea. You know? That's not very polite. Come on, that's a good joke.

Anyway, Peter responds to them. Repent and be baptized, every one of you. Repent and be baptized, every one of you.

Hmm. Wow. You know what he said after that? You'll receive the Holy Spirit. Repent, be baptized, and you'll receive the Holy Spirit.

And then he says that the promise is for you that are hearing this and for everyone who's still a long way off, that's us. You were once a long way off. Perhaps you're a long way off today, and today is the day of salvation. But whatever it might be, there was once when you and I were far off and Peter was speaking to all generations who would hear this message, who would read it in the scriptures and say, okay, there's something here for me. There's something that God has spoken for me.

And so Peter is speaking this as the response to what must we do to be saved. He says, repent, be baptized, and you will receive the Holy Spirit. Now, if we were in that other group of people on that other cliff, that guardrail that we needed to put in there so we don't fall off that cliff with them, that says the Holy Spirit stopped falling on other people from what, after that generation, then that makes Peter a liar. You see, there's no evidence in the Bible that suggests that the Holy Spirit ever stopped being given as a gift to people. Like, in other words, there's no evidence that God stopped sending him.

The only evidence seems to be in our lives sometimes that we haven't invited the Holy Spirit of God. We haven't welcomed the spirit of God in our lives. We haven't sought the gift of the Holy Spirit or the filling of the Holy Spirit. And so we live our lives without that power. We live our lives without him in our life.

You see, throughout the book of acts, the Holy Spirit is the main character. You know, if Jesus was the main character in the gospels, in the book of acts, the Holy Spirit is the one where the spotlight's always on him. Even in times where you don't see him named or see that it looks like he's the one working. It seems like there are human people at work. We know their names.

People like Barnabas, people like ananias, people like, you know, the different apostles, Philip, Peter, you know, John, James, you know, Paul, of course, you know, all these different people. There's a whole bunch of them names, smaller names that you don't see too often, you know, but they show up here and there a couple times as co laborers in the gospel. We see all those people and we think, okay, in this little section, that's the main character. No, no. The Holy Spirit is the main character in the book of Acts.

And in the book of Acts, what we see the Holy Spirit doing is empowering believers, giving them the guidance and the direction, giving them wisdom, giving them understanding. He compels them to go, he gives them discernment, he heals people, he restores people and restores relationships. And most importantly, he saves people. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the Holy Spirit brings people to that knowledge of salvation. He guides the believers and sends them on mission.

There's these notable times where the Holy Spirit was at work in some big ways, though, where people received the Holy Spirit in. If you're ever tempted to think, well, there's a formula to it, like if we just follow these steps, you'll receive the Holy Spirit, you'll get mixed up. Here's what I want to mention. So this guy, we've talked about, him, this apostle Paul, he started out as a guy named Saul, and Saul of Tarsus was a good jewish man who believed that the Christians were a detriment to the faith of Israel, and so they needed to be done away with. Well, Jesus meets him on the road to Damascus, blinds him for three days.

Paul doesn't eat. He's fasting and praying. And the Holy Spirit speaks to a man named Ananias and sends him to go and pray over Saul, that he would receive his sight. And so Ananias argues with him for a little bit, then he shows up, and he says, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, whom you met on the road, has sent me here. Now receive your sight immediately.

Something like scales fell from Saul's eyes. And then Ananias says, brother Saul received the Holy Spirit. Now, he hadn't been baptized yet, but he receives the Holy Spirit. Then he takes some food, and then he's baptized. Now, then there's another time, though, when this apostle Peter goes to the home of a gentile named Cornelius.

And as he is declaring the gospel to them, he didn't even have an altar call. There wasn't anybody playing any music. They didn't seem to have a prayer service or anything like that. He's just preaching. It's his first time preaching to Gentiles, non jewish people.

And as he's preaching, the Holy Spirit fell on them. Now, he was a bit shocked. He didn't understand that because they weren't even sure that gentiles were included. Even though Jesus had said it, like a bunch of times, they were still convinced that those were on the outside and that only jews were on the inside. And maybe some Samaritans, like, if they were good enough, they weren't too sure about the Samaritans, but they were really sure.

Not gentiles. But as Peter's preaching to them in obedience to the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit falls on these people. And then Peter says, what? Is there anyone that could withhold water for baptism for these folks? I don't see any reason why we could prevent them from being baptized.

And he was right. Later, Peter has to defend that to the counsel of christians in Jerusalem that are leading the church. And he's basically saying, like, they received the Holy Spirit. I had no other choice. God clearly put his mark of approval on them.

Then there was a time where some apostles had followed up the preaching of Philip in the samaritan villages. Philip had preached there, but they hadn't yet received the Holy Spirit until the apostles Peter and John show up and they pray over them, and they lay hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit. Now, these believers had already been baptized. My point in these stories is you look through the scriptures and you see different times where it says somebody is filled with the Holy Spirit, and there's no formula or way or method to make it happen. It seems to all be because he wanted to and because people were willing.

Sometimes it was before baptism, sometimes it was after baptism. Sometimes it was the laying on of hands. It really doesn't matter. You see, the thing is, the spirit of God will be where he's welcome. He's a gift that was promised by the Father through the mouth of Jesus Christ and through the prophets in the Old Testament, specifically the prophet Joel.

And we have the ability and opportunity to be filled with the spirit of God. When Jesus had told his disciples as his parting words, that they would go from Jerusalem through Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, they truly did that. It truly happened and is still happening today. So my question to us all, then, is, why would we run around life on this earth missing out on the power that could belong to us? I remember an old youth leader that I had in Michigan, just one of the volunteers, and he's actually been a pastor for a long time now since then.

And he told this story that I just. I wanted to come up with my own, and I can't top it. It was just the perfect simple analogy. Somebody that he had known from college or something had. Was in town and had invited him to grab lunch to catch up.

And so he shows up to lunch with this friend of his, a girl. He shows up to lunch with this girl, and, you know, he only had, like, $10. Now, this was 25 years ago, and $10 could buy you a lot more food than it can buy right now. It can't even buy you a number one combo at most fast food restaurants. But $10 back then could buy you something.

As it turns out, on that menu of the place they went, chicken tenders. No fries, just chicken tenders and water. And he's like, well, this is all I've got. And he was so hungry, but he just ate those, like, his little chicken tender meal. And then when it came time for the bill to be paid, she says, oh, I've got this.

And he's like, if I would have just known, I could have been eating a burger or a steak or something, you know, if I would have just known that she was gonna buy. I've taken that for 25 years almost. And if I'm buying somebody's lunch, I tell them, not just when we get there, but I say, like, hey, if you want to grab lunch with me, and I'm buying, like, I'll tell them when I set it up. Just so you know that, like, that's a condition of it, so that you can't think, well, I'm broke. I can't afford to go to lunch.

I want you to know, like, if I'm taking you, I'm buying, by the way. I just think that's really cool. If somebody says, like, hey, you want to. You want to grab lunch with me? That they buy that, like.

Cause you never know if somebody's in a place right now to do that or not. It's just a good opportunity, I think, to bless them with that. But anyway, I've taken that lesson, and I've thought about it so often, and I thought about it as I was preparing this message, and I was like, we're, like, sitting there eating these chicken tenders, not knowing the meal that was available to us, right? Like, we're sitting here living this christian life and saying, well, I guess I'll just be content with what I have in front of me. And all the while, God's saying, are you kidding me?

Do you know how much I'm offering you through the filling of yourself with my holy spirit? So it's possible for us to be saved. It's possible for us to have, however you want to think about it, at a prayer of, you know, confession and admitting your sin, receiving Christ into your heart. It's possible for you to be born again. It's possible for you to be baptized.

It's possible for all these things to happen and you to live the christian life. And if you want to think of it this way, have your ticket for heaven stamped, by the way, if that's your only goal with the christian life, that's all you'll ever get out of it. If you're only looking for your heaven ticket stamped, you know, like, well, I said my prayers. I'm going to heaven. It's about all you can hope for is a boring ride to heaven.

But if you want to live the most fulfilling, exciting, interesting life that God has designed you to live, live in the fullness of having his holy spirit dwell in you. You see, he's willing to take you so much farther than you ever thought he would go with you. He's willing to do so much more in your life and through your life than you could have ever dreamed possible. So many of us are missing out on this power that's available to us, and you might be thinking, well, pastor, what am I missing out on? Like, give me some examples.

Like, let me know what the prize is. You know, like, let me know what it is. No, you've got to come back the next four weeks. Like, don't miss one. You know, just keep coming back.

Because in those weeks, we'll be talking about those things and then talking about not only what we might be missing out on and what's available to us, but also what the outcome of that is. That's what's called the fruit of the spirit. So as we want to look at the fruit of the spirit, you've heard it before, you know, always love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control. Right? Okay, cool.

What about it? You know, like, is that, like, if I just try really hard, do I get all those?