Wait For It
Acts 1:4-8 “And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which says He, you have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power. But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
What does it say?
Jesus is speaking some profound and important things to the disciples and they are still concerned about Israel being restored. They will get it soon enough. The Lord told His disciples that He was sending the gift the Father promised
Joel 2:28-29
“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on my menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
John 7:39
John 15:26
Matthew 7:11
Luke 11:13 This was and is the promised gift from the Father
John 14:16-18
I have to explain this a little- because it can be confusing to some
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a separate work- not to be confused with the regeneration work of the HS when you first believed
John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”
You cannot have a nature change without the Spirit
It is possible to believe yet, not be baptized in the Spirit- regeneration work of the Spirit
Acts 19:1-2 (these were Ephesian believers and its about 25 years after Pentecost)
Ephesians 1:13
John 1:12-13
At the time you first believe, you are born again of the Holy Spirit
EX: I can tell you the exact day time and day the HS came in to me. It was March 19, 1995
I had surrendered at the altar on the previous Wednesday night, and was baptized on that Sunday
My whole way of seeing changed. I didn’t understand it at the time, but now I know it was the Spirit
coming in and changing me.
It was about 40 days later that I received the baptism in the HS
Baptism in or with the Holy Spirit literally means to be immersed with the Spirit of God- same as a water baptism means to be fully immersed in water
It is the difference between drinking a glass of water and diving into a pool of water
First things first- Jesus said, “Wait for it.”
This was spoken to the disciples and it was approx. 50 days later until the day of Pentecost
John 20:22-23
Christ had risen from the dead and here HE breaths on them to give them the HS, yet STILL He says WAIT for the promise of the baptism in the HS- it is a separate work of the Spirit
Wait for the promises of God-
“good things come to those who wait”, but we don’t like to wait
Jesus knew they were not prepared- they needed the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives in order to live out His commands and to do the work He called them to
There are many people who had to wait for the Lord and some for many years-
Noah built the Ark for over 100 years waiting for the promise of rain
Moses waited 40 years in the desert to get a glimpse of the promised land
Abraham waited 25+ years for the promised son
David waited 20+ years to be king
Israel waited over 400 years to hear the word of the Lord
We have been waiting over 2000 years for the coming of Jesus
and you can’t wait an hour for your food.
The Bible doesn’t record it, but I wonder if there was someone who missed out on the Holy Spirit
outpouring because they couldn’t wait anymore?
EX: 4 hour worship service< God ask of Me what you will
I had along day- wake up at 5:00, classes from 7-10 work at 11:00 until almost midnight most nights
AS the hours wore on, the crowd thinned out. We started with a large service and ended with only a few who wanted to wait on God
If there was anyone there like in today’s society, I am guessing a few left the upper room.
“Why should I have to wait this long?”
“I have stuff to do”
“I can’t sit around all day waiting for God to move”
This is the very reason I HATE missing church- I could miss a great move of the Spirit
What if I missed Kevin getting out of his wheel chair and running?
What if I missed God giving out new gifts?
I hate being away from the presence of God!
I do not let my flesh dictate whether or not I am going to experience God!
If you were to be completely honest with yourself- it’s because you are tired and lazy.
Yes, He is always with me, but there is a different anointing when you are in the Body, worshiping and praising the Lord.
He moves mightily among His people
BUT, we still cannot wait on the Lord.
It’s the reason some of you are luke-warm in your walk.
You refuse to sit and wait on God- in church, in prayer, in the Word
You treat your walk with Jesus as a chore list:
pray (usually for 10 min.) check
read the Word (typically a couple of verses) check
worship (30 min on Sunday, maybe if you get here on time and you are already prepared to worship) check
Done for the day
50 days almost 2 months of waiting and praying for the Lord to do what He was going to do- and them not even knowing how long it would be still or exactly what He was going to do.
But we want God to answer us now.
Give it to us now.
I’m not sure if you realize this or not, but He is not on your timeline.
God does things in His way in His time.
And if you do not wait, you will end up going your own way and doing your own thing and sometimes even getting angry at God.
Either that, or we will put God’s stamp of approval on our ways.
Secondly, The key verse in the book of Acts is found in vs. 8 “You shall receive power”
This word power is in the Greek “dunamis” It means more than strength or ability; it designates power in operation or action
Luke’s gospel as well as Acts emphasizes the Holy Spirit’s power and authority to drive out demons, the anointing to the heal the sick; power to witness with “all boldness”, “with great power”, with many signs, wonders and miracles, and with great results. It is the power to witness with great effect. It is also the power in one’s personal life (remember power in action) to live a life that is a testimony to Christ’s saving work and resurrection, the power to overcome all the works of the enemy, including our flesh and sin.
Look at Peter- before Pentecost he had a natural devotion to Jesus
John 13:37
Matthew 26:35
Yet, his natural, fleshly devotion wasn’t enough. He denied his Lord and left Him alone
Natural devotion is not strong enough for you to not deny Jesus.
But after he received the HS and power we see him BOLDLY proclaiming the gospel
Acts 2:38
This is the difference of having the baptism in the HS.
Oswald Chambers
We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us. Even the natural
heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by the conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message. The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they would literally become God’s message in the flesh.”- YOU shall be my witnesses! (in life, in your actions, in your words)
Power in operation, in action
Are you living a life of power??
The Bible overwhelming declares that we are MORE than conquerors through Him that loved us
This means we are not victims.
A victim mentality is a learned personality trait in which a person tends to regard themselves as a victim of the negative actions of others or their circumstances and to behave as if this was the case even in the lack of clear evidence of such circumstances.
The “victim” gates you on with a poor-me attitude, and is allergic to taking responsibilities for their
actions. People are always against them, the reason for their unhappiness. They portray themselves as unfortunates who demand rescuing.
This is a real personality disorder
Is this you? Cause if you have the baptism of the HS, you have the power to overcome this type of
thinking.
Addiction? Overcome by the HS
Sin? Overcome by the HS
bondage of fear? Overcome by the HS
Abuse? Overcome by the HS
Bad childhood? Overcome by the power of the HS
The Holy Spirit is not bound by anything- therefore if you say there is something you cannot do or cannot overcome- I have to ask you, where is the POWER of the Holy Spirit in your life?
Where is the power of God in your life?
Is your life a witness displaying His power?
Have you received since you believe?
