Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: God help us to understand the abuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But at the same time, God give us understanding to be able to be open and say, God, whatever it may be in my life tonight, please God fill me.

Announcer: I am falling in love. I am falling in love. I am falling in love. I am falling in love with you.

Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We are glad you've joined us today as we continue our series focused on living a spirit-led life. Today, Raul will challenge us to walk in communion with God every day as we look to him for wisdom, courage, and strength.

You'll see that like the early believers who were emboldened by the Holy Spirit, you too can live with eternal purpose and godly power. Today's study is part two of our lesson, Empowering of the Holy Spirit. Here's Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: So what I want to do is I want to take you to the book of Acts and I want to take you step by step how the birth of the church came about and how this power can be gained even in our own lives tonight. Turn to the book of Acts, beginning with chapter one. We'll begin and we'll go through the whole book just looking at the chapters and seeing what God has to say to us tonight.

So the first thing that we need to look at is, who is the Holy Spirit? Is he some mystic person? No. Jesus Christ told the disciples that he would not leave them alone. That even though he was going to depart, the comforter, the Holy Spirit, would come to assist them and to comfort them and to be right alongside of them.

And so the first thing that has to happen is that the Holy Spirit, as he begins to deal with you as a non-believer, he begins to come alongside of you. The first preposition is he's with you. You're not a Christian when the Holy Spirit is with you. He is bringing now conviction to your heart. Where before you felt not guilty about doing something or saying something or hearing dirty jokes or even saying dirty jokes, now you feel not comfortable saying them. There's something that bugs you inside.

It is the voice of God speaking to you. God is beginning to convict you and bringing you to repentance. And even though when you come to that place where you're looking up and you're in the bottom of the barrel and you find yourself like the prodigal son among the pigs, God cannot rescue you unless you call upon the name of the Lord and say, "Jesus, I want to repent of my sins." You have just now invited him into your life and now you've become a Christian.

Now the Holy Spirit is within. He's in operation in my life. That's why Paul the apostle in Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if any man is in Jesus Christ, he or she are brand new people. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are brand new." You begin to see through the eyes new things.

And you see, when the Holy Spirit comes upon my life, then what I need, when I begin to get cold and I'm reading the Bible and I don't feel like reading, I don't feel like praying, and I start feeling like I want to go back into the world, what the church needs today is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that preposition in the Greek is the epi experience, which means the with, in, and now the upon experience.

This is the experience that has been totally abused by the church. For many people will tell you that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the experience when you receive it of speaking in other tongues. And that puts a category that everybody then has to speak in tongues, and yet that's not what Paul taught and that's not what Jesus taught.

There's a balance. There are abuses in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And here at Calvary Chapel, what we try to do is when we have a service and we're going to worship the Lord, we don't believe in people standing up when they worship the Lord in front of everybody. Why? Because you're bringing attention to yourself. God wants to move. You see, those kind of things quenches the Holy Spirit.

As God is getting ready to make a move and to do a great move in the church, somebody will start speaking in tongues in some of the churches. What happens? That grieves the Holy Spirit of God because everybody has to turn around and to see who that person is. Be careful that as we begin to learn to worship the Lord, we do it in the right attitude and we do it in the biblical way.

It's important that whenever I worship God, I worship him in spirit and in truth. He has to be real in my life. I am not here to impress any one of you. I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and God baptized me with tongues 22 years ago, but you have never heard me speak in tongues. Why? Because that's my private language that God gave to me only to be used in my prayer language. Not to impress anybody. That's what Paul said.

Tongues in a situation like this would be terrible because there are too many people and there are non-believers among us and they'll say these people are crazy. What are they saying? They're nuts. Imagine somebody getting up and starting speaking in tongues and running around the church. It would be crazy. Confusion. It would be like a circus tent.

If I was to teach on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which I'm doing tonight, I will give you scripture. But if I was to teach on an experience of slaying in the spirit, blowing on people, or touching people, or speaking a word so they can fall down, if you go through the whole Bible, you will not find anything that says about slaying in the spirit. There's only one place. Actually, there are two places.

One place in the Gospel of John where Jesus was going to be arrested and they came to the Garden of Gethsemane and he said, "Who do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus." And he said, "I am he," and they all fell backwards. People will use that for slaying the spirit. First of all, all those people were the enemies of Jesus. They were non-believers.

The second experience of scripture that is used for slaying the spirit is in chapter five of Acts where Ananias and Sapphira were slain in the spirit. No, they were killed by the spirit. They fell down, yes. Dead. Not in the spirit. I think that's where we have to really be careful. We're not going to make fun of people, we're not going to criticize people, but we're going to be biblical in what we believe. That's the key.

What does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit? Well, first of all, look what he says in the book of Acts beginning with chapter one and verse four. He says, and being assembled together with them, Jesus, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said, you have heard from me. Which was the promise? The promise of the Holy Spirit.

This is Jesus giving the command. Giving the command that before he leaves, he tells them that he's going to be leaving, but to wait in Jerusalem and not to go anywhere until the Holy Spirit comes. Does that mean that we set up a doctrine of waiting for the Holy Spirit to come? No way. No way. He's not teaching that.

Announcer: You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for resources to enrich your study of God's word and embolden you to follow him wherever he leads. If you have Bible questions you'd like Raul to address, you can email him anytime at pastorraul@somebodylovesyou.com. Now back to more of today's study.

Raul Ries: Watch what he says, verse five. "For John truly baptized you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." And so they wait, which 40 days Jesus Christ was with them, we call post-resurrection, and then on the day of Pentecost, which the word Pentecost means 50th. 40 days and then 10 days after, the disciples of Jesus Christ and Mary the mother of Jesus, except Judas already was dead, so the 11 and Mary the mother of Jesus, plus the Bible says there were 120 of them in the upper room.

What were they doing in the upper room in Jerusalem? They were waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit just as Jesus said it would come. And you know what's incredible? When the Holy Spirit comes, there's no confusion. There's no confusion. Sometimes the Holy Spirit, like right now, is moving gently and quietly. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He's not the author of confusion.

And then check this out, verse eight. Again he says it, "But you shall receive power," dunamis power, "when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." You see that word there, "upon"? Is the word epi. It's different from with and in. Para and en in the Greek. That's upon, epi. That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit bringing power to do what? Power shall be to you to make you witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

You see what it's for? It's for power, for service, for witnessing. So that we can share with people. Not be afraid to say to your friends, man, I'm a Christian and I'm not going there, I'm a child of God. You have the boldness in love to tell them. You don't have to be a wimp Christian. God wants to give us that power.

And then after this thing happened, look at chapter two, beginning with verse one. Now this is the day of Pentecost. And you begin to see how the promise came about in chapter two. Watch what he says. "And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Did you notice that first of all, when the baptism of the Holy Spirit is going to come, there was no shouting or yelling or disruption? They were all in unity, waiting. Waiting on the Lord.

There it is in one accord, unity. And then suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And then there appeared upon them divided tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them the utterance, literally the ability to speak.

Notice they weren't for two days speaking in tongues like you've heard testimonies. "When the Holy Spirit came upon me, I couldn't help myself, I spoke for two days and two nights." No, it's not like that. You're under control. He is a gentle person. And what's really neat about that again, he talks about the power that it brings forth.

Now you say, well, wait a minute, Raul, he says here they all spoke in tongues. Does that mean that everybody speaks in tongues? In this particular place, yes, but Paul tells us that not all speak with tongues. Then tell me what is the fruit of the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Love. Love is the key.

Because Paul says in Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter 13, that if I speak in tongues, or if I have all faith or miracles and wonders and word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and all the gifts, and if I have not love, I sound like a brass making a bunch of noise but have no meaning. No meaning.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit have to be in operation through the power of love, otherwise they're of no value. No value. You have a problem with your anger, your temper, wrath, whatever it is, jealousy, you need the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. You need it. I need it. I want to be filled every day with God.

We need a spirit-filled church. We need a spirit-filled army before God. The spirit gave the ability for them to speak. And you see, there was no confusion because if you read the rest of the chapter, what happened? People said, "It's only 10:00 in the morning, they haven't sold wine yet. Are these people drunk?" And Peter stood up and what did he do? He didn't bring confusion, he gave a scriptural background to the experience. You see, you have to have a scriptural background to the experience you have with God. It's right there in chapter two. Right there in the book of Acts.

You come to me and you tell me about experience, I'm going to ask you, show me in the scriptures where you find it. Show me in the scriptures. You come to me for infant baptism, I can go through the scriptures, we don't have it in the scriptures. You come to tell me about baptism, then I will tell you about immersion, full immersion in water. Not only Jesus was baptized, but we have it not only in the Gospels, but we have it also in the book of Acts and we have it in the epistles. That's doctrine, you see.

It has to be proved. Did Jesus teach it? Do you find it in the four Gospels? And is it in the book of Acts and do you find it in the epistles, which are Paul's letters and Peter and John's letters and James? That's doctrine. Because otherwise you're going to take one scripture and put another scripture and you're taking the word of God out of context to build your doctrine, not God's doctrine.

You have to be careful when you teach the word of God and when you explain the word of God to others. God does want us to manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but he wants us to do it in order. Not chaotically. In order. Why? Because the Holy Spirit wants to move and wants to baptize. These people were baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Watch again in chapter four of the book of Acts, beginning with verse 31. These were men who believed in the supernatural work of God. He says in verse 31, "And when they had prayed, the place there was assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness." Did you notice that people that are filled with the Holy Spirit have a boldness to speak the word of God?

There again is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There's a boldness to speak the word of God. You're not afraid to share with others. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. And then again in chapter eight of the book of Acts, beginning with verse 15. He said who then, that they had come down and prayed with them and they might receive the Holy Spirit for as yet the Holy Spirit had not fallen upon none of them, they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

You see, they already had been born again but now they're being baptized in the Holy Spirit. They had heard about it but not received it. And then again in chapter ten of the book of Acts in verse 44. And while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon him. Notice upon him. And all those who heard the word. Upon again.

Notice the boldness he's given them to preach the word of God and as he's preaching, the Holy Spirit is zapping people in the congregation. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished and as many as came with Peter because of the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they had heard them speak with other tongues and magnifying God. And Peter answered.

You see what it says about the Holy Spirit? When a true gift of tongues is given to a person, when God gives you the gift of tongues, you're not there to speak to man, it is to magnify God. You're speaking back to God like a psalm. Magnifying the Lord. It's not a message in tongues. There's no such thing in the Bible as a message in tongues. No such thing. It's not even scriptural.

They were magnifying God. They were praising God. There was no confusion. And then watch this. And then he said "Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" They had received it all together. And then in chapter 19 of the book of Acts, and this is a good one. Because this now is Paul coming as he's getting ready to go to Rome and he's coming down.

And what happens, he comes to Ephesus and he finds these people that had heard Apollos preach, but Apollos didn't have a depth of the word, but only what John the Baptist had preached. He had never heard Jesus preach. And he says, "Hey you guys, have you guys ever heard of the Holy Spirit?" And they said, "Man, we don't even know who the Holy Spirit is. Tell us!" And Paul began to explain to them about the Holy Spirit.

Look what he says, verse two. "And he said unto them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And so they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether who is the Holy Spirit. And he said unto them, Into what then have you been baptized?" You see? The baptism of the Holy Spirit. What have you been baptized into? Yeah, they already had been baptized in water through John the Baptist, but now he's talking about the baptism of the spirit. Watch this.

And they said, "into John's baptism." Which one's that? The baptism of repentance in water, you see. And then watch. "And then Paul said to them, John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance saying to the people that they should believe on Jesus Christ who would come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them."

There it is again. They spoke with tongues and they prophesied, which means what? They glorified God through the word of God. You see how simple it is and yet it's so hard for people. Why? Because people don't study God's word. People have been mistaught. They've been mistaught by people.

If you come from a background where people are standing up all the time and they're running around and speaking in tongues and disturbing the service while the preacher or the teacher is teaching, that's not of the Lord. In a service like this in the evening or in the morning, we should already be preparing our hearts to come here, so when the music and the worship is before us, we can open our hearts before God every day and say, "God, I want everything you have for me, Lord. Fill me." I want to be filled every day.

But let me ask you the question, what is hindering your life tonight from being filled? It can be anger, it can be wrath, it can be any kind of a sin that you need to get rid of tonight to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. God wants to fill you. Not only fill you, you know what Jesus said? That when the Holy Spirit would come, it would be coming out of your insides, out of your innermost like a rushing water, like a river, just could not stop just rushing out of you completely. Just running over.

And you know what? That's what I desire in my life. I don't want to be dry. I want to be overflowing with the Holy Spirit. God help us to understand the abuse of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But at the same time, God give us understanding to be able to be open and say, "God, whatever it may be in my life tonight, please God fill me. Fill me."

And it doesn't mean that you're going to speak in tongues. Some of you could speak in tongues. And if God baptizes you by faith with tongues, then that's your prayer language God gives to you. So when you go into your closet or like when I'm alone in my car or in my office, I can pray to God because I don't like to pray in English, but I pray in tongues. Because then what I pray to God as the spirit gives the utterance, my intellect cannot understand it, but the spirit makes intercession for me. He tells God what I need.

And Paul says in Romans chapter eight verse 26 and 27 that we with groanings come to God. Groaning. It may sound stupid, but to God it's not stupid. The spirit groans within us. I want to know him and the power of his resurrection in my life tonight.

Announcer: As you take stock of your God-given spiritual gifts and consider the ways you might be able to use them for his glory, we encourage you to seek the Holy Spirit's leading in everything that you do.

You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's study was part two of the lesson, Empowering of the Holy Spirit. If you'd like to get the entire version, we'll be happy to send it to you for a donation of five dollars or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165 to make your request.

And we'd also like to tell you more about Raul's seven-part series, Filled, Empowered, and Equipped. It's available on CD and flash drive and includes today's lesson along with six others. Further illuminating what it looks like to fully surrender to God, this resource will inspire you to trust and obey the voice of his spirit. You'll also learn how to maximize your gifts so that you can edify others with God's love.

Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's seven-message study, Filled, Empowered, and Equipped. We'll send you the CD set for 20 dollars or if you prefer, the thumb drive for just 11. The number again is 800-634-9165. And of course, you can always order these studies by writing to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

We appreciate each of our faithful partners. Every contribution made helps us keep reaching more people with the good news of Jesus Christ. Next time we'll continue this series with a look at what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. You'll find that it's not a physical experience, but rather a daily spiritual infilling that can transform your life.

This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.