Somebody Loves You

Guest (Male): You need the power of the Holy Spirit not only to teach Sunday school, to take care of children, to teach, to preach, to do whatever it is that needs to be done, especially when it comes to the working in the church of Jesus Christ in ministry. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the work that God has given to each one of us here this evening.

Announcer (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We're glad you've joined us for more from Raul's series focused on the Holy Spirit.

Today he'll explain how we can continually open ourselves to the filling of God's spirit, recognizing that each day we surrender to him is another day he can equip us to serve with God's wisdom, power, and courage. Stay with us to see how the third member of the Trinity is an ever-present blessing in our lives. Here's Raul Ries with part one of the lesson, "Filled with the Holy Spirit."

Raul Ries: Jesus Christ has just died on the cross, and the disciples and the women not only already have been commissioned by the Lord, but as the Lord already had told them when Jesus died on the cross, he told them to go ahead and to wait, and then to go to Galilee, and there is where he would meet them, which we call the post-resurrection time, which was the 40 days of Christ when he came back from the dead, and he ministered and he appeared to the disciples.

And he ministered to their needs and he also gave them the promise of the Holy Spirit. But what's amazing about that is that during that post-resurrection time in Chapter 1 of the book of Acts, as Jesus in John's Gospel, Chapter 20, Verse 22, he said this: "And then when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive you the Holy Spirit.'" At that particular time in John Chapter 20, Verse 22, the disciples of Jesus Christ became born again of the Holy Spirit.

Now, the reason I say that is because I told you in times past as we've studied concerning the work of the Holy Spirit that there are three prepositions in the Greek of the Holy Spirit. He's with you, he's in you, and he comes upon you. Tonight we're going to be dealing with the "epi" experience or the "upon" experience. We've already dealt with the "with" and with the "in," which we not only shared with you but with others that the first preposition of the Greek of the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit first of all works with a person when he's trying to bring them to conviction.

Nobody really in this room or listening to the radio tonight or outside of this room or in any part of the world can ever come to Jesus Christ unless it is the work of the Holy Spirit. I don't care how many times you may share with your grandmother or your grandfather or mother or father or brother and sister, it is only the work of the Holy Spirit that will ever bring them to conversion.

You can bring them to a service like this or you can take them to a baptism or you can take them to a concert or to whatever it may be, and it is not until the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin that they can ever be converted to Jesus Christ. And this is why it's so important that we understand that it's not you and I that have ever converted anyone to Jesus Christ, but it's always been the work of the Holy Spirit.

So as we come to the book of Acts, we have now what we call the continuing factor because it is again Luke writing a continuation of the Gospel of Luke, but these are the Acts of the Apostles, or literally this should be called the book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Everything that he deals with in the book of Acts, historically speaking, is what happened after Jesus died and gave the promise of the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit not only converted people but baptized people and sent them out to fulfill the great commission. That's what the book of Acts is all about.

Let me begin by reading Verse 1 through Verse 8 tonight, which are the last words of Jesus. He says, "To the former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was taken up to heaven, after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. To whom he also presented himself alive with his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."

So here he gives you a little insight in Verse 3 to the post-resurrection time, the 40 days that Christ was here on earth with the disciples. "And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem. And here it is: but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said you have heard from me. For John truly baptized you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Notice that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a complete different experience from salvation, from regeneration. Because in John Chapter 20, as I told you before, in Verse 22, there is where they were regenerated, there is where they became born again of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came into their lives. And what Jesus is talking about here is the "epi" or the "upon" experience, which is the baptism or the filling of the Holy Spirit in my life. It's a total separate experience from salvation and regeneration.

And let me say this to you that every one of us here, young or old, need it in our lives every day. For the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it is the power that is given to you to fulfill God's work and God's service in this life. Without it, you can't. It is power given to you to fulfill the ministry and the call that God has given to each one of us as believers in the kingdom of God here tonight.

And so here he begins to make the promise, but look what else he says. Therefore, he says, when they had come together, they asked him saying—and now this is Jesus glorified, getting ready to ascend to heaven and they're going to ask him a question—they asked him saying, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" They thought that Jesus would actually take on Rome and defeat Rome, and then he would actually bring in the kingdom and they would sit on 12 thrones and he would rule over them and then everything would be nice and dandy for everybody and there would be peace.

But when he died, now that he rises again, they ask him, "Lord, now that you've died and rose again, is this the time that you're going to restore the nation of Israel back to its original order?" And watch what he says. 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 authority," which literally means, mind your own business. That's God's business.

Watch what else he says. "But," he says, "You—one thing I know for sure—but you shall receive power, dunamis power." We get our word dynamite in the English for power here. "But you shall receive dynamite or dynamic power when the Holy Spirit has come upon." There it is again, "epi." The "upon" experience or we can say here not only the power that will come upon you, but power for service.

He says, "And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Notice what Jesus Christ has just told them and what he's telling you and what he's telling me. This is the great promise that Jesus Christ has made to each one of us.

We come to the great work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. You and I are believers if you have repented of your sins and you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, then that makes you a believer. And the baptism with the Holy Spirit, or what we call filled with the Holy Spirit, is the powerful experience that not only each one of us can receive this evening, but it's the experience that the early church received in their own personal lives.

Miraculously, they had growth in the church. In one week, over 25,000 people were converted because of the power of the Holy Spirit and because the power the disciples received from the Holy Spirit. Why isn't it happening today the way it happened in the early church? We have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit hasn't ceased. As some say that the gifts of the Holy Spirit stopped in apostolic times, they're not for today. Wrong.

They're for today. The Bible speaks about this. Did you know that the book of Acts is the only book in the New Testament that doesn't have an ending or an amen? It continues down even today, it's still making history. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is the one that has been left here for each one of us until Christ comes again.

As a paracletos, the one that will come alongside to assist, to teach, to lead, to convict, to help us, to baptize us. As a matter of fact, according to the world Christian Encyclopedia, this is what they say about what's happened in the world today concerning the Holy Spirit. They said there are in the world today some 51 million believers in Pentecostal churches who have experienced the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Besides this, 11 million more in other churches who enjoy the fullness of the blessing. If that is true, then why do we see so much carnality today in the church? If that is true, if we have this power that God speaks about, then why is it that you and I constantly fall into sin? And there are so many people within the church of Jesus Christ that are being defeated every day of their lives concerning their lives in Jesus Christ.

It's like a rollercoaster ride when they're walking with Christ, when the Bible says that we can have power and victory over sin. Sin should never dominate over our lives. Romans Chapter 6 talks about that. We have the power to put sin to death. But I'm going to get to that later on as we move on in the study here.

I want us to recognize tonight that the principal work of the Holy Spirit is exalting Jesus Christ. And if you ever hear anybody preaching that we need to give glory and honor to the Holy Spirit, believe me, they're wrong because the Holy Spirit has come to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. We never, ever give glory and honor and lift up the Holy Spirit. It is Jesus that sent the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit himself gives glory and honor to Jesus Christ.

Announcer (Male): This is Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. We're committed to supporting your journey as you walk in step with God. Visit us at somebodylovesyou.com for a wealth of resources. You can also download our Somebody Loves You app to keep biblical wisdom and encouragement at your fingertips. Let's rejoin Raul now for the conclusion of today's study.

Raul Ries: When we speak of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, we recognize one thing: that Jesus Christ is the baptizer with the Holy Spirit. Mark that. Jesus is the baptizer of the Holy Spirit. This baptism that we speak about the Holy Spirit is probably the most important in connection with our spiritual life and service in the life of every believer.

You need the power of the Holy Spirit not only to teach Sunday school, to take care of children, to teach, to preach, to do whatever it is that needs to be done, especially when it comes to the working in the church of Jesus Christ in ministry. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the work that God has given to each one of us here this evening.

The Bible also teaches that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is a separate, totally different, distinct action, but total different baptism from regeneration. It's not the same experience. And yet there are people that say that it's the same experience. They use Ephesians Chapter 4, Verses 1 through 7, and then they use 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, where it speaks about one Lord, one spirit, one of everything. But the Bible says that it's a different distinct experience.

And it's not a once and for all experience. It can happen every day. Every day we can be spirit filled by the Holy Spirit if we come to God and ask him. But I think it's important that as we see Christ here not only giving his command to receive power, I also believe that part of that problem today in the church and outside of the church today is because of the lack of power in the church and the lack of power in the life of the believer.

It seems that people are not making great progress when it comes to overcoming sin, and temptation is given to them, or sin or temptation or the desires of the flesh. But it seems that today more people are falling into greater sin. And when you talk to people, you ask them, "How are you doing?" "Well, I'm barely making it." How can we be barely making it when we have the greatest power in the world, the Lord Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit? How can that be?

You see, there are so many believers today in the bondage of sinful desires and appetites of the flesh, and that's one of the reasons they're not getting anywhere because they're living in the life of carnality, they're living a life of defeat constantly. You see, we need to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit because I personally feel that the only way that the church can ever continue not only to be a testimony to our community and to our loved ones and to our friends, but this is the only way that we're going to be able to reach the world for Jesus Christ and see true revival, even in America.

It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to pray and be open to his leading in our personal lives. We need to be open vessels to Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, Jesus himself in John 14:16-18, listen to what he said. He made the promise that the Holy Spirit would be here to assist us and to abide with us forever. That's a promise.

Listen to what he says: "And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you, and I will not leave you as orphans, but I will come to you." That's a promise. The Lord already has done that.

Then Jesus made a second promise of the Holy Spirit: that he would come and that he would teach you and would bring all things to your minds or to remembrance. John 14:26 says this: "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I have ever said unto you."

And of course, that is the help that the Holy Spirit will give to each one of us: to read the Old Testament, to read the New Testament, and each book line upon line, precept upon precept. As we read the whole counsel of God and as we're witnessing or thinking or studying, God's Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance those things that we've studied. And if you haven't read the Old Testament, then he cannot bring anything from the Old Testament to your minds.

Only what you've read, only what you've studied, can he bring up. And that's why the Holy Spirit was given to us: to teach us and lead us and guide us into all truth. I read today R.A. Torrey's book, one of the greatest not only pastor-teachers but writers of the 18 and 1900s. As a matter of fact, he wrote this little book that is called The Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I read it all today because it was so good.

I read it before, but it was kind of like a renewing in my own personal life. This is what he says about the Holy Spirit: "It is quite possible to have something, yes much, of the Spirit's presence and work in the heart, and yet come short of that special fullness and work known in the Bible as the baptism or filling with the Holy Spirit." You see, you already have come to Jesus Christ when you repented.

The Holy Spirit was with you, he came into your life, and you can be sitting there and you say, "Well, I'm a Christian," and I would say amen, you are a Christian. But something that I see in your life is there is no power. Think how many of you tonight that are sitting here and maybe those listening through radio can say to me, "Man, I am overrun with the Holy Spirit." You need it and God wants to give it to you if you want it.

Let me begin by the names and the experiences that many people call the baptism of the Holy Spirit. First of all, it is not a second definite work of grace. It is not a second definite work of grace. Secondly, it is not a second blessing because it's a continual overflowing whenever you want it, seven days a week or 31 days or 30 days in the month or 52 weeks in the year.

You can have it all the time you want it. It is not sanctification or holiness. That's not what it is. As a matter of fact, what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is is this: it's number one the promise of the Father through his son Jesus Christ. Listen to Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4 what he says.

He says, "Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." This is the different power. You see, Jesus is telling the disciples not to go anywhere, even though they've accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, until they're empowered for service by the Holy Spirit. And this is why so many of our young people today do not have power over their life because they haven't been baptized with the Holy Spirit.

And that's why they constantly fall into sin. In Acts 1:4 he said this: "And being assembled together with them, 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." Secondly, the gift of the Father and the Son to us. It is the gift of the Father and the Son. In John 14:16 and 15:26 and Acts 5:32, listen to what he says.

"And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever. And when the helper comes, I will send him to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me." And then he said this in Acts 5:32: "And as we are his witnesses of these things, so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him." Obedience is part of being filled with the Holy Spirit in your life.

And we're going to talk about the hindrances that can hinder the work of God in your life too. Thirdly, it is a command of the Lord to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We already read Acts 1:4. Ephesians 5:18 says this: "And do not be drunk with wine, in which in the dissipation, but be you continually filled with the Holy Spirit." Notice not just once in a while. The word there in Greek to be filled is a continual factor: continually being filled every day, every hour, every moment of our time in our life.

Announcer (Male): Engaging in spiritual warfare and stepping out in ministry can both feel daunting. So it's good to know that God has promised us the wisdom and strength of his own Spirit. This is Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's lesson was part one of our study "Filled with the Holy Spirit." If you'd like to get the entire unedited version, just call us at 800-634-9165 and for a donation of five dollars or more, we'll send a copy to you.

To further boost your confidence, we'd like to tell you about Raul's seven-part series, "Filled, Empowered, and Equipped." It's available on CD and USB. Featuring today's lesson as well as six others, this resource will inspire you to daily walk in faith and obedience. To order Raul's seven-message study titled "Filled, Empowered, and Equipped," visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165.

We'll send you the CD collection for twenty dollars or if you prefer, the flash drive for eleven dollars. The phone number once again is 800-634-9165 or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

The Somebody Loves You worldwide YouTube channel is a hub of excellent teaching with podcasts of past programs as well as live-streamed messages. Join Raul for straight talk on the channel every Tuesday at 10 a.m. West Coast time. Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries is fully listener-supported. Thank you for your tax-deductible gifts. Your partnership is crucial to the success of our mission to share God's mighty truth.

And thanks again for including us in your day today. We hope you'll be with us again next time as we continue this series, exploring the matchless impact of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We'll discover more of what it looks like to listen for his leading and follow him with the boldness of absolute surrender. Now, here's Raul with a final thought.

Raul Ries: And then it's important that we understand that the purpose and necessity of the baptism of the Holy Spirit: number one is for power and service. Acts 1:8 we read: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses to me in Jerusalem, all of Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the whole earth." Secondly, this is important: not only empowers you for service, but secondly, it empowers you for spiritual warfare.

The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, and against rulers of darkness of this age, and against spiritual hosts and wickedness in heavenly places." And then again, there in the book of Ephesians, listen carefully, Chapter 6, in Verse 18, he says this, and this is so good.

He says, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Holy Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." God wants us to be baptized for spiritual warfare with the Holy Spirit.

Announcer (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.