Real Life Community Church Richmond, KY

Acts | Part 36 | The Forgotten God: Why The Holy Spirit Still Matters

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What if most of what we call church would keep running even if the Holy Spirit left the building? Acts 19 hits that nerve. We unpack Paul’s return to Ephesus, the twelve “disciples” shaped by John the Baptist, and the moment they step into the fullness of the gospel—baptized into Christ, born again by the Spirit, and empowered for mission.

In this message, we explore how the Holy Spirit is not the “forgotten member” of the Trinity but the living presence of God—our Comforter, Convicter, and Empowerer. Through Acts 19, we see how encountering the Spirit brings transformation, boldness, and renewal.

The call for us today is to move beyond polite belief into active pursuit—to welcome the Spirit’s presence, seek His gifts, and allow Him to build up the church for God’s glory. As Paul urged in 1 Corinthians 14:1, we are to “eagerly desire spiritual gifts,” walking in step with the Spirit rather than keeping Him at arm’s length.

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SPEAKER_00:

Acts chapter 19. We are if you're new here, we uh generally preach book by book to the Bible. We're in the book of Acts right now. And uh today I'm gonna start preaching on Acts 19 from Acts 19. So I'll give you a minute to get there so I can breathe and get out of singing mode into uh into preaching mode. We're not gonna read it up front, but uh uh well I'm just gonna read it as we go today. If you have it, say amen. Amen. If you don't have your Bible with you, it'll it'll be on the screen for you as we go. So Acts chapter 19. Christians claim to believe in the Holy Spirit, but you know, many treat him as kind of the weird uncle of the Trinity. You know the one family member that you mention, but you really don't know what to do with, you never invite him over for dinner. Several years ago, my wife and I, many of you know, we pastored a we were associate pastors at a church in Tucson, Arizona. And while we were there one week, my mother flew out to Tucson to watch my two boys who were then ages, I believe, three and six, while Nikki and I were out ministering in another state. So one night, uh my my mom and the two boys were there in the kitchen. They were uh having a bedtime snack, and Connor was sitting in Indian style on the counter, counter, and uh he asked my mom very randomly, Nanny, have you ever seen the Holy Spirit? My mom said, No, Connor, I haven't seen the Holy Spirit, but I've certainly felt his presence. I felt his comfort and his guidance. And he goes, Well, I have. I've seen the Holy Spirit. And he proceeds to tell a story about one night when he was sleeping on the top bunk and he couldn't go to, well, he couldn't go to sleep. And he said, Everybody else was asleep in the house, and I was scared. So I prayed. Isn't that sweet? And the Holy Spirit came in the room and covered me up and stayed with me until I fell asleep. So my oldest son Dylan heard all of this, right? The whole story. And so they finished the snack, and Dylan goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth, and he says, He looks at my mom, he says, Nanny, could you go in with me? I'm afraid the Holy Spirit might be in there. Well, Connor hears this from the other room. He's three years old. And he laughs and he goes, You little baby, you're scared of the Holy Spirit. It gets even better. So Dylan finishes brushing his teeth, and he and my mom go into Connor's room, or into Dylan's room, where they find Connor in Dylan's bed under the covers. And my mom said, Connor, what in the world are you doing in Dylan's bed? He goes, I'm not sleeping in here alone. Oh goodness. So, you know, one of the main reasons churches often neglect the full role of the Holy Spirit is because the fanatical behavior of some people has caused the fear of him. But I've come to tell somebody today, you do not have to be scared of the Holy Spirit if you're a Christian. As a matter of fact, I would argue today that the Holy Spirit is someone to be pursued, not avoided. Our church, just so you know where you're where we're at, we are uh big believers in the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we believe in the fullness in the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe it's for today. But I want you to know we guard from what we call sensationalism or hyper-emotionalism, we guard from erroneous doctrines that have to do with the Holy Spirit, we guard from disorder because Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 that there's a certain way the gifts, supernatural, charismatic gifts, should operate in the church. So we don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Are you with me? A.W. Tozer said something I think it's worth thinking about. I think we might have this quote on the screen. He said this if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on, and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would have stopped, and everybody would have known the difference. Boy, that's convicting as a pastor. Listen, the first century church, we've seen this throughout our journey in Acts, was utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit. And I would just say to you today, I would submit to you if this, if the Holy Spirit was such a part and such a need of the first century church and the apostles, how in the world could we think that we could do ministry and life, the live the Christian life apart from the power of the Holy Spirit? So in Acts 19, verses 1 through 20, we see at least four functions of the Holy Spirit. And I'm only gonna make it through verse 10 today. I'm gonna deal with the first two functions of the Holy Spirit, and then next week, I'm uh I'm gonna, God willing, handle the next two. But today, here's my aim. For those of you that maybe haven't been accustomed to hearing teachings on the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit. I know we all believe in the Holy Spirit. I just want you to open your minds today and your hearts, and most of all do the scriptures. And I want us to stop treating the Holy Spirit like the weird uncle. All right, can we just say that's a good goal for today? All right, here we go. The first function or role of the Holy Spirit is this the Holy Spirit regenerates. And we all agree on this. So before I make anybody mad, we're good to go. All right, verses one and two. And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul passed through the inland country and he came to Ephesus, and there he found some disciples. Now, underline that word, and he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said, No, we have not even heard there is a Holy Spirit. I feel like some people, some church folks today in some circles would say, What? There's a third person of the Trinity. So let me just give you a little background here. So in chapter 18, which we finished out last week, the apostle Paul completes his second missionary journey in Ephesus. And you remember when he ride when he arrived in Ephesus? Remember, the people for once like were happy to see him and heard his message, and they begged Paul to stay. And Paul said, You know, it's not the will of the Lord this time to stay with you. I'm gonna go on. But he made this promise that if the Lord ever wills me to come back, I promise you I will come and be with you. So Paul sailed then from Ephesus to Caesarea. He went to visit the brothers in Jerusalem, and then he went and just kind of took a break. He went to his home church in Antioch. And after about a one to two year reprieve, guess where he goes to start his third missionary journey? Ephesus. And the people are just happy to sing. And here's what Luke tells us when Paul arrives in Ephesus, what's he find? He finds a group of about 12 disciples, and then he asks this question that could cause us to be a little bit confused. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And then the answer is pretty shocking. They say no. Now, what in the world's going on here? Let me tell you why this might confuse some of us today. Because Luke calls them disciples. In Romans 8:9, Paul himself says this, you, however, are not in the flesh, but you are in the spirit. If in fact the spirit dwells in you. Now listen to what he says. Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, does not belong to him. Do you see the tension here? So Paul's saying, Listen, a true Christian has the Holy Spirit. But then Luke says, Well, Paul comes upon some disciples, and they don't have the Holy Spirit. How do we resolve this? Well, it's actually pretty easy. The reason it's confusing for us is because when we hear the word disciple, we automatically think of what? Okay. Christians. Right? We associate disciples automatically with Christians. But the Greek word for it translated disciple, what's it mean? Learner. That's it. And your philosophers and your teachers and your mentors, they all had disciples. But we don't talk like that today. Imagine this, guys. Imagine if one of you, like imagine you just got hired at a new company. And let's say you start your job and you you go to work and you're you're kind of connected, let's say, to a mentor or a let's say a manager, all right? And that manager is teaching you everything about the vision and mission of the company. He's teaching you about the products and services and how to use the software and all of that. And so you go home that evening and your spouse says, Hey, how was your first day of work? What'd you do? And you say, Oh, it's great. I'm now a disciple of Gary. Like, we don't talk like that, but that, you know, anyone you sit under and learn from, you would be a disciple of that person. So the question is, because Luke doesn't give a qualifier there, he does not say these are disciples of Jesus. So the question is, who are they disciples of? Well, the good news is the Bible tells us, look at verses three and four. And Paul said, Into what then were you baptized? And they said, What's it say? Into John's baptism. This is John the Baptist. And Paul said, Well, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, and that is Jesus. That's Jesus. These men are not disciples of Jesus fully, they are disciples of John the Baptist. So, John the Baptist, you remember, he was the forerunner of Jesus, and he was going around and he was preaching, uh, he was preparing the way of the Lord, preaching the kingdom of God is at hand. Do you remember this? The kingdom of God is at hand, and he says, repent and be and he invites them to be uh baptized. This he baptizes them in this baptism of repentance. And what he's saying is this your Messiah, Israel, is finally here. His name is Jesus, and he's coming after me. But you better get your heart right because you're not in a place to meet him. Like you need to prepare, you need to repent and turn your hearts to God. And so these this group of men in Acts 19, they heard that message of John the Baptist and they learned from him and they believed truly that the Jesus he spoke of was the Messiah. But apparently, like Apollos in the next chapter, these men likely didn't know the full gospel. They had not yet heard the news, had not made it to them about the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in the fact that the kingdom of God has come, it has been inaugurated by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. They apparently had not heard that we can have the forgiveness of sins and be brought into God's kingdom through Jesus by grace through faith in him. They had likely not heard about the outpouring of this Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And so the implication here is that Paul tells them the good news that the kingdom is here and you get to come into it through Jesus. Well, that's the best news in the world. And look at how they respond, verse 5. On hearing this, I think the suggestion here was immediately. When they hear the fullness of the gospel, they say, sign me up. And they didn't say, Well, you know, I want to wait a couple weeks. So I invite some people to my baptism. They said, Oh, take me to some water right now. I want to follow this Jesus. And this is when, when they are baptized and they put their faith and trust in Jesus, they move from just being disciples of John the Baptist to being disciples of Jesus. And this is this is my point with it regarding the Holy Spirit. This work of God of bringing us into the kingdom, this is a work of the Holy Spirit. Let me illustrate this. You remember in John chapter 3, Jesus is speaking with a man by the name of Nicodemus, who is a Pharisee, a religious leader. And he says to him in John 3, verse 3, he says, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, this really is kind of humorous. It really confuses Nicodemus. He's like, Jesus, I was tracking with you up to this point, but what in the world are you talking about? And he actually says, Could a man enter his mother's womb a second time and be reborn? Like, that's weird. And Jesus explains himself, verse 5: Truly I say to you, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water, that's baptism, and the spirit, the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now I love this. Notice what Jesus doesn't say. Nicodemus is a ruler or he's a uh teacher of the law. He's a religious leader. And these leaders, these Pharisees, wanted to keep the law, the commandments, the rules, if you will, tediously. And they strived and they strived and they strived. But Jesus does not say, Nicodemus, you know, you're doing pretty well. But if you want into the kingdom, just try a little bit harder, go to church a little bit more, pray a little bit more, try to be a little bit nicer. Like those aren't bad things. Some of you need to be a little bit nicer, anyways. Like, but listen, no, but you know why? Because you can't be good enough. You you can't be good enough to earn heaven, to earn new creation, to earn uh salvation, to earn eternal life, to be brought into the kingdom. We don't get in by merit, which I love because if we did, if that were possible, it would mean only the most moral, the most disciplined, only this elite class of people would enter in. But because we are not saved by merit, by works, but by grace through faith in Christ, that means the drug addict, the alcoholic, the prostitute, the sinner of sinners gets into the kingdom the same way that the CEO gets in. Through the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you put your trust in him, the Holy Spirit does something. He gives you a new heart, he takes the heart of stone, Jeremiah says, and gives you a heart of clay that is now moldable and softened and bent towards doing God's will. You're not just behaving differently when you come into the kingdom, but by the Holy Spirit, you are a completely new person from the inside out. Can I get a witness this morning? We call that regeneration. And that happens by the Holy Spirit. And if you're here today and you come to church, praise the Lord you're here. And you pray and you're maybe hungry and you're wondering, man, I wonder if this is for me. I want to just clarify today because I know some of you probably think, well, I just need to get my life together. And then maybe will Jesus will accept me. But the Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You don't clean yourself up and start behaving better and then come to Jesus. You come to Jesus and He'll clean you up. Amen. So if you have not put your trust in Jesus and been baptized, oh, may today be the day of salvation. The Holy Spirit regenerates. But secondly, well, we all agree there. All denominations that are faithful Christians agree with that. Now there's some differences of opinion here. And by the way, we ought to be able to still fellowship and worship together if there's some differences on this. We 45, no, I think over 45,000 Christian denominations, because every time there's a little, you know, disagreement, it's split. Like, you know, you have the Baptist church, and then it turns into the Free Will Baptists and the Southern Baptists and the Fundamental Baptists and the Fundamental Fundamental Baptists, and on and on and on. You had the Pentecostals, and now you got Church of God, Assemblies of God. On and on and on, church of God in Christ. Like just crazy. So whatever I say today, if you don't agree, it's all right. You've been wrong before, and uh we we'll still worship with you. That's my favorite saying. Uh, all right, here we go. The Holy Spirit empowers. So you go back and listen to my first message in Acts, where I draw this out more. But in the book of Acts, I I talked about in that first message that every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Every one of us, if we are in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit. Yes? Okay, that's Romans 8:9. If you don't have it, you're not a Christian. Every believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling them or dwelling within them. So in Acts chapter 1 and 2, when the disciples with the other 108 people are in the upper room, there's a good argument to say that they are already Christians and they already have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All right, but then there's another encounter with the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2. Are you with me? The Holy Spirit comes and clothes them with power, and the result is not salvation there. What is it? Yes, and what do they do? They speak in tongues, they speak in tongues. So I'll talk about that in a moment. So the the second work of the spirit, by the way, I believe is a is not just a one-time occurrence. So you've got regeneration, the Holy Spirit in dwells within you. That's one time. You don't get saved and then resaved and then resaved. You don't get regenerated and then regenerated. No, that's crazy. But this is a separate work of the spirit that has nothing to do with salvation, but it is an empowerment for the work of the ministry. For the work of the ministry. So the Holy Spirit not only regenerates us, but he gives us power. How many believe that? How does the spirit empower us? Number one, he empowers us by giving us spiritual gifts. Look at verses six and seven. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, so they've been baptized, I think, and then dwelt by the Holy Spirit. And now Paul lays his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit didn't come in them, but he came what upon them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. And there were about 12 men in all. Now, some of you, when you hear me talk about this, you you're your reaction, like you, you're you want to put your fingers in here and go, la la la la la. I don't want to hear tongues, right? I don't hear anything about this. The Holy Spirit comes on these new baptized believers and they speak in tongues and they prophesy. These are two of the charismatic gifts listed in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Now, speaking in tongues scares many believers, and fair enough, because I've been in some weird services. I'll just say you. Okay, I'll leave that there. But let me help you with this. Tongues is not scary. As a matter of fact, I hate the translation. I wish the English translators did not use the word tongues. Do you know what the word really means? Languages. Why do we gotta say speak in tongues? Why don't we just say speak in languages? Then you don't get, you know, those chills or whatever when you hear it. But I want to tell you today that the gift of tongues, though grossly misused, is a beautiful and wonderful gift. 100%. So the question that I want to wrestle with first is this question do all Christians speak in tongues when they are clothed with power from the Holy Spirit? And there's disagreement on this. But my humble answer is no. The Bible never explicitly teaches that when you are baptized with the Holy Spirit, that you're going to speak in tongues. And there's a lot of Christians, good men and women of God, that believe that. Not all have the gift of miracles or faith or healings. No, we all have different gifts, and they're all wonderful and they're all needed. So the Bible doesn't teach that explicitly that all believers, when they experience this work of the spirit, that they're going to speak in tongues. But I see where those who believe it get it because there is a pattern. I want to be really fair here. Here it is. Acts 2, right? People speak in tongues. Acts 8, Samaritans receive the baptism with the Spirit, and something happens. We don't know what it is, but you couldn't make an argument. We can't say for sure that it was tongues. And I'm going to tell you why I think that. In Acts 10, the Gentiles in Caesarea speak in tongues. And in Acts 19, our text today, what do the Ephesians or these uh believers do here? They speak in tongues. But in a book that mentions the Holy Spirit over 55 tongues, there's only three, possibly four, occurrences of this. What's the purpose? Why does Luke mention these this in this order? Well, the reason is because it's fall, he's following the outline and the theme verse of the book of Acts. Remember Acts 1 8? Jesus talking to his uh apostles says this. He says, You will receive what power when the Holy Spirit has come what upon you, not within you, but upon you, and you will be my witnesses where Jerusalem come on. In all okay, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Now let me just show you this pattern. In Acts 2, tongues came upon these first believers in where?

unknown:

Jerusalem.

SPEAKER_00:

Jerusalem. In Acts 10, remember Cornelius, he's in um Caesarea. That's on the coast of Judea. So there's Judea. In chapter 8, if tongues happened there, that's Samaria. And Ephesus now in the ancient world, this is now in Europe, considered the uttermost parts of the earth. Now, why is this important? Why would Dr. Luke, the writer of Acts, do this? Well, let me tell you, because the biggest issue in the church in the first century was this division between Jew and Gentile and Samaritan. Man, they hated one another. And the Jews, particularly, they thought, man, these Gentiles, these Samaritans, they are second-class citizens and even Christians. So here's what happened: the Holy Spirit is poured out in Acts chapter 2. Why? Why the gift of tongues? It is a reversal of the Tower of Babel. In the Tower of Babel, do you remember the story? They're building this tower to heaven, very prideful, very arrogant. It's almost like they want to overtake God. And so they're all working together and speaking the same language, and God does something to stop it. He confuses their languages, which makes that you can't work together if you can't speak the same language. And they split and they go their own ways. But here's the great news with the kingdom of God: the great news of the cross. We are no longer, if we're in Christ, distinct peoples. The disciples speak in tongues, and these are real languages. That's an important distinction. These are real languages, and they're spoken by people, and these languages are foreign to them, but the crowd hears the God or hears them praising God in their own native tongues. As if to say, no matter where you're from, no matter your background, this gospel is for you. And in Christ, there's no longer Jew, no Greek, no male, no female. We are all one in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. So then here's what happens. So they go to Samaria and they go to Judea and then they go to Ephesus, the uttermost parts of the earth. Little many Pentecosts happen in each of those places. And here's why that was important. Because if that did not happen, the Jews could have always said, Well, you didn't get it like I did. You know, see, we we got something way better than you. Isn't that interesting? And here's what's so cool. The apostles in every one of these occasions witness what is happening. So from the top down they go, they can validate these are as these Gentiles, these Samaritans, they are as much in the kingdom as we are. That's a wonderful truth. So that's the reason I think that's the pattern we see in Acts. So now that I've ticked off one side, let me tick off the other side. The question is, is tongues still valid for today? I'm I stand in the middle of the road so much, which just sounds really nice until you realize I get hit by both sides of traffic. So here's the thing is tongues still for today? And I would say, yes, yes, and yes. It's one of the nine, it's only one of nine of the charismatic gifts lifted, listed in 1 Corinthians 12. Now, some pastors, beloved brothers in Christ, have said, Well, they died out with the apostles. It's like, well, why do you think that? Well, in chapter 13, Paul says that tongues are going to cease, and he does. And he says, prophecy will cease, and this knowledge will cease, and all of these things, and he tells us, well, it's like when are those things going to cease? Well, he tells us when that which is perfect has come. So pastors who believe that the gifts are not for today, they say, Well, Paul is talking there about the canon, the the when the canon is complete of scripture. When your Bible is done, Paul did not have that in mind. And what makes me mad is these are often preachers who talk about context and interpretating scripture with scripture. So let's just do that. I don't have time to show you all this this morning. You can go study for yourself. But every time that it's when the New Testament is talking about the perfect coming, what do you think he might be talking about? The Lord Jesus Christ. But here's what happens. People and listen, we all struggle with this. People make the Bible say what they want it to say so it can fit in their box. Beloved, there is no reason in Scripture to believe that these gifts are not for today. I could ask, well, we have the Bible, should we not pray anymore? The Lord just gave me that. Somebody needs to put that on Facebook or um listen, it's an invalid argument. And while these are dear brothers and sisters in Christ, man, it bothers me because in this day and age we need the full power of the Holy Spirit. Because you know what happens in Acts when these miracles are done? And by the way, the people say, well, it's just the apostles. No, it's not. No, it's not. Read the book of Acts. And Paul did, by the way, is not writing to apostles in Acts 12. He's writing to the church. And he says, Yahweh's got a gift. And he's not just talking about the gift of administration and the gifts of health. Those are all great. But he specifically mentions these nine charismatic supernatural gifts. And if you don't want yours, I'll take it. The Lord just gave me that. Man, I anointing. Jack, thanks for praying for me. Here's there are two reasons we need the gifts. One, we the Bible says we build each other up with these gifts. But number two, the main reason for the gifts is because it gives us a platform to preach the gospel. What happens throughout Acts? Imagine uh college students. Imagine you go to the college campus and you laid hands on the sick and they recover. Well, that'll get you a platform. And by the way, there's a book I've recommended to you before. It's written by a scholar, one of the most well-respected theologians. His name is Craig Keener. He's a professor at Asbury. And he's written a book called Miracles. And it will show you that these things are taking place all around the world. You know when uh you know why pastors and Christians don't believe it today? You know when that happened mainly? Post-Enlightenment, when we rationalize everything and people threw out this idea of miracles. And listen, I know that that these preachers would say, Oh, yeah, we believe can God can use, he can do whatever he wants, sure. But I believe that God uses us just like he does the early church. So man, I need to hurry. God empowers us with spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit does. But secondly, and most importantly, the Holy Spirit empowers up this baptism with the Spirit empowers us to boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is the consistent evidence of being clothed with power. Well, why do I think that? Well, because that's what Jesus said in Acts 1.8. What's the initial physical evidence of the Holy Spirit? This baptism. He said, He had said Jesus to his apostles, wait for the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit. And then he says in verse 8, when the Holy Spirit comes what upon you, you will be my what? My witnesses. And they needed this power because people weren't too happy when they were preaching the gospel. They crucified Jesus and they wanted his people dead. But but Paul and Peter and all the apostles went from place to place to place preaching the gospel. And Paul, I mean, to this point, what's happened to him? Beaten, imprisoned, mocked, maligned, stoned. And it goes on and on and on, culminating in his execution. But he keeps on preaching, putting him in prison, he's preaching, preaching, preaching, preaching. Is it because Paul's this great superhuman dude? No, it's because Paul and Peter and all of the apostles in that whole early church, they were brimming with the power of the Holy Spirit, which is great news. That means that you and I, who's telling me to quit? Listen, if it's just Paul, if it's if it's just the apostles, that they're just this really great guys, then we go, okay, well, we can't do what they did. But if they were normal men, empowered by the Holy Spirit, that we can turn this city upside down just like they did. There you have it. The main reason and the main way that the spirit empowers us, and it is the initial and the continuing evidence of the baptism of the Spirit, is preaching the gospel. Now, Billy Graham, no record of him ever speaking in tongues. Do you think he might have been clothed with the power of the Spirit? Probably. John Wesley? No record, right, of him ever speaking in tongues. You did your dissertation on that. You think John Wesley might have been baptized with the Holy Spirit? I think so because Charles grew up in him over a thousand. Oh, it's a beautiful hymn. We need to sing that one. Charles Spurgeon never spoke in tongues? Martin Luther, it's almost Reformation Sunday. Or Luther, the the great Protestant reformer who stood up against the corruption of the Catholic Church. You want to tell me because he didn't speak in tongues, he wasn't baptized with the Spirit? No. Tongues is a beautiful gift. Not everybody does it. It's one of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit. But you all, if you will open yourself up to the Spirit, you can experience his power. It's a beautiful thing. So let me just uh Connor, where are you at? Come come up here, so I'll quit soon. Let me just tell you my experience. Okay, so I grew up in a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Southern Baptist church. Same church you guys came from. It's a wonderful church, right? I would not change my upbringing for anything. I had some of the greatest pastors who love Jesus, some of the greatest Sunday school teachers, and I wouldn't change it for the world, but I did not grow up ever hearing about spiritual gifts. That was just kind of written off. We talked about the Holy Spirit, sure, and guidance and comfort and all that. But you didn't talk about the power, especially spiritual gifts. So I was fine with that. I really not didn't think much about it until I met some of you crazy charismatics. And I so I was in a uh band. I wrote music. I thought I was gonna be a Christian rock star, didn't I? That didn't work out. I wasn't gonna go to college, I thought I'm gonna be famous. So it didn't work out. Okay. But I was in this band and I had this wonderful young lady uh who I co-wrote songs with, and her dad was a preacher of a church that believed in the gifts. And then I met the crazy guy in the back and his wife, Bob Stamper. And I thought, there's gotta be an explanation. This guy's nuts for Jesus. Well, he's just nuts. And for Jesus, right? And he became one of my closest friends very quickly, he and Christy. And he was at a church that believed in the continuation of the power of God. And I just noticed something. And I thought, man, there's something that they have that I don't. I didn't feel like a second-class Christian. But here's the thing: here's what the what I came to. If there's something else for me, God, I want it. So let me tell you, Bob invited me one night. Do you remember this? He and Christy invited me to go to church with them. And I was a little scared, Dr. Busky. Because it was not church like I was used to, it was different. And uh I said, sure, I'll go. And Bob takes me in and he sits me down on the front row while him and Christy are up there. Now I'm used to just hymns, and I love hymns, by the way, and nothing wrong with that. They're shouting and praising, and Bob's doing guitar solos, he's on the ground. No, no, he's not. Um, but but it was it was crazy. But let me tell you what I asked. I don't remember the exact words, this was Bob, probably 25 years ago. I prayed, and I don't think I told you and Christy this before we went. I prayed, God, if there's more of the Holy Spirit, if this baptism with the Spirit is true, would you have this preacher tonight preach on it? And if this gift of tongues is not just crazy, if it's a real gift and if the other gifts are for today, would you would you have him mention it? So so we go, all right, to church, and praise and worship lasted for seven hours. And uh and after praise and worship, yeah, I may have been to a church like that, right? Offering, Bob, how long did it last? Three hours? 40 minutes every week. I don't think you're exaggerating, are you? So let me tell you what happened though. Let me tell you what happened. After all this, they're having a hooping and hollering time, as we say in Kentucky. But everything gets real quiet, and the pastor just stands there at the pulpit, and he's just thinking, I'm like, dear Lord, he's bringing out the snakes. But he calls for his ushers, and here's what he said he has them bring the pulpit to the floor, and he looks up and he said, I had another message for tonight, but the Lord has instructed me to preach on the baptism and the Holy Spirit in tongues. And that night I experienced the Holy Spirit in a way that I had never ever experienced, and I've not been the same since. Listen, I am not asking you to be a Pentecostal. I don't call myself Pentecostal. You know what I am? A Christian who still believes in the gifts of the Spirit. This is not for Pentecostals, this power of the Holy Spirit. It's for believers, Baptists and Lutherans, even Methodists, the global Methodist. Sorry. And the PCA Presbyterians, Hunter. And I can, it's for any Christian who would just say, Lord, I want to be used by you. So I would ask you, check the scriptures. I'm willing to talk with you. If you disagree with me, that's okay. We can still worship together. But Paul says in in 1 Corinthians 14, I think verse 1, he talks about desiring love, and then he says, Pursue or desire the gifts of the Spirit. In acts in Ephesians 5, he says, Be not drunk on wine. That's a word for somebody today, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. And that word filled there in the Greek is in the active present participle. The way it should read is this keep on being filled with the Spirit. Some of you have been baptized with the Spirit 20 years ago, and how many know we spring leaks? And God wants to fill you afresh. So just ask Him. Nothing weird's gonna happen today. It's all right. Just say, God, use me, fill me, give me all that you have. Holy Spirit, I open my life up to you. And if you're here today, final thing I'll say, and you're not a Christian, let's go back to the regeneration for the moment. You've not been regenerated, you come to church, but you've not yet taken that step, you haven't been baptized. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection, accept his forgiveness. Submit to him as Lord, repent of your sin and say, Jesus, here I am. I want you, I want to come into your kingdom. Be like these disciples who immediately after hearing it, it says, They were baptized.