What do you need today?

Understanding The Holy Spirit By; Dr. Pete Norris

Harvest Fellowship Church

Jun 15, 2026 · 29 min9K

0 likes

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1-2 NKJV)

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (I Corinthians 12:13 NKJV)

(1) The Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ. (Salvation)

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19 NKJV)

(2) The Disciples baptized us into water. (Water)

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11 NKJV)

(3) Jesus baptized us into the Holy Spirit. (Spirit)

I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ (John 1:33 NKJV)

I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:8 NKJV)

John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16 NKJV)

This scripture is in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.” (John 1:32 NKJV)

Jesus was born right the first time. Jesus was baptized with water. Jesus was baptized with the Spirit and he stayed on Him.

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; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5 NKJV)

“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.” (Luke 24:49 NKJV)

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:37-39 NKJV)

But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:12-15 NKJV)

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9 NKJV)

For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:16-17 NKJV)

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. (John 14:17 NKJV)

And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him 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 hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19:1-6 NKJV)

Paul wrote 13 books in the New Testament. Paul was called to third Heaven. This was approximately 20 years after Pentecost.

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. (I John 5:7 NKJV)

This is the trinity.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 NKJV)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 NKJV)

And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. (I John 5:8 NKJV)

Blood stands for salvation.

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, (I Corinthians 10:1-2 NKJV)

Moses was a type of Christ. Sea was water and spirit was cloud or fire. They were led by clouds in day and fire by night.

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 said to you. (John 14:26 NKJV)

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (John 15:26 NKJV)

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13 NKJV)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. (II Corinthians 13:14 NKJV)

And don’t get drunk with wine, which is rebellion; instead be filled continually with the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18 TPT)

00:00

Today on Power in the Word. The Holy Spirit baptized you into Christ. That was a new birth. You were baptized into water. That's what we call the baptism. And then Jesus comes along and baptized you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That's the second work of God's mighty presence in our life. That's the part we ask for that we receive because that's where the gifts flow out of. So everybody that's born again, listen to me, everybody that's been born again, the Holy Spirit's baptized you into Christ. That's your fixed position. Welcome to Power in the Word. Jesus said, I will send a helper, meaning the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, believers' reliance on the Holy Spirit is minimal, primarily due to misunderstanding. But today, Dr. Norris explains the process by which believers can receive the wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit without all the mysterious baggage that we've seen in the past. It's a refreshing and encouraging message. You stay with us. We want to talk today about something that is really on my heart, and I really believe that we need to understand the Holy Spirit. And I want to talk about the Holy Spirit. The Lord's been showing me some things about the Holy Spirit. Most people don't know much about the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit's living inside of me and you. Now, the Pentecostal people take it a little bit far, and the charismatic do this, and then we split hairs over everything. But everybody that's recreated and is a new creature in Christ Jesus has got the Holy Spirit living inside of them. But I'm probably going to say some things today that you may even have to question, and that's okay. But if it's in the Bible, we've got to deal with it. Now, when you talk about the Holy Spirit, that scares a lot of folks. The first thing they jump to is speaking in tongues and all the gifts. But the reality is, if I've got the Holy Spirit in my life...let's use it a different way. If I give you my watch, what you got? You ain't just got the hand of my watch, you ain't got the face of my watch, you got my watch. Correct. So if you got the Holy Spirit, you ain't just got the tongues, you ain't just got the faith, you ain't just got the gift, you got the Holy Spirit. And the Bible says the Holy Spirit's been put in our life to teach us all things and bring all things to our members that He's said unto us. So today, we're going to see a little bit of

02:15

different perspective about the Holy Spirit, but He's a He, He's not a it. He's a person. Now, think about it a minute. You can't have a personal relationship with a car, but you can have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. And there's what's missing in the body of Christ. I believe in the body of Christ, there's the part that's missing in the relationship because we don't understand what's living inside of us. So I want to go to Hebrews chapter 6 verse 1. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from the dead works or the faith toward God. Now, there's a comma there. Now, look at verse 2. Of the doctrine of baptisms. How many is an S on it? So it means more than one, right? So we understand according to the Scripture, there's baptisms. Some of you have been baptized into Christ, some of you have been baptized into water, and some of us have been baptized by the Holy Spirit. There's a difference, okay? Now, I want to teach that today, and I want you to get it. So go to 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Now, I want you to read this. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, have all been made to drink into one spirit. Now, I want to make a comment right here because we need to understand that, and we need to understand the Holy Spirit baptized me and you into Christ. That's what he's talking about here. So the Holy Spirit baptized me and you into Christ. Now, the word baptism means emerged. We're not talking about water here. You and I have been baptized or merged into Christ, correct? By the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ. Now, into is a preposition, okay? Into is the Greek word en, which means the fixed position. We are established in that state of being that I have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ. Amen? That is what we call the new birth, correct? So what happened now? The Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ. Now, go with me to Matthew 28, verse 19. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, how many of you ever been baptized in water? Now, what does that really mean? Most people have no earthly idea. They

04:39

said, do it, so I did it, okay? Right? I was baptized in a creek. We didn't have a baptistry back in the day, so they baptized us in a creek. Now, think about it a minute. The Bible says we're baptized into the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, correct? So what that means is, as you're taken down into the water and baptized, emerged into the water, as you're You come up, the old person's left, and the new person comes out of the water. Same thing that happened to Jesus at the Jordan, right? So the disciples baptized people in water, correct? So first of all, the Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ and the disciples were baptized into water. Now go with Matthew chapter 3 verse 11. I indeed baptize with water. This is John talking. I indeed baptize with water under penance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry. Now who's it talking about here? Jesus will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. It didn't say God will do it, it said Jesus will baptize you. So the Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ, we were baptized into water, and now Jesus has come along and he's baptized us in the Holy Spirit. Now some people say, well pastor, is that a second work of grace? No, it's not a second work of grace. It's when we understand that we're praying. The Bible said if you ask for the Holy Spirit, this is the part he's talking about. I'll give you another comforter. See, the Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ, gave us our fixed position in Christ, but then Jesus comes along and he baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Now I want you to stay with me just a minute because I want you to understand where this Holy Spirit and fire came from. Under the old covenant, where were they led? Led by what? A cloud in the daytime and fire at night. How many of you know that the word, you've got to understand, the word cloud represents what? It represents people, but it also represents water in the Old Testament.

06:38

Because what he'd done is he led them by what? Fire, which represents the Spirit. So the cloud represented the Spirit, the fire represented the Spirit, so they were led by the Holy Spirit under the old covenant. Are you with me? That's why he's going to baptize them with Holy Spirit and with fire. So we've got to understand something here. Now, number one, we're going to go back and we're going to renew this because I want you to understand it. The Holy Spirit baptized you into Christ. That was a new birth. You were baptized into water. That's what we call the baptism. And then Jesus comes along and baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That's the second work of God's mighty presence in our life. That's the part we ask for that we receive because that's where the gifts flow out of. So everybody that's born again, listen to me, everybody that's been born again, the Holy Spirit's baptized you into Christ. That's your fixed position. But as you ask for more of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will be revealed in you and then he'll begin to speak out of you. That's the second work of the presence of God in our lives. Are you with me? Now, go to John 1 and 33. I did not know, but he who sent me to baptize of water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit. Now, who's he talking about again? He said the one that you see the Spirit descending upon and remaining on, that's going to be the dude. Correct? That's going to be the dude. I'm going to break it down where you can get it in English. That's going to be the dude. The one you see the Holy Spirit rest on, that's going to be the dude. Now, who does the Holy Spirit rest on? Jesus. So this Jesus, man, is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit, right? Now, you got to deal with the Scripture, church. You can't neglect them and say, well, I don't want no part of that. That's why people are walking around and they're born again and they're new creations.

08:34

They've been baptized with water, but they stopped the process. And the process is that you and I begin to be open more to the Holy Spirit. Listen to me. It's not just about speaking in tongues. That's just one of the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives each and one of us. Think about it a minute. That's the part that tears everybody up. Well, I don't want that. I don't want to do that. I don't believe in that. Well, if you don't believe in it, you won't ever have it. But here's what I want to be open to. I want to be open to everything Jesus has got for me. And I want to walk in that power and revelation that he's talking about. Listen, people that get the Holy Spirit and they get goofy, they were goofy before they got the Holy Spirit. Correct? It's not a spooky, goofy thing. It's a led by the Spirit thing that controls our life and reveals things to us and lets us see things ahead of time to where we know what's going on around us and we don't fall into so many traps. And as we do that, we learn how to raise our children. We learn how to be a husband. We learn how to be a daddy. We learn how to operate our lives. We learn how to lead our finances. Jesus is just not talking to us about spiritual things. He wants to lead and teach you everything about your life so you can walk in victory. See, the Holy Spirit is so much bigger than that. You ever walk by something and the Holy Spirit just speaks to you and you say you need to buy that? Happens to me all the time. You say, well, that ain't the Holy Spirit talking to you. Sure it is. Sure it is. I really believe that because I believe that God speaks things to us that He knows what's ahead of us before we ever do it. I told you several months ago, how many of you did I tell several months ago, back in, I don't know, it was before Christmas, and I told you on a Wednesday night, I gave you a prophetic word, and I said, you know, silver's going out of the roof. Nobody probably didn't buy it. Think about it. Well, it's back up, it's like $70, $80, it's double what it was at the time. I told you,

10:28

still doubled your money. When have you done that in the last few weeks? Think about it a minute. How did we know that? Because the Holy Spirit, He tells us things in our life. He just don't talk to us about, oh, they're lost, they're sinners, they're doomed, you need to pray. No, He tells you about everything about your life. And that's what the Holy Spirit's been sent to do, is to teach us how to operate, live our lives effectively. I want you to go with me to Mark chapter 1, verse 8. I indeed baptize you, this is Mark talking, but He who baptizes you, He will baptize you with what? Who's going to do it? Jesus. You remember in John chapter 20, He breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit? Think about it a minute. That's when they got recreated, when He breathed on them. And then on the Pentecost, it's when they saw the second, the power of Jesus. Why? He walked into the upper room, and what happened? The Spirit of God fell in the upper room. Why? Because He was there. That's the part He wants us to operate in our lives. Well, Pastor, I just don't believe in that. I just want to go to heaven. Then stay on your course, and you'll just go to heaven. But you'll be miserable down here. Because here's the thing, He wants us to have the Holy Spirit leading our lives, where this life, He said, I come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly, John in 10 and 10. He don't want you to be in a deficiency, He wants you to be blessed. Third John, my beloved brother, and I wish above all things, that you prosper and be in health, as your soul prospers, as you change the way you're thinking. You've got to change the way you think about what Jesus did for you. He done more than just die for your sins. He wants to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Luke chapter 3, verse 16, and it says this in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all four scriptures. How many of you know the three Matthew, Mark, and Luke synoptic gospels?

12:10

Mark is the only gospel that's in chronological order. But John was written tremendously years later, after the other three were written, because why? John had a different perspective. John walked around and saw the move of the Spirit that the other ones didn't see. And so John come back, and if you read John, everybody says read John when you first get born again. Because John talks more about love than any other thing. How many times in the book of John did Jesus say, I love the Father? How many times did He say it in the whole book of John? How many times did Jesus say, I love the Father? Once. Once. How many times did He say, the Father loves me? Six. Because He understood it was not about Him loving God, it was about understanding how much He loves us. And when we can ever understand how much He loves us, we'll be different people because our operation will be different. We'll be excited about what God's doing in our life. We'll be excited about, see, you're going to walk in favor with people that don't even know you, don't even like you, don't want to bless you. That guy don't really know me. He just got around me a few times. See, when there's something, and I don't want to sound arrogant because that's going to come across that way, but you ever been around people just different? When you got around them, you could tell they were different? What made them different? Because they spoke in tongues? No. Some of the weirdest people I've ever been around spoke in tongues. Because you can't carry on a conversation with them. See, I believe God wants us, see, the Holy Spirit will tell us when we need to talk and when we need to be quiet. And sometimes you got to talk about what people like to get them in the mindset of being willing to listen to you because thinking that you're just not all spiritual, you can talk about other areas of life. See, the Holy Spirit works. He doesn't work in mysterious ways, but I tell you what he does do. He works in avenues of where you can speak to people and talk in their language and you can get their attention. Because here's what turn off for most people. I'm going to tell you about, let me tell you about Jesus.

14:00

Are you lost? Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Are you lost? Are you lost? You're going to go to hell if you don't straighten up. I'm just coming. God sent me to tell you. God doesn't do that. Here's what he does. He walks into the room and they knew he was there. And then he just spoke when he walked into the room in the upper room and he said, peace be with you guys now. What you need to know so you'll believe that I'm who I say I am. See, I believe that that's what people's looking. They're looking real. I believe the world's looking real people that are really real. Go to John chapter 1 verse 32. Now watch this. This is powerful. And John bore witness saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it remained on this dude. I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove. Now it didn't say the Spirit was the dove. It said I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove. It didn't say the Holy Spirit was a dove. And he remained upon him. So let's go back. What happened? How many of you know that heaven was closed for 400 years from the end of Melchizedek to the beginning of Matthew? And the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus when he was being baptized in the Jordan. And that John had been told from heaven that when you see the Holy Spirit come down he that he remains on, that's him. So John saw the Holy Spirit come down on him and it remained on him. Right? And then John goes to jail and they're about to cut his head off. And then John wasn't sure that was him anymore. Isn't that kind of funny that you believe in Jesus until you go through a crisis. But when you go through a crisis in your life, you're not sure if that's really him anymore or not. Think about it a minute. John was sure that was him when he was baptized. He heard the heavens open up and said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased with.

15:43

And just about 45 days later he's in jail and they're going to whack his head off and he said, I want you to go ask him, is he the one or do I need to look for another one? See, it's easy to know him when you ain't going through anything. When you're not going through anything, it's easy to say, I trust him. When you're not having to deal with any stuff, it's easy to know I gotta trust him. See, my desire for you is to know him intimately and have a personal relationship with him. Now I'm talking more than just being saved. I'm talking about spending your life listening to him, hearing what the Holy Spirit is saying. It disturbs me when people tell me, well I read the Bible and pastor, I just don't understand it. See, that disturbs me because the bottom line said, this is foolishness to the world, but to a recreated spirit this ought to bring life to it. See, because you and I, the Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ, but Jesus baptized us with the fire and the Holy Spirit. Now, that hasn't been taught a lot in the church. Because here's what we teach. Let me lay my hands on your boy and you'll receive it. I'm all for that. That happened in the book of Acts and we're going to talk about it in just a minute. But the bottom line is, I want you to see this. Jesus Christ went through these same three processes. Matter of fact, Jesus was born right. He didn't have to have salvation because he was born right to begin with. Right? Was Jesus a sinner because of the way he was born or was he pure because of the way he was born? The Bible said Jesus was without sin. But Jesus was not born into sin, so he was not born a sinner. So he was born right the first time, right? And then the Bible said that Jesus was baptized in water. We saw it with John, right? He baptized him into water and he came up. Jesus was baptized with the

17:41

Spirit and it stayed on him. So three encounters took place in Jesus' life, the same three that takes place in mine and your life. That's why the Bible says in the book of Proverbs, a threefold cord is not easily broken. Thirty, sixty, hundredfold. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, outer core, holy place, holy of holies. Isn't it amazing what God's doing and what he's done? So Jesus followed the same process here and the Bible said the Holy Spirit rested upon him and what? It remained there. How many of you know until after the Jordan, after Jesus being baptized and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, he didn't do any miracles after that. Is that why there's not miracles operating in church? Because everybody's happy just going to heaven. Have we really been baptized from Jesus with the fire and the Holy Spirit? Is that the thing that drives us every day? Do we know every day that we get up that this is going to be a great day? Okay, go to Acts chapter 1 verse 4 and 5. 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. What was the promise? The Holy Spirit, right? Look at verse 5. And John truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Truly John baptized with water but the Holy Spirit you're going to be baptized not many days from now. That's not talking about with the water, guys. That's talking about with the Holy Spirit. Now if you know anything about the book of Acts, that's when the power was coming down. Because if you go back and you look, Judas was cut off. He was one of the twelve disciples. Before

19:22

the Spirit could fall in Acts chapter 2, they had to get that twelfth apostle back. Because twelve means divine government. So until the twelfth apostle came back onto the scene, the Holy Spirit couldn't fall in the book of Acts. See, God does everything in order. He does everything perfect all the time. And if we'll follow the transition of the Word and the Word of God, we'll find out why we're lacking and what we're lacking from. Here's what the body of Christ is lacking. They're lacking the power. They know Jesus. They've been baptized into Christ. They've been baptized into water. But have they been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Where you know without a shadow of a doubt that what's on the inside of you is alive. Because the Bible said the Holy to teach us all things and bring all things to our remembrance that He has said unto us. The Bible says the Holy Spirit will teach us all truth. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will show us what's been freely given to us. So the Holy Spirit is not there just so you'll be saved. It's there to teach you things, reveal things to you, let you know things ahead of time. He said I'll even reveal the things that's coming. What's coming? Good things to those who love the Lord, who are called according to her purpose. Now go to Luke chapter 24 verse 49, and he confirms this in his scripture here. Behold, he told him, he said behold, I promise you my Father, I send the promise of my Father upon you. That word upon means epa. The Bible said the Holy Spirit's going to rest in them and shall be upon them. But Terry, stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued, endued, endued, endued with power. So I want you to stay in Jerusalem until you're endued with power. So there's something else coming, guys. Now whether you want to believe that or not, that's your own opinion, but I'm just telling you there's a Holy Spirit that wants to lead and guide and direct our lives and control our lives and operate a life that we can walk in victory in every area of our life. See, I believe the Holy Spirit wants to lead our lives with such a contentment. The Bible said the Holy Spirit's a gentleman. He doesn't do a lot of this crazy stuff we see in the church. I'm sorry. He doesn't do

21:18

a lot of that stuff, a lot of that soulish movement and fleshly. It's not spirit at all. Think about it a minute. Why have we got so many people falling by the wayside? Listen to me. That's why under the old covenant you always saw false prophets before you saw the real prophets, because if you ever get around the false prophets, you'll be able to recognize the real. A counterfeiter don't sit there all day and look at money that's bad. It looks at perfect money over and over and over until it gets such a sight for perfect money it acknowledges everything that's wrong with it. That's what Jesus does. He said I'm perfect. So I acknowledge everything that's wrong and I fixed it through the death, burial, and the resurrection. And because of that, me and you are spotless without wrinkle and without blemish today. Why? Because the reality of what's true is going to be revealed out of me and you. The only Jesus that's coming back to earth is right here in me and you. Look at somebody and say I'm full of him. Let's go to Acts chapter 2 verse 37. We're going to see this work in this threefold process. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the disciples, men and brethren, what shall we do? Look at 38. And Peter said to him, repent. There's your salvation. Repent means change the way you're thinking. Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the missions of sin. And then what's going to happen? And then you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So they had already repented, already been baptized before they received the Holy Spirit. Why? The Holy Spirit's going to come upon them with the Holy Spirit. You're going to be baptized with Jesus with the Holy Spirit and fire. Parallel of the Old Testament, guys. Come on. You see the results right here. Look at verse 39. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. In other words, this is the promise that's going to happen to every one of us. First, you're going to repent, which is salvation. You're going to be baptized in the Christ by the Holy Spirit. You're going to be baptized in water. And the second process is Jesus is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. You know, I mean, when I was growing up and I got into the Pentecostal movement a little bit, and they said, boy, you need this fire. And you need to know. And they would, you know, they'd lay hands on people till they just fell out everywhere, you know. And I'm all for that. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for the Spirit of God. I can think he can do whatever the Holy Spirit

23:34

will allow the Holy Spirit to do. I think you can get as much of God as you want. Okay? I really do. I believe you can know more than we know. But I think it's because we don't trust the Holy Spirit. We want to bring our mindset into the Bible and make the Bible line up with our mind instead of taking our mind and renewing it with the Word of God to where our mind lines up with the book. And so we see here, he said, this is the process you're going to follow. Now go to Acts chapter 8, verse 12. And when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. When they what? Believed first, and then they were baptized in the water. Now look at verse 13. Then Simon himself also believed, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was amazed, seeing signs and miracles and all kinds of things were done. Now look at 14. And when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John. Now how many of you know, old Peter was the one that cut you out and cut your ear off, right? John was just full of grace all the time. He's the one that put his head on. See, Jesus had to send John with Peter because Peter was going to mess up some stuff. 15. Who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Now what happened here, guys? They believed, they were baptized, and then they sent Peter and John down there, and they prayed for them. And what happened? They received the Holy Spirit. They did not pray in tongues. here, right? But the Bible said they received the Holy Spirit, right? Is tongues the only evidence of the Holy Spirit? Absolutely not. Now, that's what the church is going to tell you, but that's not true. The Holy Spirit baptized you into Christ. You went through the process of being baptized with water. Then Jesus comes along and baptizes you with the Holy Spirit in the fire. Now, listen to me. Everybody thinks of fire, and I was thinking about it when she was singing today. Everybody thinks of fire as God's judgment. I do, too. I do, too. I do, too. And if you don't think that way, then you're wrong. And I'm not going to believe like you, and then we'll both be wrong, okay? I believe God's judgment is fire, but I believe it's love that sits down and transforms. I believe that's God's judgment, love.

25:49

And I believe we're going to see a real calling of judgment of love upon people. Because the church has a real problem with loving. Now, listen to me carefully. We think if we agree with people, we can't love them and agree with them. And we can't love them and disagree. So we're between the hard places. Where does love end and judgment comes? Never. When do you tell people they're wrong? When you know the Holy Spirit wants to tell you to do that. The Holy Spirit's not telling everybody they're wrong. The Holy Spirit deals with the heart and transforms people's lives. Listen, there's a whole lot of people been through difficult situations, and I disagree with a lot of people in this situation. I think there are people go through things in life that you've never gone through. And the reason they respond the way they respond is because of what they've been through and how they were raised. And if we judge everybody the same way, based on what I think God looks like, then we've got a bunch of mimics. And God created you with divine purpose. And you are what you are because that's who you are. And God loves you like you are. Now, I'm not saying the process of life we don't change. But I think even if we bring correction to somebody, that correction should be brought out through love and not animosity and anger. Think about it a minute. Do we know the Holy Spirit? Well, see, the Holy Spirit's not sitting around convicting you and condemning you. He's telling you how righteous you are. That's what's wrong in the body of Christ is we've had wrong teaching. So we're trying to do wrong things. And if I don't do it this way, then I don't fit in. God never created any of these denominations. He created an intimate relationship with him called intimacy. He's into me and I'm into him and we're cool. Think about it. So the Spirit of Christ is living on the inside of me and you because the Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ. See, that's the work of the Holy Spirit.

28:01

Thank you so much for joining us today at Power in the Word. All of us here at Harvest Fellowship Church want you to know that God is not mad with you, but he loves you so very much. And he has a plan for your life. Please feel free to contact us here at Harvest Fellowship Church at our website HarvestFellowshipChurch.net So until next week, please remember, there's power in the word.

Recommended topics

See more topics