Pastor Daniel Kolenda
Read Acts 3
If you are content to receive an experience in a service, and then go out and live your lives the way you did before, then you have missed the entire point of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. You can shout amen, fall to the floor, and speak in tongues, but if you leave the church and live like the devil, none of it matters.
What the church needs more than anything is for the men in the church to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and take their place again. Many Christians have put their entire spiritual lives into a curtained-off and separated area.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not designed to fill one compartment of your life. It’s designed to saturate and absorb every part of who you are in the church and out of the church. Your whole life must be immersed in God.
YOU CAN NOT GIVE WHAT YOU DO NOT HAVE
The disciples and apostles have been with Jesus for three and a half years and knew all his stories and parables by heart. There was no group of persons more qualified than the disciples to speak on Christ’s behalf, but yet, before Jesus ascends to heaven, He tells them that they are not ready.
Acts 1:4-5 says, “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
He commands them to wait until the Holy Ghost comes down upon them because they will receive power. Jesus understood that something that modern Christians forget. You cannot give what you do not have.
Sermons don’t change the world. Stories don’t change the world. Bible studies don’t change the world. All these things are good but if they do not lead us to an encounter with the living person of the Holy Spirit then they have fallen short of the Biblical norm. God wants all of us to experience the Holy Spirit.
THE GREATEST HERITAGE
When you read the book of Acts, one of the things that are often missed is the way that Luke is trying to show the heritage of the Holy Spirit. Luke intentionally wrote the book of Luke and Acts in the style of the Greek old testament. He wanted you to understand that what you are reading in the book of Acts is part of the work of the spirit that has been ongoing since the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters of the day of creation.
Luke told the stories in such a way that it would conjure images of the old testament stories. For example, the spirit of Moses came upon the 70 elders, the spirit of Elijah came upon Elisha, and the spirit of Christ came upon the 120 in the upper room. It is one consistent story and he doesn’t stop with the aforementioned examples.
He goes on to frame the sermon of Peter on the day of Pentecost in such a way that you have no choice but to see it. Acts 2:15 says, “For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.” Now overcome by the Holy Spirit, Peter addressed the crowd and informed them that Joel prophesied this moment (Joel 2:28-32). He connected the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost with the prophetic promises that go all the way back to the old testament.
It’s a heritage that is being handed down to you. The greatest heritage that any father can leave his children is the outpouring and experience of the Holy Spirit.
IT CAN START WITH YOU
Luke was trying to explain that it’s not just about tongues, fire, emotions, or gifts of the spirit. It’s not just prophecy. It’s what was promised and spoken by the prophet Joel. And not only can you hear the stories of what happened. But you can experience them yourself and pass them on as a spiritual heritage to the next generation.
Even if naturally you don’t have that spiritual heritage, it can start with you. You can be the one that starts a whole new bloodline and introduce the power of God, the Holy Spirit, and the blood of Jesus to your family, your children, and your grandchildren.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
How are you going to pass along your Holy Spirit heritage? It’s okay if your grandfather didn’t grow up in church or your father was an alcoholic. It can start with you.
Do you know what it means to pass along the Holy Spirit heritage to your children? It’s not just about speaking in tongues on Sunday but it’s ensuring that the Holy Spirit saturates every aspect of your life.
