[Albert Gunter:] [cough]... To be absolutely, strictly theological... in fact, William Booth made a little mistake in the song... because God will never ever send another pentecost. It was a once off thing. And, in our English language we actually make this mistake... when we talk about birthdays... French, in some ways are for more sensible with language, and you only ever have one birthday, the rest of them are anniversaries of your birthday. And God has only ever, and only ever will send one pentecost, and that took place on the day of pentecost, the birthday, the birth of the church. There are, as we've been reminded, we celebrate that again today, an anniversary. I've gotta confess, I don't like th the expression Whitsun so much, I prefer, er the expression, what it really is, it is pentecost. And literally it means just fifty. That what it means, and it was fifty days se se se... seven weeks, after the death and resurrection of Jesus... and the disciples had been told to wait in an upper room until the Holy Spirit would descend upon them, and you've had that record read to you from acts chapter two of just what took place on that day, that birth day of the church of Jesus Christ. Course, it didn't end there. Birthdays are beginnings not endings. And, the early church grew from there. And that experience that took place on that initial day that is the birthday of the church was not just a one off thing, but as others came into the church they experienced not another pentecost, but if you like, their own pentecost. And... we're gonna look at a passage in just a few moments in, it's in the eighth chapter of acts... where a group of people there, they were Samaritans... how they came in to experience their pentecost. But you know, for every one of us as Christians, Jesus Christ lives in us by the Holy Spirit, by his spirit. Jesus Christ, when he er, went back to heaven he went back as a... fe, as a glorified, but as a physical being. That is why, the physical resurrection of Jesus is so important. There is a man in the glory. There is a man seated on the right hand of God the Father, there interceding for you and for me. It's not his spirit that's doing it, it is the same person that the disciples spoke to when they walked the streets of Palestine, it is the same person that went around healing the sick, it is the same person that was born in the, in the manger at Bethlehem, he is now, after having died, been raised again by the power of the trying God had, he is now ascended back into heaven, in glorified form, and he is there interceding, representing you and me before his father there in heaven. He is there in that local situation. And just the same as when Jesus was here on earth he was in one place, he he confined himself to a body. And he is there now in the glory, but yet we say, we invite Jesus into our heart, and he walks, and we sing the song from the, he walks and he talks, how is it that this happens if Jesus is there in heaven? Well it happens, and it's made possible because he does it by his spirit. Now there aren't two spirits, there's not the spirit of Christ, and the Holy spirit. There's not a multitude of spirits. God is a spirit! And he is the mystery of the trinity. God the Father, who is also spirit. God the son, who is also spirit. And God the Holy Spirit. And so, Jesus Christ indwells your life as a Christian, and he indwells my life as a Christian by his spirit, by the Holy Spirit. We are born again by the spirit of God. We become Christians through the work of the Holy Spirit. But the New Testament teaches us, that apart from that new birth by the spirit, and that indwelling of Jesus Christ in our lives by the spirit, there is a subsequent experience that is called receiving or being baptized as a Holy Spirit. We're gonna look at this little passage in in acts eight, which shows to us that these Samaritan chri, they were saved! They had accepted Jesus Christ as their, as their saviour, they had been born again. They were Christians. They had been baptized. And yet, there was something missing in their experience. Let me read a few verses, reading first of all from verse twelve... it says, [reading bible] that when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized men and women alike. And even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized he continued on with Philip, as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, and he was constantly amazed! This fellow Simon, you read about him in a few verses earlier, he was a, he was a magician, a so, er a sorcerer, he was the, the wi the witch doctor if you like, if he was in i i in an African situation, there he was, he was the medicine man of the town, of the area... and he too believed and was converted, he was baptized, and he was amazed at the miracles that he'd seen being performed... by Philip through the power of God. He was a man who was used to the supernatural... but he was amazed at the things that he saw! And it says, now when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem heard that Somaria had received the word of God they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For he had not yet fallen on upon any of them. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. They they began laying their hands on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles hands, he offered them much money, saying, give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God without mo, with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that if possible the intention of your heart may be forgiven you ... for I see that you are in the gaol of bitterness and in the bondage of inequity. Simon answered and said, pray to the Lord for me yourselves to that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. Philip, who was an evangelist, he had gone down to Somaria, in fact, the Holy Spirit had taken him there. If you read a few er, verses, a chapter or so earlier on, he had been speaking to one man to a er er... a high official from Ethiopia, and he had been sharing with him from Isaiah chapter fifty three, the message of Jesus Christ. This Ethiopian, he had come to Jerusalem, he was a, he was a a,go, a Godly man, he was seeking after the things of God, and he had come to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage to worship God, and he was returning home, and he had got hold of the scroll that had Isaiah fifty three in it, and he was reading it, and Philip goes up to the man in the chariot, he said, do you understand what you're reading? The man says, how can I except somebody explain to me? And Philip, it says there, he says and er er,, he preached unto him Jesus... showing him that Isaiah fifty three referred to Jesus Christ. And the man was er, accepted Christ as his saviour and they went down and Philip baptized in there, in in in the river. And, as they come out of the water the fa, the bible says the spirit takes Philip away and... he goes down now to to so to Somaria... and and he starts preaching there in Somaria... a and there's this tremendous... result! He sees miracles taking place! Many folk coming to know Jesus Christ the saviour. It says, there was great joy in all the city! And yet, there was still something missing. And word gets back... to apostles in Jerusalem. They had heard about the blessing there, they had heard about the healing, the deliverance, the joy, yet nobody had received the Holy Spirit. They'd been baptized in water as we've already read, and yet nobody had received the Holy Spirit. Now, as we've said earlier on the Holy Spirit works in the new birth... and it is through the work of the Holy Spirit that we come to know God. That we are born again. That we become Christians.... Jesus, shortly before he left his disciples he tells them, it's in Mark chapter sixteen, er yes, Mark chapter sixteen, in verse seventeen, it says, [reading bible] these signs will accompany those who have believed in my name. They will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues. We are born again of God's Holy Spirit []. This is something that God does in in the verses earlier, Jesus says go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation, he who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved! It's the work of God's spirit. The result of the preaching of the gospel, men and women respond and are born again. They become followers of Jesus.... So the Holy Spirit works, in our lives to bring us to Christ, to bring us to new birth. To bring us to become Christians. Then there is this subsequent experience which follows... receiving or being filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter tells in his first apistle in chapter one, in verse twenty three, for you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is through the living and abiding word of God. So the Holy Spirit is at work. And God's word is used in bringing us to new birth, in bringing us, er to faith in Jesus Christ.... And this is what happened here in Somaria. In verse fourteen it says, [reading bible] when the apostles in Jerusalem that Somaria had received the word of God []... and we cannot become Christians without God's word. It is his word... that makes us aware of our condition. That we are sinners. It is his word that makes us aware that Jesus Christ came and died for us, that God loves us. How shall they hear, the bible says, without a preacher? How will they, how will folk hear? How will they come to faith without the word of God? Faith comes by hearing... and hearing the word of God.... So when they hear this, the apostles back in... Jerusalem, they send Peter and John down to Somaria for this special purpose... that they might pray for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Now why, why couldn't Philip have prayed for the people? He had brought them to faith in Jesus Christ. He had preached the gospel. God had, through him, performed miracles! Amazing miracles and signs and wonders! Why couldn't Philip pray for them? Well, of course, there's a sense in which he could easily have prayed for them, but at that moment, in that particular place, that was not God's purpose. And this is sometimes where we get a little bit, you know, hung up,a a and and when we tend to make a little bit, we make mistakes a lot. We have got to allow God to do his work in his way and in his time. And in God's plan at this particular moment... i this was not Philip's function, it wasn't his job. He had fulfilled, he had discharged his mission, he had preached the gospel... he had seen men and women coming to Jesus Christ, he had seen the mi mi miracles happening... he had baptized those who have put faith in Jesus, and now, you see, it's not a one man show, there was, there was a leadersh, there was a team involved here. The apostles come down. Not because Philip was unable to do it, not because he was incapable of doing it, but here is God's purpose, of ma, of people working together in bringing about his will and his purposes. We've all, we've gotta remember this, that every one of us, we have a place in God's will and plan... and whilst we are in that place... everything is [LAUGHTER] good []... well there's, there's still problems of course, there are still difficulties, there are still heartaches, but things are working right. The machinery is working correctly. But once we try to operate outside of that place, and we try to do somebody else's job, we try to fulfil somebody else's function, then we are in trouble! Then the thing is out of gear. Then the gears start crashing. There's not that smooth synchronized... er... way of going on which God purposes, and in, and intends. You see God is th,i i is a God of order... he's not a God of disorder, it's not a case of anybody doing what they like, he works according to his pattern. And who are you and I to tell God what his purpose is, and his pattern's gonna be? He is sovereign... and he will work according to his will. And he's used Philip... and now he i,i i in his purpose he brings down Peter a a and John... to to, to have their part i in his will and his purpose at this time. We do not all have the same ministries. We do not all have the same function within the body of Christ. And later on the apostle Paul, he elaborates on this, and he uses the picture of an ordinary body, and he says every member's not the same. We're not a, our our physical body's not made up of a multitude of hands... or a multitude of feet... there are feet, and the feet has one function, the hand has another. We don't hear with our hands! We hear with our ears! And every part of that body has a function. And the body is working well and fine when every part is doing their function. Now, at a pinch, I might be able to walk a step or two on my hands with my feet in the air, believe me, it's not a pretty sight! And I won't get very far. And even if I, how far I get it won't be quick... because, God didn't give me hands to walk on, he gave me feet to walk on. And so, the body works better when each part is doing it's particular function. And this isn't just true of course, of our physical body, it's true of his body, the church. And oh, when we do something else, and my hands say to my feet,ha hang on, you can walk as well as they can, let's try it. They can't! And there's cra, there's chaos! There's trouble! And so it is within the body. When I say, I can do it as well as he can do it, I can do that! God says no, hang on, you're supposed to be doing this. And it's only as we fulfil our function with the body. That's why it's so important to kno, for everyone of us, to know what our ministries are. That we might be, not frustrated, you know, frustration is because, I'm not able to do what I should be doing. And oh, the frustration that can build up in our lives as Christians because we are not where we should be or doing what God purposes for us! We do not then all have the same ministries. And so, Peter, and John, they come down to Somaria. And when Simon, they they laid their hands on the folk and God in his graciousness pours out his spirit and they receive the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles hands, he offered them money saying, give this authority to me as well so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Simon was not trying to buy the Holy Spirit... but rather the ability to impart the Holy Spirit. There's a sense in which... it might sound rather strange, I think Simon was... there was something in this guy that is attractive I think. He he's already opened hi up his heart to the Lord, there's a lot that he's gotta learn, there's a lot he's gotta let go of, there's a lot of his old life still there, but isn't that true of every one us? It doesn't all disappear over night. We grow in grace, we grow as we learn what God teaches us. And we're all at different stages in our pilgrimage. And so, Simon he... he wants what the apostles have got. If only I could... he he looks back on his life and he knows the power that he has experienced. He knows the authority that he's had in that community, he has seen supernatural things happening in his life and through him, albeit, they were not of God, but has been involved in supernatural things. And he sees something now that to him is mind blowing! He's never seen anything like this before! He has already been constantly amazed at what has taken place through Philip! And now, with Peter and John, this is just the end as far as he's concerned. He said, oh if only I had that power! If only if I had that ability! Can I acquire it? Can I have it? And he offers them money. He doesn't realize that you can't buy it. He doesn't realize that it's not up for sale. But oh, if I might have this ability to impart the Holy Spirit! But he's made this carbon thing you see, it wasn't for the... the apostles couldn't it! Peter and John couldn't do it! In the New Testament there are four different words that are used to refer to a gift... and the one used here means an endowment, and an endowment comes, not because of me, but it becomes because of the grace of the giver. I don't merit it. I don't, I haven't worked for it. I've done nothing worthy of receiving it. It is the grace of the giver! And the Holy Spirit, God's gracious gift to us. Just like salvation, is not because we merit it. We don't merit it! We haven't worked for it! We can't acquire it by any other means other than receiving the gift as God the gracious giver makes it available. Wanna say a bit more about that a little later on. Now, these er, Samaritans, they received the Holy Spirit, now... how do we know that the Samaritans actually spoke in tongues? Because it doesn't tell you that here. It doesn't say so. But it, certainly as you read through the New Testament, the acts of the apostles, it certainly is the norm for those who received the Holy Spirit, that they spoke in other tongues. And we've already read that verse from Mark's gospel, where it says quite, Jesus himself says quite clearly that those, these signs will accompany those who believe in my, they will speak with new, with new tongues. And wherever you read of this experience happening, again, and again, you read of the folk there receiving the Holy Spirit, and speaking in in other tongues. In speaking a language they have not learned. It wasn't just on the day of pentecost. And it seems that this is the norm... and there comes a time when you don't always mention the norm, you don't underline it every time, you don't refer to it every time because it is the excepted thing. It is the normal practice. And everybody was aware that this was the norm, and so you accept it and take it for granted. It is however, mentioned in most incidences, in the New Testament. But if they didn't speak with tongues... how did Simon know that they had received the Holy Spirit? It wasn't because their faces suddenly lit up. It wasn't because there was some weird expression that had come over them. How on earth did he know? And the only record that we have in scripture of any evidence of folk having received the Holy Spirit was that they spoke with other tongues. There certainly was some evidence. When Simon saw that the spirit was bestowed to the laying on of the apostles hands... it wasn't just something he conjured up in his imagination. There was some evidence for it. There was something that with one of his sense that he could recognize. There was a physical sign. And yet, in the New Testament there is no other sign given. There is no other physical manifestation given... of the Holy, of the o, baptism of the Holy Spirit, other than that of speaking in other tongues. You see, it wasn't their joy, it wasn't just because they were exuberant, they had already i di, expressed this joy back in verse eight, at the preaching of the gospel, there was much rejoicing in the city! There was great joy in the city! So it wasn't just the joy, he was used to that, this was something over and above that. And certainly, as you read through the New Testament and the... in both the acts of the apostles and the apistles, the apistles of Paul in particular, speaking in tongues... goes hand in hand with receiving the Holy Spirit. Now, speaking in tongues is not the Holy Spirit... and the Holy Spirit is not speaking with other tongues, but they go together. It's an evidence. You know, it's a little bit like a a car log book, or a registration doc document as they're called now. The log book, the registration document is not the car, but it is evidence of the ownership of the car. I've got the registration document because the car belongs to me. I can't drive the document around. And sometimes we make that mistake... as though speaking in tongues was the Holy Spirit. It is but an evidence of the Holy Spirit. It is one of his gifts. One of his ministries, one of his many, many ministries, but it is one of his ministries. And if we've been filled with the Holy Spirit, then we should have the evidence to go with it. There should be the... the aca station if you like, there should be the documentation, and it certainly seems in the New Testament that that is speaking with other tongues, it's not the only thing of course. You see, it's not just speaking in other tongues, there is gonna become the evidence of it as well as we grow in him. Notice also, that there is no evidence or suggestion that they had to wait... for th for this baptism, for this infilling of the Holy Spirit. It is God's free gift to all. That is why I I I mentioned those mar, those remarks right at the beginning, God will never ever send another pentecost, the only people that God told to wait were those early disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came and they had to wait for ten days from the ascension of Jesus until the Holy Spirit came. There is no suggestion anywhere else in the New Testament of waiting for the Holy Spirit. He has already been given! God is not gonna give the Holy Spirit again. He has given him, and he has never withdrawn him! And so it's not a case of our waiting... it's rather a case of our receiving. You see... if I was to say to you, right well I am gonna go out and purchase something, I'm gonna get something and give it to you as a gift ... then you have got to wait until I do that. I might go out and buy it straight away, I might wait weeks, months... before I acquire the particular thing to give to you as a gift, you've gotta wait on on me... giving it to you. But once I have the thing and make it available, and say here is the gift that I promised... it's yours, it's available, then, all you have to do is come and take it. And any waiting, any time lag is not my fault, it's not cos I've been slow in getting it, I've already got it there, it's all wrapped up... it's gift wrapped with your name on it! Any time lag, any any... period of waiting is because you haven't come and received it. And so it is with God's gift of the Holy Spirit. He does not suggest, there is no suggestion in the New Testament that we have got to tarry, and wait, and long and, and so on for it, it's there available to receive. The apostles came down... to Somaria, they laid hands on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. And this is God's purpose, he is given the Holy Spirit and he has not withdrawn him. It is God's free gift to his people. Harold Carter, some of you will know of him and have heard of him... who was er, a preacher within... one of the early preachers within the pentecostal movement in this country, and one of their teachers, said that to teach people to wait for the Holy Spirit is nothing in the world but a combination of works, and unbelief. You see, if I were to start waiting, it means I've gotta start doing something. What am I waiting for? Am I waiting on God who is reluctant to give? God is the most generous giver in the universe! He's not reluctant to give, he's not slow in giving. Jesus used the illustration, he says, you parents, you fathers, if your children are hungry you don't mock them by giving them a stone... you give them egg, you give them bread, you give them meat, you don't give them a scorpion, something to harm them, you don't mock them by giving them some, something they can't eat! How much more your Heavenly Father will he give the Holy Spirit to those who ask of him? To those who come and receive it. Notice also that Peter and John did not pray that God would give them the Holy Spirit... they prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit. You haven't gotta twist God's arm to receive his gifts. He is a generous giver! When sa, they began laying hands on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. In verse fifteen, when they came down they prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Sometimes in our praying re, concerning the Holy Spirit, we say, we ask God to give, but God says hang on I've already given! You're asking me to do what I've done! Pray rather, that they might receive. And perhaps... we should exercise this idea, this thought... when we pray for the salvation of people. Not to pray that God will save, but rather that people will receive... the gift of eternal life, because God's made it available! He's made his forgiveness freely available, the gift is there! God's gift of eternal life! And the praying is not that God will save people... he's er, done all that he can to save, but rather that people will respond to his generosity and receive his gift. And so we see there in verse seventeen, that they began laying their hands on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. The onus was not on God doing something, but on them receiving. And you know, if we wait for God to baptize us in the Holy Spirit, can I suggest you'll wait until you die... and still not know that experience. Because... God has done this, he's he's made him available. The thing is for us to receive. To seek and receive that gift. The promise and the fulfilment, let me just give you a couple of verses there in John fourteen, John make er, Jesus he makes this statement to his disciples, in John fourteen, in verses sixteen and seventeen, [reading] and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper [], another word for the Holy Spirit, [reading] that he may be with you forever. This is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not know him, does not behold him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you []. And there,i Peter when he's preaching on the day pentecost, he says this is was has happened, God has done just that, just as Jesus promised. In acts chapter two and verse thirty two, [reading bible] this Jesus, God raised up again to which we are all witnesses, therefore, having been exulted to the right hand of God, and having receiving from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you both see and hear []. And so,le let's just conclude our our thinking and some of the things we've been looking at, a and remind ourselves that... this gift of God in th the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the spirit, it is not an optional extra, it's not something for super saint, it's not something for special people, or for certain types of people, it is a, not an optional extra, it is God's purpose for every one of his children!
[speaker002:] Amen!
[Albert Gunter:] Just as he purposed to save you, so his perfect will and, and desire is that you receive, that you are baptized in the Holy Spirit. I again, using that sermon of Peter, in acts chapter two, Peter said to them, in verse thirty eight, [reading] repent and let each of you baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is for you and your children, and for all who will, as many as the Lord our God shall call to himself []. So it is not an optional extra, it's God's purpose, it's God's desire for you and for me, and for every one of his children! Then, the gift has already been given, and God has not withdrawn it. There will come the time when he will withdraw the Holy Spirit, when he will be taken out of the world, but as long as the church of Jesus Christ is here that will not take place. So the gift has been given and has not been withdrawn. There is only one requirement of re, to receiving God's gift of the Holy Spirit... and that is the requirement of being his child. The requirement of salvation. Any one who is saved, any one who is a Christian, who is a follower of Jesus Christ, who has committed their life to Christ, who has received his forgiveness, and who belongs to him, any one... is ready and able to receive the Holy Spirit. There are no other qualifications! It is a gift after all. Holiness, sanctification, living of Godly life, living a pure life... they're not the criteria, they're not, they're not, God requires that of us, but they are not requirements for receiving the Holy Spirit. We don't have to get to a certain stage of holiness. We don't have to get to a certain stage of sinlessness, before God will give to us the Holy Spirit. If that is the case then every one of us will wait till we die and we still won't know anything about this experience. The only qualification is that Jesus Christ has saved me and I'm following him... and I belong to him.... See, if it depended on... what I did, if it depended on how good I was, on how ru righteous I am, well, I am righteous in Christ! So, all th, even if you wanted to make that qualification, it's there, in him, I am righteous! He is my righteousness, and that's how God sees me, through the righteousness of his son Jesus. And so we are able to receive the Holy Spirit. We can expect to speak in other tongues, as I've already mentioned from Mark sixteen, Jesus said it would happen. And as we read through... the er accounts of this experience in the acts of the apostles, we find it happening again, and again, and again, and becoming obviously the norm. Now what does it do? When we receive the Holy Spir, what happens? What did it do to us? What does it do your life, to my life? Let me say, straight away, it does not make us invincible. Ha! Oh no! It doesn't make us so that satan has no power over us, so that we never sin again. It... it doesn't make us invincible. Not at all! It doesn't give some special credence to our testimony. It doesn't turn us into to super soul winners. Great servants of the Lord! It doesn't do that at all. The disciples were told, before, ten days before they received the Holy Spirit that they were to be witnesses unto him. And as we mentioned last Sunday night this word witness it means a martyr, it means giving one's life. Being totally sold out for God. A living martyr for him. So what is it that God's give to, the Holy Spirit to us for? It is to empower us, it's to, to en it's to enable us... it's to to er... to give us that which we haven't got ourself. But what is the, the basic primary purpose of it? Well, what is God's greatest purpose for you? What is his greatest purpose in your life? It's not to make you the greatest soul winner. The greatest witness. The greatest preacher. It's not that! Because, by obvious reasons that can only happen to one person. [LAUGHTER]... Greatest, is the end of the line, there can't be two greatests. So, that isn't his purpose for you and for me. What is his purpose for our lives then? It's not to make us into some spiritual superstars, like some great leader of the past or present. His great purpose in your life and in my life is to reproduce in our lives, the life of Jesus Christ.
[speaker002:] Amen.
[Albert Gunter:] Now in some folk that will take special emphasis. It will make them great soul winners. In some, it will make them great prayers. In some folk it will make them this or that, perhaps, not in every body, but for some folk it will do that, but his greatest purpose in your life and in my life is to reproduce Jesus Christ to make us like him. And ultimately, that will be the end of the line for every one us. We shall see him says John, and we shall be like him. But we will see him as he is. And that is God's greatest purpose in your life and my life. To reproduce in us the life of Jesus Christ. In our day to day living. In our service, in our thinking, in our motives, to be like him. There are some folk who will talk about the... the baptism of the spirit, and the gifts of the spirit, and say, oh well, well they're all very well and good but I would rather have the fruit of the spirit. That's a ridiculous statement! You see, it's not a case of either or God's purpose is both of them. His purpose is that we might have the gifts of the spirit and develop the fruit of the spirit. And he doesn't offer them, it's not an either or package... it is, I want both of them in your life! I want to see evidence of both of them, that is my purpose, that you may be like me. And he's given us certain... gifts to enable us... for this to happen in our lives. And one of those gifts is the gift of the Holy Spirit, that's why it's not an optional extra. It is something that each one of needs. In our day to day living, in our living, in our service for him, in our worship, in our relationships with one another, in our thinking, our motives, our our everything about us that we may be like him. Now lets just close with those words of of Peter, on the day of pentecost, [reading bible] it's not for other just, he says it's for you, it's for your children, and it's to as many as there are far off, right down through the centuries, as many as the Lord our God shall call []. And who is he referring to then, what does he mean, shall call? Not call to be special people, to be baptized, but shall call to be his children, his followers. And so it's for you... it's for me, for the person sitting beside you and behind, it is for every one of us! If we are followers of Jesus Christ then he says I want you to receive my gift. The gift of the Holy Spirit. And o on this day when the church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit! It's not an historical thing, it's not something we look back to, but it's something that every one of us should be looking to as a present daily experience in our life. The bi, the New Testament uses the expression, be being filled. And you and I, perhaps, we can look back to a day in our life when it was our birthday, as far as that is concerned... and God filled us with his Holy Spirit, we received the gift of the Holy Spirit, we were baptized in the Holy Spirit. That's great! The danger is that we look back to that and think of that. But there's a sense in which every day has gotta be an anniversary of that, a celebration of that. Be being filled with the Holy Spirit. It wasn't yesterday's experience, it wasn't yesteryear, it wasn't something just that happened twenty, thirty, fifty years ago, it's something, Paul says, that should be happening today!
[speaker002:] Hallelujah!
[Albert Gunter:] That same infilling. The tap has not been turned off. God is still wanting to continue filling... his people, with his spirit. Well let's sing again, shall we?... From the redemption hymnal, er number two hundred and thirty. Number two hundred and thirty. And this song does say that there is just one requirement from our part... and that is, that we want to receive. That we are thirsty. Ho everyone that is thirsty in spirit! [reading hymn book] Ho everyone that is weary and sad come to the fountain, there's fullness in Jesus, all that you're longing for! Come and be glad and, it goes on in chorus to use yet another picture of the Holy Spirit, we've talked of one being of fire, another picture is that of water, I will pour water on him that is thirsty! I will pour floods upon the dry ground! Open your heart for the gift I am bringing. While you are seeking me I will be found []. Two thirty, and let's stand to sing. [piano introduction]