1/12/20 Acts 19:1-7 “Holy Spirit, Enter”

10 Jan 1/12/20 Acts 19:1-7 “Holy Spirit, Enter”

1/12/20    Acts 19:1-7        “Holy Spirit, Enter”

Before I begin today I would like to tell you about an article I read a while back in the paper.  I don’t remember if it was about the Minnesota legislature or the North Dakota legislature and it really doesn’t matter because they are rather interchangeable on this topic as are all other state legislatures.  The article listed all the things that they were going to have to act upon for the coming session.  It listed the economy, taxes for this and that, education and so on.  It was just the usual politics we always see.  But I did notice something huge that was missing.  There was no mention of this important branch of government trying to have a closer relationship to God if they indeed have any relationship at all.  Separation of church and state was meant to keep the government out of religion and definitely not to keep religion out of government.  Have you ever wondered why our governments on all levels are so wasteful, ineffective and corrupt?  I think that maybe you can begin to see the answer.  Governments are no different than individuals in that they both need the presence of God in order to function with any kind of effectiveness and authority.  As we read today’s Scripture, we will see some people who had been ineffective.  They thought that they were doing it right but it turned out not to be the case.  Let’s see if we can apply our own lives to this situation.

One of the things I love to do during the week is to find a story that fits in with the day’s sermon.  Sometimes I think that I have a great one and I don’t hear any feedback.  Other times I tell one in passing and you just love it.  Today I’m going to retell a quick little story from Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson.  We have all heard the story of the little boy who comes home and runs into the house to find his mother to ask the question, “Mom, where did I come from?”  Mom gets a little flustered as she sits down and begins to explain the facts of life to the boy.  When she gets done she asked if the boy had understood what she had said.  The boy answered, “No, Mom, that’s not what I mean.  Jimmy says he came from New York.  Where did I come from?”

I don’t think that I would be wrong in saying that we have all misunderstood something at one time or another.  I am like the mother in this story in that I try to make things much more complicated than necessary when answering certain questions.  And we are going to see a misunderstanding in our lesson for today.

As we begin to look at this, we see a group of disciples from John the Baptist.  I have mentioned this before.  When John the Baptist was going around, he had a group of disciples just like Jesus did.  As a matter of fact, some of the disciples of Jesus had previously been disciples of John the Baptist.  It is important to understand that John had it right as far as he went.  He baptized with water for the repentance of sins.

We still do this today as this is a part of our baptismal service.  But John couldn’t do it all because he was not God.  He even tells us that Jesus will come along and baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  This has been a controversy for centuries.  There are whole denominations that will tell us that you have to be baptized in a certain way.  You have to be immersed, you have to be sprinkled, you have to be in a river are just a few of the ways that are mandatory in some places.  In the Methodist Church where I came from, we will baptize you in any fashion that you wish as long as it is Godly.  We usually do sprinkling of water to the head of an infant but we will do other ways also.

Look very closely at this passage on baptism.  This passage doesn’t even mention water.  It doesn’t talk of any of the methods except one and we will get to that in a moment.   We are very good at pointing out that the Pharisees and priests did a lot of things wrong.  After all, from the original 600 and some laws, they now had volumes of laws.  They were dedicated to the concept of being clean.  They couldn’t touch certain things or eat certain things or mingle with gentiles.  And of course, they didn’t recognize Jesus as God as they were too busy trying to save their status quo.

All of these things and more are legitimate reasons for us to look down on these early leaders of the Jews.  But are we a lot different?  Look at some of the things that we do today in the name of our religion.  We look down on other denominations as being not as good as we are.  Some places don’t let you take communion because you aren’t good enough in their eyes.  Some places you cannot sing certain newer songs because they aren’t religious enough.  Many churches say they welcome all when they really don’t want you there if you are homeless, dirty or in some way not like the rest of the congregation.

We have the same problems that the Pharisees had.  We are the Pharisees!  And one of the problems is in how we baptize.  I just mentioned this.  Many places feel that you have to be baptized in a certain way or in their presence in order for it to be official.  Christians have never been able to agree on this point.  Denominations have been launched because of this.

I think that it is important to realize that baptism by water is important.  We are commanded to do it.  It brings us together as a congregation.  It gives us focus as we try to help the newly baptized to become a person of Christ.  And I know, because I have felt it, that God works in people when they are baptized.  As long as our hearts are pure and our intentions Godly, then baptism is a good thing.  Baptism is one of the sacraments in just about all Christian denominations.  It might even be in all of them.  And the reason is that it is very important.

But we don’t want to get caught up in thinking that baptism by water saves souls.  It is only part of the equation.  Paul asks these disciples of John, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”  This may seem like a crazy question.  But Paul is trying to get at the heart of the problem.  John baptized these people with the baptism of repentance and the belief in the one to follow him, Jesus Christ.  But he didn’t baptize with the Holy Spirit.

We can do baptisms with this water or that water.  We can have certain fonts or towels or robes that we use.  We can be certain that we say the right words for baptism.  We can do all the right things and we will still only be a part of the way.  Don’t get me wrong.  All of these things are important to us as we baptize.  They are important because of the reasons I just mentioned.

But this process isn’t complete until you are baptized with the Holy Spirit.  When we baptize infants, it is the beginning of a journey.  We as a congregation, we as a family, we as friends are responsible to help this infant on his/her journey to the point where they can ask the Holy Spirit themselves, to come and live inside of them.  It is at this point where baptism is complete.

You have heard me say many times that if you don’t have Jesus living inside of you as the Holy Spirit, then ask Him in today.  Make your baptism complete.  Paul is making a very definite point here.  He is telling us that we can be doing all the right things for all the right reasons.  We can be good people who believe in Jesus, but we still may be missing the boat.

This comes to us when we get the feeling that we are missing something in our lives.  I have told several stories of rich people and famous people who have everything that money can buy but they are still not satisfied.  People have won the World Series or they have won the Super Bowl and they still feel that they are missing something.  This is what they are missing.  They are either missing Jesus all together or they have not completed the baptismal process.  If you think that you are missing this then ask Jesus into your life and ask the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you.  You may be missing the wonderful joy of having the Holy Spirit inside of you as you do good things.

This was so important that they had to correct Apollos in our reading.  Here was a man who was doing all the right things except he couldn’t quite finish.  He was the leader of a church but he didn’t have the Holy Spirit.  When two other leaders of the church, who had the Spirit, heard him speak, they knew something was not quite right.  So Priscilla and Aquila had to sit down and explain God more adequately as seen in verse 26 of the previous chapter.

And Apollos wasn’t the only person to be like this.  The Methodist movement founder, John Wesley, also did this.  He was raised in a very religious family.  He had gone to school to become a minister in the Anglican Church.  He had done many, many good things.  But he still couldn’t quite get it together.  He came to this country for a short time and tried to bring Jesus to the settlers and the Native Americans.  He failed miserably.

On his way back he saw the Moravians pray and sing during a storm that almost shipwrecked them.  It was after this that he knew that he was missing something.  It wasn’t until later when he went unwillingly to a Bible study at Aldersgate that he had a warm feeling in his heart as the Holy Spirit entered.  He had been a pastor for years before he realized that something was missing.  The completion of his baptism was missing.  Look what happened next.

John Wesley and his ministry took off.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit and there was nothing stopping the advancement of the Lord to the poor people of England.  He averaged three sermons a day during his entire adult life.  He preached at factories.  He preached in the street.  He preached in pastures.  Where ever people would gather, he would preach.  And of course, from this came the Methodist Church.  And this church in its more pure form, like we have in some places today, is one of the greatest churches in the world.

Now let’s look at what Paul says.  He tells us that the Holy Spirit came on these 12 disciples and they started to speak in tongues and prophesizing.  They immediately started to use two gifts that were given to them.  Once the Holy Spirit enters a person, things begin to happen at once.  There is no waiting.  Apollos was already a church leader and he became an even better one after this.  His ministry exploded.

Paul Fritz tells us of ways that we explode with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  First, our basic trust in the Lord increases.  Our confidence grows on the certainty of God’s grace.  We get more innovative and creative in ways to help the Lord.  We become more productive as we get much better in the fruits of the spirit.  We get better at integrating our beliefs with the realities of the world.  We are able to get closer to people.  We are able to develop a friendlier intimacy with others.  And finally we become more Christlike.

These qualities alone should be more than enough reasons for anyone to ask the Holy Spirit into their life.  And this is just the beginning.  With God there are no limits as to what we can do.  We can do hard things.  The only limit that we have is ourselves.  And when we live with the Holy Spirit and He lives in us, then this limit also disappears.  One of my main responses to having invited the Holy Spirit to live inside of me has been this.  Why did I wait so long?  Why was I so blind as to not see this result?  Why was I so dumb?  Maybe some of you ask yourself the same questions from time to time.  Maybe there is someone watching this today that hasn’t completed their baptism.  If there is, I will be the first to tell you that it is well worth your time to finish it.  The wondrous feelings and the great life you will have in Christ are worth any price you have to pay.

Today I would like to ask you not to think about all the time you have wasted by not finishing your baptism.  Don’t worry about it.  God will help you start new.  And if you have finished your baptism, then you will know that you need to pray for others who haven’t.  This wonderful God of ours has created a system where you can have it all.  All you have to do is ask.  Let us bow our heads and ask the Holy Spirit to come in.  Let’s pray.

Repeat after me silently.  Dear Lord, I thank you for your presence in the world.  I believe that Jesus is God and my savior.  I am missing something in my life and that something is you.  I ask that you forgive me of all my sins for all of my life.  I ask that you anoint me with the Holy Spirit so that I can be complete in you.  I ask that the Holy Spirit dwell in me for all times.  You are a beautiful and wondrous God and I thank you for loving me and not giving up on me.  Thank you, Jesus.  Amen.