His power still working today
Key Passage: Acts 1:6-8
Date: June 7, 2024
Acts chapter number one in God’s word tonight. You know, God’s so pleased with you being faithful. Some of you really are busy and you’re faithful, though. That’s just God’s pleased with that being in His house. Praise the Lord for it.
Acts chapter 1. By the way, good to have Trey. Trey was out sick for a bit. I’m glad to have him back with us. I missed him when he was gone, and glad he’s back with us. That’s a blessing. Acts 1—I’m sorry, we’re going to get there. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together? Would you please just to show it respect? Acts 1 in verse number 6. And the apostles and Jesus, He’s about to send. They’re talking here.
And verse number six, that when they therefore were come together, they ask of Him, saying, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” They couldn’t get away from that. They just wanted Israel to be on the top and to be the leader. And notice what Jesus says to them. He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power.” And He said, get off that, if you will. He said, that’s not the big thing.
Verse number eight, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Great formula for missions. You’ve heard it preached, I’m sure. But you should receive power.
When He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up and the cloud received Him out of their sight. While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel which also said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner.” And you have seen Him going to heaven.
By the way, He’ll do that. And He’ll actually put His feet on the Mount of Olives there when He comes back, not when He comes back for us, but when He comes back with us. And He’ll fulfill that promise.
And verse number 12, “And then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.” And whenever they came in, they went up into an upper room where abode both Peter and James and John and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and James, the son of Alpheus, Simon Zealot, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with His brother.
Now look over in chapter number two very briefly, if you would please. Chapter number two, would you look at verse number four, Acts 2:4. “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” That’s just a mouthful of a statement if you were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Let me just say a brief word about tongues, the things that happened on that day. By the way, they were not just—we did not read it, we skipped over some things—but they were not just speaking with tongues. That can be mimicked.
My wife, when she got out of high school and things and moved away, she started getting in church. And she had no idea where to go. She was raised in church, but she was seeking for truth. And she went to church and was taught, “Boy, you got to be—they got to speak in tongues.” And some of these churches, they’ll gather around you. And my mom and my wife went through this. And they’ll say, when they’re young Christians seeking for truth, they’ll say, “Well, just start mumbling it. It’ll come easier later on.” I said, “No, no, if God’s in this, God can make that happen.”
By the way, on this day, they were not just speaking in tongues, but the sound of a mighty rushing wind came in. That’s a little bit harder to mimic. Cloven tongues of fire set on their head. That’s a little bit harder to mimic, see. These, what we call sign gifts, they’re done away with. Jews require a sign. God gave them a sign. Now, they rejected Him, but these sign gifts—we were reading over in Acts Chapter 5 this morning—you realize if we had read a portion a little bit earlier there, they would bring people from all around them were coming, all the sick, and they were bringing them in beds. And they were laying them down just the shadow of Peter passing by. They were healed. Well, that’s not happening today for him. I mean, if they were truly healing people like that, they wouldn’t have to build a faith hospital. They’d be putting hospitals out of business for him.
As far as a sign, that’s done away with. Many signs and wonders were done in the post-apostolic age. When the Bible came, it’s done away with. Does that mean God can’t do a miracle today? No. Does that mean people aren’t being healed today? No, but it’s mass. And I say Peter, didn’t it? Just a handkerchief from Paul, you realize, you see. That’s not happening today. No, no. There’s a circus show of that stuff happening today. A false one.
But the big thing was the Holy Spirit came in power. They were filled. They were all filled. By the way, 3,000 people saved and baptized on that day. Pretty amazing. Actually, the Bible says about 3,000. It’s hard to keep track of people getting saved and baptized all over the place. And the Holy Spirit came in power.
Just a little bit, I’m going to talk to you about His power is still working today. That’d be the title for it. His power is still working today. And I hope you have a realistic desire for that in your life. His power, the Holy Spirit, came in a great, great way. Just briefly, let’s talk about that tonight.
Father, would You help us to be real and help us to live where we’re at in our day and time? Well, Lord, help us not to go in no faith or lack of faith. And Lord, not take advantage of what all You’ve given us available. Really, Jesus, what You made available through the cross. Father, we need Your Spirit and His fullness. Lord, it’s so wonderful, it’s so sweet. And Lord, I pray, should give us a holy hunger for that tonight, Lord. And for Your working, You’re moving. Lord, we don’t want to just manufacture things. We want You to work. And, Lord, I pray even tonight, that should give us just a true glimpse of that and You’re working in, and yes, through us. And Lord, well, thank You. We’ll praise You and brag on You for what You do. Father, we ask for that. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
It’s amazing Jerusalem. Jerusalem. It was a hardened, a religious hardened place. It was just days, it seems earlier, Jesus, God in flesh. He says, let me just read it for you: “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets.” You call that a pretty hard place, which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee. Wow. You’re talking about a hard place.
Satan, if he can, will convince you that it’s just too hard in America in 2022. He’ll do his best to keep it. In Jerusalem, they were killing the prophets and they were stoning those that were sent unto it. God in flesh, Jesus comes there and He says, “How often would I have gathered thy children?” Sometimes you just say, well, I’ll fool you on the dots. Let’s reach the children. The majority of people get saved, get saved when they’re young. And it’s a little bit, maybe along that line. He said, “How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings.”
We’ve talked about it. We used to have chickens for years. It’s amazing to see that mama hen. Boy, she’ll lift her wings and she gets all those little babies underneath. You cannot even tell they’re there. She protects them. Jesus said, I’d have gathered you like that. Jerusalem is talking about. And He would not. Wow.
We’re talking about a hardened place. And yet, 50 days after Jesus hung on that old wooden cross, 50 days after He said, “It is finished,” 50 days after He said, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit,” 50 days after that, we see 3,000 people saved and baptized. Amen.
When the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, descended in power, I’m talking about mighty things begin to happen. We mentioned this morning, a little later on, 5,000 men. Men are stubborn. Any ladies, do you agree with that right there? Way, thank you or something. Yeah, those men are stubborn. Ladies are never stubborn, right, ladies? Is that good preaching or what now, ladies? But then later, it’s like, we’ll take that, you know. I might need to come to the altar later on. But anyway, we’re all stubborn. But, man, 5,000 men, they’re all hard to reach. I’m talking about, wow.
Some put the estimate, they were added to the church and then multiplied. Some put—some will go—some will go to the overall in Jerusalem, 100,000. I don’t know if that’s true. We’re not talking about a little bit of church here a little bit. We’re talking about thousands and thousands and thousands. I don’t know if I see the work like it in our day and time. I really don’t.
Oh, I haven’t. When the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, power. Now, just, just, you just—you want you to kind of fathom that a little bit, the power, if you’re a born-again Christian, the power you have living inside of you. You do not have to be intimidated a bit in the world by this world. We don’t have to be intimidated as far as us losing our peace by the circumstances in our life. We have God, the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, “It is expedient for you that I go, for if I go not away, the Spirit will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” That’s amazing. Jesus said that. Just the power that’s living inside of you. It’s living inside of me. Can I say this? We often think of Peter on the day of Pentecost, and that’s true. But did you notice that verse there? I think it’s verse number four, Acts 2:4. Notice what He says there. And they were what? All filled.
Only one stood in preaching. The Bible records that some say—and I don’t disagree, I don’t know how it happened—some say the apostles were all over preaching in like little groups, but the Bible really mentions Peter. Maybe that’s true. But there are 120 there, some women, they were all filled. And I say that to say, we sometimes make it, well, you know, then you’ll be preaching these great revival campaigns. Well, probably not true for most of us here. That’s not God’s will for your life, especially the ladies and the vast majority of the men here. But they’re all filled in your world, in your way. God wants to fill you with this power. It might not be you’re out, you know, and everybody will know your name. The only one name was mentioned. There were 119 other people that were filled. They were all a part of it. God knows the record. Don’t worry about all that stuff. That’s not the big thing. But they’re all filled with the power.
God wants you to be filled with that power. It’s available for you. And living in the shoes you live in and walking where you walk and in your neighborhood, at your workplace, you can have that power in your life. It’s available for it. For the Christian life was never meant to be lived in our own power. Sometimes we’re just so defeated. We’re meant to live the Christian life empowered by God’s Spirit. It’s where victory is.
We get a report e-mailed to us about, you know, Google reviews and all that stuff. And if you—sometimes I’ll check it out a little bit—but if you go on your phone typically and you search for our church, and I was doing that the other day, and I noticed one of the reviews, and it said this: It said, “I feel God’s Spirit working.” Amen. I hope that’s true. If it’s us working, that’s pretty lame. I’m not trying to down us. You’re wonderful as far as people go, but God’s Spirit, that’s what we need. Man, that’s what we need. Fully on what pastor can do, that’s a little of nothing. We want God’s Spirit. I hope that’s true. God’s Spirit’s working there. You can sense that a lot of times. You can tell that a lot of times. And that’s so vital.
The Bible, when it’s talking about building temples over there in Zechariah, and building the temple—that’s kind of the theme of that. And the temple of God is people now, Christians. And it’s talking about building temples. He said, “Hey, not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.” That’s how true temples are built. Spirit of God. And it’s vital that us as Christians, we realize that and we’re living in the power of the Spirit of God.
You say, “What does that look like?” Well, look over in Galatians, chapter number five. Many of you probably could quote it, but what does it look like if you have the fullness of the Spirit is working in your life, what does that look like? We’ll maybe mention a couple things, but a great sign or manifestation, if you will, of that. Galatians 5. In verse number 22, He lists these nine. It’s one fruit, but it’s kind of like each slice is a little bit different, you know, the fruit of the Spirit. And it gives this too when He empowers you. Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.”
You lose your love for people. Somewhere along the line, you probably lost this power. Joy, you lose your joy. Holy Spirit’s probably not working in my life like God, like He wants to. Love, joy, peace. Oh, if you lose your peace, stop right there. Wait, stop. Don’t keep going. What have I done? I’ve left you. Last Sunday night, we’ve left the first. I’ve left you. And I want to get back. I want you moving it. I need your peace again.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering. Boy, you just quit sharp tongue. Somewhere along the line, I probably lost the Spirit of God. His power is working. Long-suffering, gentleness. Spirit-filled person, just gentle. They’re not mean and hateful. Hey, we’re ready to fight with the world. Not a Spirit-filled person. No. I don’t stand for the truth, but they’re gentle. Long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Hey, just living in fear, no faith. I probably lost the power of the Holy Spirit. Faith, meekness—that strength under control—temperance. The pressure, this day and time is a lot of pressure. You just keep faithful. You’re steady with all the pressure. Temperance. And these fruits, against such, there’s no law.
Can I put it this way? Some of those early Christians were getting locked up in jail, and they’re putting them in jail for preaching or teaching or standing, and they’re losing their jobs. But they didn’t do all that, but they couldn’t make a law that would hinder them from having the fruit of the Spirit. And they could be in jail and still have love, joy, peace, long-suffering. They still have all that. They can’t stop you from having that. That’s wonderful. That’s with the Holy Spirit. That’s what His manifestation. He’ll bring that about in your life. This is so, so…
It pictures me when I’ve grieved or questioned the Holy Spirit. Would you look over in Genesis chapter number one very quickly? Genesis chapter number one. And you know it, I can’t hardly read them without saying in public, but God says more in the first four words of the Bible than all those university professors say in about 1,400 pages of books. They never tell you where it all started from, you know. God tells you in four words. He says it all. It’s amazing how much God can say in four words.
What does He say? In the very first words of the Bible: “In the beginning.” That’s not baseball. That’s not—“In the beginning,” amen? Brother Martin wants to say the beginning. I’m joking, of course. But “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” This verse number two describes me. What I have quenched or grieved the Holy Spirit. “And the earth was without form and void.” Empty. No direction. Wandering around. It’s what the world—it was without form. It was void. It was just a—man, there’s just no form to it all. I wonder what the world was like. It was already created, but maybe ugly. Empty. I can’t tell anything about it.
What happened? Look at what happened. “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Man, we got a beautiful world. We just got back from Montana. Beautiful, beautiful. I mean…
My wife’s got these flowers on the back porch, and don’t tell her I said this, but she likes this one that’s got these red flowers on it. And she says, “That’s pretty.” And they are pretty. I don’t want to have to wear, you know, I don’t have to put—and I’m joking with her—they’re pretty. They’re pretty. Just God’s creation is amazing. Boy, the sunsets. Anybody knows the sunsets and the sunrises here lately? Man, beautiful.
I came home the other day, and man, the cloud formation was just beautiful. And I went inside and said, “Tammy, come out here to the back porch.” She said, “What? What’s going on?” “Come on out.” And man, look up there. She got her phone. We got to take pictures of that. She sent it to the family. Beautiful. God’s creation just awesome. How that happened? The Spirit of God moved.
You take someone that’s just got no direction, whether they’re without form, they’re empty, they’re just kind of wandering about, don’t know what life’s all about, and you let the Spirit of God move upon them. You see a beautiful Christian life. It’s awesome. I love to see when God, the Spirit of God, moves upon a person. And man, it brings direction. It brings hope. It brings life. It brings fruit. It’s refreshing like a river flowing down a mountain. You just—just like a beautiful creation. And it is by the Spirit of God.
And when I have quenched the Spirit of God, I just have no direction. And I can get a little disillusioned what’s it all about. And friends, somewhere along the line, I’ve quenched Him. I’ve grieved Him. But you get the Spirit of God moving. It’s wonderful. It brings a sweetness. It brings a fragrance. Nothing else can. It’s the Spirit of God. That’s what He wants you to have.
This old world’s so upset. I mean, the left are mad and the right is mad and everybody’s just fussed and fighting and is chaotic and depressed and mad. And, you know, the news, they walk off of fear. Both sides of them do. They work off of fear and both sides of them tell you how bad it is. And they want you to walk around just—and you can have peace. You can say, “That’s all right.” How do you get that? Spirit of God. Man, when He moves, He brings direction and He brings refreshing, and that’s God the Spirit. You want you to have that.
Jesus said, “I will send Him unto you.” You say, “How do I get that?” The biggest saying, because of Jesus, He earned everything for us, even us to have the right of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Jesus earned that. All the promises in Him are yea and in Him amen to the glory of God the Father. All for Jesus. It’s so important.
The Holy Spirit, remember, He descended on Jesus like a what? Like a dove. There’s a reason for that. Everything in the Bible is significant, but a dove. They say doves—I read a story for this—and a lady said she was talking about doves. Doves, they’re often—they try to hide. They were kind of—they’ll bring their head down where their neck disappears and they’ll kind of try to get small. And she said she had one in the bushes in her front, maybe backyard it was. And she said she went outside. Most birds, they see you, they just fly away. But doves sometimes will just kind of—I mean, you just kind of get it and they won’t move. And they say even their eyes, they just won’t move. That’s a lot of times their protection from their predators, even their eyes. A lot of times they’re not super bright, most of them. We think of the white doves, but they’re not all like that. But they’re just—they won’t—they’re just—they’re just kind of hunker down and kind of, you know, kind of get as small as it can, and they’ll blend in with the branch, and they just won’t move.
But when I quench the Spirit, and I grieve the Spirit, He sealed you unto the day of redemption. You’re saved. He will not leave. He’ll always be in your heart if you’re born again. He’s there to stay for Him. Forever He’s said over there in John 14. He’s there. But just because I’ve quenched or grieved, He just kind of—and it’s a sad thing because He has all the power.
And that same power that moved on Pentecost, that same power that made this creation so beautiful, even after the flood, it’s still beautiful. That same power lives inside of you. And I don’t recognize them. By the way, sometimes we don’t even know that we’ve lost it. Remember Samson over there and Delilah? Boy, he knew better than—he knew better than to fall asleep in her lap. Come on, man, she’s been after you how many times, you know. And you’re playing with fire, you get burned. You flirt with sin, you get burned, you know. What happens, man? She called the barber in, you know. I mean, and she got that, and that barber did the job. I mean, what was these hippie haircuts? I mean, he got it all cut off. Boy, boom, boom. He was joining the Marines, right about the number. Got it all cut off, you know.
And Samson, “The Philistines be upon thee.” You know, the Bible says it’s a sad statement: “He wist not that the Lord was departed from him.” Sometimes, well, we go out and we want to do God’s work and we’ve not even—we’ve not yielded and we’ve not sought the Spirit of God. And sometimes we don’t even know. Without the Spirit, he’s just kind of—he’s not moving. He’s there. He’s not diminished in His power, as mighty as He was. He’s just as mighty as He was on the day of Pentecost, as He was in Genesis chapter number one. He’s just as mighty. But I, for some reason, have not maybe tuned in. I’ve lost His power. Sad thing.
Look over in Ephesians chapter 4 real quickly here. Just a couple of things about things that grieve or quench. I wouldn’t argue over it. I tend to think we quench Him. You put the fire out. And then we keep going. We grieve Him. Grieving’s a little bit stronger. And it’s a sad thing. The Spirit of God is grieving inside us. What are some of those things that causes us to grieve here in this passage of the Holy Spirit?
Look at verse number 30. We’ll just start there. Ephesians 4, verse number 30. What does it say right there? And that means it’s connected to the verse prior: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” You’re still sealed by Him. Is God’s earnest on your account? We’ve grieved you. Now look at the verse before. How do we do that? “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.” Corrupt, fleshly, mean, dirty, just cutting on somebody, whatever it may be. Well, that’s corrupt. Well, that corrupt communication. He said, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
I wonder how many times—I wonder how many times a church grieves the Holy Spirit because of corrupt communication. Maybe just filthy jesting. And it’s what we always say, “Well, I was just joking.” It doesn’t matter. The Holy Spirit’s already hungered down. We always try to justify it. “Well, I was just joking.” But just—we corrupt communication. It’s so sad. And the Spirit of God, He’s grieved.
That verse, verse number 30, He said, “Don’t grieve Him,” just “And grieve not.” Then verse number 31, I think He’s continuing on with the fault. Verse number 31: “Let all bitterness, wrath, and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.” And malice, you just—if a desire to see others hurt a little bit. But our mouth is so important.
Well, I can really praise the Lord our church. I really don’t think this goes on. I mean this, but so many churches, it does happen. It’s a sad thing. I really don’t think it does, and I mean that. But the church nursery, especially get a lot of workers. Man, you’re having church out here, and they’re like feasting on different people back there. And you’ll wonder why the Holy Spirit’s not working. Now, I don’t think that happens here. But how we can grieve the Holy Spirit: our tongue, or then that bitterness and wrath and anger, when we start fussing with one another. Oh, the devil loves to get God’s people fighting with one another and talking about one another and bitter and ill feelings.
You say, “What do you do about it?” Go tell them you’re sorry. If you said something, not too long ago, I’ll talk to them at our church. I’m sorry. Why? Because I want the Holy Spirit to work. I need Him. You’ve got to have it. So important. How pleasant and how good it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It’s like the oil that they would pour on Aaron the high priest and that oil would just flow down his beard and his garment. The Holy Spirit represents the oil. And it talks about, man, when the dew is on the mountains, it brings forth fruitfulness. The Holy Spirit can flow. It’s working. There’s unity among the brethren. More I get into this, man, just this—oh, fussing and fighting—oh, wait, we lose the Holy Spirit.
What’s the last verse there in Ephesians chapter before? He says, “And be ye kind, one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” I may have seen this plaque somewhere. We used to have in our house. I’m not sure if it’s there anymore or not, but he used to say, “If you can be anything, be kind.” Be kind. You can be anything, be kind. I just tenderhearted and forgiving one another. The Holy Spirit, He works there. There’s power in the Holy Spirit. He wants you to have that. He can bring the wretchedness in your life.
And sometimes we grieve Him. Let me just very briefly, sometimes our motives. Did you notice that in that verse number eight there of Acts 1? “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me”—that’s Jesus. I’m all about me. The Holy Spirit said, “No, no, no, I’m all about promoting Jesus.” The power of the Holy Spirit, it’s not going to be all about you, you, you, you; it’s going to be all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Yeah. Our motives. Why do I do what I do? And sometimes we just—the Holy Spirit said, “Well, I just think I’ll close up here a little bit, close up shop, because it’s about you.”
It bothers me sometimes. I apologized to a man, preacher, not too long ago I was talking to him. He shared with his problems, and I shared with him my problems. And I later on, I thought, man, he’s going through a tough time, and all I did was—you know, he started talking about his, and I started talking about mine. I’m so sorry. Man, you’re sharing with him your problems, and I should have just—and I told him, “I’ll be praying about that situation.” Sometimes I can just get all about me, me, me, me. The Holy Spirit’s not all about Paul, Paul, Paul. He’s all about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Amen. Yeah. And I can lose that power because of my motives. What are our motives? Why do I do what I do?
Then let me just throw this out very briefly: but prayer was involved in this thing. Jesus ascended, and those 120 people, they gathered together, and they had a 10-day prayer meeting. I don’t know—I’m going to ask when they get to heaven—did those men, did they sleep there at nighttime because that’s rough? You don’t know what—I don’t talk about it. I don’t know. I tend to think the ladies went home for sure. I don’t know, but they had a 10-day prayer meeting. Prayer is always involved in having the Holy Spirit power.
What’s the Luke 11:13? You’ll know it. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give your children good gifts: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” Asking is part of it. Ten days prayer meeting. Ask Him. Not asking for Him to be there—He’s there already—for Him to move again. And He will.
I was talking with someone about a party thing going on, and the good thing, and someone said, “Why aren’t you going to that?” They said, “Why aren’t you going to that?” They said, “Well, I wasn’t invited.” I wonder how many times we invite the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is, “Well, I really wasn’t invited.” Ask. He wants to empower you. He can. He can bring that sweetness, that joy, that peace, that love. He can bring—He’s got all that. He can change us from without form and void and bring a beautiful creation. The Spirit of God moves. Moves upon the face of the waters.
Original File: His power still working today - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday PM 08282022