Last Sunday we had a great time here in church, God visited us, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon us and many people were baptised in the Holy Spirit.
I have heard many testimonies of people who received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and they told me that it was wonderful.
If you did not receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit where you spoke in tongues, no problem. Because for me to be baptised in the Holy Spirit took nearly a year, because I received many wrong teachings against the baptism of the Holy Spirit and I had to change my mind to receive it.
If you didn’t receive it , keep reading about it, studying the book of Acts and the New Testament and keep praying and asking for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit or come to your pastors and we will help you and pray for you.
If you spoke just a few words, don’t stop, keep speaking these few words and the Holy Spirit will increase them, like when a child starts speaking they can’t speak too much but later more words come and they are able to say a lot more.
Today’s message: Why did you receive the Holy Spirit?
Why did you receive the Baptism in Holy Spirit ?
The Bible says the Holy Spirit only comes to testify and to glorify one person, His name is Jesus!
“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
The Holy Spirit does not come to glorify a ministry or a minister or a preacher, He comes to Glorify Jesus and He comes to testify of Jesus.
Your relationship with the Holy Spirit is going to draw you to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is going to make Jesus so real to you and once Jesus becomes real to your heart , you will fall in love with Jesus and He will become your treasure, He will become your passion and your reward and He will become the reason why you live.
In this world there are people who are very passionate for sports, in Brazil we’re crazy about football and you know there’s people who are passionate for music, passionate for technology, computers, games or their job.
But the foundation and primary purpose and passion of your life should be the person of Jesus Christ.
If your passion is something else, you’re missing the number one reason you were created: that is to love Him, to know Him, to be with Him.
Our greatest passion in this life should be the presence of Jesus, to know Him, to have an intimate relationship with Him.
When you have this intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ becomes your greatest passion. This is the primary purpose that we received the Holy Spirit, that is to Glorify Jesus Christ.
2- The Holy Spirit baptises you so you can be His witness
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts of the Apostles 1:8
Jesus said: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit will come upon you so you shall be my witnesses, not gossipers, not easily offended people, not complainers, not debaters but witnesses.
You know, of course, that you cannot be a witness of something you have not seen, heard or experienced. You can only be a witness if you have seen something, heard something or experienced something.
When the Holy Spirit comes He releases His power. This power will cause things to happen that I have a testimony of.
I told you my life was transformed after my baptism in the Holy Spirit. I can testify, I can witness something, why? Because I have seen things, I have heard things, because I have experienced things!
After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, if you develop an intimate relationship with The Holy Spirit He will start to develop my character but after some time, the Holy Spirit allows me to go into ministry. When I say ministry I’m not talking about ministry in church but your ministry as a child of God in your house, your job, your school and your daily life.
Because some people are very Pentecostal in Church. In the church they pray, they worship, they shout , they sing to the Lord, but in their daily life they are another person. In their job they are fighting with others, they are always complaining about things, they are criticising the Church, criticising other people, complaining about rules, complaining about Cell Meetings, they are gossipers and easily offended.
Why do some Christians receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit but their lives are not transformed? Why do some Christians have the Holy Spirit living inside of them but don’t have the fruit of the Spirit in their lives?
Some people are speaking in tongues (that is very important) but have no character and are not nice people to live with. Our character is transformed when we prepare an environment for the Holy Spirit in our lives and that produces the fruits of the spirit.
The Holy Spirit has a gift for you and it’s not only the gift of tongues, power, miracles, it’s the gift of relationship.
The Holy Spirit lives in you, but He doesn’t operate in any kind of environment, or any kind of atmosphere.
Even the plants we buy cannot flourish or give fruits in any kind of soil.
You cannot grow oranges in Alaska, or bananas in Ireland, not because they hate Ireland, it’s because Ireland’s environment cannot sustain them and they will quickly die here because they need sunshine.
We have sunshine in Ireland, but it’s once a week and it’s not enough to grow bananas.
The presence and the power of the Holy Spirit require a certain attitude, they require a suitable atmosphere in order to produce fruit.
Some Christians have a relationship with the Holy Spirit when they come to church, they read the bible when they come to church, they sing to the Lord when they come to church, they are nice to others when they come to church and once a week they have a relationship with the Holy Spirit here in church.
The presence of the Holy Spirit requires certain attitudes not once a week but every day and our heart needs to be at a constant temperature for the Holy to produce its fruit.
One day a week of sunshine is enough to produce bananas in Ireland and one day a week with The Holy Spirit is not enough to produce the fruit of Spirit in your life.
The Holy Spirit who is with us needs, He depends and desires that kind of atmosphere to be maintained. We need to create an environment in our heart and in our emotions that allows Him to work, to change you and use your life.
“Do not quench the Holy Spirit.”
I Thessalonians 5:19
How can you quench or stop the work of the Holy Spirit in your life? When you bring a cold environment in your heart you quench and grieve the Holy Spirit.
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Never be bitter, angry, or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. 32 Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.”
Ephesians 4:30-32
Never be bitter, angry or mad. Never shout in anger, watch your mouth, never say things to hurt others. Be kind and loving to each other. We need each other, we need to have fellowship with our brothers and sisters. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.
Remember, if you don’t forgive others, you don’t have forgiveness for your sins and if you can’t restore broken relationships with people you are quenching and destroying your relationship with the Holy Spirit.
The presence of the Holy Spirit requires constant and consistent temperature in our hearts for the Holy Spirit to produce its fruit
We all receive the same Holy Spirit at our salvation but the challenge is how to establish a relationship with the Holy Spirit that we received.
Some people are just “using” the Holy Spirit, using the Holy Spirit to be blessed, to prosper, to become famous, to become more important, to make money and for their own advancement instead of the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
Miracles, signs and wonders are not given so we can start a ministry, they are given so we can win the lost and so we can see the mission of Jesus continue on this earth.
My beloved ones, pentecost is not to make us more pentecostal, but to make us powerful enough to fulfil our purpose, and our purpose is to win souls and make disciples.
You were baptised in the Holy Spirit not to sit in church but to walk in your calling and to win your generation over to Jesus. We are not called to win arguments but to win souls.
Pentecost is not so that we can have an addiction to our prayer language, Pentecost is so that we can find the meaning in our Christian life of reaching the lost for Jesus Christ and making more disciples for Him!
The Holy Spirit did not come to make you Pentecostal but to make us into missionaries.
God wants to revive our prayer life, He wants to revive your life of holiness, He wants to revive your consecration life, He wants to revive your fasting life, He wants to revive your intercession life and make you a witness of Jesus !
Your greatest passion in this life should be the presence of Jesus, to know Him, to have an intimate relationship with Him.
When you have this intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ becomes your greatest passion.
Is Jesus the main purpose and passion of your life ?
How is your relationship with the Holy Spirit? How is the fruit of Spirit in your life ? Can the people around you see the fruit of Spirit ?
Are you fulfilling your purpose of life that is to win souls and make disciples? Are you Jesus witness ?