Clothed with Power (Acts 2:1-4, Luke 24:49)
by Pastor Ana Crisostomo | February 11, 2018
Clothed with PowerActs 2:1-4; Luke 24:49
Imagine having your heart filled with God’s love, your mind full of His truth, a soul full of faith and His goodness, and having courage and boldness without fear. Imagine sensing His presence, knowing He is in the room with you, and your heart sensing His tender promptings and knowing what to say or do in your own life and in the ministry of serving others. That’s what the promise of the Holy Spirit opens and provides for us: the privilege to be filled with God’s love and to be empowered by Him with supernatural ability. Today, we will look at the experience of what happened to Jesus’ disciples and followers in the city of Jerusalem when God poured out His Spirit upon them and how it still affects us to this day.
What happened on Pentecost?
- The disciples, Mary the mother of Jesus, Jesus’ brothers and others were gathered together in one place. There was a total of 120 people. They had been commanded by Jesus days earlier, before He was taken up into heaven, that they were to wait for the gift His Father promised. They were constantly devoting themselves to prayer.
- They were praying and waiting to receive a gift, a promise from God, which Jesus assured them they would receive (Ac 1:4-5, 8). “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. (Lk 24:49)
- When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, and suddenly a sound came from heaven like a rushing violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were being distributed (among them), and they rested on each one of them (as each person received the Holy Spirit). And they were all filled (that is, diffused throughout their being) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (different languages), as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out (clearly and appropriately.) (Ac 2:1-4 AMP).
- After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter, who was now clothed with power, preached to a gathering crowd and boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. He quoted a passage from Joel 2:28-29, explaining that the outpouring of the Spirit on that day was the actual beginning of Joel’s prophecy. This outpouring would not only be for Jews but for all people. Peter tells them that if they repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ that they would be forgiven of their sins as well as receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 3,000 were saved and water baptized on the day (Acts 2:14-41).
What is the baptism with the Holy Spirit?
“A definite experience, following our salvation, where the Holy Spirit comes upon believers to anoint and empower them for spiritual service and holy living. The New Testament describes this experience as the Spirit ‘falling upon,’ ‘coming upon’ or being ‘poured out upon’ the yielded believer in a sudden and supernatural way.” (Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, Vol.1,p.278)
The gift of the Holy Spirit is given to us upon salvation, but there is a receiving where we are to expect a supernatural outpouring of God’s presence and power that overflows from us (Eph 1:13-14; 1Co 3:16; Ro 8:9). Example: Acts 9:14-27.
Why does Jesus want us to be clothed with power?
- Jesus commands it and wants us to receive it as a gift.
- Wait for the promise and you will be clothed in power.
- The baptism with the Holy Spirit is an equipping experience.
- Effective ministry of healings, deliverances, miracles
- Effective witness
- Jesus said, “ You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
- Effective prayer and spiritual warfare (Jude 20, Ro 8:26)
- “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph 6:18)
- Power to live a holy life (Ro 8:13)
- Having more power to continually put to death the deeds of the flesh and have a transformed life.
- Hearing from God to know His will
- Sensing and knowing what God is saying (Is 30:21) and doing through prophetic words, words of knowledge, wisdom, visions dreams.
- “To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to live in the relationship and resource of the Creator’s original intention for humankind.” -Pastor Jack Hayford
How do we receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit?
- Be born again – believe in Jesus, confess Him as your Savior, repent of your sins and completely surrender to His Lordship.
- Receive by faith - believe that God will fulfill all of His promises He has for you Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. ”(Jn 7:38-39).
- Be a surrendered disciple, desiring for God’s will to be done in your life.
- Prepare your heart (confess sin, repent, humble yourself, deal with any unforgiveness and bitterness).
- Ask someone who has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit to pray for you (Thursday night prayer, Sunday Morning Class: “The Crucified Life”).
- Keep asking and seeking until you receive… “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find’ knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Lk 11:9-10).
Conclusion: Every Christian can seek, expect and experience the same baptism with the Holy Spirit that was poured out on Pentecost in Acts 2. Even if you were baptized with the Holy Spirit in the past, continue to be refilled and receive more (Eph 5:18). Trust and remember that God rewards and blesses those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6).
Discussion Questions:
- What is your experience with the baptism with the Holy Spirit?
- What have you been taught?
- Where do you need God’s power and resource in your personal life and ministry?
