Pentecost, and The Holy Spirit

Speaker Notes Hell - Part 4

Collect for Pentecost

O God, who on this day didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people by sending to them

the light of thy Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things,

and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior,

who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Acts 1:4-8

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

2 Timothy 1:6-7

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Pope Leo XIII encyclical - Rerum novarum, or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor (15 May 1891) WiKIpedia link

Don Basham - “The Baptism in the Holy Spirit”, page 62 Chapter 17:

What is the baptism in the Holy Spirit meant to accomplish in us?

Essentially, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a doorway leading from a natural realm into a supernatural realm of life and experience. The average Christian, although truly professing Christ, operates largely on his own power, making his own decisions, living by his own strength, and controlling his own life. But through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the Christian steps out of this natural realm into a realm where he can begin to experience the supernatural gifts and powers of God's Holy Spirit.

The following testimony of one who recently received the baptism in the Holy Spirit is typical of many:

For years I had been a faithful church member. I' came to worship, I listened to sermons, I worked on committees, I served in every way I knew how, yet I was not satisfied. When I heard about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I knew this was something I really needed. And when I received it, Jesus became much more real to me. Everything changed! I began to love people. The church services suddenly came to life. All the hymns and prayers became almost unbearably sweet. The sermons sounded as if we had a new minister, only he had been saying the same things all along. I was the one who was changed.

Bill Wilson Conversion:

“My depression deepened unbearably and finally it seemed to me as though I were at the very bottom of the pit. I still gagged badly at the notion of a Power greater than myself, but finally, just for the moment, the last vestige of my proud obstinacy was crushed. All at once I found myself crying out, “If there is a God, let Him show Himself! I am ready to do anything, anything!”

Suddenly, the room lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy which there are no words to describe. It seemed to me, in the mind’s eye, that I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. Slowly the ecstasy subsided. I lay on the bed, but now for a time I was in another world, a new world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a wonderful feeling of Presence, and I thought to myself, “So this is the God of the preachers!” A great peace stole over me and I thought, “No matter how wrong things seem to be, they are still all right. Things are all right with God and His world.”

Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me (Daniel Iverson, 1926):

Spirit of the Living God,
Fall afresh on me,
Spirit of the Living God,
Fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.
Spirit of the Living God,
Fall afresh on me.

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