Shane Idleman emphasizes the vital role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, highlighting that the Spirit is a source of unity and empowerment, especially in times of persecution. He discusses the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit, which leads to a deeper relationship with Christ and manifests in the fruit of the Spirit. Idleman warns against both emotionalism and cold formalism, urging believers to seek a genuine experience of the Holy Spirit that transforms their lives. He challenges the congregation to examine their own spiritual state and to desire a personal Pentecost, where they are filled with the Spirit's power. Ultimately, he calls for a commitment to unity, humility, and a vibrant prayer life as essential components for experiencing the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Let's lay some groundwork. This topic, it divides. And I'm really springboarding off of Matthew 10, 20, what we talked about a few weeks ago. For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. And Jesus said, and actually that was future tense. He wasn't talking to the disciples right then. He was saying, in that day when I'm gone, and you're persecuted, don't worry about what you're going to say, because it's the Spirit, the Holy Spirit speaking through you. He'll show you how to answer. So Jesus was giving a future tense, a future application to Scripture, what was going to happen later on, when they are filled with the Spirit of God on Pentecost. So I kind of want to lay some groundwork. And I've noticed, this is interesting, the Spirit of unity, right? The Holy Spirit, always remember this, the Holy Spirit is never divided. So if there's division in the church, guess what? It's not the Holy Spirit that's divided against Himself. Somebody's out of whack here, out of kilter. The Holy Spirit doesn't divide against Himself. He's the Spirit of unity. So if we all came in, filled with the Spirit of God, with the fruit of the Spirit, that would be united. Unless there's somebody there, you know, a false teacher or something causing issues. So it begs the question, how is the Spirit of unity become the Spirit of disunity? The Spirit of unity, why is there so much disunity nationally, even globally on this issue of the Holy Spirit? Why is that, if He's the Spirit of unity? And that's really what we're going to talk about. And I like what A.W. Tozer said, if the Lord's people were only half as eager to be filled with the Spirit as they are to prove that they cannot be filled, the church would be crowded out. Isn't that true? If we were just as eager to prove that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit as to prove that we can't be, the churches would be crowded, ministers would be flourishing. But again, that's why this is a priority. The Holy Spirit leads us into a deeper relationship with Christ. So we look to the work of the Spirit in our own life to lead us to a bigger, broader relationship with Christ. A few scriptures on that, Romans 8, 9. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. So the Holy Spirit, this would be a whole other sermon on who is the Holy Spirit. Seeing the triune nature of God, which is, it's a mystery and it should be. How can we worship God as one distinct person? Here, Israel, here, I, the Lord, your God, am one. One person. God is one. Yet, theologians, you can't quite put a term on it, but the triune nature of God, which is pretty close to the triunity, the trinity, and that's where we get that word trinity from. From the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son, all coming together in perfect unison as the one essence there of God. And I don't want to use words here that might not represent the trinity well, so I'm very careful. It is hard to say three persons because they're not people, they're not persons. But there's three separate, distinct characteristics of the trinity, yet they're one. Does that make sense? I've seen people try to explain it as an egg, you know, an egg. You've got the shell, you've got the white, you've got the yolk, it's all one. But a lot of those things kind of, you know, you can't really use those things to compare the trinity, even though they help in our limited understanding. So that's what the trinity is, the triune nature of God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. And that's what sets Christianity different from many other religions. There are some groups that say what I'm saying right there with the trinity, three in one, is blasphemy to God. And I want to say, well, according to this, it's not blasphemy, it's truth. And even you can go to the beginning of Scripture in Genesis where it gives, it talks about God. You've heard the word Elohim, right? And that actually, that word, it comes from the singular L-E-L. And then you've got Ella, the plural, and then Elohim. The dual, this nature of God that encompasses more than the singular, the dual, the triune nature is even in His name, Elohim. So we see that throughout Scripture, so there's a constant pattern there. And what about the Scripture when it says, let us make man in our own image and according to our own likeness? What, is God confused? I mean, let us make man? So there's a trinity there. And that would be a whole other topic, but suffice it to say that the Spirit of Christ is the Holy Spirit. 1 John, and it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Acts 7, 51, you men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in your heart and your ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit. And this is interesting, this is why sometimes, and this is where it's a hard balance to find, because on one hand, you don't want to put too much emphasis on the Holy Spirit, right? And you get way out there in la-la land, you know, everything's the Holy Spirit, and you get weird. And in other churches, it's almost like they have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Word. They want to avoid it. Don't really talk about that, Shane. You know, come on, just... But the Bible talks that the Holy Spirit leads us. The Holy Spirit convicts us. The Holy Spirit draws us. The Holy Spirit comforts us. It's almost like it's God's nature working inside of man, yet we don't want to talk about that. It's God's Spirit residing in the believer. It's God's Spirit convicting the world of judgment, of sin, of righteousness. And here's one of the reasons why I think the enemy likes to really hit this topic hard. It's because boldness comes directly from the Holy Spirit. Boldness comes directly from the Holy Spirit. I didn't realize how many enemies I had until I became bold. To be quite honest with you. I mean, when I wasn't talking much about God in my twenties, man, love with the world, the world loved me, no issues. But when you're filled with the Holy Spirit, then the outflowing, I've got to witness. I've got to witness, I've got to speak boldly, I've got to speak truth, and you upset people. And the enemy does not like you coming against his kingdom, so I think this is one of the ways... One of the ways he gets in is by kind of messing up this whole idea of the Holy Spirit. He doesn't want us to be bold, but on the other hand, he kind of gives people too much freedom, where they think, well, if it's odd, it's God, anything goes, and it's the Holy Spirit moving. And you can excuse all kinds of ungodly behavior because the Holy Spirit told me to do it. And that's not biblical either. So we need to find a balance. And I wrote here, as I have before, the power of the Holy Spirit is like dynamite that ignites a hunger for God so intense that every aspect of life is changed. We become bold for Christ, not passive. We become stable in Christ, not fanatical. And we become more committed to Christ, not wavering. So you see why this is so important? The Holy Spirit inside the believer, as I'm filled with the Holy Spirit, out comes boldness, in comes stability. I'm not wavering. You're filled with the Spirit of God, so you're speaking truth. Lies are being changed, so why would we ignore this topic? But many churches are silent on it, or it's overly emphasized. If the Holy Spirit is overly emphasized, the relationship with Christ will suffer because we're not called to worship Him. He points me to Christ. Does that make sense? And in my own personal experience, I saw this. I was a Christian, kind of living carnal, just not really, you know, no passion for God, but I felt the conviction there. And then one day God began to just rip everything from me and finally said, OK, enough, I surrender. I surrender. And I was just filled with the Holy Spirit like nothing I've ever felt before. The Bible became a lie, I couldn't get enough. Jones Intercable, remember that group? Turn off my television. I just love this. I'm getting so much of the truth. The filling of the Holy Spirit was so apparent that I wonder if I was even saved. Because I went from, eh, no big deal, and now God is everything. Overnight, within a few minutes. And that filling of the Holy Spirit, I remember driving on Rancho Vista Boulevard, and I was just overcome with such joy. I mean, I almost had to pull over. Like, Lord, where's this coming from? I have so much joy and love, even though I'm going through hell. Where's that coming from? Oh, I know, it's the power of the Holy Spirit. And so that's why there's a passion for this, is because I can see it change lives. And also I can see it diminish lives if you're quenching and grieving the Spirit of God. And that we do that a lot. Not only through sin, because we think, oh yeah, I'm committing adultery or pornography. But if we just come in with a critical heart, we quench the Spirit of God. If we just come in negative and upset or gossiping, we just quench the Spirit of God. That's why this is so important. Actually, our relationship with the Holy Spirit affects more of our spirituality than we think. Second, only to salvation, I think this is the most important topic a Christian can be concerned with. And that might be a controversial statement, but salvation is way up there, number one. But number two, the fully surrendered life, a believer being filled with the Spirit of God, is right there up there at the top of the list. Because it affects everything. It affects how we treat our spouses. It affects how we treat others. Are we effectively when we witness? I mean, I listen to somebody witness without the power of the Holy Spirit, and I hear somebody witness with the power of the Holy Spirit. They say the same exact things, but there is a clear difference. One is saying, it's almost like saying, thus saith the Lord. The words have power. Everything is captivating. It's pulling the person in. This other person just sounds like a dead theologian who's teaching something in a seminary. What's the difference? The power of the Spirit in a believer's life. It's vitally important. Actually, the reason a lot of people are feeling dead and lethargic in the church is because of this topic. The reason there's fighting and there's complaining and there's bickering and God seems distant and the Bible is boring and I just need to get home and watch Dancing with the Stars. How do you read that thing every morning, let alone get up and pray and worship at your house? How do you do that? I don't do it. It's through the power and the anointing and the unction of the Holy Spirit. That's why it's so important. Take the Spirit of God away and all you have is lukewarm carnality. It's vitally important. But this is the acid test when we talk about the Holy Spirit. The acid test is fruit. Fruit. Not emotionalism. Not hype. They often say you can't whip up the Holy Spirit like a pep rally. God's got to bring it down into the life of a believer. Anytime you try to whip it up or manufacture it, you're in trouble because God's not in it. What does that look like, Shane? Turn on Christian television tomorrow and you'll see what that looks like in many cases, sadly. I mean, if we can just get louder. If we can just get the right terminology in there. Well, you don't need me to do it, but you know what they do. It probably wouldn't look too good doing that. But the acid test, really, when somebody says the Holy Spirit this or the Holy Spirit's moving, I want to see the fruit. What does your wife say about you? What does your spouse say about you? What do the kids say about their daddy and mommy? What do others say about you? When have you led somebody to the Lord? When have you spent two hours in prayer? Show me the fruit. I don't care how high you jump during worship. I want to know how straight you walk when you come down. That's the fruit. That's where the rubber meets the road. Is the fruit of the Spirit present? Well, what is the fruit of the Spirit? Many of us know, but is there love present? Truly, is there love? Because when I drift from this area, I know the Holy Spirit's not operating. Guess what's operating? The flesh. When I don't have true love for the brethren, when I have true unity there. Love. What's the next thing? Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. And I don't want to just glance over that. Let's just take inventory real quick. Don't raise your hand. Just be honest within your own heart. Because God knows. God will convict you right now. Are you impatient? Are you irritable? Are you upset? Has joy left your life? Guess what's happening? The Holy Spirit is not being given an area in your heart to rule and to reign. Because that's the fruit of the Spirit. I know. Man, when I'm walking with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness. Right? Not anger. Gentleness. Not explosion. Gentleness. When things don't upset, I'm walking in eggshells. Everything's irritating. The Holy Spirit's not present. He's being quenched. He's being grieved. And we have to wake up and we have to notice that. From my experience, and I know this sermon is going to offend some people, and I don't apologize. I just want to acknowledge that I know it does and it's supposed to. But from my experience, I've noticed that many who are very demonstrative and very emotional and very loose in this area of the Holy Spirit are also those that deal with the most fallout. Divorce. Moral failure. Burnout. Quarreling. Division. And so on. In other words, the more emotional and weirder you get, the more problems you have. From my personal experience. Of course, this isn't an absolute. I'm just saying from my personal experience, talking to many different groups, man, those that are like, wow, that guy's just overly something. Well, he's got a lot of... There's not a connection there. It's almost like emotionalism has replaced time in the Word of God and prayer and worship. And, you know, we get emotional, right? You look at the Dodgers, man. Shirts are off and they're painted blue down one side and this. And so, you know, what's going on there? He's a fan, right? But so is the guy next to him that's not wearing anything and sitting there eating his popcorn. But we always judge if you're emotional. That's where the spirit's at. Well, not necessarily. And from my experience, that's quite often the opposite, sadly. It's almost as if emotionalism has replaced much needed time with Christ in prayer, reflection, application and repentance. Emotionalism can't replace these things. Now, I also need a disclaimer in there because emotions are good. They're not a gauge for truth, though. They're a vehicle for expression. So when I feel emotional towards God, that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. But sometimes we judge each other too emotional. You know, they're out there and then they say, well, he's not emotional. He must not be filled with the spirit of God. Oh, my Lord. And we judge everything off emotions. I remember 10 years ago, I went to what would be considered a hyper Pentecostal church. Wow. I mean, laying down to see people preaching, you know, on the ground because anointing so strong. And I'm like, this is not good. I don't know why I came here. You know, wow. And guess who was accused of being quenching and grieving the spirit of God? Me. Me. You're surely. So I have to act like that to be filled with the spirit. I don't think so. That's not biblical. That was hooked to porn that was cheating on his wife and I was getting drunk tonight and they're doing all this weird stuff. So we have to be very careful in this. We don't gauge. We don't gauge the Holy Spirit by emotions alone. Granted, when God fills you with the spirit and you're filled with the spirit of God, you've conquered besetting sin. You're going to be a little emotional. I mean, we get people in here. They start crying. Lord, you've delivered me from crack cocaine for a year. I have to worship you. I haven't had a drink in 12 months. I have to worship you. That addiction has been gone. I have to worship you. And the tears fall and people get excited. They might even say, man, praise God. Thank you. Let's camp out at this worship song for the next 10 minutes. Is that OK? Absolutely. Not only is it OK, it's encouraged because that's genuine. It's not made up. It's not fake. It's not phony. That's the difference. That's the difference. Don't gauge it on emotionalism. And this is coming from a guy, I've told you before, who's not emotional. My dad, remember, he'd say, boy, you don't cry. You don't cry, boy. Get up. Work hard. Come on, blisters on our hands. No emotion. You can't even tempered. You know, that might be to my detriment. I don't know, but I'm conservative in some areas. But sometimes when God's moving in my heart, it's OK to let him know. There's nothing wrong with that as long as it's not emotionalism, as long as it's not trying to draw attention to yourself, as long as we also, and I should probably talk about this in the future, with this worship service. It's so interesting. I've had people leave and they say, you're too charismatic. And the charismatics leave and they go, you are so conservative. I don't even know. Do you guys do anything? It's like, well, what is it? Well, I'm caught in the middle. Too charismatic or too conservative? I don't know. We're just trying to honor God the best we know how. And a lot of times that's why God has given us different denominations, so we can worship God in our own way, as long as it's according to Scripture. But I want to talk about that area of worship, too, because it gets, you know, it does get brought up a lot. You know, people, you know, they often ask one of the questions is with the flags during worship and all that, and myself and the elders, we just don't see that environment for this church. It's not a bad thing. It could be a very good thing. But it's not the environment we're trying to foster here. We want people to just worship and not be distracted and not, you know, and all these things. It's more of a worshiping, not praise and worship. It's more of a worship service where we come and our hearts are bowed down. We're before God. We're praising Him. We're worshiping Him. And I've told them before, I might get to heaven. I might say, Shane, you should have flags. Okay, well, I'll let God tell me that. Not you. You know? And when I talk to the core team and they're saying, yeah, we don't feel like we're going that direction either. Let's just, you know. And so I think God gives us each individual types of services based on the character of those leading the church. Instead of judging and saying, oh, you're not filled with the Spirit. Really? You better check the fruit, not the actions. The fruit of the life. That's where the Holy Spirit is. So just remember that next time somebody you say, well, they're quenching and grieving the Spirit of God. Well, if they got a lot of fruit, we should shut our mouth and take note because there's fruit there. Emotions are a vehicle for expression, but they are not a gauge for truth. We want to make the environment here God honoring. We don't need to work it up. God needs to bring it down. And to be quite honest with you, that's a challenge. Because how do you worship God? But how do you also be sensitive to those not being distracting and being sensitive to unbelievers here and all that? People might say, brother, I don't care. I'm going to worship God. If they don't like it, they don't like it. Well, that's good at your house, but I don't know in a corporate worship setting. I mean, if Paul says don't speak in tongues, are people going to think you're out of your mind? Wouldn't that apply to other areas, too? I mean, there's a lot to consider here in the pages of Scripture to sit and just ponder all these things over. Now, this is funny, too, because dead churches say, amen, you get them. But the same can be said of dead churches. You're dead. You're cold. You're callous. You need to wake up. You need the power of the Holy Spirit as well, because you're dead and you don't even know it. True saints of God, listen to this, the true saints of God who have had clear heads and pure warm hearts have in all generations had to walk between the two extremes of cold formality on the one hand and wild, ranting fanaticism on the other. Dead formality and the false fire of fanaticism are both Satan's counterfeits. And he does not care into which extreme the soul plunges as long as it plunges. And that was by George Watson speaking on this topic of revival. And what he's basically meaning there is dead formality. Just dead, read the Bible, a couple songs, let's go to dinner. And they're just, man, what is it? Do you even believe what you're teaching? I mean, just dead churches, just dead as can be. Or the wild, ranting, fanatical things, both of them are counterfeits. And both of them Satan will use to take us further and further away from Christ if we're not careful. And it's hard to find that middle ground. As pastors, it's extremely hard to find that middle ground, if there so does exist a middle ground. But I think on one hand you want to be God-honoring, you want to worship Him, but at the same time be sensitive to those within our sphere of influence. And on this topic, if anybody has issues, definitely let us know. We're not going to think you're mean-spirited or anything because we're allowing God to move, yet we want to stay within the perimeters of His Word. And if the fruit of the Spirit is not present, or if the fruit of the Spirit was present, we would see a lot less division on both sides. Think about that. The thing we're arguing about, if we had the fruit of the Spirit in our life, love, joy, peace, contentment, long-suffering, gentleness, if we had these things, there would be much less division. Because true love looks past things that we might not agree with. True gentleness. We want to protect each other. When was the last time we said, I want to protect the people here, versus I want to nitpick and I want to put them down. You see how that works? If I came saying, listen, I want to protect you guys. I'm not talking about weirdness and going away from truth, but if we truly want to protect and love each other, versus pull each other down, you would see this issue kind of vanish in many circles. But we often avoid the fruit of the Spirit in the name of but. And what I mean by that is both sides. If we challenge the hyper fanatical side, hey, fruit of the Spirit, yeah, but, but, but, but, you're quenching and grieving the Spirit of God, man, you've got to just let it go. If it's odd, it's God. And they just throw in buts in there. Yeah, but Shane, but you're quenching and grieving the Spirit of God. And then you go to this side, real dogmatic conservative camp. You say, listen guys, man, I appreciate your heart for theology, but you are just as rigid as a piece of steel. You're mean spirited, you're angry, you're upset at everything. Look at you, you have no fruit of the Spirit. Yeah, but, but truth, but truth, but, but, but. So both sides, we often avoid the fruit of the Spirit with but. Yeah, I know what you said, but. So we have to be very careful in this area. I'm trying to lay down the groundwork, because now we're going to get into this, this whole topic of outpouring. Outpouring the story of Pentecost. So let's talk about this controversial topic. Why is everybody going nuts over this? Well, let's try to unpack this. And it's helpful to start at the beginning to gain a clear picture. So if you have your Bibles, if you don't, I'll read from Acts 2. Acts 2. When the day of Pentecost arrived. That's where the Pentecostal denomination gets their word, their, their, their, I guess their title or their denominational name from, from this text. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together. Oh, there you go. We're just talking about that. They're all together, right? In unity, not bickering, complaining, all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues of fire appeared to them. Oh boy, there's another controversial topic. We're not going to get out of this thing. And divided tongues of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. And I often wonder when people read this, are they embarrassed for the New Testament Christians? Hang on, those poor guys. Oh gosh. Holy Spirit fell and tongues of fire. Oh man, I could never sit in this group. If you do, that's a problem. Because we shouldn't be embarrassed about the early church. We should embrace the early church because they set the world upside down. Turned it upside down. Twelve to 120 and then 3,000 came to Christ. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now the word Pentecost means 50. And it comes from the holiday known as the Festival of Weeks in Leviticus 23, which instructed Israel to count seven weeks or 50 days from the end of Passover to the beginning of the next holiday, which was Shavuot. This was significant for Jewish Christians. Think about this. Because seven weeks or 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, during the celebration of Shavuot or Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out. So you have the Passover. And people say, well, what was the Passover? Jesus was the final Passover. The Passover lamb was crucified. And from that time he was crucified in the resurrection, from that they counted 50 days and here comes this Festival of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit falls on the disciples in a powerful way. This is unmistakable. I would keep reading, but we'll probably try to tackle that next week. But this presents the first divide in the camp right now, both sides, right? This whole issue of outpouring of Pentecost. And here's how the argument goes. Was Pentecost once and for all? You guys aren't aware of this, but this is another big divide. Many churches in this valley. Different sides on this. Was Pentecost once and for all? Oh, man, yes and no's and maybe's and I don't know. Well, here's the biblical answer. Was Pentecost once and for all? Yes, in regard to the historical aspect of the church being born. It happened on Pentecost, the church was born. But the ongoing need of the Spirit to empower God's people still occurs. What I call personal Pentecost. That ongoing need for God to empower His people. Now, here we go again. Here's where the debate goes as well. When people use the term, baptism of the Holy Spirit. You already get people wiggling in their seats like, man, I'm about ready to leave. Just hold on, hold on. When people use the term, baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's not a bad thing because it's in the Bible. But the different sides say, there's one baptism. Baptism in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. You're baptized in the body of Christ and that's it. There's no other baptisms of the Holy Spirit later. The other side says, yes, there's baptisms of the Holy Spirit later. The problem is on the terminology. If you look throughout Scripture, when the Bible talks about being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Remember John the Baptist said, there's somebody coming greater than me. I can't even loosen his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So the spirit baptism, this baptism of the Holy Spirit. Looking at Scripture, contextually, happens at conversion. When we are baptized into the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12, 13, Paul says that all Christians became members of Christ's body when they are baptized into the body of Christ. Their baptism, the baptism of the Holy Spirit when we become believers. But then Ephesians 5, 18 says, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't be drunk with wine. How are you drunk with wine? Drink, drink, drink, drink, drink. So how do you fill with the Holy Spirit? Drink in the worship, drink in the word. Even just that language probably sounds a little odd. But I'm not saying, you know, that kind of drink in whatever. I'm just saying more of the Holy Spirit, more of the Holy Spirit, more of the Holy Spirit. That's how you fill with the Holy Spirit. So in a nutshell, it's really an arguing over terminology. Because theologically, the baptism of the Holy Spirit happened at Pentecost. It happens at conversion when you're baptized into the body of Christ. But what happens later on down the line when people receive this mighty filling of the Holy Spirit. That they sometimes call the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit, the unction of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon them. And Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit after he was a believer. And Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit after he was a believer. And Jesus Christ was led into the wilderness, tempted, came out filled with the Spirit of God. Jesus, what? Was Jesus not a Christian before that? But through this temptation time, he came out in the fullness of the Spirit. Then his ministry began. So you do see a distinct. Many times it can happen at conversion. Where somebody's converted, they've got the fire, they've got the power of God in their life. Or it can happen later on down the line. Because what usually happens, many times they receive the Holy Spirit at conversion. Your believer received the Holy Spirit. But a lot of us, I don't know about you, but we like to hold on to a lot of our sin. I'm a believer, but I sure like to get drunk on the weekends. I'm a believer, but I still like that porn. I'm a believer, but I still like sex. And I'm a believer. We hold on to it. And I'm not giving God all of my life. Heck no, I got him right where I want him. And they quench and grieve the Spirit of God and they don't feel anything. They're not witnessing for Christ, they're a carnal Christian. And then the day comes when they surrender everything. Because God brings a prodigal home. They give it all to Christ and they are filled with the Spirit of God afresh. The Word of God becomes alive and they are filled. And they say, I don't even know if I was ever saved. What's the difference? The filling of the Holy Spirit. So you can call it the baptism. You can call it the unction. You can call it the indwelling power. Whatever you want to call it, you know if you have it or you don't. And just to show, I make sure not to bring any questionable ones. I mean like not conservative. But I can take you through. I can take you through all these resources of people who received a work of God after conversion. You want to start with George Whitfield's journals. You want to start with the Calvinist Methodist Fathers of Wells. It talks about hundreds of years of Welsh revivals. Do you want to talk about They Found the Secret? Which gives an account of Oswald Chambers to John Bunyan to Amy Carmichael. Of all these believers who received something after conversion. D.L. Moody was preaching. He said, my sermons were dead but when God met me in a powerful way on that street in New York City. I couldn't, I couldn't, I had to get out of the street. His power, his joy is filling me. And then I came out preaching. Then souls were converted. What do you do with that? What do you do with D. Martin Lloyd-Jones? Very conservative. A lot of conservative Calvinists like him. And I do too. But he talks his whole last chapter to preachers. Guess what it's called? He said, if you're going to preach, you better preach with unction. Demonstrating the power of the Spirit in preaching. His whole last chapter. This is one of the top ten books John MacArthur recommends. And this guy in the last chapter talks about a subsequent work of the Holy Spirit after conversion. Of those who surrender to it. He wrote a great book on revival. Then there's a book, Lectures on Revival, written in 1832. This guy, Sprague, who was conservative. And he documented all these things. So it's not just Shane up here going, oh, I wonder. This is countless. There's Christian testimonies. And they all go back to what Scripture says. This enduement of power. They were nobodies. God was boring. And then God visited them. He filled them with the Spirit of God. Now everything changes after conversion. So I don't care what you call it, but you better have it. You better have that power of the Holy Spirit in your life. And there's more. I could have brought ten other books of all the lives of people. I mean, this one they found, The Secret, is amazing. It's 20 transformed lives that reveal a touch of eternity. It's all the guys you like to read. Oswald Chambers, Adonai Judson, Hudson Taylor, John Bunyan, Amy Carmichael, Charles Finney, John Hyde, Dwight Moody, Andrew Murray. All these people who had an experience with the Holy Spirit sometime years after conversion. And they were saved. They were believers. Some of them were in seminary. Oswald Chambers was teaching in a seminary. But he said the board of God was dry. It was boring. And it wasn't until the Holy Spirit infused them and brought them that power in their life that real change took place. So it begs the question in the church today across our landscape. How many people still have not received that fulfilling of the Holy Spirit? That being filled, overflowing, because they have not surrendered all of their lives. They're carrying bitterness in their heart. They're carrying a critical spirit. They're holding on to besetting sin. They walk around as if they're everybody's judge and they critique everything. And they have this hard heart. And they wonder why they're not filled with the Spirit of God. That's why, folks. It can happen to me, too. I'm not pointing fingers. I'm saying all of us. All of us. And it's very interesting. Reading these books, I found a consistent pattern that is very telling. That when people would look for a pastor to come to their church, right? And come and listen to, you know, OK, we're calling this new pastor. They rarely asked, where did he go to school? Where did he get his master's degree? You know what they would ask? Has he received his baptism of fire? I thought that was very interesting. They want a pastor to come, 1800s, 1900s, early 1900s, who received his baptism of fire. I don't care if you have a Ph.D. from the best university. If you haven't received that infilling power and presence of the Holy Spirit, you cannot lead the people effectively. That's why this is so important. This is a very important topic. So that's the takeaway from this whole point. These people are all together. Then suddenly there came from heaven a sound. The filling of the Holy Spirit is evident. The filling of the Holy Spirit is evident. So evident that people wonder if they were ever converted to begin with. So that would be my challenge to you guys tonight. Ask that question. Because I'm either irritating or I'm confirming. This type of message either irritates or it confirms. People are going amen or they're going shut up and move on to the next message. I don't want that. How bad do you want it? How bad do you want it? Let's be honest. How much of God do you want? Let's just be honest. Because the outpouring, the story of the Pentecost can happen again. And I did this, I think back then when I taught in this Holy Spirit. But I want to ask this question again because it's vitally important. Let's just be honest. How many of us can truly say like Jeremiah, His word is in my heart like a burning fire. Is the word of God in your heart like a burning fire? I know you like to read the Bible now and then. So does Pharisees. So does Jehovah's Witness. So does the Mormons. They love to read the Bible now and then. But is the word of God in your heart like a burning fire? It has to come out. What about Jesus when he said, He who believes in me out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. Does your life have these rivers of living water? Or is it stagnant and dead and just God is distant. Bibles, you know. These are hard questions we need to ask. When John the Baptist said, Christ will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire. Do you know what he was talking about? See, I read these scriptures and they leap out to me. Yes, yes, I understand that fire. That's what's wrong with me. Thank God I read that scripture. That's what's wrong with me because the word of God is burning in my heart. It's been shut up in my bones. I have to read his word. I have to read church history. I have to read theology. I have to love people. I have to the fruit of the spirit of my life. I have to repent when I'm off track. Lord, thank God that confirms that fire, that belly. When I believed on him out of my belly flowed rivers of living water. People say I knew Shane then. That's not him now. People don't know me now. That's I don't remember. He didn't do that. Where is that difference from the power of the Holy Spirit? Get the very thing we need is the very thing people want to avoid. That's why Tozer said if people are just as willing to prove that they need to be filled as to prove that they don't need to be filled, the churches will be crowded. Ministries will be flourishing. And here's the truth. Many have had knowledge, but they have never truly experienced the power and the presence of God. You see, I'm not saying any of this. Please don't leave here saying Shane beat me up. I this is this is more of a cry and a pleading than a beating up. They say, Lord, we all need what I'm preaching to you is what I need. As it's going to you, it's coming back into my own heart. I'm rejuvenating my own heart. Lord, I need more of you. I need more of you. I need more of you. That's why sometimes we need a lot of worship. I went to a pastor's conference Thursday on little sleep. And and I just by the Alistair Begg was a keynote speaker. And I was wanting to be there, but I was so tired. I was up at two, three in the morning. First song worship. Second song. Third. And finally, the fourth song. Finally, man, I'm so glad I'm there. I broke through in my heart. My heart tell his heart who wanted to go home, wanted to go take a nap out in the truck. Unless you press through, unless you break through into that, you will never experience the power of God in your life. So the few questions I wrote down, I know we have truth here at Westside, but do we have power? I know we have truth, but do we have do we truly have power? I know we like to debate doctrine, but do we have the fruit of the spirit? I know we move our lips during worship, but have you ever wept during worship? Think about that for a minute. Some of the worship that people get all throughout the week, they might put a little air one on. But I'm talking about the only worship they really get is when they come in here. They sing four songs and then they go home. Folks, that's not worship. That's not worship. Have you ever put worship on at home and been broken before God? Oh, that's weird. I don't even call it weird. I'm glad I don't believe that way. I need him in him. I live and move and have my being. When was the last time you went during worship? Thinking about the condition of our children, the condition of our families, the condition of the church thing of God saved you, how Christ is put on the pedestal, how Christ is glorified, my relationship with Christ. Thank God for that. When was the last time? Never, never. Why is worship hard? You tell me, because the power of the Holy Spirit is being quenched and grieved. We read all about Pentecost, but have we ever experienced it? And here's why. My personal Pentecost, if you want this filling of the Holy Spirit, this indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, things need to occur. Number one, unity has to occur. They were of one accord. They were one accord. If you're not in harmony with God's people, if you're not in harmony with God's people, you will not be filled with the Spirit of God. You cannot be. That's a fruit of the Spirit, a very important one. Also, humility and dying to self. There must be a seeking. There must be a desperation. If you're sitting here going, I got that. Shane, you're getting a little far out there. I got all that. I'm good. There's no desperation. There's no desperation for the power of the Spirit. Something might be lacking. A guy that many conservatives like, C.H. Virgin, well, they should read all of his works on the Holy Spirit. I've got all the volumes on it. He used to walk to his pulpit every step saying, I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit. And then he would get up and preach to 6,000 people. We have to have that spiritual power in our lives. And then vibrant prayer and heartfelt worship. That's why we focus on all of these things. If you go, Wes, you guys kind of do it. Yeah, that's right. We're providing fertile ground for the Holy Spirit and for Christ to work and for people to have a deep, more intimate relationship with God. That's our mission statement. That's our goal. Not a lot of bells and whistles, not a lot of programs. We want to provide fertile soil for the Holy Spirit to work, not polluted soil. I want to read a comment from a man who was struggling last year. I think I talked to him two years ago. He said, I'd become someone I never thought I would become. I was in complete darkness. I would sleep in my clothes for as long as I could. I began wishing that I would die. The emotional pain was unbearable. Now let's read his comments after he fully surrendered his life and was filled with the Holy Spirit. I only wish that everyone could feel the love that I experienced. I'm able to forgive others and genuinely love them. I feel like I've been reborn. Elusive peace has now been found. That's why God said, you will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart. And I just want to encourage you guys. You know, we say, and I say this too, if I could just try harder, if I could just do this, if I could just do that. Do you ever say that? You ever beat yourself up about your kids, about parenting, whatever it is on the job? We just say, if I could just try harder, I could do this, I could do that. But the problem is, I'm a broken person and so are you. A broken clock can't fix a time. A broken wife can't fix her daughter and a broken husband can't fix his son. We're broken people, folks. That's why it doesn't work. Only the Holy Spirit in perfect union with Christ can repair damage, rebuild lives, and lead us in the right direction. How? Through the filling of the Holy Spirit. Our personal Pentecost, through the filling of the Holy Spirit. That's how that works. And one thing Spurgeon always used to say, too, is no matter what sermon it was, you have to make a beeline to the cross. You have to make a beeline to the cross, to Christ, and everything is about Him. And on this sermon, Acts 2, it goes on to say that when Peter actually preached on Pentecost, and he said, he lifted up his voice to them and said, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is the only third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. In the last days, God declares, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Has this ended, or is it still going on? Wait till next week. And your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and on my female servants in those days, I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy. And I shall show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor and smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, that great and magnificent day. Peter's first servant wouldn't be very popular today, would it? And he didn't finish there. He said, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Not might, not could be, not you throw your little dice and try it out. God says you will be saved. So I can't just leave you guys hanging with the power of the Holy Spirit. I have to let you know as well that if you've never repented of your sin, you've never embraced the cross, you've never embraced Christ, like Peter said, it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you've never called on his name, guess what? It's a beautiful time to do it tonight during worship. You just call on his name and say, Lord, I need you. I need you. There's power in saying, Christ, I need you. Forgive me of my sin. I need you. I acknowledge you. And then from that, you can experience the filling of the Holy Spirit. So I just want to encourage you, if you've been coming to church for years or you've been riding your parents' coattails or you've been doing good things, none of that matters. None of it matters. It's all good. But none of it matters when it comes to salvation. Salvation is man crying out to God and saying, Lord, I need you to save me. And he will. That's a prayer that he will answer. Let me close as the worship team comes up. Lord, we are so thankful for the power of your Spirit. Lord, but we don't worship the Holy Spirit. We worship you. We worship your Son. Lord, he just points us to you. Lord, I, for one, I don't want to keep saying prayers like this and people aren't changed. Lord, we don't want to just leave here the same way we arrived. I pray that you convict hearts tonight, Lord, starting with mine. I need to be more filled with the Spirit of God. Lord, I need more of you. I need more humility. I need more gentleness. I need more self-control. Lord, and not letting our attitudes and temper get the best of us. Lord, I need gentleness and meekness. I need the filling of the Holy Spirit. Lord, would you fill us afresh tonight? We're not afraid of that. Lord, to be filled with your Spirit is a wonderful thing. But I know there's people worried about that. I know there's people afraid. I know there's people uncertain. Lord, just remove all of that. Remove all of their doubt during worship tonight as we cry out to you. Lord, this isn't emotionalism. This is people hungry for more of you. We desperately need you. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.