 Today, we're in John chapter 7. We're going to look at verses 37 through 39. And so, let me begin reading at verse 37. I'll read to verse 39 and we'll get into our study. Living water. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. The Holy Spirit had not fallen, Pentecost had not occurred. Jesus had not died on the cross, had not been resurrected, ascended to heaven and had yet to send the Holy Spirit. So verse 39 simply tells us this is a word that is spoken in a prophetic sense concerning what would take place when he sent the Holy Spirit. So let's build this up right now. Let's lay out a context for us to understand what's taking place. And then I'm going to lead to those verses and seek an application for us today as we conclude our study. So beginning with the context and the introduction, Jesus is now celebrating one of the seven major feasts of the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel celebrated seven specific major feasts. And this particular feast is called the Feast of Tabernacles. And Tabernacles was celebrated in memorial of Israel's deliverance from Egypt. And it was a celebration of the end of the autumn harvest. And so that's the setting. It's the Feast of Tabernacles. During Jesus' time the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated for eight days. In Leviticus you see in the Old Testament chapter 23 verse 36, for seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly and you shall do no customary work on it. And so they were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, an eight day feast. And the purpose of the feast is basically twofold. One it was to remind Israel how they had dwelt in booths as they were journeying from Egypt. They had no place to live yet. They were wandering so they dwelt in booths. And in Leviticus the Bible tells us in chapter 23 verse 43 that God told Moses the reason for the feast. He said that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. So God wanted Israel to remember that he brought them out of Egyptian bondage. And Tabernacles reminded them that he can release them from bondage as well as from chaos. Now that we know is perfectly fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ because he sets us free and he delivers us from bondage, from chaos. He delivers us from sin and he delivers us from death. And so one it reminded them how they dwelt in booths but also it was to celebrate the end of the harvest. This final harvesting of crops actually typifies the resurrection of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Jews would make booths out of palm tree fronds and the boughs of leafy trees and they would carry branches of the trees as they entered into the temple. And they took that from Leviticus 23 verse 40 you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Well on the last day of the feast the people would have what is called a holy convocation. They would gather in the inner temple court. They were in front of the altar of sacrifice. The people would be divided into three sections. There would be those who remained for the morning sacrifice. Some would build a canopy of palm fronds for the altar of sacrifice and others would join a procession led by the priest and they went down to the pool of Siloam which is to the south in order that they might draw water. Every time we go to Israel we go to this particular pool, the pool of Siloam. And so we have Bible studies there and so they would go there and the priest would draw some water with a golden pitcher. It was filled with two pints of water and they would bring it back in procession to the inner temple. In the morning the priest would go to the pool of Siloam, he would draw that water and that water was to remind them that God provided water for them when they were in the wilderness. You see when the children of Israel left Egypt they were journeying through the wilderness for 40 years. In the book of Exodus in chapter 17 verses 1 through 6 it says, all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the wilderness of sin according to the commandment of the Lord and they camped in Refideem but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses and said, give us water that we may drink and Moses said to them, shut up. No Moses said to them, he probably wanted to. Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted for water and the people complained against Moses and said, why is it that you brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst? So Moses cried out to the Lord saying, what shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, go on before the people, take with you some of the elders of Israel, also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock and orb and you shall strike the rock and water will come out of it that the people may drink and Moses did so in the side of the elders of Israel. The water, the water reminded them of God's provision and also for God's gracious provision for rain. Israel, when you go to Israel, you'll see this, is a very dry and thirsty land. It has no main water source. The Jordan River is small and during the summer it's so shallow and thin. I don't know what the word would be, it's not much distance between one shore to the next that you can almost jump over it in some sections. Just leap right over, it's very small. The children of Israel had come out of Egypt when they were in bondage and Egypt is a main water source for the Egyptians. But when God brought the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and brought them to Israel, he told them, I'm going to provide water for you to drink from the clouds of the sky. You're going to drink rainwater because the Jordan River there isn't sufficient, was not sufficient like the Nile to provide that kind of water for them. So he said, the water from the sky, the rain is going to be a symbol of my grace. I will cause my rain to fall upon you. You'll depend on me through your seasons and never forget who I am. You see, in Deuteronomy 10, that's what it says. Rather, Deuteronomy 11, 10 through 12, it says, the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you've come, where you sowed your seed, watered it by foot as a vegetable garden. The land which you cross over to possess is the land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. The rain, even to this day, by the way, for the Jew is a symbol of God's gracious provision for them. And when they go through drought, they actually get greatly concerned because they know that they cannot survive without the rain from God. So it's extremely important for survival. You can die if you don't drink water. You can die within a week. So worshipers would accompany the priest. They would march in a procession. They carried branches. They returned to the temple as the morning sacrifices being offered. It's one of those processions that's joyous. The people were singing. There was music playing. It was just filled with dancing. We've seen that too when we've been in Israel. There are days when they're going to be having bar mitzvahs. And we've had processions of the young boys that are being entered into their bar mitzvah. And they come by, and they're shouting, and they're cheering, and they're clapping, and they're going to the western wall, and they're singing. And so we've seen these processions, and they're very joyful. And so this was taking place. They entered through what is called the Water Gate, and they were reciting Scripture. And one Scripture that was associated with the Holy Spirit being poured out on Israel was recited. They had 12 verses 3 where it says, Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. And so there they are reciting and singing Scripture. The priest is carrying the water to the altar. The worshipers are holding palm branches. They're singing what is called the Halal, Songs of Praise. They're singing from Psalm 113 to Psalm 118, and they enter the court. And as they enter into the court, you have to picture it in your mind's eye. They begin to shout, and they begin to raise the branches towards the altar. And the priest begins to pour out the water into a funnel there on the side of the altar. And as he's doing so, the people begin to shout for him to raise his hand. They want to make sure that he pours the water into the silver funnel, and not a single drop is wasted. And as he's beginning to pour the water out, the people begin to sing. Psalm 118 verse 1, O give thanks to the Lord. Psalm 118 verse 25, Take now, O Lord, I pray. O Lord, I pray, send prosperity. And so you can see this is taking place. And it's not difficult to figure out what part of the ceremony Jesus now interrupts. God is answering their prayer, even though they're simply singing as a ritual. And as this is about to take place, as they're pouring the water and the people are beginning to sing, O Lord, I pray, send prosperity. At that moment, verse 37, Jesus stood and he cried out. And he cried, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now notice, I'm going to take this apart for you now, and we're going to look at it in a moment, make some application. But I want you to notice this first. Notice how it says Jesus stood. So when Jesus stands, remember I've shared with you that a rabbi would normally sit with his disciples while he taught. But now Jesus is standing so that all can see him, and he's shouting so all can hear him. In verse 37, when it says he cried out, that word cried, he cried out, carries the connotation of a loud cry, but it also carries the potential for emotion. So he's not just shouting, there's a passion in his voice as he's crying out. He's crying out with emotion, and he's issuing an invitation. And notice what he says. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. That is an invitation. If anyone, if anyone, anyone has an inclination, if anyone has a desire, if anyone has this thirst, let him come to me. So he's calling to anyone and issuing an invitation. It's like what it says in Isaiah 55 verse 1. Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. Or Isaiah 44-3, I will pour water on him who's thirsty, floods on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your offspring. He's issuing an invitation. That invitation he's giving then applies to us now. If anyone thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. It's an invitation for the thirsty soul. It's an invitation for the person who is busy being religious but still unfulfilled. Because these people are doing the religious ritual thing, who's to judge their hearts, but they're still thirsty. And so he's making it clear as you're watching him pour that water, that water, well, we'll have to do this ritual again. But if you come to me and drink, you'll never thirst again. Your ritual religion will never satisfy your thirsty soul. This is a religious festival. This is occurring during a time of great celebration. So what does that show us? It shows us it's possible to be part of a religious celebration and still be completely dry inside. You can come to an Easter service. And I think that on Easter there's just a very special, special anointing on Easter services. I really do. I think Christmas and Easter, but especially Easter when we're celebrating the resurrection of Christ. And people will come to church and churches are packed out. Our church is packed out on Easter Sunday, especially pulling out extra chairs everywhere. And the worship for some reason always seems to be a little more anointed in some ways, doesn't it? I mean there's a lot of joy, a lot of celebration. There's a lot of that. There's a lot of people that weep during Easter services all. It moves them so much. I've seen that so many times in our own fellowship. It's just an exciting, wonderful time. And yet I give invitations and people get saved. Why? Because they were thirsty. Even in the midst of a celebration, guys, even in the midst of a church service with people who are singing praises to God, they may themselves even be looking at the words on the screen singing along with it. And sometimes very openly and heartily and all of that. But they're still empty. It's very easy, guys. It's very easy to become ritualistically Christian, to be religious on the outside, to do the right kind of thing, and yet to be empty inside. It is possible to participate in a church service, but your spirit is still dry and it's still thirsty. You see sometimes people substitute the spirit's work in their life. They substitute it with religious activity. And religious ritual is empty. It doesn't satisfy you. It doesn't quench your thirst. If we only trust in outside religion, we will be spiritually empty. That's because religion alone can't meet our deepest longings. What it does is it dresses up the outer man. It touches up our outside, but it doesn't speak to our inner person. It doesn't reach us in the innermost being. And so Jesus is saying that if anyone thirsts come to me and drink, and the thirsty soul will be satisfied in coming to me and believing in me, your deepest thirst will be forever quenched. It's like what we saw earlier in John 4.14, whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. And so he's making a promise and he's giving an invitation. And he says that again, verse 37, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink, not to religion, not to religious faith, come to me and drink. And then he says, he who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Let me give you four applications to this. Four things that you can get from this. One, Jesus promised to satisfy man's spiritual thirst. Again, spiritual thirst is not satisfied in religious ritual alone. I wonder how many people in this church went to church as kids, maybe all your life, and still were unsaved. I wonder how many in this church. I was that way, perhaps you were too. Went to church on Sunday, did the religious rituals, whatever your church demanded you did. Me, I was a Catholic. So I did the religious ritual of that particular branch of faith. And I got my baptism, got my confirmation, you know, my Holy Communion. I did those things, and I went to church. I went regularly until I was 13 years old. I got my confirmation, but my life was not changed. There was nothing about me that would make you think I was a Christian. But if you talk to me, I would have told you I was one because I'd been baptized, because I had received communion, because I did the sacrament of penance and because I had been confirmed. And so I would have told you I'm a Christian, just not practicing the way I will one day. I would have told you that. And I did say that when people would speak to me about religion. But I was a ritual believer. I believed in certain rituals, but I didn't have relationship with him. Religion always keeps you just trying thirsty. It never satisfies. So he promises, Jesus promises to satisfy your spiritual thirst. He will quench it. In Colossians in chapter 2 verses 16 and 17, Paul said it like this. He said, Let no one judge you in food or in drink or regard in a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come. But the substance is of Christ. These are only shadows. They're not the real thing. Jesus is the real thing. One, Jesus promises to satisfy your spiritual thirst. Two, he promises that he will satisfy your deepest inner need. I was taught when I first got saved that Jesus Christ would quench my deepest spiritual thirst, my deepest inner longing. He would refresh me. And I was taught that my faith in Christ, that by faith in Christ my life could have evidence of his residence within me, that he would transform me and that the habits of the flesh could be put to death, regarded as dead, that sin would no longer have dominion over me and that I could have a satisfying life. Am I saying that the day I got saved I became completely mature? One day I was David Rosales. The next day I was Billy Graham. No, what I'm saying is that I began a journey towards transformation that began by receiving Christ and the daily refreshing of the Holy Spirit that enabled me as a young kid to begin to grow into maturity. And I was told that the Holy Spirit is still active in people's lives and that he could fill me and that he could work within me. And so when I got saved I was introduced to expectation to know that God would work deeply within me and transform me. I came to know that because Jesus satisfies your inner need, the deepest ones that you have. I remember when my wife Marie was baptized in the Holy Spirit. We were at a woman's retreat and Marie obviously was at the woman's retreat. I went and I was in a cabin there as she was with the ladies and Randy Walls who was one of my assistants at the time was with me and a couple of others. And Marie came into the cabin after their evening service and June Hesterly, a very dear saint we love very much, June had given the evening teaching and Marie comes walking in and I'll never forget that. And she's very excited. She says, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit today. You see when she was first saved I'll tell a little story if you don't mind. It's story time. Relax. Here we go. When we first got saved I took her to a Pentecostal church called Melody Land. I wonder if any of you have even heard of it. How many of you have heard of it? Just a few of you have Melody Land. She hadn't been baptized. And so they had a Sunday night baptism and I took her and we weren't married yet. And Marie was raised in a very devoted Catholic home. Her mother, very devoted Catholic. I mean so devout that when Marie was asleep her mom would come in with holy water and sprinkle it on her. And she was that way. And so very devout and now Marie's dating this Protestant which didn't really set well with mom at all. Now I'm taking Marie to church and Marie comes home with her hair dripping wet because she got water baptized and I still remember when she was baptized that the fellow that performed the baptism or did the follow-up, I forget which was started saying to her, speaking tongues, speaking tongues, speaking tongues. Marie had no clue what he was talking about and then he started making some sounds and it really was more unnerving than anything and she wanted just to get out of the water. But she got water baptized and she's now got soaking wet hair and I drive her home and I still remember pulling into the driveway and she's sitting there and her hair's soaking wet and I know what her mom's going to do the minute she walks in. She's going to freak out and so I turned to her and I said do you want me to go in with you? She says no and I said okay and I left and I got out of there. I'm burning rubber down the street. I'm out of here. Her mom freaked out on her got so upset at her over that that's when she was baptized with water. So that kind of turned her off to the work of the power of the Holy Spirit in her life so a couple of years later we're married now, we're at a retreat and June Hesterly prayed for her and I still remember when Marie came walking into the cabin how she said I speak in tongues now I speak in tongues and she actually was gifted by the Lord not everybody speaks with tongues by the way I'll show you that in just a minute but she received the gift of tongues and change and there was a power that came upon my wife that's what Jesus is talking about he's talking about us having water within us that's a water of life and that religion itself doesn't produce that there's a faith in Christ if you believe in him out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water this he spoke of the Holy Spirit who was yet to come but that's what he was promising that his power would be in you that his power would be resident within you that the thirst of your soul would be quenched and that Jesus would be the one who satisfies you because he's the fountain of living water and he's saying this I can fill your empty soul I can quench your spiritual thirst well how can I have this because I do have a thirst how can I have this well he says it in verse 38 if anyone believes in me he doesn't say if anyone works to get to know me he says if anyone believes in me so I come to him and I ask and I believe him and I take him at his word in Luke 11 verses 11 through 13 he said if a son asks for bread from any father among you will he give him a stone or if he asks for a fish will he give him a serpent instead of a fish or if he asks for an egg will he offer him a scorpion if you then be an evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him there are still church methodologies that put so many stumbling blocks and obstacles before you you have to pray for an hour you need to do certain things you need to be baptized with the Spirit Jesus didn't say will not your heavenly Father give you the Spirit if you ask him it's a matter of saying Father Father I am thirsty my soul is parched and I need your living water again I was introduced to that when I first got saved I've been asked by people recently more than once how is it that you've remained faithful to the Lord as a Christian for all of these years and I never realized the number of years that I have been following the Lord I never really think about it I only recently have begun to think about it how have you stayed faithful almost 49 years to the Lord the power of the Holy Spirit the power of the Holy Spirit because he quenches your deepest inner longing he fills you with his presence and he refills you refreshes you daily as you open your heart to him as you wake up in the morning and you say Lord the days before me fill me with your spirit I want to live for you today I hunger for you and I thirst for you and I desire you I want to serve you and I've been doing that now for many many many years daily God I just want to serve you I want to follow you God I just want to be used by you fill me with your presence Jesus said if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture is said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water and a fourth thing notice this out of his heart will flow rivers of living water God intends to use us to encourage others to give him the spirit he satisfies our soul but we overflow to other people you see by the power of his spirit we minister to those who are thirsty in Revelation 22.17 the spirit and the bride say come let him who hears say come whoever is thirsty let him come whoever wishes the water of life if you're thirsty come if you wish to come and take of it take of it the water of life so I'm going to show you some things in a moment but I'll begin that by saying in verse 39 but this he spoke concerning the spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified Pentecost had yet to occur you see at Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell upon the 120 and they were empowered they were baptized by the Holy Spirit and they were empowered and this water of life this power of the Holy Spirit began to flow through the disciples and that power continues to flow to this day you see when the Holy Spirit begins to work in you there is fruit that is demonstrated by your life the power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit becomes evident in the way that you live in the things that you do and I was thinking about this today I was thinking what is the evidence that I've been that a person has been baptized by this Holy Spirit let me share a few things with you of course this isn't intended to be a thorough explanation of his works and our lives but there are things that you'll see and I want to highlight these things because if I were being interviewed and somebody were to be asking me what do I see is a weakness in the church and I don't like to be always pointing out the weaknesses of the church but as a pastor I have concerns I should I'm supposed to that's what we do we have concerns for people if we don't then we're really not shepherds at all are we we're just hirelings when you love the Lord and you love his people you're going to be concerned for not only your own self you're going to take care of your own life but you're also going to be concerned for others so if somebody asked me what do I see lacking in the church today I would say this I would say the power of the Spirit I would say that in many churches the body of Christ and I want to be an encouragement to us tonight I want to be an encouragement to you I don't want to come off in a condemning way and I know that it can because I feel so fiercely about this that it can forgive me if it comes off that way but it is something in my heart that's very real I believe that if somebody to say we're to say Pastor David you've been around for a while what is it that's different about the church today than when you first got saved I would say that I believe that a lot of people are trying to live for Jesus in their flesh and not by the power of the Spirit Marie and I had a great opportunity I took a week off that's a nice thing to do once in a while and I took a week off last week we went and spent three days with Mike and Sandy McIntosh Mike's been around for a long time and he's a very dear friend of mine and Sandy's very dear friend of Marie's and we're close as a couple and all so they invited us to come and spend a couple days with them so we did and it was just it was fun Mike's been around for a long time Mike's been a Calvary Chapel Minister for a very long time he planted a church in San Diego back in the early 70s and started with seven people in a year they had a thousand people his church continued to grow they birthed well over a hundred churches from his ministry and he's retired from full-time ministry a few years ago but he still goes out and does work serves the Lord and when my first was a pastor in the church he would be one of the speakers very often that spoke at the pastors' conferences and he influenced me tremendously by the stories of faith that he had to share with us and there's so many stories I'll give you just one as an example and then go on with this he was sharing how that he was in Uganda many years ago now in the early 80s and while in Uganda he was doing some ministry with some of the some of the guys from his church he was very dangerous even then very dangerous to the point where they were going through a small village when there was they could hear gunfire and there were there were actually guerrilla military personnel that had entered into the small village and were beginning to kill the people in the village and Mike was in that village and he said he and one other guy were trying to find a place of escape because they were coming in and killing people and a door opened up and a man told him and his friend to come in and they came into the house and the man closes the door and he says you've got to get out of here because they're going to come to this door and as Mike says as he was stepping through one of the small rooms there you heard the door of this man's little kind of like a hut it was kicked open and then he said I hear the the AK-47 and as he slaughtered the people in the house and he said I knew for sure I was dead and they got out the back door and they began to make their way through a small dirt alleyway he says and there's all these soldiers running to and fro and we're so afraid he said we're going to die he said and we're hiding behind a car and we look at the bumper of this car and this you have to be an old timer I don't know if you know this one but Greg Laurie was an artist I don't know if you know this maybe some of you do maybe you don't Greg Laurie and Kathy are artists and Greg came up with a cartoon figure called Ben Born Again and he had a living water bumper sticker that we used to have on our cars Mike was in Uganda hiding behind a car Ben Born Again bumper sticker on it and he says it was like the Lord saying I'll take care of you and on there he's told a story after story yes obviously he got away because I was at his house the other day but story after story after story and we were talking amongst ourselves about what made the early days of our walk with God so unique so I'm sharing with you it was the power of the Holy Spirit it was it listen we didn't go to Bible studies and then find a place to drink coffee afterwards not that that's bad I don't think it is frankly but what we did is we would go to Bible studies regularly more than once a week and we would stop at a house one of the guys houses we would sit on the carpet hold hands pray we would talk about what we learned that night amongst us we would sing songs and we'd share testimonies that was my life that was my early days and then I'd go to bed and I would read several chapters of the Bible and I would go through it and that was my beginning of my spiritual life and that wasn't unusual we were Jesus freaks that's what we were Jesus wasn't our ritual religion he was our everything like what Paul said for me to live is Christ it wasn't part of my life Christianity wasn't something I did a couple times a week it was who I am every day it was my life being changed from being in drugs and alcohol and all the rest to a brand new life of talking about Jesus Christ with people and I knew and I learned early that I could become dry so I need to be filled I need to receive and be filled and pursue it has to be daily it has to be my daily life so if you thirst Jesus said it starts from inside of you is there a thirst in you is there something inside of you that says God I just want to know you and people today to be afraid of becoming fanatics and weird and crazy guess what that's what they called us that's what they spoke of us and said we weren't out there running around being crazy we weren't we were just being changed and the people who said those hippies they'll amount to nothing those hippies are just their loss they're useless they don't work they don't cut their hair some of those stinky smelly lazy hippies became some of the most influential pastors in the United States because our lives were changed their lives were changed from crazy men like Raul who would beat everybody up just to start the day from guys like Mike McIntosh who thought half of his head was gone because someone had fired a pistol next to his ear and he thought that half his head was gone and he went to Chuck and said could you pray for me half of my head is gone and Chuck prayed for him and he was healed and he went out to do great works so many I could begin mentioning men you know that God grabbed hold of and it wasn't because they became Calvary Chapel it was because they were filled with the Holy Spirit it's because the Holy Spirit grabbed hold of people's lives and transformed us then we were hungry for him we were thirsty for him that's called Christianity that's what it is it isn't putting on ritual that's what Jesus is addressing it was living with God in the center of their being in the core of their being it was the power of the Holy Spirit and he changes us and what does he do well when you read the book of Acts I'll give you a few things one, when you drink of this water he gives you the Holy Spirit power that you might be his witness you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the utmost parts of the earth you begin to share about Christ you begin to share about what he's done, who he is what he can do in somebody else's life we didn't in the early Jesus movement and again, please, I'm not waxing nostalgic I'm just trying to give context in the early movement in the early Jesus movement we celebrated the ministry of evangelists like Luis Palau Billy Graham and there were others like them not of the magnitude of Billy Graham but there were a lot of evangelists but we were taught evangelism we were supposed to do it we didn't rely on somebody else to go out and do it for us we did it ourselves because the Holy Spirit filled me and made me a witness that's how it works I think today we're forgetting that I think today we're starting to celebrate only one gift or one office the evangelists and we'll all go to see the evangelists, no, you are the evangelists you are you tell your parents you tell your friends your neighbors, it's you who does it it's you because you know them and when they give their hearts to Christ you disciple them you have relationship with them they may go hear a man like Greg or Luis or whomever they may go hear them but they know you they'll watch you you'll have an influence in them you're supposed to do that you shall be witnesses to me Jesus said that's you that's your work every member in this church is supposed to be a minister every member is a minister we all have things we can do for Christ and the Holy Spirit baptizes you you're his witness remember the same apostles who hid from the authorities when Jesus died they were hiding out of fear those same men became courageous their lives were changed and their message was delivered with boldness you see it through the book of Acts it's filled with examples of them preaching in Acts chapter 4 and verse 8 that verse speaks of Peter being filled with the Spirit and he says and he preached boldly and when he was told to stop speaking and he went on to say we cannot but speak the things which we've seen and heard we cannot help but do that and you're asking me to be quiet and I can't I was in a college class a secular college Cal Poly Pomona and we'd give an opportunity I would share and this guy I still remember this guy seated next to me finally turned to me after a few weeks of class I guess he'd gotten tired of me because he turned and he said to me can't you answer a question without quoting a scripture and I said no I said because I said you quote whatever source inspires you when the teacher calls upon you and you speak you quote whatever it is that inspires you I said I can't help it if I quote scripture because that inspires me and that's how it is out of you shall flow rivers of living water it's not something that you sit down and say okay give me a scripture it's not that way because Jesus said that he will give you words and wisdom that none of your enemies shall be able to gain, say, nor resist he said it is the spirit of your father who speaks and so what I learned to do a long time ago is just to relax and weigh on the Lord he'll give me something to say and I'll say it and that's what happens that comes through the power of the Holy Spirit a second thing we see if you've got the power of the Spirit in your life you have spiritual gifts he's the one who gives the gifts to believers as he determines including the gift of tongues acts chapter 2 verse 4 says they were all filled with the Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance and so the gift of tongues is one of the gifts that God can give if you're interested in the gifts of the Spirit spend time looking in Romans chapter 12 verses 6 through 8 Corinthians chapters 12, 13 and 14 Ephesians chapter 4 first Peter chapter 4 they speak of spiritual gifting if you're interested in what gifts the Lord may have gifted you with or has gifted you with read those portions and say, God do I have this, is this what you've given to me and then when you discover them begin to exercise them a third thing that I see that happens when you're filled with the Spirit when the Spirit comes upon you and strengthens you as you become stable you desire teaching you expect God to move in Acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 47 they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayer fear came upon every soul many wonders and signs were done through the apostles now all who believed were together and had all things in common sold the possessions and goods continued daily with one accord in the temple breaking bread from house to house they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved all of this took place because of the power of the Holy Spirit they were in the Word of God they were continuing steadfastly in fellowship there were things that were evidences if you've been filled with the Spirit those are going to be the things that become what you're known for stability a desire for teaching a faith filled expectation for God to move a generosity of heart a joy filled spirit these are the things you saw in the early church you might want to read Acts again and you'll see that here's another thing that probably can be addressed for just a moment through this today saying Lord what are the evidences here's another thing if a person is walking in the power of the Spirit is baptized in the Spirit is filled with the Spirit a fourth thing you lose your prejudices towards other people and you welcome them as family in other words the gifts of the Spirit operate through the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit is love when God is filling you you lose your prejudice and when you read the book of Acts chapter 10 it speaks of a man there by the name of Cornelius who was a centurion he was not a Jew he was from what is called the Italian regiment and he was praying and the Lord told him to go and called for a man by the name of apostle Peter and Peter was on a rooftop and he was in the hour of prayer he saw a vision he saw a sheet and it had all manner of animals on it they were all unclean and he heard the voice of the Lord speak to him rise Peter slay and eat and then the apostle Peter did the smartest thing he ever did he began to argue with God which he does oh no Lord I'm kosher I've never eaten anything unclean so he began to argue with God about it and God said don't call unclean so I've declared to be clean and as this is all going on Cornelius had sent some messengers to take and invite Peter to come to his house and Peter came to Cornelius's house and as he comes into the house of this man Peter Peter knew that it was not lawful for him to have fellowship according to the Jewish law to have fellowship with an unclean Gentile and when he was speaking to Cornelius well it says in Acts chapter 10 verses 34 and 35 that Peter opened his mouth and said in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him you can't imagine what a revolutionary statement that was from Peter because Jews had no dealings with Gentiles they were unclean he would never go into the house of an unclean Gentile but he said God showed me that if he's declared this person to be clean then he's clean the power of the Spirit will break your prejudice it will break your prejudice and there are a lot of people who call themselves Christians who are prejudice can that happen even in this church? it has we had the Buchanan brothers here years ago doing some music and I had asked them you know sing because they sing in English and they sing in Spanish and I thought well sing just do what you do you know we've got a few people here who can speak Spanish or at least understand it or at least order so it's okay you know do what you do minister in song and the next day I got a note from a member of our church saying this is America speak English it broke my heart it broke my heart I guess Jesus doesn't understand Spanish speak English Jesus did does that make sense to you? when you're filled with the Holy Spirit even if you don't understand the words you get the sense of the song and you will raise your heart in adoration with those who understand the words it's true because we're worshiping the Lord together one of the things that we need to remember is we're one in Jesus Christ and when the Holy Spirit saves you there isn't a black a yellow a brown a white red there's us there is us and the church needs to come back to that the church needs to awaken to that because we have forgotten that and when you're walking in the power of the Holy Spirit you look past that color or that language or whatever it is and you see a person who's in need of Jesus Christ that's what you see that's one of the ways you can tell that you're walking in the Spirit that's one of the ways you can know because the Apostle Peter was not willing to go to this Gentiles house it's not lawful for me to have any fellowship with the Gentile but God has shown me that what he calls clean I'm not to call unclean and that's what brings the church together God help us because the Holy Spirit makes us one there's one baptism one spirit one body of Christ and if you want to know whether you're walking in the Spirit check your heart about your prejudices about the things that you carry within you you see when you're filled with the Spirit your life becomes evident that God is in you you're bold in your faith you discover spiritual gifts you learn to exercise them your life becomes disciplined you hunger for the Word and fellowship you become generous in your faith filled giving you make an impact on people you rejoice seeing people getting saved and you love and lose your prejudices the Spirit opens your eyes to see people as simply lost in the need of Christ and love becomes a thing that you're known for because love becomes your birthmark D. L. Moody said it like this I firmly believe that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and self-seeking and everything that is contrary to God's law the Holy Ghost will come and fill every corner of our hearts but if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and self-seeking and pleasure and the world there is no room for the Spirit of God and I believe many a man is praying to God to fill him when he is full already something else that's true so Lord we say may I be empty of anything that keeps you from having full power in my life and God fill me with your Holy Spirit because I'm thirsty and I want to drink and I want that water to pour out of me so that people may come and drink too that's called Christianity and Jesus made that promise and we are here today because somebody listened to what he said and we got saved and I thank God every day for the faithful witnesses of those who walked in his Spirit but may we be faithful witnesses ourselves