Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning more and more about the Holy Spirit: about who he is, what he does, how he speaks to us, and so on. Today we are going to talk about this concept that we see in the Scripture and hear about with regard to receiving the Holy Spirit – or being filled by Him.

In the Scriptures we see clearly that The Holy Spirit fills people and places. Every week we pray for the Holy Spirit to fill every square inch of this building – from the lower level where our kids meet, to the top floor where the Production Team is streaming our services around the world. We even ask for the Spirit to begin encountering people in the parking lot and sidewalks around our building. And what’s interesting about 491 Post Street is that some staff and board members have shared that they could sense God’s Spirit already in that place. Church, the Holy Spirit is able to inhabit your home, your workplace, and all the spaces you enter. Where the Holy Spirit is… the atmosphere is different.

But more importantly than filling a space, the Holy Spirit is able to fill you. In fact, that has always been God’s goal and intention. Some of us may have had a different idea of what God’s goal and intention is. Many of us were taught or grew up believing that Christianity is essentially an escape plan — that the whole point is getting our souls into heaven when we die. But in fact, the whole Bible shows – from Genesis to Revelation – that God’s ultimate mission isn't about how we go upstairs to be with him, but it's about how he comes downstairs to be with us. And we see that most clearly in the coming of Jesus – with his incarnation – and in the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Now it is especially significant that we are talking about receiving and being filled with the Holy Spirit today because today is the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost comes from a Greek word that means fifty. So today is the fiftieth day since Easter. And this day is especially meaningful to the Christian Church because it is known as the birthday of the Church. It is the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out and given to the Church. Let’s read a few things that happened on that day – this is fifty days after Jesus resurrected.

Acts 2:1-4

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

There is a really cool parallel between what happened here at Pentecost and what happened about two months before at the Last Supper. They both take place in an upper room of a house – it might have been the same upper room; we don’t know. But in that first upper room scene, at the Last Supper, we see Jesus letting his disciples know that his time on earth is coming to an end. He instructs them to remember him and the significance of his death and sacrifice through the practice of communion. And then we have what happened at Pentecost, again in an upper room, which marks the beginning of the New Testament church as the Holy Spirit comes and fills that room and all the believers that were present. In these two upper room moments, we see the end of one period – of God being with us through the person of Jesus – make way for another period, as God would now be with us through the presence and filling of the Holy Spirit.

That was his plan all along. But let’s make this personal. The presence and filling of the Holy Spirit is not only reserved for the spiritual elite – the Holy Spirit is a gift that is promised to you. Here’s how we know that. Because what began in that upper room with about 120 people it spilled out into the streets. And Peter, as he is interpreting to the people on the streets this miraculous thing that they are witnessing, he says something fascinating that is for you and that is for me. Let me give you his closing line and this brief interaction that he has with the crowd.

Acts 2:36-39

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

I’m going to work my way backwards through these verses. In verse 39, Peter says clearly that the gift of the Holy Spirit is a promise for you. But he goes beyond that and says that it’s for your children – it’s for the next generations. And in case we were wondering if there might be someone who is left out, Peter says: it’s a promise for ALL who are far off. Meaning, even those who don’t currently have a relationship with God can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Everyone is included.

But there’s a catch. Verse 38 shows that in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, there’s something that you and I must do. Here specifically he talks about repentance and baptism. He says …“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (v.3) What Peter is letting us know is that receiving the Holy Spirit – being filled by Him – doesn’t happen automatically. We have to do something.

Now, you can do nothing and experience the Holy Spirit. But that’s different from receiving and being filled by Him. In verse 37, we read that after hearing Peter’s message that the people “were cut to the heart.” To be cut to the heart means that they were feeling some sense of conviction – some sense of guilt.

Guilt for what, you might ask. Guilt for, as Peter says in the closing line of his message, for not believing that Jesus was Lord and Messiah. Now, that sense of conviction comes from the Holy Spirit. In John 16:18, Jesus says that when the Holy Spirit comes he will prove the world to be in the wrong. That’s not all that he does; but one of the things that he does is show us where we are in the wrong in regards to Jesus and his ways.

So the people that are being cut to the heart are experiencing the Holy Spirit; but they haven’t yet received the fullness of the Spirit. Church, let us never become satisfied with experiencing the Spirit and miss out on the fullness that he has for us. I could see some people that were listening to Peter and were cut to the heart saying, That was a moving message; it hit me deep; but then they never take the necessary steps that the conviction was meant to lead them to.

I hear often from people that whenever they are in our services that they feel God’s presence and are moved to tears every time. And I love that – I love that they are experiencing the presence of God in that way. But let me tell you, that experience is just a taste of what the Spirit wants to do in your life. Those goose bump moments where you feel his presence is possible just by being in an environment where the Spirit is. But those experiences are different from being filled with the Holy Spirit. To be filled by Him, to be led by Him, to have the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life, you have to do something.

The average household receives about 167 package deliveries per year, which is roughly one every other day. If you live alone, you’re at least getting one a week. Many of you are like, Yup, that’s about right.

Now, for most packages to be delivered you have to do nothing. It gets left at your front door or in your building’s mailroom or it gets handed to whoever is there. But from time to time, you have to sign to receive your package. You have to do something for it to actually be given to you. And besides legal documents, do you know one of the main reasons why you might be required to do something to receive your package? A signature is typically required for a high value item.

And the Holy Spirit is not just a high value item; he is a high value person. He is God. And he wants to come and live with you – live in you. If someone important were coming to stay with you for a few days, you would be doing some things to get the house ready. That’s what we’re talking about here – what must we do to get this house ready for God to come live with us? So let’s dive into that a bit further. To go beyond simply experiencing the Holy Spirit, what must we do to receive the Holy Spirit and be filled by Him?

Let me give you two. For starters, 1) We need to ask for the Holy Spirit. Jesus once taught: 9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13)

If we want the Holy Spirit we have to ask for Him. Because our Father is good, he will give us what he promised us and what we need.

These days, I don’t think a day goes by without me praying, Come, Holy Spirit. Fill me. You guys have heard us pray that often here. That’s not just lip service. The reason I pray that for myself is because I realize that I can’t live a life that honors God, I can’t live the life that he desires for me, without his power and presence. Just as my body needs food to survive, my soul needs his presence. So I pray, Come, Holy Spirit. I need you.

Besides asking, 2) We need to create an environment where the Holy Spirit is welcome. This is where the repentance and baptism that Peter mentions comes into play. Repentance is about turning away from the ways of thinking and behaving that we know to be wrong and turning to the ways of God. Repentance is about obedience.

Keep this in mind, that the 120 people in the upper room that were filled with the Holy Spirit, why were there? Because Jesus told them to go there and wait. 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. (Acts 1:4) Let me ask you, do you think the Holy Spirit would have come on them if they had not listened to Jesus? I don’t think so. Jesus would have found someone else that would obey.

Throughout the New Testament we read that we can grieve the Holy Spirit, quench the Spirit, and resist him; and we do all of that when we live and think contrary to God’s ways.

This is why baptism is important – it’s a step of obedience to a commandment of Christ. Now you don’t need to be baptized first in order to receive the Holy Spirit. But what we do see in Acts is that repentance, baptism, the forgiveness of sins, and the Holy Spirit are always found together – they are part of the conversion experience. Sometimes the order between baptism and repentance are flipped; but it always begins with repentance.

You know, if you read the Gospels and the book of Acts, at some point you have to ask yourself, why don't we experience or see the Holy Spirit at work the way we read about it in the Scriptures? Could it be that we collectively are too satisfied with simply experiencing the Holy Spirit and we are not pressing into those next steps in order to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit?

This isn't a new problem. A vicar from Oxford named Simon Ponsonby puts his finger on something that I hope you keep on wrestling with: If we have what the first Christians had, why do we not do what they did? We must conclude that either God gave them more than He has given us, or we have failed to avail ourselves of what He has given us. (Simon Ponsonby) To receive the Holy Spirit we have to do something.

Now, I don't want to just talk about receiving the Holy Spirit today. I want us to actually do it. And I have asked Shauna to help lead us into that moment. When I began to prepare for this message, I saw Shauna playing a part – similar to Peter – in this moment. And so, in practicing what I just preached I want to be obedient and invite her up as we stand and begin to pray.