Thanks for joining us on the Line of Fire. Our digital School of the Word and Spirit classes are now in session.
Michael Brown, thanks for joining us. We're continuing to teach on getting to know the Holy Spirit, getting to know the Holy Spirit. Our goal with every broadcast is to infuse you with faith and truth and courage to help you stand strong in the Lord. So we're going to talk today about different ways that God leads, that God moves, and we're going to start just looking at what's in the Scripture. We'll talk in a moment about what still applies to this day, but we're going to start just looking at what's in the Scriptures, the different ways that God communicated, but we're going to start in the New Testament. So we're not going to talk about ways that God revealed himself in the Old Testament, because you could say, well, that was just for the Old Testament.
Well, let's start with the New Testament, and then we'll ask what from the New Testament is applicable for this day. But remember, one of the key things we've sought to communicate thus far in these classes is that the Holy Spirit is a personal being, not an it, not a what, not a thing, not a concept, not a power. Yes, he has power, and he is compared to things like water and wind, but the Holy Spirit is a personal being.
We can grieve him. His very nature is holy, and he has a voice. He speaks.
So three foundational things we've emphasized so far. He is a personal being. He has a voice, and he speaks, and he wants to have relationship with us. He is the one through whom God leads us. He is the one through whom God speaks to us. He is the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
That is the intimate daily experience that we have in the Lord. So Acts chapter 2, you know the account well. Jesus has told the disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they are endued with power from on high. We have that in Luke 24, 49, and then it's reiterated in Acts chapter 1, where Jesus says in the eighth verse to his disciples, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you'll be my witnesses, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth.
So you know the account very well. Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, so the feast of Shavuot, the Jewish feast of weeks came. This is 50 days after the end of Passover, the key Sabbath in the midst of Passover where the counting is done. When the day of Pentecost came, they, apparently the 120 that were together seeking God, Acts 1 14, they were continually in prayer. They were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Now this is interesting that God comes with intensity.
When he wants to make himself known, he comes in a way to get our attention. So there are the times, the Psalm 23's of this lying down beside the still waters and in beautiful pastures and so on, and oh how beautiful, how wonderful. And then there are times when God comes and shakes us and shakes things up. So suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
There are so many things to comment on here. They were praying, they were waiting, they were praying, they were waiting, but still God came suddenly. You can't schedule a move of God. You can't schedule revival. I used to tell folks week in, week out in the Brownsboro revival in Pensacola from 95 to 2000.
I was there in leadership from 96 to 2000. But over and over and over we would tell the people the same thing. You can no more schedule a revival than you can schedule a hurricane. You can no more hold a revival than you can hold an earthquake. Revival is something God sends down, not something that people work up. So he comes suddenly, he comes with intensity, fills the whole house where they're sitting so God takes over. When God comes in power, he takes over what belongs to him.
Fill the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. Tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. So God's glory is often associated with fire. I've taught on that since 1984, the first time I preached on God being a consuming fire. So from Genesis to Revelation, literally, God comes associated with fire. The burning torch, the fire of Mount Sinai, river of fire, Daniel 7, the refiner's fire, Malachi 3. It's just overwhelming witness through the scriptures.
Luke 12, Jesus comes to bring fire to the earth. So it's natural, it's fitting that tongues of fire come to rest on each of them. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, other languages as the Spirit enabled them.
So this is the moment of empowering. Now some would say that this experience of the Holy Spirit comes subsequent to salvation and we call it the baptism of the Spirit. Many Pentecostals believe that. That subsequent to salvation, after the Holy Spirit's already come to live within you, you can receive an enduement of power for service. So it's not a matter of salvation, it's a matter of enduement of power for service and it's very commonly manifest with speaking in new tongues. That's the outward sign of the Spirit's presence. Others say the moment we're saved, we receive the Spirit in fullness. It happened in this distinct way in the book of Acts, but thereafter we receive the Spirit in fullness the moment we're saved. Either way, let's walk in the reality of what the Spirit has given us. In other words, let's not talk about it, let's demonstrate it.
Show me rather than tell me. So if you say we received all of the Spirit we're going to receive, no individual has the fullness of the Spirit. Jesus did. The Holy Spirit works in measure in each of us. None of us have all the gifts, all the anointing, all the graces. Everything was on Jesus. We receive in part the whole body of Christ, body of Messiah. That is where His fullness is expressed through all the different ones. Ephesians 1 lays that out clearly that the body is the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. But individually you could say we receive all we're going to receive of the Spirit the moment we're saved or there's a subsequent enduement of power in which we're baptized in the Spirit.
We can have that debate. But either way, simple reality. Let's demonstrate the reality of the Spirit in our lives. Rather than debate theologically, show me.
If you received it all at one point, some later, show me. That's simple. Let's live out and demonstrate the reality of the Spirit in our lives. So they're all filled with the Spirit, they speak new languages as the Spirit enables them. It's really interesting, really interesting that in the Bible very commonly when the Spirit comes on someone they speak. When the Spirit comes on someone they speak.
Very, very commonly. Jesus in Luke 4 quoting from Isaiah 61, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He's anointed me to preach. So the Spirit would come on the prophets, they would prophesy. Here the Spirit comes on the 120, they speak in tongues. In the 10th chapter the Holy Spirit falls on Cornelius and his band in Acts 10, those Gentiles with him, and they speak. Acts 19, the Spirit comes on the disciples that Paul meets in Ephesus, and they prophesy and speak in tongues. So the Holy Spirit comes on them and they speak.
But the whole scene, the sound of the wind apparently gets attention. The 120 now praising God, ecstatically, excitedly, it gets attention. So Peter now needs to explain it because some of the crowd, the God-fearing crowd of Jews, they're there for Pentecost, Shavuot. The population of Jerusalem would swell massively.
It would swell massively, massively, massively every time there was a special feast or holy day. So we've got all these people that have come as far as they can travel to get there for this event and they're drawn by the supernatural thing that's happening. So what's going on? Some of them are stunned. These guys are just Galileans. They're local guys and they're speaking Arabic and they're speaking Farsi and they're speaking this language and that.
How? If they're all speaking Greek, oh that's a bit of a surprise. They're all fluent in Greek, but okay, that was there. Aramaic, that would be the common language. If they all knew they could speak Hebrew, well you know, Hebrew may have been spoken over by the elite.
There's debate on that. But all these foreign languages, where are they getting that from? So some think this, we're hearing God's praises in our native language. So it's just like right now, let's say you're from Kenya and I just start speaking in perfect Kiswahili.
It's like, how does it, he doesn't know any Swahili. So they're stunned. We're hearing the praises of God in our own language. Then these guys are just local guys. Others say, they've had too much wine.
What is this? They're drunk. Now Peter, later in Acts 2, references the Holy Spirit has been poured out and this is why you see and you hear. So it's not just what you're hearing, what you're seeing. They must have been acting in a certain way that got attention and that made some of them think they were drunk.
Now let me be plain. There are people, Pentecostals sometimes, that make a doctrine of getting drunk in the Spirit as if the goal is to look and act drunk, which is just foolishness. The Great Commission is to make disciples, not drunkards. We're called to be sober. At the same time, we can be so overcome with joy, so overcome with the presence of God, so overpowered by who he is and what he's doing, that we might give the appearance of being drunk to people. And that's what we're meant to be drunk to people. That's what happened here.
That's what happened here. Look, if you're sitting around having a chess tournament, right, thinking, no one's going to say, you're all drunk. No one's going to say that. If you're playing a baseball game, everyone's playing there and, you know, doing their best, no one's going to say, you're all drunk.
No one's going to happen. If you're up there with your worship team, everyone just singing, playing, no one's going to say, they're all drunk. So there was something going on that got their attention. Did it just sound like they were babbling? Did they look like were they staggering around? We don't know.
But whatever it was, they said they've had too much wine. So how does Peter address this? This is now the powerful, moving coming of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. This is the historic event Jesus ascends to heaven and sends the Spirit and sends the Spirit. All right, now what?
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Just click subscribe, and you'll get, if you're already getting our Frontline newsletter, you'll get this automatically, but look for it once a week. All right, so what does Peter say? How does he address this in Acts chapter 2?
Then Peter stood up with the 11, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd. Okay, can I just, slight tangent, is that allowed? Slight tangent for everyone in our class here, students, approval.
All right, slight tangent. My wonderful, close, super friend, Yesuparam in India, a dear, dear co-worker, truest Christian I know on the planet. We first worked with him in 1993, and another brother and I had gone over from America, and initially this brother was setting up schedule with him, then was worked out that I could go. I ended up speaking at more of the meetings, and my friend who went thinking he'd be speaking more was a little frustrated, understandably.
If it'd been reversed, that's how I would have felt. And my friend Yesuparam said to him, brother, Peter, when Peter stood, they all stood. He said, when he's speaking, we're all speaking. When you're speaking, we're all speaking. He said, in fact, the one speaking has the easier job because we're praying, and we're crying, and we're interceding while you're speaking, while he's speaking.
And I had read this, God knows how many times, how many times have you read Acts 2? If I said, who stood up and spoke in Acts 2? You'd all say, Peter. Then Peter stood with you, they all stood together. Ten other men stood with Peter, and he spoke. So when he spoke, they all spoke.
It's a great concept to grab hold of when you're part of a team, and one person may be more in the front. When they speak, you're all speaking. Even for me, with all the platforms we have to get our message out, in my mind, we're all speaking. I'm speaking for you, we're speaking together.
So a slight tangent, but I hope it was worthwhile. Then Peter stood up at the 11, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd. Fellow Jews, and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose, it's only nine in the morning. So in Greek, the third hour of the morning, so the morning starts at 6 a.m., so the third hour is 9 a.m.
It's only nine in the morning, they're not drunk. No, this was what was spoken by the prophet Joel. In the last days, God says, I will pour up my spirit on all people, so Joel 2-28. Now, if you have your Bible, so you can look back at Joel 2-28, you'll say, I don't see where it says in the last days, I don't see that, and you'd be correct. It's not in the Hebrew.
The Hebrew, God just says, and I'll pour up my spirit on all flesh. You say, oh, so Peter was quoting from the Septuagint, from the Greek translation. Nope, in the last days is not there either. Those are Peter's words giving context to the prophecy of Joel. Joel's prophecy is for the last days.
You say, you mean today? The last days in the New Testament are the time from the death and resurrection of Jesus until his return. That is the last days from the death and resurrection of Jesus until his return. That is the period called the last days. For example, in James, Jacob, the fifth chapter, Jacob talks about the sinful rich.
They have stored up treasure for these last days. Or 1st Peter 1 talks about the gospel being revealed in this, this, these last days. Or Hebrews 9 speaks of the the end of the age. Or 1st Corinthians 10 speaks of the culmination of the ages.
Or 1st John 2, this is the last hour. So this outpouring is for this entire period of time. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit, this mighty glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for all time from the death and resurrection of Jesus to the end of this age. That's the period called the last days. God's going to pour out a spirit on all people, meaning not just Moses, not just the prophets, but everybody. Everyone that's his is going to pour out a spirit on them.
Now think back to Numbers the 11th chapter. Moses can't bear the burden any longer. It's too heavy. It's too much.
It's too intense. Moses can't bear the burden. And God says, I'm going to take the spirit that's on you and put it on 70 elders, right? So what happens, Moses prays that the Lord does it. They begin to prophesy. And then there are two men. They're all supposed to come into the camp. And this is what it was supposed to happen.
But Eldad and Medad were outside the camp. There was two of the 70 elders and they were prophesying. And Joshua says to Moses, my Lord, should I shut them down? And he says, are you offended, are you upset for me? He says, I wish all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would pour out his spirit on all of them. And here God's saying, that's what I'm doing here. I'm pouring out my spirit on all flesh. I'm pouring out my spirit on all flesh.
That is what's happening now. That's what Moses longed for. So it's not just Moses or the prophets or the 70.
It's everybody. Now look at this. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions.
Your old men will dream dreams. Even my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days and they will prophesy. So this age is the age of prophecy like we've never seen it before. Now I want you to think for a minute, in light of this word, and we know, for example, in Corinth, how much prophecy there was in Thessalonica, they had to tell them, hey, don't despise it, test it because there's the good and the bad. So there was a ton of prophecy taking place. We know that Philip in the book of Acts has four daughters who prophesy. So there's a lot of prophecy going on.
Where is it? Why isn't it written down? Because it wasn't the Bible. Because it wasn't the word of God. What about all the prophecies in the Old Testament that are not recorded? You have Elijah with a group of prophets, Samuel with a group of prophets, Elisha with a group of prophets. Where are all their prophecies? They were prophets. Where are all the prophecies? We don't have them.
Why? Because they're not part of the Bible. Because they were not part of what God wanted to preserve for all people for all time. They were words maybe for specific people, specific contexts, specific situations, but not the word of God for all people for all time. So those of us who believe in prophecy today, it's the same thing. God can give a specific word to someone in a specific situation, but it's not part of the Bible.
It's not authoritative revelation for the entire body. It's simply God and his love communicating. You're struggling. You're going through anguish of heart.
You're not sure which direction to take. And God gives a word of direction, a word of comfort. Praise God. You go with that.
You run with that. But it's not part of the Bible. So that's where people sometimes get confused. Well, if God said it, then it's his word. Okay, well, then where are all the prophecies that were taking place there? Acts 19, they prophesy. The disciples from Ephesus, they hear the full Gospel message, and now they receive the Spirit. It says they prophesied.
What did they say? It's not recorded. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, two or three prophets should speak, others wait carefully would say. Well, it could be hundreds of words, could be thousands of words over a period of years and services. If you have a service and there's prophecy regularly and you get different house churches, could be end of the week, there's 20 different prophecies. But it's not the Bible. It's not the Bible. The Bible stands alone and is unique. And and only the Bible is God's word for everybody. God's not going to give you a prophecy today that adds to the Bible or that contradicts the Bible or that has the authority of the Bible. It's two completely different things. As I sometimes say, you're comparing apples with elephants.
It's two different categories. So the Holy Spirit poured out on all people, even my servants, both men and women, I'll pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy. Then it goes on about other things. But we want to focus on dreams, visions, prophecy. How else did God speak in New Testament times?
And how is he speaking today? So that's what we're going to take up next here on our Line of Fire broadcast. Remember, the podcast is titled Courage in the Line of Fire. So if you're not subscribing to the podcast, wherever you get your podcasts, it is Courage in the Line of Fire.
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