Hans Hopgood preaches on Pentecost Sunday at Rivers Apostolic Centre, reflecting on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the condition of surrender required to receive it
A Pentecost Sunday service at Rivers Apostolic Centre, featuring a message by Hans Hopgood on the Holy Spirit, the book of Acts, and the call to daily self-renunciation.
Summary
This episode is a recording of a Pentecost Sunday service at Rivers Apostolic Centre, hosted on 24 May 2026. The service opens with communion, a tribute to a recently deceased congregation member named Annette Rowlands, and an offering message from Andrew Zimmerman on the theme of seed and harvest. The main message is delivered by Hans Hopgood, who surveys the entire book of Acts to trace the explosive spread of the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit following the first Pentecost in AD 33. Hopgood's central argument is that receiving the Holy Spirit requires the renunciation of one's own power and will — a daily crucifixion of the flesh modelled by Jesus himself — and that the disciples were radically prepared vessels by the time the Holy Spirit fell. The service closes with an invitation for those who are hurting or feeling weak to come forward for prayer and ministry.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Opening Prayer and Communion
Wendy (presiding): Jesus, your name above every other name. You, Jesus, deserve all of the glory and the praise and the honor. There is none like you. You are the one who saves. You are the one that was and that is and that is to come. And we glorify your beautiful and matchless and holy name today. Thank you, Jesus. We love your name. We've known your grace. We are grateful this morning. What a beautiful day to celebrate you, Jesus. This is a day that you have made, Lord, and we will rejoice. Lord, we rejoice because of you. You gave us joy, righteousness, and peace, and we just want to honor you this morning. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Son. Thank you, Holy Spirit. We bless you in this place this morning. Bless God every moment that we have available. You deserve all of the praise, Jesus. You deserve all of the glory. Hallelujah, Jesus. There is none like you, Lord. There is none like you. Hallelujah.
So impressed by the Lord's precision, his power, his prophecy, and his purpose. When we come this morning to consider the table of communion, we remember from the verses in Matthew 26 that Jesus was with his disciples and he spoke to them about the fact that he was having the last supper with them. And now they were going to go on to have many suppers, but this was going to be his last supper with them. And then he speaks about a time to come where we will have a great supper with him together. But in the meantime, he's exhorted us to remember — to remember what he did on the cross for us, to remember that because of what he did on the cross for us, we can celebrate Pentecost today. There is no Pentecost without the cross. And the power of the cross was unto salvation, but also unto liberation of his people. He came to set the captives free. It's freedom at this table today.
Peter possibly is the one who cuts off the ear of somebody coming against Jesus. And we know that Jesus, on a number of occasions, they were trying to actually kill him. But Jesus went willingly to the cross. And he said to his disciples, if I had wanted to, I could have asked my Father to send twelve legions of angels to come and change this. But I chose not to. He chose to go to the cross at that time, and his timing was precision. Today we stand on a day of precision celebration in the fact that fifty days after Jesus died and rose again, Pentecost came. And we're going to hear a lot more about that this morning. But it just amazes me as I was reading early this morning in the book of Ecclesiastes that God's timing is perfect. Everything has a time. And there was the time appointed for Christ to die. And he went with the timing of the Lord.
Let's stand together this morning. I'm going to ask the stewards to come and to break the bread. And this bread represents the broken body of our beautiful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And then there's the cup that we will share. And this is the representation of the blood of Jesus. He spilled his blood for us, and his body was broken for us. We were singing about healing. And this morning, if you have any kind of sickness in your body, in your mind, or in your heart, I'd encourage you to take communion knowing that this was purchased for you. Healing was purchased for you. And allow the Holy Spirit through these elements to strengthen your mortal body this morning.
So let's stand together. If you're visiting with us, please feel welcome to come to the table. If you're a born-again man, woman, or child of God, the table is open for you. And if you'd like to know a bit more about Jesus today, please ask some of the leaders at the end. And we'd love to introduce you to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So we encourage you to come forward this morning. Pray with one another this morning as we celebrate the power of the cross. And as we give thanks for the cross so that we could have the liberty that Christ meant for us. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. The power of the cross, which is in fact the power of the love of God for us. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.
Tribute to Annette Rowlands
Wendy: This morning we were singing beautiful hymns to the Lord about who he is and what he brings to us. We were singing about the name above every name. We were singing about eternity. We were singing about the hope for eternity. And today I have some sad news for us. We've just received news before the service that a beautiful member of our congregation has graduated to heaven this morning. Annette Rowlands passed away early this morning, and we give God thanks and praise for her beautiful life. She was an amazing woman of God, and we love her mom, Judy, who is mourning her loss, her son, Harry, and her sister, Di, and their family. And we really ask you to please keep them in your prayers. Also pray for the beautiful women of God in our house who spent a lot of time with Nettie and who walked with her.
Nettie leaves behind an amazing legacy of so much sowing into so many people's lives. And I had the beautiful opportunity to sit with Nettie yesterday afternoon, have some time with her. And her sister shared a beautiful testimony of what happened for her the day before, which was Friday afternoon. And I feel it's appropriate to share it to our community who have loved her well and whom she has loved well.
On Friday afternoon, they were able to bring Nettie's dog to come and spend some time with her in the palliative care unit. And her dog lay on her lap for three hours, and they just had this beautiful time together. Nettie hadn't been speaking during the day, but they took the dog home and then she was able to speak. And she spoke about the fact that she had loved having her dog with her there, but that her dog had become quite angry. And it wasn't the testimony of the ladies in the room that that was the case. And they said, oh, why? And she said, because he had to make way for the sheep that came into the room and onto the bed. And they were like, oh, the sheep — what was that about? And she said, well, first the sheep came and then the beautiful man came. And he was dressed in white and he was shining and he was so beautiful to look at. And he was with the sheep and he was with us. And she said she'd never seen anyone so beautiful and with so much love. And that was Friday afternoon. And that was the last time that she spoke to anybody.
And that last witness of hers ministered to the ladies who were in the room. And Jesus' name was exalted, and her precious Lord and Savior had come to fetch her and to be with her. What a beautiful testimony of God's love and God's grace in her life. So we will keep you updated as to any news with regards to a celebration of life for Nettie.
But this morning we're celebrating Pentecost, and I thought, wow, what a way to go. What a way to go — to head off to Jesus on the day of Pentecost. Because Nettie's testimony was that she came into the kingdom on the power and the fire of God in a meeting at Clark Taylor's church many years ago, where a whole big group of them went to this meeting. And I think — I can't remember exactly — it was either thirteen or sixteen of them from their family group went forward and they were all slain in the power of the Holy Spirit. And it was the day she became born again. And so what an appropriate day for Nettie to head off to heaven this morning.
Hey, Nettie — she's watching in the great cloud of witnesses, and she's going to join some of her mates and her beloved sister who passed some time ago. So we will just keep you updated. And thank you for your prayers, especially for Harry and for Judy, but also for Di and her extended family, for ones like Mark, who spent many years with her, and also Jeanette, doing Dorcas work, just sowing and sowing and sowing and sowing, both literally and figuratively, into the kingdom of God.
So let's just take a moment to pray. Father, we thank you for your grace and for your mercy. Thank you for Nettie's life, the testimony of your goodness and your grace. Thank you for a woman who sowed, Lord, who sowed right up until the last moments of her life. Thank you for a faithful and beautiful woman of God. We celebrate her today, Lord, before you, and we say thank you that precious in your sight is the passing of one of your saints. And we thank you for your saint this morning. We bless her and we bless her family today in the name of Jesus. We declare peace and fruit and salvation in the weeks and the months to come. We ask for your comfort. Holy Spirit, would you comfort this family, we pray. In Jesus' powerful name, amen.
Comfort to our women who are mourning the loss of their good friend this morning.
Offering Message — The Power of Seeds
Andrew Zimmerman: Oh, bless you, church. Turn to your neighbor and say, how blessed are you? It's awesome to be celebrating Pentecost Sunday. I want you to open up your word. Let's go to 2 Corinthians. And I want to read from 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 10.
Wendy was talking about precision. And it's amazing that our dear friend Nettie went to be with the Lord today. That's like a wow. He is Jehovah Precision. He is Jehovah Precision. God is into the detail. And what I wanted to share about today is the power of seeds. In the beginning, when God created the earth, he created seeds to sustain all life. So he provided into seed future provision and present provision. Everyone say with me: future provision and present provision.
Let's read from 2 Corinthians 9 verse 10. And it says:
"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God."
So how cool is God that he provides for your current need, but he also gives you seed to help release future provision. God is in our future providing for us. I just want to let that sink in. God the Father is in your future preparing and providing for us. Sometimes we lose sight of that because we see a lot of our current need, but we just need a greater revelation. Everyone say: I need a greater revelation.
Pentecost lines up perfectly with the Old Testament feast. I just can't wait for Hans to unlock the glory realms today. When the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost, it lined up with a feast called the Feast of Firstfruits. And it represented the first seeds that broke through. And it was a celebration of what was to come. How amazing that on the day of Pentecost, how many people came to the Lord?
Fifty days earlier — let me read this. Jesus' words from John 12. I love this so much. I love Jesus. Jesus says this in John 12:
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit."
Within fifty days of his seed — the earthquake opened up the earth and the seed fell into the earth. Jesus is our firstfruit. Now he who supplies the seed — our heavenly Father has provided the seed of Jesus. But here's this: he's also the Lord of the harvest. Jesus is the seed and he is the Lord of the harvest. And Jesus, I just want to honor him because he has supplied for every need.
Verse eight says: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed." God is okay with abundance. He's not okay with poverty.
Let's stand. Father, it is a joy to give and to be a part of this celebration today of harvest. We thank you for the word over this house to be a storehouse for the nations. And we agree with it, Lord. We say yes. Seed for the sower and bread for the eater. Father, today we want to partner with you, Lord of the harvest, for a season of harvest on the earth. Lord, we thank you that we're living in this time. Lord, we thank you that with our sustenance, what you give to us, we have an opportunity to give. It's a joy. It's a joy. In Jesus' name.
Father, we bless the seed, the future seed. Father, we just declare so much multiplication. Father, what a blessing to be able to be a storehouse for the nations — both local missions, national missions, international missions, Father. Lord, we thank you. Give us the harvester's heart. Give us the Lord of the harvest. Release harvesters. In Jesus' name, amen.
Introduction of Hans Hopgood
Andrew Zimmerman: Well, we're about to get torched in the word of the Lord. Open up, get your Bible ready. Brother Hans, we love you. We welcome you. We honor the Lord in you.
Hans Hopgood: Not so sure about torched, but maybe sprinkled. I don't know. We're going to make toast. All right, everyone open up your Bibles.
The Birthday of the Church
You know what would be a great idea to do on a day like Pentecost is literally just to read the entire book of Acts in one go. Has anyone been to some of those situations where, like a good old-fashioned Bible reading throughout the whole day — there are groups that do that, aren't there? Twenty-four hours. It actually, I think, takes ninety-six hours to read through the entire Bible. And if you have an audio Bible, you can put that on 1.5 times speed and get through it in about a quarter of the time. I encourage you to take lengthy chunks of Scripture and just read them. And what I'm going to do a little bit today is read the headlines of the book of Acts. So we're going to read a lot of it. Sometimes the word speaks for itself. It doesn't need to be interpreted. The testimony of the book of Acts is just a powerful read. It's a powerful read. So we're going to read some of that.
So Pentecost is obviously a great day of celebration for our church. It's our birthday. Happy birthday to you, us. Happy birthday to the church. Happy birthday, dear church. Happy birthday to you.
Does anyone know how old the church is? This church had its fiftieth a couple of years ago. But the church — how old is the church? What is our birthday? We're in the year 2026. The church was birthed in AD 33. So whoever wants to do the maths, I'll do it for you. We are 1,993 years old. The church is 1,993 years old. In the year 2033, we'll celebrate our 2,000th birthday. That's old, man. We're old. We're getting old. Do we feel old? Yeah, some of us feel old. So happy birthday.
Reading Acts Chapter 2 — The Coming of the Holy Spirit
Hans Hopgood: What is it that makes Pentecost the day that the church was born? It is the Holy Spirit. In AD 33, the Holy Spirit was poured out on a gathering of people in the upper room. And it was on that day that the church was born as the Holy Spirit rushed in to take up permanent residence in the heart of humankind. Anyone who called upon the name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit came to rush in and dwell in the innermost place of your heart. It is the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out on humankind. And the day that the Holy Spirit indwelt humanity — anyone who called on the name of Christ. For the first time since the fall.
So it was a big day in heaven. Don't get me wrong, the Holy Spirit was active on the earth all the way through the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit would rush upon people like Samson or Elijah, or rush into these situations. The Holy Spirit was always active. But this was the first time, because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ, who had washed the inner place of the Spirit clean by his blood, it was the first time we were clean as humanity for the Holy Spirit to take up residence in what was his original home — the heart of humankind. So it was a massive day. I mean, imagine being God and waiting that long. Waiting since the fall to come and take up residence in your original home. So it's a big day. A monumental day of celebration for heaven and earth.
So let's read Acts chapter 2, verses 1 to 41, in its entirety.
"When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind — a tornado, a hurricane, a wind from the north — and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language?
Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians — we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God."
I think I deserve a round of applause for a second. That was difficult. I prayed specifically for that moment to get through that portion of Scripture.
"And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean? But others mocking said, they are filled with new wine."
Must have been a raucous, raucous party. Wine parties in the Roman Empire — they were a thing. And people looking in at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit thought it was a Roman wine party. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them:
"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 only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know — this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite, precise plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.
For David says concerning him, 'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.'
Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that he should set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing."
Preaching a solid sermon is Peter, under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls."
That's a good day in the church. The Holy Spirit fell and three thousand people were born again.
The Headlines of Acts — The Gospel Spreads
Hans Hopgood: And it doesn't stop there. From this moment on, the rest of the book of Acts is what the early church looked like as it was empowered by the Holy Spirit. And it's like a runaway train of testimonies. It's just like a galloping horse. You can't keep up. I'm sure the apostles and the disciples couldn't keep up with the amount of testimony that was going on.
So I'm going to read what are probably the headlines of each of the chapters. And the headline itself speaks, and I'll throw in some little portions of Scripture because it's just so good to hear.
Acts chapter 2: the coming of the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 3: the lame beggar is healed outside the gate called Beautiful. Acts chapter 5: many signs and wonders were done. Verses 12 to 16, I'll read that bit.
"Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them."
This is eyewitness testimony. Have you ever seen a town empty out, laying the sick out onto the streets? So that believers who just happen to be walking past with the glory of the Holy Spirit on them — you know how in Renaissance paintings they draw Peter and the apostles with that golden circle? It's called a nimbus. A golden nimbus. That's the overshadowing glory of the Holy Spirit over them. That's the shadow they're talking about. And as they laid out the sick, just the overshadowing glorious golden nimbus of Peter would just come across and up they'd pop. It's crazy. It's a crazy outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
"The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed."
Oh, man, I want to see that. I want to see that.
Acts chapter 8: Philip proclaims Christ in Samaria. I'll read quickly. Acts chapter 8, verses 5 to 8.
"Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city."
I'm like begging for my town, you know — where the multitudes would come out and be like, what is going on? Lame people, paralyzed people just getting up and walking.
Acts chapter 8: Simon the magician believes. Acts chapter 8 again: Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. He preaches to an Ethiopian eunuch heading back home. And the eunuch gets baptized. Philip preaches the gospel to the eunuch and then is translated in the Spirit. Verses 39 to 40:
"And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away. And the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus. And as he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea."
So one moment he's baptizing this eunuch. And as he comes up out of the water, Philip's just — boom — he's like, where am I? Oh, I found myself in Azotus. Well, what am I going to do here? He doesn't even skip a beat. Imagine that. You just find yourself in Kilkoy. You're like, what am I doing here? Next baptism, let's see if anyone disappears. You know, Aaron goes down to baptize someone and then — boom — Aaron's gone. Aaron finds himself somewhere else. Wouldn't you love that to happen? It's so good.
Acts chapter 9: the conversion of Saul.
"Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus. And suddenly a light from heaven shone around him and, falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.'"
In the name of Yahweh.
Acts chapter 9: the healing of Aeneas. Verses 32 to 35.
"He came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, 'Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your bed.' And immediately he rose, and all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord."
Immediately after that, Acts chapter 9: he raises a lady named Dorcas to life. Peter is just walking around doing life in the Holy Spirit. Half the time, Peter doesn't even know what's happening.
As we see in Acts chapter 10: Peter and Cornelius. Cornelius meets an angel who says to him to call for Peter. And meanwhile, Peter is in a trance, trying to understand a vision that he's having about the gospel going to the Gentiles. And as he pulls up out of the trance, Cornelius' men who had seen an angel knock at his door, and the two meet. And they come together and Peter doesn't know what's happening. They get to the Gentiles' family and they're all sitting there awkwardly because Cornelius doesn't know what's going on. Well, an angel told me to call for you, so you must know what to do, Peter. And Peter's there like, hmm, I don't know what to do. All I have is a vision. I shouldn't even be here with you guys. And the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles. And Peter has to go back to the apostles and convince them that the Holy Spirit is for the Gentiles as well. And Peter's in this place of like, I know, it's crazy. I don't even know what's going on anymore, but the Holy Spirit is falling on everyone. The Holy Spirit's just celebrating — happy birthday to you, happy birthday to me.
And then Acts chapter 11: the church spreads in Antioch, Turkey. Acts chapter 13: Barnabas and Saul are sent off to preach the gospel. Acts chapter 13: Barnabas and Paul are in Cyprus. Acts chapter 14: Paul and Barnabas are at Iconium. Acts chapter 14: Paul and Barnabas are at Lystra. Acts chapter 16: Paul's in Philippi. Acts chapter 16: Paul and Silas are in Thessalonica. Acts chapter 17: Paul and Silas are in Berea. Acts chapter 17: Paul is in Athens. Acts chapter 18: Paul goes to Corinth. Acts chapter 19: Paul is in Ephesus. Acts chapter 20: Paul is in Macedonia and Greece. Acts chapter 20: Eutychus is raised from the dead. Acts chapter 27: Paul sails for Rome.
There's an incredible, rapid acceleration of the preaching of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile — and this isn't written in the Scriptures — the other apostles are preaching the gospel in all other areas of the world. Peter preached in Antioch and eventually in Rome. Andrew traveled to Scythia and Greece. James the Great preached in Spain and Judea. John ministered in Ephesus and was exiled to Patmos. Philip ministered and was martyred in Phrygia. Bartholomew preached in Armenia and over in India. Thomas traveled over to Persia and India. Matthew preached in Ethiopia. James the Less served as the bishop of Jerusalem. Thaddeus traveled to Syria and Mesopotamia. Simon the Zealot preached in North Africa and Persia. Matthias preached in the Caspian Sea region. And the gospel just went everywhere.
This is twelve apostles and a whole bunch of disciples being raised up. And in the span of one generation — one generation — through the lives of twelve apostles, the gospel is preached to the entire world. It's crazy. This is an accelerant. The Holy Spirit is an accelerant. And since then, the gospel has continued to spread in every generation. And all of this is done in the power of the Holy Spirit. Since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been poured out over and over and over again upon lives surrendered to Jesus Christ. That's a wild story. I was just reading through it going, oh my goodness. It just goes on and on and on.
The Holy Spirit is the power of God. The Holy Spirit is the power of God to go and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the earth. We love the power of God. And we desperately want to see the release of the power of God in our lives. We want to see that. I want to see that. Miracles, signs, wonders, dreams, visions, words of knowledge, and all the gifts of the Spirit. Not to mention the joy, the new wine, the refreshing, the life, the melody of our heart, the life of God inside of me. I want that. We all want that. That's why we're here. That's why we gave our lives to Jesus Christ. We want God in us and through us and moving through us. Everything that the Holy Spirit is, is everything that we want.
The Condition for Receiving the Holy Spirit
Hans Hopgood: So how is it that the early church saw so much release of power? People want the Holy Spirit, but they don't realize that there is a condition to receiving the Holy Spirit. Peter says it explicitly on the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2, verses 37 to 39, in his bold speech. He says:
"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter, what must we do? And Peter said to them, 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 Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you."
The Holy Spirit is for everyone. There's no condition. God has released his Holy Spirit. The problem is that we have a problem receiving the Holy Spirit. I'm going to explain how this works.
There is a condition to receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. In order to take on the life of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, we must surrender our own power into Jesus Christ. I'm going to unpack that. That is a one-time baptism into Jesus Christ for salvation, but he wants us to be baptized into the life of Jesus Christ. And that means something. It is crystal clear in the Scriptures that receiving the power of the Holy Spirit is only possible with the renunciation of our own power.
You cannot serve two masters. How much of my life do I actually want to own? Lots of it. My flesh wants my life. My flesh wants to be the ruler of my life, to sit on the throne. You cannot serve two masters. The Holy Spirit is there and available. He's like, I am ready to take up my position in you. I'm just waiting for you to not just move out of the way — to die. I'm waiting for you to die daily. You cannot hold on to your own life and try to receive the life of the Holy Spirit at the same time.
In the book of Acts, we see examples of people who try to have both their own lives and the life of the Holy Spirit at the same time, and it just doesn't work. I mentioned one of them in Acts chapter 8. We see a man named Simon the sorcerer, or Simon the magician. He is apparently a great man in Samaria and has a great reputation. He sees the power of the Holy Spirit being released and he wants to have the same Holy Spirit that the apostles have. But he has to come to a decision to give up his own life first before he can receive the Holy Spirit.
Let's read it. Acts chapter 8, verses 9 to 25.
"But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest, saying, this man is the power of God that is called great. And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. When they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, give me this power also so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
What's going on there? There's something in his flesh that's like, whoa, I want that power. That's going to make me look really great. You think I was great before as a magician? I'm going to look really great as I turn my attention to the Holy Spirit.
"But Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of your wickedness and pray to the Lord that if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity."
"And Simon answered, pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you said may come upon me."
So at least he's starting to turn his heart and understand.
"Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages."
The Seven Sons of Sceva
Hans Hopgood: One more story. There's the story of the seven sons of Sceva, who knew about the power of the Holy Spirit but had not surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ, and yet they wanted to move in power. Acts chapter 19, verses 11 to 20.
"God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched Paul's skin were carried away to the sick and their diseases left them and evil spirits came out of them."
Isn't that interesting? Does anyone have a handkerchief? Do you have the confidence to just pray over that and go, here, take my snotty handkerchief and apply it to where you need healing and you will be healed? Extraordinary miracles. There was so much demand from the people for healing that Paul couldn't be everywhere. That was the whole point. He couldn't be everywhere. So he's starting to think, well, here, I'll just take a sock, bless the sock, send it out into the crowds. And as it goes through the crowds — just pile up stuff and I'll pray over it and we'll just send it out. Wild. Wild.
"Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits."
They could see something that was going on and they're like, hmm, let's just invoke this new power. We don't understand where it comes from. We don't know that it is accompanied by a surrendered life. We're about to find that out. But we're going to call on this name because that looks pretty cool. It'll help us in our deliverance ministry. We'll be able to cast out demons with this new power that's been released.
"And they began to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. Seven sons of the Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded."
And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell on them all. There's an understanding that there's something going on here. We can't just play around. The Holy Spirit's not some game. When it comes in great grace — it says great grace was upon the apostles — so much so that if you were caught lying like Ananias and Sapphira, even just withholding a little bit of your coin, they dropped dead in the presence of all the apostles. That was great grace. Great power was upon the church. That if you meddled with it, it was like touching the ark, you know? It's good, it's great, it's awesome. But when it comes strong, just make sure you have a holy fear about where this is coming from, who you are in your standing with God, and how to properly receive and release it.
Listen to what happens.
"And fear fell upon all of them and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to grow and prevail mightily."
That was the renunciation of their own power. Here's all my books, all my practices, all my incantations. I'm just going to throw them out. It's the renunciation of my own power. This master has come along, revealed himself, and revealed himself to be greater than anything I've ever seen before. I must renounce all my other powers to receive this one.
Jesus as the Model of Self-Renunciation
Hans Hopgood: In order to receive the Holy Spirit, we must first turn away from our own lives and be baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression of the renunciation of one's own will in order to take on the will of the Father — a servant who renounces their own will in order to take on the servant role and take on the will of the Father. He's the ultimate expression.
Paul writes to the Philippians to remind them to have this mind of Christ when they are gathered together. Have the mind that was Jesus' own mind, that you do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus:
"Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count his equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
Renounced his position. And the Holy Spirit is so attracted to that. Jesus walked around day by day in that humble position. The Holy Spirit worked through him. Great miracles. He humbled himself even further into the cross. And it says here, therefore:
"God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Jesus is the example. So we are asked to repent and be baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ, and then we will receive the Holy Spirit. To be baptized into Jesus Christ is to be baptized into the renunciation of your own life. And it's not just a one-time renunciation. It is a daily renunciation of our lives.
Jesus, when he was with his disciples, taught them and said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, let him renounce himself daily, and take up his cross daily and follow me. Baptism into the life of Jesus Christ is a daily baptism into the cross. If we can learn how to do that, the Holy Spirit is right there. Right there. I can feel him on my shoulder, ready to just pour out the Holy Spirit.
A daily and brutal crucifixion of our flesh. Daily. Brutal. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Brutal. Nobody should go away and pluck out their eyes, okay? Just saying. If your hand causes you to offend, you bring that thing to the cross, cut it off, and the Holy Spirit will come rushing upon you. Amazing. This is the radical call to discipleship.
The Disciples Were Prepared Vessels
Hans Hopgood: And this is what the disciples had to learn each and every day as they walked with Jesus. The Holy Spirit didn't just come on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came to prepared vessels. The disciples and the apostles were radically prepared. Their journey was a constant learning of how to let go of their lives and take up his life. It was radical. They were being baptized day by day into the life of Jesus by following him.
Jesus walks them into scenarios and situations that require the supernatural, that require the letting go of all they thought was natural, and being baptized into the mindset of heaven. You read all the Gospels — it's one radical situation after another. It's radical. And I don't kid myself when I read those Gospel stories and try to put myself in them. I'm like, yeah, I don't think I would have handled that.
There's that famous Scripture in John 6, verse 66, where it says multitudes just turned away from Jesus, saying, this is too hard. I reckon I would have been one of them. Before the empowering of the Holy Spirit comes to help us in our salvation, I'm a weak man. I get triggered very easily. If I get put in a situation that's overwhelming, I run away.
Jesus put on the pressure, and all of it was to come to a place of rest and peace. It's not your understanding that I'm trying to lean on. I'm trying to get you to lean on mine. Jesus walks them into all kinds of incredible situations — let alone the cross. Let alone the fact that they have to let go of their Messiah when he dies on the cross. Man, did they go through it. Man, were they empty. They were emptied vessels. Peter was crushed. He was empty. I can't imagine that type of grief that you would walk through. Only days later to see him again and just be like, I don't know whether I'm up or down. Jesus, you've got me like a yo-yo. I'm just like, boom, down into the pit. Boom, up into the heights.
When they came to the day of Pentecost, they were the perfect prepared vessels — empty of their own ambition, empty of their own understanding, just like, whatever's going to happen next, I don't even know, but let it come. We're here. We made it. We're still standing. They were invited to let go of their reputations, their own pride, their own names, their own dreams, their own comfort, their own strength, reliance on their own ideas, their own understanding — in order to receive the kingdom of heaven. In order to fully partake of the life of the kingdom of heaven, we must let go of our lives. Jesus will help us to let go of our lives. He will provide enough situations where we have to let go of our lives. He is our teacher.
And it's this daily renunciation that prepared the apostles and the disciples for the day of Pentecost. They were truly emptied. We are also being prepared day by day for fresh outpourings of the Holy Spirit by following the cross.
Paul says that the more he understood the Lord, the more he came to understand this truth: that God's power is made perfect in our weakness. So I'm going to boast in my weaknesses. Lord, I am at the end. I'm at the end, Lord. And you see him pull through. Then another day: Lord, I'm just at the end. I'm at the end of my faith. I'm at the end. And Jesus says, blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who can stand in that place of vulnerability. It's vulnerable. And the kingdom of heaven will come and be your rock that you can stand on.
Every single person on earth deserves the right to feel secure. What Jesus is not asking us to be is in a really insecure state where we can't trust him. He just wants us to stand honestly and he will bring the security. To stop leaning on our own security and allow him to be our security. And he teaches us gently, gently, gently. Lose your life, I'll be your security. But it requires you to stand in that place of weakness sometimes. And it's like, blessed are the poor in spirit — theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Our religion is a religion that requires us to stay in the position of vulnerability and dependence. Ours is the religion that's uncomfortable. Ours is the religion of the cross. Other religions look good. The new age looks great — self-empowerment, you are the divine, I get to keep my empowerment. That feels good. Christ is a religion where it's like, you may not feel comfortable all the time, but man, are you going to see the stuff.
Closing Invitation
Hans Hopgood: How about we stand and pray? There's that scripture — is it James? James 5. Does anyone here feel weak? Does anyone here feel sick? Let him come forward that the elders may anoint you with oil and pray for you that you may be healed.
That's what I feel like today. Today is Pentecost and it's usually a big chandelier-swinging kind of day. But today is also a somber day for us. And I know that there are all kinds of emotions in the room, and there are stretchings and there's pain and there are people who are feeling it. And I feel like today the Holy Spirit wants to celebrate Pentecost by getting us to simply rest and celebrate our own weaknesses, our own dependency, the place that we're in. He receives us exactly as we are. We might be struggling. We might be empty. We might be ready to just, you know, kick the cat. Don't kick the cat — come to Jesus.
So if you are hurting this morning, if you have pain in your soul, I want to invite you to come. And I want our team who are released to minister to come and just receive anyone who comes up.