Being Filled with the Holy Spirit

I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 6, no, Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

! 5, and we are going to be looking at verse 18, the second part of the verse. Let me read it to you,

and then you join me as we pray together. But be filled with the Spirit.

Our Father, prayer for us is not a matter of habit

or the recitation of something that we have, in most cases, planned in advance.

But the absolute expression of our dependence and your sufficiency.

We're reminded, for one, of what John the Baptist said, that a man can have nothing except to be

given of him. And we recognize that you are the giver of every good and perfect gift.

We also recognize that it is your desire and your delight to give good things to your children.

And while there are many physical things that we might ask for, the thing that is most important

is the sweetness of your word and the work of your Spirit in our midst.

We want to be a people that leave here different than we were when we came.

And we realize that to have that take place will require that you do something that is beyond our ability.

And so, in keeping again with Scripture, we ask that you would open our eyes,

that we would behold wonderful truths out of your law,

that the Spirit of God that indwells every believer would enable us to hear

and inform us so that we might understand

and encourage and strengthen us that we might then take that word and apply it

for the glory of Christ.

And we pray it because of Him.

Amen.

I want to begin.

We're going to look at this passage in just a minute,

but I want to begin by having you think practically, realistically,

of really how hard it is to live the Christian life.

Here's the truth.

I see these bumper stickers.

By the way, if you ever see a bumper sticker on my car,

you will have assumed that somebody else put it there.

I see these bumper stickers.

Not perfect, just forgiven.

And there is an element of theological truth to that,

but I wonder if more often than not,

they are really a reflection of a carelessness towards what the Scripture teaches

about godly living.

Let me give you a couple frames to operate in

so you can kind of think about this with me a little bit.

Remember what Jesus said to His disciples,

unless your righteousness,

who can fill it out for me,

exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,

you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom.

I mean, that's a pretty hard pill to swallow.

Let's try another one so we have it in our mind.

I want you to turn in your Bible.

Keep your finger, because we're coming back to Ephesians,

but I want you to turn in your Bible to Romans 8, verse 1.

Romans 8:1

Romans 8, verse 1.

Romans 8:1

It says,

There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus

from the law of sin and death.

For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do

by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,

and He condemns sin in the flesh

in order that the righteous requirement of the law

might be fulfilled in us.

Now, what's the remainder of the text?

Look at it carefully.

Who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Do we earn our salvation by our walk?

The answer is categorically and undeniably no.

But are we as believers to walk in the light as He is in the light,

and is our life to be an example and a testament of the power of God at work in us?

What's the answer?

Let me tell you something.

One of the principal witnesses to the power of the gospel,

which for one thing promises us an eternity that we cannot see.

Would you agree with that?

We can't see eternity.

One of the things that bears strong testimony to the power of the gospel

is the power of the gospel to change people now from what they used to be

to what they can be and what they will someday be.

Would you agree with that?

And God intends for your life to be an evidence of the fact that God who can save

can also change you.

And I want you to understand that that's a pretty sobering thought.

I am supposed to be a walking example of a God who can make people different.

That's pretty challenging.

And you know, the truth of the matter is,

is we get around that challenge by just frankly not thinking about it.

By not paying much attention to it.

By not really thinking that it's all that realistic in expectation,

and yet the Scriptures over and over again talk about the fact

that the life of the believer is to be undeniably and radically different

than the life of the unbeliever.

My wife and I were engaged in conversation earlier this week,

and she made reference to one individual.

And just listening to the individual talk, she said,

you must be a believer.

Never met this person before.

He said, well, how did you know?

Well, there are little giveaways.

It wasn't that he was making the sign of the cross.

It was just generally a pleasing countenance and a happy spirit

and a thankful tone in his life.

And as the conversation progressed, it's like,

oh, there's something different about you.

I do want you to understand that as we think about the passage

that we're going to understand this morning,

we're going to study this morning,

it is a very, very significant passage

for understanding how the believer is to live.

And I think the thing that we need to understand

is that being spirit-filled is essential.

For apart from being spirit-filled,

we cannot live the way Christ intends.

Now, the remainder of the book of Ephesians

is going to, for the most part, deal with relationships.

We're going to receive instruction from God

on how we are to relate to one another

with a submissive and generous spirit.

We're going to find out how a wife is to follow her husband,

how a husband is to love his wife,

how children are to obey their parents,

and how employees are to relate

to those who are their employers.

It's fair to say that when we think about

what lies in front, and it's going to be primarily

focusing on the issue of relationships,

we would have to agree that relationships,

at the end of the day, are a pretty messy business.

Would you agree with me?

They are.

And the reason for that is because

it puts sinners in close proximity with each other,

and when they are in close proximity with each other,

there is a multiplier there of that proximity,

and the two sinful individuals are more.

And so I want you to understand this morning

that when we recognize that relationships

are challenging at best,

we need to understand that

God intends for us to succeed in those relationships

and to honor Christ in doing so,

and the only way that we will succeed

at accomplishing the things that He calls us to do

are to walk and be filled with the Spirit of God.

Now, with that in mind,

let me take some time to lay out some background information

that I think is actually important

in our understanding of the matter of being filled with the Spirit.

Let me begin, first of all,

by talking about what the Bible is not talking about.

The Bible uses a variety of terms

to refer to the relationship of the Spirit of God to the believer,

and we do well to distinguish them

and to recognize that each has a purpose

that in some aspects is distinct from the others.

The common characteristic in all

is that the Spirit is the one involved,

but we look at different statements

such as being baptized in the Spirit,

being indwelt with the Spirit,

being led by the Spirit,

walking by the Spirit,

being filled by the Spirit,

grieving the Spirit.

There are a number of different things

that are said in relationship to those things,

and we sometimes kind of just lump them all together

and think, well, it's about the Spirit,

and so there we are.

Let me explain, first of all,

that the indwelling and baptism of the Spirit

refers to what happens as a part of our salvation.

If you are saved here today,

if you know Christ,

you have the Spirit of God inside you.

I didn't say that.

Christ did.

And I want you to recognize

that this is a Bible truth

that is not dependent upon the way you feel

or even how you're acting.

Remember over in 1 Corinthians chapter 6

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

where the apostle says,

listen, he says,

you need to get this straight.

When you are involved in immorality,

you are dragging the Spirit of God

into that very relationship.

Do you think the Spirit would like to bail

when you look at pornography?

Yes.

But he doesn't.

He is in you.

He is there.

He stays there

because from the moment of your salvation,

you have the Spirit of God indwelling you.

Over in Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

and I want you to look at that passage

just for a moment.

Romans chapter 8, verse 8.

Romans 8:8

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God,

but you, however, are not in the flesh,

but in the Spirit,

if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

How do you distinguish

between an unsaved person and a saved person?

In this context,

it is the matter of the Spirit of God

indwelling that believer.

Look also, if you would, at verse 11.

If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead

dwells in you,

He who raised Jesus Christ from the dead

will also give life to your mortal bodies

through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So in other words, the enabling,

the way in which I live the spiritual life,

the way I live the Christian life

to bring glory to Christ

is not just by working on a set

of self-improvement rules,

but by trusting,

excuse me,

the indwelling Spirit to work

and do His work in me.

Go back, if you will,

to Ephesians chapter 4,

Ephesians 4:4

verse 4 and 5,

and we read there,

it says this,

it says,

there is one body and one Spirit

just as you were called

in one hope that belongs in your calling,

one Lord,

one faith,

one baptism.

So we understand that

the infilling and the baptism

of the Holy Spirit

refer to something

that takes place at our salvation.

Second,

the filling of the Spirit

and the walking in the Spirit

relate to His empower

and His controlling,

to His empowering

and His controlling,

and we'll deal a little bit more

with that as we work our way through,

but just in general terms,

identify the fact that

indwelling and baptism

are something that happens

at our conversion,

and the filling

and the walking of the Spirit

relate more to the matter

of His empowering us

and His controlling us.

I want you to understand,

furthermore,

that the filling of the Spirit

is not a second work of grace.

It's not something that takes place

after we've reached

a certain level of spirituality,

after we've prayed

to a certain state,

after we've come to a certain level

of earnestness,

that it then kind of happens

as a result of our ongoing pursuit.

And we see that undeniably

in the text that we're looking at right now.

Look back, if you would,

at Ephesians 5, verse 18,

Ephesians 5:18

and if we are...

And stop just for a minute

because I think this is important.

If we are going to allow

our opinions to be formed

by the Scriptures themselves,

then we have to take

the vocabulary seriously.

And what the Apostle says

there in verse 18,

it says,

but be filled with the Spirit.

And the way in which

that is put in the text,

it says,

keep being filled.

It's not like,

hey, get it poured in

and that's it.

It's like day by day,

moment by moment,

keep on working

at being filled

with the Spirit of God.

Third,

the filling of the Spirit

is not a reference

to extra-biblical behaviors

or the teachings of our day.

I was sick last week.

I was reduced to whispering

for the sake of

intelligible conversation.

And given that,

I had a low-grade fever

and several other things.

I decided,

you know,

I am going to stay at home.

It was not a fun thing to do

except for the privilege

I had of lying in bed

and praying

and knowing that God

was working in our fellowship

and that you were being taught

the Word of God.

You were enjoying

the Word of God.

You were singing.

By the way,

I knew the songs

that we had picked

that we were going to sing.

I really wanted to sing them.

I had to lie in bed

and just pray for you.

But I enjoyed that.

Then I got out of bed

and I thought,

well, you know,

hey,

I know what I'm going to be

preaching on next week

so I think I'll channel surf.

And so what I did

was I watched

a wide variety of...

Let me name them.

I watched

Serfalo Dollar.

I watched Joel Osteen.

I watched T.D. Jakes.

I watched Joyce Myers.

I watched Rod Parsley

and threw in a couple others.

And I watched them carefully.

I watched them listening

to see,

okay,

so what are the things

that they are saying?

I was surprised.

I was surprised

at the commonality.

What does that mean?

Pretty much,

they both said the same things.

They all said the same things.

Now,

before I address

the next set of points,

I want you to know

that I sincerely desire

my comments

to be governed by two things.

that what I say

is clearly

from the Scriptures.

And secondly,

that what I say

is gentle

and not sarcastic

of those

that have been led

astray

by spiritual

charlatans.

I have dear friends

that I have known

over the years

that are of slightly

different persuasions

and I do not want

my observations

to be anything

but winsome

and textual.

So,

let me say this

in relationship

to the matter

of what we're going

to talk about now

when we say

that being filled

with the Spirit

is not a reference

to extra-biblical behaviors

or the teachings

of our day.

We understand

that being filled

with the Spirit

is not evidenced

by the charismatic

gifts in the book

of Acts.

Being filled

with the Spirit

is not evidenced

by the charismatic

gifts referenced

in the book

of Acts,

such as tongues,

prophecies,

and healings.

I have no doubt

and I wholeheartedly

affirm that what

took place

in the book

of Acts

indeed was

the dramatic

demonstration

of the power

of the Spirit

of God,

but what we see

happening today

has no bearing

or credible

relationship

to what we see

happen back

during that time.

Let me give you

a little comparison.

The purpose

of a miracle

or a demonstration

of divine power

ultimately

is to confirm

the message

and the messenger.

Does that make sense

to you?

Nod your head

if that's just

intuitively obvious.

Yeah,

it makes sense.

Here's Moses,

stomps out of the wilderness,

you know,

and by the way,

how did God

get Moses' attention?

Try a little burning bush.

Now,

was that a little miraculous?

It got Moses' attention.

It made Moses listen.

And God said to Moses,

you're going to be

my spokesperson.

Yeah,

well,

yeah,

they're not going

to listen to me.

Oh,

what do you have

in your hand?

What was it?

A rod.

Throw it down.

What happened?

Snake.

And remember,

one miracle after another,

he finally got back

in front of Pharaoh

and the Pharaoh's magicians,

and he says,

God says,

let my people go.

Yeah.

We're going to get rid

of our labor force.

Can you walk,

imagine you walking

into upper management

and says,

hey,

turn them loose.

Moses?

Yeah.

Who said?

Threw down the rod

and it became a snake

and what did the magicians do?

They were able to fake

a couple of these things,

remember?

But finally,

as Moses upped the ante,

what did they say?

I love this.

This is the finger of God.

This is something God did.

A miracle ultimately points

to the miraculous,

to God.

And so,

the things that took place

in the book of Acts,

undeniably,

were miraculous demonstrations

of the power of God.

In the three areas,

in the matter of tongues,

in the matter of prophecies,

in the matter of healings,

let me explain that tongues,

the ones that were spoken of

in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

were understandable languages.

I listened to one particular person

last Sunday,

babbling,

babbling.

And I can tell you

that he was not speaking in tongues

according to the New Testament passage

because the text makes it clear

that the tongues

were a demonstration of divine power,

namely in that people understood

the dialect

miraculously.

Interestingly,

interestingly,

and just a little side note on this,

back in the early 1900s,

I think it was 1904,

1912,

something like that,

there was the resurgence

of the tongues movement

actually came into being.

And the proponents

of speaking in tongues

as an evidence

of the power

of the Spirit of God

proposed initially

that these languages

were actually

foreign dialects

in context

in context

of the passage

and over in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

etc.

And as a result,

the first missionary

sent out

by the charismatics

did not need

language training

at all.

Do you got that?

That is an intelligent

conclusion

if your supposition

is that

the gift

was the ability

to communicate

in foreign dialects.

Does that make sense?

Yesterday,

I walked into Speedway.

The man there

that was working

at the counter,

his name was Gopal.

Now, for some of you,

it's like, so?

And I walked up

to Gopal

and I said,

Apni Kaminach

and I asked him,

I said,

how are you doing?

I said it in Bengali

and he looked at me like,

I said,

Apkassahe.

Now,

Bengali and Hindi

are very close.

I mean,

big deal to me.

But he looked at me

and he said,

where did you learn this?

Oh, I grew up in India.

Really?

See,

I can speak

three different dialects

because I grew up

in a community

and it would be a miracle

for me to speak Japanese.

Do you understand that, Tom?

If I started speaking

in Japanese,

other than Konnichiwa

or whatever,

you know,

I've learned that from Tom

and he's probably,

thank you,

thank you,

thank you.

I am infinitely better

than last week

but

don't want to put it over

where the Kleenex are.

So,

let me explain

being filled with the Spirit

is not talking about

the miraculous power

that we see at Acts.

Recognize that the tongues

were foreign dialects.

Secondly,

we recognize

that the prophecies

that took place

were backed up

by 100% accuracy.

Beloved,

this is not small potatoes.

I cannot understand

why well-informed people

who care about the truth

allow the chicanery

and the deceit

to go on

where there are all these

kind of prophetic utterances

that have no connection

with Scripture.

And by the way,

I want you to understand

that in the Old Testament

when someone said

that there was going to be

something that happened

and it didn't happen,

there was a short shelf life

for that person.

Do you know why?

They were stoned.

We have about four or five.

I'm not proposing

and some of you

are going to go out

and say he said that

but I didn't.

I'm not proposing

that we have stonings

but I can guarantee you

that it would really clean up

a lot of these

fake faux prophecies

if what we had

is God deal with

a couple of them.

Third,

the healings

that took place

in the New Testament

were immediate

and complete

and without contingencies.

They were complete,

they were immediate

and they were without contingencies.

I have been reading

through the book of John

and one of the things

that I was reading

this morning

is when John healed

the man who'd been born blind,

he didn't ask the guy

if he was a believer.

By the way,

when he healed the man

at the pool of Bethesda,

remember?

The guy,

Jesus says,

what are you doing here?

This is a free rendition.

What are you doing?

Well, I'm here

to try to get healed.

Oh yeah?

But I can't get down

to the pool.

Jesus said,

take up your bed and walk.

And what happened?

Bada, bada, bing.

Bada, bada, boom.

Up he goes,

grabs his bed,

starts walking

and the Pharisees say,

whoa,

don't you know?

It's the Sabbath.

He says,

you know,

I understand that

but the guy who healed me,

he said do it.

God has the right

to tell me what to do.

By the way,

he's the one who healed me.

And when we find the deceit,

I tell you,

when God heals,

it's immediate

and it's complete.

And what do I mean

by no contingencies?

Do you know

what a contingency is?

The large print addeth

and the small print

taketh away.

And as I listened

to all of the

aforementioned speakers,

I noticed

one common word.

Do you know

what it was?

Seed faith.

Seed faith.

Seed faith.

Seed faith.

Now,

by the way,

I'll warn you

that somewhere

in the next month

or so,

I will do

what I have done

for,

Lord willing,

will be 27 years

and that is

preach on,

hey,

hey,

hey,

we're getting there.

And you will not

hear me talk about

seed faith.

Sadly,

in an attempt

to be humble

and generous,

far too many

loving believers

have been hesitant

to demand

that all doctrine

be intelligently

judged by Scriptures.

And this lack

of commitment

to the sufficiency

and the supremacy

of Scripture

has unleashed

a torrent

of aberrant

doctrines

such as the

prosperity

teaching

of our day.

And all of that

has nothing

at all

to do

with the filling

of the Spirit.

So,

what does it mean

to be filled

with the Spirit?

Let's begin

by recognizing,

first of all,

that the text

gives us

an explicit command

and what it means

is that being

Spirit-filled

is not something

that happens

passively.

It's not something

that's just an

arbitrary whim

on the part of God.

The idea

that the Spirit

falls on certain

individuals

who have then

been slain

by the Spirit,

knocked flat,

has no biblical

merit.

In the simplest

terms,

being filled

means choosing

to be affected

and empowered

by the indwelling

Spirit of God.

And I say this

because the text

gives us

an explicit

command

that I

that you

are to choose

to be filled.

I love what

one Bible teacher

has to say on this.

He says this,

it is one thing

for you to have

the Holy Spirit

within you.

Does every believer

have the Holy Spirit

within you?

And what's the answer?

We just learn

absolutely.

It's one thing

to have the Holy Spirit

within you.

It's another thing

to have

the Spirit

have you.

the way

John Bunyan

put it.

You remember

John Bunyan

who wrote what?

What book?

Hey, good job.

By the way,

should that be a book

that you read?

That's a good book

to read.

Here's what

John Bunyan

said that I really

liked.

Sailors cannot

create the wind

but they can

raise the sail

that pushes

the boat.

That's nice,

isn't it?

Sailors cannot

create the wind

but they can

raise the sail

that pushes

the boat.

I want you

to understand

furthermore

that the Holy Spirit

is not an abstract

force

but is the third

person of the Trinity

and He is in

every believer.

Yet the believer

is called to choose

to allow the

indwelling Spirit

to instruct,

to illuminate,

to empower,

to control.

It may be helping

our understanding

here to go back

just for a moment

to the comparison

Paul started out

with there in

verse 18,

the first part

and you remember

that's where I

actually started

several weeks ago

when I said

don't be drunk

with wine

for that is

debauchery.

Paul was making

a comparison

between choosing

to be drunk.

Do men have to

choose to be drunk?

Essentially,

yes,

the answer is

they do

because you

have to keep

on doing it

until it has

an effect

and He says

don't make

that choice.

What you have

to choose

by comparison

is to allow

the Spirit

of God

to be the one

who is influencing

your life

rather than

something else.

Let me say

something else

that I want you

to understand.

This is important.

Being filled

with the Spirit

is God's plan

for normal

Christian living.

I don't think

we believe that.

Being filled

with the Spirit

is God's plan

for normal

Christian living.

Question.

Can people

always tell

if you're filled

with the Spirit?

And what's

the answer?

By the way,

next week

I'm going

to preach

on singing.

And I have

asked John,

we're going

to sing

our favorites

and we are

going to blow

the roof

off of here.

We haven't

decided yet,

have we,

John?

Okay,

but I'm hoping

I'm voting

for Lion of Judah

for one,

you know,

with horns.

We're thinking

about that,

okay?

And then

10,000 reasons,

these are others

that I'm voting

for,

I want you

to know.

I don't always

get my way,

in fact,

there's a rumor

that seldom

do I get my way.

But anyway,

these are ones

I'm voting

for,

and here's

what I want.

I want us

to come,

next week I

want us

to come

filled with

the Spirit

ready to

blow the roof

off.

Hmm?

Can you

always tell

if a person

is Spirit

filled?

No.

But you

can always

tell when

they're not.

Right?

Huh?

Right?

What's not

filled look

like?

For Tim

Kenoyer,

it's grumpy,

it's pouty,

it's moody,

it's surly,

it's sarcastic,

it's unwilling.

Am I striking

any of you

that you,

yeah,

I can recognize

that.

I could ask

my wife to

fill out the

remainder of

the list.

Yeah,

she knows.

She doesn't

know all the

time when

I'm filled

with the

Spirit,

but she

does know

when I'm

not.

I do want

you to

understand,

coming back

again,

being filled

with the

Spirit is

God's plan

for normal

Christian

living.

I had

to think

back again

to last

week,

and I

remember

one

televangelist

actually

dramatizing

what it

was like

to be

filled

with the

Spirit,

and he

was

twitching,

and he

was

demonstrating

a variety

of behaviors

and sounds,

and here's

what I

was trying

to do.

Honestly,

what I

was trying

to do

was reference

what was

going on

on his

behavior

on TV

with everything

I know

in the

scriptures.

I wanted

to be fair

and say,

okay,

where in the

Bible does

that kind

of behavior

seem to

fit in?

Not there.

So,

let me

clearly declare

what the

Bible says

about being

filled with

the Spirit.

Being filled

with the

Spirit means

being sensitive

to his

person and

his presence.

Being sensitive

to his

person and

his presence.

Influenced

by the fact

that you

know he's

in you

and he's

there.

Turn in

your Bible,

if you will,

to John

John 16:7

chapter 16

verse 7.

John

John 16:7

chapter 16

verse 7,

Jesus says

this,

nevertheless I

tell you the

truth,

it's to your

advantage that

I go away,

for if I do

not go away,

the helper

will not

come to you,

but if I

go, I will

send him

to you,

the person

of the

Holy Spirit.

And Jesus

says,

listen,

I'm leaving

and when he

said that,

I want you

to imagine

that here

are the

disciples in

the third

year of

their being

around Jesus.

And remember

over in

John chapter

John 6 · chapter mention

6 when

Jesus had

finished his

absolutely

drop-dead

sermon and

most everybody

else had

scampered and

he looked to

his disciples

and he said,

are you guys

going too?

And what did

Peter say?

He said,

where are we

going to go?

Who else

has the words

of life?

They recognized

the supremacy

and the sweetness

of Christ and

they said,

you're the one.

And to that

listening group

of men,

he says,

hey,

listen,

it's a good

thing that I

leave you

because when

I leave,

you are going

to get

the helper.

He'll be

with you.

The person.

The person.

The person.

Let me tell you

something.

I remember

reading earlier

this week,

I think it was

David Powelson

was talking

about counseling

ministry.

I said,

there are often

days where he

looks at his

caseload and

responsibilities he

has in ministering

to the hearts of

people and he

knows the

brokenness and the

heartache and the

difficulty they're

facing and he

finds himself going

into that situation

and as he ponders

the weight of the

moment, he finds

himself not normally

thinking, I can't

do this.

And then he

prays and said,

God, you have

to help me.

And he then

reminds himself

that it's not by

might nor by

power but by my

spirit, saith the

Lord.

To be filled

with the spirit,

for one thing,

means that we are

sensitive to his

person and his

presence.

We show our

regard for his

presence incidentally

by not grieving

him with

disobedience or

quenching him by

refusing his

control.

We show our

regard for his

presence, you're

here, by not

grieving him with

disobedience or

quenching him by

refusing his

control.

I used this

illustration earlier

when I was

teaching Sunday

school but it's a

good illustration

unfortunately.

I was watching

the football game

Saturday and I

had a moment

where my

carnality absolutely

topped out the

chart.

There was a

little kickback

runback that

then kind of

devolved into a

fracas and you

know there were

punches being

thrown and blah

blah blah.

And I, of

course, I

confess that after

27 years I've

finally become an

actual true to

life Buckeye fan.

I don't wear the

hat and things like

that.

I don't flag but I

am a little bit of a

Buckeye fan and so

when the fight was

over I thought

righteousness would

probably be served if

there were four or

five of the Michigan

players that were

rejected.

So I'm waiting

patiently for

judgment to fall

from high, you know.

and then I thought of

the worst case scenario,

you know, maybe a

couple of the chumps

would be kicked off

and here's what

happened.

It was a two for one

deal and I thought

this is where my

flesh got the best

of me.

I was sitting there

in my living room and

I was actually angry.

I was very angry.

I was even having

momentary murderous

thoughts.

I mean, I was just

like, oh, yeah.

People's cars are

going to be keyed when

they come down.

I'm sorry.

This is wickedness

and I'm not proud of

it but I'm telling you

the truth.

And the Spirit of

God tapped me on the

shoulder and said,

Tim, what are you

doing?

The Spirit of God

brought back verses

to my mind.

You follow that?

The wrath of man

doesn't work the

righteousness of God.

Ooh.

And then the real

kicker was where

Jesus, remember where

he says, my kingdom

is not of this world

because if this was my

kingdom, my servants

would be fighting and

I thought, you know

what, my anger has

nothing to do with

eternity.

I was there humble.

Lord, forgive me for

that.

We show that we know

he's present when we

don't grieve him with

disobedience and we

don't quench him by

refusing his counsel.

Secondly, being filled

with the Spirit means

consciously and

deliberately being

dependent upon his

enabling and his power.

I need him.

Look over at John

John 15:5

chapter 15 verse 5.

It says, I am the vine,

you are the branches,

whoever abides in me

and I in him, he it is

that bears much fruit.

For apart from me,

what?

You can do nothing.

I am not the most

profound mechanic.

I'll be the first to

tell you that.

But I have figured out

that cars need keys.

In fact, apart from the

key, the car is just a

stationary object.

Isn't that right?

And one of the things

that shows my absolute

confidence in that

reality is generally

when I get out of my

car, being the little

lame brain that I am,

I always check two or

three times to see where

the keys are.

How many of you do

that?

Okay.

There's a reason for

that.

You see, I have

AAA and they think I

have them on speed

dial and that's not

true at all.

By the way, we have

premier service.

There's a reason for

that too.

That's my wife.

I care about her.

But here's the deal.

I know that keys and

cars are pretty important.

And when I am filled with

the Spirit, I am conscious

and aware that apart from

Him, I can do nothing.

Try to live the Christian

life apart from the power of

the Spirit of God and it is

a recipe for frustration,

discouragement, and

fruitlessness.

By Him and through Him, we

have been called to be

lights in dark corners.

sinners.

It's not our nature to be

humble or thankful, but it's

the work of the Spirit of God

to make us that way, isn't

it?

And so, all you have to do is

listen to the broken world

around you and realize that you

can either choose to live that

way or you can consciously

choose to let the Spirit of God

enable you.

Third, being filled with the

Spirit means choosing to yield to

His scriptural promptings.

John chapter 16, verse 13 through

John 16:13–14

14.

John chapter 16, verse 13 through

John 16:13–14

14.

When the Spirit of truth comes,

He will guide you into all truth,

for He will not speak on His own

authority, but whatever He hears,

He will speak, and He will

declare to you the things that

are to come.

He will glorify me, for He will

take what is mine and declare it

to you.

The Spirit works to bring back the

Word of God to our thinking so

that we may know what to do and

what to think so that Christ is

honored.

The Spirit of God is the search

engine to help you handle the Word of

God that you bury in your heart so

that He can call it to mind at every

moment when you need His help.

Beloved, if I am repetitious in my

desire for you to be a people that

think the Scriptures, it is because

the Spirit will use what's there.

And if you don't have it packed away,

He's not going to sprinkle it in

magically.

Being led by the Spirit is choosing

to walk in the path of His Word.

Look at Galatians chapter 5 verse 16.

Galatians 5:16

I love this text.

Galatians chapter, by the way, there

are a lot of passages I love just in

case you're wondering, but Galatians

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, this is one that you probably

should memorize.

Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 and 17.

Galatians 5:16

But I say, walk by the Spirit and you

will not gratify the desires of the

flesh.

Leave it at that.

Galatians chapter 5 verse 16.

Galatians 5:16

Walk by the Spirit and you will not

gratify what?

How many of you, in retrospect, find

yourself pretty disappointed, pretty

discouraged, pretty turned off by the

outcome of the desires of the flesh,

right?

Every one of us say, yeah.

So how do you deal with that?

Walk by the Spirit.

And what does it mean to walk by the

Spirit?

It means choosing to walk in the path of

His Word and allowing what He has to

say to make a difference in your life.

So only come full circle.

I'm going to make the assumption that

the vast majority of you people here

today know Christ as your personal

Savior.

The God who has ordained your salvation

and works so miraculously to deliver you

from the pit intends for you to be a

person who consciously and deliberately

chooses to remember that He's present and

in you.

A person who chooses to rely upon His power to

do what you cannot do by your own and chooses

to yield to His scriptural promptings and

chooses to walk in the path of His Word.

I am not one for a lot of emotional deciding.

But I am one who believes that the purpose of

preaching is to put people on the spot of saying

what?

Yes or no to God.

God says walk by the Spirit.

And so what you have to ask yourself the question is

does that characterize my life?

And it wouldn't be a bad thing as you're driving

home to turn to your husband and turn to your wife and

say hey what do you think about how I'm doing it being

Spirit filled?

And everybody smiles so we can come to the point

here.

If you're a little uncomfortable with doing that then

probably a wise thing to do would be right now to say

alright Lord I hear what you have to say and I take you

seriously and I will consciously and deliberately choose

you being my helper to desire to do everything necessary to

be filled with the Spirit.

Let's close in prayer.

Oh Lord.