The Spirit-Filled Life: Part 6

Welcome to the Preaching the Cross Radio Podcast, before the radio ministry of Pastor James W.

Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of Golden Florida.

Our prayer is that these one of our Bible study programs will bring the law to a craving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and enable the faith to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior.

Now here's your host, Pastor James W.

Knox.

All right, now thank you so very much for that kind word of introduction.

Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in today to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast.

I'm Brother James, and I greet you once again in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

We have been studying for five consecutive broadcasts.

This will be number six.

The theme, the simplicity of the spirit-filled life.

We're going to try our very best to conclude the study on today's program.

I don't know if we can finish the remaining material or not.

We're going to have to really, really push, but uh I'll do my best to get through it.

We have we have discussed thus far these great uh ideas, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit and the believer, the gift and his gifts, the witness of the Spirit, must I tarry, the purpose of being filled, the conditions for being filled, the evidence of being filled.

And then as we closed out the last broadcast, we considered the results of being filled in the individual's day-to-day life.

And we discussed the fact that the Holy Spirit of God will prompt the spirit-filled individual to worship the Lord Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth, and will prompt the spirit-filled individual to hunger and thirst after righteousness, that righteousness that is found, taught, and set forth in the pages of the Holy Bible.

Now we want to start out talking today about the results of being filled in service.

The results of being filled in service.

It is hard for Anglo-Saxon Christians living in America, where all is rush and hurry, efficiency and standardization, accomplishment report statistics.

It's hard, it's hard for Americans to get into their minds the fact that most of the present-day demands and requirements are not of God.

God never required that we drive faster.

God never required that we build bigger.

God never required that we earn more.

God never required that we be more places.

These are all pressures that we put upon ourselves to conform to society or to compete with or keep up with other men and women round about us.

The Holy Spirit does not hurry.

The person filled with the Holy Spirit will not necessarily make a great impression on others, but there are things which he may confidently expect that the Spirit will do through him in the first place.

And by the way, by the way, let me let me just say a word about this matter of service.

Because Americans, and professing Christians in America, no different than the rest of Americans, uh sadly, but because Americans are so pressed and so busy and so occupied with things that don't matter, and because they want to convince themselves that God still holds his proper place in their lives, they actually consider that they are serving God by going to church.

Think about it.

The Sunday morning worship service, where everybody sits and and maybe sings a song or two, but but for the most part does nothing.

And then we come back for the evening service, where one or two people participate, contribute, but for the most part, nobody does anything.

We consider it serving God to just stop all the other things we are doing to serve ourselves and come to the church house for an hour or so.

My friend, when I when I talk about service, I am talking about living a life continually devoted to bringing honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ and bringing lost sinners to trust in his name.

In the first place, the Jesus tells us that we shall not only do the works which he did, but that uh the believer on his name, indwelt by his spirit, would do greater works.

Listen to these words from John 14, and I'll read verses 12 and 13.

John 14, verses 12 and 13.

John 14:12

Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my father, or unto my father.

And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

The word used here is not the word for signs and wonders.

No, not those kind of works, but everyday work.

Everyday work accomplished.

Now, what was the work he did specifically, he specifically did, to which he refers when he said you'll do greater works than than I, what's he talking about?

Well, in Luke chapter 4, after all, we we need to get it right from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself, in Luke chapter 4 and verse number 18, the Bible says, Jesus speaking, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luke 4 · chapter mention Luke 4 · chapter mention

My friend, the Holy Spirit dwells in us if we are believers, and thus we too are anointed.

We learn that in our study.

Around us are the beggars, those who are captives, many whose eyes are blinded, others who are beaten black and blue by the devil.

We, we who are saved, know that now is the acceptable time.

Behold, now is the day of salvation.

We are to do the greater works while we are believing.

Again, it depends on our believing, an active, present faith in the Savior.

Jesus said, Greater works shall he do.

Not may he do, not might he do, not could he do, not will he do, but the divine shall.

It becomes an impossible thing not to do, for he said, shall he do?

He that believeth shall do.

Not by self-effort, no, no, no, but by God's working through us.

The Lord Jesus ascended, sat down upon his throne, and poured forth the Holy Spirit abundantly.

Peter and the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached, and three thousand in one day were added to those who were saved.

Individuals went here and there, one to Samaria, later others to all parts of the known world, and as they bore witness that God raised Jesus from the dead, the Holy Spirit witnessed with them.

The blind saw, the captives were released, the bruised were delivered, the good tidings were proclaimed, the greater works were done.

At most only a few believed through the preaching of Jesus Himself, while in one day three thousand believed through the preaching of the apostles.

We in whom the Holy Spirit lives, as we trust him to do the work, may confidently expect him to do the greater works.

Not signs and wonders, which were for a testimony to the Jews, but the greater works of the Son of God.

He that believeth on me, the promise remains the same.

While we believe moment by moment on the Lord Jesus Christ, the greater works will be done.

What miracles of saving lost sinners he would work in this unbelieving world if we should quietly trust him to do his work.

Did he say, did Jesus say, Greater works shall he do?

Well, the Bible says in Matthew 24, 35, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Today, just as surely as in the days when he walked on earth, Jesus seeks those who will believe him.

Again, the work of conviction is not for us to do, but the Holy Spirit does it through us.

In John 16, I am reading now from verse 8 through verse 11.

The Bible says, And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

Now who reproves the world of sin?

He, the comforter, when he is come.

In verse number uh 13, howbeit, when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak of himself.

So, so when, when the Holy Spirit comes, and he has come to live within the believer, and when the Holy Spirit is allowed to speak, and he speaks through the believer, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

The Lord Jesus Himself trusts the Holy Spirit to convict the world as to the sin of unbelief.

It is not a work which we do, but a work done through us by the Holy Spirit Himself.

While we are trusting our entire beings to the Lord Jesus to send where he will, to use as he will use, while we trust him for material and spiritual things, the Holy Spirit convicts the unbelieving of the sin of not believing God.

The Holy Spirit will use anyone, you or me, and through our preaching, will convict unbelievers of sin.

True faith in the Lord Jesus always, invariably, works out in a righteousness of everyday life.

The Holy Spirit convicts men of the unrighteousness of their lives and of the fact that the Lord Jesus is alive today, when he lives out his life in us, as we trust him to have his way.

You see, there is no other way of convincing men of the fact of a living, reigning Christ today, except as he lives out that life in men where men can see it.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, men are convicted of the truth that the Prince of this world has been judged, that he is a defeated foe, that we are free from his dominion and power.

They are convinced that the judgment of their leader is to be theirs also.

The Holy Spirit will do that superhuman work through human beings when he fills them, and they are living under the Lordship of Christ Jesus.

Will you not rejoicingly thank him now for what he will do if only you will trust the Lord Jesus to control your life?

And my friend, our service is not limited to our immediate environment.

The Bible says, He that believeth on me, as the scripture said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

You know the sweep of that statement staggers our faith.

Had he said, He that prayeth, or he that is burdened, or he that travaileth out of his innermost being shall flow rivers, we we maybe, we maybe would believe that.

But simply he that believeth, he that believeth out of his belly shall flow rivers in living water, that staggers us.

But my friend, while we trust him, rivers flow, Amazons, Niles, Ganges, Mississippi, rivers, rivers, overflowing from within the one who believeth.

Isn't that something to think about?

God doesn't God doesn't want you to do some great thing or a number of things for him, and then he will give you Holy Spirit fitting and Holy Spirit power.

Oh no.

He wants you to believe him.

To believe that as you labor for him and work for him, the Holy Spirit will flow through you.

Go forward with confident faith.

Go forward believing that as I open my mouth to speak for God, God will bless, as I go forth to present the gospel to a lost and dying world, God will accompany and God will enable.

That's that's what the Lord has in mind.

Will you thank him?

Will you believe him?

Will you trust him for rivers of living water flowing from you, in you, through you?

That's what God wants.

Now we've got we've got some time left, and I think we've got time to cover this final subject in our look at the spirit-filled life, and that is the conditions for being filled.

The conditions for being filled.

It's very important that we know and understand exactly what God expects on our part.

If anything, if anything, does God expect us to do anything?

Does God demand that we do anything?

Does God want us to do anything?

I think we need to take time to look at this.

Continuing in a spirit-filled life is not difficult, as some may think.

The one who fills with the Spirit is the one who keeps the believer filled.

The one who longed to fill you longs to keep you filled.

The Holy Spirit, who prays with groanings that cannot be uttered, that He may fill us, prays that we may be kept filled.

The one we trusted to fill us is the same one whom we must trust to keep us filled.

Many people seem to think that to be filled is an act which suffices for life.

It is an act that leads into an attitude of quiet, daily trusting Him to keep us under the Lordship of Christ and the leadership of the Spirit.

That that's that's the key.

While we are trusting, there are some things in life that we will do.

In the letter to the Ephesians, God had the apostle Paul write, Be not drunk with wine where it is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

In the companion letter, if you will, Colossians and chapter 3, I'm reading from verse 15.

The Bible says, Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.

And in verse 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

It is possible to have the mind stored with Scripture, and yet not be filled with the Spirit.

Indeed, it is possible to be filled with the Spirit and not have the mind filled with the Word, but it is impossible to remain filled with the Spirit and neglect the Word of Christ.

To remain filled, one must revel in the Word, for therein are revealed the things of Christ.

The temptation comes to neglect the Word of God for a day or two days, or to make the Word a secondary matter in one's life, or to study the Word intellectually to learn things to show people or ways to justify oneself, rather than to find the mind and will of God for one's life.

To remain filled with the Spirit, we must fill ourselves with the Word, and let the Word dwell richly in our hearts.

We find the disciples, after being filled with the Spirit, going most diligently to the temple at the hour of prayer, meeting together for prayer, meeting together for the breaking of bread.

They evidently were more diligent than ever before.

Paul urged the believers not to neglect the assembling of themselves together, as the custom of some seemed to be.

In Hebrews 10 25, well maybe Paul wrote that, we don't know, but God certainly did.

Remember always that the work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus.

He does this in part by taking the things of Jesus and showing them to the believer.

These things are found not in the imagination, but in the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit will show us sin.

The people who are most sensitive to sin are those filled with the Spirit.

One of the first things one may expect when the life is yielded to the Lord is a new consciousness of sin in the life.

Things that had never troubled us, habits that we've indulged in, as a matter of course, careless words, careless acts, all are seen as sin when the Holy Spirit enlightens the eyes.

Whether we will go on with the Lord or whether we will grieve the Spirit depends on what we do about the sins.

In Ephesians 4 30, the Bible says, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed under the day of redemption.

Now God wouldn't have written that in the Bible were it not possible for believers to grieve the Holy Spirit.

Grief is a love word, experienced only by those who love.

It's not akin to anger or jealousy, which could destroy the object of love, but it is a twin sister of love, found only where love is found.

Grief causes pain in the heart of a lover.

Grief makes the lover unable to do his work.

It is not sorrow, it goes infinitely deeper into the heart of those who love.

Grief makes the Holy Spirit unable to do his work in the heart of the believer.

His grief is what causes the heaviness and gloom in your own heart when he has been grieved.

God tells us how it is done.

The Bible says in Ephesians 4 and verse number 29, now we're told in chapter 4, verse 30 not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

Here's how it's done, verse 29.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

The careless speech about other believers, adverse criticism of other Christians, rancid words to say nothing of arguments and disputing about matters of church or state, all these things grieve him.

All corrupt things that come from the mouth by way of the tongue.

Another cause of grief of the Holy Spirit is the sin which is held in the heart, perhaps secretly.

In Ephesians 4 31, the Bible says, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.

Thus, by entertaining these sins as welcome guests, the Holy Spirit is grieved.

Our beings belong to the Lord Jesus.

He bought us with his blood.

The Holy Spirit seeks to glorify the one who saves from sin.

But how can he when sin is entertained?

And so the Bible says in 1 John 1 and verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It is as we confess.

To confess is to say the same thing.

To say about our sin, what God says about it, that this sin makes me worthy of death, that I am helpless before it, that Jesus and Jesus only can save me and keep me from it.

My friend, if you want to be filled with the Spirit, you must instantly deal with any sin the Holy Spirit may show you.

You must instantly believe that God forgives and cleanses.

Keep short accounts with God, lest you should grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you're sealed, lest by grieving him you lose your peace and love and fellowship, and you step back into that heart hunger you have known so long.

The reason for the past hunger and longing of your heart was the reflected grief of the Spirit.

If you become conscious of heart hunger and longing, go to God.

Wait before him that he may show you where you have sinned or failed to confess your sin, the sin which has caused the grief to the Holy Spirit.

You know, you'll always find that in some way you have been disobedient to the voice of the Lord Jesus your master.

But deal with it, confess it, repent of it.

Then there's another word.

In 1 Thessalonians 5 19, the Bible says, Quench not the Spirit.

Fire and thirst are the only things that can be quenched.

Fire is for heat and light.

In the 18th verse of 1 Thessalonians 5, the Bible says, In everything give thanks.

This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

The Holy Spirit warns the heart, warms it to praise, warms it to thanksgiving.

But if praise is neglected, thanksgiving is forgotten, the heart ceases to worship, and no time is taken for the wonder of the Word of God, then the warmth that comes from the Holy Spirit's filling a heart dies down.

The fire is out.

No ashes are left by this fire.

The warmth is gone, the light is gone.

We sit by a fireless hearth, trying to warm ourselves by human embers that refuse to flame, and by ashes that give no warmth.

Quench not the spirit, for he warms your heart to adore.

His light reveals the beauty of Jesus that you may worship and thank and praise.

My friend, be alert.

Be alert to confess each sin that he may show you.

Judge it, condemn it, turn it over to the Savior whose business it is to save you and keep you safe.

When he warms your heart to thank and praise, do it.

If through sudden fear you fail to trust, instantly turn and confess.

He is kind, he is merciful, he still seeks to possess you fully.

You received him by believing.

You are filled by believing.

You are kept.

You are kept by believing.

Keep on believing.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

I want to read you a very interesting verse as we conclude.

It's found in Jeremiah chapter one, Jeremiah chapter one, and verse number twelve.

Then said the Lord unto me, thou hast well seen.

For I will, I will, God speaking, I will hasten my word to perform it.

I will hasten my word to perform it.

You know what God wants?

Not in ten years, not in five years, not at the judgment seat of Christ, not tomorrow.

But God wants today, today, to so fill you with his Holy Spirit that you might enjoy the fullness of the Christian life.

The only thing that keeps lost men from being saved is unbelief.

The only thing that keeps saved men from being controlled by the Holy Spirit is unbelief.

My friend, will you believe God?

Will you believe Him to take control, full control of your life?

You'll never regret it.

You'll never, never regret it.

I'm Brother James.

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