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Worshipper Warrior VII: All the Fullness of God - Three Baptisms - Worshipper Warrior

The Road Church Podcast

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  1. You're listening to the road after teacher Steve Holmes.

  2. Men and women, can you imagine what would happen in this city just at the road?

  3. If every one of us got filled with power and fire from the Holy Spirit, and we took it to the street, and we took it to the highways and byways and in our jobs because we love God so much.

  4. Not some program, not some plan, but we just love God and we can't wait to tell people about God.

  5. Well, that can't happen.

  6. Unless it's a baptism of power and a baptism of the Holy Spirit.

  7. At the road, our vision is to raise up wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ.

  8. For more information on the road, visit theroad.org.

  9. We hope you are encouraged by today's message from Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

  10. You know, the target of God's redemption from the beginning has been that you and I would experience all the fullness of God.

  11. In Genesis 3, sin entered this world.

  12. We were scarred by sin, and that began a redemption strategy that God had to send his son, perfect sacrifice for us to die at Calvary, to rise again on the third day to break the power of the enemy, that when we put our faith in him, when we trust in him, he comes through his spirit to live in our lives.

  13. But not just that we would believe, but that we would love him.

  14. And that's why he said to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes who had misunderstood the religion of Israel at that time, he said, the greatest commandment, the commandment that fulfills all of the law and the prophets is to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.

  15. All of the prophets and all of the law summed up in that.

  16. So I don't want to just believe in God.

  17. I want to love God and I want to love loving Him.

  18. How about you?

  19. I want to love loving God, not just believe.

  20. We have a lot of believers in the church today, but we don't have a lot of lovers.

  21. When we go to worship, that's loving God.

  22. That's loving, loving God.

  23. And so God wants our minds for sure.

  24. That's why we have Outlier University is for our minds.

  25. But we also have Outlier University.

  26. We call it Outlier because we don't want just minds on fire for God.

  27. We want hearts on fire for God.

  28. And last week, 75 or so percent of you crowded this front part of the stage saying you wanted a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit.

  29. You wanted to be touched and baptized with fire.

  30. And this place was jammed with people.

  31. Because what you're saying in saying that is that you want the fullness of God.

  32. And this is what the greatest theologian of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, is saying to the Ephesian church that he prays that the Lord would enable through the mighty power of the Holy Spirit that each one of them in Ephesus would experience the fullness of God.

  33. Not just believing in him, but loving him with all of their heart.

  34. So turn to Ephesians chapter 3, and I want to look at this prayer of Paul as a launching pad to talk about three baptisms in the Bible.

    Ephesians 3 chapter mention

  35. Three encounters with God that the New Testament teaches.

  36. Look at verse 14.

  37. So Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14.

    Ephesians 3:14

  38. Paul has written eloquently about the mysteries of the church.

  39. Then he says, This is what I'm praying about.

  40. This is what I passionately care about for you in Ephesus.

  41. For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory.

  42. Not the riches of your glory, but the riches of his glory to be strengthened, and this is important, with the might through his spirit in the inner man.

  43. So we're talking about the Holy Spirit baptism of fire, the filling of the Holy Spirit, so that it would do this, listen to what he says next, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

  44. And by the way, some of you, when you came forward last week, I would venture to say most of you, when you asked God for his filling, you asked for the baptisms, didn't feel anything.

  45. Most of us in this room, when we first came to the knowledge of Christ, when we gave our hearts to Christ, we didn't feel anything.

  46. That's why we don't trust our feelings, we trust our faith.

  47. When we put our faith in something, sometimes we don't feel it.

  48. But here's what I found is that the more you put your faith in that and trust Him with that, the feelings do come.

  49. The emotions are sanctified over time.

  50. So he says here that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, not a feeling, that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints, and I love that because it's talking about the whole church together as a family, what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

  51. That's the point.

  52. That's God's redemption, that's God's redemptive plan, is that we would experience all the fullness of God.

  53. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.

  54. Church, last week we talked about that baptism with fire.

  55. I want to talk about that again.

  56. I want to break it down a little bit more.

  57. I want to talk about these three baptisms, these three encounters with God that I think are crucial in encountering the fullness of God in our life.

  58. To understand the width and the breadth and the length and the height of the love of God in our hearts and in our lives.

  59. And so we're called a temple of the Holy Spirit.

  60. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?

  61. Whom you have from God and you are not your own.

  62. We are a temple of the Holy Spirit.

  63. Then he goes on to say, for you are bought at a price.

  64. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

  65. Fascinating.

  66. Fascinating that in the Mosaic Tabernacle, that there were three aspects that you had to go through that you touched on the way into the Holy of Holies.

  67. The first was that brazen altar where the sacrifices were given.

  68. A picture, a prophetic picture, a prophetic type of the sacrifice of Christ.

  69. A picture of being born again.

  70. That the blood was shed at that altar, burned up, as it were.

  71. Then there was a laver of water.

  72. There was a laver of water where you wash a picture of baptism.

  73. Water baptism.

  74. Men and women, on the 30th, that's next week.

  75. We're doing a baptism service, and the baptism will be right here.

  76. And some of you have gotten saved recently.

  77. You've given your hearts to Christ.

  78. Some of you've been saved for a while.

  79. You've been born again a while, but you've never been water baptized as a believer.

  80. Come get baptized.

  81. 9 a.m.

  82. is our baptism class.

  83. And then you're going to come in here and God's going to show up.

  84. It's an encounter with God.

  85. It's one of those encounters.

  86. What's interesting is that then there was oil.

  87. There was an alabaster.

  88. There was oil.

  89. There was oil that the priest would put on before they could go in to the Holy of Holies.

  90. A picture of the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

  91. So here's what I believe are three baptisms that I see in Scripture that every believer should experience.

  92. We touched on a little bit the baptism with fire last week, and we're going to cover that again.

  93. But I wanted to give a flow to this.

  94. The first is 1 Corinthians 12, 13.

  95. Would all of you look at 1 Corinthians 12, 13?

  96. So just turn to the left.

  97. This is really important.

  98. This is where sometimes there can be some theological misunderstanding.

  99. I think between different camps in the body of Christ.

  100. Verse 13 says this for by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink of that one spirit.

  101. Now listen up.

  102. When you give your heart to Christ, surrender to Christ, you're born again.

  103. John chapter 3 talks about being born again.

    John 3 chapter mention

  104. You are reborn, and the Spirit of Christ comes into your life.

  105. You receive the Holy Spirit.

  106. You are baptized into Christ.

  107. You are baptized into the body of Christ.

  108. Whatever or whatever your experience was, and for some, all three encounters come together, which is really exciting.

  109. That's what we actually see in Acts chapter 2.

    Acts 2 chapter mention

  110. Boom, everything happened at once.

  111. They received Christ.

  112. They received a baptism with the Spirit, they're baptism into the Spirit, a baptism with the Spirit, and then a water baptism, boom, all happens at once.

  113. But rarely does that happen.

  114. And so I look forward to the day.

  115. This is when I know revival's coming.

  116. This is when I know awakening's happening, is when we have to do baptisms every week.

  117. Because so many people are coming into a personal faith in Christ.

  118. And that day is coming.

  119. I believe that day is coming where they'll be lined up to be baptized because the Spirit is moving with a revolution of the kingdom of God across Colorado Springs.

  120. That's part of what I signed up for in starting this church is that we would see a kingdom revolution in the Rockies.

  121. So this first is a baptism into Christ.

  122. It says here, into one body, Christ, us being through the Spirit, receiving the Spirit.

  123. Now turn to Matthew 28.

  124. So go to the left.

  125. Matthew 28, the Great Commission.

  126. That's what we call it, Jesus' last commission before he ascended to heaven.

  127. And he talks of baptism, talks of a baptism with water.

  128. Look at verse 19.

  129. Go therefore and make disciples.

  130. Matter of fact, I believe you see the three baptisms right here, but go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.

  131. I believe that's getting people saved.

  132. That's preaching the gospel, that baptism into Christ.

  133. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

  134. That's speaking of water baptism, but then teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you.

  135. And we're going to look at that third baptism in just a moment.

  136. So baptism with water.

  137. So, as I've said before, I grew up in a home where I was baptized when I was six weeks old with a little white dress on.

  138. I've never had any gender confusion, but I did get baptized with a little dress on.

  139. But when I really came to Christ, when I surrendered everything to Christ, it was when I was 18 years old.

  140. So I got water baptized as a believer.

  141. You don't have to, but I believe it's a part of an encounter with God that if you haven't done, you might consider because of the encounters with God in baptism that we read about in the New Testament.

  142. Amazing stories.

  143. And then I've shared before the personal experiences I've had in baptizing people and seeing God show up in such dramatic ways during baptism.

  144. There's something supernatural about it.

  145. It's like communion.

  146. That's why we do communion every Sunday, is because it's one of those sanctified sacraments of the church where the presence of God shows up.

  147. And I think it's it's that two or more gathered in my name when the church does it together that has an even accelerated encounter with God that we can have.

  148. Well, then there's a third baptism.

  149. It's a baptism with the Holy Spirit.

  150. So turn to Matthew 3.11.

  151. We're going to go through all four Gospels super quick.

  152. And here's why.

  153. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the four gospels of the New Testament.

  154. And man, Matthew's really different than Mark.

  155. Mark is really different than Luke.

  156. Luke is really different than John.

  157. You might consider in 2019, in the first few months, read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

  158. Just read that.

  159. And you'll just go, wow.

  160. There's just such a different view of Christ from a different angle by who it was being written to.

  161. But let me tell you this: there's four things that all of the Gospels cover.

  162. The first is the life of Christ in some way, shape, or form.

  163. The second is the death of Christ in some way, shape, or form.

  164. The third is the resurrection of Christ in some way, shape, or form.

  165. It's always different in each one of the gospels.

  166. But the fourth is the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

  167. All four Gospels cover the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

  168. So look at Matthew 3.11.

  169. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, John speaking.

  170. But he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

  171. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

  172. Now turn to Mount Mark.

  173. So just keep going to the right to Mark.

  174. And what's interesting, it's kind of interesting.

  175. Matthew is chapter 3, Mark is chapter 1, Luke is chapter 3, and John is chapter 1.

    Isaiah 3 chapter mention Isaiah 1 chapter mention Isaiah 3 chapter mention Isaiah 1 chapter mention

  176. So that's kind of interesting for you that find those things interesting.

  177. Mark 1.8.

  178. I indeed baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

  179. Luke chapter 3.

    Luke 3 chapter mention

  180. Luke chapter 3.

    Luke 3 chapter mention

  181. 16.

  182. Luke 3, 16.

  183. I indeed baptize you with water.

  184. But one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to lose, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

  185. John chapter 1.

    John 1 chapter mention

  186. John chapter 1.

    John 1 chapter mention

  187. You know what?

  188. I actually love the sound of little babies.

  189. I mean, I don't like them when they like scream.

  190. But I think it's kind of cool the background here, baby.

  191. Like, oh, I love that.

  192. We're a family.

  193. Okay, John 1, 32 and 33.

  194. John bore witness saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove.

  195. It says like a dove.

  196. It wasn't, I don't think it was a dove, but it was like a dove, and he remained upon him.

  197. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize you with water said to me, upon whom you see the spirit descending and remaining on him.

  198. This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

  199. So we see these three baptisms.

  200. There's a baptism into Christ and into the body.

  201. Jesus said to his disciples, after his resurrection church, it says he breathed on them and he said, Receive the Holy Spirit.

  202. So at Pentecost, which we're going to look at just in a second again, they had the Holy Spirit, but they weren't baptized with power from the Holy Spirit.

  203. So when I talk about being a word and spirit church, I want to make things clear.

  204. Passion for the word means we base what we believe in in God's word and experiences that we have, as unique as they may be, are judged according to the basics of God's Word.

  205. Now let me just say this.

  206. There's nothing in the Word about driving a car.

  207. There's nothing in the Word about the clothes you wear.

  208. So I'm so you understand what I'm saying.

  209. I'm talking about theologically, I'm not talking about every little experience that we have.

  210. But we do have conclusive evidence that the Spirit always works, always works in power with those who are surrendered to Him.

  211. And when you came forward, most of you in this room, with hands uplifted and hearts uplifted to Christ last week, and we couldn't minister to you because all of the ministry team was up there getting it too.

  212. So there was no ministry team because everybody was there.

  213. You set in motion something that's going to happen in the days ahead that's going to surprise you.

  214. We have a God of surprises.

  215. And he may show up when you're in the shower, in your birthday suit.

  216. Just right there, and the Spirit, that's how he, man, he came upon me in a shower, in Okinawa, on a hot, muggy day, in a mighty way.

  217. And he'll meet each of you in your unique encounters that he has for you.

  218. Now look at Acts chapter 1.

    Acts 1 chapter mention

  219. So in Acts chapter 1, and the reason this is important is because we just read in Matthew 28 that Jesus said, Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all, and in the Greek, all means all that I've commanded you.

    Acts 1 chapter mention

  220. And lo, I'm with you always even until the end of the age.

  221. So let's look at what he taught between resurrection and the ascension, starting at verse 4 of Acts chapter 1, and being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise.

    Acts 1 chapter mention

  222. Underline that, uh, highlight that, uh, colorize it.

  223. The promise of the Father, which he said, you've heard from me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

  224. Now they've already received the Holy Spirit.

  225. Remember?

  226. He had breathed on them when he first saw them after his resurrection, said, Receive the Holy Spirit.

  227. But he's talking about something different than just having the Holy Spirit.

  228. It's the Holy Spirit having you.

  229. You can have the Holy Spirit, but does the Holy Spirit have you?

  230. So something different.

  231. Not many days from now.

  232. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying they totally missed the point.

  233. They get into politics.

  234. Everybody wants to.

  235. Isn't that our struggle?

  236. We always want to get into politics.

  237. So they say, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

  238. Are you going to kick the Romans out?

  239. Are we going to get these oppressors out of here and we rule this place?

  240. And then he says, it's not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

  241. And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

  242. So he says, wait.

  243. He says, wait for power.

  244. Until you got power, you don't have what it takes.

  245. Yes, we've been together for three and a half years.

  246. You've seen how I do stuff.

  247. You could write the manual on how to heal the sick.

  248. You could write the manual on how to cast out a demon.

  249. You could write the manual on prayer and fasting.

  250. You're the ones who asked me how to pray, and I gave you my prayer.

  251. You know all that.

  252. It's all up here.

  253. But you're missing something.

  254. You're missing the fire, you're missing the power, you're missing the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

  255. And don't do anything stupid until you get filled up with me.

  256. All the fullness of God, because you will mess this whole thing up.

  257. And here's what's amazing: that Jesus would believe that actually it was better for him to leave than for him to stay on the earth because the Spirit was going to come.

  258. That's crazy.

  259. That the Spirit actually can do more than the physical presence of Jesus.

  260. Men and women, can you?

  261. Imagine what would happen in this city just at the road if every one of us got filled with power and fire from the Holy Spirit and we took it to the streets and we took it to the highways and byways and in our jobs because we love God so much.

  262. Not some program, not some plan, but we just love God and we can't wait to tell people about God.

  263. Well, that can't happen unless there's a baptism with power and a baptism of the Holy Spirit.

  264. So here's what happens in chapter 2.

  265. And when the day of Pentecost fully came, they were with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.

  266. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

  267. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

  268. And I talked about last week how one writer, one translation of the Bible calls this like a wildfire.

  269. I think it might be the message, like a wildfire.

  270. And we talked about the Holy Spirit being like a wild goose chase.

  271. And I shared how, you know, I've had chickens and chasing chickens and chase, I imagine goose would be the same.

  272. It's like you don't know where that goose is gonna go.

  273. You don't know where that chicken's gonna go, just running all over the place, and that's the way the spirit is.

  274. You cannot control the Holy Spirit.

  275. He wants to control you.

  276. And when you start letting him control you, you move from the boredom of basic American Christianity into the adventure of the excitement of the knowledge that Christ can work through you in the same way he did in the book of Acts.

  277. That's pretty cool.

  278. Pretty exciting.

  279. Man, Liz has a story to tell from this week.

  280. I told her we were gonna record it and we never did.

  281. So maybe at the first of the year I'll have her share.

  282. Just the Holy Spirit showing up when she was at Panera?

  283. Panera Bread.

  284. The power of God can show up at Panera Bread.

  285. I want you to know.

  286. Very exciting.

  287. Alright, so now look at the sermon.

  288. So Peter, then Peter's a case in point.

  289. I mean, Peter's like a coward, and he becomes this courageous preacher.

  290. And then in verse 38 of chapter 2, he gives us these three encounters with God.

  291. He says, Then Peter said to them, Repent, repent, get born again, in other words, that's the first baptism.

  292. Every one of you, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, water baptism, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the baptism with the Holy Spirit that he's experiencing right then, and they are experiencing right then.

  293. Now turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 8.

    Acts 8 chapter mention

  294. Acts chapter 8.

    Acts 8 chapter mention

  295. Starting at verse 12, Philip is preaching.

  296. These gods show up in Samaria.

  297. We'll pick it up at verse 12.

  298. But when they believed, Philip, as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

  299. Then Simon himself also believed.

  300. That's the sorcerer.

  301. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was amazed at seeing the miraculous signs which were done.

  302. Verse 14.

  303. Now when the apostles, who were at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

  304. Another way of speaking of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

  305. For as of yet he had fallen upon none of them, they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

  306. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

  307. So, church, yes, it was a unique situation.

  308. But the reality here is that Jesus is the one that said that we need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

  309. And so in this, they have believed in Christ.

  310. I'm convinced that much of the body of Christ who have received Christ, been water baptized, have never had the third encounter.

  311. And that's a baptism with the Holy Spirit.

  312. How many of you, maybe either you hear a testimony, maybe you read or you hear a podcast, or you see someone who's just so excited about the Lord, and they speak of how God is using them in a mighty way, and in your heart, you want to be like that.

  313. In your heart, you say, I wish I had that kind of passion.

  314. Raise your hand.

  315. You can.

  316. It is available for everyone.

  317. There's a lot of different walls we could talk about, and maybe, maybe in the next week we'll cover that at some point.

  318. What are the issues?

  319. I think the biggest one is fear.

  320. I think we we fear being out of control.

  321. And so we don't want to be on that wild goose chase.

  322. We kind of like where we're at.

  323. Well, my hope and prayer that is in 2019 that you're gonna have a major spiritual paradigm shift.

  324. And you're gonna see the adventure as more exciting than being in control.

  325. Because when we start letting God be in control, now that is the fullness of God, and that is the joy that you were made for.

  326. So now look at Acts 19.

  327. Paul at Ephesus.

  328. So here's from the great theologian himself, the Apostle Paul.

  329. And it happened while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus, and finding some disciples, he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

  330. So they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.

  331. And he said to them, Into what then were you baptized?

  332. And they said, Into John's baptism.

  333. That's water baptism.

  334. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who could come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ.

  335. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

  336. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

  337. So someone asked me this week, and I knew this was, people would ask me this, you know, do you have to speak in tongues as evidence that you've been baptized with the Holy Spirit?

  338. And I say, no, you don't.

  339. But why wouldn't you want it?

  340. Because in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul says it edifies you.

  341. It actually builds up your faith to pray in tongues or to worship in tongues or to speak in tongues.

  342. Why would you not want that?

  343. But here's the point: you know that you're filled with the Holy Spirit because you're full.

  344. I'm from Georgia.

  345. I'm not real smart, but I figured out that when something is full, then it's full.

  346. You don't say it's full when it's not full.

  347. So if you got a glass and it's half full, you don't say the glass is full.

  348. You say it's half empty or it's half full.

  349. But when it's full, what happens when something's full?

  350. It spills over.

  351. So another way to describe this filling is the spirit-spilled life.

  352. Not just the spirit-filled life.

  353. It's that we're spilling over with love for God, and people can see it.

  354. They conceive love and joy and patience, and they can see kindness and joy in our life.

  355. That's the spirit-filled life.

  356. That's the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

  357. When we get baptized with the Holy Spirit, that's just the beginning.

  358. Because look at this.

  359. Go back now to Acts chapter 4, because in Acts chapter 2, they get filled with the Spirit.

    Acts 4 chapter mention Acts 2 chapter mention

  360. If you know the whole story, they speak in tongues.

  361. There's this encounter with the Spirit of God where He uh causes 3,000 to get saved, and then 5,000 are gonna get saved.

  362. And then they're going, they're just going to the temple, and this lame guy gets saved.

  363. They get in all kinds of trouble because of that.

  364. And so then they get thrown into prison, they come out of prison, and then look at Acts chapter 4.

    Acts 4 chapter mention

  365. They begin to pray.

  366. Look at verse 27.

  367. I'm not gonna read all of it, but verse 27 says, For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people as were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done.

  368. Verse 29.

  369. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word.

  370. By stretching out your hand to heal, that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

  371. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

  372. Now, why is that important?

  373. Because in some traditions and groups, it's like you get filled, and then they ask, are you like filled?

  374. Are you spirit-filled?

  375. Is your church spirit-filled?

  376. Like it's a title.

  377. Like you got some kind of title.

  378. Yeah, we're a spirit-filled church.

  379. My answer to that is, well, it's according to which day you're talking about this week.

  380. You should have seen us on Thursday.

  381. And we were fired up.

  382. We prayed, we worshiped, we we saw cool stuff happening.

  383. But Friday, terrible.

  384. Bickering, saying bad things, you know, you know, all kinds of issues.

  385. Men and women, listen.

  386. The spirit-filled life is not a title, it's a function.

  387. It's a choice that you make.

  388. You get refilled and refilled and refilled.

  389. Ephesians 5 18 says, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

  390. Be filled, because the Ephesus Church had to be invited to be filled again.

  391. So the filling of the Holy Spirit is a function, it's a choice.

  392. What I'm speaking of is baptism with fire is an experience, but we have to keep getting baptized with fire.

  393. Hello?

  394. I got married.

  395. I had kids.

  396. Of course, I've got to be spirit-filled.

  397. My wife married me.

  398. Of course, she has to be spirit-filled.

  399. And has to keep asking to be refilled with the Spirit.

  400. Men and women, here's the point: the fullness of God that we just read about in that prayer in Ephesians by Paul was that we might be experiencing active aorist tense in the Greek, the width and the depth and the height and the length of the love of God.

  401. It's a process we're all on where we continually are asking to be refilled with the Spirit.

  402. And I don't know about you, and I don't care what you call it, I want it all.

  403. That we might overflow with the love of God.

  404. D.

  405. L.

  406. Moody, the great evangelist, was preaching in the Chicago area, and these two old ladies kept coming up to him.

  407. Auntie Cook was one of them.

  408. And Mrs.

  409. Snow.

  410. Auntie Cook and Mrs.

  411. Snow would come up to D.

  412. L.

  413. Moody and say, We're praying for you.

  414. And he says, Why are you praying for me?

  415. You ought to be praying for people who aren't saved.

  416. And he says, No, we're praying that you get some power.

  417. He said, What do you mean?

  418. You need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

  419. And he said, Well, don't pray for me, pray with me.

  420. So he got down there on his knees with these two old ladies, and they prayed for power from the Holy Spirit.

  421. And they said, Oh, you can't believe.

  422. Annie Cook said later, you can't believe how he prayed.

  423. I can't even repeat it.

  424. The passion of his heart to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

  425. And so for weeks, months, D.L.

  426. Moody, one of the greatest evangelists of the 19th century, if not the greatest, prayed to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

  427. And one day when he was in New York, walking there in New York, I don't think it was Times Square.

  428. What does it say?

  429. Wall Street.

  430. He was in Wall Street in New York.

  431. Holy Spirit came upon him to such a degree that he went to a friend's house and he went into a room and he spent hours in that room experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit.

  432. And from that day forward, his life was transformed.

  433. He went from being a great intellect to being a great, passionate evangelist.

  434. And men and women, this can be true for all of us.

  435. There is a baptism with the Holy Spirit.

  436. There is a baptism with fire.

  437. They can open up areas of your life that have never been opened up, parts of your heart that have never been opened up.

  438. And I don't know why God chose to do it that way.

  439. I wish it could all just be so simple.

  440. But the reality is that God is looking for hungry people.

  441. He is looking for those who will seek and ask and knock until it comes.

  442. Because there's something that happens in our lives when we're asking and when we're seeking in private that God can visit us in private that can change us in public.

  443. If you've got a nasty, honri Christian spouse, if you've got a nasty, honri Christian friend, pray that they get baptized with the Holy Spirit.

  444. Maybe they're saved, and maybe they're going to heaven and they're going to squeak in by their chinny chin chin.

  445. They're on God's naughty list.

  446. But because God is faithful to his calling and he's faithful to his grace, and it's not up to that person, but it's up to Christ who calls us, they're going to heaven.

  447. But they're not experiencing heaven yet.

  448. And we need to experience heaven before we get to heaven.

  449. I want to experience all of eternal life before I get to eternal life.

  450. That's why Jesus said to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven now.

  451. That's what we pray in 2019 is for a spiritual revolution, a kingdom of God revolution in Colorado Springs.

  452. It's going to flow through us individually, experiencing a kingdom of God revolution in our own heart.

  453. You've been listening to The Road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

  454. We hope you have been blessed by today's message.

  455. To connect with us further, visit theroad.org.

  456. If you are walking through a difficult time, we want to pray for you.

  457. Go to theroad.org, click on the ministries tab, and go to our prayer page to send us your prayer request.

  458. Thanks again for tuning in today.

  459. Be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.