Voice of the Nazarene 10-8-23

I'm coming to you from North Central Ohio, we share with you the voice of the Nazarene, a week by week venture into the Word of God sponsored by the Bucyrus, Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We joined our Pastor Reverend Ray LaSalle, and the voice of the Nazarene.

We've been on a series about the Holy Spirit. And I'd like to continue on that just for a few more times. And out of Galatians, chapter five, verse 22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, verse 23, faith, meekness and temperance. And it says, against such, there is no law. Now 613 laws had been given. But Paul is saying there's no law against love and peace and joy, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Fact of the matter, our world, if everybody was spirit filled, there'd be no reason to have any law. I mean, everybody was so full of the Holy Spirit, they had love, joy, peace, etc. Well, we'd all get along. Isn't that good news? Now I want to talk to you about the visible God, the fact that the visible God can be seen in your life. Fact of the matter, the writer of the Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 14, he says, Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. So if you want people to see the Lord in your life, you've got to live peacefully. And you've got to live holy. You're running around creating problems divisive, and you're just like a rough rasp and file going through life rubbing everybody the wrong way, creating problems, who's going to see the Lord in your life.

Hebrews 12:14

And if I'm not living holy and right and above board and honorably, nobody is going to see the Lord in my life either.

Fact of the matter, the Holy Spirit can be seen. He can be seen in your life. And in my life. Jesus right before he went back to heaven, before He ascended back to the Father, he had 120 followers, for sure, could have been more. But I'm going lightly on it 120. And I can say to any pastor watching by livestream or by telecasts, we're not all called to pastor mega churches. While I may not be called to pastor a mega church, I'm still called to be faithful. Faithful to preach the gospel, faithful to the poor people, faithful to be kind, faithful to show up when they're asking for one of the elders to come and pray over them. Call on the sick. He had 120 followers and he's getting ready to go back to heaven. And before he goes, he said, Wait a minute, I want to give you some instructions, to my little church crowd my followers. I want to instruct you before I go. And then he goes, but he says before he leaves, I want you to wait right here. I want you to wait here in Jerusalem. I don't want you to go out now.

Personally, just looking at this I would have said, Surely the Lord would have said now you need to get out there. The world is going to hell in a handbasket. People are lost.

People are dying. People need God. Get out there and teach and get out there and preach and get into the ministry and get involved. But he doesn't do that. Instead, he says, I want you to wait. Don't go, just wait right here. Because if you go out there, you'll be going on your own. And you'll be going without the power and you'll be going without the Holy Spirit.

So you need to wait until you're filled with the Spirit. Just wait. It might be 10 days but just get together in one accord.

That's quite a job for the church, innit? To get in the same place and get in the same frame of mind with the same heart. But he said, if you'll do that the Holy Spirit will come.

And when He comes, you receive power. Because if you go out and you're doing it on your own, and then your own strength, and ladies and gentlemen, let me say something, if we're not careful, we're doing church, in ourselves. And we're gonna do ministry in ourselves. And we're gonna do counseling in ourselve and do all these activities, but we're doing it in our own strength. And we'll be doing relationships, and we'll be doing marriages, and we will be doing friendships, and we'll be been doing all of that. And if it's in our own self, it's nothing but hay, wood and stubble. But he said, after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, you'll receive power. And suddenly there will be fruit in your life, he said, after the Holy Spirit after you receive him. And that's not something you can produce on your own.

It's not listening to a motivational speaker that pumps you all up and you say, I grab it, I get it. I've got it, and I'm gonna run with it. No. You see, the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace and longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. And I begin to think about when we receive those attributes of the Spirit in our lives, there are three things that I know about it. You know what, I've got a basket full here. Any of you get to eat breakfast? I imagine you're pretty hungry. I guess I should have had biscuits and gravy. This isn't in your notes.

But this is fruit. And there's various fruit. It's in the singular, it's all fruit. But there's various. Not anybody has it all. I've just got a little bit here. But about 40 years younger, I play ball with this, but since I'm not, but you better wake up, I probably could hit some of you from here. What do you know about fruit, pastor? I know well first of all, if you want to bypass the various it's visible.

Now, I'm not going to chop down on and take me too long to chew it. But you can see fruit you see this fruit? Anybody that can't see it? Ray Charles? Can you see this fruit? It's visible it shows. And you know, when you've got the fruit of the Spirit in your life, it's going to shine through, it's going to stand out, it's going to show and people will recognize the fruit of the Spirit in your life. And it can be unlearned, to ignorant fishermen. But they can tell they'd been with Jesus.

And when you've been anointed, you've got the Spirit of God on your life. People can see it, they can see the Holy Spirit in your life. But not only is fruit visible, may I say it's viable.

What do you mean by that pastor?

Well, it reflects the character of the tree, of the tree. You know, he's a holy God. And if we want a holy God to live in us, and we're so full of the devil, and we've been raising all kinds of cain all week long. How in the world would a Holy God want to dwell in a non holy vessel?

And so, some of us who have been fooled about everything need to empty out and let God the Holy Spirit come in and cleanse our life. I can't expect a Holy God to fill my life when I'm full of self and full of sin. And that's a good place to say Amen, some of you missed it. Teenage boy, he had a fruit tree right outside his upstairs window. His dad was a little bit strict and wouldn't let him run with some of the crowd and he despised it.

But he got around his dad by at night he'd go to bed early, he said. And he raised his window to climb out on one of those limbs of that fruit tree and go down the tree and make his way a few blocks up the way into town and have a party with the guys.

One night sitting at the table the dad said that all fruit tree right outside the back of our house. He said it's not producing fruit any more, we need to cut it down. And the boy thought, oh my goodness, my happy times are over. I've got to do something. And he told his friends and they said, it's easy. Just get you a big bag of apples and tie apples all over the tree. So he climbed that tree and tied apples all over that thing. And the next day, his dad said, there's an amazing miracle that took place at our house. He said that old tree that hadn't produced fruit in years produced a whole bunch of apples. And the miracle is it's a pear tree. What are you trying to say? Fruit reflects the character of the tree. If it's an apple tree it's not going to produce pears, it's not going to produce other kinds of fruit. It reflects the character of the tree and you and I do too. And it's not only visible it's not only viable, but it's also fruit is valuable. Because inside the fruit is the seed. You in the back just trust me. I've got a peach seed here. How'd you get it? I had to eat the peach yesterday so I could get the seed. And you know what fruit does, it reproduces itself? May I just ask you do you have the seed of God in your life? I'm gonna throw a little verse at you. It's not gonna make you happy. But it's First John chapter three, verse nine, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Now I've got an eraser on my pencil. Because when I'm writing, especially these days, sometimes I make a mistake and I have to erase it.

Did I do it on purpose, no it was a mistake. A sin is breaking the Known law of God. That's called sinning. That's purposefully sinning. And he goes on to say for his seed remaineth in him. A Christian does not purposefully set out to sin against God. Now if you do, there is a way back, we have an advocate, but we're not gonna be sinning. And let's not be promoting sinning religion. Some of us need to get out of the sin business. If you rob banks, your robber if your sin your sinner.

Moving along while we're shouting happy. So fruit is visible and viable and valuable.

And I got to thinking about this. It's in the singular fruit of the Spirit. It's not in the plural. It's in the singular, it said, fruit, not fruits, it said, fruit. Here's what I came to realize. Now, there are many gifts of the Spirit. There is a debate about how many gifts there are. But there are many gifts. And some people think they have all the gifts, they think they are a gift. But nobody has all the gifts. And here's what's amazing fruit here is singular. And when we experienced the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have all those things that love that joy, that peace, longsuffering, are you with me? We have the fruit. And it all comes through being filled with God's Spirit. And I want to say you can be a Christian and not be spirit filled. Like I said, you can live in a house that you do not own. And God can forgive you.

But you may not have allowed him to fill you with this spirit. He may have converted you but you don't want him to control you.

And God is saying over and over to us. Be filled, be filled. And for some of us that means emptying ourselves of ourselves and I'm not trying to offend you. But if some of us could just get over ourselves. It'd be amazing what God could do in our lives. You say, well, but what about me? What about you?

Nowhere in the Bible did it ever say Jesus said what about me?

Nowhere in the Bible did it ever talk about a committed Christian saying, what about me?

And when we're filled with God's Spirit, we have those nine attributes. And there's three things that are paramount and here's what I want to share with you this morning. First of all, you will have a countenance that is obvious. A countenance that is obvious. The little girl said to her grandma said What's wrong, grandma? Why she said honey, nothing's wrong. She said then Why don't you tell your face? I got a call last Tuesday a man was dying in the hospital, Could you could you get up here?

He needs a chaplain. And I raced to the hospital and I wasn't dressed as a minister at some old work clothes on. And I'm hurrying up the hall and little lady on our walker turned around and took a little while to get it turned around. And she looked at me and she said, Look at the smile on your face. You must be a preacher.

Well, I wish I could tell you all what I'm thinking. And I just kind of nodded at her and kept hurrying into the ICU. To get there in time. I wanted to say no, that's not so much it.

The fact is, I'm a I'm a Christian. The Bible says that I'm filled with God's Spirit, then I have love. Now, if somebody loves you, it's easy to love them. But what do you do when people don't love you? And worse yet, betray you? And isn't loyal to you. And they talk about you and they say hateful things. And when you see them, they just come running up.

And I've missed you so much, and I love you. And you just want to slap him to sleep and tell him to snore in Jesus name. Just being transparent here. So how do you love those people, you will only love them through the Holy Spirit, because it's not in you to love people that are hurtful to you. Lets get real here and get honest. It's not in me to love people who are not good to me. It's in me to love people that are nice to me. And the only way we can do it is through the Holy Spirit. Now, can you imagine there in the book of Acts, this guy by the name of Stephen, the Bible said that people were mean to him.

Fact of the matter, they begin to bite him, so the gnashed on him with their teeth. And then they begin to stone him to death that's there in Acts chapter seven. And in verse 55, and it said, and being full of a Holy Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into heaven. And then if you're dropped down to the 59th, verse, They stone Stephen in verse 60, and he kneeled down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, laying out this sin, to their charge. Now, that's not within us, when people are destroying us. We need the Holy Spirit. And the only one that can put the love of God into your heart when people are hurting you is the Holy Spirit. The only one that can help you to love when people are mistreating you, is through the Holy Spirit, it's not in me.

And let me tell you something our country is in a real difficult time, in case you haven't realized that. The Mosque over there in the Holy Land and that attack on Israel.

These are scary times, folk. You study your Bible a little bit right now. And some of us get all to get real serious about serving God. I may not have a lot of answers, but I know one thing I want to be full of the Holy Spirit during these days.

Our country being a whole lot better shape and our world would be if everybody was filled with the Holy Spirit and God's presence. You see God's presence and God's fear to make the black man love the white man, the white man, love the red man and the red man love the yellow man and we just all but it's not in us to love somebody that's not the same as us and doesn't talk like we talk and doesn't walk like we walk and doesn't have the same cultural containment that we have. But I'll tell you when the Holy Spirit comes, He helps us all to love others that are different than we are. All the because the Holy Spirit puts that love in us. And then he said we also have joy, the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and happiness is based upon what happens. Now, when my kids were in school, we went to a lot of those ball games. They would drag me along on a leash. And it was amazing sitting up in the stands. There's this other side and there's our little side and the game goes on. And if we win we're just so happy. And when our side lost, you never saw anybody drag out of the gym like the people of this county.

Happiness has to do with what happens but joy isn't about what happens isn't about the circumstances. It's about having the Holy Spirit in our heart, despite the circumstances. Now, everything has changed, I'm just talking to you used to be that I thought everybody expected me to be at the hospital when they're having surgeries. I don't even know where they're having them now. I've lost my crystal ball, if I don't show up it's simply because I don't know. But it seems as though since COVID, everybody's kind of private about everything, they slip into the hospital, they slip out and I've got so the only thing I know to do, if I find out, I'll try to call. And I'll say I'd like to have a word of prayer with you. And while I'm going to pray for you, I want you to remember Deuteronomy 31, verse eight. I want to tell you, it tells us there that God's going to already be in the room before you get there. And he he's going to show up. And then I sometimes I'll read it, and the Lord, he it is that does go before the He will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake the fear not neither be dismayed and folk, you can have joy in spite of the circumstances, in spite of the surgeries in spite of the problems. Boy, it pays to live for the Lord, dunnit it? And I told you the other day, and the retirement is out of this world.

So countenance that is obvious, you have love, you have joy, and then you even have peace. Look

27, peace I have I leave with you. Not only a countenance that is obvious, but we'll also we have a conduct that is orderly, we conduct ourselves in an orderly fashion.

First of all, he mentioned long suffering. What does that mean?

Well, in the Greek, and the New Testament was written in Greek, it means far from anger, long way from anger, longsuffering, and people get angry. We say things, we do things, we have activities, that later on we regret, and we wish we hadn't done something, people get angry. And longsuffering is far from anger. And we also have gentleness that means kindness.

We're kind of people. You know, it's nice to be important. But it's very important to be nice.

Adrian Rogers said one day that he got a note from a man. And the man said The sermon was fabulous. The music was great.

And I get those notes all the time. Rest of you don't get it.

Some of you said, really? No, not really. And he said, you know, he said as I was leaving the church, going to go home to do what I was going to do. Said there was a lady while the traffic was backed up getting out of the church parking lot, she stopped and motioned me to go ahead and go in front of her, waved at me and gave me a precious smile. And he said, I went home to do what I was going to do which was to commit suicide. Now I walked in the house, I was headed for the closet. And then I remember that pretty smile that lady gave me.

And I thought it's not the message, it wasn't the music, it was the smile that made me stop and realize that life can be kind in the midst of all of our hurt. I'm just simply saying we need to be gentle. Kindness comes to the Holy Spirit, not in us to be kind. It's in astral look out for number one, isn't it? And then not only longsuffering and gentleness, but goodness. What's that? It's living good because of godly values. He's filled us with his spirit. We have a countenance that's always a conduct that's orderly. And then he says, We have character that is obedient.

Notice what it says faith, what we're filled with God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit imparts faith into us. And we're able to believe God for things that we'd never believe God before because God gives us a faith that we'd never had. And then he imparts meekness into us. That's humility. And then temperance, that self control when that vise or that appetite overtakes you.

I'm talking about somebody said, Well, I did it for the drugs that I can't control. Well, Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world, so he'll give you strength. And let me tell you self control is not in you self control is when God's spirits in us and it wills us to say no at the right time we yield to the Holy Spirit. And we can overcome what ever that vice might be. And you know, there's this many people hooked on prescription drugs, they say now that then even illicit drugs.

And I'm just simply saying, the answer is still being filled with the Holy Spirit to overcome these things. We need the Holy Spirit. And I'm not preaching about something that's mystical.

I'm preaching about something that's biblical. You say, Well, it's not for our church. Listen, the Holy Spirit's for every church.

Now can you see in the back? Can you even hear in the back? Is there anybody back there? This is a balloon. This is your life.

This is my ministry. This may be your marriage. I don't know.

Your relationship its just empty.

You get what I'm talking about.

This is what preaching is, without the Holy Spirit, you can have the best outline in the world. You can know all the Greek and all the Hebrew, but without the help of the Holy Spirit it's empty. It's simply boring. That's what your class is without the Holy Spirit.

That's what our colleges are without the Holy Spirit. That may be what our marriages are without the Holy Spirit.

Relationships they're just empty. They're boring. And we need God we need the Holy Spirit in all of our marriages or they're not going to make it.

And they're not going to make it in our relationships without the Holy Spirit. This ministry this church will not continue to grow without the Holy Spirit. You say, Well, can we do it on the personality of Ray LaSalle? He can't help anybody. Only the Holy Spirit can help us. I can't, you can't. But with the Holy Spirit, we can together and here's what's amazing.

Got a little air pump here.

We're gonna check against the last week with a teeter totter.

That was an interesting, wasn't it? I'm thinking I'm coming back for that one. We might get it down in about a year or two.

I came to Jesus when I was nine years of age.

Our home had broke up when I was three years of age. Mama took all she could take and walked out. She took my brother and I to grandma and grandpa's house, but my biological dad got his brother and they got some legal papers, at least they looked legal. And went down and talked grandma and grandpa out of my brother and I and took us back and it was a long battle before mom ever got my brother and I again. Life abruptly changed.

Everything fell apart in my life from that point on for a while.

Mama finally got my brother and I and she had remarried and lo and behold, walked into a Nazarene church and got saved.

We started attending church.

Well, that was a turn around.

When you had never been in church and you didn't have a lot of desire for church but mom and dad did so you they put us on drugs. They drugged us to church. Fact of the matter, they went to every revival beating around Indainapolis. We went to church almost every night. I didn't even know you only went to church on Sunday morning only. We went all the time. And then one night at nine years of age I gave my heart to Christ.

There went my illustration you looked down and you missed it.

Suddenly, he came into my life.

And it wasn't long after that.

After five or six years my brother and I headed off to Bible school. During one of the revivals off campus, Evangelism was very gifted in preaching, and I went to hear him and I was amazed at how he could preach.

And God began to speak to my heart. And God began to say, I've got something more. And I said, What is it? He said, If you yield your life to me? I'll fill you with my spirit, and I'll use you in the future.

Gotta take up the cross. Gotta follow me. Gotta yield yourself to me. And that's exactly what I did. Now, Jesus said, I'm going to heaven. And he did. And suddenly, he was gone into the clouds. Incidentally, the Holy Spirit is the very breath of Jesus Christ. You want to read about it get in the book of John, it said he breathed on them the Holy Ghost. When he came into the room, there was mighty wind it swept through the room. Spirit had moved on them like it moved on the waters at creation. I don't know about you. But it seemed like in this last year, I've been desperate.

I think we desperately need the Holy Spirit. Fact of the matter, I'm to the place where I don't even want to preach if the Holy Spirit is not going to be there.

I've got a book here. I want to tell you something. My Bible tells me that you can't even understand this without the Holy Spirit. I'm praying about something right now we are in our house. And God's not going to respond to what I've been praying about. Jesus is not going to answer what I've been praying about. But the Holy Ghost is interested. He's God's agent on Earth. He was sent to Earth, to live in us to hear our prayers, interpret those prayers. And I'm simply saying, he's here right now and he's for us. And we're all the time talking about younger God and younger this and younger that.

And he's right here. And we're overlooking him. I saw a verse that I'd never seen before. And it's over in James. I think it's about the fifth chapter or the fourth chapter. And it's in the fifth verse. And it says, The Spirit that dwelleth in you lusteth to envy. And don't take that word lusteth wrong, okay?

Desireth in to envy. And the envy there isn't a bad word, either. It means something that he wants desperately. The Spirit that dwells in you is desperately wanting something.

He's over here to one side, and he's watching you, and he's watching me and he wants to be with us. And he was sent from heaven to Earth. And he's representing the whole Godhead, and he's here for us. He gets into our life through conviction and then conversion and he wants to cleanse us and he wants to control and if you need him, he'll even comfort you. And he's saying, I just, I want an experience with you. I want a relationship with you and he sees us go to some game and we get all excited and we throw our hat in the air we're yelling and we're going nuts and we're going crazy and he thought, Man, I wish they were thrilled to be with me as they are about those sports they're watching. He says I wish they were thrilled about me as they are about the stock market when it goes up. I wish they was as crazy about having a relationship with me as they are about that new truck they just bought. The Holy Spirit that dwells in you and me, lusteth the envy, simply say I want to have a relationship with you.

Our problem is we leak. Lord I didn't mean for these things to creep in and this junk to get back into my life but it does and I got all caught up with this and busy with that and I'm enjoying things here more than I am with you and I'm sorry. Just empty me of me and fill me with your spirit and then I'm going to have love and joy. I'll have peace again. I'll have longsuffering here in our home when arguments want to break out and I'll be gentle. I haven't been gentle lately and haven't been kind lately, I'll be good.

I'll build my faith. I'll, humble down and be meek. And if you return I'll have the control and the temperance that I need and I won't let my life get out of control. I'll have the fruit, the spirit and I'm lacking because I'm lacking, you're filling to full. Empty me of me.

Fill me with the. Bow your heads for a moment. Close your eyes, and ask yourself am I as excited about the Holy Spirit having control of my life? Are there other things that have drawn my attention and have become more paramount than having the Holy Spirit the visible God in my life? When people look on are they seeing the obvious? The countenance it's so obvious that something's different about my life at this point than it used to be.

Thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene. Visit us every Sunday at 9am with BNC's Pastor Ray LaSalle. For more information regarding BNC visit Bucyrus nazarene.org