Sermon Central
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Living A Spirit-Filled Life - Part 2 Series
Contributed by Shell Osbon on Dec 31, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: God’s desire is that every Christ-follower live a life that is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
10.16.05 AM Smyrna Assembly of God Pastor Shell Osbon
“Living A Spirit-Filled Life - Part 2”
Intro
Paul has met a group of people in Ephesus who are followers of Christ but they are completely unfamiliar with the Holy Ghost. No doubt Paul explains the Spirit of God to them, lays hands on them & they were filled with the Holy Ghost. As soon as this takes place they began to speak in tongues & to prophecy - gifts of the Spirit.
Accepting Christ as your Savior is essential for salvation. But, once you are saved, God then has the wonderful gift of the Holy Ghost available to you!
I’d like to share a message with you entitled, “Living A Spirit-Filled Life - Part 2.” I’d like for us to consider “The Person Of The Spirit” & “The Potential Of The Spirit.”
Part 1 Review
The Promise Of The Spirit
Joel 2:28,29 God says, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons & daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. And on My menservants & on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”
The Purpose Of The Spirit
Acts 1:8 Jesus says, “You will receive power when the Holy Ghost has come upon you & you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem & in all Judea & Samaria & to the end of the earth.”
Part 2
1. The Person Of The Spirit
One of the basic theological questions that you must answer is this: “Is the Holy Spirit a force that influences our lives or a Person that guides our lives?”
How you answer this determines whether you believe that the Spirit is a force that you can lay hold of & use or a Person who lays hold of & uses you! The force allows you to be in control & the Person allows the Spirit to be in control!
The following story is a tragic example of what happens when the Holy Spirit is perceived to being nothing more than a force that can be used for personal gain.
Now let me clarify for you that this Simon is not the same as Simon Peter who was a disciple & an apostle of Jesus Christ. This Simon is one who practiced sorcery or who was a magician.
Miraculously, as Simon heard Philip preaching, he believed on Jesus & was saved! In a public denial of his previous involvement in sorcery, Simon was baptized in water. He then follows Philip & witnesses some incredible miracles that God performed.
Peter & John are sent down to Samaria by the apostles to help them with further discipleship. Once they arrive, Peter & John began preaching about the Holy Ghost because these new Christians had not yet been filled with the Spirit. As Peter & John began to lay hands on these new Christians they received the Holy Spirit.
Simon witnesses this great outpouring of the Holy Ghost & sees how the Spirit began to take hold of these new Christians. He is so intrigued by what takes place that he offers some money to the apostles in order to buy the power of the Holy Ghost so that he could do what they have done.
Peter rebukes Simon to the point that it seems like Peter isn’t convinced that God will forgive Simon for what he has said. In fact, in the Greek language, Peter literally tells Simon that he will very likely go to hell over what he has just said. Simon is so distraught that he doesn’t even try to pray but asks Peter to pray for him.
If you think of the Holy Ghost as a force, you’ll focus on you having more of Him. If you think of the Holy Ghost as a Person, you will focus on allowing Him to have more of you.
I want to clarify that the Holy Ghost is not an “it” or a “thing” but is a person. The Holy Ghost is a member of the Trinity - God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Ghost.
Notice the use of the personal pronouns “He” & “Him” each time Jesus refers to the Spirit in these references:
John 14:16,17 Jesus says, “I will pray the Father & He will give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him for He dwells with you & will be in you.”
John 16:8 Jesus says, “And when He (Holy Ghost) has come, He will convict the world of sin & of righteousness & of judgment.”
