The Gift Of The Spirit Series

1. Too Complicated

Several years back, when having a computer was a fairly new experience for most people... a lot of folks got flustered over little things:

* One customer called in to customer service department to complain that he kept getting an "Access Denied" message every time he tried to get into a certain area of his computer. It turned out he was typing his password in all capital letters. So, the Technical Support man said: "OK, let's try once more, but use lower case letters." After a pause, the customer replied: "But, I only have capital letters on my keyboard."

* Another time, a technician with Compaq computers received a call from a man complaining that his computer wouldn't read the files from his old diskettes(show picture of diskette). After trouble-shooting for things like exposure to magnets and heat failure to diagnose the problem, it was found that the customer labeled the diskettes then rolled them into a typewriter to type information on the labels. Diskettes don't like to be rolled into anything.

* Then there was the customer who called Dell Computers to say he couldn't get his computer to fax anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the monitor screen (show picture of monitor) and hitting the "send" key.

Whenever we're exposed to something new in our lives -- like computers - we often find ourselves being overwhelmed and intimidated. We may think that - whatever it is -- it's just too complicated for us to do... so we just don't do it.

2. The Holy Spirit falls into that category -- He is mysterious; complex; easy to overlook but part of our experience as believers in Jesus

3. In fact, the HS is so important to us that He is given as a gift to each believer -- Acts 2.38

a. Pentecost is a harvest celebration and a reminder of Sinai

b. Acts 2 marks a change of address for God -- from the ornate, beautiful temple to fragile clay vessels.

I. We Have a Choice of Filling

A fisherman returned to shore with a giant marlin that was bigger and heavier than he was. On the way to the cleaning shed, he ran into a second fisherman who had a stringer with a dozen baby fish. The second fisherman looked at the marlin, turned to the first fisherman and said, "Only caught one, eh?"

Some people love fishing. Some love it so much that they fish year round if they can. I know a guy back in Missouri who lives near the Lake of the Ozarks in central MO. Every January 1st he goes fishing at that lake even if he has to break ice to put his boat in the lake. If it's not fishing, it could be any number of things.

Most people are filled with something in life: some desires, some strong interests or hobbies, etc. Nearly everyone loves something and with some, it may not be good.

A. We Can Be Filled with Wickedness -- Romans 1.28-32

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Jerry Sandusky, assistant coach at Penn State, received Assistant Coach of the Year awards in 1986 and 1999. On November 2011, he was arrested and charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period.

B. We Can Be Filled with Complacency -- Joshua 24.15

C. We Can Be Filled with the Spirit of God -- Ephesians 5.15-21

1. HS comes to us in our new birth -- Acts 2.38 (Jesus' baptism/Adam and breath of life)

2. HS fills us daily

a. By prayer -- Luke 11.13

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

b. Through Study

Word and Spirit

The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. 2 Samuel 23:2

There are some things that always go together: a person and her shadow, two sides of a coin, the blades of scissors--and the Spirit of God and the Word of God. It is the Word of God that establishes God's will in the earth, and it is the Spirit of God that enables, illumines, and empowers that Word.