Fill Me Series

INTRO.- All people are filled with something, some desire, some interest, etc.

ILL.- 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.

Romans 1:28-30 “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become FILLED with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents.”

Filled with every kind of wickedness. Oh wow! Oh no! Could it be that there are such people today? When people don’t retain a knowledge of the true and living God they will believe in nothing and do almost anything depraved!

Watch the TV news. People who are filled with every kind of wickedness are not hard to find.

ILL.- 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. If this is true, how evil is this?!

Mothers missing, children missing, abused or murdered. On and on the stories go. Some people are filled with every kind of wickedness. But the opposite of being filled with every kind of wickedness is being filled with the Spirit of God who produces nothing but good fruit in people’s lives!

Ephesians 5:18 “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

Instead of being filled with the spirits of alcohol which often leads to all kinds of depravity and debauchery we need to be filled with the Spirit of God who leads in the path of right living!

ILL.- Evangelist, Billy Graham, is now 93 years old and has done a lot of good in this world and especially, by preaching the truth of Jesus Christ. During his lifetime it is estimated that he preached to 2.2 billion people. How was he able to accomplish good in this world? And how was he able to stay clean in this world of uncleanness? It’s only possible by the Spirit of God at work in us.

Philippians 2:13 “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

God is at work in us through His Holy Spirit. But when does God’s Spirit come to live in us? How can we be filled with the Spirit?

Acts 5:32 “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Apparently, only those who the Lord receive the Holy Spirit and the Christian life is one of constant obedience.

Acts 2:38-39 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

God calls people through the gospel of Jesus Christ, but they must respond in obedience by repenting and being baptized into Christ. And how do we know the Holy Spirit has come to live in us? Because God says so in His Word and we do what His word says. Some people claim to experience some extreme feeling while others feel nothing. Our relationship to God is not based on feeling but on the facts of God’s truth in His Word.

We may not always feel good every day but we know that the Lord is with us and working in us because His Word says so.

Ephesians 5:18 “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”