Fragrance Of The Father Iv Series

Fragrance of The Father Part 4

Script. Joel 2:28-32; Acts 3:33

Introduction:

The pouring out of God’s Spirit on all people was fulfilled at Pentecost. Acts 2:17 says in the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all people. We are living in the last days.

The last day’s consist of When Jesus ascended into heaven and when he comes back again.

God wants to pour out his Spirit on us all if we would only let him, allow him full control.

Perhaps an analogy will best clarify this. As Christians we may be compared with a reservoir for producing electrical power, like one of those you see when you drive down the canyon. When we accept Christ, construction of our reservoir is complete. We now have the potential to be useful and to affect lives. But until the floodgates are opened and the cascading river waters pour through, no power is realized. So it is when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. We open our lives to God and the Holy Spirit pours into us and through us. It is then we become most effective in God’s service.

As with the reservoir, this power-generating experience is not intended to be a one-time occurrence. It is to be an ongoing process. When our spiritual power runs low, we need to return to the Source and let the blessed Holy Spirit pour into us again, bringing fresh power.

This happened to the early followers of Jesus. Peter and John they had already been baptized in the Spirit (Acts 2); but later on, when persecution arose, they needed a new surge of spiritual power; so they prayed to the Lord once again and "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 4:31).

Contributed by: David Schaal Transitional:

Our faith in God is the key ingredient for having the Holy Spirit’s power and gentle leadings to greater influences for him. Without our faith in God we are useless and unaffected.

I. But Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please Him Heb.11:6:

1. In The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer, he has some excellent thoughts in regards to our faith.

2. He basically says, that when we sit down pick up our Bibles for a serious look at God’s word.

3. As If for the first time we pretend that we have had no previous knowledge of God’s word.

4. We are completely without prejudice we have nothing to prove and nothing to defend.

5. We will not have read long until our minds begin to see certain truths standing out from the page.

6. He would see and I quote, “spiritual principles behind the record of God’s dealings with men, and woven into writings of holy men as they “were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

7. If we were to make a clear summary of what we have read one important truth will stand out the importance of our faith.

8. I think today in regards to our having more of God’s presence or being filled with the Spirit in our lives (I really like how Tommy Tenney puts it the fragrance of our father), to be so saturated with His spiritual presence that our lives are changed forever along with the people around us that can’t help but be affected by it..

9. In order for this to happen we cannot miss how important our faith in God really is.

10. Without the presence of God being sprinkled upon our lives will only be just a thought, a theological note in an orchestra of music we do not understand, let alone comprehend.

11. I quote from Tozer, “ Faith is all-important in the life of the soul.

12. Without faith it is impossible to please God Hebrews 11:6.

13. Faith will get me anything, take me anywhere in the kingdom of God, but without faith there can be no approach to God, no forgiveness, no deliverance, no salvation, no communion, no spiritual life at all.

14. Now if faith is so vitally important, if it is an indispensable must in our pursuit of God, it is perfectly natural that we should be deeply concerned whether or not we possess this most precious gift.

15. Skipping down a few paragraphs he says, “faith is believing a promise, taking God at his word, believing the bible to be true and stepping out upon it.”

16. Exercising our faith in someone whose promise has never failed.

17. Having faith in ourselves we will only see our insufficiency, our lack of control, our own hurts and wounds.

18. Looking within us for the answer we will live in the end hopeless empty lives.

19. The Gift: "I was enjoying 1st grade to the fullest until one day in December when the little girl behind me set "it" on her desk. It was the tiniest Christmas present imaginable, less than an inch on each side with white glossy paper tied up with a sliver of red cellophane. Immediately I was captivated. I had never seen anything so exquisite. Day after day the tiny gift caught my eye, and my active imagination tried to guess what miniature treasure might be inside. It had to be something wondrous beyond description.