Pentecost Series

What Fills You Controls You

Hello, I am pastor Greg of Calvary Reformed

Church and I am here in one of the Portage parks

Celery flats. We are going to be looking at part 2 of filling of the Holy Spirit. Last week we were looking at the fountain which is straight ahead from

where I am standing, this week behind me what we have is the house it's called the Stuart Manor the first house that was built in constructed in Portage it

was also the home of the U.S. senator Charles Stuart and it's believed that it was also used as part of the Underground Railroad, with the freeing of the slaves.

I find that interesting, for right now because

within our society today within America we have such animosity and anger and hatred that's going on between different people. That the reality is friends when, we understand of the work of Jesus Christ within us when we understand the filling of the Holy Spirit within our lives--- it gives us the ability to do what Jesus Christ says--- when he says love God

with your heart soul mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Color of skin does not matter--- what matters is a person's heart. What matters is our walk with the Lord, what matters

is how we love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Well last week we started with the teaching on the filling of the Holy Spirit, two weeks ago was Pentecost and we're still on Acts chapter 2 verse 4, “all of them the disciples plus the others 120 people were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in

other tongues as the spirit enabled them to speak,”

The Greek word for filling is to make full to be complete it's like a sponge which is full of water, a wedding banquet hall which is full of people, it also deals with the filling of our lives. Last weekend and this week the teaching really centers around the idea of whatever fills you controls you ---if you drink too much alcohol, you're controlled by the spirit of the alcohol, you do drugs you get controlled by the drugs, if you have rage inside of you--- you are controlled by that rage and anger. Friends we have the Holy Spirit within us we have God incarnate within us we are filled we are controlled been by God himself.

And it's a controlling by consent, we say, Lord we want you to come into our lives --we want you to fill up our lives. It's a controlling by consent. We're consenting to the Holy Spirit coming to walk with us the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5 great passage do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery, instead be filled with the Holy Spirit. ]

Last week we looked at the first five points of the filling of the Holy Spirit.

First we are dead in our sin but the Spirit makes us alive in Christ.

Second the filling of the Spirit shows that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and we are heirs we are in that inheritance with God through Jesus Christ.

Third, the Holy Spirit pours out his love within our hearts and as that love is poured out to us we are able to offer that love to others.

Forht, we're part of Christ's universal church not just here in the kalamazoo portage texas township madeline pawpaw Lawton area but worldwide when we become a Christian we are part of the body of Christ everyone that we come into

contact with who is a Christian we are a brother and a sister to them

and 5th, we also receive the spiritual gifts the spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit, to worship and praise God but to also build up the church.

This week we're going to look at six more ideas of the filling of the Spirit

The first one, a lot of times a lot of us have a hard time reading the Bible we read it but we just really don't quite understand what we're reading and we can understand that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the insight the ability to see what we're reading. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit helps us understand and apply scripture. How many times don't a lot of us maybe just pick up the Bible- reread it but we are totally lost ---we don't understand it.

Friends, we're trying to read it through our eyes, we need to read it through the gift through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the one that gives us the ability through the Holy Spirit to read scripture and to read it fresh and new so I ask if you having a hard time understanding Scripture when you pick it