10.23.05 AM Smyrna Assembly of God Pastor Shell Osbon
“Living A Spirit-Filled Life - Part 3”
Acts 19:1-6
Intro
Acts 19:1-6
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.
I’d like to share a message with you entitled, “Living A Spirit-Filled Life - Part 3.” In this message we will consider The Partnership Of The Spirit, The Persistence Of The Spirit & The Proximity Of The Spirit.
Part 1 & Part 2 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.”
The Person Of The Spirit
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.”
The Potential Of The Spirit
2 Cor 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit & where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Part 3
1. The Partnership Of The Spirit
A partnership is “two or more people who participate with one another.”
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.”
Jesus told His disciples, that He had partnered with for 3½ years, that His Father was going to send them “another Comforter” which would be the Holy Ghost. He goes on to tell them that the Holy Ghost would be with them & that He would be in them forever.
The Greek word that has been translated as “Comforter” is the word “Parakletos” which literally means “one who has been called to one’s side to help; an advocate.”
1 Cor 6:19,20 Good News Bible says, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you & who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God. He bought you for a price so use your bodies for God’s glory.”
The Apostle Paul is telling the believers in Corinth about the fact that they are not going through life by themselves. He wants them to know they have a Partner in the person of the Holy Ghost. It was important for these early Christians to know that their Partner was living in them & had been given to them by God Himself.
Ps 51:10-12 David says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, & renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence & do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation & uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
David knew that he couldn’t clean his heart or adjust his spirit (attitude) by himself. It seems that his greatest fear was that God would cast him away from His presence or that He would take the Holy Spirit from him. His final cry was that God would enable him to have the joy of salvation restored & that the generosity of the Holy Spirit would uphold him.
David was in partnership with God. David had to be willing to allow God to do what God was capable of doing. David couldn’t do God’s part & God wouldn’t do David’s part.
You are not alone in this life that you are living! You have a faithful Partner in the Person of the Holy Ghost who is walking with you each & every step of the journey!
As you look at your life & you see all of things that need to change, don’t be overwhelmed by thinking that you’ve got to do it by yourself. You’ve got a Partner working with you to bring about every change that God desires to see take place in your life!
2. The Persistence Of The Spirit
Persistence is defined as “continuing to do something in spite of difficulty or opposition.”
Just before the great flood of Noah’s day, the sinfulness of man was incredibly strong. It seemed that all men wanted to do was to oppose God & they chose to live completely opposite of how God wanted them to live.
Gen 6:3 says, “And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not strive with man forever.”
The Hebrew word interpreted as “strive” is “deen” & it literally means “to plead or contend with.”
The problem of sin was so great that God was sorry that He had even created man. In order to rid the world of this sin, God decided to send a flood to completely destroy every man that lived.
Gen 6:5-8 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth & that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth & he was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”
God decided to destroy every man except Noah. Instead of living a lifestyle of sin like everyone else, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” & God spared he & his family from the flood waters.
The Spirit of God is very persistent. He will continue dealing with you in the midst of your sin that opposes Him greatly. But please remember that He said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever.”
John 16:7,8 Jesus says, “It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper (Holy Ghost) will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness & of judgment.”
Jesus told His disciples that one of the primary functions of the Holy Spirit is to convict people of their sins, to convince them of how to live right & then to help them to be able to judge between the two.
Because of His persistence, He isn’t going to let you get by with any sin but He’s going to convict you of every sin!
John 16:13 Jesus says, “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.” Jesus told His disciples that another function of the Holy Ghost is to lead His followers into all truth.
The Holy Ghost is persistently trying to lead every Spirit-filled believer into more Truth!
John 8:32 Jesus says, “And you shall know the truth & the truth shall make you free.”
It is only the Truth of God’s Word which the Spirit persistently leads you into that will provide you with the freedom that you desperately need!
Charles Finney, the great preacher of years gone by, said, “Theaters are full & churches are empty because the world tells a lie well while the church tells the Truth poorly.”
3. The Proximity Of The Spirit
Proximity is defined as “nearness in relationship.” In general terms, proximity refers to how close something or someone is to you.
Ever since the creation of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden, God’s greatest desire has been to be in close proximity to man. Even when they sinned, God still walked near to them calling them back to His side.
Matt 1:21-23 says, “And she will bring forth a Son & you shall call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child & bear a Son & they shall call His name Emmanuel which is translated ‘God with us.’”
Jesus then lived for 33 ½ years exemplifying the reality that His Father wanted to be close to His creation. And at the end of those 33 ½ years, Jesus told His disciples that He was going to be leaving.
Although God had become closer to man through Christ, it was now time for Him to die upon the cross, be buried, rise from the dead & ascend into heaven. But God still had another plan to make sure that He stayed in close proximity to man!
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.”
1 Cor 6:19 Good News Bible says, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you & who was given to you by God?”
In the Old Testament, God prepared a temple for His people. But in the New Testament, God prepared a people to be His temple!
Conclusion
“The Partnership Of The Spirit” occurs when you submit your life to the point that you are cooperating with the Spirit of God in every area of your life.
“The Persistence Of The Spirit” enables you to walk in righteousness, truth & freedom.”
“The Proximity Of The Spirit” is that He is living in you!
Eph 5:18 says, “Be filled with the Spirit.
The Greek word translated as “filled” literally means “to fill to the top so that nothing can be added.”
