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.”
How can we be filled even more with God’s Spirit? I think it’s a matter of our daily walk with Him. As we continue to walk with Him through prayer, personal study or reading of His Word, then he can fill us even more with His Spirit. The more we pray and read, the more God fills us with His Spirit.
But what if we don’t read and pray or worship Him? People who don’t will begin to experience spiritual malnutrition. In that case, the Holy Spirit will have little power in a person’s life. Little power to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil!
There is no substitute for Bible study and prayer! These are musts to be able to walk with God and be filled with His Spirit!
What will being filled with the Holy Spirit do in our lives?
PROP.- Let’s consider what God says in His Word about being filled with His Spirit.
1- Being filled with God’s Spirit energizes witnessing
2- Being filled with God’s Spirit produces joy
3- Being filled with God’s Spirit induces worship
I. BEING FILLED WITH GOD’S SPIRIT ENERGIZES WITNESSING
Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
Notice the sequence: prayer, filled with the Holy Spirit and then they spoke boldly. No doubt, they not only spoke boldly the Word of God in private but also in public. ARE YOU QUICK TO SPEAK GOD’S WORD IN PUBLIC? Do you boldly witness and speak up for Christ? If not, why not?
What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears that Leighton Ford found:
- "I am afraid I might do more harm than good."
- "I don’t know what to say."
- "I may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions."
- "I may seem bigoted."
- "I may invade someone’s privacy."
- "I am afraid I might fail."
- "I am afraid I might be a hypocrite."
Perhaps the most common fear, however, is that of being rejected. A survey was given to those attending training sessions for the Billy Graham crusade in Detroit. One question asked, "What is your greatest hindrance to witnessing?"
- 9 percent said they were too busy to remember to do it.
- 28 percent felt the lack of real information to share.
- 12 percent said their own lives were not speaking as they should. (they weren’t living right) But by far the largest group were the 51 percent whose biggest problem was the fear of how the other person would react! None of us likes to be rejected, ridiculed, or regarded as an oddball. Fear is what keeps us from doing many things in life but it doesn’t have to be that way.
II Timothy 1:7-8 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord...”
God’s Spirit in us is powerful. We may be weak but He is not weak in us. When we trust God in prayer, His Spirit will empower us for daily living.
ILL- It was said that Francis d’Assisi once invited a young man to join him on a trip to town to preach. Honored to be given the invitation, the young man readily accepted. All day long he and Francis walked through the streets, byways, and alleys, and even into the suburbs. They rubbed shoulders with hundreds of people. At day’s end, the two headed back home. Not even once had Francis addressed a crowd, nor had he talked to anyone about the gospel. Greatly disappointed, his young companion said, "I thought we were going into town to preach."
Francis responded, "My son, we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. We were seen by many and our behavior was closely watched. It is of no use to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk!”
Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
Being filled with God’s Spirit energizes us to live and speak for Christ.
II. BEING FILLED WITH GOD’S SPIRIT PRODUCES JOY
We are often motivated to do things from watching others. If it looks like fun or something interesting, we may want to give it a try. It could be playing ball, golf, hunting, fishing, etc. Of course, a person may find that they can’t do these things as well as others because some people seem to have a natural talent that you don’t have. Likewise, as we watch the behavior and attitude of Christians we are moved to be like them but in a way, that’s artificial Christianity. While we do learn from other Christians, we don’t change that way.
ILL.- While a student at Ozark Christian College I preached at a small church in a place called Dederick, MO. It’s just a spot in the road between El Dorado, MO, and Nevada, MO.
One fifth Sunday our church sponsored an area church rally in the afternoon and I invited professor Don DeWelt from OCC to preach. Don did a superb job of preaching that afternoon. Don had his own way of preaching and his own mannerisms, just as every preacher does. Well, the next Sunday when I went back to preach at my church I sounded very much like Don DeWelt. I was a copy-cat of Don DeWelt. It’s just that I was so overwhelmed by his powerful preaching that I imitated him and I didn’t even know it.
Brothers and sisters, there is no way that I could be another Don DeWelt or even imitate his preaching. True, I needed to imitate his strong faith in the Lord, but not his style of preaching. What I did wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t real either.
Imitation is artificial. It’s all on the outside. It’s fake and it doesn’t last. But the Holy Spirit has been given to us to produce His fruit from within. There is nothing artificial about His work in us. He’s the real deal. He’s the real third person of the Godhead whom God sent to us, to live in us and produce His good fruit.
Acts 13:52 “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
Filled with joy. Who doesn’t want this? Who doesn’t want to live a life of joy? Wouldn’t it be great to possess and project a spirit of joy at all times?!
Being filled with God’s Spirit produces more. He produces joy but even more. Want proof?
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
How does the Holy Spirit produce these good qualities in us? It’s not just up to Him. It’s partially up to us. It’s a matter of our surrender and obedience to God. It’s a matter of walking daily with the Lord. The Holy Spirit can only produce His fruit in us when we comply with Him.
III. BEING FILLED WITH GOD’S SPIRIT INDUCES WORSHIP
Worship is adoration and reverence for something or someone and we know who deserves the most.
ILL.- His name was Harry Christopher Carabina born of Italian and Romanian parentage in one of the poorest sections of St. Louis on March 1, 1914. Do you know him? He was otherwise known as Harry Caray, famous St. Louis Cardinals sportscaster.
When I was a kid my dad was committed to listening to and/or watching the St. Louis Cardinals. Dad would even turn down the volume on the TV and turn on the radio so he could listen to Harry Caray’s commentary because he loved the way he called the ball game. Harry was a one of a kind baseball announcer. Did my dad worship Harry Caray or the St. Louis Cardinals? I wouldn’t say that my dad worshiped either one but he came close to it. He devoted many evenings to watching the Cardinals or listening to them and nothing deterred him.
If someone is so devoted to a sport or hobby, etc. that they let nothing get in their way it could well be a form of worship. I think we all know, however, that nothing or no one deserves our sincerest form of worship except the God who created us and saved us in Jesus Christ.
The Lord alone deserves our worship, adoration and praise. He’s the one who gives us life, breath, every good and perfect gift, daily provision, food on the table, house to live in, money in the bank, cars to drive, luxuries to enjoy, etc.
Psalm 22:26 “The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him— may your hearts live forever!”
Psalm 29:2 “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.”
Psalm 86:8-10 “Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.”
Psalm 95:6-7 “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”
Psalm 119:62 “At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.”
I believe that the more we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the more we’ll want to worship the Lord at any time, night or day. Our worship won’t start and stop at church. Our worship of the Lord will happen all the time. Every chance we get, we will thank Him and praise Him, which is worship.
CONCLUSION-----------------------
ILL.- Preacher Dwight L. Moody was to have a revival campaign in England. One preacher protested, "Why do we need this ’Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?" Another and wiser preacher responded, "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody."
If there is one thing we all need it is for the Holy Spirit of God to have a monopoly on our lives! The more He gets a hold of our hearts and minds, the more joy we’ll experience in life and the more we’ll accomplish for the Lord. Come Holy Spirit! Fill us and use us!
Steve Shepherd, Jonesboro Christian Church, AR
jonesborochristianchurch@suddenlink.net
