INTRO.- ILL.- A man was going to attend a Halloween party one time dressed in a costume that supposedly looked like the devil; red suit, tail, fork in hand. While walking to the party it began to rain so he darted into the nearest building, which happened to be a church where a revival meeting was in progress.
As the man entered the door, everyone turned to see who had come in late for church. As soon as the people saw the man they began to run out of the building. One lady caught her coat sleeve in the pew and as the man came closer she said, “Devil, I’ve been a member of this church for twenty years, but I’ve really been on your side all that time.”
Brothers and sisters, there are several applications that can be made to this story.
There may well be some people in the Lord’s church who have been on the devil’s side all along. Holy company doesn’t always insure holiness. Judas Iscariot was with Jesus most of the time and he certainly betrayed Him. If it could happen to Judas there is a good possibility it could happen in the church today.
I wouldn’t encourage you, however, to go around pointing fingers at people. If you point your finger at someone there will be many more fingers pointing back at you. Don’t be too quick to judge people. Just continue to love one another as best you can, strive for peace with everyone and let the Lord do the judging. That’s His business, not ours.
Another application to our story is this: IS THE DEVIL A REAL SPIRITUAL BEING? What do you think? Most Bible-believing people do believe in the evil one called Satan or the devil.
ILL.- I like best how preacher Billy Sunday said it many years ago. He said, “I believe in the devil for two reasons. Number one, because the Bible says so. And number two, because I’ve done business with him.”
We do believe in the devil because God’s Word tells us about him. We also believe in the devil because of the evil that we see taking place in our world every day. We may also believe in the devil because we feel that we, too, might have done business with him in various ways.
WE DO BELIEVE IN THE DEVIL! We do believe that he is evil and out to deceive, dupe and damn the world.
Acts 13:10 Paul said to Elymas the sorcerer, "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?”
Apparently those who are involved in various kinds of sorcery are considered in league with the devil.
What about spooks and spirits? Some think that being involved in Halloween is being in league with the devil himself. I wouldn’t say that.
ILL.- Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family said, "If the Halloween experience is focused on fantasy rather than the occult, I see no harm in it. My final word to parents on the subject would be ’stay true to your own convictions.’"
Just because some Christian family allows their children to go “trick or treating” it doesn’t mean that they are evil and/or involved in devil worship.
However, if a family has strong convictions about not participating in Halloween in any shape or form, then so be it. I just don’t believe we should condemn others based on our own opinions.
Many Christians do, however, have alternatives to Halloween, hence the reason for our Fall Festival.
ILL.- Regent University communications professor Andy Freeman says that Christians should look to Jesus as an example. He said,” Jesus would never have said, ’run and hide, its Halloween!’"
I suspect that Jesus would have done like he did all the time. HE WOULD USE THE OCCASION TO SOMEHOW POINT PEOPLE TO THE GOD OF HEAVEN AND THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL!
ILL.- Someone else wrote, “While darkness permeates many areas of life, is this a reason for Christians to retreat? The abuse of inanimate objects such as pumpkins or cats must not reduce us to feelings of fear, anger, or confusion. After all, desserts aren’t evil because some people overeat. Phones aren’t evil because some people make death threats or prank calls. Nuclear power in itself isn’t evil. Similarly, there are no evil spirits in our pumpkins, nor do they roam in my neighbor’s black cat.”
I think Christians should enjoy life as best they can and use every occasion to witness for Christ. Instead of being held captive by Satan, we must resist him by pointing people to Christ!
I admit that there are some things in this world that are mysterious and hard to explain. Some of these things people attribute to evil and/or Satan.
Eph. 5:15-17 “Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
We need to be aware of the evil in our world, but at the same time, we don’t want to dwell on it.
ILL.- It’s like that recent Larry King interview with former first lady Barbara Bush. She said she was tired of hearing about all the bad news on TV. She said all you hear about is some basketball player that allegedly raped some woman. She said there are many good things happening in our world that we never hear about.
Instead of focusing on the evil, we need to focus on the Lord and His will for our lives. Focusing on the negative and nasty things of this world will get you down, but focusing on the Lord will lift you up.
So instead of thinking about spooks and spirits, we must focus on the human spirit and how the Holy Spirit can help us. We must use good common sense while dealing with all things in life, but at the same time, seek the Lord’s help and power for life. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. I John 4:4.
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
I Peter 5:8-9 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”
We resist the devil by drawing close to God in all ways. Satan is powerful, but our God is all-powerful.
PROP.- In the remainder of this message I want us to think about the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. We need to understand about ourselves and how God’s Spirit can work in us to overcome negative things in this life.
I. THE HUMAN SPIRIT
I Thess. 5:23 “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are incredible beings, incredible creations of God.
ILL.- A man said, “Recently my brother was told that he’d have to undergo a kidney operation. The surgeon said to him, ‘Let me advise you now how I work. I believe in getting my patients up and around very quickly. Three hours following the surgery you’ll sit up. Five hours later, you’ll stand up. The next day you’ll be walking.’
“’Fine,’ my brother said, ‘BUT WILL YOU LET ME LIE DOWN DURING THE OPERATION?’”
The human body is incredible, but not that incredible.
Ps. 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”
ILL.- On the campus of the University of California, an interesting experiment was performed. A man was placed inside an enclosure to determine how high a temperature he could withstand. It was found that he could tolerate 262 degrees for 15 minutes with no damage to his system. A steak was fried in the same enclosure at the same time. Yet, close to the man’s skin, temperatures were found to be near normal body temperature. INCREDIBLE! What a testimony to the effectiveness of the cooling system of the human body!
Again, we say with David of old, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
ILL.- The human heart is an amazing organ that beats 100,000 times a day or more than 40 million times a year, and in a lifetime more than 2 billion times, pumping 264 million quarts of blood—enough to fill a large city skyscraper and all without shutting down for repairs. Again, we say or shout, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
But there’s a point to where that wonderful stops.
ILL.- “I’m Dr. Hamilton’s nurse,” said the sweet voice to the patient on the other end of the line, “and the reason I’m calling you is to tell you that your check came back.” The patient replied, “Just tell the doctor that my arthritis did too.”
The human body is only so good. There is a point where it gets diseased and wears out. And then it won’t be so wonderful any more.
As great as the human body is, the human spirit is more important. Why? Because the spirit is eternal and the body is temporal.
James 2:26 “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” The eternal part of each of us is spirit. The spirit is what we need to dress and adorn.
ILL.- Perhaps we can think of it in this way. Suppose my car is running badly. It’s missing out, sputtering, jumping and jerking all over the place. So, I know what I will do. I will wash and wax my car; make it sparkle. But what good will that do? Cleaning up my car on the outside will do nothing to make it run better.
And yet this is exactly what we do with our lives! We may not be performing well in life. We may have some serious spiritual problems. So, what do we do? We go buy some new clothing. We get our hair cut, etc. Instead of attending to the spirit, the inner person, we adorn the outer person and accomplish little good.
ILL.- It’s just like the fires in southern California. These should remind us how temporary material things are and how quickly life can be cut off. WHICH SHOULD MEAN WHAT? It should mean we ought to attend more to our spirits than our bodies or our material pursuits in life!
ILL.- When John Owen, the great Puritan preacher, lay on his deathbed his secretary wrote (in his name) to a friend, "I am still in the land of the living." "Stop," said Owen. "Change that and say, I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living."
This life is the land of the dying. Eternity with the Lord is the land of the living and there is only way to prepare for it. We must attend to the human spirit.
II. THE HOLY SPIRIT
John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with your forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him…” Jesus promised to give us His Spirit in life.
ILL.- A little boy, whose mother was prevented from going with him to church because of illness, asked her little son about the sermon which he had heard.
“What did the preacher preach about?” she asked him, and he gave the surprising answer: “The preacher said God was going to send us an extra ‘bed quilt.’ ”
Surprised, the poor mother asked if he remembered the text and he replied. “The preacher said ‘He shall give you another comforter.’ ”
That other “comforter,” of course is the Holy Spirit. He is referred to in John 14:16 KJV as a “comforter.” It is interesting to note that a comforter can make us warm, comfortable, and rested. And these are things that the Holy Spirit can do for us in life.
He can also keep us from becoming cold and indifferent toward others. He can bear His sweet fruit in us if we will let Him. There are many things the Holy Spirit can do in us and through us if we will let Him.
I Thess. 5:19 “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”
We often put out the Spirit’s fire in our lives by throwing non-combustibles on Him. What are we talking about? Worldly things, worldly pursuits, and sinful pursuits. Anything we do that is contrary to God is also contrary to the Holy Spirit and puts out His fire in us.
ILL.- For example, playing ball is not a sinful pursuit, but we can make it a sinful pursuit if we allow it to dominate our lives or if we do not allow the Lord to be involved in that aspect of our lives.
I Cor. 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
God wants to be involved, honored and glorified in everything we do in life. If we seek to please Him in our sports or whatever we do, He will be pleased and we will not put out the Spirit’s fire.
Eph. 5:18 “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
While some people are controlled by the spirits of alcohol we need to be controlled by God’s Spirit. Some people are filled with alcohol but we need to be filled with God’s Spirit.
ILL.- Preacher Dwight L. Moody was to have a preaching campaign in England. One pastor 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 pastor responded, "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody."
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is for the Spirit to have a monopoly on us. And this won’t happen overnight. Only we continue to seek the Lord, His will, and serve as best we can will this filling or monopoly take place.
ILL.- I admit it. I freely and frankly admit it. I MISS MY MOTHER! Mother left this world on Sunday, June 30, 2002. I need her presence, her love, her fellowship, etc. I need to talk to her about some things. Of course, that won’t happen until I see her again in glory.
As much as I need her, I need Him more. I need God’s Spirit even more! I need His presence, His love, His fellowship. He can do more! He can do things for me/for us that no one else can do! We need to keep on seeking the Lord, seeking His Spirit in life, through the Word, through service, etc.
The human spirit needs the Holy Spirit. This is what is important in life.
CONCLUSION----------------------------------------
ILL.- A survey once found that the average adult spends about one-third of his waking time bored! Famed economist Stuart Chase once sat down to figure the calendar of his days.
How many hours of the week, he asked himself, had he truly and intensively lived? And how many had he just existed? Out of the 168 hours of the week he found that he had been “alive” only 40, or about 25% of the total time!
How many hours of the week do we just exist? I think many people spend their lives just existing. However, Jesus made it clear.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Only as we pursue Christ, His will, His Spirit, etc. can we experience a full life.
