The Fullness Of The Spirit

Last week, we celebrated the 6th Anniversary of Waterford Gospel Church.

However today, we celebrate another anniversary, it is the anniversary if

the Church Universal. Today is Pentecost Sunday, or Wit Sunday, as some

call it, marking the birthday of the Church at Pentecost.

With this in mind, I want to draw your attention to an important and vital

truths, regarding the Fulness of the Spirit.

The 1st Church, we have noted, was a Submissive Church, and a Steadfast

Church, and a Sharing Church. But the 1st Church was also a SPIRIT FILLED

CHURCH. The effectiveness of the 1st Church is revealed in the fact that

it was Spirit Filled. Therefore, every Christian, who will be effective

for God, must be Spirit Filled.

God has a Divine purpose, which He is working out through his Church, and

in order for God to work out that purpose, the Church MUST be endued with

a divine equipment. That Divine equipment is bound up in the Fulness of

the Holy Spirit.

It was A. W Tozer who said,

The popular notion, that the first obligation of the Christian Church

is to spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth is false!

Her first obligation is to be spiritually worthy to spread the Gospel.

Jesus put it like this, as he spoke to the fledgling Church, Acts 1:8;

You shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon

you, and You shall be WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem, and

in Judea, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth

In John 16:7, Jesus predicted the coming of the Holy Spirit, He said,

But I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away; for if

I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I

will send Him to you

COMFORTER - PARAKLETOS, one who comes along side to help, an advocate, in

a legal sense a counsel for the defense.

ALLOS - Another of the same sort

The coming of the Spirit, radically transformed the Infant Church. Peter,

for example, who had previously denied the Master, was radically

transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. As he preached on the day of

Pentecost, about 3,000 souls were added to the church. The church, that

was fearful, and in hiding in the upper room, became bold and dynamic in

the power of God. They had this testimony, ‘These are they that have

turned the world upside down!' (Acts 17:6)

With this in mind, on this the Birthday of the Church, or Wit Sunday, as

some call it, let's take some time to discover what God has to say about

the FULNESS OF THE SPIRIT. Turn with me to our text, found in Ephesians

5:18;

And be not drunk with wine....but be filled with the Spirit

1. A COMMAND to be OBEYED

Paul states, Eph 5:18;

....but be FILLED with the Spirit

The Fulness of the Spirit is not an OPTION but an OBLIGATION. When Paul

made this statement, it was in the IMPERATIVE MOOD, meaning that it is a

COMMAND to do something. The IMPERATIVE MOOD expresses a command to the

hearer to perform a certain action by the order and authority of the one

commanding.

An example of the IMPERATIVE MOOD is found in Acts 2:38, when Peter

responded to his Jewish audience and said,

REPENT and be baptized everyone of you

This is the WILL OF GOD for every believer, not just a select few. Note

Paul's word's in Eph 5:17;

Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is

Writing to the Thessalonians Paul said, 1 Thess 4:3;

This is the will of God even your SANCTIFICATION (HOLINESS)

It was A.W Tozer who said,

The Spirit filled life is not a special deluxe version of the

Christianity. It is part and parcel to the total plan of God for his

people

Paul prays for the Ephesians, 3:16;

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be

strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man

This experience is so important, that Paul prayed for the Ephesians, 3:19;

That you may be filled with all the fulness of God

A. INDWELT with the Spirit

At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit takes up RESIDENCE in our

lives, and we are INDWELT with the Spirit.

Paul states in Rom 8:9;

If any man have not the Spirit of Christ

he is none of His

And again in Eph 4: 30;

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you

were sealed for the day of redemption

SEAL - A pledge or a guarantee, of a purchased possession. An engagement

ring, a covenant between two parties. As the various shipments of lumber