Be Filled: Part 3
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: You are filled with the Holy Spirit to live an abundant life in Jesus.
Time Well Spent
Asking For a Friend
Abundant Life
Time Well Spent
Time spent seeking the face of Jesus leads to the filling of the Holy Spirit and abundant life.
Abundant life is what Jesus came to bring.
Yet contrary to our modern ideas and social media postings, abundant life is not solely about me getting what I want, when I want, doing what I want with who I want and finding happiness as a result.
John 10:9-11 ESV
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Jesus purchased abundant life for us by laying down his life in sacrifice for us.
The pattern of Scripture is that we would learn to do the same for him and find the eternal life that he won for us.
Let’s dive a bit into what this looks like when we are looking to follow Christ, filled with both his Word and Spirit.
To seek the face of God is to interact with him in prayer, the reading of God’s word, worship through song, music and dance.
It is to have Christ-centered fellowship with God and the rest of his body - with other believers serving him together as the church.
https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/347177-why-i-attend-church.html
There is an exchange that takes place when you choose to relate with God.
The things not of God are brought to the surface and exposed - things that the devil literally uses to steal from you, kill you and destroy your life.
This includes attacks on your feelings of self worth, significance, belonging, well being and purpose.
Worldly thoughts are replaced with godly thinking when you seek God.
You have an ability to heal from sins that have been committed against you and through repentance, the consequences of sins that you have committed on your own.
God’s grace washes over you and you are literally delivered from unclean things.
When you spend time with God, he cleans you like a vessel and makes room for the fruit of his Spirit to displace the the fruit of the flesh.
Why do I seem stopped up?
You can’t outwork a bad diet.
II Corinth 6:14-7:1
Eating at the table of demons is what people do without even realizing it - in their entertainment, in what they indulge in with their time (1 Corinthians 8 + 10).
Clean eating is a key to health.
Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.
“Christ can be trusted to keep His Word that He will exchange our drab existence for joyous living, abundant life! And while true love, total acceptance, and complete security are rare in our frantic world, the biblical evidence that our desires in these areas will be fulfilled in Christ is abundant.”
-Josh McDowell
Asking For a Friend
God’s Spirit and gifts are released when we ask him for them.
That’s who we were talking about?
As we continue to walk with God, we all have our “guess who’s coming to dinner” moments where he lovingly, graciously and powerfully surprises us with who he is.
If you grew up in church, think about how over the course of time, the depth of the hymns that you sung or the symbols that you saw became more powerful realities to you (i.e. - Methodist symbols and liturgy from childhood).
The Old and New Testaments show us very clearly that to walk with God is to be called into a life of faithful service and pure adventure.
Once we put our trust in Jesus, we must understand that to follow him in his call and mission is not to simply resign to a passive, mental ascent, but to instead have a proactive, lifelong pursuit.
Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith, meaning that God both introduces us to faith and has means by which he causes it to grow (Hebrews 12:2).
God has us exercise our faith through interaction - instructing us to proactively ask him for that which he has promised.
Why would Jesus say to ask for what we already have if we had all that we need?
Luke 11:5-13 ESV
“And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"”
We can ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit individually.
Yet there is also a corporate aspect to being filled with the Spirit that our filling might strengthen us and encourage others.
How were believers filled with and directed by the Holy Spirit in the Bible?
1. Through the laying on of hands
Acts 8:9-17 ESV
“But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called Great. And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”
2. In corporate gatherings under the preaching of the Word.
Acts 10:34-48 ESV
“So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.”
Why the continual mention of praying in tongues?
If we are fighting a spiritual battle, we need spiritual weapons.
The gifts of the Spirit help us engage that battle with the arsenal of God and not just our own.
According to I Corinthians 14, as with any other gift of the Holy Spirit, when you are enabled to speak in tongues by the Spirit, you are:
1. Uttering mysteries to God by the Holy Spirit, and thus
2. Praying things on the mind and heart of God (Romans 8:26,27)
3. Fellowshipping purely with God in a language which you have more than likely never cursed or profaned the name of Jesus
4. Being built up with encouragement and strength to fulfill the works of God (Think about this - the apostle Paul, who was whipped, beaten, stoned and shipwrecked in his proclamation of the gospel, said “I thank God that I pray in tongues more than all of you” <1 Corinthians 14:18> because he knew he needed the gift in his fight to fulfill the will of God.)
5. In times of corporate worship, fasting and prayer
Acts 13:1-3 ESV
“Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
It was significant that in these moments of corporate worship and prayer, Paul and Barnabas were not just turned inward to further reflect on their personal struggles or angst, but were turned outward to the mission of God to make disciples of Jesus in the nations.
So often, we find the blessed life for which we are looking we embrace Christ’s words that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
*The filling of the Holy Spirit continually sanctifies our hearts, freeing us of self-centeredness, myopia and pride so that as John the Baptist spoke, Jesus might become greater, and we might become less (John 3:30).
“Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.
If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”
-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
3. Through ongoing instruction in the Word and ways of God.
Acts 19:1-7 ESV
“And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.”
It was significant to note that these men on whom Paul placed his hands to receive the Holy Spirit were already called disciples and it was indicated that they had already come to believe.
Yet God had more for them.
*When we pursue God wholeheartedly, it is safe to say that our expectations of God needn’t be any less than what the believers experienced in these Scriptural examples (Romans 15:4).
May we never stop in our pursuit of the whole counsel and the full life that Jesus purchased for us at the cross.
Abundant Life
When we spend time with and are filled with the Spirit of God, we are ushered into abundant life as our momentary trials are swallowed up in that which is lasting, pursuits which are eternal.
“Our dreams, like the disciples’, are always too small. We are here to fulfill God’s dream—that we will bring Him glory through a remarkably abundant life. That’s how we find our greatest personal fulfillment, now and for eternity.”
-Bruce Wilkinson
You should experience abundant life in your psyche, in your emotions, in your family, in your relationships and in your calling.
The more full of Jesus and the Holy Spirit you become, the less room there is for the empty calories of this world.
I continually hear that, with exercise, you eat greater amounts of protein to build muscle and shed fat.
It’s not that we can not be a Christian without the things that we are discussing today, but it does seem like it is part of God’s Biblical directives to live an abundant life in him.
“It is a fatal mistake to assume that God’s goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even ministry. Never focus on temporary crowns.”
-Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
Let’s repent of our sin today, be forgiven because of Christ’s atoning work at the cross and be filled with the Holy Spirit of God that we might live for the reward of heaven.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher