Naylor Community Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Ephesians 1:13-14
Ephesians 1:13-14
New International
Version
13 And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised
Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption
of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
-- The last thing a police officer
trying to chase down a suspect in a high-speed pursuit needs to see is a
warning that their patrol car is running low on gas—or on battery power -- But
that’s exactly what happened one night in Fremont, California, a few years ago
-- a Fremont police officer was pursuing a suspect in his department’s Tesla
Model S patrol car when he noticed it was running out of battery power
-- The officer radioed in to
dispatch that he might not be able to continue the chase -- he told dispatch
that he was down to six miles of battery left on the Tesla, so he was probably
going to have to stop pursuit in just a minute
-- it didn’t
really matter, though, because the department called off the chase for safety
reasons when the suspected felon began driving on the shoulder of the highway
-- they were worried that his actions at high speed might endanger someone else
-- they eventually found the vehicle crashed into bushes, but the driver had
fled the scene and was not found
-- the
officer in the Tesla eventually found a charging station in San Jose to power
up his car -- a police spokesperson said, “We have no written policy regarding
charging, but the general guideline is that it should at least be half full at
the beginning of the shift.” Apparently, the Tesla had not been recharged after
the previous shift before the officer took it out, so the battery level was
lower than it should have been. A spokesperson couldn’t provide details on why the
car wasn’t properly charged.1
-- this story points out the need
to always make sure you are charged and ready to go -- that you have the power
that you need to get the job done -- whether that’s chasing bad guys in
California or just getting up and going through your day here at home
-- we need power in our lives -- supernatural
power -- that never runs out and that is always there for us -- if we are going
to succeed in our spiritual lives
-- last
week, we began a series of messages about the Holy Spirit -- we began by diving
into the Book of John to learn who the Holy Spirit was -- we talked about how
He is a living being -- the third person of the Trinity -- God Himself, living
within us -- indwelling us -- and serving as our paraclete -- our counselor --
our comforter -- our advocate -- and our power
-- when we
talk about the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to remember that His power
comes from who He is -- He is not an impersonal power or force like some cults
in our area teach -- He doesn’t endow us with supernatural abilities -- but it
is His power working in us and through us that changes us from the inside out
and gives us the strength and the ability to do what Jesus commanded us to do
-- this
morning, we’re going to spend some more time talking about the Holy Spirit and
His presence in our lives -- not so much from the standpoint of who the Holy
Spirit is, but from the perspective of how Christians should connect and relate
to the Him
-- the
thing to remember -- the thing to keep in mind as we go through this study --
is to remember that it's not enough to just know about the Holy
Spirit -- we have to know the Holy Spirit -- personally and
intimately -- if we want to live the life that Christ has called us to live --
if we want to see His power manifested in us and through us so that we can live
successful lives for Christ -- if we want to make sure our spiritual batteries
never run out of power again
II. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
-- before
we talk about obtaining and wielding the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives
on a daily basis, let’s take a moment to talk about the moment when the Holy
Spirit takes up residence in the life of a believer -- because that’s the
starting point
-- without
the Holy Spirit present in your life, there is no power -- it’s like you don’t
even have a battery in your heart to begin with -- there’s no need worrying
about how to keep your battery charged, if you don’t have one
-- so, let’s
talk about how we receive the Holy Spirit in our lives
-- here in
this passage from Ephesians, Paul explains to the church of Ephesus, and to us,
how the Holy Spirit becomes a part of our lives
-- look
back at verse 13a
13a And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation.
-- Paul
tells us here that we are "in Christ" -- we are connected to Him --
we become part of Him and He becomes part of us when we hear and receive the
word of truth -- the gospel of our salvation -- when we repent of our sins and accept
Jesus as our Lord and Savior and ask Him to forgive us of our sins and to give
us His righteousness and eternal life
-- to be
saved means that you have been justified by Christ -- your sins have been
forgiven -- and you stand before God as a new creation -- buried with Christ
through His death to be raised to new life with Him through His resurrection
-- as Paul
says elsewhere, "it is not I who live but Christ who lives in me"
-- so, what
we see here in the start of verse 13 is a description of the point of salvation
-- the moment when we believe and are saved through Christ's justifying grace
-- now,
look what happens at that moment -- look at the rest of verse 13
13b When you
believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
-- “when
you believed” -- other versions say, "having believed" -- having been
justified -- having been saved -- being “in Christ”
--
"having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal -- the promised Holy
Spirit"
-- at the
moment of salvation -- at the moment you make the decision to receive the offer
of salvation and the forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit is given to us -- He
comes to indwell us -- to live within us -- as a seal -- as a mark on our life
-- identifying us as Christians -- as those who are "in Christ" --
and bringing with Him the very power and presence of God to dwell with us
always
-- verse 14
14 who is a deposit
guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s
possession—to the praise of his glory.
-- Paul
says the Holy Spirit is our deposit that guarantees that we are part of the
family of God -- that proves that we are saved
-- over in
Romans 8:9, we read that if you don't have the Spirit, you are not in Christ
-- what
this tells us is that the Holy Spirit is given at salvation -- if you are a
believer in Christ -- if you have been saved through His justifying grace --
then you have the Holy Spirit living within you
-- there
are several denominations in our area that have a different teaching about the
Holy Spirit -- they teach that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is separate
from salvation -- and that it is always accompanied by miracles and signs,
especially the ability to speak in tongues -- they call this the "baptism
of the Holy Spirit"
-- now,
according to what we just read, the Holy Spirit is not something you get at a
later date -- it is not something that is only given to certain people -- the
Holy Spirit indwells all believers at the point of salvation
-- so,
what's the deal with the baptism of the Holy Spirit that these other Christians
talk about? -- obviously, it is a real experience of the Spirit in the life of
these believers -- but if the term, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t
describe what happens when the Spirit comes to indwell the life of a believer
at salvation, what is it referring to? -- and how do we receive this baptism of
the Holy Spirit?
-- well,
that brings us to the first way that Christians are called to relate to the
Holy Spirit in our lives -- to be charged up by Him -- and that is by being
"filled with the Holy Spirit"
III. Filled with the Holy Spirit
-- if you
would, turn over to Acts 6:1-7 and let's look at what it means to be filled
with the Holy Spirit
Acts 6:1 In those days when the number of disciples was
increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews
because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2
So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be
right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on
tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to
be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them
4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose
Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus,
Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6
They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on
them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in
Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to
the faith.
-- in these
verses, we read the story of an early conflict in the church about whether the
widows of the Grecian Jews -- those Jews who spoke Greek and were part of the diasporo -- the Jews who lived outside
of Palestine -- were being treated the same as the widows of the Hebraic Jews
-- the Jews who lived in the Holy Land and who spoke Hebrew or Aramaic
-- in order
to settle the conflict, the apostles gathered all the disciples together and
told them to choose seven men from among them who were known to be "full
of the Holy Spirit and wisdom" and to make them responsible for taking
care of this particular ministry
-- one of
these men was Stephen, the first martyr in the church -- we read a further
description of Stephen in verse 8 as Luke begins the narrative of Stephen's
arrest and speech to the Sanhedrin, and then his death at their hands
-- look
back real quick at verse 8
Acts 6:8 Now Stephen,
a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among
the people.
-- when
other Christians speak about being baptized in the Spirit, what they are
referring to is someone living like Stephen, with visible signs of the Spirit
in their lives -- so, the term “baptized” is synonymous with being “filled” by
the Spirit -- it is a real experience for Christians and for the church
-- but our fellow Christians who
emphasize this baptism of the Spirit err in two ways -- first, they err by saying
that only certain people can be baptized or filled by the Spirit -- this is not
true -- as we will see as we go through this, all believers have the Holy
Spirit indwelling them, so all believers can experience the baptism or filling
of the Holy Spirit in their lives -- in fact, this is commanded of us
-- secondly, they err in their
assumption that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a one-time event -- it is not
-- more than likely, your spiritual
life is not going to be one where you are continually filled and experiencing the
power of the Holy Spirit at all times and in all places, even though the
ability and potential is still there
-- the reason for this is because
we are still human and we still have this sin nature impacting us and limiting
our ability to fully live into who God wants us to be which prevents the Spirit
from filling us in those moments
-- in reality, we move in and out
of the experience of the Holy Spirit filling us and empowering us with His
presence -- He is always there, but there are times when we quench His power in
our lives and when His power is not made manifest because we are hindering Him
from working in us and through us
-- there will be times we are
filled with the Holy Spirit and there will be times we will not
-- so, to sum up, everyone can
experience being filled or baptized by the Holy Spirit in their lives -- it is
expected of us
-- but the filling or the baptism
of the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event, as some teach, but something that
we experience when we are in the place in our lives where God is able to move
in us and express His presence and power in this supernatural way
-- moving on, there are a couple of
things we can learn here about what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit:
-- first,
we see that not everyone in the church was filled with the Spirit at the same
time -- as we learned from the passage in Ephesians and as the Bible teaches in
other places, everyone there had the Holy Spirit within them
-- every disciple -- every
Christian -- is indwelt by the Holy Spirit -- but everyone in the church in
Jerusalem that day was not filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment when they
were selecting seven men to serve in this particular ministry
-- that
didn't make them any less Christian -- meaning that not being filled with the
Spirit didn't take away their salvation or the forgiveness of their sins --
they still had the Spirit within them -- they were still sealed by His presence
and were still guaranteed their eternal inheritance
-- but it
does mean that they were not living up to their potential in Christ -- their
batteries were drained
-- think back
to the story of the police officer I told you about at the beginning of this
message -- He had batteries inside his car -- but they were not charged -- he
had the potential for power, but he couldn’t use the power because they were
not filled
-- that’s
what we’re talking about here
-- in Ephesians
5:18, we are told to be filled with the Holy Spirit -- it should be noted that
this is a command, not a suggestion -- in other words, being filled with the
Holy Spirit is not just a good idea -- this is something that God commands and
expects from all His people -- this is something that He expects from us
-- to carry
this a little farther -- the Greek word that Paul uses in that verse is in the present
tense -- you could actually translate it as "be continually filled with
the Holy Spirit" -- in other words, being filled with the Holy Spirit is
not a one-time act -- it is not something that you go and do one time, get the
t-shirt as a souvenir, and then go home
-- no, we
are commanded to be continually filled with the Spirit -- and, if we are not,
then we are not living the lives that Christ called us to live -- in fact, we
are living in disobedience to His command -- this is what happens when we don’t
keep our spiritual batteries charged
-- as I
said, that’s the experience of most of us, even though God desires for us to
grow in grace and mature to the point where His presence and power are made
manifest in our lives at all times
-- secondly,
looking back at this passage here in Acts, we see that being filled with the
Spirit gave these men wisdom and the ability to do ministry for Christ -- which
gets to the definition of what being filled with the Holy Spirit or baptized by
the Spirit actually means
-- when
Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit, Luke tells us that he did great
wonders and miraculous signs among the people -- now, in truth, it wasn't
Stephen who did this but the Holy Spirit working through Him -- Stephen was the
vessel -- the Holy Spirit was the catalyst and the power that brought about
these wonders and signs
-- to be
filled or baptized with the Spirit means that you are opened up to the power of
the Spirit within you -- it means that you are letting the Spirit control you
-- that you are submitting to God's presence in your life and allowing Him to
live through you -- you’re allowing Him to charge your spiritual batteries
-- in the
Bible, the word that we translate as "power" -- especially in
reference to the power of God in our lives -- is the Greek word dunamis -- this is the word that we get
our English word, "dynamite," from
-- in other
words, it is the explosive power of God being made manifest in our lives -- so,
to be filled with the Spirit means that you are completely filled with the
power of God -- it means that we have God's unlimited strength at our disposal
-- the
point here is that we can do nothing apart from God -- alone, there is no power
in us -- there is no power in the church -- our power source is God and God
alone
-- if we
want to be who He called us to be -- if we want to do what He
called us to do -- if we want to live in obedience to His commands -- we must
be filled with His presence to the point that we allow Him to control our lives
and to work through us as He did these men
IV. Walk with the Holy Spirit
-- so, we
are called to be filled with the Holy Spirit -- but there is another calling
related to the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life that we are also called to
fulfill which is related to being filled with the Spirit -- and that is the
calling to walk by the Holy Spirit or to be led by the Holy Spirit
-- here’s
the difference between being filled by the Spirit and walking with the Spirit:
-- when we talk about being filled
with the Holy Spirit, we are referring to the dunamis -- the power within -- we are talking about allowing the
Spirit's presence and power to be made manifest in our lives so that we see
great wonders and miraculous signs and God’s presence in our lives, just like
Acts 6:8 says was true about Stephen
-- but,
when we talk about walking with the Holy Spirit or being led by the Holy
Spirit, we are talking about controlling that power and using it for a specific
purpose or function
-- in other
words, it is the application of the power of God to accomplish God’s will or
plan in our lives
-- keep in
mind that Jesus saved us for a reason -- He didn't just save us so that we
could go to heaven -- if that were the case, then we would probably just vanish
and go straight there when we get saved
-- no,
Jesus left us here on earth for a reason -- in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus
said that He was leaving us in the world so that we might be sanctified by the
truth and accomplish the purposes for which He was sending us
-- and over
in Ephesians 1:10, we read that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do
-- we
cannot do good works -- we cannot do great wonders and miraculous signs apart
from the Spirit -- it is only when we are filled with the Spirit that we have
the power to make a difference in the lives of other people and to do what
Jesus called us to do -- and it is only when we walk with the Spirit that we are
capable of using that power in effective ways
-- if you
would, turn real quick over to Galatians 5:16-25 and I'll try to bring this to
a close
Galatians 5:16-25
New International Version
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify
the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the
Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with
each other, so that you are not to do whatever[a] you want. 18 But if you are led
by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,
impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy,
fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness,
orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the
Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
-- doing a
great disservice to this passage, let me just walk you through the high points quickly
-- when we talk about walking with the Spirit or being led by the Spirit, we
are talking about using the power of God in our daily lives -- of applying the
power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the mission of Christ
-- in verse
15, Paul says that if we live by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of
the sinful nature -- all of us -- even those of us who have received Christ as
our Lord and Savior and who may have been Christians for years -- all of us
still have sin in our lives because all of us still have that sin nature that
makes us sinners -- that makes us do things that are disobedient to God's
commands
-- in our
own strength, we do not have the power to conquer sin -- we don't have the
power to turn away from the desires of our own flesh -- it is only when we are
filled with the Spirit and have His power at our disposal that we are capable
of choosing life instead of death -- choosing to obey God rather than to
gratify our own evil thoughts and desires
-- Paul
goes on to tell us what those sinful desires look like -- we don’t need to go
over them -- they’re obvious -- we know them -- we see them -- we experience
them in some degree in all of our lives
-- but thankfully, Paul doesn’t end
there -- he closes this passage by showing us a better way -- he tells us what
the fruit of the Spirit looks like -- what happens in our lives when we let the
presence of God change us and be made manifest through us
-- when you
are led by the Spirit and walk with Him, your lives are characterized by the
fruit of His presence -- the very attributes of God that He makes manifest in
our lives -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control
-- Paul
tells us in verse 25 that we should keep in step with the Spirit -- we should
be fruit trees for Christ -- our lives should reflect His presence, His nature,
and His attributes -- and if we are led by the Spirit -- if we allow Him to
fill us and to led us and to direct our paths, then we should see the fruits of
the Spirit in our lives -- they should pour out of us and through us to others
-- these
are gauges that we can use to measure our walk with God -- we may not perform
miraculous signs like Stephen -- we may not speak in tongues like Paul -- but
when we are filled with the Spirit and our batteries are fully charged -- when
He is leading us and directing our paths so that we do what He wants us to do
-- these fruits will be evident to everyone around us
-- if our lives aren't showing
these fruits, then we are not filled with the Spirit and we are not walking
with Him -- these fruits show where you are in your relationship with God
-- one
other note on this -- in Matthew 7, Jesus said that we would know them by their
fruit -- we misapply that verse all the time -- we assume that the fruit Jesus
is talking about are the good things that we do for Him -- and we judge others
based on whether we see things we associate with spiritual success or
not
-- for
example, we judge how good a pastor or a church is based on several factors
that we can see and measure -- without a doubt, pastors and churches are judged
based on their size -- on the number of people that attend every Sunday
-- I’ve been in meetings with people
and pastors from other churches, and one of the first things they always ask is
“how many people do you have?” -- when I tell them we are a small congregation
of about 10 people, you can see the look in their eye -- they think to
themselves that I am not successful and have no value, and they quickly turn
away from me to someone who does have a lot of people and power and influence
in the community
-- we are also judged by the amount
of money we have -- the number of programs we advertise in our bulletins -- how
visible we are in the community -- do people know us and see us?
-- and when we find a church and a
pastor that meets all those criteria, we think, “they are successful” because they
are meeting our metrics of what is important about a church -- we think, “you
can certainly see the fruits of their ministry” -- but how the world defines success
is different from how God defines it
-- these measures
of success -- these types of fruit -- the number of people -- the amount of
money -- the number of programs -- this is not the type of fruit that Jesus was
talking about in Matthew 7
-- by those measures, Jesus’
ministry was a complete and total failure -- He ended up with only 12
followers, and one of them betrayed Him -- they had no money -- no large church
to meet in -- the priests and the Pharisees looked at Jesus and dismissed Him
because He didn’t look successful in their eyes -- He wasn’t bearing their type
of fruit
-- no, the fruit that Jesus was
talking about in Matthew 7 was the fruit of the Spirit -- the nature and
attributes of God expressed within the church and within the individual
-- it is a
fact that good things can be done by non-believers -- good things can be done
by believers without any of the fruits of the Spirit being evident -- as Paul
pointed out in 1 Corinthians 13, you can do great things -- you can look very
successful in the eyes of the world -- but if you don’t have love -- the very
first fruit of the Spirit mentioned here -- it means nothing
-- in other
words, doing things and having a lot of people and a lot of money doesn’t
necessarily mean that you are successful in the eyes of God and fulfilling His
will
-- think about the Pharisees -- if you
looked at the Pharisees and what they were doing, you would have thought, “These
men have it all together -- they are successful in the eyes of God -- this is
the picture of what God wants us to look like”
-- but Jesus rebuked the Pharisees
because they were keeping the letter of the Law, but not the spirit of the Law
-- they were obedient and following all God’s commands, but they were far from
His presence -- they had the fruits of man, but not the fruit of the Spirit
-- to be known by your fruits means
that others look at you and they see the fruits of the Spirit in your life and
in your church -- love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness,
faithfulness, and self-control
-- these
are the fruits that we are looking for to see if someone is walking with God or
not -- not how big their church is or how much they seem to be doing
-- these are the fruits we should
be striving for in our lives -- and these fruits are only produced when we
surrender to the presence of the Holy Spirit and allow His power to fill us and
lead us and be made manifest through us
V. Closing
-- let me
close by sharing with you a few thoughts from Zac Levi, the star of the NBC spy
comedy Chuck -- if you're familiar with this show, Zac plays the role of an
average guy whose life gets turned upside-down when he gets thrown into a role
as a government spy -- in an interview a couple of years ago, Zac made the
point that what his character was going through on the show was not that
different from what he himself was going through when he suddenly found himself
the star of a TV show.
--
"Just as Chuck was struggling through the newfound world of spydom, I was
struggling with a newfound world of celebrity." -- But despite his
near-celebrity status and the unique pressures and temptations that come with
life in
--The key
-- Zac says -- is to remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit in whatever you say
and do. -- "If you're someone who puts their faith in Jesus, then trust
him in being led. -- To me, it's not rocket science. Go about your day putting
your faith in God and standing on truth. -- It's pretty easy: are you a jerk or
not? -- Are you doing things to benefit you or others? -- Are you available to
be part of the solution and not the problem? -- your life is God's, so let him
do as he wills with it."2
-- I think
that last quote from Zac Levi sums up this morning's message -- "your life
is God's, so let him do as He will with it" -- be filled with the Spirit
-- be filled with His dunamis -- His power -- and let Him use that power
through you and in you to do great things for Him
-- this is
the essence of a Spirit-filled life -- this is what it looks like when we let
the Spirit keep our batteries charged -- when we let Him fill us with His power
and presence and lead us to do what God wants us to do
-- this is what we are called to be
-- so, as we leave here today, I want you to take a moment to think about where
you are with God -- where you are with His Spirit -- are you Spirit-filled at
this moment? -- are you living for Christ as He intended?
-- or are your batteries about to
run out? -- if so, then let me encourage you to go to Him and ask Him to do
whatever is necessary to cleanse you and fill you with His presence, so that
you might be fully charged with His power and so that the fruits of the Spirit
might be made manifest in your life
-- all of us can live Spirit-filled
and Spirit-led lives -- we just have to surrender to the Holy Spirit and walk
in relationship with Him -- all of us can do it -- all of us can experience it
-- so, let’s make it happen
-- let us
pray
1 Ben Feuerherd, “Cop’s Tesla runs out of battery power
during high-speed chase,” New York Post (9-25-19); Joseph Geha, “Fremont police
Tesla runs low on juice during high-speed chase,” Mercury News (9-24-19)
2 Rich Tatum, Grand Rapids, Michigan; source: Carl
Kozlowski, "The Life and Faith of 'Chuck' Star Zac Levi," Relevant
magazine.com (January/February 2010)
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