I’ll be honest with you, I feel like the Bible says, “Confessing the faults one to another.” I feel like preaching about the person of the Holy Spirit is maybe something that I’ve lacked in the seven years that I’ve been pastoring here. We definitely talked about the Holy Spirit, and I think it’s something that altered just a lot. I don’t know that we talked about the Holy Spirit or teach about the Holy Spirit as much as we should, but you need to understand that in order to live the victorious Christian life, you have to learn to live dependent on the Holy Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit. What I’d like to do tonight is give you a survey of just the doctrine, and we’re just going to touch … There’s lots that we could go into that we won’t go into, but I want to give you a little bit of a survey of just the idea of the Holy Spirit, this person of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Like I said, we will not cover many things tonight in regards to the Holy Spirit. I want to just give you some key thoughts about the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I’d like you to take notes if you’re able to, I’d like you to write down a few statements. We’re there in Ephesians chapter one. I’d like you to look out on verse number 13. Ephesians 1:13, and do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something in Ephesians because we’re going to leave it and we’re going to come back to it, and I want you to be able to find Ephesians quickly. We’re going to be coming back to the book of Ephesians throughout the sermon tonight. Ephesians 1:13 says this, “In whom ye also trusted,” I want you to notice the word “trusted” there. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that ye believed,” notice the word “believed” there, “ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.”
This verse is teaching us about salvation and I’m not preaching on that this evening, but I do want you to notice. When the Bible says, “In whom ye also trusted,” and then it says, “After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” Then it says, “In whom also after that ye believed.” I want you to understand that the Bible, it’s a tone dictionary. Our King James Bible, it’s a tone dictionary. Feel a little bit of a ring if you can help me with that, maybe just put it on a little bit, and you don’t have to go to men’s resources to have the … The Bible can define itself. The Bible says that, “The spirit will define itself.” We can compare spiritual with spiritual, and here, God is telling us that when we talk about believe, Paul was asked, “What must I do to be saved?” He said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
When we’re talking about believe, what we are talking about is not believing in the existence of. That’s not what saves someone like believing that Jesus exist in, but when we’re talking about faith or belief, what we mean by that, and the definition for salvation is when you place your trust in Christ. See, it’s not enough to just believe that He existed, you have to believe on Him, meaning your trust is on Him, not on yourself or on your church or on your religion or whatever it might be. That’s what this verse is saying. It’s saying, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth.” By the way, that’s how you get saved by hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that, ye believed.
I want you to notice what happened the moment you believe? The Bible says this, “Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” If you’re taking notes, I’d like you to write down this statement, “The sealing of the Holy Spirit.” When it comes to the ministry of the Holy Ghost in our life, it begins with the sealing of the Holy Spirit. This verse especially if you’re soul winners, you may want to make a note to this verse, not only because it defines the word “believe,” but also because it teaches that the Bible says that you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise the moment you believe. Notice it says, “In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed.” You say, “Well, why is that important?”
Well, it’s important for one reason because today, the Pentecostal charismatic movement teaches that salvation is a process, that salvation is a progress and that you first believe, but that’s not where salvation ends and you have to go through all these steps, you believe and then you repent of your sins and then you get baptized, and then they teach along that process of salvation when you are filled with the Holy Ghost, when you speak in tongues, you get filled with the Holy Ghost because you receive the Holy Ghost, but I want you notice, that’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says, “In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
You don’t get the Holy Spirit later on after you repented, after you got baptized, you get it the moment you believe. The moment that you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says that you are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. You know Ephesians one. Go down to Ephesians chapter four just real quickly or go over to Ephesians chapter four, look in verse 30. Just quickly talk about this idea of the sealing, the sealing of the Holy Spirit. What does that mean to be sealed? The sealing of the Holy Spirit speaks to or teaches us about or is about this idea of possession or ownership. When you get sealed with the Spirit, what that means is now you belong to someone, now you belong to God. Ephesians chapter four, look in verse 30. Notice what the Bible says, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed …” Ephesians 4:30, “Whereby ye are sealed,” notice, “Unto the day of redemption.”
You see the word “redemption” there? The word “redemption” has many definitions, but the definition in that verse is speaking about the action of regarding or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment or a clearing of a debt. See, when you got saved, God redeemed you. We sing those song, “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.” You and I were redeemed by Lord Jesus Christ. What that means is that we were purchased. We were possessed of God, and He seals us with a Spirit because what He’s doing is He’s taking possessions. He’s putting His mark on us. He’s putting His ownership on us. He’s branding us like you’d brand cattle. He’s putting His mark on us because we now belong to Him.
Keep your place on Ephesians. We’re going to leave Ephesians. We’re going to come back to it, but go in the 1 Corinthians chapter number six. If you go backwards, you’re going to go past Galatians, past 2 Corinthians into 1 Corinthians. Now, here’s the thing. We’re going to leave 1 Corinthians and come back there as well, so I need you to hold your place in two different places because we’re going to go back and forth between Ephesians and 1 and 2 Corinthians. Make sure you can get to Ephesians, make sure you can get to 1 Corinthians, but I want you to notice this idea of possession or ownership. 1 Corinthians 6:19, notice what the Bible says, 1 Corinthians 6:19, the apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth. He says, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” Notice what he says, “which is in you.” The Holy Ghost is in you, “which ye have of God, ye are not your own?” He says, “For ye are bought with a price.” That’s the idea of redemption, you’ve been purchased. You have been paid for. You belong to someone else.
“For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,” here are the keywords, “which are God’s.” See, your body and your spirit do not belong to you, they belong to God. When we’re talking about the sealing of the spirit, it is in reference to a possession. It is a reference to the fact that you now belong to God, that you are in the ownership of God, but there’s another idea that comes with the sealing. We’re there in 1 Corinthians, go to 2 Corinthians chapter number one. 1 Corinthians chapter number one. Now, when we talk about a seal, the dictionary defines the word “seal” as a piece of wax or similar adhesive substance so attached to an envelope folded document, etc., that it must be broken when the object is opened ensuring that the contents have not been tampered with or altered.
See, in the days of Paul, someone would maybe write a letter and they would fold that letter and they would maybe have a seal on their ring, and they fold the letter and they put wax over that letter and as the wax was … They would put their seal and they would put their impression upon that seal, and that would dry that, that would be the seal. Here’s the thing. In order to open that letter, you’d have to break that seal. The idea was that when you gave it to somebody, to a carrier, someone to send that message, it wouldn’t be tampered with because when it got to the desired destination, they would know if the letter had been opened or not based on whether that seal was broken or not.
The idea was that a king or a leader would have … He’d be the only one that possess that seal, so you would be able to know who they came from. Not only did it have the ownership aspect, but it had a security aspect, making sure that no one was going to mess with it, that no one was going to alter it, that no one was going to change it. When you got a letter from the king and it had his seal on it, and that seal was intact and not broken, not only did you know where it came from and the ownership, but you knew that it was protected and the security. See, when it comes to our salvation, the sealing of the spirit plays the same role. It’s the same idea. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, look at verse number 22. 2 Corinthians 1:22, notice what the Bible says, “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”
See, the Bible says, “He sealed us,” and I want you to notice this word, “and have given the earnest.” I want you to notice that word “earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” Go back to Ephesians chapter number one. Keep your place in 2 Corinthians. We’re going to go back and forth. Go to Ephesians chapter one. Look at verse number 13. Ephesians 1:13 again, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” Notice verse number 15. I’m sorry, number 14, “Which is the earnest …” See that word “earnest” there? “Of our inheritance until the redemption …” Notice, “Of the purchased.” We’ve been bought. “Possession,” that’s you. “Unto the praise of his glory.”
Here’s what you need to understand. The sealing of the Holy Spirit not only speaks a possession, but it speaks up protection, or the promise. We are sealed with the Spirit. That’s why we have eternal security because we have the Holy Spirit of God. He sealed us, but I want you to understand. There’s a picture there of a sealing, but there’s also a picture there where He’s talking about the earnest of the Spirit. Now, what’s earnest? Earnest has this financial idea. Notice redemption, the purchased possession. All of these terms have a financial idea. Well, earnest money is money that is given by a buyer to a seller in order to bind the contract. If you’re going to purchase a house, and you say, “I’m going to buy this house. I have made a decision. I like the house, I like the price. I’m going to go with it.”
They’re going to ask you to put down some earnest money, and the earnest money is money you put down where you basically give them $1,000 or whatever and you say, “Here’s how serious I am about this purchase. I’m going to give you $1,000 to take this house off the market because I’m going to come back and I’m going to buy it. I’m going to come back, and I’m going to take possession.” Now, here’s the thing. When you put down $1,000 earnest money and you change your mind and decide, “Oh, I’ve decided I’m not going to move there.” Guess who gets to keep that money? The person does because that’s the whole thing. You’re showing your intention. You are showing how serious you are that you’re willing to put $1,000 at risk that you might lose it by saying, “That’s how serious I am. I’m going to give you $1,000 and if I don’t come back and purchase this home, you can have the money.”
See, what God did is He did not put down $1,000 or $1 million as the earnest amount of salvation. He put down His Holy Spirit as the earnest amount of salvation. He put down His Holy Spirit and said, “I am so committed to the redemption of this purchase. I’m so committed, and I am so sure that nothing is going to happen, and I will redeem this individual. I’ll put my spirit down.” Here’s the thing, if God sends me to hell after I believed on Christ, He’d have to send His Holy Spirit with me because He sent the Holy Spirit as the earnest. That’s where the promise, that’s where the protection is. He put down … Here’s another word, a pledge. A pledge is a thing intended or regarded as a sign or promise of what is to come. That’s why He says in verse 14, “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption.”
He said, “It’s a pledge that I’m going to come back of the purchased possession.” into the price of His glory. We see number one, the sealing of the spirit. When you got saved, you received the sealing of the spirit and it speaks to the possession and the protection of our salvation, but there’s another aspect to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Go to Ephesians. I’m not sure where you’re at. Go to Ephesians chapter four, and while you go there, let me read for you from Acts chapter number seven. I read this verse this morning, so I won’t have you turn there tonight, but in Acts 7:51, I’d like you to hear it, it says, “Ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears.” The Bible says this to the pharisees that were rejecting Christ. He says, “Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye.”
The first idea in regards to the ministry of the Holy Spirit is number one, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, but there’s a second idea when it comes to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our life. I’d like you to write this statement down, “The yielding to the Holy Spirit.” We have the sealing on the Holy Spirit, but we also have the yielding of the Holy Spirit. See? The Holy Spirit begins to do a work in your life and in my life. He begins to reprove us. He begins to convince us. He begins to show us what needs to be done and here’s what you need to understand. The Holy Spirit as a ministry for unbelievers as he does for believers. That’s why often times before we go out soul winning, I’ll pray that the Lord will send His Holy Spirit before us, and that the Holy Spirit will begin to work on the hearts of the individuals that we’ll be talking to why because somebody can only be saved if he’s drawn by the Holy Spirit.
By the way, the Holy Spirits drive all men. He’s not wanting that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Here’s what’s interesting about that is that the Calvinist today will say, “Well, you can only be saved if you’re drawn by the spirit, and only those that are drawn by the spirit and only those that God draws Himself can be saved.” Again, Jesus said, “If I be lifted up from the earth, I shall drop all men unto me.” It’s true that you can only be saved if the Holy Spirit’s drawing you, but guess what? The Holy Spirit’s drawing everybody. He desires that everybody would be saved. He desires that all, but what’s interesting is the Calvinist will say, “If the Holy Spirit’s not drawing you, if God’s not drawing you, you can’t be saved, but if He is drawing you,” they’ll say, “Those people have no choice but to be saved.”
Here’s what they’ll teach in their little tulip acronym. They’ll teach … What is that word? I lost my … Irresistible grace. They’ll say, “It’s irresistible. When the Holy Spirit draws you, you can’t resist it.” But here’s what’s interesting about that. Acts 7:51, “Ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye.” Like I’m going to say, “Well, there’s no such thing as resisting. If He calls you, it’s irresistible,” but the Bible tells us that these Jews were resisting the Holy Spirit. Look, Calvinism is a lie out of a pit of hell.
Congregation: Right.
Speaker 1: God is not willing that any should perish. He wants everybody to be saved. He’s calling everyone. He’s sending His Holy Spirit, and all He needs is you to … Like the choir was singing this morning, “The Holy Spirit is just looking for a vessel that He can use to preach the gospel. To go out and show people how they might be saved,” but He works in the life of unbelievers and they can resist them. Some will accept them, some will resist them, but you know what? He also works in the lives of believers, and believers can also resist Him. Now once you’re saved, you’re sealed, but you can resist the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Ephesians chapter four, look in verse 30. Ephesians 4:30, notice the first part of this verse, it says, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
Notice, this is not talking to unbelievers. These people are sealed. These people are redeemed. They are sealed until the day of redemption, but yet in your life, even as a believer, you have the ability to grieve the Holy Spirit. See, the Holy Spirit, you got sealed with the Spirit when you got saved, but the Holy Spirit will begin to do a work in your life. See, you’ll start coming to church and you’ll start hearing preaching from the word of God, and something will be said from the pulpit and the Holy Spirit is going to start pricking at you and saying, “That’s you. You need to get that right. You need to get that fixed.” We all started singing a great song like the one we sing today, “So little time, the harvest will be over. Our reaping done, we reapers taken home.” The Holy Spirit started saying, “You need to get out there.”
Congregation: Right.
Speaker 1: You need to go out soul winning.
Congregation: Amen.
Speaker 1: We’ll talk about reading the Bible, He’s like, “You haven’t read the Bible in weeks.” We’ll talk about prayer, He’s like, “You don’t have a prayer life.” We’ll talk about tithing, He’s like, “You need to start tithing.” See, the Holy Spirit will begin to prick at you and begin to nudge at you, and begin to try to push you and try to get you to do certain things in your life and when you say, “No,” you are grieving the Holy Spirit of God. See, one of the things that you and I need to do, you say, “I’d like to be filled with the Spirit. I’d love to have the power of the Holy Spirit in my life.” Well, wait a minute. Before you get to the filling, you have to learn how to yield. Before you’re going to be filled, you’ve got to yield.
If there’s anything in your life that the Holy Spirit’s working on you and saying, “You know that’s a sin that you need to deal with. You know that’s something you need to stop, or you know that’s something you need to start or you know that’s something that’s not acceptable to God.” You say, “No. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to ignore it.” You’re not actively yielding to the Spirit, you’re grieving the Spirit. Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter five. Here’s the question I have for you, and don’t answer that loud, but are you yielding to the Holy Spirit of God? Is there an area in your life where you know God wants you to do X, Y and Z or you know God wants you to stop X, Y and Z, but you just keep cutting that off or you keep making excuses or you keep saying, “No. I’m just not going to go in on that route.”
Because at that point, you cannot get to the filling if you’re not even yielding. You’ve got to yield to the Holy Spirit and say, “Not my will, but thine be done.” Where you will allow the Holy Spirit to do a work in you. 1 Thessalonians 5, look at verse number 19. 1 Thessalonians 5:19. If you’re there in Ephesians, you got Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 5:19, just a very short four-word verse, it says, “Quench not the Spirit.” See, the Holy Spirit begins to work in your heart, and what you and I can do is we can choose to quench the Spirit. Often, the Holy Spirit is liking them to fire. Remember the day of Pentecost and they were filled with the Holy Ghost? The Bible says, “They began to speak with tongues,” but the Bible also says that there was fire on their head because the Holy Spirit is often liken to fire. I always want to ask this Pentecostal because they’re like, “Well, we’re like the damn Pentecost.” Well, where’s the fire on your head?
Congregation: Right.
Speaker 1: Because you know, I can fake gibberish. I can get up here and say, “Osama Bin Laden, Barack Obama, Hakuna Matata,” but you know that head fake fire on the top of my head, because that’s what happened on the day of Pentecost, but here’s the thing. Whether you see the fire or not, you got the Holy Spirit of fire in your heart. The Holy Spirit’s working on your heart, and the Holy Spirit’s nudging you and saying, “You got to get right into this area. You got to do better in this area. You got to get disciplined in this area. You know that’s right. You know.” It says it will guide you in truth. Some of you come to church, and you’ll hear the word of God preach and here’s the Holy Spirit that says, “You know it’s true. That’s you. Truth. Truth.” That’s why it’s always silly to me, people get that, “I go to church, and I felt like Pastor is preaching right at me.” Well, what did you come here for? What’s the point if we’re not preaching right at you?
What’s silly to me is like eight people will say the same thing, I’ll preach about cigarettes, and he’s like, “Pastor is preaching at me.” It’s like, “I don’t even know you smoked. What are you talking about? Thanks for letting me know.” People, they’re casually confessing their sins to me, I’m like, “Well, I didn’t know that, but now I do. Thanks a lot. Now, that will be awkward the next time I talk about it.” You have to yield to the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, “Quench not the Spirit.” See, when you got saved, you were sealed, but after salvation, you have to make the decision to yield. When you got saved, you were sealed and then you have to decide when the Holy Spirit pricks, when the Holy Spirit move, when the Holy Spirit says, “That’s for you.” You’re reading the Bible and you read something and the Holy Spirit grabs at you.
You know when you’re reading the Bible, something just jumps out at you. The Holy Spirit brings something to your mind. At that moment, you’ve got to decide, “Will I grieve the Spirit? Will I quench the Spirit or will I yield to the Spirit?” Number one, we talked about the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Number two, we talked about the yielding of the Holy Spirit. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter one. Let’s talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit. See, the filling of the Holy Spirit is fun, but filling of the Holy Spirit is what we want. I think that’s what you’d like, but you cannot get to the filling until you had the yielding. You cannot get to the yielding until you have the sealing.
2 Corinthians chapter number one. I want to explain something to you, and I’ll be honest with you. What I will explain to you, I don’t know that I’ve really heard anybody teach this before, so it may be heresy. I guess is what I’m trying to say. No, I’m just kidding. I don’t think it’s heresy but I just don’t think a lot of Baptists really preach on the idea of the Holy Spirit. I want to show it to you from the Bible, and if you disagree, that’s fine. It doesn’t matter, but go to 2 Corinthians 1. I want you to understand this. At salvation, you were sealed with the Spirit, and you got enough of the Holy Spirit to seal and to save you. At salvation, you got enough of the Holy Spirit to seal and to save you.
2 Corinthians chapter one, look at verse 22. Notice what the Bible says, 2 Corinthians 1:22, “And who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” See the word “earnest?” Remember the word “earnest” has this idea. It’s like a security deposit. A security deposit is a sum payable as the first installment on the purchase of something or as a pledge of a contract, a balance being paid later. See, He didn’t make the complete purchase. The complete purchase would not be made until the day or the rapture. We will not be completely body, soul and spirit given to God until the day of the rapture but He gave us the earnest of the Spirit to show His intention that He will come back and fulfill the rest of the purchase. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter five, look at verse number five. The earnest has to do with the … It’s like a security deposit. It’s like a pledge. It’s like a down payment. It’s an initial payment made for something that He’s going to come back and finish the redemption on.
2 Corinthians 5:5, the Bible says this, “Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us …” Notice, “the earnest of the Spirit.” He gave us the pledge. He gave us the … Because if you think about it, how much wax do you need to have a seal? You don’t need the entire candlestick. You just pour a little bit of wax in there and you seal the thing. I want you to understand what I’m about to say. Go to John chapter number three in the New Testament. You got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. John chapter number three. In my whole life, I’ve grown up in Baptist Church, who were always careful to not get too much into the Holy Spirit because you don’t want to be accused to being a Pentecostal.
I learned to give up a long time ago what people thought about me because that’s just the only way to really do ministry. I think if you’re going to follow through within reject things like the pre-trib, rapture and all that stuff, but my whole life, this is what I was always told about the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Look, anyone who said this? I’m not saying they’re bad people, and I’m not even saying they’re necessarily wrong. I don’t think it’s extremely accurate in regards, but they would always say this. “When you got saved, you got all of the Holy Spirit, but He didn’t get all of you.” They would say like, “The more you yield to the Spirit, that’s what the Bible’s referring to as the filling.”
You find the words “filling of the Spirit” are being full of the Spirit, and I just had this idea. When God says something, that’s what He means and in John 3:34, I want you to notice what the Bible says about the Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:34, and the Bible says this, “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God.” This was talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, “For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” I want you to understand what the Bible is saying here. The Bible is telling us that God did not give Jesus Christ the Spirit by measure. Meaning, He did not measure out the Holy Spirit and said, “Well, let me see how much of this I’m going to give you.” He said, “Well, He sent out His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and He gave Him the Spirit.” He didn’t measure out how much of the Spirit. He said, “He gave Him not the Spirit by measure.” He just gave Him all of that.
Now, the implication there or the idea is this, if He’s telling us that He didn’t give Jesus the Spirit by measure, it must be because He gave us the Spirit by measure. You understand what I just said? I don’t necessarily believe that we got all of the Holy Spirit on the day we got saved. Do you see? Well, what do you believe we got? Here’s what I believe. When you got saved, when I got saved, we got enough of the Holy Spirit to seal us and to save us. He gave us the earnest of the Spirit. He gave us enough of the Spirit to show, “You belong to me. I’m sealing you. I’ve saved you. You are mine,” but not every Christian is just filled with Holy Spirit because otherwise, this verse wouldn’t make sense if He just gave everyone all of the Holy Spirit. Everyone who’s saying, “Has all of the Holy Spirit. You got all of the Holy Spirit, but He didn’t give it all of you.” No. There’s only one person who got all of the Holy Spirit and that’s because He is the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Congregation: Amen.
Speaker 1: “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” He didn’t measure it up when He gave it to them. Why? Because He’s a second person of the Holy Spirit, of the Trinity because Jesus is God, He got all of them. He has all of them, but listen to me, you and I were given the Holy Spirit by measure and that’s why the Bible says, go to Luke chapter number 11. Luke chapter number 11, in verse number 13, Jesus would say this, Luke chapter 11, and verse number 13. Are you there in John? Just one book back, Luke 11:13, the Bible says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children.” Now notice, He’s talking about children. In the Bible, when you’re a child of God, are you saved? Yes or no?
Congregation: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yes. All right. You get born again. You’re a child. He says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Now look, if every child got all of the Holy Spirit, why is He telling a child to ask God their Father for the Holy Spirit? Here’s what I believe. I think when you got saved, you didn’t get all the Holy Spirit. You got the earnest of the Spirit. You got the sealing of the Spirit. You got enough of the Spirit to make sure you’re sealed and to make sure you were saved, but you know what? God says, “If you ask me for more, I’ll give you more.” He says, “If you want more, I’ll give you more.” He says, “If you’d like to be filled …” Here’s what you need to understand. Not every Christian today, not every person in this room is just walking around filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
If you’re saved, you got enough of them to seal you. If you’re saved, you got enough of them to save you, but that doesn’t mean you’re filled with them. Only certain people are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, and one of the things God says is, “Hey, ask your Heavenly Father to give you the Holy Spirit.” Every morning I wake up, I try to ask the Lord to give me the fullness of the Spirit for that day because the filling of the Holy Spirit has to do with the power of God. The filling of the Holy Spirit has to do with the ability that God gives you to do a great work, to preach great sermons, to do great works for God. You have the sealing of the Spirit. You have the yielding of the Spirit, and you have the filling of the Spirit. When you got saved … Look, don’t misunderstand. I’m not a Pentecost, so I’m not saying you get the Holy Spirit later.
You got the Holy Spirit. You got the seal of the Spirit. You got enough to make sure that you belong to God, and you are protected and you are sealed, but here’s all I’m trying to explain to you. There’s more Holy Spirit up for grabs if you wanted.
Congregation: Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1: If you’d like to have more of the Holy Spirit filled life, if you say, “Well, I just feel like my soul winning life, I felt like I go soul winning. I just don’t have the power. I used to have the power. I feel like I could preach, and the Holy Spirit is just working now. It feels just kind of dry.” Maybe just you’re not filled with the Spirit. It may just be that you, “Look, I’ve heard a whole lot of Pastors get up and think to myself, ‘That guy needs an unction of the Holy Spirit.'” You’re just up there and going through the motion, “Well, the Bible said and the Bible goes.” That’s not how I want to preach. I want to have the Holy Spirit upon me. I want to have the power of God upon me. I want to have God in my life. You say what does the filling of the Holy Spirit, what does that include? How does that work?
Keep your place there on Luke. We’re going to come right back to it. Go back to Ephesians chapter five. Just keep your finger on Luke. We’re coming right back to it. Ephesians chapter five, look at verse 18. Ephesians chapter five in verse number 18. Ephesians 5:18. Notice what the Bible says, notice these words, “And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess,” and by the way, I’m not preaching on wine, but that’s just a good sermon right there, “Be not drunk with wine.” Don’t get drunk. Don’t drink wine. “Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess,” but notice what He says, “But be filled with the Spirit.” It’s a little odd of a verse because you would think, “Well, what does being not drunk with wine have to do with being filled with the Spirit.” Well, let me say this. If you’re drunk, you’re not filled with the Spirit, number one.
Congregation: Right.
Speaker 1: He says, “Pastor, well I believe in social drinking.” Then, here’s what you told me, “You’re not a Holy Spirit filled preacher.”
Congregation: Amen.
Speaker 1: You’re not filled with the Spirit, it’s not even [inaudible 00:32:39]. You may be sealed, but you’re not filled because it says, “Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.” You say, “What does have to do with being filled?” Well, here’s what you need to understand. Wine or alcohol when you are drunk, it will take control of your life. When you are drunk, you will do things that you normally wouldn’t have done. You will say things that you normally wouldn’t have said. You will go places that you normally wouldn’t have gone in a negative way. It will cause you to do … It will give you boldness that you don’t have. You’ll start picking fights with people that will beat you up. That’s what happens when you get drunk. The Bible is using this idea, He’s saying, “Don’t be drunk with wine wherein is excess,” but then He says, “Why don’t you get drunk with the Spirit?”
Congregation: Amen.
Speaker 1: Why don’t you get filled of the Spirit? He says, “But be filled with the Spirit speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Let me tell you something. Filled Christians that are drunk with the Holy Spirit that are filled with the Spirit, you know what they’ll do? They’ll do things they never thought they do before. They’ll go knock in some stranger’s door and preach the Gospel, and they would say, “Well, I’d never do that.” Yeah. You never do that, but when the Holy Spirit takes control, the Holy Spirit will lead you to do it.
Congregation: Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1: See, the filling of the Holy Spirit has to do with the control of your life. When He fills you, He takes control. When He fills you, He gives you boldness. When He fills you, now you’re going to do … Just like when you’re drink with alcohol, you say, “Well, I would’ve never done that, but the alcohol made me do it.” When you’re filled with the Spirit, you say, “Well, I would never go again. I would never say that. I would never do that. I would never give that money. I would never wear those clothes. I would never go to that outreach. I would never do any of those things. I would never get up and preach in front of people,” but once you’re filled with the Spirit, the Spirit takes control.
See, God says, “Hey, don’t be drunk with wine wherein as excess, but be filled with the Spirit.” Here’s what you need to understand, you cannot be filled with the Spirit without being led by the Spirit because that’s what it means to be filled. What it means to be filled is that the Holy Spirit is in control, not you. When the Holy Spirit says, “Hey, go do this,” and you say, “No.” You’re not filled with the Spirit, you’re grieving the Spirit. You may be sealed, but you need to yield. When you yield, that will lead to the filling. Go to Luke chapter four, and look at verse one. Notice what the Bible says about the Lord Jesus Christ being filled with the Spirit. Luke 4:1, notice what the Bible says. Luke 4:1. You got Matthew, Mark, Luke. If you kept replacing Luke there.
Luke 4:1, the Bible says, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost …” Notice what it says, “Returned from Jordan, and …” Notice the connection, “He was full with the Holy Ghost and He was led by the Spirit.” You cannot be full of the Spirit without being led by the Spirit. That’s what it means. When you’re full with the Spirit, when you’re drunk with the Holy Spirit of God, He starts leading. He starts directing. You start going places you never would have gotten. You start doing things you never would have. You start making decisions you wouldn’t never made if you were sober. When you’re filled with the Spirit, the Holy Spirits are taking control. Notice, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit,” Notice, “into the wilderness.” He’s led to be tempted of the devil.
Before you sign up for the filling of the Holy Spirit, please let me warn you that He might lead you somewhere you don’t want to go, you want to go if you’re sober. You and I don’t want to go into the wilderness. You and I don’t want to face off with the devil. Christians will … I think it’s funny to me watching Christians just bend over backwards to try to avoid any pain or persecution or anything negative in their life at all. If that’s you, you’re just bending over backwards to make sure that nothing bad ever happens. You know what you’re not? You’re not filled with the Spirit.
Congregation: Right.
Speaker 1: Because when the Spirit takes control, He might lead you somewhere you don’t want to do because He’s in control. We talked about the sealing of the Spirit. We talked about the yielding of the Spirit. We talked about the filling of the Spirit. Let’s talk about the walking in the Spirit. Go to Romans chapter number eight. Romans chapter eight, when you got saved, you’ve got enough of the Holy Spirit to save you and to seal you. When you got saved, you’ve got enough of the Holy Spirit to save you and to seal you. I want to make sure you understand that. I don’t want somebody walking out here and saying, “Pastor, [inaudible 00:37:01] Pentecostal.” I’m sure someone will. When you got saved, you’ve got enough of the Holy Spirit. Listen, just because you’re saved doesn’t mean you’re filled with the Spirit. You’ve got to yield to the Spirit. You’ve got to not grieve the Spirit. You’ve got to not quench the Spirit.
Then, God will begin to fill you, but the filling is connected to the walking. When you’re filled, you are led. If you’re not led, you’re not filled. Here’s the next question. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? How do we walk in the Spirit? Well, the Bible answers for us, let’s look at it real quickly. Romans chapter number eight. We’ll be done in like five, 10 minutes. Romans chapter eight, look at verse one. Romans chapter number eight, and verse number one, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” these people that are saved. Notice, “Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Now, it’s not saying that you have to not walk after the flesh to be saved, but the only way to not walk after the flesh is when you’re in Christ Jesus.
Unbelievers don’t get to not walk after the flesh. Unbelievers don’t get to walk after the Spirit. They have no Spirit. He says, “Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” By the way, those are the two options. You either walk by the flesh or you walk by the Spirit. Today, right now, you are either in the flesh or you are in the Spirit. If you are honest with yourself or we were honest, probably most of us would say, most of the time we’re in the flesh. Most of the time, we’re not in the Spirit, but He says, “They walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Notice verse four, “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.” Notice what He says, “Who walk not after the flesh.” The law gets fulfilled in us. I want you to remember that. The law gets fulfilled in us, “Who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh …” Notice these words, “Do mind the things of the flesh.”
See, walking in the Spirit requires a controlling of your mind. You have to control your thoughts. Notice what it says, we look at verse five, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit,” referring to the fact that their mind is on the things of the Spirit. Notice verse six, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” See, when you’re carnally minded, you’re going to do things that makes sense to the flesh. When you’re filled with the Spirit, you’re going to do whatever the Holy Spirit tells you to do. People are going to say, “Well, that doesn’t make any sense. Why would you move your family all the way out there? Why would you give 10% of your income? Why would you spend your Saturdays doing that?” It doesn’t make sense in the flesh, but when you’re thinking spiritually, it makes sense.
Congregation: Amen.
Speaker 1: “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Notice verse seven, “Because the carnal mind is enmity …” Meaning it’s at odds. It’s enemy against God. For why? Why is that at odds with God? “For it is not subject.” What does that mean? It’s not yielding to the law of God, neither indeed can be. See, whenever you are not yielding to the Holy Spirit, you are quenching the Spirit or you are grieving the Spirit, you know what you’re doing? You’re thinking carnally.” It makes sense in the flesh, but it’s not the way we got to think spiritually. Romans eight, look at verse eight, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
You got to have the Spirit to be His. You got to be sealed, but He’s telling us that to be in the Spirit, to have the Holy Spirit, it has to affect the way you think. Go to Romans chapter 12, look at verse one. I know you know the verse, but let’s look at it just real quickly. Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
See, being filled with the Spirit has to do with your mind. It had to do with the way you think. Look, the problem with your mind is that … Well, some of you, you’re crazy. There’s nothing wrong with your mind, but the problem with your mind is that nobody knows it but you. 1 Corinthians says, He says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” It says this, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,” don’t miss this, “and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
See, you cannot be filled with the Spirit. You cannot walk in the Spirit. You cannot make decisions in the Spirit until you learn to bring your thoughts into captivity because here’s what’s going to happen. The moment you decide, “I’m going to do this for God,” your carnal brain is going to say, “Well, that doesn’t make any sense. Why would you do that? Why would you go there? Why would you say that?” You got to take control of those thoughts and say, “No. I’m not going to listen to the flesh. I’m not going to walk in the flesh. I’m going to walk in the Spirit.”
It has to do with a control of your mind. You’ve got to control your mind. You have to control what your mind thinks. You have to turn to Philippians chapter number four in verse eight, the Bible says this, “Finally, my brother, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” You have to control … Here’s the question I have for you. What’s your mind on? What’s your mind on? Sports? The enemies? What are you thinking about? You got to control your mind. You have to control … Look. If we learn how to control our minds, it will solve so many problems in life. You know what bitterness is? Bitterness is allowing your mind to just go out of control.
Look, as a Pastor over the last seven years, I can spend all day every day just thinking about people who had no intention to help our church, but just came here to hurt us. Thinking about individuals that I just think to myself, “Man, I went out on my way to be kind to those people. I’ve bent over backwards to be kind to those people. I defended these people and they did nothing but try to …” Look, if I spent my whole day thinking about that, you know what it would make me? A very bitter and angry individual. You say, “Pastor, how do you deal with that?” You just choose to not think about it. You just choose to say, “I’m not going to go …” Look, some of you, you may be bitter at your wife, the Bible says to husbands should not be bitter at their wife. You may be bitter at your wives, you may be bitters at your husbands, you may be bitter with your parents, you may be bitter with your work, you may be bitter with me. You say, “How do you solve that?” You just stop thinking about it.
You control your thoughts and you started to say, “I’m not going to go down that route.” Look, when that anger or that bitterness or that lust or whatever it might be takes over, you’ve got to decide, “I’m going to control my mind. I’m going to bring every thought into captivity.” You said, “How do you get filled with the Spirit? It has to do with your mind not being a carnal mind, but being a spiritual mind.” There was another aspect to it. Go to Romans eight, and look at verse 13. We’re going to finish up. I know you smell the pizza and all of that. Romans 8:13, look at what it says, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit,” notice, “do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
Not only does it require a controlling of your mind, but it also requires a controlling of desires. He says, “Do mortify the deeds of the body.” Go to Galatians chapter five. This is the last place we’ll look at. Look at verse 16. Galatians chapter five, verse 16. Galatians 5:16. Galatians chapter five and verse 16. You got Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians. Galatians 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” That’s referring to the desires of the flesh, what the flesh wants. See, how do I not fulfill the lust of the flesh? You walk in the Spirit. Well, how do I walk in the Spirit? Well, you control your mind for one and then you control your desires. Look at verse 17, “For the flesh lusted against the Spirit.” See, inside of you, you got your flesh, the old man and you got a spiritual man or the new man.
Look, if you’re here on a Sunday night unless you’re just dragged here by your parents, or your spouse or whatever, if you like hard … Have you ever thought about like, “Why do I like hard preaching?” I think Pastor [inaudible 00:45:56], “Why do we want to have our faces ripped off? Why do we want someone to tell us like, ‘You’re wrong. That’s stupid. You’re an idiot.’ Why do we want that?” Well, it’s not your flesh that wants it, it’s the new man because the new man does not … By the way, when people used to like hard preaching and now they’re all offended all the time, “I can’t believe what Pastor said.” All it proves is this, they’re on the flesh, not in the Spirit.
Congregation: Right. Amen.
Speaker 1: Because the Spirit likes it, and inside of you, there is this fight where the Spirit says, “I like the old him. I like the hard preaching. I like the King James Bible,” but then you have this flesh that says, “Well, I like the world’s music and I like to sleep, and I like to be lazy and I like to just focus on myself.” There’s this internal fight. Notice verse 17, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” See, there are some of you got saved, “Well, I plan on going soul winning, and then I just did it or I plan on showing up for Wednesday night and then it just didn’t happen, and I plan on giving and then I spent it.” You know what that means? You walk in the flesh.
You cannot do the things that you would. There are things you’d like to do, but you can’t. The Spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak and your flesh, you give into it because you’re weak in that area. Look at verse 18, “But if ye be …” Notice the words, “led of the Spirit.” See, you can’t walk in the Spirit without being led of the Spirit. You can’t be filled with the Spirit without being led of the Spirit, “Ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these.” If you are a carnal Christian, He’s about to explain to us how those things are manifest, how we can see it, “Adultery.” If you commit adultery, you’re not walking in the Spirit, you walk in the flesh. “Fornication.” If you are fornicating, having a physical relationship before marriage, you are not in the Spirit, you’re under the flesh.
Congregation: Right.
Speaker 1: “Uncleanness, lasciviousness.” Lasciviousness just means if you incline yourself to lewdness or to lustfulness. If you’re looking at pornography and things you shouldn’t be looking at, you’re giving in to lasciviousness, you’re walking in the flesh. “Idolatry, witchcraft. If you let your kids read Harry Potter, they’re not in the Spirit, they’re in the flesh. “Hatred, variance.” What’s variance? The word variance means debate, strife or contention. When these young guys in our movement want to go to either churches like ours or just normal IFB churches and just argue with the Pastors because they’re pre-trib, they’re not spiritual, they’re in the flesh because the flesh is the one that wants to go and debate and strife and have contention. He said, “Well, [inaudible 00:48:44] on the pre-trib.” No, but you’re in the flesh where you’ve been going there and doing that.
Emulations talks about envy or jealousy, wrath is about anger, strife is about fighting, seditions, that’s where you try to incite rebellion. That’s like when you try to get people to leave the church when you have church splits, that’s sedition. That’s not in the spirit, that’s the flesh. “Heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling.” Reveling is talking about rioting or being loud in sin like going in a ride or something like that, “And such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Now, notice the opposite of that. He says, “If you are in the flesh, this is what the flesh is going to do, but if you’re in the Spirit, this is what the Spirit is going to do. But the fruit of the Spirit …” All of a sudden, people is trying to act like the fruit of the spirit is … This is the proof of salvation. Notice, it’s not the fruit of salvation, it’s the fruit of the Spirit.
Congregation: Amen.
Speaker 1: Okay. You only have these if you’re walking in the Spirit. You only have these if you’re yield into the Spirit, and the fact that the Bible says that you can quench the Spirit or you can grieve the Spirit means that you can have the Spirit and not be walking in the Spirit. You can be saved and have none of these. You can be saved and not be walking in the fruit of the Spirit. What is it? 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” If you don’t love, you don’t have love towards your brothers, if you do not have love [inaudible 00:50:22], you don’t have the fruit of the Spirit. “Joy.” If you’re just constantly depressed and discouraged, and look, I know we all go through, but it’s just that’s your thing. Your thing is you’re always going through something. Your thing is no one better ask you how you’re doing because they’re going to be there for 30 minutes. That’s your thing. You’re always going through something. You’re always upset about something. You’re always [inaudible 00:50:40].
I’m not mad at you. I’m just telling you, “You’re not in the spirit,” because guess what the Spirit produces in you, “Joy, peace.” “I’m always anxious. I’m just anxious about what’s going to happen.” You’re not in the Spirit, because you know what the Spirit produces? Peace in your life. “Long suffering.” Long suffering is patience through struggle. “Gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” The word “temperance” means self-control. “Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s …” Notice, don’t miss this. It’s like the key verses, 24 and 25, “And they that are Christ’s …” Does it sound like last week’s sermon? “Have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit,” which if you’re saved, you live in the Spirit because you have the sealing, you have the earnest. He says, “Let us also walk in the Spirit.”
What that means is that you can live in the Spirit and not be walking in the Spirit. You can live in the Spirit and be quenching the Spirit. What are we talking about? We talk about the sealing of the Holy Spirit. When you got saved, you got the Holy Spirit, but you do not get filled with the Holy Spirit. I’m not against saying, “You got all of them, but He didn’t all of you,” but I don’t think that’s what the Bible really teaches us. I think the Bible teaches God gave you enough of the Spirit to seal you, to save you, to protect you, to keep His promise. You belong to Him, but then God says, “If you yield to the Spirit, there’s more Spirit that I can fill you in.” That comes through walking in the Spirit, which means you control your mind, which means you control your desires. Not every Christian is walking in the Spirit, but listen to me. You and I need to learn to walk in the Holy Spirit of God.
Every day we need to get up and die to self and yield to the Spirit and say, “Today, Lord, today I’d like to have the fullness of the Spirit in my life. Today, I would like to deal with my family and have them see the fruit of the Spirit in my life. Today, I would like them to see the love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Today, I’d like to have those things at work. Today, I’d like to see the fruit, the production of the Spirit in my life.” Because you walk in the Spirit all the time. You can be filled with the Spirit at one point and not be filled with the Spirit on another point.
You can be walking in the Spirit at one point and be walking in the flesh another moment later. It’s a constant thing that we need to work on, but look, if you want to live the victorious Christian life, if you want to not be a castaway, if you want to not be a loser, if you want to get to the end, you must learn to depend on the Holy Spirit for victory. Let’s bow our heads and I will pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord for Your Word. Thank you for these teachings from Scripture. I pray that they would make sense and Lord, I pray that You would just help us to be Christians that are walking in the Spirit, that are yielded to the Spirit, that are every day saying, “Not my will, but thine.”
Lord, I pray that You’d help us to be filled with the Spirit. Lord, I pray You’d help us to know when we’re walking in the fullness and the power of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit has come upon us. I pray that You would help us to learn to walk in the Spirit every day, to mortify the deeds of the flesh. In the name of Christ, we pray.