The Great Advantage Part 2

Part Two: THE WHAT

Passage:

Banner Verse for Series:

John 16: 5-7 ESV

5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Recap

THE GREAT ADVANTAGE

Last week we introduced a new series, THE GREAT ADVANTAGE

All about The Holy Spirit

THE WHO

OUR HOPE: ENCOUNTER

Liz and I hope that through this series you don’t only learn who He is, but you have an encounter with him

You have a personal encounter, through worship, the word, and community with the Holy Spirit.

Because the reality is when the Holy Spirit moves things change, and one encounter with him you will never be the same.

Last Week we talked about THE WHO

So Last week we talked about the WHO

Who is the Holy Spirit

We talked about the Promise.

How Jesus came and promised us The Holy Spirit

If we are to build a relationship with the Holy Spirit we need to know Who he is.

We purposed this We looked at 2 questions

What is the Holy Spirit

And Who is the Holy Spirit.

What is the Holy Spirit?

He is a person

We are called to have a RELATIONSHIP with the Holy Spirit

You can’t have relationship with a force, you have a relationship with a person

With the ability to love, care, express intent, see, speak, hear. JUST LIKE US

If we are to have a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit we need to understand that WE ARE SPIRIT AND HE IS A PERSON.

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

He is God - Fully God - God inside of us.

The Trinity

Been there since the beginning

And how we get to invite him into our every day.

When we invite him into the every day we are inviting the LIVING GOD WHO BREATHED CRATION INTO EXISTENCE AND KNIT US TOGETHER IN OUR MOTHERS WOMB into our lives.

Tonight

We are going to talk about RECEIVING & THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT

Title: THE WHAT

PRAYER

There are two main ways that we can kind of view receiving the spirit and it is important that we understand both of them if we are to operate in the spirit.

The first of which is the IMPARTATION OF THE SPIRIT.

HE IS FIRST IMPARTED TO US

________________________________________

In every person we are made up of three things

Body Soul Spirit

Body is what interacts with this world

The external of our life, which includes our mind and our thoughts

Our Soul is who we are on the inside

Our Heart

Desire

Emotions

And the Spirit who you are spiritually

We are all spiritual beings and like it or not we are all being guided by the spirit in one way or another

Bible talks about

The spirit of this world

Or the Spirit of God

WE ARE IN A BATTLE FOR OUR SOUL

The soul is in the middle

have you ever been in the middle of a argument before? (BETTER PERSONAL STORY)

One person wanting one thing

Then ANother wanting another thing

And you are just caught in the middle

THIS IS A PICTURE OF OUR SOUL

Our Body, Mindset, External situations claim a stake in the battle

Our Spirit claims another stake in the battle.

And our little soul is in the middle.

The reality is Our Spirit and our Body are all trying to tell your soul who it is…

But when we accept JESUS in our life something amazing happens.

He IMPARTS HIS SPIRIT, THE HOLY SPIRIT TO US

And he comes and Dwells in us…

ROMANS 8:9-11 ESV

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (STRONG WORDS)

WITHOUT THE SPIRIT WE DO NOT BELONG TO HIM

IN OTHER WORDS WITHOUT THE SPIRIT THERE IS NO RELATIONSHIP.

Accept Jesus = Receive his Spirit

Romans 8: 10-11 ESV

10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

When we accept Jesus, two things happen

We die to our FLESH or the spirit of the word in us, and receive life through the GIFT of the Holy Spirit

IN OTHER WORDS THE ARGUMENT IS OVER FRIEND.

THEY may still say Lebrun is better but REST ASSURED… WE ALL KNOW JORDAN HAS OVERCOME.

THIS IS REALY IMPORTANT

BECAUSE OF THE IMPARTATION

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALWAYS AROUND

Many people think the spirit is only here when someone is being healed or when you are speaking in tongues or when you are prophesying - That could not be farther than the truth…

THE SPIRIT IS ALIVE IN YOU!

WE SING ALL THE TIME HOLY SPIRIT COME - But we need to realize that they HOLY SPIRIT IS ALREADY HERE

IN US… SO WHY DO WE SING COME HOLY SPIRIT?

THAT BRINGS UP THE SECOND WAY THAT WE VEIW RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT IS

BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT / Inviting the Holy Spirit to take the lead.

We know what Impartation is now. We have all Recieved that when RECEIVING Grace.

So what is being filled with the Holy Spirit?

The filling of the Holy Spirit is - the inward filling or awakening of the power of the Spirit that becomes an outward manifestation of the spirit for the purpose of others

Yielding to The Power OF The Holy Spirit in your life

Starts inside and moves outwards

I LOVE talking about being filled with The Holy Spirit.

And the POWER of the Holy Spirt in our lives.

This is when things start to get Good…

I want to address 5 things about being Filled with the Spirit.

Right of the top, I need to address something. POINT ONE: BEING FILLED IS TO BUILD UP THE CHURCH

IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU

IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT HE IS DOING THROUGH YOU

In Acts EVERY time someone was Filled with the spirit… Which we will go over here in a moment

It was for BUILDING UP THE CHURCH

The BODY of believers…

People always came to know Jesus because of the Filling of the Holy Spirit.

ACTS 2. Where the Spirit was POURED out for the first time…

Acts 2:1-8, 12-15, 32-33, 36-41 ESV

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?

…

12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” (LOGIC THE HOLY SPIRIT)

Peter's Sermon at Pentecost

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.

15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

Peter Goes on to tell the story of Jesus how he was killed and raised and is pouring out his Holy Spirit…

Continuing this on in verse 37 it says this

…

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The DICIPLES were filled for the purpose of others.

You see that there…

3 thousand people were added to the kingdom

And at first everyone came to them and were looking to them

And what did peter do, he explained, and he pointed to Jesus

And many were reached

The Filling of the Spirit is about two things

JESUS AND OTHERS

Nowhere in there is it say anything about you

BUT BUT BUT BUT!

THE BEST NEWS IS HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU EMPTY

And he will never leave you empty

Think about it, Jesus was never left empty

The Diciples were never left empty

WHY WOULD HE START NOW? HE WONT!

But this is so important for us to understand here today as we talk about being filled with the spirit

That the spirit is about two things

JESUS AND OTHERS

So number One

Being Filled

Is for the Building Up of the Church

POINT TWO: BEING FILLED CAN HAPPEN MORE THAN ONCE

You are imparted with the Spirit once,

but there is a constant filling of the Holy Spirit

This is something that we can pray for…

To be filled with the Holy Spirit

You see this all throughout the bible.

You see it in what we just read,

Acts 2 the disciples were filled

Then you see it in Acts 4 peter Gets filled again

Then you see it happen again to all the disciples in that same chapter

Then you see them be filled again in Acts 13

In Ephesians Paul encourages the church to ask to be filled with The Holy Spirit

You are imparted with the spirit, once but we are continually filled when we ask…

There is such power in praying for a fresh revelation of The Holy Spirit

To be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

POINT THREE: BEING FILLED LEADS TO ACTION (Operating in your Gifts)

POURING WATER EXAMPLE

John 2:7 ESV

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

GEMO (Geh Moe) TO FILL TO THE BRIM

Pletho - be filled to overflowing WITHOUT HESITATION

THE DIFFERENCE IN THE TWO WORDS IS WHAT HAPPENS BECAUSE OF THE FILLING

THIS WORD IS ALL THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE

Luke Verses

Luke 1:67 ESV

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

Luke 1:41–42 ESV

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Acts Verses

Acts 13:52 ESV

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 14:1 ESV

Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

Acts 2:4 ESV

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 4:8 ESV

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,

Acts 4:31 ESV

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 13:9–10 ESV

But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

There is always application when it comes to the Spirit

We talked about it last week, when you hear from the spirit we have to apply what he says.

Same thing when we are filled. It leads to us operating in the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit.

Next week we are going to talk more in depth about Gifts

And the specifics of what the gifts are and how they are used in your life..

But today we are just going to touch on this.

WE HAVE ALL SPIRITUAL GIFTS AT OUR DISPOSAL FROM GOD…

And when we are filled with the spirt we are then prompted to use those gifts.

You see it in that passage. Peter was Exhorting the people to Christ… That is a spiritual gift…

It was also accompanied with boldness to outwork that gift..

And directly after we saw the 3k people be filled we see them using there gifts

Acts 2:43-47 ESV

43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs (miracles and healing) were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, (generosity) as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, (Hospitality)  47 praising God (Worship) and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

POINT FOUR: BEING FILLED IS FOR EVERYONE

We were all made to be imparted with the Holy Spirt

Be in relationship

But also a lot of people don’t know that we are actually called to ALL be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Its actually a continual filling of the Holy Spirit as well

…

And Gods desire is not only that we would JUST have the impartation of the Spirit

But that we would all be filled with the Holy Spirit…

With this story…

The Jews that were there, the 3k people that were added when the spirit was poured out.

Would have been the same Jews that condemned JESUS to death…

The irony

The very life that they Killed

they were now receiving

IF THAT DOESN’T SCREAM ITS FOR EVERYONE

I don’t know what does

In other words

IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IN THIS ROOM THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO USE YOU

It doesn’t matter where you are at in this room

You were meant to be in relationship with Jesus through the impartation of The Holy Spirit

AND also be filled with the Holy Spirit and be Used by the holy spirit…

Acts 2:38-39 ESV

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

POINT FIVE: BEING FILLED CAN BE UNCOMFORTABLE

OH MY GOSH IT WALKING UP TO SOMEONE WHO YOU HAVE A WORD FOR CAN BE THE WORST…

But it will always bring out HIS BEST

In you and in them…

We would like to think that being used by the holy spirit is easy

Its simple but no one ever said it would be easy…

Its like lifting weights…

Its simple — Lift the weight

But its hard… Its uncomfortable…

When the Spirt gives you a word for someone, beating your body into submission to walk over and tell them can be the hardest thing in the world

But it will ALWAYS BRING OUT HIS BEST

And the thing is… The more you do it, the more normal it becomes…

The more you lift the weight the easier it gets…

But the thing is there is always more weight…

He is always calling you to more… Because there is always more for him to do.

Thats why being uncomfortable can be one of the most comforting feelings

Because you can TRUST that he is using you, but not only that, he is growing your capacity for the things of the spirit…

I was recently talking to a friend that got to sit down and talk to Bill Johnson (Pastor of Bethel Church)

And he was showing him some pictures of a winery on his phone, and as they were flipping through the pics they brushed past a few videos

And they asked WHAT IS THAT???

And he started showing them all these videos of people being physically healed, acting like its completely normal…

Because to him that is his normal.. Because he has had a long life of being obedient in the uncomfort

So I want to challenge us today…

Are you willing to be uncomfortable, to take a step.

To be used for more by the spirit… Because the things he has for you and wants to use you for are beyond what we could ever do…

It just takes our yes… and our application…

The filling and the walking it out.

Do you want to be filled???

Acts 4: 29-31 ESV

29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 

30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 

31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.