Power Point - May 17, 2005

May 17, 2005

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.

                                                                                      --Ephesians 5:18

I remember as a little boy living in Arkansas, there was a little rock church on the other side of town. I would hear adults whispering about all the things that went on in that church—people rolling in the aisles, shouting and hollering, speaking in strange languages. There were even rumors of snake-handling that occurred.

Nobody wanted to do anything with that little church or the kind of people that went there. We all built up a resistance to anything that had to do with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit became the forgotten person of the Trinity. We talked about God the Father and Jesus the Son, but because we didn’t want to be out on a limb like the others, most of us never even got up in the tree. We were so afraid of going overboard that we didn’t even get in the boat.

I’m not encouraging handling snakes, but so many Christians through the generations have missed the blessing of walking in the Spirit. We don’t have to fly in fanaticism or flee in formalism, but we can certainly walk in the Spirit. And that’s not excessive.

Jesus Christ was the most Spirit-filled individual who ever walked on the face of this earth, yet He was always a perfect gentleman. He was not out of control, He was under control. The Spirit-filled life will not send you reeling out of control; instead it will make you more like Christ. Be careful of any movement, church, or organization that has the Holy Spirit as the figurehead because the purpose of the Holy Spirit is not to call attention to Himself.

The Holy Spirit wants to lead you to follow Jesus and walk with Him. To be filled with the Spirit means to have a personal possession of the Spirit. Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). Ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit, so that you can experience a closer walk with Him.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS NONE OTHER THAN THE

PERSON OF JESUS LIVING IN US.