Westland Free Methodist Church

October 7, 2007

“The Presence of the Holy Spirit-Never Be Alone Again”

 

There are a number of motives people may have for coming to God:

 

1. They want to be in heaven.
2. They want to know Christ in a personal way.
3. They want to live a life led by the Holy Spirit.
4. They just don’t want to go to hell. 

 

I am afraid there are many in the church today who are more concerned about not going to hell than being with God.  It’s almost as if they are willing to say, “I don’t know much about God, but I just know that I don’t want to go to hell.”

 

Do you say that today?  I didn’t think so.  Did you know though that you don’t have to say it to be living it?  Many of you here today, are living the Christian life just that way.  You see there are many here today that love having Christ in your hearts, and celebrate this every Sunday, and some days inbetween, but when it comes to hearing God call your name for whatever he might want from you, you become deaf.  He’s calling out your name, and you’re not hearing him.  In just a short time or long, some have become completely spiritually deaf.

 

God’s Plan from the Beginning

We understand God’s spirit in the beginning.  In Genesis 1:2, in the creation story it says, “And the spirit of God hovered over the waters”.  God’s spirit has been with us all our days.  After all, it’s his world we live in.  We forget that don’t we?

 

Joel 2:28 says, “And I will pour out my spirit upon all people”.  Through out the Old Testament God showed his love for us through his spirit. 

 

We come to the New Testament and we see how God the father gave us the best gift of all.

Acts 2:38 (Read this with me)  “Repent and be baptized everyone 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.”

                                                           

Wrong Motives

Some sought the Holy Spirit for wrong reasons – In  Acts 8:9-25 Simon the Sorcerer was following the early church leaders.  Many great things were happening, like people getting healed, and many people accepting Christ into their hearts.  Simon accepted Christ as Savior.  He was a sorcerer.  He followed the apostles and saw them lay hands on people and heal them.  When they came to Christ, it says that they laid their hands on them and they receive the Holy Spirit.  Simon offered them money so he too could lay hand on people and give them the Holy Spirit.  The disciples rebuked Simon and called him to repent and get right with God. 

 

What are some of the wrong motives?

·        To be the best of all, no matter what it takes.

·        To be first.

·        To be most powerful.

·        To have the most stuff.

·        To control others.

 

A missionary teacher tells of a Japanese woman who asked her if only beautiful girls were accepted by her school. “Why no,” she replied, “We take all the girls who come to us.” “But,” continued the woman, “all your girls seem to be very beautiful.” “That’s because we teach them the value of their souls in God’s sight,” explained the teacher, “and this makes their faces lovely.” “Well,” said the woman, “I don’t want my daughter to become a Christian, but I would like to send her to your school to get that look on her face.”

 

Some people want what Christianity brings, but they do not realize just how valuable the whole package is.

 

“Unless we have within us that which is above us, we soon shall yield to the pressures around us to become that which we never meant to be.”  There is no godly look on your face that can be put there on your own. 

 

Think about what it means to have the Holy Spirit.  It means never being alone.  Of course Jesus says he will be with us even to the end of the age, but this is a practical way of God saying, no one should ever be alone. 

 

Listen to this ene very serious warning

Act 5:32 – “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

 

When J. Wilbur Chapman was in London, he had an opportunity to meet General Booth, who at that time was past 80 years of age. Dr. Chapman listened reverently as the old general spoke of the trials and the conflicts and the victories he had experienced.

The American evangelist then asked the general if he would disclose his secret for success. “He hesitated a second,” Dr. Chapman said, “and I saw the tears come into his eyes and steal down his cheeks,” and then he said, “I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I, men with greater opportunities; but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Jesus Christ could do with the poor of London, I made up my mind that He would have all of William Booth there was. And if there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life.”

 

In other words, once we have the wonderful presence of God in our hearts, God has some things for us to do. 

 

Romans 5:1-5 speaks about how without the Holy spirit we miss out on the best part of God’s plan for our lives.  His love.  It says in verse 5, “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.”(Romans 5:5)

You might wonder?? What’s the difference between the Father,  Son, and Holy  Spirit?

1.      God created love when he created us.

2.      Jesus showed us love when he died for us.

3.      But the Holy Spirit speaks love in our hearts every moment of every day, delivering love in every situation and every challenge.

 

There’s a story of some missionary families that were living in Ecuador and were trying to reach this tribe that was in severe warfare among themselves.  These missionaries were determined to reach into one of the most dangerous tribes.  4 missionaries finally made contact with them by plane landing on their river shore only to be killed shortly after.  Wives, children were left behind to wonder how this could ever happen.  This tribe did not understand the difference between turning the other cheek an an eye for an eye, and a life for a life.  Unbelievably, the women of these missionaries came in and made further contact and led some of the women to Christ.  Friendships were born, and God did a wonderful work there in the jungles of Ecuador.  The son of the lead missionary years later went back to a funeral for one of the missionaries who desired to be buried there among the tribe.  This son who had not truly dealt with his deep pain of growing up without his father was about to face his own aloneness.  Even in this clip you will see that the tribesman refers to God as the “Great Boa”  because he is just now after all these years finally understanding what God is all about. 

 

(Show clip of End of the Spear where the son of the missionary killed, almost does the same when he finds out that the man he is with killed his father.) 

 

The apostle Paul said, “to live is Christ, but to die is gain”.  That’s the scripture the missionary son just referred to. 

 

Use a spear to penetrate the thing that you hate the most.  Only if you have the holy spirit can you refrain from some of the most dangerous behavior of our lives.  Only if you have the Holy Spirit can you overcome the deep emotions of your life. 

 

Just like Michony you have to give up the pain of the past.  You have to drop the spear.  He would have rather died than live with the pain any longer.  At the end of a spear though, he received love, and his life was spared.  That was when he understood the presence of the Holy Spirit.  And when the missionary son had the chance to even the score and soothe his anger, he too finally found his desire for the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Here’s why--

Romans 14:17 –“ the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit;”

 

The spirit not only removes the bad, but replaces it with the good.  This happens at once in salvation, but the understanding of it continues for a lifetime through the Holy Spirit.

 

 Ephesians 1:13-14 – “In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

 

Titus 3:5 – “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,  whom he poured out on us generously”

 

You need a daily shower.  How often do you wash your car?  How often do you take a shower yourself?  How often do you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner? How often do you brush your teeth? How often do you turn on the light when you walk into a dark room?  How often do seek God in obedience to him?

 

Conclusion:  Hebrews 3:7 – “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion”

 

II Thess. 5:19 “do not put out the spirit’s fire.”

 

 

A benevolent person gave Mr. Rowland Hill a hundred pounds to dispense to a poor minister, and thinking it was too much to send him at once, Mr. Hill forwarded five pounds in a letter, with simply these words within the envelope: “More to follow.” In a few days’ time, the good man received another letter by the post—and letters by the post were rarities in those days; this second messenger contained another five pounds, with the same motto: “And more to follow.” A day or two after came a third and a fourth, and still the same promise: “And more to follow.” Till the whole sum had been received the astonished minister was made familiar with the cheering words: “And more to follow.”

Every blessing that comes from God is sent with the self-same message: “And more to follow.” “I forgive you your sins, but there’s more to follow.” “I justify you in the righteousness of Christ, but there’s more to follow.” “I adopt you into my family, but there’s more to follow.” “I educate you for Heaven, but there’s more to follow.” “I give you grace upon grace, but there’s more to follow.” “I have helped you even to old age, but there’s still more to follow.” “I will uphold you in the hour of death, and as you are passing into the world of spirits, my mercy shall still continue with you, and when you land in the world to come there shall still be ‘More to follow.’”

—C. H. Spurgeon

 

What’s at the end of your spear.  What would rather kill, rather than give up.  God has mercy on your life, and he can teach you to have mercy on others.  What’s keeping you from receiving a regular filling of the Holy Spirit.