1997-01D

SERMON NOTES

TITLE: A NEW BEGINNING - A REBIRTH, A RESTORATION, A RENEWAL, AND A REFILLING.

TEXT: 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV)

INTRODUCTION: In Christ, we can begin over in 4 areas which I have mentioned previously, and 3 of which I have covered previously in sermons. This morning I want to tell you that we can be refilled which completes the list.

Remember we talked about being reborn, being restored, being renewed. The one today, a refilling, seems to be a logical conclusion for the others. It is certain that you cannot be refilled, or filled initially, without having been reborn. Unless you are filled at that moment with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, then it is likely that you will find the need to be restored after a failure, a slip, or a discouragement, and you will probably need to be renewed after your strength or determination has grown weak.

This morning, I am going to preach on the need of being filled with the Spirit, whether it is an original, first time experience, or a refreshing of the supply. I may at times use one term to mean both experiences.

Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

First, let's think for a while about being filled, since this must of necessity come before any refilling.

As Pentecostal believers, just what do we mean by being "filled with", or "baptized in" the Holy Spirit?

First, this is an operation of the Holy Spirit of God which is distinct from and subsequent to the work of the Spirit in conversion. Just as the Holy Spirit's work of sanctification is a distinct work complementing His work of regeneration, so the baptism in the Spirit complements the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Spirit.

On the day of Christ's resurrection, He breathed on His disciples and said they should "receive the Spirit," indicating that regeneration and new life were being given to them. Later, He told them to be "clothed with power" by the Holy Spirit, talking about a post-salvation work of the Spirit. A person can be saved, and indewelt by the Spirit in His saving work, without having received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

This is an experience which did not happen till the Day of Pentecost, but which has happened all throughout the centuries since.

Many believers down through the ages have believed in this experience; it is not just a belief held by Pentecostals. For example, some from the modern era have written as follows:

DR. R. A. TORREY - first head of the Moody Bible Institute (not a Pentecostal, but a Congregationalist minister, graduate of Yale University and Yale School of Divinity). "It is evident that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is an operation of the Holy Spirit distinct from and additional to His regenerating work. . .A man may be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and still not be baptized with the Holy Spirit. In regeneration, there is the impartation of life by the Spirit's power, and the one who receives it is saved; in the baptism with the Holy Spirit, there is an impartation of power and the one who receives it is fitted for service."

Samuel Hopkins (a Congregationalist, graduate of Yale, fighter against slavery), in "Law of Liberty" says: "We must recognize the fact that to have the Spirit is one thing, but to be filled with the Spirit is quite another thing."

Dr. A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, wrote as follows: First, He (Christ) was born by the Spirit, then He was baptized by the Spirit, and then He went forth to work out His life and ministry in the power of the Spirit. But "He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one"; so in like manner we must follow in His footsteps and re-live His life. Born like Him of the Spirit, we, too, must be baptized of the Spirit and then go forth to live His life and reproduce His work."

Andrew Murray (Dutch Reformed missionary) wrote: "To the disciples, the baptism of the Spirit was very distinctly not His first bestowal for regeneration, but the definite communication of His presence in power of their glorified Lord. . . .Just as there was a twofold operation of the one Spirit in the Old and New Testaments, of which the state of the disciples before and after Pentecost was the striking illustration, so there may be, and in the majority of Christians is, a corresponding difference of experience."

A. J. Gordon (Boston Baptist, staunch defender of orthodoxy against modernism) said of Acts 2:38: "This passage shows logically and chronologically the gift of the Spirit is subsequent to repentance."

William Kelley (Plymouth Brethren, graduate Dublin University) said, "Therefore it is evident that the reception of the Holy Ghost, as here spoken of (Acts 2:38), has nothing whatever to do with bringing men to believe and repent. It is a subsequent operation; it is an additional and separate blessing; it is a privilege founded on faith already actively working in the heart . . . I do not mean to deny that the gift of the Holy Ghost may be practically on the same occasion, but never in the same moment. The reason is quite simple too. The gift of the Holy Ghost is grounded on the fact that we are sons by faith in Christ, believers resting on redemption in Him. Plainly therefore, it appears that the Spirit of God has already regenerated us."

You see, there is a consensus of opinion that being filled with, or receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not the same as conversion.

Quoting Dr. R. A. Torrey one more time, "So it is as clear as language can possibly make it, that it is one thing to be born again and something further, something additional, to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. It is clear and undeniable, therefore, that one may be a regenerate man and not as yet have received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Let us bow to the clear teaching of the Word of God even if it does not agree with our preconceived theories."

How important is it that believers be filled with the Spirit?

I. Jesus thought it was important for His disciples to be filled with the Spirit of God. Note with me first that Christ did not begin His own personal ministry on earth till He received the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist also prophesied that Christ would baptize believers with the Holy Ghost and fire.

Christ, in His last days on earth, did the things which were of the most importance to Him at the time, among which were:

1. He breathed on the twelve, telling them to receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:19-22 says: On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

2. Yet He told them they should wait for, and would receive the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Father (Luke 24:49). Luke records these words: I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

3. He told others they too needed the Spirit infilling; there were at least 120 in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 1:4-8 says: On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

4. He told them not to leave the city of Jerusalem until they received this experience (but stay in the city, Acts 1:4b). Though saved through Christ's death and resurrection, they were not to attempt to preach even one sermon until they received this experience, which would give the power to preach and testify.

Why should we presume to go out and work without His strength? To go out to witness without this power?

A. J. Gordon made a distinction in the operation of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, the Son of God in a sense that no other has been; He was baptized at the river Jordan, receiving an anointing from on high, which launched Him on, and sustained Him in, his ministry. He writes, "Let us observe that Christ, who is our example in this as in all things, did not appear upon His ministry till He had received the Holy Ghost . . . . He had been begotten of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin, and had lived that holy and obedient life which this divine nativity would imply. But when He would enter upon his public ministry, He waited for the Spirit to come upon Him, as He had hitherto been in him."

F. B. Meyer, an eminent English Baptist said, "Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Ghost, and for thirty years Jesus was led and taught by the divine Spirit. Was He not one with the Holy Ghost? Certainly. Why then must He be anointed? Because His human nature needed to be empowered by the Spirit, before even He could do successful service in this world. Jesus waited thirty years until He was anointed, and only then did He say, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he hath anointed me to preach.' Never forget that our Lord's ministry was not in the power of the second person of the blessed Trinity, but in the power of the third person."

Dr. Jonathan Goforth, that truly great missionary of the Canadian Presbyterian Church, wrote: "The Lord Himself met and foiled Satan after first being filled with the Spirit. And no child of God has ever been victorious over the adversary unless empowered from the same source. Our Lord did not permit His chosen followers to witness a word in His name until endued with power from on high. It is true that before that day they were the 'born-again' children of the Father and had the witness of the Spirit. But they were not the Lord's efficient co-workers and never could be, until Spirit- filled. This divine empowering is for us as for them. We, too, may do the works which our Lord did, yea, and the greater works."

Here is a summary of how important this experience is; of how important it is to be filled with the Spirit, baptized in the Holy Ghost.

1. God has provided it.

2. Jesus Himself received it.

3. He commanded His disciples not to proceed without it.

4. All His disciples did receive it, as well as His mother and His brothers.

5. It effected the conversion of 3,000 on the Day of Pentecost.

6. It enabled the apostles to fill Jerusalem with their doctrine.

7. It enabled them to perform supernatural signs and wonders.

8. It enabled them to carry the Gospel to every creature of their generation (Colossians 1:23).

9. They were careful to lead their converts into the same place of power (Acts 8:14,15, etc).

10. Christ commands all believers to be filled with the Spirit (Matthew 28:20; Ephesians 5;18).

II. Paul thought believers needed to be filled with the Spirit.

1. Paul told believers to be continually filled with the Spirit.

2. Paul wrote to the church about the use of the gifts of the Spirit in our services in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. He expected the manifestation of the gifts, which come subsequent to receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

3. Paul said he himself spoke with tongues more than them all (1 Corinthians 14:18). He did not say that he spoke in more tongues or languages than the rest of them, but rather that he spoke in tongues more than them all. He knew what the evidence of the infilling (or refilling) of the Holy Spirit was; he knew what the gifts of tongues and interpretation were. He had been filled, and did operate himself in the use of the gift of other tongues.

III. God thinks all believers need to be filled with the Spirit.

1. This promise is for you, for your children, for those far off, for all people, as many as the Lord shall call (Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:16).

2. The evidence today is that this blessing is still being poured out by our heavenly Father and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Millions now alive have received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues.

3. The will of God for you is that you receive this blessing, and then stay filled with the Spirit of God.

CONCLUSION: This morning, if you are unsaved, you can be reborn. If you have once known the Lord, and turned away from Him, you can be restored. If you are tired, weary, disappointed, or discouraged, you can be renewed in Spirit. If you are empty, or only partially full; if you are hungry and thirsty for more of God, you can be filled for the first time, or refilled, and that to full capacity.

If you have never been filled, then this morning you definitely need to experience this blessing from God. It fills a believer with power to life a holy life, and to witness to Christ, our Lord here on earth with boldness.

Quoting Dr. R. A. Torrey again, "Nevertheless, the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the birthright of every believer. It was purchased for us by the atoning death of Christ, and when He ascended to the right hand of the Father, He received the promise of the Father and shed Him forth upon the church, and if anyone today has not the baptism with the Holy Spirit as a personal experience, it is because he has not claimed his birthright."

Jonathan Goforth said, "The Scriptures convey no other meaning to me than that the Lord Jesus planned that the Holy Spirit should continue among us in as mighty manifestation as at Pentecost. The efficacy of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire dies down in any soul only when that soul willfully quenches it."

Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown in their commentary on Scripture note, regarding Joel's prophecy, "The latter rain that shall precede the coming spiritual harvest will probably be another Pentecost-like effusion of the Holy Ghost."

A. J. Gordon wrote, "We hold indeed, that Pentecost was once for all, but equally that the appropriation of the Spirit by believers is always for all, and that the shutting up of certain great blessings of the Holy Ghost within that ideal realm called "the apostolic age," however convenient it may be as an escape from fancied difficulties, may be the means of robbing believers of some of their most precious covenant rights."

A. Mahan put it like this, "The promise of the Spirit does not pertain merely to the Apostles, the primitive church, or a favored few in subsequent ages. It is, on the other hand, the common gift to all who believe in Christ, the least as well as the greatest, to the end of time . . . . Neither is there any gift He is more willing to bestow upon believers than this Divine Baptism . . . . This Baptism is the noblest blessing of Christianity, and no other can fill its place."

Why do we need refilling? An old preacher put it simply when he said, "Because we leak." Many of you were at one time full of the Holy Spirit, but you are leakers. Now I know about leakers. I used to work for Hiland Dairy, and we had trouble sometimes with leakers. Now these were usually bags of 5 gallons of milk. When the milk was bagged, and shipped, it looked all right. You could not usually look and see that a bag was bad. What did happen is that as time went by, the bag obviously became less than full. You would find a puddle of milk around the bottom of it. Some of the leaks could be found, others were hard to detect. Now some of your lives are like that. It is hard to tell from just looking that you are a leaker. You walk right, dress right, smell right, talk right (at least when someone is listening); you are hard to detect for what you are. How do we know you are a leaker? It is simple; your life is empty; you have none of the power of the Spirit evident in your life. You have little joy, peace, or contentment. You would rather argue with God and others rather than obey and work for the Lord. You can always find something wrong with the way someone else serves the Lord, when in truth you hardly serve Him yourself. Your service is only lip service; only service on the outside. It is not heartfelt, genuine service. You need to be filled again with the Spirit.

When do you need this refilling? You need it right now, while it is readily available. Jesus said that the Father is more willing to give this gift to us than we are to receive it.

What are you waiting for; come right now. The river of God is flowing; the windows of heaven are open; the heavenly rain is falling. Get into the river, get under the spout where the glory comes out. Do not let anything or anyone hinder you from receiving all God wants you to have.

Osage Gospel Lighthouse, Linn, MO 2-2-97 am