The Abiding Life

Salvation and victory in the Christian life, victory over adversity is for everyone. He offers it to all who are willing to claim it.

God didn't make any false promises. He didn't intend for you to not have peace and joy. But there are many discouraged Christians.

John 15:1--"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

God never intended for you to live the Christian life.

The Christian life is not the product of the fruit, it is a product of the branch.

God wants you to rely on him. He wants you to rest in the vine.

God's Gift

I have all of Him. How much of me does God have of me?

We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We are to be filled with the Spirit of God.

Epesians 5:11--Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

At first, things were gong well in your Christian walk, but as time went on, you began to experience defeat. This could be so because you were not taught well. You were not taught that you were not given the strength to live the Christian life.

The Spirit Filled Life is a gift from God.

John 4:13--Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 7:37--On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

JC spoke of the HS as living water (well, river). When HS came down at Pentecost, He came to live inside of us.

John 14:16--And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will beF72 in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:26--But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

The fullness fo the Spirit of God is a gift of God. We don't have to wait for HS because He has already come. He lives inside of us. Every believer is indwelt by HS. When God gave you HS, He filled you up with HIm. You've gotten all of the HS you can ever get. We received Him when we were saved.

The issue is how much of me does He have? The Spirit Filled Life is about how much of me does He have.

Why isn't Jesus enough?

How much of you He has is determined by whether you are filled with Him.

Acts 2:4--All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

Acts 4:31--After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

They were filled with HS. They don't pray Him down, HS comes down and fills them. HS fills every single believer.

Paul says we are to be filled BY the Spirit of God. The SFL is a life lived in submission to HS; under the control of HS. The Spirit of God ministers through us as He controls us. This leads to a life of fruitfulness and productivity.

The purpose of the SFL is to enable us to live the live He wants us to live and to do the work that He wants us to do. You cannot live the Christian life. God gave us HS to enable us to do what we cannot do.

A Spirit Filled Christian has a hunger for God.

If I am not living under submission to Him, then I am not living the Spirit Filled Life.

Requirements to be Spirit Filled: Absolute, total conviction that you CAN"T do it.

SFL is a life of control, submission, yeildedness to Him. Any time I reserve a part of me from Him, then I am not living the SFL. We are SF ONLY when we are totally surrendered, submitted, dependent, yeilded. To be SF is to be living in total submission to HS. I have transferred all authority in my life to Him. HS is in control of body, soul, money, job, friends, church, goals, everything. He will empower you. The emphasis is that we are to be dominated by HS.

Give up the right to self.