How to Maintain The Spirit-Filled Life

Salvation is a result of JC's work, not mine. When God forgives my sins, they are forgiven forever. Salvation is the gift of God through JC. Maintaining that salvation is the work of God, not the believer.

But, as a B, I am responsible for maintaining my spirit-filled life. How do we maintain this life?

Galatians 5:16--So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

Romans 8:14--Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.F35 And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

HS leads from within. One of HS's responsibilities is to lead us. SPL if a moment by moment of reliance on HS to guide us; to be lead by the HS. Any time I choose to sin, I choose to say no to HS. There is no way to maintain SPL and walk in disobedience.

How do I deal with sin?

I must understand what my relationship to sin is. Victory does not come through confession and repentance.

Romans 6:11--In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

We are dead to sin's appeal. Stop letting sin govern your life. JC's work on the cross changed our relationship to sin.

Romans 6:18--You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Before we received JC as our LORD and Savior, we were slaves to sin. Once we received JC as LORD and Savior, our relationship to sin is different. Satan lies to us telling us that we are weak and we can't resist him. But we are not as weak as he would want us to think because we have the power and strength of HS inside us. Therefore sin shall not be master over us. God does not intend for us to be mastered by sin. God has provided for this. We have been freed from sin. As a B, in order to sin, we have to consent to sin in order to sin. In other words, we can't be forced or compelled to sin. We have to assent, yield, relent to sin. We can submit to satan's desire for us to sin. But we have HS to instruct us and guide us away from sin.

We must recognize that our mind is the battlefield of sin.

Romans 8:5--Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Set your mind on the things of HS (which are the things of God.) Therefore, we will develop the character of JC. The things of the flesh no longer fit who we are (in JC). If I'm sensitive to the things of God, I won't carry out the things of the flesh.

The battle does NOT start at the point of temptation. But, by that point, we're already defeated. There's a battle before the battle. We have to learn how to deal with the thoughts that come our way before the become a problem. It's not a sin that an evil thought comes our way. We have to determine whether we entertain the thought. If I'm walking in the HS, anything contrary to that is not a part of who we are. It begins with the thought itself. Once you begin to entertain the thoughts, you're then defeated. You are to begin to deal with it as soon as the thought comes. You can do that because sin is no longer our master. We are from from it.

The Power Within

The power of the Holy Spirit (PHS) is available to every believer to help you accomplish what God has called you to do. It is not limited only to preachers, teachers, pastors, ministers, etc.

PHS is the divine energy God expresses through us. PHS is the divine authority that allows someone to accomplish what s/he is called to do.

Acts 1:8--"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."

The power of HS is referred to in the context of witnessing.

PHS should not lie dormant within us. We are to use it to carry out the work that God has called us do.

Walking in the HS is us being filled with HS and He is free to do through us what He chooses.

Anything that glorifies man is NOT of God. Any work of God will glorify God. Only God can perform miracles, answer prayer, forgive sin. God flows through people and only those who are clean and pure. HS indwells us to use us and to flow through us. God's supernatural power lives inside of us. He wants to release it in our lives. But PHS does not flow throgh disobedience. It flows through someone who is submitted to its power.

Luke 4:14--Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.

God expresses His power through us
1. through the fruit of the spirit. God seeks to creat Godly character in us. This will make us a strong witness because God's character, peace, and faith within us will attract unbelievers to JC.
2. to provide a way for us to relate to us in the body of JC and carry on the work of God successfully;
3. as a defense system. God gave us HS to make our need a reality. He gives us power and authority in our areas of weakness. PHS is not available for me to use, but to flow through me to be used by God.

Galatians 5:22--But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

PHS is used to produce Godly works through the gifts He has given to us.

2 Corinthians 6:1--As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.

We are partners with God. He uses HS to express His power for us to do His ministry here on earth. We have been given one or more spiritual gifts that each believer indwelt by HS so that we can serve Him in the kingdom of God. Spiritual gift is a special ability given to you by God to equip us to serve Him.

1 Peter 4:10--Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

Sap-->Vine-->Branch-->Fruit

God wants His kingdom to bring in millions of people to JC. He equipped (gifted) us to accomplish this. If you don't use your gift, you lose it! You can't hold your gifts and serve God.

God owns you. He has the right toi tell you how, where, and when. To do otherwise is sin. The only way to get rid of sin is to repent. Choose not to waste anymore of your life!

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.