Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical faith-filled vision for your life. Open your heart and receive today's blessing rooted in 1 Samuel 17. They all told David he couldn't do it. He was too young, too small, too inexperienced to face the Philistine giant. Maybe you've heard it too.
You're too unskilled, too unschooled, too unscarred. to you name it. But you know what they don't know. You've seen what they haven't seen. like the Bethlehem shepherd.
You've faced your lions and bears. You've felt the adrenaline pumping, the mind racing as you groped for a stone for your slingshot. And then, from seemingly nowhere God's grace arrived right on time. I bless you to remember how God has enabled you to endure every past predicament.
so you will have courage to confront Today's giant. The God who delivered you from the paw of the lion? And the paw of the bear will deliver you from the hand of the enemy again. And that's the gospel. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Trinity, who has increasingly more of us.
So, the real question is not: do you have the Holy Spirit? The real question is: does the Holy Spirit have you? That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt.
Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Phil, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource today. It can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries.
So, as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860.
More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. In the early days of coming back to work, thankful for work, it's good. But And I miss them.
You don't miss 'em. Isn't that an odd thing? It's like the more that I was with them, You'd think it would satisfy that itch. And, like, okay, now I'm ready to not be with them and get back. But that's not the way it's worked for me.
It's like the more I'm with them. the more I'm filled with them. And there was a dawning many years ago to me that, in a sense, that's what it means to be filled with God. I come back from such a vacation, and I'm filled with the laughter of my children. I'm filled with the love of my wife, you see.
And so this is what we're talking about as a relationship with God. And so I don't have a technique for you today. But It is my desire that we Uh make it our hearts longing. to ask God continually for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Hmm.
So, why would anybody say, no, I prefer not? I really don't want too much joy in my life. I really. Don't need any extra power right now in life. Why would anybody ever say no?
I don't want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Why would anybody ever say no? I don't want someone to lay hands on me and pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Well, I want to mention a couple of things that I've observed over the years. The first of which I'm not going to take time today to discuss or do much exegesis or Scripture interpretation for you, although I may in a future meeting. And that is that some don't believe that God does supernatural things today. and out of their own integrity They, as they read the scripture and as they have been taught that God doesn't do. Supernatural things today, and the way he did in the first century.
By a step of personal integrity, don't want to be involved in something that seems to be unbiblical. Um there are with this Two. Perspectives sometimes shared by the same. uh reader of the scripture, and one is to come with an opinion of the scriptures that says that supernatural gifts and work of the Holy Spirit ceased in the first century. And this is a view called cessationism, based from the word ceased, the gifts ceased.
And others would, and some of those same, would say that the explanation of why certain manifestations or gifts or prophecies or healings or tongues or other things that happen today would explain that it is either of the flesh, meaning that it is not real, or that it may have a supernatural element to it, but it is of the devil. And so there are some that have not satisfied in their mind that God is still doing today what He did in the first century. And today is not the day for a thorough examination of that. I am going to teach about spiritual gifts in one of the coming weeks, and I'll touch on this subject a bit more. But if that is your place of struggle, I guess I would just encourage you to do The most important thing in your study of Scripture, and that is, read it with fresh eyes.
Yeah. There is a reference in 1 Corinthians from Paul in chapter 13 that says that prophecies will cease, tongues will cease. And some have referred to that text to determine in their minds that the gifts of the Spirit ceased in the first century. But in the context of that passage, I think it's plain that what Paul is saying is that in heaven. that we will no longer need the spiritual gifts, but The chapter is about love.
And he's saying that love will continue. See, we won't need the gifts of the Holy Spirit in heaven. Why do you need a gift of healing? Nobody's sick. Uh Uh but we will need love.
Love is forever. There's not, and this is the opinion of my life, rooted in all the experiences of my life and all the years of studying the scripture. I know that there are people that make cases for why they would say biblically the gifts have ceased. But usually um The biblical defense of that comes up shallow. That may be an obstacle for.
Uh for some. Secondly, why would someone say, I don't want the infilling of the Holy Spirit? It might be because, in one way or another, I'm satisfied with my Christian life. And that might mean to say that I really think things are going well for me, and I don't have any. perceived big need in my life.
This is not exactly to say it's complacency, but some find themselves. Already satisfied with what they know of God and of grace, and they're kind of saying, Well, why would I want to seek some other. experience of God or something else. I remember one time years ago, we were making plans to launch our service, Verge. that we launched five years back.
And we were interviewing some people on the street. Because we so want to reach people that Don't go to church. And I remember asking one young man, he was a student. And asking him if he'd ever thought about going to church. He said, no, not really.
And I said, Well, do you ever think about uh about God? He said, No, no, it's really just a moot point. And I've fought back my chuckles about, I was just going to think, well, what did God think of that comment? He just called a moot point. I thought about going into, well, who created the world and what's going to happen to you when you're going to die?
But instead, I said, Well, what do you think your purpose is in life? And he said, to be happy. And I said, Well, are you happy? And he said, Yeah, ma'am. He was satisfied with his his life.
Are we going to save a guy like that? I thought about saying, well, you know, the Bible says you're going to go to hell if you don't do something. But anyway, I didn't. But. Um You know, we could kind of be like that in our spiritual lives.
I'm happy. Life's going well. And I don't have a big problem. Why do I need to throw myself on God right now? Yeah.
Well, if that's you. I I I just get Two words. Just wait. If you don't have some trouble now, you you will have trouble. And you will find that you need God.
And you need them badly. But the second thing that I would say to you is. If that's you, And you say, well, I don't really hunger that much more for God because things are going. I just want to say, you selfish thing. Just because your life is going so well, you think you don't need the empowering work of the Holy Spirit.
What about the person sitting next to you? What if there's a person who's sick and God wants to give you a gift of healing and you're going to one day pray for that person and they're going to be made miraculously well? What if there's a person who needs a word of wisdom? or encouragement. Or something else that's going to come to you supernaturally because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Listen, if your life is just wonderful, then praise God. You ought to be the most hungry person for the things of the Spirit because He's the one who's made your life wonderful and you have so much to give to the world. If you can't be in touch with your own needs, be in touch with the needs of a hurting world. And it's Alan Wright. And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series.
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Today's teaching now continues. Here once again. is Alan Wright. It's so interesting to me that while there is no how-to list in the New Testament of what. To do, to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
There is one verse that says Blessed are those that hunger and thirst. They'll be filled. It's almost to say like eating food. The only thing that really keeps you from eating food is that you're not hungry for food. You don't really have to teach a person how to eat food.
We have to teach some manners, but. You never really have to teach a baby. How to drink milk. And you definitely don't have to teach a 15-year-old boy how to do it. How to eat pizza.
Except to say take smaller bites.
Some Might have an issue of saying, not I'm satisfied emotionally. In my Christian life, and so I don't need an infilling of the Holy Spirit, but it is theological. And this is perhaps Um maybe the most important thing to get clear in our minds. That because people have been given the impression by some teaching. That if you don't have certain manifestations or gifts, then you don't really have the Holy Spirit.
There's something that recoils within that person of theological integrity. that knows, no, I received the Holy Spirit when I received Jesus. And so to say, would you like to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Sounds contradictory because a part of you wants to say, I've already been filled with the Holy Spirit. It's interesting if you look in Acts chapter 2. At the story of Pentecost, You see in Acts chapter 2 that When the day of Pentecost came, Verse 1: They're all together in one place, and suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind from heaven came and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And verse 4: All of them.
All these disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.
So they're all filled with the Holy Spirit, and Peter was in their midst, filled with the Holy Spirit. stood up and preached the Pentecostal message that is recorded in Acts chapter 2. At verse thirty-eight, Peter Said, repent and be baptized, every 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. That Clearly Peter has received the empowering of the Holy Spirit that turned this man who had denied Jesus three times into the boldest proclaimer of the gospel, who stood up without fear of persecution, proclaimed the gospel, and there was such an anointing upon him that about 3,000 people accepted Christ, and the church of Jesus Christ was born. And Peter not only was under an unction of, an infilling of the Holy Spirit, but he clearly said, You repent, and you receive Christ, and you will receive the Holy Spirit.
And what's interestingly interesting about this is then as you move forward into chapter four, and you see one of the first instances where now Peter having been used of God to heal a a lame man, Now is being persecuted, and at verse 5, chapter 4, the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem and The high priest was there, Caiaphas was there, John, Alexander, other men of the high priest family. And they brought Peter and John. Before them, and began to question him, By what power or what name did you do this?
Now, this could be a terrifying moment when the authorities have brought you in. And instead of being terrified, what happens is another instance of this incredible boldness. And what verse 8 says is: Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers and elders of the people, if we're being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, and started preaching the gospel. He wasn't anything wishy-washy about it. It was the bold.
Now he's not just standing up preaching a sermon to passers-by and bystanders, he's in front of the authorities, the Jewish authorities, and he starts preaching the gospel. Why? Because verse 8 said, Peter filled with the Holy Spirit.
Well, I thought he was filled with the Holy Spirit in chapter 2. Yeah, he was.
Well, what's happening in chapter 4? He's filled with the Holy Spirit again.
Well, what happened when the crippled man got healed? He was filled with the Holy Spirit then, too. To say, be filled with the Holy Spirit. As I said as I began, does not mean that you do not receive the Holy Spirit when you receive Christ. You did.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that the Holy Spirit continually comes upon you to empower you for the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Now The first time that someone experiences this. It is so transforming that it might rightly be called a baptism of sorts, an initiation, an immersion. But it is not to say that you have suddenly received the Holy Spirit, whom you did not have before. It is instead the further releasing of the power and the place and the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Now, here's the most important theological thing to understand about the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and that is in the New Testament there are two Greek words that are used for filling. And it's unfortunate that we don't have any different word to use in the English language, because every time that you read the word fulfilled in the New Testament, you don't know which word it is referring to. But there are two words: pletho and pleiro. Both verbs that mean to be filled, or they can come in the form of to say full of the Holy Spirit. The playthoe is about the Holy Spirit.
Like in Acts chapter 4. coming upon individuals or Or groups of saints for Supernatural empowering for ministry. The Holy Spirit coming upon The other word, Ple'o, is a word that means the Holy Spirit coming within us, the Holy Spirit which we have received when we receive Christ. And it is reference to the character of Christ that is being developed within us. Examples of pleatho are Acts 2 and Acts 4, which I've already read, or Acts 4 and verse 31.
After they prayed, the place they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. They were all pleatho, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke the word of God boldly. Or Acts chapter 13 is another example. Saul, verse 9, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit. These.
Looked at the man intently and began to speak.
Well, these are instances the Holy Spirit comes upon us. But the Holy Spirit within us is a different. Work of the Holy Spirit in a real sense, like in Acts chapter 6, verse 3, where they said, Pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. Or they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit. These are things about the character that is developed within us by the abiding presence of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in our lives.
Barnabas, Acts 11:24, was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. Acts 13, the disciples were filled with joy. All the fruit of the Holy Spirit. All of this is the inward work of the Holy Spirit. In other words, what I'm saying is that there is an inward work of the Holy Spirit, and there is an outward work of the Holy Spirit coming upon the saints of God to empower us, to gift us, to embolden us, to enable us to do what God has called us to do.
The inward work is abiding, it is permanent. The outward work is something that comes over and over, but it is temporary. You don't. You know, someone may have the Spirit come upon them when they're teaching, and they have a gift, an anointing of teaching.
Sometimes that happens to me when I'm preaching, I just feel the Lord just drops a gift right in there, and it's the Holy Spirit just comes upon me. But I don't walk around, I won't be watching the Super Bowl with the Holy Spirit upon me in that same way. You know, you just, it's not expected that when we say the filling of the Holy Spirit, that we're talking about this is now the outward or the Spirit upon you, something you just live with all the time. Gifts of the Spirit operate as the Spirit wills.
So It's important, therefore, to clear this up, that not only is there nothing wrong with asking God for continued infilling of the Holy Spirit, it is the expectation of the supernatural Christian life. That we will be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. That's why I ask him every day. several times a day. Fill me with the Holy Spirit.
All right, I have to move quicker than I'm moving and say that. Uh A third reason that People, and this is where it gets a little bit funny: is that some people would say, I don't want to receive prayer. I don't want to ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit because, in a sense, in one way or another, I'm afraid nothing will happen and I'll be ashamed. This is because we have generally in the body of Christ, in all the different moves of the Spirit, we've generally overemphasized particular gifts and particular manifestations and particular signs and wonders. And I don't have time to discuss all this.
Maybe will some when we speak of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which every gift of the Holy Spirit is a good gift. And we'll have opportunity to learn more about the gifts of the Spirit. But for today, wonder if I were to say to you, you could ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. and not be concerned about If there's a particular gift manifestation Or other experience that you need to happen to indicate to yourself or to others that you really have the Holy Spirit. Alan Wright.
As we continue in our series on filt and in our teaching, why wouldn't everyone want to be filled with the Spirit? Alan is back here in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's daily blessing.
It's free and just a click away at pastoralen.org. The life-changing message of good news has been taught over radio from Alan Wright Ministries for quite some time now. We have assembled the most powerful, best-loved messages from each year of the first 10 and put them together in one special album. When you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month, we want to give you Alan Wright's top 10 CD album or digital download. Are you ready for some good news?
Make your gift today and discover God's grace afresh with Alan Wright's top 10 of the first decade. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Alan, so if we're overcomplicating this thing, is the next step literally praying a prayer, surrendering your life to Christ, and requesting this?
Well, you know, when Paul says in Ephesians, be filled with the Spirit, the language there is kind of ongoing, kind of continuous. You know, so every Christian has the Holy Spirit. By nature of being a Christian, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, takes up residence in your life. But I think that there's a process of Christian growth in which we are. Ever increasingly yielding to the Spirit's presence in our life, so it's not really.
You getting more of the Holy Spirit is really the Holy Spirit getting more of you. And I think in that sense, we say, I say, and I pray regularly, Lord, fill me with your Spirit. Let me continue to learn to be sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit. Continue to give me gifts and let the fruit of the Spirit pray like that and foster the daily trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is what is, I think, involved in the Spirit-filled life.
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