Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.
Interestingly enough, the two religious movements that we were studying in our course was Mormonism and Pentecostalism, just two religious movements according to the secular university, and we were looking, I guess, to see what religious movements have in common. 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, Filled, as presented at Reynolda 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 Alan Wright Ministries.
So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.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. He started preaching the gospel.
It wasn't anything wishy-washy about it. It was the bold... Now, he's not just standing up preaching a sermon to pastors 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 received 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 for filled in the New Testament, you don't know which word it is referring to. But there are two words, pletho and pleoro, both verbs that mean to be filled or they can come in the form of, to say, full of the Holy Spirit. The pletho is about the Holy Spirit, like in Acts chapter four, coming upon individuals or groups of saints for supernatural empowering for ministry, the Holy Spirit coming upon. The other word, pleoro, 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 pletho 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 both. They are all pletho, 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 and 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 it 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 is 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 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 of this, maybe we'll 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.
That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Why do so many Christians feel their prayers are powerless? This common challenge leaves many wondering how to cultivate a more meaningful and impactful prayer experience. This month's featured resource from Pastor Alan is a digital bundle including an e-book, Great Prayers from the Bible, along with six audio messages on spiritual prayer guiding you toward a deeper understanding of what it means to pray in the Spirit. Drawing from biblical insights, Pastor Alan offers practical steps to enrich your own prayer life, making it a source of strength and joy rather than a struggle.
Deepen your connection with God and experience the profound impact of prayer in your life today. The gospel is shared when you give to our Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.
Here once again is Alan Wright. I wonder if you didn't have to have the expectation that you would shake, rattle, roll, speak in tongues, prophesy, laugh, fall, stand, weep, or whatever. And instead, we just said, whatever God does, it is to draw you into His power for witness, mercy, and boldness for the gospel. And you do not need to be obsessed with whatever sign might accompany it.
Would that give you some freedom? When we drive down to Ocean Isle Beach, which is our little home away from home and our place of respite for 25 years, and we make a turn on 904 and there's a sign there that says Ocean Isle Beach, 16 miles. I love it when I see that sign, 16 miles, because it's just right about at that point where everybody's saying, are we there yet? And I like seeing that sign because it means that we're very close.
But I never have pulled over to the side of the road and said, honey, we just got to pull over here. I love this sign. I got to hug it. I've got to go out there and hug this sign. And imagine if I said, honey, listen, let's just break out some sleeping bags. Let's just camp out here for a while because I love this sign.
That would be so dumb. I like the sign because the sign points me to what I love, the beach. There's nothing wrong with the sign, but the sign is not the thing. The signs and the wonders of God are not God.
They are merely pointers to God Himself. I remember one time many years ago in a small Bible study in another church I was serving and teaching about the Holy Spirit and there came a time when we prayed for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and some really dramatic things happened. Some signs and wonders happened to some people. There were some people.
They had some dramatic things happened. One person received a gift of tongues. Another person fell over.
Another person shook. And I came to another man, a sweet man. I prayed for him. Then afterwards we kind of had a debriefing like, you know, what happened? And everybody was sharing things that happened and we asked him, we said, what happened with you? And he said, he was kind of discouraged. And he said, nothing, just peace. I said, oh, bless your heart. That's all you got from God was peace.
The one thing if you could bottle up and sell, you'd be the richest man in the world because nobody has any peace. Just don't be concerned about that. I know the body of Christ inadvertently brings shame upon people because we just tend to set it up such that they're the haves and the have nots and then people feel like they don't measure up and they don't have enough of this or that. Well, let's just forget all that mumbo jumbo and ask God to fill us with His Spirit.
More of Jesus. Then while there are some that are afraid that nothing will happen and they'll be ashamed, there are some who are afraid that something will happen and I'll be ashamed. And I understand this because I don't, many people, they've seen things that seem flaky and phony and excessive and don't want to be associated with such things. I remember when I first began considering all these things when I knew nothing of the things of the Spirit and I thought, oh boy, if I get filled with the Spirit, whatever that means, then I'm going to have to have poofy hair or at least greased back hair and probably have to wear some kind of flowing garment and dance in front of other people. Some people think that I've prayed for many people before and they're a little bit scared that if I really just surrender everything in my life to God that He's going to expose my soul, my nakedness in front of everyone and some horrible thing is going to be exposed. I've even prayed for people that are like, I'm just so afraid some horrible demon's going to come out and then everybody's going to know what a wretch I've been or something like that and I just want to say, friends, please remember, Jesus Christ did not come to bring shame upon people. He came to bear our shame.
Why would God want to put His people to shame when He has explicitly promised that they will have no more shame? The other thing I want to say about this and I want to say this as politely as possible, if you care more about what somebody else might think about whether something seems unusual or so, you have not yet hungered for God. Bob Roach has a plane that I get the privilege of flying in and going, he flies us around to conferences and places and it is a single engine Cirrus but the good thing is it has a parachute on it. If the engine should quit or Bob should quit, neither of which I'm believing to ever happen rather but I know how to pull the parachute.
I don't know how to fly a plane but I think I could pull the parachute and so usually I'll ask for a review, tell me again how do I pull the parachute and I remember asking him one time, I said well Bob, I said if I ever did have to pull the parachute and we start going down, I said what's it going to feel like and the great engine said, you don't care. You don't care. You don't care. If you got to pull a parachute on an airplane that's falling out of the sky, you don't care whether it's a bumpy ride, a smooth ride or whether you're facing down this way or that way, you're just so glad you got a parachute, you could care less and I want to promise you that if the Holy Spirit of the living God starts doing something magnificent in your life and setting you free from something that has burdened you for all your life or filling you up with like a liquid joy or causing there to be a power upon you that would make you bold for the gospel where you've always been timid, whatever God is doing in you, I promise you it is so good you don't care.
Could care less. We're talking about life and death. We're talking about our souls. We're talking about the abundant life versus the deadness of our souls.
Who cares what anybody thinks? I'm just thankful for the Holy Spirit. I want to just mention one last thing and I know that this has turned into a massively long sermon, but it is important to say that a final and maybe the most prevalent reason that people are hesitant to be filled with the Holy Spirit is because in some way or another they believe they do not deserve to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Some of this is rooted in some theology that is errant because some people have a hard time enjoying God because they know that we're supposed to serve God, obey God, and therefore have taken that to mean that we are not invited to enjoy God and somehow feel wrong about taking pleasure in the presence of God because it seems wrong to pursue your own happiness.
Listen to the words of preacher and eloquent theological scholar John Piper. We value most what we delight in most. Pleasure is not God's competitor idols are. Pleasure is simply a gauge that measures how valuable someone or something is to us. Pleasure is the measure of our treasure. We know this intuitively. If a friend says to you, I really enjoy being with you, you wouldn't accuse him of being self-centered.
Why? Because your friend's delight in you is the evidence that you have great value in his heart. I enjoy being with you. Well, you selfish thing. God doesn't look at us and we say, I enjoy being in the presence of God and say, well, I can't believe how selfish you really are.
Don't you know you're just supposed to obey me? This must have been something at the heart of what Jesus says, when I no longer call you servants, I call you friends. Sam Storm said it this way, if God is to be supremely glorified in us, we must be supremely glad in him and in what he has done for us in Jesus and joy in God is not a secondary tangential endeavor. It is central to everything we do to worship him for any other reason than the joy that is found in him is sinful. It's not only okay to enjoy the pleasure of God's presence. It is essential to truly glorify God. And for some who believe themselves undeserving to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it is a matter of misunderstanding and missing the essence of the new covenant, which teaches that though we are not holy in and of ourselves, that we are God's children and if his children then we are his heirs and if we're heirs we are co-heirs with Christ. And what this means is that every good thing of the gospel and every good thing that comes from heaven into our lives, including the presence of the Holy Spirit himself, comes not by any of our deserving or any of our own merit, but only by the gift of God in Jesus Christ, which is to say you do not receive the Holy Spirit by any of your own striving, works of righteousness, pleadings, Bible quoting, or any other thing but the blood of Jesus. So once you arrive at the new covenant and say it's by the blood of the Lord Jesus that I'm saved and filled and there is no other way that I'm saved and filled, then it is to say also that there is nothing else that is necessary to be filled but the blood of Jesus and that is really good news.
Alan Wright. As we continue in our series on filled 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 PastorAlan.org. Why does prayer seem to be a struggle? Many people recognize the importance of prayer in their lives, yet struggle with feelings of powerlessness and disconnect in their prayer practices.
Why do so many Christians feel their prayers are powerless? This common challenge leaves many wondering how to cultivate a more meaningful and impactful prayer experience. This month's featured resource from Pastor Alan is a digital bundle, including an ebook, Great Prayers from the Bible, along with six audio messages on spiritual prayer, guiding you toward a deeper understanding of what it means to pray in the Spirit. Drawing from biblical insights, Pastor Alan offers practical steps to enrich your own prayer life, making it a source of strength and joy rather than a struggle. Deepen your connection with God and experience the profound impact of prayer in your life today. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Alan, if someone's listening, and this is really a lot of new teaching for them, and they're really hearing this through, and they've maybe heard this phrase for some time in their Christian walk, but they've either been afraid, nervous, or they think that it's for somebody else, not for them.
How would you respond? Well, I'll just say, you know, don't let your, don't let your own life be robbed of the beautiful, powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in fresh and growing ways in you, just because you've seen some excess, or because you saw things that you thought you were scared of. The presence of the Holy Spirit is a gift for every single Christian. And what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit is something that I believe that we can learn and see, okay, there is a way in which I relate to God that opens myself to the Holy Spirit.
But the point of this message today is that there's not a religious hoop for you to go through. This has been accomplished by the blood of Jesus. You have been qualified for your inheritance in the saints. So when the New Testament says be filled, this is an invitation not for you to do something else, but to accept the fact that Jesus has already made this possible. We've put together this little booklet, How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit, because it explains, I think, from a good balanced perspective, what it means to be filled with the Spirit, how it is that you ask the Lord for this, and also what it doesn't mean. Unfortunately, sometimes the conversation about the Holy Spirit, Daniel, has caused controversy and in the end, I think that we can lay some of that aside and just say to every listener, receive and be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not a one-time invitation. This is about the growing presence and awareness of the presence of the person of the Holy Spirit in your life. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.
