Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. Sometimes when we say, do you have the Holy Spirit? The way we end up saying that and talking, it's almost like, have you got this thing? Have you got this power?
Have you got this quantity? How much of the Holy Spirit do you have? And so we start thinking almost spatially, almost like he's some force, some power, some liquid, some something. 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. I want to show you one verse in Ephesians, and then we're going to go to Acts chapter 8. If you want to just find the chapter 8 of Acts, I'll read you this one verse from Ephesians 5, 18. Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery, instead be filled with the Spirit. Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery, instead be filled with the Spirit.
It is an interesting comparison. To say, do not be intoxicated with a substance, but instead be consumed by or controlled by the Spirit of God. And then in Acts chapter 8, verse 14. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
I was a senior in college. I was in a Bible study that began to explore who the person in work of the Holy Spirit is. At the same time, interestingly enough, I was taking a course at Carolina, a secular religion course on religious movements. 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. As it turned out, my professor, my favorite professor, Grant Wacker, himself had been raised in an evangelical and Pentecostal background, and would become really one of the great scholars in our country on the history of Pentecostalism. And we did our study on Mormonism, and all the crazy stories about Joseph Smith and so forth. And then we switched subject and we started studying Pentecostalism, and so we would read some of the accounts of Pentecostals and things that they experienced. And at the same time, our Bible study began to get sort of curious about if the Holy Spirit is still doing supernatural things today, and we were studying that. And so somewhere amidst all of that, there was a charismatic fellowship on campus that had brought a healing evangelist onto the campus, and they were having a series of meetings. And so as sort of an extra-curricular, kind of extra-credit thing for my Pentecostalism course, I told the professor I was going to go to a Pentecostal meeting. And our Bible study said that they would dare to go to the Pentecostal meeting as well. And so off we went to our first really kind of Pentecostal meeting. And it was livelier than what I was accustomed to, and yet it was a warm meeting, and we were seated there together, about eight of us in our Bible study, on the same row in one of the lecture halls there on the Carolina campus. And at a certain moment in the service, with every head bowed, every eye closed, the evangelist asked the question, how many of you, raise your hand, would like tonight to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
And on the one hand, that seems like a very simple question, doesn't it? On the other hand, it seemed kind of complicated to me, because a big part of my mind, and I was quite the intellectual in my own eyes, was asking what do you mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and what will happen to me if I raise my hand. But there's another part of me as I look back on the question, to think that it's one of the silliest questions, and most unnecessary questions perhaps, that we should ever have to ask, who would want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Because now, having walked in the things of the Spirit, pretty much since those college years until today, for these decades now, I realize that He is the presence of Jesus in my life.
He is whatever Jesus was to the disciples while Jesus was on earth, the Holy Spirit is to us who believe, and more so. He is the cause of whatever real joy I ever experience. I do have happy moments in life, and I do have sad moments in life. But joy is something that is transcendent, and has a supernatural origin. It is the stuff of heaven. And when I think about what I'm most grateful for, and I think about the presence of the Holy Spirit, I thank Him for joy, because you cannot manufacture your own joy. He is my joy, and He is the greatest teacher you could ever imagine having. The Holy Spirit is such a great teacher, in that not only does He know everything, but He has the ability that only God can have, to know what you need to learn at the moment you need to learn it. And He knows how to teach you what you need to learn, by way of life circumstances, examples, models, illustrations, revelations, visions, and dreams. He knows what your Spirit will stand at attention to receive. I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit, because without the Holy Spirit there would be no witness to my Spirit, that I'm a child of God.
And I, like so many in our generation, had been orphaned. And I would not know God as my Father, except the Holy Spirit has come into my life, to bear witness to my Spirit, that I'm a child of God and no longer an orphan. And it is by the Holy Spirit that I'm able to call out Abba, Father. So if there be any joy in my life, if there be any direction and call and wisdom in my life, and if there be any solace and deep sense of destiny, as a child of God in my life, it's because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is the giver of gifts. He has all the gifts of God to give.
God is love and He loves us so deeply, so passionately. And He, like a good Father, wants to give good gifts to His children. And the means by which He gives these good gifts to His children is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And the Holy Spirit has a diversity of gifts. And what's wonderful about the Holy Spirit in giving of gifts is He knows what gifts you're supposed to have. And know people have the same gifts.
And aren't we glad for that? That not only does He know what gifts that you should have and how you're to live your life, but He knows how the body of Christ is to come together and use a diversity of gifts so that together we would all be built up. The Holy Spirit is not only the giver of gifts, but He is also the one who emboldens me for the gospel.
And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. 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 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 Allen 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 Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Today's teaching now continues.
Here once again is Allen Wright. If ever there has been one delicious word from God's written word that has come forth out of this mouth that I've been preaching, it is because of the Holy Spirit's unction. I do not have any words of life of my own. But the whole world is craving and yearning and thirsting for the living Word of God to come and transform their lives. And as a preacher of the gospel, there is no way to effectively preach or make any difference in anybody's life except to be clothed with an anointing of the Holy Spirit such that I find myself just increasingly just wanting to be his mouthpiece, just wanting to be a vessel, just an earthen vessel through which God's Holy Spirit could speak to his people and speak to the world. If there's ever been a word of solace, transformation or comfort that has come from anything I've written on a page of a book, it's because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Everything in my life that I treasure comes by the gift of God in the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And now every day of my life, several times a day, I ask God, fill me afresh with the Holy Spirit. So now looking back to think of someone asking the question, who wants to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Sounds like the silliest question anybody could ever ask. I think the real question is, who wouldn't want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, in all of my hesitation, with every head bowed and every eye closed, I raise my hand, yes, I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And suddenly the evangelist announces out there, a whole row of them right there together. And as we peeked around, realized that my Bible study was the only people that had raised their hand to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I suppose everybody else considered themselves already filled with the Holy Spirit. And when they brought us down front, and people began eagerly gathering around me and variously praying in unknown languages and some shouting things and some pushing on my stomach and declaring that out of my belly would flow rivers of living water. I then began to question whether it was a quality decision that I had made to come down to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And I was eager to get out of there. And I had no real encounter with God in those moments. But there were some who did in the midst of that. It served me well my beginnings of exposure to the things of the Spirit to always remember, which I do to this day, how uncomfortable I felt initially and all the concerns that I might have. And now, over the past couple of decades of praying with people for the increase in filling of the Holy Spirit in their lives, I'm keenly aware that there are many people who have many different reasons why they feel hesitant to truly open themselves up to the fullness of everything that God would have in their lives. And yet, I read two scriptures today that point to at least these two basic truths. One, Paul says plainly in Ephesians chapter 5, it is a command, it is the Word of God be filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is not optional part of the Christian life. The ongoing infilling of the Holy Spirit. And in Acts chapter 8, which is a much researched and discussed and written about text, the strange thing that happens is that these are Christians in Samaria who have received the Word of God, have accepted Christ, and have been baptized. And if there's one thing that I think is plain in the New Testament about who the Holy Spirit is, it is that every Christian has the Holy Spirit.
And I want you to hear this so plainly. Every person who accepts Christ as Savior as part of the initial and permanent inheritance that you receive in the New Covenant is that you receive the presence of Jesus in your heart and you will be with Him forever. The presence of Jesus in our heart is to say to have the Holy Spirit. And so when you receive Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit. Which makes this text in Acts chapter 8 interesting because these are people who have received Jesus and yet the text says that the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them. And at verse 17 it says they received the Holy Spirit. Now clearly, theologically, verse 17 cannot therefore be saying that they received the Holy Spirit as though they had not received the Holy Spirit when they received Christ.
It is saying something different. It is saying the Holy Spirit has come upon them in a fresh way. And to say that they received the Holy Spirit is to say that they have received the Holy Spirit in a fresh empowering way that they had previously not received Him.
So all of this is built upon this theological premise then. That every Christian receives the Holy Spirit as they receive Christ. But that there are continual receiving or infillings of the Holy Spirit for the rest of your Christian life on earth. And therefore, it is proper to say to a Christian, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now before I kind of give a look at the reasons that people might be hesitant to ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
I want to make one more observation from the Scriptures. And I have tried in, as we've begun learning and teaching about the Holy Spirit, I try to go back to the Scriptures to read the Scriptures as if for the first time. Which is very important every time you come to the text, isn't it? Don't take all of your theological presuppositions and all of your assumptions based on traditions that you've been in and bring that and make the text support what you believe.
Just read the text. And so just in reading the text about the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit, I think of all the books on my shelves that have titles like How to Receive the Holy Spirit or Seven Steps to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit or How to be Filled with the Spirit and all of these titles. And so if you ask the question of the New Testament, how do I receive the Holy Spirit and what are the steps that are involved and so forth? What you'll find in the Scripture is that virtually, the Word of God is virtually silent on the subject.
We have many accounts of people that have fresh infillings of the Holy Spirit, but we have virtually no teaching about how to receive the Holy Spirit or what do I do. Which is kind of funny anyway because we are so obsessed with asking those questions, aren't we? We always want the how-to manual. We get married and we want somebody, men especially, give us a manual that tells us the ten things that good husbands do and I'll try to do those ten things.
And while all these manuals and things might be helpful pointers in them, in the end what we're talking about is about being in a relationship. So there's a sense in which to say how are you filled with the Holy Spirit is like saying how are you filled up with the love of someone in a relationship. I remember many years ago when my children were little and we had had a long vacation together just playing at the beach and I recognized this early on with the kids that when I'd get back after that, and eager sometimes to get back to work because work is good, I'm thankful for work, but when I've had just time with Anne and the kids and just no interruptions to it, lots of laughter, lots of play, lots of meals together and I come back and you know what I realize is in the early days of coming back to work, thankful for work, it's good, but I miss them.
I miss them. Isn't that an odd thing? Alan Wright. In today's teaching, why wouldn't everyone want to be filled with the Spirit? It's from our series Filled and Alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and our final word today. 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. 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. Alan, it really is a good question, but for the person right now that may be nervous to ask for this, to pray and say, Lord, fill me, why do you find that to be the case so often? Well, I can identify, because I think there was a time in my own Christian life that I had a number of fears and apprehensions about the idea of being, quote, filled with the Spirit. You know, we've seen images of things. Is it going to make me weird?
Is it going to make me turn my mind off? Is God going to go make me a missionary? I mean, you know, we just have all of these different thoughts. And so this is a series that is about how wonderful the Spirit of Jesus is. He is the third person of the triune God. He's God's presence. You know, we say, I have Jesus in my heart. But what we really mean is I have the Spirit of Jesus in my heart. We have the Holy Spirit.
That's who we're talking about. And so we're going to demystify that. And also, I think, help a lot of people who might have had some apprehensions go, well, of course, if that's who the Holy Spirit is, I want the fullness of His life in mind. When Paul says in Ephesians, be filled with the Spirit, the language there is kind of an 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. It's 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. Today's Good News message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.
