Dr. Michael Youssef, introducing this episode of Leading the Way Audio. Do not give way to drunkenness. which leads to debauchery. But instead, Be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit.
Why in the world is Paul contrasting being drunk with being filled with the Holy Spirit? I'm going to tell you why. It's vitally important. It's an incredible contrast. You've heard the term DUI.
driving under the influence.
So here's a question. Under whose influence are you? What I mean is, are you under the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life? That's something you'll consider today as you listen to Doctor Youssef's enlightening series, Know Your Best Friend. You will see how the influence of the Holy Spirit is often smothered as the pressures and influences of life just push in from all sides.
Now before he begins, this quick reminder that Leading the Way has monthly special offers and featured resources. This month it's a pre-release offer for doctor Youssef's coming book. winning the invisible war. Visit ltw.org to get the details. But wait until after the message because Dr.
Yousef is ready to begin a challenging message straight from God's Word. The first 19 years of my life It was spent. growing up in Egypt. And um There, the vast population. about ninety plus percent of them They live right on that narrow strip of the River Nile.
'Cause the rest of it is just desert. The River Nile has been there for thousands of years. In fact, it's mentioned in the Old Testament several times. But what? Many people don't know is that For those thousands of years until The nineteen sixties.
The Nile used to flood Every year Methodically, systematically. You always knew in the fall there's going to be a flood and the land is going to be covered with water. September, October, around that time. The land is covered. Completely.
This annual flood brought with it Silt. which enriched The soil. and the land with vibrance. Every year that flood broad sediment. that made the crops to be the most nutrient rich Crops in the whole world.
That's a fact. That flood brought with it prosperity to the farms. It brought with it all sorts of blessings and benefits. But what happened In the sixties. The government in its foolish wisdom.
decided to build a dam south of the country.
So they're known as the Ashwan Dam. As soon as that dam was built, The flood stopped completely. Stop. The blessings that that flood brought with it stopped. All the glorious riches that this silt and brought with it stopped.
And today they use Chemical fertilizers and chemical this and chemical that, which they say is extremely harmful. The Nile's still there. still overflows within its banks. But the flood is gone. The blessing is gone.
The Nile keeps on flowing. But all the great things that this flood brought is no more. And as I reflected from my personal experience, on this. I Realize that there is a spiritual lesson here. A vitally important spiritual lesson.
Because from a spiritual point of view, This is the condition of many believing Christians. You would say, well, how would that be? Every believing Christian is indwelled of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. Just like the Nile.
Is there? The Holy Spirit is in your life. But long ago You have built dams and reservoirs in your life. That had stopped the blessings of the overflowing flood of the Holy Spirit. Whether they be your will, Whether there'll be your desires or what you want, whether there'll be your needs that you may become the focus of your life, whether it'll be your wants, whether it'll be your plans that you are insisting on.
Those are dams that are built, those reservoirs are built in your life that had stopped the flow of the Holy Spirit of God.
Now to be sure The Holy Spirit still indwells you. You're still saved. Nothing changed just like the Nile is flowing between its banks. But long ago There are so many believing Christians. Who have ceased to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
They have ceased to constantly and daily and moment by moment to allow the Holy Spirit of God to fill them. We saw in the last two messages how the Holy Spirit brings us to salvation. We saw in the last message how the Holy Spirit seals every believer in Jesus Christ. And he seals us for ownership. He seals us for eternal security.
And he seals us for. Authenticity. But I want you to listen carefully, please. After the Holy Spirit saves us. after the Holy Spirit seals us.
He longs for you. Who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, to be daily filled with the Holy Spirit, to be flooded with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Every believer is saved. Every believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit. But not every Christian believer is filled with the Holy Spirit because the Bible commands us.
Be ye filled of the Holy Spirit. It doesn't say, please just be filled if you feel like it. It's a command, it's in the imperative mood. And yet, very few Christians obey this command. Do you know why?
Because being filled with the Holy Spirit means that you must allow him to completely take possession of all that is you. And that's not something we are thrilled about. We don't easily want to relinquish control of our lives. We don't easily want to give up. The rains.
Of our lives. We don't easily want to move out of the driver's seat. Not only that, but we have something else that are really going against us, particularly in this culture. Ever since your children Growing up in this culture. We are told By the media.
by the motivational speakers, by the educators, by Business leaders. From every direction, we heard a contradictory message. And the message said, Be in control of your life. Take charge of your life. You must be the captain of your ship.
And so we are bombarded with a message that is contrary to the message of the Word of God. And the Holy Spirit of God is saying, relinquish that control to me. If you want to be blessed in your life, In fact, the Bible in the New Testament, there are 14 different times you hear about the filling of the Holy Spirit. 14 times. Every time, That talks about the filling of the Holy Spirit, it is conditional.
You say conditional on what? Conditional on yielding our all to his leadership. A conditioning on my not habit. Quenching the Holy Spirit, conditional on my not habitually grieving the Holy Spirit. I'm going to explain that in a minute.
conditional upon me seeking his glory, not mine, every moment of every day.
Now you must understand The difference between sealing of the Holy Spirit and being filled of the Holy Spirit. Two different things altogether. Every believer is sealed, but not every believer is filled. When the Holy Spirit came into your life, And open your internal set of eyes, your spiritual eyes, and recognize that you're a sinner and you desperately need the Savior, and you came in confession and repentance and faith. You had nothing to do with that.
That was a gift from God. When the Holy Spirit came after you confessed Christ. and came to dwell in you. You had nothing to do with that. That was a gift from God.
And then When the Holy Spirit came and sealed you for ownership and for eternal security and for authenticity, you had nothing to do with that. That was a gift from God. Ah. But the filling of the Holy Spirit requires Your Active involvement. Let me show it to you from the scripture.
1 Corinthians chapter 12. Verse thirteen. First Corinthians chapter twelve. Verse thirteen. For we were Oh.
Question? Who is the all? Believers. Oh the believers. All the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We were All baptized by the one spirit. That's the ceiling of the spirit. Baptism and ceiling used interchangeably. We were all baptized by the one Spirit. into one body.
And we are All, here it is again. All given the one spirit to drink. That's salvation. That's the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That's the ceiling of the Holy Spirit.
But what about the filling of the Holy Spirit? I'm going to answer the question, but before I answer that question, I'm going to tell you about the two things. That's going to stop you. from being filled with the Holy Spirit. And they're in the scripture again.
Not my opinion, so what it got? Two things. One is found 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 19. It is quenching of the Holy Spirit. And the second thing that's going to stop you from being filled with the Holy Spirit is found in Ephesians 4:30.
And that is grieving of the Holy Spirit. Quenching and grieving, two different things. Because either of them or both of them is going to stop you from being filled with the Holy Spirit, and you're going to live in a dry land spiritually. In fact, there's a danger Of continuously resisting the inner filling of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to tell you more about that.
Well first they're quenching. What is that quenching of the Holy Spirit? With the word to quench, means to suppress or to stifle. It's actually the same word used when you snuff a candle. That's what it means, snuffing a candle.
quenching that candle. And you say, Michael, you've been talking about the Holy Spirit, and you've been telling us that He is the supernatural power, the third member of the Trinity, that He is eternal, that He is Almighty, that He is the very breath of Jesus, He is the Spirit of the Lord. How can I, mere mortal, Snuff the Holy Spirit. You don't snuff the person of the Holy Spirit. But you snuff the voice of the Holy Spirit that's speaking to you.
To quench his voice in your life. is to turn a deaf ear to him. How? by refusing to yield to him. By refusing to give in to his will and demand yours.
Listen, beloved. When you refuse to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit that is speaking to you. You are quenching the Holy Spirit. You are snuffing his voice. How does this work?
When the Holy Spirit of God is calling you, to deal with something in your life. And he's so gentle and he speaks to you very gently. And you hear that voice, and you keep on saying, No, no, no, no, I'm not going to do this. Even though you might be polite and just ignore him rather than say no. Whether it be the area of finances, the tithe, and the offerings that are withholding from God, whether it would be in some ungodly conduct in your life, and whether that be an area of the way you spend your time, whether it be in the area of serving and witnessing for Christ, whether it be in the area of your prayer life, whether it be in the area of relationship that is not wholesome that you need to get out of, whatever.
It may be, there are a hundred other ways that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you and what He points out in your life. You need, you need, you need, you need, you need, you need to stop, you need to do this, you need to do that, and you ignore Him, and you ignore Him, and you ignore Him. What happens? Here's what happens. That voice.
becomes faint. And more faint. and more faint, and more faint, and more faint, until you come to a point in your life when you don't hear him anymore. What have you done? You have quit.
The Holy Spirit of God. You have quenched that voice of the Holy Spirit of God. I want to give you a picture. They will help you in your mind to understand. This filling of the Holy Spirit.
It is a picture of a sail boat. Where the sales A filled With wind.
So much so that you're still on the boat. But you are not guiding that boat, you are not leading that boat, you are not deciding what direction or what speed that boat goes.
So much so. that you are not in control. Anymore. That's the feeling. of the Holy Spirit.
That's what it means. that you are not in control of the boat of your life, but the Holy Spirit is filling the sails of the wind and He's pulling you in His direction. He is taking you His way. And that is the only way, beloved, you're going to have a smooth sailing life even when you get into rough waters. That way, you are constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit, constantly.
You are Following his direction, not yours. constantly living by his power, not yours. Constantly you relying on his strength, not yours. Constantly following his leadership and not yours. Otherwise You can ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit 20,000 times a day, and it will not do you any good.
What? As long as you insist on hoisting your sail. In the opposite direction where the wind is blowing, you are dead in the water. The second condition for not being filled with the Holy Spirit. is grieving the Holy Spirit.
I told you both are different. Quinching and grieving are two different things.
So what is this Grieving of the Holy Spirit. You see, quenching is when you snuff. The voice of the Holy Spirit that is speaking to you. He indwells you, therefore he's speaking to you. And then you snuff his voice out.
Grieving the Holy Spirit is when you become disobedient to the Word of God. You know what the Word of God says, but you don't want to do it. You know what the Word of God is saying to you, but you refuse to obey it. Take a Christian, for example, who habitually living contrary to the word of God. You notice I said habitually.
I'm not talking about a Christian who's going along life's highway from one point of glory into another, and then he slips and falls. You get up. And keep going. I'm talking about the person who habitually habitually There's a world of difference. Between the two, who are habitually and continuously disobeying the word of God.
The person who is habitually and continuously Refusing to do what the Word of God says, and instead they rationalize. They rationalize their sin. Hey, Mirad on this one. Listen carefully. I can give you hundreds of examples.
But the Bible said about the Holy Spirit that He is the Spirit of truth. And therefore, when you habitually lie, You are grieving the Holy Spirit. Because he is the spirit of peace. When you habitually and constantly create strife and filled with anger, You grieve the Holy Spirit and the list goes on. Here's the good news.
1 John 1.9 says, When we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us.
Now The tricky thing is the word confess. 'Cause a lot of people say, Well, I confess, you know, I confess a lot of people confessing all the time. But their idea of confessing is just acknowledging, yes, I got this problem, and I keep doing it. No, my best illustration is what comes from my life. And if I'm driving on the highway, And I miss my exit.
I can sit in the car heading in the wrong direction and say, oh my gosh, I missed my exit, I missed my exit, but I keep driving.
Now that's not confession. That's stupidity. What confession means I need to get off in the next exit, turn around, and come back to where I'm supposed to go. And that's exactly what confessing here means. It is active, it is not passive, it's not just saying it.
And then we need to get back. Moment by moment. moment by moment in your life. You ask the Holy Spirit. to fill you.
to pull you in his direction. to lead you his way. and to guide you. On his road. There's someone here today who would say, Michael, well, how do I know that I am daily filled?
With the Holy Spirit. How would I know that? You know, I'm going to tell you a whole lot more in the next message, but the evidence. of the inner filling of the Holy Spirit. But I won't give you A quick answer.
to that question, because it's a very important question. To know that you're filled with the Holy Spirit. is to be so Conscious of the presence of the Lord Jesus with you. That you can even feel that you can touch him. Because the Holy Spirit has one purpose and that's to reveal Jesus to us.
You are conscious of the presence of the Lord Jesus, specially. When no one else with you Especially In the times when nobody else is watching you. Especially when no one else is seeing you, especially when no one else knows or would possibly know about what you're doing and the decisions you're making. When you are conscious of the presence of Jesus. His word is going to fill you.
His thoughts Who become your thoughts? His standards become your standards. His work becomes your work and your passion. His will becomes your will. And thus You are truly fine.
fulfilment and purpose in life. We're so glad that you found leading the way, and we pray that you were encouraged by Dr. Michael Youssef. to not quench or grieve the Holy Spirit. Thank you for listening.
Many point to politics as the root of crisis in culture today. But what if it went even deeper than that? What if the root of cultural crisis is spiritual? Every moment of every day. There are unseen battles being fought over your head.
Satan wants to keep us in ignorance about him and about the word of God. and yet the angels of light Often work to fight off his attack on the children of the living God in that unseen spiritual battle. In Dr. Michael Youssef's new book, Winning the Invisible War, he offers timely hope for the battle worn. Dr.
Youssef reminds you that although the war isn't over, victory is guaranteed in Christ. As a Bible scholar and compassionate pastor, Dr. Yousev gives you tools to stand strong in the strength of the Lord and be victorious in winning the invisible war. Pre-order your copy today and learn more about the content when you go to ltw.org. It'll be shipped to you the moment it's released when you give a gift of any amount to the ongoing ministry of leading the way.
ltw.org. Request your copy of Winning the Invisible War Today. You can get all of the pre-ordering details from your Leading the Way Ministry representatives at 866-2666-6666. six two six four three five six. And of course, you can order online.
And learn more about the life-shifting content when you go to ltw.org. As we bring today's episode of Leading the Way to a Close. Allow me to invite you also to watch Leading the Way Television. Each week Dig into the truth of God's word and be challenged to love and serve the Savior. Visit ltw.org for the link.
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