Discipline Two – Spirit-filled Living – An Overflowing Life

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Discipline Two—Spirit-Filled Living: An Overflowing Life DYG: Message Five 

Transcript

Let’s open in our Bibles to the seventh chapter of the Gospel by John.

As we turn there, we’re looking at disciplines, the spiritual disciplines, the disciplines of a godly life that which we should be at deciding. That we are going to apply our hearts, our lives toward these. The scriptures tell us that we should discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness.

The first discipline, which I call the discipline of Scripture, and we saw as our theme verse there, Psalm 16:11, in. The Lord’s promise there, He said, I will show you the path of life. I’ll accompany you through life. I’ll make the arrangement. And He says, I will allow you to be at my right hand to have pleasures forevermore. That’s the discipline of Scripture. In the seventh chapter of the Gospel by John, and in just a moment, we’re going to be in the 37th verse.

We’re looking at the second discipline, which I call Spirit fullness or Spirit filled living. You see, just as much as we make a choice to discipline ourselves, to get in the Word of God, we have to also make a choice to discipline ourselves to stay filled with the Holy Spirit.

It’s not just an automatic kind of like, I have some friends and they put in this swimming pool with an automatic filler. And people that have swimming pools and dry areas have to always fill it because it’s going down. But these people’s pools stays full by itself. A lot of people think the Christian life’s like an automatic pool filler. It’s not.

We have to discipline ourselves to be remaining full and controlled by the Holy Spirit. In John seven, verse 37, this is what Jesus said. He says, if anyone at the end of the verse, if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. That’s salvation. Here’s the result of salvation, 38. He who believes in Me as the Scripture has said, out of his heart, will flow rivers of living water. Now listen to Jesus describing the normal life of a believer. This is the life of a born-again person according to Jesus.

He said, rivers of water. Rivers. Now what does that mean? It means when we got saved, the Holy Spirit flowed out of our lives, making us joyous and thankful He flowed out of our lives, making us excited about our sins being gone.

In fact, when we are involved with communion at such a time of remembering what Jesus did for us, and I’ve known about that since I was old enough to sit up and stay awake from church. I’ve been in church every Sunday of my life except when I was sick, or my parents were on vacation, and we acted like we were on church or at church on Sunday.

But you know what? I got used to it. And I remember when I first married Boning and we were standing at Grace Community Church our first time as a couple standing in church, and we were at a communion service. And all of a sudden, I looked over my brand-new bride, had tears run down her eyes and she was just crying.

I said, oh, what’s wrong? What’d I’d do wrong? She says, nothing’s wrong. I just can’t believe the Lord forgave me. I said, to cry about it? And then I thought, yes, the joyous streams of the Holy Spirit cause us to be so thankful that we are forgiven. He flows out of our lives in the Bible. Seems like God talking to us. We’re full of Him.

As you read this book and start over again, perhaps in New Year, it’s just like having God talk to us. That’s what it’s like, Jesus said. When out of us flow rivers of living water when He flows out of our lives, prayer is so natural and uncluttered. It feels like the stars overhead departed, and we’re walking through to Heaven. We talk and walk with the Lord each day. Seems like we’re just walking in newness of life with Christ. That’s what Jesus says in verse 38. Rivers, Torrance, literally. Cascading gushing water coming out of us.

That’s the normal Christian life. That is life as God made it to be. God wants us to have a mighty river of water, of the Holy Spirit flowing out of our lives. We were refreshed when He filled us. We were victorious when He filled us. We were rejoicing, serving joyfully. The Holy Spirit flows through our new life, like rivers of water that flow as Jesus talks about.

I’ve been thinking about that and I thought about what it was like. Not only when I got saved, but I thought of what it was like in a great event in our life, which I want to use as an illustration for you this morning. About seven years ago, through the love and kindness of so many people, Bonnie and I moved into the very first new house we’d ever been in our whole life.

We moved in at Thanksgiving of 1995, and I still remember walking around that house. Everything worked. I actually, it was kind of fun. Every fixture, every faucet, every light, every door shut. It was unbelievable. In fact, having a large family, something that really affected me was the fact that we had a bathtub bigger than the swimming pool, the little plastic one the kids used to be in. All the buddies could get in the pool at once, and it didn’t fill up slowly. I remember turning the spigot and it looked like Niagara Falls.

That thing must have had a hole that big, and that water just came right up, and I thought I just can’t believe it. And the washing machine. The washing machine was so big that all the clothes just disappeared, like in a giant pit. And when you hit that button, again, the water pressure, I don’t know whether they put us over a geyser or something, but that house, the water pressure was so strong that the washing machine just went and started. Dishwasher, you just shut the door. It started going. Water pressure was just flowing in. The shower. Huh? You had to stand back, put your hand up to get in there. It was just, it was enough to knock you down. It was just, I had to tune it down a little bit. It just came right out of the shower. It was so strong. I thought it was a great house. Loved it. That was Thanksgiving.

We had family coming in for Christmas to show off our new house. Bonnie used to be able to get a load done of clothes because that water came in so fast. Half hour, boom, it was gone. By Christmas, I noted that the washing machine was taking two and three and four hours to get done.

I didn’t think anything of it. I thought everybody slows down. After a while, the machine was getting old and then I noticed a dishwasher. It labored sometimes two and three and four hours, and then my shower. Remember the geyser, it just came and started going straight down like this and you had to actually get underneath it like this to make contact with the water, and I didn’t think anything of it didn’t bother me too much until we got to the bothered point when the toilets wouldn’t flush. The bathtub water took hours, and the dishwasher slowed to nearly a stop. This was one month after we moved in, and we were horrified. We called the builder, and we told him that our house was ruined, that our plumbing must have broken, a pipe must have burst under the slab, or where’s the city waterline that came in underneath our driveway, no less, probably was ruptured somewhere. We had nightmare scenarios of backhoes and mud and torn up lawn in the yard. And as we called our builder. He smiled over the telephone, and he says, I’ll be right over. I know exactly what’s wrong.

15 minutes later, he knocked on our door. He was whistling and still smiling, and while we rung our hands, showing him all the terrible non-functioning appliances and fixtures. We took him, I took him into my shower, and I turned it on. It went. And I turned on the bathtub and it went, and nothing came out. He just walked around with his hands folded, smiling. And after we, with all of our grief and disappointment at our new home, spilled out on him, our woes, he walked to our coat closet under the stairs, which is also the tornado closet, which is also the playroom for the kids.

And he opened that door, and he says, I know exactly what’s wrong. And he got down on his knees, stuck his head around behind, and I saw him doing something. And he got something in his hand, and he said, let’s go check your shower. And he walked back to the shower and flipped that switch. And I’ll tell you what, it just knocked all the shampoo bottles off.

It was a geyser again. He says, let’s check that washing machine. He went and pulled it. Bathtub, dishwasher started on its own. Every toilet was just going by itself. It was unbelievable. And I said, could you tell me what’s going on? He said, do you have any two- or three-year-olds? Now you know us, we always have a couple in our family.

And he said let me show you something. And he opened his hand, and he showed me the little round shutoff valve for the main water line into your house, which he had placed in the entry closet, which we had made into the playroom. And so, every time sweet little buddy Joseph had gone in there. He saw that little handle, he thought, I wonder what this is. And he gave it a little turn. And a little turn. And so over about 10 days, his little hand had slowly constricted the entire water supply to our house with that little, tiny at, it was just this far off the ground inside the bottom of the closet as you go around the corner there. And he thought that was part of the playhouse and he had enjoyed adjusting the water supply.

Did you know when the water supply was cut off the house? No appliance using water would work everything shut down in our lives in that house. You say, what are you doing? The Bob the Builder Show? What is this? My old house show? Because the experience of the water slowly getting choked out of our home is so clearly a picture of what happens in the lives of us as believers.

Look back at chapter seven, verse 38, Jesus said, I want rivers of water to flow out of your lives. I want you to be excited about your sins being gone. I want you to read the Bible just like it was God meeting with you and talking to you. I want you to just be flowing in your prayers to Me.

And you know what? That’s how people are when they get saved. It’s unbelievable. They just can’t get enough of the Bible. They can’t get enough of the fellowship of God’s people. They just can’t tell enough people their sins are forgiven. They can’t tell enough people how they can be saved. And you know what? The little Joseph of the grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit starts constricting little by little the water pipe of the Holy Spirit in their life.

And all of a sudden, almost imperceptibly things kind of start slowing down in their life, and things start withering, and the flow just gets constricted. And almost without knowing it, their lives become waterless and barren and dry. What happened to the water valve of our spiritual lives as it’s twisted shut by sin is what the Bible describes as quenching and grieving of the Holy Spirit we are given.

And let’s turn back to Ephesians 4, a command. Look at Ephesians 4:30 with me. And if you’ve never marked these, in fact, if you’ve ever gone through a change in your spiritual life. If you have gone from first being saved and excited to now, being not even sure you’re saved, if you ever gone from overwhelming desire to flee sin and resist temptation to now. You are so discouraged. You can’t resist anything and you’re just taking anything that comes.

If you have gone from voraciously reading your Bible and marking and underlining, and memorizing to, you would rather sit and fall asleep in front of the television. Then let me give you a little diagnostic here, because I think that you need the builder to come by and go into your closet and find out what has turned your water valve off. Okay?

This is what it says in Ephesians 4, starting with verse 25, therefore putting away lying. Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor for members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Don’t give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer but rather let him labor, working with his hands with his good, that he may have something to give him Who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hears.

Now, look at verse 30, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Now, that’s an imperative. By the way, do you know what imperative is? It’s a command. It is a direct command from God, and He said, your responsibility, verse 30, don’t grieve the Holy Spirit. He’s the one that healed you for the day of redemption. What are some grievers? The verse 25 down to 29 are a bunch, verse 31 continues. Here’s something that grieves of Spirit. Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking. Put it away with malice. And here is what He wants. Be kind to one another. Tenderhearted, forgiving, even as God and Christ, for Christ’s sake, forgave you.

For all of our earthly life, it is God’s Holy Spirit that is our lifeline that we need to make connection with to endure. And it says here in verse 30, if we grieve the Holy Spirit of God, it’s like we’re cranking down the waterline of our life. We grieve Him. We cause His influence to be abated in our lives.

That is what happens. The spiritual water valve of our lives is twisted shut, and that’s what the Bible describes as grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit. We are to keep our lives. In fact, look at chapter five in verse 18. ’cause here’s the parallel commandment, Ephesians five 18 as much as the Holy Spirit. We are commanded by God in imperative mode not to grieve him. We are equally commanded, in chapter five in verse 18, look what it says, and do not be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but look at this, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Be constantly being filled. Make it your constant endeavor to never allow the Holy Spirit to not be filling and overflowing your life is what Paul’s telling us. That’s what the great training coach of the winning lifestyle believers, the Apostle Paul tells us.

Let’s look at a little theology of the Holy Spirit. Look back with me at 1 Corinthians 6, and I’m going to give you about five or six passages that you can mark and meditate on to, to ponder in your life whether or not you are disciplining yourself for Spirit fullness. In other words, if the Holy Spirit is cascading out of your life, or whether you are reduced to just standing underneath the shower head and hoping to get something from God as the flow of the Spirit in your life has just been constricted to almost nothing.

1 Corinthians 6:19, this is what Paul tells us. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? This is His headquarters. This is His abode. This is his ministry center. This is his. His home, his holy place. This is where he comes and abides who is in you. That’s the Holy Spirit whom you have from God is a gift from God. And that you are not your own. For you are bought at a price, therefore glorify and there is another imperative. It’s not an option. Whenever you bump into these imperatives, and they’re 562 of ’em in the New Testament, and they’re a great study, as you’re reading through the Bible, you ought to find them and underline ’em.

But as you go through these are not the options. These are the commands. These are what God wants. Therefore, Aris active imperative, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are Gods. What he’s saying is because the Holy Spirit is making headquarters in you, do everything necessary to keep Him from being grieved and quenched.

Keep turning to Galatians now. 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians 5. Let me show you something neat. In Galatians chapter five. Another great text on the Holy Spirit. We are to actively follow the Lord, disciplining the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives by reading his word, praying, and obeying.

His will and it says in Galatians 5:16, it describes that as this, I say then, Paul says, walk. There’s another one of those imperative’s commands, walk. Keep constantly walking with the Holy Spirit. Now when Bonnie and I walk, there are many choices you have. You can be like those power walking couples. They don’t get near each other. Everything’s flying, and they’re all in different, that’s fine. That’s not how we walk. We, I guess we stroll and we’re holding hands and talking and everything else.

A lot of people’s Christian lives is kind of the power walk, and they’re doing it all themselves. And the Holy Spirit’s kind of beside them, watching them and all their get up and everything and they’re out of step with Him. And you should look at it more as a stroll, as a hand in hand, as a communing, heart to heart talk, not a, the Christian life is not a power walk, it is a communion. And so, we are to walk present active imperative command again in the Spirit.

And if we do that, look what verse 16 says, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now look at verse 25, same chapter. If we live in the Spirit, he says it again, let us also walk in the Spirit. So, our body is His abiding place. We’re to walk in Him.

Now keep going to Ephesians 4: 30 where we were with that in mind because he owns us and lives in us because he commands us to walk in him. Ephesians 4:30 says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Another imperative. It is my duty to say no to anything that will shut off the valve of the Holy Spirit’s working in my life. It’s my job to make sure that nothing constricts Him. Nothing stops the flow of the Spirit in my life. That’s a command.

Now, keep going over to 1 Thessalonians chapter five. So you go by Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians 5 because a pattern of sin. That we continue in, leads us further away from the vital ministry of the Holy Spirit, and we do more than grieve Him. See, grieving is when I allow anger or wrath or malice or bitterness, all those things we saw in Ephesians 4.

When I allow those to happen and give into them, it right on the spot grieves the Holy Spirit. It’s being at dinner with someone, and you say something, and you look at ’em. They go. They’re disappointed, they’re grieved that you did that. Now they don’t get up and leave the table, but they’re grieved.

But now watch the protracted grieving of the Holy Spirit leads to 1 Thessalonians 5:19 and it says there, do not quench the spirit. Another imperative. Did you know that if you study carefully, there seems to be two levels of ours. Harming the work of the Holy Spirit in our life. There is the grieving, and that seems to be an ongoing, if we allow these little things to creep up, it just grieves the Holy Spirit.

And because He is a person, because He has a personality and because he has the Scriptures talk about Him being with human emotions grieve like we are, then we grieve Him. But quenching is a step back from that. It is the actual putting out the fire of His warmth in our lives and of His power in our lives.

Now you say does quenching mean that the Holy Spirit leaves us? I’m glad you asked that. Quickly turn back to John 14 because I want to assure you right now. That Jesus knew we would be concerned about that. So, he addresses it in John 14 because Jesus promised something about His Spirit, and this does not mean He leaves us.

It means the Holy Spirit ceases to supply us the joy and power we need for Christian living, but He doesn’t leave us. John 14 in verse 16, Jesus said this, I’ll pray the Father, He will give you another Helper. Now, this is where the language is very beneficial. In Greek language, there’s two others, another of a different kind, another of the same kind.

This is the word for another of the same kind. Jesus said The Holy Spirit is another Helper. He’s just like Me. You want to know what the Holy Spirit’s like? He’s just like Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s just like Jesus. And that’s what Jesus said. I’ll send you another of the same kind, a Helper. Now look, here’s the promise that He may abide with you forever.

As believers, we’re commanded to stay filled with the Spirit. It’s a continuous experience. It’s like drinking water from a fresh dream. But if we allow patterns of sin to continue, they lead us further and further away from His vital ministry. He is grieved and He is quenched, and then the supply of joy and power that we need for our daily Christian life is gone.

You say, how do we quench the Holy Spirit? Okay. Three ways I’d like to suggest when we say no to something God directs us to do. If God tells us that we are to do something in our life and we say no to Him. If we keep saying that, no, He’s grieved, and then the Holy Spirit becomes quenched.

Now, was our house uninhabitable when the water was almost constricted? No, it just was unbearable. And that’s what a lot of Christians live in. They live in almost unbearable condition in their walk with God. They do not feel saved. They are not secure in their salvation. They are not victorious in their Christian life.

They are not able to read this book. They hear all this, let’s start over and read the Bible. And they say, are you kidding? I couldn’t even read it last year. That’s because they’ve cranked down the supply of the Holy Spirit by grieving and quenching Him.

Second way, not only say no to something God directs us to do when we ignore his presence, he wants to let us invite His help and His power and his Insight and His victorious overcoming Sword of the Spirit in our life. And you know what? We ignore His presence. We try and live on our own. We try and walk the Christian life, our power walk. We’re doing it by ourself. And He says, no, you can’t make it without Me. Apart from Me you can do nothing.

Third way, when we sin repeatedly, our sin causes Holy Spirit to abandon positive, forward moving implementation of blessing. He cannot fully convict us of sin, and we cause Him to chastise us.

How can we avoid grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit? By choosing to keep God’s Word. And there are so many verses. Let me just show you a couple turn to Romans 8. This is probably the best part of the Bible to mine out truth about the Holy Spirit, because when we grieve and quench the Holy Spirit, it immediately impacts the key areas of our spiritual life.

Romans 8:2 says this, the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death. When we grieve the Holy Spirit, immediately, our power to say no to sin ceases. It’s you get out of your home area and your cell phone doesn’t work. Okay? You can have it on, but it just gets that quick signal or whatever yours does, and it doesn’t work.

So, look at verse 12. Here’s another thing that happens of Romans 8. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to flesh. Verse 14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. We have spiritual confidence when we walk in the Holy Spirit. But when we grieve and quench Him, as the Bible says, the righteous are as bold as a lion, but the unrighteous run when no one’s even chasing them.

And what the Scriptures say is that immediately we instantly feel a lack of spiritual boldness in our lives. If you’re afraid to speak up for Christ to witness to, to testify, to share your hope in Christ with someone, the valve has been shut by you. You have either not listened, not followed, or intentionally, repeatedly sinned and shut that valve off because it takes away our confidence. It takes away our victorious life in Christ.

Look at verse 16. Here’s another one. Romans 8:16, the Spirit, Himself, bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. The assurance of the Holy Spirit. We start feeling like we’re not even saved. Was there a time when you were confidently assured, and you were walking in Christ, and you loved Him and now you don’t even feel like you’re a Christian?

Does it mean you lost your salvation? No. If you ever had it, you still have it. It means that by ignoring Him or by sinning against Him, and grieving and clenching the Holy Spirit, that valve of His water of life flowing through has been constricted to the point. You don’t even feel it anymore. Our assurance goes away.

Here’s the last one, verse 26 of Romans 8. Our prayerfulness also ends. It says Romans 8:26. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don’t know how we should even pray, but the Spirit makes intercession for us. When we grieve and quench Him, we lose our connection. We feel our calls to Heaven are breaking up like bad reception on our phones because the Holy Spirit is the carrier of our signals.

You know why people don’t like to pray when they’re not full of the Holy Spirit? Because they’ve pushed the antenna down. They’ve in fact unscrewed it and taken it off. There’s no way to commune when we grieve and quench because He is the carrier of our signals. He is the one who impels us to intercede.

How about it? Are you engaged in the discipline of a Spirit fullness in your life? Life the way God wanted it to be? Does there flow out of your life a mighty river of water. Are you refreshed? Are you victorious? Are you rejoicing? Are you serving joyfully? The Holy Spirit wants to flow through our new lives like rivers of water that flowed in our new house. The new life of the believer is God intended it to be. Discipline yourself for the purpose of staying full so that you don’t lose Victor, so you don’t lose confidence and assurance and prayerfulness say no to sin. And say yes to the Holy Spirit.

Let’s bow for a word of prayer. Father, what we would like to declare this morning is that His sacrifice on the Cross is sufficient to cleanse us even from the grieving and clenching of Your Spirit.

If we will agree with You, if we will agree that we have not disciplined ourself. And we have slowly allowed that valve of the water of your Spirit and our life to get shut off. Help us discipline ourself to turn it back on by repentance, by confession, through Your cleansing and through purposing in our heart that we’ll say no to sin. And yes, to You, oh Savior, thank you. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

With every new year that begins we must make our plans and priorities for the coming year. To help us settle in on what the Lord desires for each of us, we have started this series to refresh our minds with God’s plan.

Our key passage for this series is I Timothy 4.7. Paul says we are to discipline our selves towards godliness. What are the disciplines that encourage a godly life? I call them The Disciplines of a Godly Life. The second discipline is the Discipline of Spirit Filled Living.

Last week we examined the Discipline of Scripture. Time alone with God in His Word, the Scriptures, is the great necessity of our spiritual lives. We need to be alone with God daily! We need to find times to get away alone. Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The Lord God of the Universe wants to Arrange your life, and Accompany you trip through life, and authorize everything needed from now on. Wow, that is the best life there is.

The second Discipline of a Godly Life: Spirit Filled Living. Jesus explained the Holy Spirit in our lives by using the image of a strong river of water flowing out of us. Lets turn there to John 7.37-38. Rivers of water is the way Jesus describes the normal life of believers, His children.

o Rivers of water would mean that when we were saved He flowed out of our lives making us joyous and thankful.

o He flowed out of our lives making us so excited about all our sins being gone.

o He flowed out of our lives so that when we read the Bible it seemed just like God was talking to us.

o He flowed out of our lives making prayer was so natural and uncluttered. It felt like the stars overhead had parted and we were walking right into Heaven before God’s Throne. We just talked and walked with the Lord through. And each day it seemed like all of life was brand new. And that is life as God made it to be with that mighty river of water flowing out of our lives. We were refreshed, we were victorious, we were rejoicing, we were serving joyfully. The Holy Spirit was flowing through our new lives like the rivers of water that flowed in that new house of ours. That is the life of a believer as God intended it to be.

Seven years ago through the love, prayers, and hard work of so many friends we moved into our very first new home of our lives. It was fantastic, especially considering the size of our family.

o The bathtub was the size of our old plastic swimming pool, and easily held all three of the little buddies and all their toys in an ocean of warm water. In fact the water roared out of that new plumbing with a roar and flow that sounded an awful lot like the Niagara Falls. It seemed the water lines into our house were enlarged and very strong.

o The washing machine was stainless steel, oversized and of such oceanic capacity — that any mountain of laundry would just disappear into that huge cavern. It was a small wonder to hear and see how fast the load would start as a torrent of water cascaded down upon the clothes like a geyser. It seemed like the water pressure into our house was like a fire hydrant.

o The dishwasher was huge and once the dishes were parked in their spaces the roar of water and swishing was amazing. In fact it seemed that it started almost as soon as we shut the front because the water pressure of this new home was so strong.

o And the shower. Whew, what an experience. Hot and strong came that flow. It was almost like we had built the house over Old Faithful the geyser. Just turn the handle and POW, out came the waterfall. What a shower.

But something happened one day the week before our first Christmas here in Tulsa. Bonnie noticed that the washer slowed down day by day until it took all day to just do one load. The dishwasher took 3 to 4 hours instead of 30 minutes. And the shower began to wilt, until the only way to get wet was to stand under the nozzle and even then it was pitiful.

At first it was a bother and then as the toilets, bath tubs and washers slowed to nearly a stop. We were horrified, our new home was ruined, it was broken plumbing we thought. A pipe burst in the slab or worse, the city waterline that ran under our cement approach to the garage. We had nightmare scenarios of backhoes and mud and a torn up lawn and yard as we called our builder. He smiled over the phone and said he knew exactly what was wrong.

In 15 minutes he arrived whistling and still smiling. While we wrung our hands showing him all the terrible non-functioning appliances and fixtures – he just smiled. And then after all our grief and disappointment at our new home was all spilled out he said to follow him. He walked to our coat closet a.k.a under stairs tornado closet a.k.a. kids hideaway and knelt down chuckling. He asked “Do you have any two or three year olds that play in here?” In a moment he stood and said, go try the shower. We ran and voila, Niagara Falls was back. He opened his hand and there was the small road shut off valve handle that one of our precious buddies had been slowly turning bit by bit each day until the rivers of water into our home were choked, quenched and closed out of the house.

Why am I giving you the My Old House show? Because the experience of the water slowly getting choked out of our home is so clearly a picture of what happens so often to so many believers!

Jesus talked about such a strong flow of water in a spiritual sense. Lets turn there to John 7.37-38. Rivers of water is the way Jesus describes the normal life of believers, His children.

o Rivers of water would mean that when we were saved He flowed out of our lives making us joyous and thankful.

o He flowed out of our lives making us so excited about all our sins being gone.

o He flowed out of our lives so that when we read the Bible it seemed just like God was talking to us.

o He flowed out of our lives making prayer was so natural and uncluttered. It felt like the stars overhead had parted and we were walking right into Heaven before God’s Throne. We just talked and walked with the Lord through. And each day it seemed like all of life was brand new.

And that is life as God made it to be with that mighty river of water flowing out of our lives. We were refreshed, we were victorious, we were rejoicing, we were serving joyfully. The Holy Spirit was flowing through our new lives like the rivers of water that flowed in that new house of ours. That is the life of a believer as God intended it to be. Then slowly something happened. It seemed that we didn’t find God’s Word so exciting, and soon we hardly understood what we read each day. We also experienced troubles in prayer, it seemed we talked to ourselves and all those words just bounced around inside our heads.

That is exactly what happens when the water valve of our spiritual lives is twisted shut by sin. And that is what the Bible describes as Quenching and Grieving the Holy Spirit. We are let with the command to keep our lives filled with the Holy Spirit. We are to walk in Him, live through Him, bear fruit by Him, and overcome sin with Him as our Sword of the Word.

For all of our earthly life it is God’s Holy Spirit that is our lifeline for all that we need to make it. Because of this vital supply line that we share with Him we must protect our relationship. Why? Listen to Paul the great training coach of the winning lifestyle believers are to share. We must not hinder the Holy Spirit in our lives.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify (aorist active imperative) God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Rather, we are to actively follow the Lord by reading the Word, praying, and obeying His will.

Galatians 5:16, 25 I say then: Walk (present active imperative) in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

But if we give in to sin (like the lying, bitterness, and course talking) by disobeying God, we are grieving the Spirit (Eph. 4:30)

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve (present active imperative) the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

A pattern of sin that we continue to do leads us further away from the vital ministry of the Holy Spirit as we quench the Spirit (1 Thes. 5:19).

1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench (present active imperative) the Spirit.

Quenching does not mean that the Holy Spirit leaves us. We know this because Jesus promised that His Spirit would abide in us forever. But quenching means that the Holy Spirit ceases to supply us the joy and power that we need for daily Christian living.

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another
Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
As believers we are commanded to stay filled with the Spirit, which simply means “controlled by the Spirit.”

Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled (present passive imperative) with the Spirit,

This is a continuous experience, like drinking water from a fresh stream (John 7:37–39).

John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink (present active imperative). He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
How Do We Quench the Spirit?

In1[1] using the word quench, Paul pictured the Spirit of God as fire (see Isa. 4:4; Acts 2:3; Rev. 4:5). Fire speaks of purity, power, light, warmth, and (if necessary) destruction. When the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives and churches, we have a warmth of love in our hearts, light for our minds, and energy for our wills. He “melts us together” so that there is harmony and cooperation; and He purifies us so that we put away sin. The fire of the Spirit must not go out on the altar of our hearts; we must maintain that devotion to Christ that motivates and energizes our lives.
The2[2] foremost ways that we quench the work of the Holy Spirit are these: 1. We say no to something God directs us to do. We choose our will over His will. We choose to go our own way. The Holy Spirit can do nothing to help us and to keep us in the center of God’s plan and purpose for our lives if we willfully turn away from His leading and choose to pursue our desires and goals. He will not help us do something that He knows is contrary to God’s best for us. 2. We can ignore His presence. Again, this is a matter of the will. We can go about living our lives and refuse to acknowledge His help, invite His help, or accept His help. 3. We can sin repeatedly. Our sin causes the Holy Spirit to abandon any positive, forward-moving implementation for our blessing so that He might convict us of our sin. When we sin, we evoke the chastisement and chiding of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He cannot reward our unfaithfulness. He cannot participate in our rebellion. We quench His eager desire to produce good fruit in us, for us, and through us.
How3[3] Can We Avoid Grieving the Holy Spirit?

1. We can choose to keep God’s commandments and to lead a disciplined life. When we sin, we must confess the sin immediately and repent of it, changing our minds and our behavior to conform to God’s statutes.

2. As we ask the Holy Spirit to lead us and help us on a daily basis, we have His help in our Christian walk. He keeps our footing sure. He gives us the courage to withstand temptation.

When we grieve (Ephesians 4.30) and quench (1st Thessalonians 5.19) the Holy Spirit there is an immediate impact upon THESE 7 KEY AREAS OF our lives:

1. VICTORIOUSNESS Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. WE IMMEDIATELY LOSE OUR POWER TO SAY NO TO SIN.

2. CONFIDENCE Romans 8:12,14 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors— not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. WE INSTANTLY FEEL A LACK OF SPIRITUAL BOLDNESS IN OUR LIVES.

3. ASSURANCE Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, WE START FEELING LIKE WE AREN’T EVEN SAVED.

4. PRAYERFULNESS Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. WE LOSE OUR CONNECTION AND FEEL OUR CALLS TO HEAVEN ARE ‘BREAKING UP’ LIKE BAD RECEPTION ON A CELL PHONE, BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR CARRIER OF OUR CALL SIGNALS.

5. YEILDEDNESS Romans 12:1 I beseech (PARAKALEO one of the names of the Holy Spirit “Paraklete) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. WE STOP THE LIFE OF CONSECRATION AND DAILY SACRIFING FOR CHRIST’S SAKE.

6. FRUITFULNESS Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, THE PRODUCTION OF ATTITUDE AND ACTION FRUIT THROUGH THE POWER OF GOD CEASES.

7. JOYFULNESS 1 Thessalonians 1:6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, THE SPRINGS OF THE JOY OF THE LORD WHICH IS OUR STRENGTH – DRIES UP!

So how about it? Are you engaged in the discipline of Spirit Filled Living?

That is life as God made it to be with that mighty river of water flowing out of our lives. God wants us refreshed, God wants us victorious, God wants us rejoicing, God wants us serving joyfully. The Holy Spirit wants to flow through our new lives like the rivers of water that flowed in that new house of ours. That is the life of a believer as God intended it to be.

Discipline yourself for the purpose of staying filled with the Holy Spirit!
What Does the Holy Spirit Produce in Lives Yielded to Him? HE IS THE WITNESSING SPIRIT OF GOD Book of Acts ROMANS 1:3-4 HE IS THE LIBERATING SPIRIT OF GOD Clingen POWs ROMANS 8:1-4 HE IS THE TRANSFORMING & MORTIFYING SPIRIT OF GOD C. T. Studd ROMANS. 8:5-8, 1213 HE IS THE QUICKENING SPIRIT OF GOD Eye on Sparrow ROMANS 8:9-11 HE IS THE GUIDING SPIRIT OF GOD Phillip Acts 8:4 ROMANS 8:14
HE IS THE ENCOURAGING SPIRIT OF GOD Barnabus Acts 4:36 ROMANS 8:15
HE IS THE ASSURING SPIRIT OF GOD Peter 2 P 1:1621 ROMANS 8:16-17
HE IS THE HOPING SPIRIT OF GOD John Rev. 1:10 ROMANS 8:18-25 HE IS THE INTERCEDING SPIRIT OF GOD Epaphras Col. 4:12 ROMANS 8:26-30 HE IS THE SACRIFICNG SPIRIT OF GOD Paul II Tim. 4:6 ROMANS 12:1-2 HE IS THE GLADDENING SPIRIT OF GOD Apostles Acts 5:41 ROMANS 14:17; 15:13 HE IS THE OUTREACHING SPIRIT OF GOD Church Acts 8:4 ROMANS 15:16

Some amazing changes occur when God gets a hold of us.

1. THE WITNESSING SPIRIT OF GOD ROMANS. 1:3-4 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. There are 31 different Greek words used in the book of Acts to describe the 160 different times of Christians verbally communicating the Good News about Jesus4[4]. It is the Holy Spirit who energized them into action. This book is not the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES but of the HOLY SPIRIT! When we are walking in the Spirit we will be talking in everyday terms to everyday people about the most extroardinary event of all time. Jesus is to be a part of life.

2. Secondly we met the Liberating Spirit in Romans 8. Has Jesus marched into your life and liberated you? Is there a vivid recollection that you can’t stop sharing? THE LIBERATING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

3. The third element of the Holy Spirit of God’s miraculous working. Do you remember the darkness of Africa in 1910 when CT Studd arrived? Remember the total transformation of those former demon worshiping cannibals? Sounds totally impossible doesn’t it? It is apart from the work of God. THE TRANSFORMING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 8:5-8 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Remember there are six practical action items to begin the MORTIFICATION process in your life. That word means, to throttle sin and crush it in our lives, sapping it of It’s strength, rooting it out, and depriving it of It’s influence. …Mortification involves the cultivation of new habits of godliness, combined with the elimination of old sinful habits from our behavior.5[5] Each of these Biblical mortification commands are for us as Christians to obey. They are not something we pray for and wait. They are for us to actively grab a hold of and obey.

4. THE QUICKENING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 8:9-11 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Life giving Psalm 71 Eye on the Sparrow

5. THE GUIDING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Phillip best illustrates THE GUIDING SPIRIT OF GOD in Acts 8:4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. The seven walks of Ephesians. This is the Spirit of Sonship. The use of Abba in the New Testament John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (KJV)

6. THE ENCOURAGING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” Barnabus best illustrates THE ENCOURAGING SPIRIT OF GOD in Acts 4:36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus,

7. THE ASSURING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Peter best illustrates THE ASSURING SPIRIT OF GOD in 2 Peter 1:16-21 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

8. THE HOPING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 8:18-25 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. John on Patmos best illustrates THE HOPING SPIRIT OF GOD in Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, Hope because we have `endless life’ Heb.7; Expectancy because `our citizenship is’ Phil.1:27

9. THE INTERCEEDING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 8:26-30 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Epaphras best illustrates THE INTERCEDING SPIRIT OF GOD in Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Hebrews 4:15-16 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (KJV)

10. THE SACRIFICING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Paul best illustrates THE SACRIFICING SPIRIT OF GOD in 2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. it is He who comes alongside of us calling for all. The standard is total life consuming sacrifice

11. THE GLADDENING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Apostles best illustrates THE GLADDENING SPIRIT OF GOD in Acts 5:41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

12. THE WITNESSING SPIRIT OF GOD Romans 15:16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ROMANS. 15:16 Paul was a minister (leitourgos-public religious servant) He was ministering (hierourgeo-perform sacrifice as priest) His ministry was presenting gentiles as an offering to God They were sanctified (higiasmene=set apart for divine service) Persecuted saints best illustrates THE WITNESSING SPIRIT OF GOD in Acts 8:4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

So the lives of the 1st Century Saints were stained by the irresistible beauty of the Holy Spirit. How did they get that way? Listen as Paul again explains the Walk in the Spirit in Romans 8:14-17.

1[1] Wiersbe, Warren W., The Bible Exposition Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books) 1997.

2[2] Stanley, Charles, Relying on the Holy Spirit, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson) c1996.

3[3] Stanley, Charles, Relying on the Holy Spirit, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson) c1996.

4[4] Robert Coleman, The Master Plan of Discipleship, p.88-89.

5[5] John MacArthur, The Vanishing Conscience, Dallas:Word, 1994, p. 156.

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