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Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Good evening. Welcome to gift.
Great to see you all here today at the service.
Would y'all please have a seat and grab your handout.
And open up that handout to a song of 288.
We can begin this evening's service by singing a song of 288.
I am resolved.
I am responsible.
available listed up there at on the upper left hand side Sundays at 10 30
a.m. again at 5 30 p.m. Thursdays at 7 we're in 2nd Kings chapter number 2 so
come on out for that we've got the salvation's and baptisms and offering
totals listed below there as well as the attendance over on the right hand side
don't forget about the anniversary service coming up Sunday September 4th
with our guest preacher from Verity Baptist Church Deacon Gonzalez coming
out to preach for us and the meal there I think everybody in the room is pretty
much up to speed on what's taking place there you've got the song list for the
upcoming services listed there below you can scan the QR code got the new Bible
memory verse for this week saw some kids already eating ice cream so I guess I
gotta start finding more challenging verses for you guys so you can't
memorize it within 10 minutes although there's nothing wrong with that but
here's the trick about my memorizing Bible if you really want to get
something other than just an ice cream bar out of this memorization is to
retain what you've memorized retain what you've memorized don't just memorize
something and then forget that you ever memorized it because you know that's how
the Holy Spirit speaks to us that's how the Holy Spirit leads us is through his
word the more scripture we have laid up in our heart you know the more the Lord
is gonna be able to speak to us and guide us we want to have that reservoir
like the Bible says we need to let the Word of God dwell with us richly what in
all wisdom you know the Word of God in you is going to make you wise so I would
really encourage the people that are memorizing scripture not just these
anyone to make sure you retain what you memorize and there is a process there I
should probably just go ahead and preach a sermon about that on the back we've
got the that was kind of a mini sermon on the subject but on the back we have
the ladies that are invited to the baby shower in honor of commie ellingson
Saturday September 17th from 2 to 5 and if you want to bring a gift you can scan
the QR code for the registry and speak to mrs. Gardere if you'd like to
decorate and then also we have the graduation service coming up for Abby
and Robert Martinez if you can make it out on Saturday September 10th at 1 p.m.
we'd love to have you out they'll just be a short service immediately followed
by a meal I think we've settled on Juanitos okay all right I'm getting some
nods there all right we're gonna get the the rice and the carne asada there's no
peas in the rice at Juanitos okay but Juanitos is great so we're looking
forward to that and then if people are able and again I'll put up another sign
up sheet if people want to bring a side or a dessert you're welcome to do that
I'm sure that'd be appreciated but we'll do the Juanitos and then the church will
also provide a nice cake too so we're gonna have tacos and cake I mean if
that's not enough to bring you out I don't know what is you know people are
asking me what are you gonna do for the service I was thinking do we get a
bounce house do we get a clown I'm like wait a minute it's a graduation service
right they're too old for that kind of stuff right you got to pick on them a
little bit while we well we got them where we want them okay but very always
very exciting thing to see young people growing up and going into adulthood and
graduating and you know crossing off these milestones so if you could come on
out and celebrate with us we would love to have you and then over on the well
let me just say this we'll kind of soul winning so I'm trying to say I'm all
over the place tonight folks we're gonna go back to Friday on the 19th anything
for Friday and then I know the group Saturday had won anything outside a
group on Saturday what about for the group today was there a total two men
all right well we'll keep up the good work soul winning and then we're gonna
go ahead and sing one more song before we get to the preaching tonight
I know. Song number 162.
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
O say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
O say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the Lord hear his voice
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice
O come, O come, to the Father, through Jesus the Son
And give him the glory great things he hath done
Amen. At this time we'll pass the offering of the plague.
As the plague goes around, we'll be starting the Bible to Psalm chapter 92.
That's Psalm chapter 92. As always, read the entire chapter.
Psalm 92, the Bible reads,
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praise unto thy name, O Most High,
to show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night.
Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the paltry, upon the harp at the solemn sound,
for thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works. I will triumph in the work of thy hands.
O Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep.
A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth the fool understand this.
When the wicked spring up as grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish,
it is that they shall be destroyed forever.
But thou, Lord, art Most High forever, for lo, thine enemies, O Lord,
for lo, thine enemies shall perish, all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
But my horn shall be exalted like the horn of a unicorn, and I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
Mine eye also shall see my desire, and mine enemies and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age, they shall be fat and flourishing,
to show that the Lord is upright, he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Let's go ahead and pray.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the time that we have to come together during the week for the preaching of your word.
I pray that you would help me, Lord, to preach tonight.
And, Lord, that you help us to be attentive to your word.
And, Lord, we thank you for all that you will do and have done in Christ's name. Amen.
So in Psalm 92, I want to really look at the passage there beginning in verse 5 where it says,
O Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts are very deep.
A brutish man knoweth not, neither doeth a fool understand this.
When the wicked spring up as grass, when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever.
But thou, O Lord, excuse me, but Lord, thou art most high forever.
For lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for lo, thine enemies shall perish.
All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
Verse 10, But mine horn shall thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn.
I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
And that's where I get the title for the sermon tonight, Fresh Oil.
That's the title of the sermon, Fresh Oil.
And I'm sure every girl, you know, under the age of, you know, 15 or whatever in the room,
as soon as I read verse 10, got all excited because I brought up the unicorn, right?
And, you know, a lot of people will take this verse and throw it at us like, Oh, you believe in unicorns?
Well, you know, I believe the Bible.
So the Bible says there was an animal called unicorn. I believe that there was.
You know, and that's not what the sermon is about.
But is it really that hard to believe that there was an animal that maybe went extinct or we just know it as something else today?
I can't really tell you exactly what the unicorn is. A lot of people have different theories.
You know, maybe it was a horse with a single horn coming out of his head. Is it really that far-fetched?
I mean, we have cows that grow two horns out of their heads.
I mean, there's multiple animals that have multiple horns coming out of their heads, rhinoceroses, right?
So is it hard to believe that maybe there was a horn there and they just, you know, didn't have the need for it?
They had, you know, just lost it over time.
Anyway, that's not what the sermon's about. So sorry to disappoint all the girls with the, you know, the unicorn posters in their bedroom and everything like that.
But I want to focus on that last portion where it says, I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
And really what we need to understand in Scripture is that oil represents the Holy Spirit in Scripture.
And this is something that's very commonly accepted.
If you would, keep something there in Psalms all night, but go over to Acts chapter 10, just to, you know, just so we can get this out of the way here.
Just some text proofs that, you know, the Holy Spirit is represented in Scripture by oil.
And really, when you think about it, because it says, I shall be anointed with fresh oil, showing us that being anointed, you know, that's something that is done with oil.
And there's so many passages, so many examples of that in Scripture. We can't turn to all of them.
One example would be with the high priest. They were to be, Moses was told that he would take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head, the priest, and anoint him.
So you're anointing with oil, okay? Remember when Jesus told Simon, he said what?
Thou didst not, my head with oil, thou didst not anoint. So anointing is something that is done with oil.
But if you notice, in Acts 10, verse 38, it says how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost.
So you see in Scripture that not only is anointing something that's done with oil, but it's also something that's done with the Holy Ghost.
And that's kind of where you can make these correlations where, you know, the oil in Scripture often represents the Holy Spirit in Scripture.
And that's important to understand, but that's not the thrust of the sermon.
And what I want to get across tonight is that there is the anointing of the Holy Ghost, right, but then there's also the filling of the Holy Ghost.
And it's important to understand this distinction as Christians, as those that have put their faith in Christ.
Is that once you've put your faith in Christ, once you've believed on Jesus Christ for your salvation, you are your anointed or you're sealed.
That's a one-time event that takes place.
If you would, look down. Did I have to go to Ephesians 1? Go to Ephesians 1. I know I didn't have to go there.
Go to Ephesians 1.
You know, there's a difference between, you know, being anointed of the Holy Ghost and then actually being filled with the Holy Spirit.
And unfortunately today, you know, there's a lot of people, a lot of Christians, a lot of God's people that are walking around.
They're anointed, but you know what? They're not filled with the Holy Ghost.
And it's a shame because they're missing out on so many good things that come with being filled with the Holy Ghost.
You know, as God's people, as God's children, you know, we have access to that anointing, not just the anointing, but the filling of the Holy Ghost.
That's something we should desire for our lives.
That is something we should seek after, that is something we should want, that is something that we should take advantage of.
Because look, the unbeliever doesn't have access to that.
The person who rejects the Bible, rejects Christ, is not saved.
They do not, it's not even possible for them to be filled with the Holy Ghost.
And they're missing out on all of these great things.
They're never going to understand what it means to be anointed with what? With fresh oil.
If you look there in Ephesians chapter 1, it says in verse 13, it said,
In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed.
He's saying, look, you heard the word of truth, you heard the gospel of your salvation, you trusted it, you believed it,
and when that happened, it said you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
So we all, once we believe, we have that sealing, we have that anointing of the Holy Ghost,
but not every believer is filled with the Holy Ghost. Why? Because there's a difference.
There's a difference between being anointed and being filled.
Keep something in Ephesians as well, we're going to look at several chapters in Ephesians,
if you would in fact, just look there, go over to chapter 5, go over to chapter 5.
So look, we're anointed with the Holy Ghost, that's salvation, but to be filled with the Holy Ghost,
that's something completely different altogether.
That's something that has to happen on a daily basis.
Look, that's something that you have to get over and over again.
That's why that filling is called being anointed with what? With fresh oil.
You can't just get filled with the Holy Spirit one time and then go the rest of your life and you're good.
You know, you have to be anointed with fresh oil daily.
On a regular basis, we have to constantly be seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit over and over again.
Why? Because sometimes we lose a bit of that anointing, don't we? We lose some of that filling.
In fact, we grieve the Holy Spirit, we quench the Holy Spirit.
Look, if we're not actively seeking to be filled with the Holy Ghost, in all likelihood, we're grieving Him.
If, you know, we're not actively seeking and going after the filling of the Holy Spirit,
if we're not asking for that fresh oil, in all likelihood, we are quenching the Holy Spirit in our life.
Notice there in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 it says,
And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
Look, if you got saved and you're just always filled with the Spirit every day going forward,
why is Paul here commanding us to be filled with the Spirit?
He's saying, look, you need to be filled with the Spirit. He's talking to born-again, saved believers.
People that, yes, have been anointed by the Holy Spirit, that have been sealed in the day of redemption,
still need to what? Be filled with the Holy Ghost. And it's the same for you and me today.
We're sealed, we're anointed, you know, we have that promise, we have that earnest of the Spirit,
the down payment of our salvation, that He which has begun to work in us,
shall perform it on the day of Jesus Christ. We understand that, but I'm telling you,
between here and Heaven, we have to get filled with the Holy Spirit every single day.
We have to seek that fresh oil. That's why it's being commanded here,
because it's not something that's just automatic.
In order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, in order to have that fresh oil, you have to be refilled.
I'll say that again, in order to remain filled, you have to be refilled,
because you're always, you know, we're always kind of losing the Holy Spirit.
Why? Because none of us is perfect. We've all sinned. We all commit sin every day,
we all do things, sometimes we get backslidden, you know, sometimes we do things, say things,
sometimes it's the things we don't do, we're always probably, to some degree or another,
quenching the Holy Spirit, grieving the Holy Spirit. We're losing that oil, so to speak.
That's why we always have to seek what? Fresh oil. That's why we have to go into God
and asking for forgiveness, asking for cleansing, and asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
You know, we have that promise that if we ask for the Holy Spirit, He'll give it to us.
In order to remain filled, you must be refilled. You know, an illustration of this would be an engine.
You know, like a car engine, the motor inside of a car.
You know, I know oil and technology has come a long way where you don't have to change it
every 3,000 miles in some of these newer vehicles, but even then, there isn't a vehicle out there
that you don't have to change the oil, as far as I know. I mean, if you go long enough
without changing the oil in your car, you know, that engine is going to, what, seize up.
Eventually the oil will burn off, the gas gets cracked, they begin to leak, you're dripping oil,
you know, over time you're losing oil, you start burning oil, you get a quart low,
then you're half a, you know, you're two quarts low, next thing you know you're bone dry.
What's going to happen to your engine? It's going to seize up. It's going to stop running.
You know, engines have to be refilled with oil. They have to receive fresh oil.
They must be, that oil has to be renewed. Why? Due to use and due to age.
And it's the same way with us. We grieve the Holy Spirit, we quench the Holy Spirit,
we're just running on yesterday's victories, we're just running on the accomplishments of yesteryear,
the things that we used to do. Look, that oil is going to run out, friend.
And then you're going to seize up. Look at Ephesians chapter 4.
There is a command in 1 Thessalonians 5, I've reiterated it several times right now already,
that says, quench not the Spirit, in 1 Thessalonians 5.
What that tells me is that it's possible for those that are anointed, those that are sealed with the Holy Spirit,
to still go ahead and quench the Holy Spirit in their life.
Look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30, it says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby you are sealed on the day of redemption.
1 Thessalonians 5 is telling us to not quench the Spirit.
Ephesians 4 is telling us to not grieve the Holy Spirit. Why? Because we can.
And we can run out of that oil. We can let the sin in.
The sin gets in and starts to do what? It starts to seize up our spiritual engine.
The oil starts to run out, the sin starts to come in, it's like somebody pouring sand in there,
someone pouring the sawdust in there. It's going to seize that engine up.
That's why it's so hard to get unspiritual people to turn over, like you would an engine.
You get that old engine that's sitting out in the weeds for so long, and you try to turn that thing over.
Eventually the battery wears out. Sometimes it's just no use.
You've got to overhaul the engine, you've got to pull it out, disconnect it,
and go through the whole thing and rebuild it to get it to run again.
Now the same thing is going to happen to us in our spiritual lives if we just sit out in the weeds spiritually.
If we just let the engine rest. If we don't constantly use it and work on it and keep it moving.
And doing what? Adding oil as needed. Getting the Holy Spirit inside of us.
Eventually our spiritual lives will seize up.
And someone will be looking at that old car, oh man, back in its day that car was sweet.
It was a nice ride. But now the mice have gotten in it, they've eaten up the wires, they chewed up the seats,
the glass is broken, it's rusty, the tires are all flat, the engine is seized up.
The same thing will happen to us spiritually.
Oh man, I used to do a lot of sowing, I used to read my Bible all the time, I was in church three times a week.
Man, I was on fire for God, I used to be.
Spiritually now, the glass is broken, the seats are chewed, the tires are flat, I don't go soul winning anymore.
The engine is seized up, I don't have the filling of the Spirit.
Yes I'm anointed, yes I'm sealed, yes I'm saved, I'm going to go to heaven no matter what.
But I don't have the filling of the Holy Spirit. It ought not be that way.
We ought to be filling ourselves with the Holy Spirit.
Look, that's something you have to do day in, day out, every single day.
Filling yourself, getting that fresh oil.
And not just running on yesterday's prayers, not just running on yesterday's Bible reading.
You've got to get that fresh oil.
You say, well, you know, why should I?
Well, one, because it's commanded.
But it'd be real easy just to get up and say, you know, because the Bible says so, so do it.
And look, that ought to be enough.
If the Bible says so, if the Bible says to be filled with the Holy Spirit,
if the Bible tells us to not quench the Spirit, to not grieve it, that ought to be enough.
But let me give you some other reasons why you should seek fresh oil in your life.
Why you should be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Why you should daily be seeking and asking for the Holy Spirit of God in your life.
How about number one, because it'll give you illumination.
People are so often wondering, you know, what are they here for? What are they supposed to do?
How do they serve God?
You know, the Holy Spirit's there to help you with that.
Through the Word of God and through the Spirit of God, we can learn what that is.
I mean, that's what the oil that was burned inside the tabernacle was there for.
You remember they were to make that pure oil, olive oil,
and they wanted to cause the lamp to burn always in the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil.
So outside of the holiest of holies, which is before the testimony.
And it was said that Aaron and his sons were to order it from evening to morning before the Lord.
It shall be a statute forever and to their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
It was in there to what? To give light.
So that the priest could see his way, so he could not fumble in the darkness.
And it's the same way for us.
You know, today we are that tabernacle, we are that temple of God, according to 1 Corinthians 3.
It says, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
That same light that was burning in that tabernacle, what that represented, the Holy Spirit, is now dwelling with us.
But I'm here to tell you, if you don't put oil in that lamp, it'll go out.
And you won't be illuminated, and you're going to stumble and stagger through life.
Well, I don't read my Bible.
And I don't, well, no wonder you don't know what God's will is, if you're not reading your Bible.
Well, I don't pray. Well, no wonder you don't know what God wants for you when you're not praying and asking to be led.
Well, I'm not filled with the Holy Spirit, because I don't ask for it.
Well, no wonder you're having the troubles that you do.
The Bible says in 1 John, that the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you,
and ye need not that any man teach you.
But as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie,
and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.
Look, we've been given an anointing that abides in us.
And that abiding can teach us all things.
That's illumination, friend.
You know, I read my Bible, but I have such a hard time understanding it sometimes.
Well, get down on your knees and pray and ask God to open your eyes that you may behold wondrous things out of His law.
Ask God for the Holy Spirit. Ask God for discernment. Ask God to fill you so you can understand His word, and you will.
Go to Psalm 92. Again, keep something in Ephesians, but go over to Psalm 92.
We need to be asking for fresh oil.
Not just because it's commanded, although that ought to be enough,
but also because of all the benefits that come with being filled with the Holy Spirit.
You know, one of them is being illuminated.
Having your understanding opened to behold the wondrous things out of the word of God.
To know what God's will is for your life.
To know the leading of the Holy Spirit. That's available to everyone of God's children.
What about having gladness? Having joy in your life?
I mean, isn't that what everyone's seeking after, really?
And people are looking in all kinds of different places to find contentment and satisfaction and happiness in life.
And people turn to all kinds of different things, don't they?
They turn to drugs, they turn to alcohol, they turn to pornography, they turn to adultery,
they turn to fornication, they turn to all these things that are external.
They turn to gambling. I mean, just sin after sin after sin, thinking,
this will satisfy it. It never does.
Same thing can happen to God's children.
They can start to wonder, why am I not satisfied? Why don't I have gladness? Why don't I have joy?
And they'll start to seek it in all the same things that the world does.
They say, I don't understand. I'm saved. Why aren't I content with that?
Because you're not filled with fresh oil.
Did I have you go to Psalm 92?
It says in verse 4, For thou, O Lord,
hast made me glad through thy work.
You know, God is the one that's going to put joy and gladness in your heart when he gives you that fresh oil.
He said, I will triumph in the work of thy hands.
I know this is pertaining to Christ. Go back to Ephesians chapter 5.
Speaking of Christ, it says in Psalm 45, Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness.
Therefore, thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above all thy fellows.
Look, when God anoints us, when God gives us that fresh oil, he's giving us the oil of gladness.
I mean, what could be better than having the filling of the Holy Spirit of God in your life?
Nothing. Nothing could even come close to knowing that God has filled you with this Holy Spirit.
But notice, and I'll just read to you from Psalm 45, it says, Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness.
Therefore, thy God hath anointed thee with oil of gladness.
Look, if you want that oil, there's only one place, only one way to get it.
You've got to love righteousness and you've got to hate wickedness.
And it goes right back to what I was saying in the beginning.
You can't quench and grieve the Holy Spirit and expect to have gladness in your life as God's child.
I mean, yeah, you might find some pleasure in sin for a season, but you're going to find out real soon
that that doesn't satisfy, that that will not make you a content person,
and in fact, it's going to have all kinds of negative consequences in your life.
But if you seek that fresh oil that comes from God, if you learn to love righteousness and hate wickedness,
what you're going to find is that you've been anointed by God with the oil of gladness.
And people look at you and say, why are you so happy?
You don't do all the things we do. Why are you so happy?
You're not running around and partying and doing all these things, but why are you so happy?
I mean, you're not drinking and smoking and doing drugs and everything else that goes on out there,
but why are you so happy? I'll tell you why I'm happy. I'll tell you why. It's because I have the oil of gladness.
There is another reason for you to go ahead and get filled with the Holy Spirit.
Not just because God commands it, not just because it will bring illumination in your life that will light God's path at your feet,
but also because of the fact that it will fill you with gladness.
It will give you joy, it will give you what? The fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit.
Look there in verse 22 of Ephesians chapter 5, it says,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against such there is no law.
I mean, I don't know about you, that sounds like a good list of things to have.
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering. Wouldn't you like to be a more longsuffering person?
Be more patient with people.
Not just be so quick to fly off the handle or think something negative,
or just instantly assume something bad about somebody, have some longsuffering.
Look, that's something that God gives us through the Holy Spirit.
Gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
These are all things that we need to have in our Christian life.
But let me tell you this right now, the fruit of the Spirit is not something you can bear on your own.
That's not a fruit that you can bring to bear on your own.
You can't just drum that up.
You can't just, you know, like you're going to do a deadlift or you crack some sniffing salts, you get yourself all pumped.
You can't listen to a motivational speech, you can't listen to your favorite track,
you can't pump that into your veins, you can't find it in a bottle, you can't drum up the fruit of the Spirit in your life.
It has to come from God, and God only.
That's why it's called the fruit of the Spirit.
It's the fruit that the Spirit bears in your life.
When you stop quenching Him, when you stop grieving Him, when you start loving righteousness and hating wickedness,
this is the fruit that God will bear in your love.
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against such there is no love. These are the things that we should want in our life.
But they only come from God.
And they only come from the filling of the Holy Spirit. That's why it's the fruit of the Spirit.
Another thing I like about this verse is that it says it's the fruit of the Spirit,
and then it lists several different things, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
That's not just one thing, but it's all summed up as the fruit of the Spirit.
It's because this is a package deal.
You don't take this piecemeal,
well, you know, I'm not so much for that longsuffering, but I'll take some of that love.
Oh, you know, I'm not so worried about the peace, but I'll take the joy.
Look, God gives it all to you.
God doesn't hold back on His end either and say, well, I'll give you love, but no longsuffering.
I'll give you peace, but no joy.
No, when you aren't getting that fresh oil from God, He's giving you all of this.
And He's bearing it in your life. He's bringing it.
And then you'll say, thou hast made me glad through thy work,
through what you've done in my heart, through the filling.
Why? Because I asked for it.
Because I sought.
Because I got down on my knees and I prayed, God, fill me with your Holy Ghost
and show me those things that grieve you.
Show me those things that quench you and help me get them out of my life.
That leads me to my next point.
Hopefully, at this point, you're saying, I want some of that.
I want some of that fresh oil that you're talking about.
I want to get that from God. How do I do that?
Well, we've kind of been talking about it already.
You know, one, get the sin out of your life.
Get sin out of your life.
And look, we're never going to reach some sinless perfection in this life.
We're always going to have to, you know, some kind of sin, but we ought to always be looking for it.
And always recognizing and saying, oh, that thought, that was sin.
My eyes went over there, that was sin.
I had this emotion come up, that was sin.
I did this thing, that was sin.
To Him that knoweth to do good and doeth not, to Him that is sin.
I've left all this undone, that's sin.
Get the sin out of your life.
You know, God wants to pour that oil in, but you're full already.
You're full of the world, you're full of sin, you're full of yourself, you're full of everything else but God.
And God's saying, well, there's just no room.
I'd pour it in there, but it's full of all this other stuff.
So get it out.
And make yourself that empty vessel and say, I'm ready.
There's room in here for you, God. There's room for you. There's room for that fresh oil now.
Get the sin out of your life. Isn't that what Ephesians 5 tells us?
Verse 1, he said, be therefore followers of God as dear children.
And walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
He said, what does it mean to walk in love?
What does it mean to be a follower of God as dear children?
Well, he explains it for us in verse 3.
He says, fornication and uncleanness are covetousness, let it not once be named among you as becometh saints.
What's he saying? He's saying, get the sin out.
And we all love verses 22 through 23.
You know, we love that talk about the fruit of the Spirit.
Well, let's back up a little bit and talk about how we get it.
You get it by getting the sin out.
You get it by getting rid of the fornication, the uncleanness, the covetousness, not letting it once be named among us.
And he goes on, he's not done yet. Verse 4, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but giving of thanks.
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedient.
Be ye therefore, excuse me, be not ye therefore partakers with them.
He's saying, look, we know that all these wicked people, unless they believe on Christ, they're not going to have any inheritance in the kingdom of God.
And look, you say, well wait, I was some of these things, I was a whoremonger, I was unclean, I'm covetous, I was these things.
Yeah, but when you got saved, the Bible says that you are a new creature, that all things are made new.
That's the difference there, and that can confuse people, and hopefully that clears it up a little bit for you.
But what he's saying here is, you know, look, be not therefore partakers with them.
You want to get the Holy Spirit in? Yeah, you got to get the sin out, but you know what else you got to get rid of? The sinners in your life.
Good luck getting the sin out of your life when you're surrounding yourself with people that are just going to tempt you, and try you, and try to lure you back into doing all those sins that you always did.
When you're hanging with that same crowd that's still doing all those things, and you're going to go hang out, and all of a sudden you're going to be some righteous saint in their presence?
One, you're going to be a smoke in their eyes. You're going to be an annoyance. You're going to be like salt in a wound. They're not going to want to hang with you.
They're either going to say, get on board with the program, buddy, or get out. And let me tell you what option is the one you should take. Get out.
Get away from it. Get the sin out. Get the sinners out. Why? So you can get the fresh oil in.
So you can get that gladness. So you can get the love, the joy, the faith, the meekness, the temperance, all of those things so you can get the fruit of the Spirit in your life. You got to get the sin out.
If you want to get the fresh oil in. That's why it says in verse 11,
So there's step one to how to get the fresh oil in. Get the sin out. Get the sinners out.
You know, another way to do it, if you would go back to Psalm 92, is to daily praise God. Praising God daily.
Because look, it's one thing to get everything out, but the mistake so many people make is they get all these things out of their life, but they don't put anything back in, in its place.
And it's just a matter of time before all that old stuff just starts to slip right back in. You got to get it out and you got to put something else in its place.
You know, I used to wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is get high or hit the bottle. What you need to do is wake up in the morning and praise God.
But you need to wake up in the morning. Yeah, quit doing that, but to make sure that doesn't come back in your life, get something else in its place.
Just like God can't put the fresh oil in because when the sin's in there, the sin has a lot harder time getting in there too when we're filled with the Holy Spirit.
You know, when you're walking with the Spirit, when you're reading your Bible, when you've been praying, you've been going to church, you've been out preaching the gospel,
when you're thinking and meditating upon the things of God, sin is always obviously going to be a temptation, but you know what, its pull is a little weaker when you're walking in the Spirit.
When you've already got that fresh oil in there, it's a little bit harder for that sin to get back in. So yeah, get the sin out. Get the sinners out, but then put something in its place.
One thing you can do, as we see in our text, is praise God. Look at verse 1 in Psalm 92, it says,
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. God was sitting around and praying, thanking God. What a waste of time. It's so hokey.
The Bible says it's a good thing to give thanks unto God. And look, when you just start living for the Lord, it's just going to come out of you.
You'll just find yourself thanking God. You'll find yourself just thanking God for your family, thanking God for your church, thanking God for the Bible.
It'll just start coming out of you. You won't even have to try and do it. You'll be so overcome with gratitude and appreciation for what God has done for you, it'll just start coming out.
The Bible says it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High.
That's why we're putting the songs in there, so people can come to church and sing the praises unto God Most High.
But you can do that every day of the week. You don't have to wait until you come to church to sing praise unto God.
And that's something you might have to put into practice. I'm telling you, to do it long enough, it'll become automatic.
I mean, I hear it all the time in my house. I find myself just humming some hymn, singing some song.
It's a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High.
To show forth thy loving kindness once a week, to show forth thy loving kindness when it's convenient, to show forth thy loving kindness when I feel like it, I'll give God some glory.
Is that what David said? This is the same passage where he said, I know that you're going to fill me with fresh oil.
You're going to anoint me with that fresh oil. Why? Because of the fact that he showed forth his loving kindness in the morning and my faithfulness every night.
Every morning, every night, David is praising God and singing praises unto the Most High.
And as a result, God said, let me fill you with some fresh oil. Let me anoint you with that fresh oil.
It's a good thing to do, go back to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, we're done in Psalms 92.
He said, it's a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High.
To show forth thy loving kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psaltery and upon the harp with the solemn sound.
Look at Ephesians chapter 5 verse 17. The same chapter where we're talking about getting that fresh oil and we're asking,
I've made the case of why you should want it. I've shown you from the scripture.
Yeah, you should just do it because the Bible commands it, but there's also all these benefits that come with it that the world is looking for in all these other places and they just aren't finding it.
And then we started to back up a little bit from, you know, from the fruit of the Spirit.
And we started to look at all those things that came before it, about how we need to get the sin out of our life.
Now we're talking, what's another way to get it? By praising God. And you know, it's funny, it was there in Psalm 92, it's in Ephesians 5 too.
Verse 17, wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is, and be not drunk with wine, whereas in excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
And then that sentence goes on in verse 19, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
You know, sometimes people are just plagued with their thoughts. They have intrusive thoughts, they dwell on the past, they worry about things.
You know what they need to do? They need to just start singing to themselves. I'm dead serious.
You know, find a little hymn. Find something. You know, find one of those psalms.
And sing some of these psalms, and you know what that's going to cause you to do? It's meditate on God.
And you're going to be singing praises unto Him, and God's going to hear that, and He's going to give you some fresh oil.
And isn't that what the context here in Ephesians 5? Be filled with the Spirit. Figure out how to do that on your own.
Now let me talk to you about something completely unrelated. Verse 19. No, these things are married. These things go together.
He's saying be filled with the Spirit. Here's how, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
Oh, I thought in order to speak, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I had to throw my head back and babble.
Like the Pentecostals teach you. Look, people want to make all these crazy doctrines about how to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
It's actually a lot more practical and down to earth. At least that's how Paul spells it out.
Is there anything mystical about speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and making melody in your heart?
Is that some otherworldly thing you can only do in churches? I mean, that's something we can do any time, any day of our life.
We can do these things. And look, that's one way of getting filled with the Spirit.
Verse 20, giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Let me give you one other tip in getting filled with fresh oil. Daily Bible reading. Read your Bible every day.
And I know this is a topic I harp on, and I'm going to keep harping on it, because it's that important. Read your Bible every day.
I mean, I don't care if it's for 15 minutes. You say, I don't have time. You have time.
You have time. Well, I got to go to work early. Get an audio Bible. Listen to it on the way there.
Well, it's only 20 minutes. 20 minutes is better than nothing.
You know, I'll read the Bible when I have more time. Well, that's great. Read the Bible and read more when you have more time.
But in the meantime, read what you can. Because that's how you're going to get filled with the Holy Spirit.
I won't take the time to turn this there, but in Numbers 11, it says,
And the people went about and gathered it, talking about the manna. And we know that the manna is a representation of Christ.
It's also a representation of the Word of God, the Bible. Because Jesus is the Bible. He is the Word of God made flesh.
But the people in that time, in Moses' day, went out and they gathered that manna.
And you had to remember, they had to gather that every morning. They had to go get fresh manna off the ground.
And they ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar and baked it in pans and made cakes of it.
And the taste of it, it was as the taste of, you'll never guess, fresh oil.
You want fresh oil? It's right here. It's right in this book. It's there every day.
It's available, but you know what? You've got to go get it every day.
You can't say, well, I read my Bible on Monday and just not touch it for the rest of the week.
Then you get to Saturday and say, I feel like I'm seizing up. I feel like the engine is starting to get cold.
It's getting harder to care about the things of God. Yeah, because you're running out of oil. You've got no fresh oil.
You can't just come to church on Sunday and expect to get all the oil you need for the rest of the week.
You know, coming to church and preaching the Word of God is just really, in a lot of ways, it's just the icing on the cake.
It's just the gravy on the potatoes.
You know what the potatoes are? Your daily devotions.
That's the real meat. That's the potatoes. That's where the real fresh oil is, is in your personal walk with God.
I mean, isn't that what 1 John said? That the Nordic we have received abideth in us, and we need not that any man teacheth us, but he teacheth us all things.
There's nothing you can't learn on your own that I can teach you.
Hopefully I said that right.
Anything I teach you can be learned on your own. Obviously church is great because it accelerates our growth.
You know, I preach things I have learned, and I learn those things from people who are learning from other things.
There's a compounding effect, and we're able to quickly grow, and I believe you need to be in church to grow like you ought to.
But I'm telling you this, that's not enough. That's just the gravy.
You know, that's just a little top off. You come to church, it's like, oh, you know, you look at the stick.
Let me get real practical for you. Some of you need to know this.
When you pull the dipstick out of the engine and you wipe it off, make sure it's on level ground and the engine's off, and you dip it back in there.
You want to know how much oil is in there. You look at those little hash marks, that's one quart represents those hash marks.
Look, you pull your stick out of that engine, and there's nothing on that stick, you're out of oil, or you're real close to it.
But, you know, sometimes it's in that hash mark. That's the safe area, right?
But when it's halfway down, that's half a quart. If it's a quarter of the way down, that's a quarter of a quart. That's how that works.
You know, when you come to church, you know, the preacher might pull that stick out and go, you're a little low.
You know, and I could top you off, but I'm telling you this, you walk out that door and you've got a major leak, a little top off ain't going to cut it.
You need to get that thing fixed. You need to do an overhaul and put some fresh oil in that engine.
Otherwise, you're going to get seized up. And you know what, you're just going to end up just like that old car.
Back in its day, it was really something. Now it's just a heap of metal. It's worthless.
And that can happen to God's children. It can happen to God's people.
They had to go out and get that fresh oil every day in Numbers chapter 11.
Let me just go to Galatians 5 one last time and I'm done. Galatians chapter number 5.
You know, I'm preaching this today because, again, there's a difference between being anointed with the Holy Spirit and being filled with it.
Once you're anointed, once you're sealed, once you're saved, that's done. That's not a choice you ever have to make again.
But if you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that's a choice you're going to have to make deliberately every single day.
You're going to have to get up and say, am I going to walk in the Spirit or am I going to walk in the flesh?
Am I going to get up and pray and read and get that fresh oil or am I going to let the sin back in my life?
Look at Galatians chapter 5 verse 16.
This I say then, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
And notice, walking in the Spirit is a prerequisite to that.
He didn't say, this I say then, don't fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Look, and there's plenty of people out there that would like to stop fulfilling the lust of the flesh.
They've realized that the Bible is true when it says the way of the transgressor is hard.
That yes, sin has pleasure for a season but after a while the bill comes due and it's not so fun anymore.
A lot of people figure that out and they want to stop walking and stop fulfilling the lust of the flesh.
You know what they need to do? Walk in the Spirit.
That's the prerequisite.
Say, I don't want to fulfill the lust of the flesh, then walk in the Spirit.
Read your Bible, go to church, pray, sing songs, sing hymns, sing spiritual songs.
It's not that complicated folks.
It's not some hocus pocus, spooky, Pentecostal, charismatic, tongue talking, mystical thing being filled with the Holy Spirit.
It's very practical and it's very needed.
Walk in the Spirit, ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
And look, that's a choice you have to make every day.
That's why he says in verse 17, why?
Because the flesh lusteth against the Spirit.
And let me tell you something, if you're sitting there and you're still breathing air, you still have the flesh.
If that heart's still beating, you're still in the flesh.
And that flesh is going to lust against the Spirit every single day.
That's what it says, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit.
Think anyone's going to wake up and say, well, I'm done with the flesh.
Unless you've got the new body, unless you've been resurrected, unless you've been caught up together with Christ, you've still got the flesh, friend.
That's why Paul said, I die daily, daily.
He didn't say I died, he said I die daily.
That's why he told us to mortify our members upon the earth, to kill them, to crucify the flesh, to not walk in the flesh, but to walk in the Spirit.
Because the Spirit, or excuse me, the flesh lust against the Spirit, and guess what, the Spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary one to the another, so that you cannot do the things that you would.
And people go through this life, they don't want to fulfill the lust of the flesh, they want to live for God, they want to do certain things, but they can't, and here's why.
Because they're not walking in the Spirit, they're not getting fresh oil.
Because they're still in the flesh.
Gotta get out of that flesh.
Walk in the Spirit.
So hopefully, you know, I've helped you tonight to see that fresh oil is not only needed, it's not only commanded, but it's beneficial.
There's a lot of great things that come with that fresh oil, isn't there?
And there's so many things that are going to benefit us, so many things that are going to bring love and joy and peace and all of those great, you know, the fruit of the Spirit into our life.
And those are things we ought to want.
But I'm here to tell you, there's only one source, and it's the Holy Spirit, it's God.
You're not going to find it anywhere else.
You can't go buy it, you can't find it on this earth.
It's in this book, and it's in the Holy Spirit of God, it's through him, he's the only one that's going to give it.
And there's only one way to get it from him.
It's by walking with him.
It's by putting down the flesh and saying, not today, I die daily and I'm going to walk in the Spirit.
I'm going to do those things that I ought to do.
That's how you're going to get it.
There's only one place to get it, the Holy Spirit, there's only one way to get it, walking with him daily.
Let's go ahead and pray.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, I pray you'd help every one of us to take advantage of that in our lives, Lord, that we would seek you daily, that we'd seek that fresh oil.
Both in your word and in prayer and in serving you, and Lord, that you'd help us to know the love, the joy, the peace, the longsuffering, the gentleness, the goodness, the faith, the meek, the temperance that comes with the filling of the Holy Ghost, the fruit of the Spirit.
We ask these things in Christ's name, amen.
Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go tonight.
Amen.
Let's open our angles to song number 120.
Song number 120, Jesus' Savior.
Let's do it.
Let's sing.