But I'm going to tell you something New Testament believer, I don't just want to have the Holy
Spirit living inside of me, I want to have the power of the Holy Spirit upon me, because
God said that's what you need to be a witness in Judea, that's what you need to be a witness
in Jerusalem and all these other parts of the earth.
That's what you need to be an effective soul winner in Phoenix, Arizona.
Hey, you got to be filled with the Spirit of God.
You know, you go out there in the flesh, and I think it was Brother Stoppably's message
where Jesus said, "Without me, you can do nothing."
Hey, if you're not abiding in this vine right here, and then you're going to go out soul
winning in the flesh, let me tell you something, you'll wonder why you can't get people saved
any time.
And look, we all go through a dry spell, don't we?
You know, sometimes God just has us out there warning people, just giving them the warning,
or planting the seed, or watering the seed, but let me tell you something, if these things
abound in you, he said, you'll not be unfruitful in the Lord.
He said, if these things abound in you, you'll cause you to not be unfruitful.
And if you're filled with the Spirit of God, then if you're abiding in the true vine of
Jesus Christ, you will bring forth much fruit.
He said, if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, he said, you shall ask what
you will, and I'll do it.
I mean, if you're abiding in this book, how can you be filled with the Spirit if you're
not filled with God's word, is my next question.
If he said, the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.
Get the parallel passage, Colossians 3.16 and Ephesians 5, the famous passage 5.18,
where he said, be filled with the Spirit, speaking yourselves in the name of the Spirit.
You go over to Colossians 3.16, he says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with
all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in the name of the Spirit.
It's the same statement.
It's a parallel statement.
He's saying, look, it's one and the same.
When God's word, Christ's word dwells in you richly with all wisdom, that's when you're
going to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
When you can have God's word in you and then preach it with boldness and then sing God's
word and sing hymns and songs and songs that exalt and lift up God's word, that, my friend,
is the fullness of the Spirit.
And you see, we need this today.
We need a spiritual Christianity.
You see, it's not a math problem.
And this is what, you know, it's math.
Well, if I knock this many doors in this many hours in this many days, and here's how you
start a church, and when you start a church, you get this book and this book, no, this
book is the book you need, but anyway, you know, you get this book and this book's gonna
walk you through it, you know, this is what you do two weeks before and one week before,
and these are the doors you knock.
And you know, you want your church to grow, you gotta follow this program, and you know,
you gotta do this and this and this, and you know what?
It's not a math problem.
It's the Holy Spirit.
It's the Holy Spirit of God.
How do you preach a good sermon?
You know, do you just put together the points?
You have a good book on what, hermeneutic, whatever that stupid, you know, homiletics,
is that what it is, homiletics?
How do you preach a good sermon?
A tear-jerking illustration from some book that you bought online?
How do you preach a good sermon?
You preach a good sermon when you're filled with the Spirit of God.
Because it's God that does the work.
It's God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
He's the one that works in you.
He's the one doing the work.
You are His vessel.
You present your body a living sacrifice unto God so that He can use you to do His work.
That He's the one doing the work in and through you using His Word preached by a Spirit-filled
Christian.
Whether they're a man, woman, boy or girl knocking on that door or talking to that friend,
ladies, ladies, go out soul and be filled with the Spirit of God and see a different
result.
Men, go out soul and be filled with the Spirit of God.
Children, be filled with the Spirit.
Older men, I know we don't have anybody here that's old or anything, but those, those you
guys, those of you guys that are just a little bit older, you know, this is for you too.
If you were done in this life, you'd be gone, you'd be, God would just take, if you finished
the work that He gave you to do, you'd be gone.
If you had finished your course, you'd be ready to be offered up and it'd be, but you
know what, you're here because God has something for you to do and you've got to be filled
with the Spirit of God.
Amen.