Now, I want to start out my sermon basically by laying down some things doctrinally, and
then I'll get into the real application and preaching, but first I want to lay down some
doctrine because I think that the subject that I'm preaching on tonight has become very
confused doctrinally, and many people are confused on this issue, and many others just
don't fully understand this issue because there's so much depth in it in the Bible,
but I'm preaching about the Holy Spirit and having the Holy Spirit upon you, and I want
to start out by laying down some things doctrinally from the Old Testament into the New Testament,
and then get into some application with this, but the first thing I want you to see here
is Saul.
Now, Saul, this is before he's king, but he goes to Samuel and Samuel anoints him as king,
and then Samuel begins to tell him signs that are going to come upon him the next day, and
he says that when these signs come upon him, and when he hears this preaching from these
other prophets, that the Spirit of the Lord will come upon him, and that he will become
another man.
Did you notice that statement there?
Let's look at it again quickly.
It says in verse number 6, and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou
shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.
Now, if you would flip over to chapter 16.
We're in 1 Samuel 10, go to 1 Samuel chapter 16, and the Bible reads in verse number 13,
then Samuel took an horn of oil and anointed him, talking about David, in the midst of
his brethren, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.
So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah, but watch verse 14, but the Spirit of the Lord departed
from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
Now flip over to Psalm 51 while I explain this.
You see, in the Old Testament, believers were not indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
We're going to see that a little bit later in John chapter 7.
Right now, take my word for it, I'll show you a little later.
But in the Old Testament, believers were not indwelled by the Holy Spirit, but the Holy
Spirit did come upon them and allow them to preach a great sermon.
It did come upon them and allow them to fight a great battle.
Men like Samson defeated many enemies physically while filled with the Spirit, while having
the Holy Spirit resting upon them in mighty power.
Now look at Psalm 51, if you would, and you see many preachers will say something like,
well, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was temporary, and in the New Testament it's
temporary, but hold on a second, we're talking about two completely different things.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is completely distinct from the Holy Spirit upon you.
So it's not that it was temporary indwelled, no, this was something different, and that
will come into play a little later in the message.
But in Psalm 51, David has committed adultery with Bathsheba, he's also had her husband
Uriah killed, so he's committed a very, very wicked sin.
And he's been confronted by Nathan the prophet, he's sorry about it, he has a repentant heart,
and in Psalm 51, he's pouring out his heart to God about how bad he's been, and in verse
10 he says, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from my presence, and look at this last phrase, and take not thy Holy
Spirit from me.
Now look, we're not talking about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we're talking about the
Holy Spirit resting upon him.
Saul had it, and he lost it.
David had it, and he was afraid of losing it, and he's begging God to not take that
from him, the Holy Spirit resting upon him.
Now, put your finger, you're in Psalm 51, go to Psalm 119, and we're turning to a lot
of scriptures, but this is the foundation of the message.
Put your finger in Psalm 119, and then turn to Ephesians chapter number 2.
Turn to Ephesians chapter number 2 with your finger in Psalm 119, then I want you to take
your left arm, no I'm stupid, go to Ephesians chapter number 2, because a lot of people
have gotten to our church, maybe so far what I've preached so far isn't really anything
new, but pay close attention to this next point here, because this is a critical point.
In Ephesians 2 verse 1 it says, And you hath he quickened, quickened means made alive,
who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past he walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we had all had our conversation
in time past, in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved.
Now listen to me now, look at Psalm 119, because in Ephesians 2 he said we were dead in sin,
he told them in the Garden of Eden that in the day that they ate of that fruit of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said in the day that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die.
They didn't die physically, Adam lived for hundreds of years beyond that, but that day
he died spiritually, his spirit died.
You see we have a body, a soul, and a spirit, and the unsaved man, the unbelieving man,
his spirit is dead.
The moment that he believes on Jesus Christ, that spirit is quickened within him.
That spirit is resurrected, just like Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
Now our bodies have not yet been resurrected, but that spirit was resurrected the moment
that you got saved.
According to the Bible it was quickened, it was brought to life.
But hold on a second now, in the Old Testament, look at the Old Testament, Psalm 119, and
we'll see David's same testimony here in Psalm 119 verse 50, where he says this,
This is my comfort and my affliction, for thy word hath quickened me, has brought me
to life.
Jesus said this, I am the resurrection and the light.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, though he were dead, yet
shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
But you see, David was also quickened.
You see, when we get saved, God quickens our spirit.
Not to be confused with the Holy Spirit, and you gotta get this foundation before I can
really preach this.
Our spirit is quickened, that is what is the new man, and that is not the Holy Spirit,
that is the new Steven Anderson.
You see, the first Steven Anderson is sinful, wants to live after the flesh, wants to gratify
the flesh, but the new man, that new spiritual man, is created in true holiness, is a perfect
man, cannot sin, will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, and that's why I've gotta choose
to walk in the spirit, but hold on a second, I'm still living with the flesh.
I'm never gonna be perfect, I'm never gonna go a day perfect.
Every day I've gotta crucify the flesh, I've gotta take up the cross, and deny self.
But what I want you to understand is that even in the Old Testament the same was true,
Saul became another man, that's the new man, the new Saul, David, his spirit was brought
to life the moment that he called upon the Lord in faith, Psalm 116.
But the difference in the New Testament, look over to Ephesians 4, if you're still in Ephesians
2 where we were, Ephesians 4 verses 22 through 24, it says this, that he put off concerning
the former conversation, the old man, he said, put off the old man, which is corrupt.
Your flesh did not change when you got saved, your old man is still just as corrupt as before
you got saved, it's just like the former conversation.
He says, it's corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness, turn to John 7, still laying the foundation here, John 7, laying the foundation
doctrinally, and look, you say, well Pastor Anderson, people were not born again in the
Old Testament, then why did Jesus look at Nicodemus in John chapter 3 and say, art thou
a master in Israel and know it's not thou these things, when he spoke of being born
again, because if it didn't exist, he wouldn't rebuke him for not knowing what he was talking
about when it came to salvation.
If it didn't exist, hey, to him give all the prophets witness that through his name,
whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
Don't tell me people got saved different in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever, hey, Seth and Enos called upon the name of the Lord,
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, he didn't deserve to go to heaven, he was
saved by grace, and by the way, it was through faith, because Abraham believed God, and it
was imputed unto him for righteousness, even as David also described it, the blessedness
of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works, saying blessed is he whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sin is covered, blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will
not impute sin.
But in the Old Testament, my friend, they were not in dwelled by the Holy Spirit, look
at John 7, John chapter 7, let me get my notes here in the light, John 7 verse 37 says this,
it says in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, you say
why do you yell when you preach, because Jesus yelled when he preached, it said he stood
and cried, and he wasn't crying like, he was crying out, he was yelling, it says he cried
and said, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, he that believeth on me,
as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, but this
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost
was not yet given, did you see that, the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus
was not yet glorified, now turn to John 20, John chapter 20, while you're turning there,
just so you know, the Holy Spirit's indwelling is permanent, the Bible says this, if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his, he said know ye not that the Spirit
of Christ dwelleth in you, except ye be reprobates, 2 Corinthians 13, he said look, if you're
saved, the Holy Spirit is living inside of you, it's not something you get later on after
you've been saved for a while, it's not something that you could ever lose, I mean the Holy
Spirit indwells the believer permanently in the New Testament, but in John 7, that comforter,
that Spirit of truth, he said he dwelleth with you and he shall be in you, he said in
verse 14, the indwelling came later didn't it, but look at John 20, and verse number
21, the Bible reads, then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you as my Father hath
sent me, even so send I you, and when he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto
them, receive ye the Holy Ghost, so at this time he breathes on them and they received
the Holy Ghost, if you look at a parallel passage in Luke, he talks about how you open
their understanding of the scriptures, because the Holy Spirit will do that for you, he'll
guide you into all truth, he's the comforter, he'll guide you into truth, he'll teach you
the Bible, but hold on a second now, they received the Holy Spirit in John chapter 20
didn't they, after Jesus had been glorified, but wait a minute, go to Acts 1, go to Acts
1, verse 5, Acts 1, 5, just right across the page, he said, for John truly, I'm sorry,
let's go back to verse 4, sorry about that, and being assembled together with them, commanded
them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which
saith ye, ye have heard of me, for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized
with the Holy Ghost, not many days since.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father
hath put in his own power, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the outermost part of the earth.
Look, they'd already received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in John 20, but he said
in Acts 1, wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, you've heard of me, and he
said, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you, ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem
and he lists the places there.
Let me tell you something, just because you are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, does not
mean that you have the Holy Ghost upon you, and it doesn't mean that you're filled with
the Spirit, otherwise he wouldn't have commanded you.
Be filled with the Spirit.
He didn't say you're already automatically filled.
He said be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Be filled.
Wait!
Let the Holy Spirit come upon you in mighty power so that you can preach the word of God
with boldness.
You see, the Old Testament, Spirit of the Lord upon Saul, Samson, Oded, David, all these
men was not replaced with the indwelling.
It's still there.
He just added the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
He didn't replace it.
Men in the New Testament, women in the New Testament, you say this is just for men.
Okay, flip over one more page, go to Acts 2.
Because this isn't just for men, you say this is for preachers, this is for men.
This is for, nope.
Look at the scripture here in Acts chapter 2 where he says, this is that, verse 16, sorry,
verse 16, this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel and it shall come to pass
in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh and your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men
shall dream dreams and on my servants and on my handmaidens will I pour out in those
days of my spirit and they shall prophesy.
So this isn't just for young, it's for young and old.
This isn't just for male, it's for male and female.
Let me tell you something, we need to get, you say, well Pastor Isaac, how do I know
if I'm filled with the Holy Spirit?
How do I know if God's Spirit is resting upon me?
Let me give you some ways to know and some ways to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Number one, first of all, the evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit is found
in Acts 4.31.
Let's start there.
The evidence for being filled with the Spirit is found in Acts 4.31.
It says this, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled
together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God
with boldness.
You see, in the Old Testament, when men had the Holy Spirit come upon them, they were
filled with boldness.
Whether it was to go to battle and fight courageously and valiantly for the Lord with boldness or
whether it was to preach an unpopular message to a wicked king, when the Spirit of the Lord
came upon them, they led and they led with boldness.
They preached with boldness.
And let me tell you something, if you are not bold, you're not filled with the Spirit
of God.
If a pastor is holding back when he preaches because of fear, he's not filled with the
Spirit because God has not given us the Spirit of fear.
That fear when you're preaching of what someone's going to think about you preaching the word
of God, that did not come from God.
Powerful preaching came from God.
Scared preaching didn't come from God because God didn't give us the Spirit of fear.
Listen Timothy, young preacher in the ministry, God has not given us the Spirit of fear but
of power and of love and of a sound mind.
You see, boldness is the characteristic of being filled with the Spirit.
Boldness!
I'm not saying rudeness or harshness, but I'm saying boldness.
The opposite of boldness is fear.
The opposite of boldness is being timid.
The opposite of boldness is I'm afraid to go soul winning.
Boldness says let's go soul winning and when you get out there soul winning, you don't
try to trim the message and water it down, but you look in the eye and you speak the
truth with love and you tell them the truth about heaven and hell.
You tell them the truth about salvation through Jesus Christ.
Boldness my friend!
Now in the Old Testament, in 1 Samuel 10, Saul was already saved, but when the Spirit
of the Lord came upon him, when he was walking in the Spirit is when he became another man,
you know when people can see the difference.
It was associated with music by the way.
In the preceding verse, to the verse where it said the Spirit of the Lord would come
upon him, he said you're going to run into these prophets, he said they're going to be
singing and playing musical instruments and they will preach and the Spirit of the Lord
will come upon you.
In the New Testament, he said be not drunk with wine, we're in his excess, but be filled
with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
So first of all, boldness is being filled with the Spirit, but second of all, you're
listening to the worldly rotten devil music of this world, you're not filled with the
Spirit.
It's true.
Don't tell me you're filled with the Spirit while you're blasting the music of the Spirit
of this world.
I mean if God said being filled with the Spirit is when you're singing in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs and making melody in your heart to the Lord, that's when you're filled
with the Spirit.
You're filled with the Spirit when you're singing the hymns.
You're filled with the Spirit when that's the music of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
That's the fullness of the Spirit.
You say, where does rolling in the aisles come in?
Where is the tongue speaking and barking like a dog and all the healing lines?
No, my friend, this is a biblical doctrine and maybe the Charismatics have scared us
away from it, but it's still a biblical doctrine.
So number one, fear tells me you're not filled with the Spirit.
Tells me I'm not filled with the Spirit.
The wrong music is an evidence of not being filled with the Holy Spirit, but I'll tell
you the third way to really dampen the power of the Holy Spirit upon you is sin in your
life because if you remember, what caused the Holy Spirit's power and presence to depart
from Saul?
Wicked sin in his life, disobedience to God, and that's when the Spirit of the Lord departed
from Saul.
David knew that.
David understood that his sin with Bathsheba, where the adultery, the murder, hey, he knew
that if he didn't turn from and forsake that sin and confess it before God and not try
to make excuses about it and cover it up, but to come before God and to get his heart
right with God, he knew that the Spirit of the Lord would depart from him.
And again, we're not talking about the indwelling, we're not talking about the New Testament,
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've got to be filled with the Spirit of God.
You know, you go out there in the flesh, and I think it was Brother Stoppabeed'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 wonder why you can't get people saved
many times.
And look, we all go through a dry spell, don't we?
We all go, and 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, he'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 to yourself in the name of the Spirit of God.
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 of God.
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.
And 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 people, you know, it's math.
Well if I knock this many doors, and this many hours, and this many days, and here's
how you start a church, and when you start a church, you get this book, and this book,
this book is the book you need, but anyway, you get this book, and this book is going
to walk you through it, and this is what you do two weeks before, and one week before,
and these are the doors you knock, and you want your church to grow, you've got to follow
this program, and you've got to 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 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's right.
He's 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-winding filled with the Spirit of God and see a different
result.
Amen.
Men, go out soul-winding filled with the Spirit of God.
Children, be filled with the Spirit.
Amen.
Older men.
We don't have anybody here that's older or anything, but those of you guys that are just
a little bit older, this is for you too.
If you were done in this life, you'd be gone.
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 off.
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.
Now let's just stop and analyze what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
What does it mean to be filled?
I mean if I have a cup that's filled, is there really room for anything else?
And that's why self is what has to die in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Your desires, your ideas, your plans, what you want has to die.
And this is why so few are filled with the Spirit.
Because you've got to die.
And it's not easy to die.
And it's something that you have to do every day to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Paul said I die daily.
Now you say, wait a minute Pastor, are you saying I can't have any fun in life?
It's just all spiritual, all day long.
Hold on a second.
There's a time and a place for a lot of activities in your life, but didn't he say that even
if you're just eating a meal, that should be the glory of God?
Can't you eat your sandwich filled with the Holy Spirit?
Can't you spend quality time with your wife filled with the Holy Spirit?
Can't you love and spend time with your children filled with the Holy Spirit?
Can't you be filled with the Spirit in your dating life?
It might affect your dating too by the way.
We need to be filled with the Spirit in order to be the right husband, in order to be the
right parent.
It's not just for soul winning.
But in order to have the kind of parenting that's not a fearful parenting, and today
parents are scared.
They're scared of the government.
They're scared of what their friends and family are going to think and they won't parent right
because of fear.
But if you get filled with the Holy Spirit, you'll just do what God said and just, you
know what, let the tips fall where they may.
I believe God, you know?
I mean you could apply this to every area.
There's more to life than just soul winning.
Yes, that's our main thrust.
That's our focus.
I kind of like how that's been the theme of this camping trip a little bit, talking about
soul winning.
But you know what?
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is something that's supposed to be all day long.
It should affect how you do your job when you go to work.
When you're working as unto the Lord and not unto man.
It should affect your marriage, it should affect your childbirth, it should affect everything.
When you come to church and when you sing the hymns, sing it out from the heart to God.
Be filled with the Spirit.
When you're listening to preaching, if you're filled with the Holy Spirit, you're getting
this preaching right now and it's sinking into your ears and you're getting it, you're
applying it, you're digesting it, you're going to use it, you're going to put it in action.
The Spirit-filled listener, the Spirit-filled preacher, the Spirit-filled soul winner, the
Spirit-filled song leader, the Spirit-filled singer in the congregation, the Spirit-filled
parent, the Spirit-filled husband, the Spirit-filled wife, the Spirit-filled child.
That's what we need today.
A spiritual Christianity.
I don't serve some kind of a dead religion where I'm just going through the motions.
Two plus two equals four.
Nope.
It's zero plus zero equals four because God does it all.
You know what I mean?
We're a bunch of zeros and God uses us to do great things for Him because without Him
we are a zero.
We'll do nothing.
We'll get nothing done.
Paul said, I know that in me, he said, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
So if we're ever going to do anything good for God, self's going to have to die.
The flesh is going to have to die.
Look, there were times when I gave up a lot of things that were really important to me
in my life.
You know, sinful things.
You know my music, all the worldly music, all the movies and all the worldly friends
and all the wrong things that I was involved in.
It almost felt like part of me had to die.
You may not understand this, but you probably have other things in your life.
The music that I listened to was such an intrinsic part of who I was.
It was my identity.
You know in school, and when I was in school it was like this, it's probably not different.
You know how your music was kind of your identity?
There was kind of the country crowd, you know, the rap crowd, the rock, you know what I mean?
But you know what?
That Stephen Anderson just had to die because he wasn't going to win a bunch of souls to
Christ.
He wasn't ever going to pastor a church and preach a sermon and win souls to Christ and
live a godly life and memorize the Bible.
He had to die and every day I have to kill him, you have to mortify him, put him to death
so that the new Stephen Anderson can rise up and walk in newness of life.
Be filled with the Spirit.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father we thank you so much for bringing us here tonight, dear God, and one of the things
I love about this camping trip is just getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city,
getting out in your nature and your creation.
God I pray that this time of fellowship among godly friends and brethren and sisters in
Christ will be of benefit to us, dear God, coming up here.
I pray that the gas money and the time and the days off from work would be beneficial
to our spiritual lives through applying of the preaching of your word, through getting
away from the worldly friends and the cares of this world that we all live with.
And you intended for us to live in this world so that we could win the world, but God help
us in these few days of refreshing to learn what it means to be filled with the Spirit
all day long.
And God you know I'm not perfect, no one here is perfect, but Father help us every day to
work harder to put on that new man, to be the new Stephen Anderson, to be the new fill
in the blank.
And Father we love you and thank you for your word and for the comfort of your spirit, dear
God.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.