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So when you look at Ephesians 5 18, it reads, and be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. The title of the sermon this afternoon is be filled with the Spirit, be filled with the Spirit. And I know for a hunch, I know 100% that this was a sermon that God wanted me to preach this afternoon, simply because of two things that happened so far today. And the first one, we're out after the morning service, just having a chat. And brother Craig had mentioned how, you know, there comes times in history, potentially where the Holy Spirit moves in a mighty way. And you made a comment, brother, you know, there's, well, you know, you said, well, we always have the Holy Spirit living within us, but there's sort of this, this greater measure of, of the, of the work of the Spirit. And so when I heard that, I thought, oh, you know what? That's actually what my sermon is about a little bit today. And then I was also thinking as I was going through preparing my sermon yesterday, I was thinking how often we often pray when the preacher gets up, we pray something along the lines of, you know, may, may the, may the preacher be filled with the Spirit, fill the Spirit with the preacher of the Spirit. But it wasn't this morning, or was it just this afternoon? So I just can't remember. I think brother Oliver prayed that we would all be filled with Spirit. And I was thinking about, you know, why is it that we don't often pray for that? Why don't we often pray that we all be filled with Spirit when it comes to God's, I mean, it's one, it's a good thing to pray for the preacher. But it's funny, because these are two things that I've been thinking about. So I just, I know this sermon is for us this afternoon. But we want to make sure that we're filled with the Spirit, filled with the Spirit. And, you know, I think there is misunderstanding of what this means. And I also think there's fear amongst Baptists, because we don't want to be lumped in with the Charismatics and the Pentecostals that often talk about being filled with Spirit. And I'm going to share some of those things with you today. But let's, let's go to Acts chapter one. Come with me to Acts chapter one, verse eight, please. Acts chapter one, verse eight. You don't need to keep a finger in Ephesians five. I just wanted that for the title, be filled with Spirit. Come with me to Acts chapter one, please, in verse eight. Acts chapter one, verse eight. Now while we're turning there, I'm going to just, just because of the thoughts that I had between service, I do want to share just what I understand about the workings of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. And when I think of the Holy Spirit and the job that it does in our lives, I can think of three major categories that involves the work of the Spirit. And I believe anytime you read about the work of the Spirit in a person's life, you're going to be able to lump it under one of these three things, okay? So the very first thing, of course, is when we're saved, the Bible tells us that we're born of the Spirit, okay? That which is a Spirit is born of the Spirit, that which is born of God. And so if you're saved, the first, I guess, primary work in the Spirit is to revive your dead spirit, okay? We've all died spiritually, and the Holy Spirit revives that Spirit, gives us a born-again spirit, and now in that new spirit we have, we can interact with God, okay? So that would be the first work in of the Spirit, and a new man, the creation of a new creature within us, and that was something not applicable just in the New Testament, but also in the Old Testament, because when Nicodemus asks the question, Jesus says, you know, something along the lines of, you've been a teacher, don't know these things. So this is something that was obviously understood or, you know, taught in the Old Testament scriptures. Now we have another element, the second part of the work in of the Spirit, is something that I believe comes upon believers under the New Testament, and that's the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God. And I believe the disciples first received that, when Christ was resurrected, and he breathed upon them, and told them, receive ye the Spirit. Something like, if I'm paraphrasing, forgive me. It's something along those lines, right? And they received a permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the purpose for that permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, which lives in each one of us, is to teach us, okay? The Spirit's job is to teach us everything that Christ taught us, everything that the Word of God teaches us. And so, you know, it should not be the case, that if I'm, you know, if I'm teaching something for you to say, the only way I could have learned that is if I heard Pastor Kevin preach it. No, no, no. We all have the Holy Spirit of God, okay? And the Holy Spirit teaches us the Word of God, and it would not be contrary to God's Word, okay? We can teach ourselves. Under the old covenants, it was a little bit more difficult, okay? They didn't have the full revelation that we have. They didn't have Jesus Christ. They didn't have the whole picture of what Christ's sacrifice would be, and they would often need to go to the prophets and the priests, and the, you know, to hear God's Word, or they would have to go into the synagogue to even read God's Word. But we live in a generation today where we all have God's Word, we have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit teaches us God's truth, okay? So that would be the second work of the Holy Spirit. What I want to cover today about being filled with the Spirit would be the third work, okay? One second, third work, the third major, and everything else that you find, again, I believe you can fill it somewhere amongst these three things. And it's about being filled with the Spirit, okay? You say about, if I've got the Holy Spirit living within me, aren't I already filled with the Spirit? No, no, because we're given that commandment, but be filled with the Spirit, meaning that as believers, we can live our life where we're not filled with the Spirit, all right? And the reason I want to talk about this today is because when you're filled with the Spirit, you'll be able to accomplish things that you never expected that you could accomplish. I never thought I could establish two churches. I never thought I could preach behind a pulpit. I never thought I could knock a stranger's door and give them the gospel. And I'm sure some of you are going, those are things that I definitely can't do. And you're right, we can't do them unless we have the fill-in of the Spirit that utilizes us to do something great for God. You know, a really good example of this in the Old Testament is Samson. He had supernatural power, right? Where, you know, there's a story where he came across a lion. He literally picks up the lion with bare hands and rips it apart, okay? We know that he had that superhuman strength. But when you read about that, it talks about how Samson was filled with the Spirit. The Spirit came upon him and he was given that power, okay? And look, that's a very physical, you know, demonstration of that power. And you need to remind ourselves that in the New Covenant, you know, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. And so our battle in the New Testament specifically is one more of a spiritual nature. You know, under the Old Testament, it was a physical nation. And many times it's all physical aspects of the Spirit of God and the power that came upon certain people. But in the New Testament, we're fighting a spiritual warfare. And most of the things that you're going to be able to do by the fill-in of the Spirit is something of a spiritual nature, okay? But you can do much more than you think. You can accomplish much more than you believe, okay? And it's not, oh, you just got to believe in yourself. No, no, no, no. You need to be filled with the Spirit is what you need, okay? Don't believe in yourself. That's when you'll fail, all right? Because you know, we are flesh. We are fleshy. We're sinners. You're going to mess things up. But we need the fill-in of the Spirit to help us to accomplish something great. And I want you to notice this introduction here in Acts chapter 1 verse number 8. This is before Christ ascends to heaven, you know, in the cloud. But he says these words, verse number 8, But ye shall receive power after... And he's talking about a time to come, shortly to come. He says, 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 uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And so the first thing I want you to understand, in order for you to be, or one of the advantages of being filled with the Spirit, is that you'll be a witness for Jesus. Okay, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. And look, there are some of you that have been a witness to Christ in all kinds of places, all kinds of states, maybe in different countries. So how did I do that? I never would have thought for my life that I'd be witnessing for Christ in different places of this world or in different states of Australia. Or even do it at all. How did I accomplish that? You did it by the feeling of the Holy Spirit of God. Okay, so the very first thing and look, we all, look, we are, I'm not going to apologise, we're a soul winning church. And we promote it and we encourage it. Okay, and again, look, if you say pastor, I'm just not there yet. Look, you're still a valued person of this church. I don't want you to think that you're some insignificant member of the church. Look, what you can do is pray for those that are going out. What you can do is help equip those that are going out and preaching the Gospel. But look, we all should be witnesses. In fact, we've all been given the ministry of reconciliation. And we're all going to, you know, whether you actually go out and knock a door, you're going to be given opportunities in life, where you come across people, unsaved family, unsaved friends, unsaved work colleagues, where you're given time one on one with them, God will open the doors for you. And God will be expecting that you would give them the Gospel. And look, when that opportunity comes, you say, Lord, I need to be filled with your spirit. Filled with your spirit. Okay. Nicholas, I need a cup of water, if you can get it for me, please. That'd be great. I want to use it as an illustration later on as well. Okay. Now, come with me to, so you're in Acts chapter one. Come with me to Acts chapter four. Acts chapter four. So what Christ was speaking about here is what occurred on the day of Pentecost. Okay, there's nothing wrong with that word Pentecost. Okay, it just means the word number, it means 50, 50 days. And on this day is when this was fulfilled, when the Holy Ghost came upon these disciples in the sense of being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. They already had the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. You know, they were already born again, they already had the born against spirit. But this was a special power that was bestowed upon them in Acts chapter four, verse number 31. Acts chapter four, verse number 31, it says, 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. I think I've got the wrong reference there. Sorry, just bear with me. Sorry, I've got the wrong reference. Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. Just keep that in mind anyway. Acts chapter four, we are going to come back to that. Okay. Acts chapter two, verse number one, it says, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them, cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues. That's other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The Spirit gave them that ability. And then it says in verse number five, And they were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noise abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. All right. So this empowering of the Holy Ghost was the ability to speak with tongues, where people would come to Jerusalem on this day of Pentecost, and they were hearing the Gospel in different languages. So the first point brethren, again, it wasn't, what was the point of tongues? To put on a show at church, to show people how righteous and how spiritual they are, you know, what was it, was it a language that could not be understood? No, these are languages, these were real languages that people could understand and hear the Gospel in those languages. That's what the empowerment of the Holy Spirit did to them. That's what being filled with the Holy Spirit gave them, the power to be witnesses and to reach people of other languages. Now the reason I had actually the floor as well, is because this is the point that I'm going to bring a little bit later in the sermon, but I might as well bring it now because I've got, I've messed it up a little bit. But anyway, actually the two that were filled by the Holy Ghost, weren't they? Okay, so you'd say, well hold on, this is a cup right now filled with water. You say, well now that it's filled with the Holy Ghost, now that it's filled with water, surely it doesn't need to be refilled. Well, that's why we read Acts 4 again, look at Acts chapter 4 verse number 31. 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. So you can see from chapter 2, they were filled with the Holy Ghost, chapter 4, they were filled again with the Holy Ghost. Because this is what you need to understand about this empowerment by the Holy Spirit. It comes and it goes, okay? You receive it at a time when it is needful. That's why I appreciate you guys when I'm, whoever's reading the scriptures, pray, Lord, can you feel the preacher, the Holy Ghost? Because I need it right now. But when the service is over, all right, okay? And the next service, I'll need it again, all right? Or when we go soul winning, what we've seen here, be no witness. You know, before you go out and lock doors, make sure you pray, Lord, fill us with your Spirit, give us your power, give us the ability to reach someone with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all need that. And see, the reason, I might as well just touch upon it. Sorry, I'm going to mess up on my notes now. But the reason we need to refill it is because once you're filled with the Spirit, it's not just for you. The purpose is that it would overflow and be a blessing to other people, right? Though the reason I want to be filled with the Spirit of God right now as I preach is that the Spirit would overflow and give you the wisdom and understanding and it'd be profitable for you. And when you go and you preach the gospel and you ask God, fill me your Spirit, you want it to be profitable to the person that you're speaking to, okay? And so all of these qualities that we read about by being filled with the Spirit is for the prophet, not just your own prophet, but the prophet of others. For the prophet of others. Now come with me to Acts 6. Acts 6, please. Sorry, brethren, it's just because I messed up, okay? Come back with me to Acts 4. There was one little point that I wanted to... There was one more point that I wanted to bring to your attention. Because if you're new to soul winning, I don't blame you if you're feeling timid when you knock on that door. I don't blame you if you're feeling like you're lacking confidence, okay? I understand we all like that, you know? And if I can be just honest with you, it doesn't matter how much I prepare a sermon. And I sit there behind, you know, I'm ready like, okay, I got to preach in five minutes. I start to get nervous. I start to get a little, oh man, what if I make a bad job of this? Lord, I don't want to fail your people. And I'm praying, Lord, can you just fill me your Spirit, empty myself of me, just so I can be a blessing to your people who made the effort to be a church today, you know? Like I'm also sometimes lacking that confidence. And what we saw there in Acts 4, just the last phrase, it says, and they spake the Word of God with boldness. With boldness. You know what, if you need boldness, you need confidence. You know, Lord, fill me with your Spirit. And even though, you know, before I come up to preach, I'm nervous. I'm not sure I'm going to mess it up. But once I'm preaching, I've got the boldness because I've got God's Word. You know, I know His truth. I've studied His Word. I've lived His Word. You know, I'm not saying I know everything in the Bible, but I know a lot. And Lord, you can utilize me to feed your people. But there's boldness that ought to come with it. You know, when you knock someone's door, don't let it be a timid, and then you run away. It's like, oh, there was one time in Sydney, in my old church, I went door knocking. And we were straight out of church. So we were suits, ties, right? Bibles, and we went to a bit of a rough area, me and someone else. So we looked really properly dressed. And we came to a door. And there were children, there were children playing at the front. And as soon as they saw us, they all ran inside the house. And then we came up with boldness. You know, it took a while and like, we know there's kids in there. And we could hear talking, we could hear adults. You know, it's like, why aren't they answering the door? So again, with boldness, right? And then eventually the guy comes out. And he goes, oh, like, what have I done? He thought we were like undercover cops. Like, because we were that bold, right? We were that well dressed. We were like, you know, banging on that door. And I don't remember if that guy got saved or not. But look, you know, we definitely had a good conversation with him. But hey, he could see the boldness. But he thought he was in trouble. Well, he was in trouble, wasn't he? He's on his way to hell. We need to hear the salvation gospel message. But, you know, when you go out, look, no one knows the scriptures. No one knows the gospel. Let's put it this way. No one knows the gospel better than you. You need the confidence. Say our past sometimes we get timid. Oh, but what if they get to this topic? What if they go to that topic and I'm not very good? Well, look, you shouldn't go to those topics anyway. You're so winning. You're preaching the gospel. You're not winning an argument. Let them win all the arguments. Who cares? But you save their soul. Okay. And look, I really, I just, if you get the gospel, gospel's not complicated, right? The simplicity of the gospel. You also have the confidence about it. I know the words of eternal life. And the person behind the door does not know. If anyone has boldness here, it ought to be me. And I strongly encourage every time you go out soul winning, think of your stories. Think of your interaction. Think of your conversations. And if you can say, boy, we spoke about this doctrine and that doctrine, that doctrine. Did it really matter though? Did it help that person's understanding of the gospel? Because if you didn't, you just wasted time. You just wasted your time. You need to go and find the people that are ready to hear God's word. Okay. It's very easy to get distracted. It's very easy to get sidelined. And that's where people get timid. Oh, what if it goes this way? What if it goes that way? No, no, no. Just bring it back to what you're bold about. Okay. And again, ask the Holy Spirit to give you his feeling and to give you the power. Okay. Now, Acts of the six, Acts of the six. Acts of the six, verse number three. So right now we're looking at the advantages. Why would we want to be filled by the Holy Spirit of God? It allows us to be a witness for Christ. It gives you boldness. Acts of the six, verse number three. Now this is a time when the church was growing very large, you know, in the thousands. And the apostles just couldn't keep up with the running of the church. So they asked the church to choose seven men that would become the deacons of that church and that would help the apostles with the church. Acts of the six, verse number three. This is how they choose the men. They say, wherefore brethren, look ye out among you, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. We see another advantage there is the wisdom that comes by being full of the Holy Ghost. But then it says, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the same pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, look at this, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. So they really did follow instructions, right? They go, Steve, we know he's someone that is full of faith and of the Holy Ghost and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. Look at verse number six, whom they set before the apostles and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them and the word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. And a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Brethren, the other advantage of being full of the Holy Ghost or full of the Holy Spirit is church growth. We want this church to grow, don't we? I do, the church has been growing. And what is one way that we can ensure this church continues to grow? Not just that the pastor is full of the Holy Ghost. We wanna find several men that are full of the Holy Ghost. Okay, and again, with the enabling of God, by the power of God, we're able to do something great here in Little Mountain here on the Sunshine Coast. And look, the word of God will be proclaimed, the word of God will go out. I wanna utilize your skills, guys. Thank you for those that say, pastor, what can I do? But sometimes I don't know, you tell me what you wanna do. Let's figure out if it's going to benefit our church, if it's gonna help us to grow our church. I'm not interested in some huge number, but I am interested in being filled with the Spirit and allowing God to add to our church organically. So, yeah, I wanna see church growth. I think it's been great. You know, I think it's great to see so many children. I'm so happy that the adults are outnumbered with children, because that's not normal in churches. That's not normal. You know, I've been to many churches where it's not normal to see a child, right? All you see is the gray hairs, nothing wrong with gray hairs, but it's a wonderful thing when you can say, look, we're outnumbered. There's more children in the church than there are adults. I think it's a huge blessing. I don't care what noise it makes. I think it's a huge blessing. You know, it's the work of the Holy Ghost, our church will grow, and we also need to be thinking about the generations to come down the track. Now, if we're still there in Acts, come with me to Acts chapter 20, Acts chapter eight, please, Acts chapter eight. Acts chapter eight. Acts chapter eight, verse number 29. Acts chapter eight, verse number 29. Again, being full or being filled with the Holy Spirit, that's not about being saved. That's not the, you know, permanent indwelling of the Holy Ghost, okay? This is about a power and ability to do something great for God, right? To overflow as it were, right? So we can be profitable to others. Then we've got Acts chapter eight, verse number 29. It says here, then the Spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot. Now, Philip was one of the deacons that was chosen in Acts chapter six, may we call that? And they said, choose men that were full of the Holy Ghost. Okay, so we know Philip is one of these guys. And of course, by being that way, you see that the Holy Spirit is able to work in Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot, verse number 30. Except some man should guide me. And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. And so Philip was able to find this eunuch, this from Ethiopia, and he was able to give him the gospel and see him saved. You can read it for yourself. The man got saved, and then he got baptized after being saved. But I want you to notice, because we're covered being a witness, okay, he's doing exactly that, he's been a witness. But I want you to notice that by being full of the Holy Spirit, he was able to be led of God. He was able to be led of God. The Spirit told him, go here, talk to that person. And look, again, this is where Baptists will get, oh, right? Like, oh, because of the charismatics, because the Pentecostals, they so freely speak, the Spirit told me to do this. God told me to do that, you know? And then we get a little bit, well, I mean, and here's the funny thing about that, they often speak those words, but it never comes to be, they'll say things all the time. Like, you know, I come across people and they tell me, oh, God told me. Okay, but then it didn't work, though. It failed. Well, you're telling me it failed. Are you telling me that God told you to fail? Well, no, I don't think, like, what happens is people start blaming God for their own personal decisions, you know? Oh, I married that person that I'm now divorced to, but God told me to. You know, what if that person was unsaved? God did not tell you to marry that person, okay? That doesn't mean your marriage is not legit or anything like that. I'm saying, like, and then, like, it fails, it ends in divorce, something like, well, God told me. Look, you just made your own call. You made your own decision. Sometimes people say to me, oh, you know, the Lord's led me to your church. And then, like, a week later, you're not here anymore. Like, what happened? Was that really the feeling of the Holy Spirit? Were you really led by the Holy Spirit? Was that just your decision? And then you found for whatever reason, you didn't like it for whatever that. I mean, God knows what's in this church. If he's led you here, then you need to be here. But again, it's just personal decisions. I guess God told him to come, that one, and then leave the next one, and then go to visit that church, and then go to that church, and then go to that church. Now, these are just personal decisions that people make. And that's why sometimes as Baptist, we get a little bit, you know, we overcompensate for the rubbish that's out there. But you can be led by the Spirit of God. You know, I believe with all my heart, the Holy Spirit led me to the sunny coast to start a church. How do you know that, pastor? Because all I did was, God, where do you want me to go? I'll go anywhere. Lord, where do you want me to go and start a church? All I want, Lord, is to go to a place where the gospel is not being preached. That's where I want to go. Wherever the gospel is not being preached, Lord, send me there. And then I get contacted by somebody on the sunny coast. The gospel is not getting preached here. Okay, maybe that's an answer. I don't know. Lord, is that where you want me to go? Maybe. Okay, then my parents a few months later come up to us. We're going to the sunny coast for holidays. Do you want to come along with us? Like, oh, my parents have never been to the sunny coast before. If you told me where is on a map of Australia, I don't know. I have no idea. I didn't know it was so beautiful. I'm glad I didn't know how beautiful it was. Because then someone might say, oh, you just wanted to come here. The well-watered, what is it? The well-watered plains of Jordan. Whatever it is, right? Like, you know, and then I was like, wow, that's really interesting. Got to meet the Mishals and different people. And then I went up to visit my friend in Newcastle. At that point, I was like, ah, I think it's the sunshine coast. I'm pretty sure the Lord's showing me where I need to go. At that point, I'm thinking, you know what? I think the Caloundra area is where I want to start a church. And I visit my friend in Newcastle who's a saved man. And I forgot that he's from Brisbane originally. And we'll talk. And he goes, oh, yeah, I used to go to the sunny coast all the time. He goes, you know what? I reckon you should start a church in Caloundra. That's where you should start a church. So, all right, Lord. That's it. Okay. Again, was there some vision? I just said, Lord, guide me. Where do you want me to go? And over and over and over again, it was go to the sunny coast. That's it. So I'm here. It's not the beaches. It's not Malaney. It's not anything except, you know, I guess I prayed for it. It seems pretty clear to me. This is where you want me to go. And I'm not afraid of saying that because I know that testimony is true. I know that's an answer to prayer. Okay. It's not my self-will going to where I wanted to. In fact, I thought I needed to go to Adelaide. Okay. But the Lord allowed circumstances to develop in a way that the sunny coast was the right place to be. And that fills me with a lot of comfort and confidence. Then Lord, this church was not just going to collapse after six months, okay? Well, you've got to work for us here to do, right? This work will flourish. There's a purpose, Lord. You have in your minds how we can further your kingdom by being here on the sunny coast. So yeah, we want to be filled with the spirit because we can then be led by God. Come with me to another passage, Matthew 10. Matthew 10, verse 16. What's another advantage of being filled with the spirit? Matthew 10, verse 16. And this does come with the ability to speak once again. This does come with the ability to be bold, okay? Matthew 10, verse 16. Matthew 10, verse 16. Jesus says, behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. I like that verse. I feel that's one of my life verses, okay? I want to be wise like a serpent, okay? But I also need to be harmless, which kind of, it's contrary to my flesh sometimes. But then he says this in verse 17. But beware of men for they will deliver you up to the councils and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. Now this did take place after Christ ascended to heaven. We have James that was taken before Herod and killed. We have Paul. Paul was brought before King Agrippa. You may recall that as well. And so these things did happen where they upset the people that were taken, you know, thrown in prison or even killed and brought before leaders, before people, governors and kings. And then it says in verse number 19. And look, if that happens, yeah, I can understand like, oh man, what's going to happen to me? Concerned, fearful. Again, those natural feelings will come upon you. But here's the advantage of being filled with spirit, verse number 19. But when they deliver you up, take no thoughts, how or what you shall speak. For it shall be given you in the same hour what you shall speak. For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your father which speaketh in you. All right, so what's another advantage of being through the spirit? Composture, fortitude, under persecution. Again, it's that confidence. It's that boldness. It's the ability to speak. But I love what it says there in verse number 18. For a testimony against them and the Gentiles. Look, we've not experienced that. I've not experienced that in Australia. I've never been arrested. I've never been brought before kings and governors. You know, this is one area of being through the spirit that at least I don't think anybody here has experienced. But this must be a reality. I know this took place with the apostles. And I believe this is obviously going to take place again in the end times, in the tribulation, when God's people have been persecuted. But there are places in the world today where if you just stood for Christ, you preach Christ, you would literally be arrested and brought to give an answer. And the power of the Holy Spirit is you don't even need to worry about what you're going to say. That very hour, the moment that you stand before them, by the work of the spirit, you're able to say exactly what they need to hear. For a testimony against them. Either like John the Baptist, where you're, you know, I convicted them for their sins, you know, testifying of their sins against God, or like Paul brought before a gripper, a mixture of these two, where Paul was brought before a gripper. And what did Paul try to do? Try to get him saved. Right. And they say, you've almost convinced me. You've almost, you almost persuaded me to become a Christian. So Paul took the advantage, okay, to preach the gospel, you know, before kings and governors, all this. And look, again, this is an area of being filled with spirit that we've not experienced. It'd be exciting to experience, but also a little scary. But that's the whole point of being filled by the spirit, is that it's not us. It's God's work in us to say something great, to do something great, to stand for Jesus Christ, and even try to win some of these people to the Lord. So composure and fortitude under persecution. And look, the probably the closest that you're going to experience this, at the moment, at least, is when you go door to door soul winning, and they're overly aggressive to you. They might even, you know, yell profanities at you, tell you to F off or something like that, right. And that can, that can shake you a little bit, okay. But if you're filled with the spirit, you'll have the composure, you'll have the ability to manage yourself in that scenario. Tell me to Luke chapter two, Luke chapter two and verse number 25. Luke chapter two and verse number 25. Luke chapter two and 25. This is the story of Christ's birth. And Christ was brought before, on his eighth day, he was taken into the temple, as was the custom. As was the custom. And in verse 125, it says, The Holy Spirit had revealed to him, you're going to see Jesus Christ before you die. And then in verse number 27, look what happened in verse 27. So the same day they bring Jesus to the temple, the same day in verse 27, it says, And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him, after the custom of the law, then took him, him up in his arms, and blessed God and said, I won't just keep reading, I won't keep reading. But look, he blessed God. He knew the babe in his arms was the consolation of Israel, was the Savior, was the Messiah, the promise came to be. But not only had the Holy Spirit revealed this to him, but he came by the Spirit into the temple. This tells me, I might be reading too much into this, I don't know. This tells me it probably wasn't, because when the Levites would serve in the temple, they had like rosters and schedules, and you know, this time you'll do this, other people would serve in this capacity. It seems like to me, they probably wasn't in his schedule, but the Holy Spirit said, you need to go anyway. So he goes to the temple, and there he meets Jesus Christ. But what we see here, brethren, when you're filled with the Spirit, okay, the Spirit again, reveals truth and helps you walk in that truth. Okay, reveals truth and helps you walk in that truth. Brethren, when I preach, I don't want it to just be me filled with the Spirit. This is what I was going to before, right? Where I'm teaching God's truth. I want you to be filled by the Spirit, that the Spirit of God will reveal the truth to you. And if I make a mistake, which is possible with a human being, the Holy Spirit of God will say to you, you know what, that was an error, forgive your pastor, he's just a man. You know what God's Word has to say, right? And you walk according to the truth that you see in the Scriptures. But you need to have that ability, okay? We are meant to try the spirits. You know, we should search the Scriptures daily, you know, to ensure what we're hearing is the truth. And so I'm going to change the way I pray when I come to church. Instead of Lord, fill me your Spirit, I'm going to pray, Lord, fill us all with your Spirit. Because we all are coming to church to reveal truth. And not just to reveal it, but to be able to walk in it. Okay, like this great man was able to. Come with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 8. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 8. Now another work that the Holy Spirit does in our lives, he puts us into a church and he gives us spiritual gifts, okay? He gives us the ability to serve one another, to benefit this church, okay? And what we read here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse number 8. It says, verse number 8, For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. And again brethren, I've got the wrong reference. Bear with me please, bear with me. Okay, verse number 7 is what I want to read. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 7. It says, but the manifestation of the Spirit, look at this, is given to every man. Every man, woman, and child in this church has been given a manifestation of the Spirit, okay? He gives you a gift, an ability to serve in the house of God. And I want you to ask the Holy Ghost, ask the Lord God, what is that gift? And don't let me shut you down. Don't think, oh I can do this at church, but I don't know if pastor wants me to. Just look, do the right thing, just run it by me. Say this is how I can serve and this is how it's going to profit our church. Because look, it says, but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all. To profit with all. That's why I use that illustration of the cup being filled, you fill that cup up. What we want is not just for the person that is filled to profit from it, but we want it to overflow that others, that all would profit from the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given each one of us. So ask yourself, what is it that I can do? How can I profit? How can I serve my Lord God in his house? And look, if you've got some ideas, let me know, we can talk about them. Again, don't think, oh a pastor doesn't do it, so therefore he won't like it. Maybe I like it, maybe I've just never thought about it, right? Or maybe I don't realize how we can profit. Maybe you can share with me how that idea will profit our church. But again, the whole reason we want to be filled is that we can profit other people. Okay, be a prophet to others. Now come with me again to Acts chapter one. Come with me again to Acts chapter one. I do want to touch upon something and apparently this is a controversy. Okay, I kind of mentioned it as we started this sermon. Not the controversy, but I mentioned what the controversy is. Now the reason, look, I don't know why this is a controversy. If someone can tell me why this is controversial, let me know, okay? But I have conversations with different people and Pastor Stevenson is a good friend of mine. And I'm on the same page as Pastor Stevenson on the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Like everything that he's told me, I might use a bit of a different terminology as he does sometimes. But as far as the effects or the work in itself, I agree wholeheartedly with Pastor Stevenson's position on the Holy Spirit. And the issue of controversy is that what he has taught, which is what I'm teaching, has labeled him a heretic amongst other Baptist brethren, which I just don't understand why. Like I just don't get why, why that is, okay? But again, Acts chapter one, verse number eight. Let me just walk you through this again. Jesus Christ says, But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me. Okay, in Jerusalem, etc. All right, they're going to be witnesses. Okay, the Holy Ghost is going to come upon them. They're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And again, we get to Acts chapter two, verse number four. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Okay, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. So now they're doing it. I mean, that would make sense. Chapter one says it, chapter two, now they're doing it, right? And they're preaching, they're witnessing of Christ is exactly what Christ said. So they've been filled. Then you get to verse number, look, drop down to verse number 14, Acts chapter two, verse number 14. I want to show you that one of these people that have been filled with the Spirit is Peter. But Peter, standing up with the 11, lifted up his voice and said unto them, ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words. I want to show you that Peter is one of these men that was filled with the Holy Spirit, right? And was preaching and witnessing of Jesus Christ. Now again, Acts chapter four. I know we've gone through this again, but I'm just trying to bring this point out a little bit further. Acts chapter four and verse number five. Acts chapter four and verse number five. And it came to pass on the morrow. So this is a different time. It's a different day, right? That the rulers and elders and scribes and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and then like Alexander and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what power or by what name have you done this? Look at verse number eight. Then Peter, again Peter another one, right? Another time. Filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel. I won't keep reading. But what you notice is he filled with the Holy Ghost again in chapter four on another day. Okay. So that means he was filled and then he wasn't filled anymore. And then he was filled again when the time comes for him to preach before this group. Okay. And look, just another passage. Come with me, Acts 13. Acts 13, verse number 52. Acts 13, verse number 52. Acts 13, verse number 52 reads, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. Just again, they're filled again. Like it's happening again. They're filled with the Holy Ghost. Like if this was just one, just one time this happened. Well, you wouldn't have to say that they're filled again and filled and filled again, okay? And you wouldn't need the commandment, be filled with the Holy Spirit. You wouldn't need that because if it's ready, it just happens for once. No. These are different times in your life, different scenarios of life where God gives you and measure the power, the feeling, however you want to say it of the Holy Ghost to do something great for him. And apparently this idea of you get it and then you need to get it again and you need to get it again. Apparently, apparently in some Baptist circles that's heretical. I don't know why. I don't know why that is. Look, and let me just say this. In the Baptist churches that I've been part of, my pastors have taught exactly that. The Baptist church that I've been part of, pastors, people have been praying for the pastor. Please fill him with the Spirit. No one said, oh, that's heretical. But apparently in some Baptist churches it is. That's one reason why Pastor Stevenson is blackboard. Like he's called a Baptist, Baptist coastal or something like that. I think that's so unfair. Okay, maybe the terminal. Well, I think I'm more tactful than Pastor Stevenson is. That's all. I think he gets himself into trouble. Whereas I try to maneuver a little bit more and try to, you know. Anyway, so what I'm trying to say to you Brethren is you can have it today and you won't have it necessarily tomorrow. But when the time comes to do something for God, to serve him. Look, when you have just a one-on-one interaction with a friend and you know the Lord has opened the door to give him the gospel. Have a quick prayer. In fact, we'll look at this in a moment. Lord, fill me with your Spirit right now. Need to do something for you God. I don't want to do it in my own strength. I don't want to do it in my flesh. I want to do it with your power. And Brethren, you'll be able to do great things. You know, people say things to me all the time. Like if I'm not careful, it can be flattery. It can cause me to have a big head. People say things, nice things. And if you do that, I know you mean well. Love you too, okay. But it's the working of the Holy Spirit. And I want to make sure the right person gets the glory. It's God. It's God, you know. If I had my way, I'm an introverted person. I don't like to talk to people. I just don't. I'd rather just be in my bedroom, leave me alone, okay. But God's given me this position. I got to try. I got to force myself. If we're talking and I go quiet, or if we're talking, I just walk away. That's just, that's my introverted self, you know, protecting itself. But yeah, I don't like to talk. Ask Christina. Ask my wife. She knows what I'm like. People say nice things all the time. Pastor, I don't know how you, how do you go back and forth between the states? It's the Holy Spirit. Yeah, I get physically tired. But you know, there are days, I feel like on Thursdays, because I'm tired. Thursday nights in Sydney, I feel like I'm living down my church. Like, I feel tired. I feel like, I got to get through the sermon. I got to feed God's people. I'm working through it. And they come up. Pastor, that was the best sermon. And I was like, well, yeah, because it's the Holy Spirit then. It's got to be the Lord that does the work. And all you need to do is go, you know what, Lord, I'm ready to empty myself of me, and my pride, and what I think makes me good, whatever it is. And Lord, you utilize me to do something for you. I believe we can have pastors in this church, men that rise up and start churches. I believe you can, but it has to be done by the feeling of the Holy Spirit. Now you say, well, how pastor? Yes, you've told us that it's important that we need to do it. The advantages. How are we filled with the Spirit? Well, come with me to Luke chapter 11. Come with me to Luke chapter 11. And while you're turning there, we started with Ephesians 5 18. You go to Luke 11, Ephesians 5 18 says, And be not drunk with wine, wearing his excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Well, first of all, if you want to be filled with the Spirit, you got to get off the alcohol. Okay, because alcohol is going to prevent the Holy Spirit from filling you. You say pastor, but I'm just getting tipsy. Yeah, by definition, tipsy is slightly drunk. Okay. But anyway, you can get off the alcohol and still not be filled with the Spirit. What is that you need to do? Well, Luke 11 9, please, Luke 11 9. Jesus Christ says, and look, these verses are, we know these verses in verse number nine, And I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and you shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. But you may not have realised as we keep going that this is about being filled with the Spirit, because it says in verse number 10, For everyone that asketh receiveth. Look, everyone that asketh receiveth. You say, Lord, fill me with your Spirit. Lord, utilise me to do a work for you. You will receive it. And he that seeketh findeth, to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give, sorry, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? Look at verse number 13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? How do I get through the Spirit? Father, I'm asking of you, give me your Holy Spirit. Fill me with your power. Give me your strength. You ask, and it shall be given. You seek, and you'll find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. And of course, we can generalise that. Yeah, that's about prayer. Of course it is. But I want you to see how Jesus Christ narrows it down. You want the Holy Spirit in your life. You want his power. He's already your father. You're already saved, okay? He's given you a greater measure of his power, but through his Holy Spirit, just to ask. And those examples that we saw in the book of Acts, they were praying. They were praying. They were asking. That's what prayer means, to ask. And the Holy Spirit came upon them mightily. They were Pentecost and other days, of course. And they did something great. They turned the world upside down, is what the Bible says. Brethren, we can turn. Let's start by turning Little Mountain upside down, then the sunny coast, then Queensland. We'll get to Bridgetown eventually. It's a little bit far. I feel like we already turned it upside down anyway. And look, I don't know. I don't know what God can do, you know? We've all of us I'm talking about, you know? Imagine all of us, filled with his Spirit. All of us proclaiming God's word boldly, all right? Men rising up and able to do something that never thought possible. You know, when someone says, I would like to be a pastor one day, don't let people put you down about it. The Bible says being a bishop is a good work. It's a good work to do. And look, sometimes people say to me, I would like to be a pastor one day, and I know there's a lot of shortcomings. But I don't tear that person down because I know that it's going to be the Holy Spirit anyway, that makes that the possibility for them. It's the Holy Spirit that's going to fix their lives, change their lives, give them the boldness, give them the wisdom. Say, pastor, teach me to become a pastor. Look, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. He's the teacher. He's the one that knows the deep things of God. You know, you don't have to go through me, all right? You go through the Holy Spirit. Feel me, Lord. Utilize me. Lord, if it's your will for me to be a pastor, equip me, give me the wisdom, give me the, I was going to say charisma, but it's probably not the right word. All right, just help me to find grace in the eyes of people so I can lead your people, that I can teach your people, that I can feed your people for your glory, God, not for my own glory, but for your glory. And I know you ask him, he'll give it to you. Do you believe that? I believe that. Someone wants to be a pastor today, ask God. I know God can make that happen. Okay, but you need to be filled with the Spirit. All right, brethren, let's close in order to pray.