BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

TOPIC: BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

TEXT: Psalm 44:1&3
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.

3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.

MESSAGE
Have you ever noticed that the larger percentage of the church as it is now seems very different from the one described in the book of Acts of the Apostles. Back then, they prayed and got result; a sermon won 3,000 souls; in fact souls were added to them daily (Acts 2:47). The miraculous was the norm. But today, anointing has been replaced with rhetorics and gimmicks; and sound doctrine with the doctrines of men. We read about the Acts of the early church and they seem like myth. In fact some people have thrown up their hands in frustration and said that the supernatural is not for us today. How pathetic! Have we forgotten that it is the Spirit that quickeneth and the flesh profiteth for nothing? (John 6:63) Meanwhile, all these time the wilderness of the world is waiting for our manifestation. Because the scriptures predict that the world will remain in disrepair it will be a wilderness until the manifestation of the Sons of God--when the Spirit is poured on us from on high (Isaiah 32:15)

Notice He didn't say he will pour the spirit on the wilderness. He said until the spirit be poured on us because the Spirit cannot operate in this world to achieve the necessary change without us the children of God. By the time the rapture would have taken place, the Spirit will still be on earth because some people will still believe in Jesus during the reign of the Antichrist. In fact that is when most of the Jews will believ and be saved. And we know that no man calls Jesus Lord without the Holy Spirit (1Cor 12:3). But He will not hinder the decadence and reign of the Antichrist. That is the duty of the Church--of course through the help of the Holy Spirit. But by then the Church (which is the withholder that 2Thes 2:6-8 referes to as he that leteth) which is preventing the full scal manifestation of the Antichrist till his time will have been raptured and taken away. So it is the presence of the Spirit filled church that makes the wilderness to become a fruitful field.

Therefore it is not enough that the Spirit has been poured out. We have to be filled to the overflow. We need the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When it seemed as if the world was building some resistance against the Word of God, the early church cried to God. God's response was to CAUSE THEM TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT (Acts 4:23-31). It's not as if God was sending the Holy Spirit for the first time. He actually simply caused the church to be soaked in the Spirit. When the church is low in the spirit content, its efficiency will be low. That is why we need to cry to God today. The Holy Spirit is as present in the world as He was during the times of the Apostles. The difference is that they were filled with Him while we have neglected Him. Take notice that before the men of the book of Acts operated in the supernatural, the scriptures always recorded that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. We read things like "[Stephen] full of the Holy Ghost (Acts 7:55) .... "Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 13:9) etc. Yes that is th secret. When we cry to God with heartfelt, and fervent prayer, we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and by that, tremendous power is made available and this power is dynamic in its working (James 5:26 Amplifed version paraphrase). This is how we show God that we thirst and that is the prerequisite for the infilling (John 7:37-38). Let us pray

PRAYER
Father thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit of promise

Father I repent of neglecting him all this while. Please forgive me

Father I yield myself to you cause me to be filled with the Holy Spirit

Overwhelm me oh Righteous Father with your Spirit and power that I may manifest your glory

Soak your church in the river of the Spirit; cause us to be filled to the overflow with the Spirit

Father walk though your church again and cause a mighty revival

Pray in the spirit

Pray for me too

FURTHER STUDY
Acts 2

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