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Catch the Wind (Ephesians 5:18) -- part 2
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Catch the Wind (Ephesians 5:18) -- part 2
Ephesians: Growing in Christ
Sunday Message recorded 23 April 2023
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Scripture Focus
00:00:06
Speaker
Good morning. Already enjoyed the worship this morning. I want to invite you to turn with me to the letter of Ephesians. To Ephesians, we're looking at chapter 5, at verse 18. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18.
Being Filled with God's Spirit: A Metaphor
00:00:23
Speaker
Last week we started looking at this verse and today we're going to have part two, but last week I gave you a small booklet that was written by Dr. Bill Bright. So if you were not here last week and you would like one of these, it's just full of scripture. And so just, we have a couple of guys coming down the center aisle. If you'll just motion to them, they'd be happy to pass one along to you.
00:00:48
Speaker
This just gives a little bit more detail than what I'm going to share with you. But I do want you mainly to be looking in God's word and not just at a booklet. But this will help you to understand it better because it puts it together in such a concise way. So that's what I wanted to do was to finish this message on being filled with God's Spirit
00:01:16
Speaker
And what I mean by that is being controlled by God's Spirit. Are you letting the Holy Spirit control your life? When he's in control of a life, he exalts Jesus and puts the spotlight on him. There's an Australian named Paul Larson.
00:01:34
Speaker
He set a new speed sailing record back in November of 2012. As a matter of fact, his record still stands all these years later. His craft or his boat was named Sail Rocket 2.
00:01:50
Speaker
It moved across Walvis Bay and Namibia at an average speed of 65.45 knots, which would be roughly about 75 miles an hour. That's fast when you're just catching the wind in your sail. And I mean, it is speeding you across the top of the water. That idea is what is represented by that word filled that we're going to look at in a few moments.
Command to Be Filled with the Spirit
00:02:16
Speaker
The Greek word there is pleru.
00:02:19
Speaker
It had the idea to the ancient world of a sailboat that they lift up their sails and the boat's not moving. But when the wind blows, when the wind blows, suddenly things begin to happen and they begin to move across that water. It's whenever those sails are filled and moving forward and things are going forward.
00:02:46
Speaker
You know, in Ephesians 5, 18, let me just read this. It says, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. You recall last week I was pointing out that that's a command. It's an imperative. This is not a suggestion. This is not an option. This is something God holds me accountable and you accountable for every single day that
Daily Surrender and Empowerment
00:03:12
Speaker
we live. Are we being filled with the Spirit?
00:03:15
Speaker
There's a prohibition toward drunkenness, of course, but why? Because someone who's drunk is not in control of their life. They're totally out of control. So what he's saying is we should surrender our control to the Holy Spirit. And it's interesting how the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. So someone that is being controlled by God's Spirit, it's amazing how they'll be making wise decisions as they go through life.
00:03:42
Speaker
You know, it's also in the present tense, which we learned last time means to be continually being filled. So I'm not talking about one spiritual experience that you need today. No, that's not it at all. It's something that happens or should happen every day.
00:04:00
Speaker
Every day we should be going back to the Lord saying, Lord, I yield my life to you, just like that sailboat that wants to put the sails up in the air. Without your power, I won't be able to do my job today. I won't be able to bear witness today. I won't be able to resist temptation today without your strength.
00:04:20
Speaker
in my life. And so that's what it's in the present tense. It's also passive. So it means you can't do this yourself. It means the Spirit of God has to be your strength. He has to move you forward.
00:04:33
Speaker
And of course, it's also plural, meaning all of us, not a special group of us. No, it's for every disciple. Everyone that's following Christ should be depending on the Lord like we've seen here. And so I want to pray today and I want us to look
00:04:52
Speaker
at two prayers that we've already covered in the book of Ephesians. And I want to pray these over you. I was praying it over you already before I left the house today, but I want you to open up God's word and to look at what we're asking God to do. In Ephesians chapter one, verse, let's start with verse 17.
00:05:15
Speaker
That's where I'm going to begin in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 17, and we're going to pray through verse 19. So I want to lead us in prayer. We're going to pray these things over us today, and then we're going to skip and go to chapter 3, and we're going to pray over us today, Ephesians 3, 16 down through verse 21.
Principles of Abundant Life
00:05:37
Speaker
So you join me in prayer as we just, you know, the strongest way, the most effective way to pray
00:05:44
Speaker
is to pray and ask God for what God wants to give. And so in scripture, he tells us what he wants to give, how he wants to bless, what direction he wants us to go in. So let's just ask him in accordance to what he's already revealed that he wants to do, because we know we're going to be in line with his will. So let's join in prayer together. You can follow along in scripture, or you can just pray with me as we start with Ephesians 1.17.
00:06:15
Speaker
Lord, this morning we've already been so blessed. Lord, we recognize that you are the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. Lord, I'm asking this morning that you would give all of us, myself included, the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of you. I pray that when we go away today, we would know who you are better, that we'd be stronger. It's all about you. And so help us to know who you are.
00:06:44
Speaker
Lord, I also know that through Christ and through the work of your Holy Spirit already, those of us who know you personally, you've already opened our eyes, the eyes of our hearts. They've already been enlightened. And so today there's certain things that we're praying that each of us would know.
00:07:03
Speaker
I pray that today you would help each of us to know what is the hope to which you have called each one of us. I pray that we would know what are the riches of your glorious inheritance in the saints. And I pray that we would know what is the immeasurable greatness of your power toward us who believe, according to the working not of our flesh, but according to the working of your great might.
00:07:33
Speaker
Lord, from Ephesians 3 and verse 15, 16, we want to pray that also, according to the riches of your glory, that this morning you would grant us to be strengthened with power, power through your spirit in the inner being, that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, that we would be rooted and grounded in love, that we may have strength
00:08:02
Speaker
to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth. That today we would be able to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Oh, I pray Lord that each one of us today would be filled with all the fullness of God.
00:08:23
Speaker
Thank you, Lord, that it is to you. You're the one that's able to do far more abundantly than all we're asking or all we can even think today. And I thank you that it will be done according to the power at work within us, that it will be done for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the church. And it's for His glory, for His honor, that we pray all these things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
00:08:51
Speaker
Amen. I want to give you four principles. They were found there in the booklet, but they're also found in God's word. And so I want to show you from God's word, what does it mean to be living a spirit-filled life? And so we're going to clarify a lot of things this morning just based on these four biblical principles. The first one is this. God has provided for us
00:09:17
Speaker
abundant and fruitful life in Christ. He's already provided for us an abundant and a fruitful life in Christ. Jesus himself said in John 10 10 that the reason he came was this. He said I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
00:09:38
Speaker
Jesus wants you to have that abundant life. He wants me to experience that spiritual victory. We're not supposed to win by a field goal. We barely win and pull it out. No, I think there's an abundance that is found in Christ.
00:09:55
Speaker
In 2 Peter 1.3, Peter explains what his understanding was of abundant living. He described it this way in 2 Peter 1, verse 3. His divine power has granted to us all things, all things.
00:10:13
Speaker
that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. You hear what he's saying? There's an abundance. There's life. There's so much life and abundance that's found in Christ.
00:10:31
Speaker
In John 15 and verse five, another verse I wanted you to look at that seems to underscore this whole idea that God has provided for us an abundant and fruitful Christian life is found in John 15 and verse five. John 15 and verse five, he says, I'm the vine, you, speaking to all of us, you're the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that
00:11:02
Speaker
that hears will bear much fruit. For apart from me, he can do nothing." You see, I can't do anything apart from the vine, from Christ. As I abide in Christ, he gives me, he gives you, he gives each one of us the strength that we need to have an abundant life.
00:11:25
Speaker
When he's talking about bears much fruit, he's talking about us being fruitful,
Fruits of the Spirit vs. Self-rule
00:11:30
Speaker
being impactful, being influential. Have you ever felt like, I don't feel like my life is influencing anyone else. It can because God wants to work through us, but
00:11:41
Speaker
The other side of it, if we neglect our daily walk with the Lord, if we do not abide in Christ daily, then you know what it's like? He said, you will be able to do nothing. We can accomplish nothing. You see, we can struggle through life. He says, apart from me, you can do nothing. How about a cell phone? A cell phone has the ability to do a lot of things, but do you know what? It'll only last 17 hours without charging it back up.
00:12:11
Speaker
I challenge you to put your cell phone, carry your cell phone with you for three days without charging it and see how much it can do without that charge. But what about us? How many days do we go without praying, without reading God's word, without abiding with the Lord, without lingering in His presence? If we go that long, we also will begin to be ineffective. We will not be fruitful. We will not experience abundance and the fruitful life.
00:12:40
Speaker
We have to go back and recharge every single day. Galatians 5, 22-23 describes in more detail the capacity. What exactly happens
00:12:54
Speaker
whenever someone is yielding to the Spirit of the Lord, whenever someone is exalting Christ and allowing Him to be on the throne of their life. Well, I think Galatians 5, 22 and 23 describes it really well. It talks about us having the fruit of the Spirit.
00:13:13
Speaker
Like love and joy and peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Those are things that only God can do in us. But what if we decide, I've got a lot of things going right now. I don't have time to be with God and to wait for Him. So I'm just going to go on out there and live my day.
00:13:34
Speaker
What's the flip side of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control? I got to thinking about that and I thought, you know what? We don't want those things. The flip side of love would be hatred. The flip side of joy would be discouragement and depression. The flip side of peace would be worry, fear. The flip side of patience would be impatience.
00:14:01
Speaker
The flip side of kindness would be someone who's critical. The flip side of goodness would be someone who's mean-spirited. The flip side of faithfulness would be someone who is unfaithful. Of gentleness would be harshness. Self-control would be reckless, out of control.
00:14:18
Speaker
We don't want those things. We all deeply long for what only God can accomplish through our lives. And God has provided for that to take place as we rely upon Him, as we yield to the Holy Spirit within. Do you remember how I showed you last week in that booklet those diagrams that are taken from 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 10 through chapter 3, verse 3?
00:14:49
Speaker
The first diagram describes someone who doesn't know Christ. Self is on the throne of their life making decisions. Self is in the driver's seat. Christ, we saw last week, is outside of their life. And so what is a life like for that person? Often it's chaotic. It's disorder.
00:15:10
Speaker
But then someone comes to know Christ. They begin to experience the harmony that only the Lord could bring. They invite Christ to sit upon the throne and to be in the driver's seat. But then something happens. They begin to be worldly. They begin to get their eyes off of Christ. They begin to want to live like everybody else out there. So then they go back to saying, I think I know better.
00:15:33
Speaker
So they remove Christ from the driver's seat of their life and they take the seat again. So now self is back in control. Christ is still in their life.
00:15:46
Speaker
It's not like before when Christ was outside of their life, but Christ is not in control of their life. They're in control of their life. And so what happens once again? Chaos. Once again, confusion and disorder. But the spiritual man is depicted right there. The spiritual man has Christ on the cross. The spiritual man, notice where he is. He's in a place of submission. He's in a place of surrender.
00:16:12
Speaker
S is down there standing for self. S is in that place of saying, okay, Lord, I want to yield my rights to that throne to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so look at those variables in his life. They're not perfect, but they're in order. Why? Because Christ is helping him to have them in order in his life. That's what I'm talking about.
00:16:36
Speaker
when I'm trying to describe the difference in someone who's yielding their life to the lordship of Christ, someone who's allowing the Holy Spirit to direct them in their daily walk, and they're depending not upon their fleshly strength, they're depending upon God's strength.
00:16:54
Speaker
Well, I want to introduce you to the second principle. The second principle is also what we were just touching on, the worldly Christian. It may seem obvious to some, but maybe not to all, so I want to make sure that we connect the dots. Whirly Christians cannot experience the abundant and fruitful Christian life that Jesus intended.
00:17:17
Speaker
He wants to do it. He can do it. But we are saying, you know what? I want to live my life the way I want to, not the way you want to. And so God is not a bless me anyway type of God. So why is it? Well, I think that people do it for various reasons. And I think there are various ways of describing it. But I think that that person who's said, I'd rather have the world than have Jesus, I think that person is either
00:17:47
Speaker
uninformed about or has forgotten God's love, his forgiveness, and his power.
00:17:54
Speaker
They've totally forgotten. They forgot what it was like. You know, in Christ, you know what the Bible says? In Christ, our shame is lifted. Our guilt is lifted. We're forgiven. We don't have to be miserable because of past sins. We're forgiven through the blood of Christ. But something happens with the worldly Christian. The worldly Christian has forgotten all that sweetness and all the goodness and all the freedom.
00:18:21
Speaker
And now they're just looking at the world and they want to be like the world. And so what's going to happen to them now? Well, I tell you what's not going to happen. They're not going to be experiencing God's power. They're not going to be tasting His love. They're going to be adding up more and more sins. They're no longer experiencing God's best within salvation. They're drifting. They're drifting. Are you moving toward Christ? Are you drifting toward the world?
00:18:52
Speaker
In Christ, through the Spirit's power, he can also be a faithful man. You can be a faithful man. You can be a faithful woman. Through Christ, we can be a consistent disciple. Through Christ, we can be steady in our walk with the Lord.
00:19:10
Speaker
But not whenever self is on the throne. When self is on the throne, I'll tell you what happens. There will be an up and down Christian experience. One day you'll be so joyful, one day you'll be so happy, and one day you'll be loving, one day you'll be kind, and all these different things. You'll be serving other people. But because self is on the throne, eventually you're coming down.
00:19:34
Speaker
because we can't sustain it. It's an up and down thing. And so what we do is we struggle. We struggle. We start singing the blues. There's a blues number in Romans 7.15 where it says, for I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I
Holy Spirit's Role from Conversion
00:19:59
Speaker
hate. Has that ever been your experience?
00:20:03
Speaker
I don't do what I want, but I'm doing what I hate. Why is that? Is that because you were relying on the Lord or is that because you're no longer relying on the Lord? You're trying to do it yourself. See, this is why he stays confused and he wants to do what's right, but he cannot do what's right. Let me just tell you really plain so we can't miss.
00:20:30
Speaker
The Christian life cannot be lived in the flesh. Only God can help us obey Him. Only God can give us the strength and the spiritual power. Only He can give us the commitment that is needed to live the Christian life. That's why in Galatians 5, 17 it clarifies. You see, there's like an internal war within this worldly Christian.
00:20:54
Speaker
One's saying, hey, I know, let's go follow what the rest of the world is doing. Let's go this way. But the Holy Spirit is saying, no, you said you wanted to follow Christ. Christ's going that way. Let's go this way. And so you're having to decide which one will you follow.
00:21:12
Speaker
And so that's why we struggle because those two, the Holy Spirit and the world, they're not going in the same directions. So every single day, we have to make a decision. Am I going to allow the Holy Spirit to help me to follow Christ because I can't do it on my own, or am I going to try my best to follow the world and kind of do a few things for Christ?
00:21:39
Speaker
That will not work. You're gonna come apart at the seams. You see, the worldly Christian is just flat out miserable. They're miserable because they're living in spiritual defeat when they've been created in Christ for spiritual victory. And so because, why is that? It's because we're failing to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life.
00:22:07
Speaker
Maybe we have good intentions. Maybe you have a winsome personality. There's a lot of people in this room. I love hanging around you. I love being with you. But a winsome personality by itself is not enough to resist sin. Maybe you are making lots of money these days. Financial profits are there. But all the money in the world is not going to help you win spiritual victories.
00:22:33
Speaker
Maybe you're really advancing in your career. You're being promoted. There's positions, but career positions and positions of influence and so forth. That's not enough to say no to sin.
00:22:46
Speaker
academic prowess where you're getting degree after degree after degree and you know a lot of things. Some of you could probably go circles around me on the cell phone or on the computer and so forth, which is fine, but all I'm saying is that right self, all that kind of knowledge, it's not enough to resist temptation. You see that booklet that I gave you, have you made the wonderful discovery of the Spirit-filled life?
00:23:14
Speaker
It gives the following traits as some of the possible, why don't we call them faces, some of the possible faces of a self-controlled life, of a life that's driven and ruled by self. Let's look at those together. If I'm going to be living by the flesh, self is on the throne and Christ is off the throne, then here's what my life could look like. I'll be legalistic.
00:23:42
Speaker
I'll have impure thoughts. I'll be jealous. I'll be guilty. I'll worry. I'll be discouraged. I'll have a critical spirit. I'll be frustrated. I'll be aimless. I'll be fearful. I'll be ignorant of the spiritual heritage I have in Christ. I'll struggle with unbelief. I'll struggle with disobedience. I will have a loss of love for God and for other people.
00:24:06
Speaker
I'll have a poor prayer life. I will not even desire more Bible study. Man, I'll be out of here as soon as I can. That's what it's like for the worldly Christian. That's what it's like trying to do the Christian life in your own flesh.
00:24:24
Speaker
But you see, Jesus promised better things for us. That's why I want to go to the third principle, because the third principle helps us to make the connections between the promises that Christ has made of the abundant, fruitful life with the Holy Spirit directing us, the Holy Spirit filling us, the Holy Spirit helping us as our comforter, our helper, our guide,
Maintaining a Spirit-filled Life
00:24:54
Speaker
So the Holy Spirit is involved with our new life in Christ right from the start. See, in John 3.5, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus. And he says, don't you know that you have to be born not just of the flesh and of water, you have to be born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes us new in Christ.
00:25:19
Speaker
But the Holy Spirit is also the one, when you don't know Christ, John 16, 8 says, he convicts us of sin, of righteousness and judgment. I know that sometimes people come to this church and they go to a Bible study, they go to Sunday school or wherever, and they feel uncomfortable and they resist that. Don't resist it.
00:25:42
Speaker
You know what that is? That's the Holy Spirit convicting you. He's saying, you're not okay without my son, Jesus. I want you to come to the Lord Jesus for salvation. I want you to come to Him for power, for cleansing, for victory, for guidance and so forth. And so the Holy Spirit, hey, He's there right from the start. He's the one that helped you when you first became a Christian, but also,
00:26:10
Speaker
Jesus promised that the indwelling Holy Spirit would be like an internal well within the believer. John 7 verses 37 to 39 records the Lord's words. And what Jesus says there is, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit.
00:26:36
Speaker
The Holy Spirit is the source. He's going to help you to find that overflow that you're looking for in life. One word of clarification though.
00:26:47
Speaker
When you're truly filled with the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit is in charge of your life, you're not gonna be talking about self. You're not gonna be talking about the Holy Spirit himself. You're not gonna be talking about spiritual gifts. You know what you're gonna be talking about? Jesus. Jesus. You know what he says in John 16, 14? Here's what Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do. He will glorify me.
00:27:13
Speaker
For he will take what is mine and declare it to you." That's what he's going to do. You see, he's not going to have us out there saying, you know what? My life is really going well these days. I'm just trying the best I can, blah, blah, blah. No.
00:27:30
Speaker
Now the Holy Spirit is going to prompt you to say, you know what? My life has been totally different since I trusted Christ. I'm not perfect. I'm still struggling a lot of areas, but you know what? The Holy Spirit is giving me the strength to follow Christ and I'm becoming more like Jesus
00:27:47
Speaker
Every single day. See, it's all about the Savior. It's not about the servant. Who are you putting the spotlight on? We should put the spotlight on Jesus. And that's what the Holy Spirit helps us. Whenever we've got the spotlight on ourselves, He said, no, no, no. Put it back on Jesus. Put the spotlight on Him.
00:28:07
Speaker
You see, another promise that Jesus made connecting the Christian life with the Holy Spirit is found in Acts 1.8. Have you ever struggled and you thought, why can't I just tell somebody about Jesus? Why can't I just get those words out? He means so much to me. Well, see, that's when the Holy Spirit was given to us, that we would have power. It takes spiritual power to actually say something about Jesus Christ to other people.
00:28:34
Speaker
You see what? The Holy Spirit's already wanted to put spotlight on Him. And the people are seeing the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Can you see the setup? It's like your life's going to be improving the closer you get to Jesus. Your life's going to have things that those around you don't have. And the Holy Spirit is going to be saying, remember, put the spotlight on Jesus, put the spotlight on Jesus, and then somebody's going to say it.
00:28:57
Speaker
Somebody's going to say, I don't understand how you can be so patient. I don't understand how you can be so responsible and faithful and dependable. Everything that's entrusted to you, people can count on you. How is that? And you say, oh, it's not me. You see, that's Jesus in me. And so then you began to tell them about Jesus out of that natural overflow of the Holy Spirit.
00:29:21
Speaker
Acts 1.8, Jesus said, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses. Wow. What a great setup. No wonder the Holy Spirit is such a great helper. But I want to wrap our time up with the fourth principle.
00:29:40
Speaker
If you're looking for something very practical like, okay, you've convinced me. So how do I stay filled with the Holy Spirit each and every day over and over again as I live my life? Well, I love that little booklet because it brings scriptures together that give us four different steps to it. The first step is simple. Do you really want to? Do you desire it? Do you thirst for it?
00:30:05
Speaker
You know, in John 7, where we were a moment ago, when I was talking about the Holy Spirit being like the overflow, right, the internal well, right before that in verse 37, Jesus said, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
00:30:24
Speaker
The truth is sometimes we're not thirsty. Sometimes we're not hungry for God. And so the first step is we got to say, Lord, you know what? I'm tired of it. I'm tired of all that stuff. The world is only bringing more pain in my family, in my life, in my career, in my witness for you. I'm sick and tired of following the world. I've made a big mess of my life. So Lord, you know what?
00:30:49
Speaker
I'm ready. I'm so hungry. I am so thirsty for you." That, if you've got that going on, God's at work in your life. He's the one that's making you thirsty to surrender your life to the Lord. The second thing is, confess your sins. Confess your sins by faith, thanking Him for the forgiveness of all your sins.
00:31:12
Speaker
1 John 1, 9 through 10. It's such a great passage for us to learn, okay, how can I daily, continually discipline myself for the Spirit-filled life? You know what the Apostle John would say? You better daily, continually confess your sins to God. I'm telling you, the Lord uses a cleansed vessel.
00:31:36
Speaker
All of us are going to make mistakes. I'm talking like every day I make mistakes. But you know what also I do every day? I go back to the Father and say, Lord, I blew it again. I'm so sorry for worry. I'm so sorry for pride. So sorry for selfishness. Go back to Him, confess it to Him. And you know what He does every single time? He said, I'm faithful to do something. I'll cleanse you from all unrighteousness. So it'll be just like you're starting all over again.
00:32:05
Speaker
That's what it takes to stay filled with God's Spirit. You're going to have to continually go back to God and say, Lord, I blew it. I want to come back and repent. I want to come back and confess. I want to ask you to please cleanse me, and he will.
00:32:21
Speaker
But there's a third step that's mentioned and I think is also very biblical. If you were to look in Romans, for example, Romans 12, 1 and 2, what does it say we should do? How should we live? He said, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Every single day,
00:32:44
Speaker
We should present ourselves to God. So once I'm cleansed, once I'm sure I'm hungry, then I should go there to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm so thirsty for you. I've already said to you, I've blown it. I need you. Lord, right now, I'm going to present my body to you. I like what Romans 6 says. Sometime hang out in Romans 6. Read that whole chapter. But there's some great verses in there that talk about we should present ourselves to God for instruments,
00:33:14
Speaker
of righteousness. And then it actually says we should present our members to God as instruments of righteousness. What it's talking about the members of my body, the parts of my life. So here's what I do. Some mornings when I'm having my quiet time, I say, Lord, here's what I want today. I want you to use my mind to think thoughts that would bring honor and glory to you.
00:33:39
Speaker
Lord, I want you to guide my eyes that my eyes will look upon things that would please you. Lord, help my mouth today to speak only things that would build people up in becoming more like the Lord. Lord, help me to listen only the things that you would want me to listen to. Lord, help my hands to be available to you for your service today. Help my feet to go places you want me to go.
00:34:03
Speaker
Have my heart to live for you and to love you more than anything else. You see what I'm saying? Go through your life and present all my gifts, Lord, all my finances, Lord. Everything I have, Lord, it's all yours. They're nothing but instruments for your righteousness and your glory.
00:34:25
Speaker
There's one last thing, and I'm glad they put this in there because it's really important. The fourth step is this. You're going to have to take a faith stance. At some point, you're going to have to take this position of saying, you know what? I'm hungry for God. I'm thirsty for God. I've confessed my sins. He's forgiven me. I've presented my life to the Lord. And so now I'm going to rest.
00:34:50
Speaker
I'm just going to rest. I'm just going to trust you. I'm going to trust the promises that you've made in your word that today you will be the adequacy that I need in my life. You will be my adequacy. Don't depend on feelings. If you haven't learned yet, feelings are up and down. They're all over the place. Emotions should follow faith. Faith comes first.
00:35:16
Speaker
faith and obedience to God's Word. That's the order. So it's like God shows us in His Word what He wants to do. He shows us what we're supposed to do. So then we say, I'm going to trust you to do what you said you were going to do, and I'm going to line my life up in obedience to follow you. And so you know what comes behind in the caboose feelings?
00:35:40
Speaker
feelings, because sometimes you're moving in the right direction and you'll feel like, I don't know. This just feels so unusual. I want to encourage you to put the word of God out front, the promises of God out front, to put the Lord first and to say, Lord, I'm just going to rest in you. I'm just going to trust you. I'm just going to obey you. And you will help me to eventually experience the feelings you want me to have.
00:36:09
Speaker
That's what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God.
00:36:14
Speaker
You know Acts chapter 27 and 28, I love those because it describes all these different voyages in ships, sailing vessels. And all of these were dependent upon the wind before they would ever go anywhere. So are we. We have to catch the wind in our sails if we're going to follow the Lord. Sometime read Acts 16 verses 6 through 10.
00:36:41
Speaker
It was a man's life there who's described as being, I think, spirit filled. And the reason I know is because God did not permit him to go that way. God did not permit him to go that way. And so he came back and said, OK, God, which way is OK for me to go? And God said, I want you to go to Macedonia. That's where you're going to go.
00:37:04
Speaker
You see, that man was being led. He was being directed. He was being filled and controlled by God's Spirit. He knew there's someone I'm going to share the gospel with there in Macedonia. So today, I want you to do the same things, to say, Lord, today I'm so thirsty for you.
00:37:26
Speaker
I don't want to be on a spiritual treadmill. I'm so thirsty for you.
Conclusion and Call to Surrender
00:37:31
Speaker
So Lord, please forgive me of my sins. Please cleanse me. Lord, I want to present every part of my life to you.
00:37:38
Speaker
Lord, I just want to rest in you and not have to strive anymore. You know what? Trying to live the Christian life in the flesh, it's hard. It's hard. It's impossible. And so that's why we're miserable. That's why we struggle and we strain. And the Lord's saying, you don't want the wind. You don't want the Holy Spirit to be the one that empowers you.
00:38:01
Speaker
So why don't you take this time when we sing this song in closing called, I surrender all. I surrender all. Let the Lord know that's the place, that's the faith posture that you're taking this day. Say, Lord, I've really been rushing out the door. I've not been meeting with you. I'm not depending on you. I've been depending on myself.
00:38:25
Speaker
but I'm ready, I'm ready to really depend on you to empower me for my witness, my walk, for my fights. So let's go to the Lord in prayer, then we'll stand and we'll sing this last song. Lord, thank you so much.
00:38:42
Speaker
for the work of your Holy Spirit in our lives. Where would we be if he would have not convicted us, convicted us of our sin, but then convinced us of all that's available, the sufficiency of the cross? Where would we be without the Son of God? Without you, Lord Jesus, you came and you made atonement for us. All of our righteousness, it's just like filthy rags. We agree with what your word says.
00:39:13
Speaker
And so I thank you that Jesus, you're perfect. You perfectly obeyed the will of the Father in every regard. And so, O Lord, we want to follow Him.
00:39:24
Speaker
But we need help doing that. I pray for every disciple that is in this room that there'll be something fresh when they sing the words of this song, I surrender all. I pray it would come from the heart like never before as they yield their lives to the Lordship of Christ, to that direction of the spirit. But I pray for those that are still, well, the Bible describes them as a natural man.
00:39:51
Speaker
So I pray for those that are still without Christ, but they can have Christ. You went to the cross for them because you loved them. You shed your blood for them so they could be forgiven. And you're wanting to bless them in so many ways if they'll just turn over
00:40:10
Speaker
the wheel. I pray that they would surrender the throne of their lives to the lordship of Christ, saying that you alone are worthy for their lives. Bless us as we go into this time of invitation. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.