The Spirit-filled life—a life of joy, fullness, and satisfaction—what Christian wouldn’t want to experience this type of living? Yet so many believers never seem to arrive at such a life. Why? I believe it’s because we struggle with the complete submission to God that the Spirit-filled life requires.
Born with a sinful nature that loves the instant gratification of sinful pleasures, we are often tempted to revert back to our old nature. We give ourselves to God at the point of our salvation, but as we are confronted with daily choices in life, we gradually take back ground that we had once surrendered. Ultimately, our unwillingness to completely and totally submit to God’s will is a reflection of our lack of faith in His wisdom and goodness. We know that God commands us not to lie, but a white lie doesn’t hurt anyone. Certainly, Jesus did say we should render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but the IRS is far more unreasonable than Caesar ever was.
And so, if we continue on this path, little by little, we compromise the truth of God’s word and the goodness of His will for our lives, in favor of our own wisdom. We should hear the words of Proverbs 3:5-7: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.”
When we choose our own wisdom, rather than submitting to the will our heavenly Father, we rob ourselves of the great blessing of the Spirit-filled life. As James told the early church: “7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8). When you face moments of crisis in your life when you have to choose between obedience to God and gratification of self, choose obedience. For in denying yourself, you will be receiving a blessing far greater than anything this world has to offer.
Kevin Maples
About Me
Kevin Maples is the pastor of First Baptist Church Madisonville, KY. His sermons may be heard each week at www.LivingWithTheCross.org.
He holds a Doctor of Theology in Preaching from the University of South Africa in Pretoria, South Africa; a Master of Theology in Biblical Theology from the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.; a Master of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky; and a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Languages and Religion from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tn.
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While some of the posts here are independent articles, many of these discussions arise from texts in which I am preaching. Notice the sermon designated in the title. For example: (sermon Acts 1:12-26) refers to a sermon preached on this passage which can be heard at http://www.LivingWithTheCross.org. The discussion here supplements the sermon. Let me encourage you to visit the website and listen to some of the sermons.
3 comments:
Kevin
Great web-site hope it is fruitful and beneficial to many readers.
How do you stand on the 'pentecostal' view on Baptised with the Spirit'? It appears to me that this charismatic view is the one issue that possibly divides evangelicals the most but the one feature of the success of the pentecostal churches worldwide and hence needs much more serious attention from other denominations.
Chris
Chris,
Thanks for the encouragement!
My sermon on Spirit Baptism is available at www.LivingWithTheCross.org. It gives some detail to where I stand on the issue. Let me briefly respond that I believe we receive the Holy Spirit at the time of our conversion, not at some time subsequent to our conversion.
I believe that it is best to view subsequent experiences with the Holy Spirit as part of the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, I believe that there is one baptism, but many fillings.
I would like to focus some attention on the statement you made regarding division among evangelicals. I am not sure what the climate is across the pond in the U.K., but in the states I would say that Calvinism, or at least some extreme form such as hyper-Calvinism, is the main source of division presently. Regardless of what the issue may be, at what point do we allow something to become a test of fellowship? Is your view of Spirit baptism essential to salvation?
I heard that David Jeremiah once light-heartedly commented: "If you're saved and you don't believe in the rapture, it's okay. When it happens you still get to go!"
Year before last, I listened to Joyce Rogers, the widow of Adrian Rogers, plead for unity in the Southern Baptist Convention. She said, and I'm paraphrasing from memory, "My husband strongly believed in the premillenial return of Christ. He believed it. He preached it. But he didn't make it a test of fellowship. And if he were alive today, he would not approve of the division that's taking place in the convention as we divide ourselves into smaller and smaller groups."
I respect David Jeremiah and I respect Adrian Rogers, but I am far more concerned about what Jesus thinks about all of the division among believers today.
If we look at the disciples, they didn't have it all figured out. Jesus rebuked Peter for trying to persuade him not to go to the cross (Matt. 16:22-23). It was only after a vision from God that Peter understood the gospel was for the Gentiles. Could it be that, like the early disciples, some of us today, have not figured it all out? Maybe a little humility, would go a long way toward fellowshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ who do not share our views on non-essential issues.
I know this is not the main issue you were asking about, but I wanted to take the opportunity, to share my thoughts about this problem.
What is the best way to bring a person back to God? And when I say this I mean a person who once believed in God but now has turned into an atheist. Any advice will do...preferably if its in any other form other than the bible coz my friend(th person im talking about), doesnt believe in the bible either.
thank you for your time.
Ann
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