WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.620 Next week, not this week. Tonight we continue 00:00:03.620 --> 00:00:07.500 our electives. What a tremendous crowd last Sunday 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:10.599 night. And I hope that you'll join us tonight 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:12.880 even if you weren't able to be here last week. 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:15.380 There is a brochure available out in the lobby 00:00:15.380 --> 00:00:17.519 if you'd like to know what electives are available. 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:20.980 Still room for you and I think most of them. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:23.620 A couple of them may be filled but you can check 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:26.719 tonight and there surely will be room somewhere 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:31.850 for you to fit in. Well, this week is an important 00:00:31.850 --> 00:00:34.070 week. Does anybody know what day it contains? 00:00:36.030 --> 00:00:40.469 Groundhog Day was last week. Washington's birthday 00:00:40.469 --> 00:00:43.049 is next week. This is Valentine's week, right? 00:00:43.829 --> 00:00:45.909 And I'm sure all of you remembered that and probably 00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:48.570 have already ordered your corsage or your candy 00:00:48.570 --> 00:00:57.000 for your sweetheart. Correct? Now you will. It's 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:59.500 one thing to say that we love someone, it's another 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:04.159 thing to show it. Words without actions are not 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:08.760 very meaningful, are they? This is an opportunity 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:11.620 for you to show that one that you say you love, 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:16.879 that you really do love her or love him. Likewise, 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:19.359 we say that we love Jesus Christ, and we have 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.780 sung that this morning, but I wonder if we love 00:01:22.780 --> 00:01:26.400 what Jesus loves. If we love someone, we will 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:29.099 want to spend time with them. We will want to 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:31.879 be involved in the same things that they enjoy. 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:36.219 Is that true with Jesus? Do we spend time with 00:01:36.219 --> 00:01:39.319 him and are we involved in that which is the 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:41.760 delight of his heart? You say, well, what is 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.420 the delight of his heart? Well, the answer is 00:01:44.420 --> 00:01:47.480 not hard to come up with. The answer is the church. 00:01:49.019 --> 00:01:52.900 For he loved the church and he gave himself for 00:01:52.900 --> 00:02:01.379 the church. Jesus Christ loves His church. And 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:04.299 you and I are called upon to love it as well 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:09.360 and to show our love in ways beyond words. That's 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:11.680 what the apostle begins to talk about in our 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.780 text in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Today we're 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:18.419 just going to take the first four verses of this 00:02:18.419 --> 00:02:21.000 longer paragraph. It begins in verse 19 where 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:26.069 it says, Do not quench the spirit, do not despise 00:02:26.069 --> 00:02:29.210 prophetic utterances, but examine everything 00:02:29.210 --> 00:02:32.069 carefully, hold fast to what is good, abstain 00:02:32.069 --> 00:02:36.550 from every form of evil. The duty of the believer 00:02:36.550 --> 00:02:40.009 to the local church, a duty that comes out of 00:02:40.009 --> 00:02:43.530 love in his heart for Christ and for what Christ 00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:48.310 loved, is that duty can be stated in three simple 00:02:48.310 --> 00:02:51.009 ideas that are found at the end of this chapter. 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:53.580 This morning we're going to deal with the first 00:02:53.580 --> 00:02:59.120 one, be sensitive to the Spirit. If you and I 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:04.560 want to love what Jesus loves, the Church, we 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:07.379 must do so, first of all, by being sensitive 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:11.099 to the Holy Spirit. In being sensitive to the 00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:15.120 Holy Spirit, we thus become a responsible member 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:20.639 of the Church. I remind you that the ministry 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:25.300 of the Holy Spirit is not peripheral to the Church. 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:28.740 That, in fact, the ministry of the Holy Spirit 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:32.900 is central to what we are all about. Turn with 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:36.599 me to 1 Corinthians, the 12th chapter, where 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:41.379 we find in verse 13 this tremendous truth. He 00:03:41.379 --> 00:03:45.560 says, For by one spirit, 1 Corinthians 12 -13, 00:03:45.819 --> 00:03:51.020 we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:55.020 or Greeks, whether slaves or free. He says we 00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:59.259 were, past tense, all, every one of us, whether 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:02.860 carnal or spiritual, mature in the Lord or brand 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:07.300 new babe in Christ, we were all baptized into 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:10.560 one body. This, my friend, is the baptism of 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.990 the Holy Spirit. We are never commanded to seek 00:04:13.990 --> 00:04:17.350 the baptism of the Holy Spirit because we need 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:21.970 not. It happens to us automatically at the moment 00:04:21.970 --> 00:04:25.089 that we trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 00:04:26.290 --> 00:04:29.129 The result of that baptism is that we are placed 00:04:29.129 --> 00:04:35.350 into one body, identified with each other and 00:04:35.350 --> 00:04:39.310 Jesus Christ as our head. And he says, we were 00:04:39.310 --> 00:04:42.949 all made to drink of one Spirit. We all partake 00:04:42.949 --> 00:04:48.529 of that life that he alone can give. He unites 00:04:48.529 --> 00:04:52.790 us to Jesus Christ and to Christ's earthly body. 00:04:54.149 --> 00:04:58.610 And then the Holy Spirit likewise gifts us, at 00:04:58.610 --> 00:05:01.209 the same time, the moment we're saved. Notice 00:05:01.209 --> 00:05:05.379 in verse 7, to each one, is given the manifestation 00:05:05.379 --> 00:05:09.120 of the Spirit for the common good. And then he 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:11.420 lists a number of the gifts. And he says in verse 00:05:11.420 --> 00:05:15.759 11, but one in the same Spirit works all these 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:20.019 things, distributing to each one, individually, 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:26.160 just as he wills. The Holy Spirit is not a peripheral 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:29.439 issue with regard to the church. We wouldn't 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:33.810 be the church. if it weren't for the Holy Spirit. 00:05:35.870 --> 00:05:39.310 We wouldn't be gifted to serve Jesus Christ as 00:05:39.310 --> 00:05:43.490 we are if it weren't for the Holy Spirit. He 00:05:43.490 --> 00:05:47.170 sovereignly chooses which gifts you and I will 00:05:47.170 --> 00:05:51.290 have to develop and use for Christ in this lifetime. 00:05:53.509 --> 00:05:58.540 We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. That 00:05:58.540 --> 00:06:01.019 is our duty to the church and our duty to the 00:06:01.019 --> 00:06:05.800 Christ whom we say we love. If we want to send 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:10.000 him a valentine this week, let it say this on 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:17.800 it, Jesus, I love you and I love your church. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:24.420 If we love the church, we will be sensitive to 00:06:24.420 --> 00:06:26.500 the Holy Spirit, being sensitive to the Holy 00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:30.850 Spirit is defined for us in the text we've read 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:35.069 this morning. To be sensitive to the Spirit means 00:06:35.069 --> 00:06:37.610 in the first place not to quench the Spirit. 00:06:39.170 --> 00:06:44.029 Not to quench the Spirit. He is present within 00:06:44.029 --> 00:06:50.290 the church as its very life. We have all been 00:06:50.290 --> 00:06:55.949 made to drink of Him. He is the source of life 00:06:55.949 --> 00:07:03.579 and of power. in the church. Just as a fire in 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:08.000 the belly of a steam locomotive heats that boiler 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:12.860 and produces steam, giving it the power to move 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:16.779 those gigantic wheels and to pull that train. 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:22.980 So the Holy Spirit is the fire within the bosom 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:27.329 of Christ's body, the church. which produces 00:07:27.329 --> 00:07:31.370 the power and the energy to get the job done 00:07:31.370 --> 00:07:37.509 God left us here to do. Do not quench this fire. 00:07:39.389 --> 00:07:42.310 To quench him does not mean to entirely extinguish 00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:46.610 him, for he is God. He can't be completely extinguished, 00:07:46.790 --> 00:07:50.269 he cannot be suffocated or destroyed, but he 00:07:50.269 --> 00:07:56.339 can be opposed, he can be resisted. We can say 00:07:56.339 --> 00:08:07.279 no to Him. And when we do, we quench Him. The 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:10.439 way that the apostle expresses this is in the 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:13.720 imperative, and it's continuous, it's present. 00:08:14.339 --> 00:08:17.339 And so he is really saying, stop quenching the 00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:22.350 Spirit, if you interpret it one way. The suggestion 00:08:22.350 --> 00:08:24.990 may be here that in fact the Thessalonians were 00:08:24.990 --> 00:08:29.589 doing some things which were in opposition to 00:08:29.589 --> 00:08:31.790 what the Holy Spirit wanted to do. And so Paul 00:08:31.790 --> 00:08:35.669 says stop quenching the Spirit. Or it can be 00:08:35.669 --> 00:08:39.029 read to mean make it the pattern of your life 00:08:39.029 --> 00:08:45.029 never to say no to the Holy Spirit. The bottom 00:08:45.029 --> 00:08:47.490 line is the same. We don't want to quench Him. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.980 Although there are some who do, in my opinion, 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:56.279 abuse the place of the Holy Spirit in the Church, 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:01.440 most of us are generally much better at resisting 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:07.039 Him and at ignoring Him than we are at hating 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:13.039 and obeying Him. Benz -Havner was one of my favorite 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:15.679 preachers. It was a joy to meet him on several 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:18.750 occasions. and have him preach in a church where 00:09:18.750 --> 00:09:22.450 I was pastoring. He had a quaint way of saying 00:09:22.450 --> 00:09:27.350 things. On one occasion, he reminded his audience 00:09:27.350 --> 00:09:31.710 of this verse by telling of a poorly educated 00:09:31.710 --> 00:09:35.309 friend of his who used to say, don't squench 00:09:35.309 --> 00:09:40.330 the spirit. His friend had unintentionally combined 00:09:40.330 --> 00:09:43.870 the word quench and squelch and came out with 00:09:43.870 --> 00:09:47.519 squench. And Havener says, what an appropriate 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:51.759 word to create. Don't squinch the spirit. He 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:54.899 went on to say, we squinch the spirit in more 00:09:54.899 --> 00:09:58.980 ways than we suspect. We do so when we stifle 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:02.899 the desire to speak or act for the Lord. When 00:10:02.899 --> 00:10:06.539 we criticize or discourage others by an unspiritual 00:10:06.539 --> 00:10:09.860 attitude, we throw cold water on their inner 00:10:09.860 --> 00:10:14.440 fire. We have the Holy Spirit as an honored guest 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:18.360 he says in every Christian gathering and he can 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:22.500 be grieved very easily a frivolous attitude a 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:26.759 rebellious frame of mind or a fed -up complacency 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:34.419 will do it and so if we want to Show our love 00:10:34.419 --> 00:10:37.960 for the church that Jesus loves and thus love 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:46.110 him We will not squinch the Spirit. But if we're 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:48.169 going to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, it 00:10:48.169 --> 00:10:51.590 also means not to despise prophetic utterances. 00:10:53.549 --> 00:10:57.789 These utterances were words spoken by those who 00:10:57.789 --> 00:11:02.110 had the gift of prophecy in their church. They 00:11:02.110 --> 00:11:07.470 were timely words of direct revelation and exhortation 00:11:07.470 --> 00:11:11.309 from the Lord. to his dearly beloved people. 00:11:13.509 --> 00:11:16.690 Perhaps it was an abuse of this gift that caused 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:21.190 some to look down upon it, to despise it, to 00:11:21.190 --> 00:11:25.429 make nothing of it. Or perhaps there were those 00:11:25.429 --> 00:11:28.889 who were giving counterfeit prophecies that caused 00:11:28.889 --> 00:11:33.009 them to overreact and to look upon prophecy with 00:11:33.009 --> 00:11:36.029 contempt. We don't really know the source of 00:11:36.029 --> 00:11:39.549 this command, but Paul does say, do not despise 00:11:39.549 --> 00:11:43.850 prophetic utterances. Today we understand that 00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:49.029 God is not giving prophecy in the sense of doctrinal, 00:11:49.450 --> 00:11:54.009 propositional revelation. Truth has been already 00:11:54.009 --> 00:11:58.850 delivered to us in this book, the Bible, and 00:11:58.850 --> 00:12:03.990 with its completion, revelation ceased. We have 00:12:03.990 --> 00:12:08.830 everything that we need in the Bible. It is sufficient 00:12:08.830 --> 00:12:14.690 for our every need and desire. However, God does 00:12:14.690 --> 00:12:20.549 still today give insight and wisdom to other 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:24.230 believers to counsel you and me and the church. 00:12:25.309 --> 00:12:28.549 In one sense, these are prophetic utterances. 00:12:30.149 --> 00:12:34.110 You see, God does. put timely words into the 00:12:34.110 --> 00:12:38.970 mouths of others to give us counsel or exhortation. 00:12:39.929 --> 00:12:42.629 It's important to understand that these utterances, 00:12:43.429 --> 00:12:46.789 if they're of God, must always, without exception, 00:12:47.029 --> 00:12:52.690 be consistent with the Bible. But based upon 00:12:52.690 --> 00:12:56.409 the principles of the Word and people's insight 00:12:56.409 --> 00:13:00.549 of us that God may give them, They are able to 00:13:00.549 --> 00:13:04.870 deliver to us prophetic utterances, and we must 00:13:04.870 --> 00:13:10.009 be careful not to despise them. We will be sensitive 00:13:10.009 --> 00:13:14.590 to the Holy Spirit when we take time to listen 00:13:14.590 --> 00:13:16.990 to what others are saying through the body of 00:13:16.990 --> 00:13:22.350 Christ. When we take time to hear the voice of 00:13:22.350 --> 00:13:26.850 God speaking to us through them, we must not 00:13:26.850 --> 00:13:32.940 despise the ministry of others in the body to 00:13:32.940 --> 00:13:39.159 us. They can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.899 to us sometimes when we have a hard time hearing 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:47.000 it. And because of that, we are to consider and 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:50.080 to weigh what they have to say. We must listen, 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:54.580 of course, to the proclaimed Word of God. When 00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:57.870 we hear the Word of God preached and applied 00:13:57.870 --> 00:14:02.830 to our lives. It is being done so that we might 00:14:02.830 --> 00:14:08.470 hear the voice of God and take heed and obey 00:14:08.470 --> 00:14:12.669 what God has to say. We must not despise prophetic 00:14:12.669 --> 00:14:17.269 utterances in that way either. Tragedy and loss 00:14:17.269 --> 00:14:24.340 comes to us when we do not listen to God. Two 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:27.200 young women lost their lives in a fire that swept 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:31.059 through their apartment some time ago. Ironically, 00:14:31.179 --> 00:14:34.519 their apartment was equipped with smoke detectors 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:37.559 which were in good working order, but they died 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:42.720 of smoke inhalation. Why had these smoke detectors 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:45.860 failed to operate? Well, they wanted to find 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:48.519 out and so the fire inspectors examined them. 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:51.600 and found that there had been a party in the 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:55.460 house the night before. Because they did not 00:14:55.460 --> 00:14:58.299 want the smoke alarms going off during the party, 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:03.600 they deactivated them and forgot to reconnect 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:08.019 them when the party was done. Consequently, tragedy 00:15:08.019 --> 00:15:12.059 struck that night and they lost their lives. 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.899 You and I need to be aware of disconnecting our 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:22.570 hearts. from the voice of God. For when we do 00:15:22.570 --> 00:15:26.870 that, we leave ourselves vulnerable and in danger 00:15:26.870 --> 00:15:30.809 of tragedy in our lives. Do not despise the voice 00:15:30.809 --> 00:15:39.690 of the Spirit of God. Be sensitive to Him. And 00:15:39.690 --> 00:15:42.190 if you and I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit 00:15:42.190 --> 00:15:46.669 and thus love the Church, this church, the local 00:15:46.669 --> 00:15:51.090 church that Jesus loves, then we must finally 00:15:51.090 --> 00:15:58.929 examine everything carefully. It is not a compliment 00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:02.990 to any of us to recognize that we live in a day 00:16:02.990 --> 00:16:06.490 when many Christians are naive and gullible. 00:16:07.710 --> 00:16:10.110 There are too many Christians who believe everything 00:16:10.110 --> 00:16:12.330 they're told, if it's claimed that that's true 00:16:12.330 --> 00:16:16.279 or it came from God. I've heard people applaud 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:18.799 and listen carefully to those who've said they've 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:22.679 died and gone to hell and come back to life or 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:25.200 died and gone to heaven and come back to life 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:27.639 and people sit at their feet and they're put 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:33.700 on television shows and proclaimed. Examine carefully 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:38.360 what is said to come from God. He tells us to 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:43.139 do that. Any test, of course, requires a definite 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:46.309 standard. If you're a student, you know that 00:16:46.309 --> 00:16:50.570 when you take a test, the teacher will receive 00:16:50.570 --> 00:16:54.490 the results from you and will compare your answers 00:16:54.490 --> 00:16:59.970 to what's in the answer book. Because those answers 00:16:59.970 --> 00:17:06.069 in the answer book determine the standard. And 00:17:06.069 --> 00:17:09.269 what you put down is measured according to the 00:17:09.269 --> 00:17:12.190 standard. Now, what is the standard when it comes 00:17:12.190 --> 00:17:17.390 to these utterances of prophecy. What is claimed 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:22.410 to be from God? What is the test? Well, the test 00:17:22.410 --> 00:17:27.910 has to be definite. So what can be definite? 00:17:28.009 --> 00:17:33.049 Well, of course, the Word of God. We must measure. 00:17:33.809 --> 00:17:37.329 We must put to the test everything by the Word 00:17:37.329 --> 00:17:40.890 of God. Whether that be counsel that someone 00:17:40.890 --> 00:17:44.170 may give us, that they say the Lord told them, 00:17:45.450 --> 00:17:48.430 or it's someone who's preaching from the pulpit 00:17:48.430 --> 00:17:52.089 of the church. We must put to the test what is 00:17:52.089 --> 00:17:55.089 said by the Word of God. That's our responsibility 00:17:55.089 --> 00:18:00.049 if we love the church. I remember an occasion 00:18:00.049 --> 00:18:06.460 when a friend who moved to another state and 00:18:06.460 --> 00:18:08.720 got involved in a different kind of ministry, 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:15.180 wrote me a letter and said, I know why you left 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:20.000 your former church. God told me. And he said, 00:18:20.059 --> 00:18:22.460 you need to deal with the spirit of fear in your 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:26.859 life. God told me that you left that church because 00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:32.779 you were afraid of throat cancer. Now, before 00:18:32.779 --> 00:18:35.079 God, I want to tell you, throat cancer had never 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:40.579 entered my mind until that point. I had to put 00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:43.940 to the test what this brother was saying to me. 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:47.640 He got his message somewhere, but it wasn't the 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:55.700 Holy Spirit. We have to put to the test everything. 00:18:56.859 --> 00:19:00.839 We can put to the test, put it to the test of 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:04.119 the authoritative traditions of the apostles. 00:19:04.299 --> 00:19:06.619 That's what Paul was talking about here to the 00:19:06.619 --> 00:19:11.039 Thessalonians. They had limited written revelation 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.240 at this point. Now today there are no apostles. 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:16.240 We don't have to really worry about this. But 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:19.019 in those days, in addition to the Old Testament 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:22.059 scriptures, they had the authoritative traditions 00:19:22.059 --> 00:19:26.450 that the apostles were passing on to them. Perhaps 00:19:26.450 --> 00:19:28.710 another test might be pointed to, which is valid 00:19:28.710 --> 00:19:31.049 today, and that is the nature and the result 00:19:31.049 --> 00:19:34.210 of the prophecy. Did this person who gave you 00:19:34.210 --> 00:19:37.890 the word, did that result in growth? Did it result 00:19:37.890 --> 00:19:40.549 in maturity in your life, or was it something 00:19:40.549 --> 00:19:47.059 less? There are some people who Have been told 00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:49.460 that it is God's will for them to leave their 00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:52.180 wives and their families and to go off to live 00:19:52.180 --> 00:19:56.059 With a group of Christians in a communal situation 00:19:56.059 --> 00:20:02.559 Can that in fact be a voice from God? Well in 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:05.599 the first place such a thing is absolutely contradictory 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:09.200 to the Bible But secondly it did not produce 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:14.589 maturity and growth it produced disaster Now 00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:17.910 he says, when you've put it to the test, hang 00:20:17.910 --> 00:20:20.829 on to what is good, what's past the standard. 00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:23.369 If you don't do that, you're quenching the spirit. 00:20:24.970 --> 00:20:27.009 But on the other hand, what has been found to 00:20:27.009 --> 00:20:29.630 be evil, which may mean what has been found to 00:20:29.630 --> 00:20:33.930 be false, pseudo -prophecies, he says treat those 00:20:33.930 --> 00:20:37.849 with contempt. Not to do that is to quench the 00:20:37.849 --> 00:20:43.440 spirit. In these sentences we have briefly outlined 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:46.000 for us what it means to be sensitive to the Holy 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.460 Spirit. Paul lays down for us the importance 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:53.200 of the ministry of the Spirit of God in our midst. 00:20:55.420 --> 00:20:58.480 How do we apply this idea to ourselves living 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:01.519 many centuries later? Well, we've done some of 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:05.539 that. But let me conclude by saying that we apply 00:21:05.539 --> 00:21:08.039 this idea of being sensitive to the Holy Spirit 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:10.839 by the choices that we make every day of our 00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:16.960 lives. We choose either to quench the Spirit 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:22.880 by refusing His voice, opposing His leading, 00:21:24.299 --> 00:21:29.259 by believing anything that comes along, by not 00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:32.680 giving heed to the Word of God and obeying it. 00:21:32.750 --> 00:21:38.490 we quench the Spirit. Or we choose to be sensitive 00:21:38.490 --> 00:21:42.950 to the Holy Spirit who lives in us by heeding 00:21:42.950 --> 00:21:50.529 His voice. There are two kinds of yielding to 00:21:50.529 --> 00:21:53.769 the Spirit of God that we need to think about. 00:21:55.730 --> 00:21:59.089 There seems to be the kind of yielding that Romans 00:21:59.089 --> 00:22:04.359 12 .1 suggests. Present your bodies a living 00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:10.359 sacrifice to God. It might be called an initial 00:22:10.359 --> 00:22:15.259 yielding to the Holy Spirit. It's the same kind 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:18.900 of idea that's found in Romans, chapter 6, where 00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:25.500 I would like you to turn. And verse 13. Romans 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:30.230 6, 13. He says, do not go on presenting the members 00:22:30.230 --> 00:22:35.589 of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. 00:22:37.349 --> 00:22:39.910 Now that first present is in the present tense. 00:22:39.950 --> 00:22:43.970 It means do not do what you're now doing. Do 00:22:43.970 --> 00:22:46.549 not, as a habit of life, present the members 00:22:46.549 --> 00:22:51.130 of your body to sin so that sin can abuse you. 00:22:51.890 --> 00:22:57.289 But, he says, present yourselves to God." It's 00:22:57.289 --> 00:22:59.490 the same verb, but it's a different way of saying 00:22:59.490 --> 00:23:04.509 it. Here he means, present once and for all yourselves 00:23:04.509 --> 00:23:08.710 to God as those alive from the dead and your 00:23:08.710 --> 00:23:11.849 members as instruments of righteousness to God. 00:23:13.529 --> 00:23:18.829 Here we have a definite yielding to the Holy 00:23:18.829 --> 00:23:23.630 Spirit, to God's will, which brings blessing 00:23:23.630 --> 00:23:28.190 in our lives and our usefulness to him. It is 00:23:28.190 --> 00:23:31.730 a once and for all decision to accept God's rule 00:23:31.730 --> 00:23:37.029 as the basis of life. It doesn't have reference 00:23:37.029 --> 00:23:42.049 to any particular concern or issue. It is a yielding 00:23:42.049 --> 00:23:45.730 that says, I accept the will of God for my life 00:23:45.730 --> 00:23:47.890 even though I don't even know at this point what 00:23:47.890 --> 00:23:54.500 that means. It's an initial yielding. But there's 00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:57.940 a different kind of yielding which our text really 00:23:57.940 --> 00:24:01.640 speaks to. And that's what I would call a daily 00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:07.359 yielding. A daily yielding. Which is a surrender 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:11.299 with regard to specific direction that God may 00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:15.319 give us. Or a yielding with regard to a particular 00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:20.180 struggle that we're having at that moment. It 00:24:20.180 --> 00:24:25.789 is a reiteration. of Christ's right to rule in 00:24:25.789 --> 00:24:35.349 our life. And it needs to happen every day. To 00:24:35.349 --> 00:24:40.869 be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and thus yielded 00:24:40.869 --> 00:24:48.670 to the will of God is a duty. And not to be sensitive 00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:52.039 to the Holy Spirit and not to be yielded to the 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:57.839 will of God is to live in disobedience and in 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:04.359 sin. We're talking about an obligation on our 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:10.519 part. If we say that we love Jesus, then it means 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:13.880 that we must love what Jesus loves, His church. 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:17.920 And if we love His church and we love Jesus, 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:24.190 we must be sensitive. to the Holy Spirit. Have 00:25:24.190 --> 00:25:26.230 you come to that place in your life where there's 00:25:26.230 --> 00:25:30.630 been that initial yielding? Where in your walk 00:25:30.630 --> 00:25:33.269 with God you have driven the stake down and you 00:25:33.269 --> 00:25:36.089 have said, I do not know what the will of God 00:25:36.089 --> 00:25:40.049 is for my life, but at this moment I am choosing 00:25:40.049 --> 00:25:50.900 to present myself and all that I am to Him. And 00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:55.680 if you've done that, are you daily yielding to 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:58.019 the Lordship of Christ in your life? Are you 00:25:58.019 --> 00:26:02.259 being sensitive to the Holy Spirit? A number 00:26:02.259 --> 00:26:05.319 of years ago, back in the horse and buggy days, 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.799 there was a man who was driving along a road 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:11.039 with his wife and their buggy. And they came 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:13.980 to a place where there was a sharp ravine on 00:26:13.980 --> 00:26:17.380 her side of the buggy. And the road was narrow 00:26:17.380 --> 00:26:19.579 and she got scared and so she reached over and 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:25.900 she grabbed one of the reins to the horse. Now 00:26:25.900 --> 00:26:30.359 her husband reacted calmly to the situation. 00:26:31.980 --> 00:26:36.700 He simply offered to her the other rein. And 00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:41.539 she said, oh no, I don't want both of them. And 00:26:41.539 --> 00:26:44.990 he said, well my dear, we can't both have. rain 00:26:44.990 --> 00:26:50.509 to the horse. And then she realized that by grabbing 00:26:50.509 --> 00:26:53.569 the rain she had really endangered her life and 00:26:53.569 --> 00:26:57.589 she put the rain back in her husband's hand and 00:26:57.589 --> 00:27:02.769 on they went safely. Isn't that something like 00:27:02.769 --> 00:27:06.759 what we do? We come to a point in life where 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:10.460 there's a ravine where we think we are in danger 00:27:10.460 --> 00:27:12.859 or where we're going to experience something 00:27:12.859 --> 00:27:16.380 that we might not enjoy and we reach over and 00:27:16.380 --> 00:27:18.660 we grab one of the reins from God not both of 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:23.519 them were Christians after all But one of them 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:27.119 and somehow we think that that gives us security 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:31.859 When we have done just the opposite we have made 00:27:31.859 --> 00:27:35.359 a very foolish decision The wisest decision we 00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:37.839 can make is to simply put the reins in the hands 00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:44.119 of God and say drive on Lord. I'm talking to 00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:46.859 some people this morning who are sitting in the 00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:53.119 buggy with one of the reins in your hand. And 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:54.799 the Lord is saying here you take the other one 00:27:54.799 --> 00:28:00.680 too or else give them both to me. And you know 00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:04.190 what needs to happen. Will you let him have the 00:28:04.190 --> 00:28:08.470 reins? Will you let him be the one to guide you? 00:28:09.789 --> 00:28:12.769 Will you yield to him either in that important, 00:28:12.869 --> 00:28:17.990 that all -important initial surrender or in a 00:28:17.990 --> 00:28:20.450 surrender over some particular issue that has 00:28:20.450 --> 00:28:22.769 arisen since that perhaps was done years ago 00:28:22.769 --> 00:28:34.859 in your life? Let's pray together. There was 00:28:34.859 --> 00:28:37.299 a young man one time who was having a difficult 00:28:37.299 --> 00:28:41.880 time in his walk with God. He knew that God wanted 00:28:41.880 --> 00:28:44.339 him to do a particular thing and yet he struggled 00:28:44.339 --> 00:28:46.940 with that because he wasn't willing at that point 00:28:46.940 --> 00:28:50.920 to do it. His godly mother, desiring to be a 00:28:50.920 --> 00:28:54.140 ministry to him, took some construction paper 00:28:54.140 --> 00:28:59.619 and out of the construction paper she made six 00:28:59.619 --> 00:29:08.490 letters that simply said L -E -T. Her point was, 00:29:08.529 --> 00:29:11.750 let God have His way. And she put those on the 00:29:11.750 --> 00:29:14.970 desk in his room. He saw them, was convicted 00:29:14.970 --> 00:29:18.069 by them, knew what they meant, was not willing 00:29:18.069 --> 00:29:20.750 to let God have His way, and so he went out the 00:29:20.750 --> 00:29:25.630 door and slammed it as he went. And coming back 00:29:25.630 --> 00:29:29.089 some time later, he went to his desk and realized 00:29:29.089 --> 00:29:31.900 that when he had slammed the door, A gust of 00:29:31.900 --> 00:29:36.440 wind was created which took the D away from those 00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:43.539 six letters, leaving let go on his desk. And 00:29:43.539 --> 00:29:47.220 God used that to strike his heart and break him. 00:29:48.500 --> 00:29:51.140 And he yielded to the will of Jesus Christ in 00:29:51.140 --> 00:29:54.859 his life. My friend, that's your need and mine 00:29:54.859 --> 00:30:00.480 this morning, too, to let go. and to let God 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:05.720 have His way. I wonder if you're here and you 00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:09.460 need to make that initial yielding to Jesus Christ. 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:15.119 And you would be willing to say, I will love 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:18.160 Jesus Christ and I will be sensitive to the Holy 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.859 Spirit and yield myself to Him. And I am making 00:30:21.859 --> 00:30:25.680 this once and for all decision. I'm putting down 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:28.740 my stake this morning. If that's your case, would 00:30:28.740 --> 00:30:34.779 you stand where you are? This is my once and 00:30:34.779 --> 00:30:38.960 for all decision. I'm yielding myself to God's 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:42.059 will. I'm presenting myself and the instruments 00:30:42.059 --> 00:30:46.880 of my body, the members of my body to Him. Just 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:54.140 stand where you are. Just to let go. God bless 00:30:54.140 --> 00:31:01.240 you. I would imagine there are many here who 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:04.940 have done that, but there may be some issues, 00:31:05.819 --> 00:31:09.579 particular specific issues that have arisen. 00:31:10.299 --> 00:31:14.019 And you need to say, I will let go and let God 00:31:14.019 --> 00:31:19.700 have His way. I surrender today and I will tomorrow 00:31:19.700 --> 00:31:23.240 to the Holy Spirit. I'll be sensitive to Him. 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:27.819 I've not heard His voice. I've been struggling 00:31:27.819 --> 00:31:35.079 with God. But I yield today Would you also stand 00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:38.779 This is not the initial you've done that but 00:31:38.779 --> 00:31:41.619 now there are some particular issues and struggles 00:31:41.619 --> 00:31:45.500 in your life And you're saying I will yield to 00:31:45.500 --> 00:31:55.140 the Holy Spirit God bless you God will honor 00:31:55.140 --> 00:32:04.609 your decision God bless you It will open new 00:32:04.609 --> 00:32:13.170 channels of usefulness of God in your life. I 00:32:13.170 --> 00:32:16.549 yield to the Holy Spirit to be sensitive to him. 00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:23.130 Let's all stand together now. Father, I thank 00:32:23.130 --> 00:32:26.710 you for these who have responded in a particular 00:32:26.710 --> 00:32:29.710 way to your voice in their lives today and whatever 00:32:29.710 --> 00:32:34.259 those issues are. May they be fully. dealt with 00:32:34.259 --> 00:32:38.779 by yieldedness, by a fresh sensitivity to the 00:32:38.779 --> 00:33:09.200 Holy Spirit. Sing with me. Mold me and make me 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:23.579 after thy will. While I am waiting, yielded and 00:33:23.579 --> 00:33:30.380 still. Lord Jesus, we love you. And we want to 00:33:30.380 --> 00:33:33.359 prove that love by loving what you love, the 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:38.799 church. We recognize that part of our responsibility 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:41.180 in loving the church is to be sensitive to the 00:33:41.180 --> 00:33:44.680 Holy Spirit because the way that we each treat 00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:48.859 the Holy Spirit affects all of us. And so as 00:33:48.859 --> 00:33:51.119 we walk out from here today, it is with a sense 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:54.940 of yieldedness and waiting upon you and excitement 00:33:54.940 --> 00:33:58.119 to know what the next step is in our adventure. 00:33:58.509 --> 00:34:03.210 in your will and our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.