Defining Moments #5

A Defining Infilling

Jonathan A. Buckland

Introduction

Possible Illustration> Fake Tan on your body- you give the appearance of a tan or you are temporarily changed, but you are not permanently changed.

There is a difference between having something on you as opposed to something being in you!

Take an Orange to church. Have someone see it, smell it, feel it, enjoy it’s aroma, even peel it, but until you begin to eat the orange it will not sustain you.

A. Old Testament or Covenant – The Spirit moved “on” people to empower them for a specific purpose or function

1. Anointing of David - 1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

2. Zechariah Empowered to Speak- 2 Chronicles 24:20 – Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’ ”

3. God’s Spirit on Moses and the Elders to Lead - Numbers 11:25 – Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.

• God’s Clue for His Future Plan of the Spirit moving “on” to the Spirit moving “in.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

B. New Testament or Covenant- The Spirit moved “in” people to empower them for their daily lives

John 7:37-39 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

1. Jesus made the only requirement for anyone desiring the Spirit to move in to simply be that they be thirsty for it.

• What are you Thirsty for?

Acts 8:14-17 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. > These were already believers who had received God’s Word and were baptized, yet there was an experience of God’s Spirit moving into their lives that the apostles desired for them to have.

C. How do I transition from being “Moved Upon” by the Spirit to having the Spirit “Move In?”

1. Understand that only God can fill you with His Spirit.

2. Understand that the Spirit is a gift from God you do not earn, but you receive.

3. Understand that you must personally desire to pursue it.

4. Understand that when God fills you with His Spirit you must Yield to it.

Closing-

This morning I want you to have a defining moment! You may believe in God and that is why you are here, you may have sought God for forgiveness of your sins as you have placed your life in His hands and you recognize that God’s grace has forgiven you. Today, I urge you to pursue a little further. I desire for you to have all that God has available for you. I want to ask you to pursue God’s Spirit moving into your life. In order for that to happen you are going to have to yield to God’s Spirit. So, today, I want to ask if you would make a commitment to pursue the spirit-filled life? If so, I would like for you to come around the front and as a sign of surrender or “yielding” to God, I am going to ask that you would raise your hands and begin to pray for God’s Spirit to dwell within you.