Do you ever get overwhelmed as you sit and read the New Testament? Isn’t that where most of us get to after a while? Unbelievable, incredible, but alas, unattainable for me! UNBELIEVABLE, INCREDIBLE & UNATTAINABLE What do I mean? Think over just a few lives in the New Testament: The Apostle Peter was a stumbling, bumbling man who always was sticking both feet up to the knees into his mouth. In fact after the 1st Lord’s Supper one servant girl in the dark scarred him into uttering some horrible curses and denials of Jesus. Yet only days later he is standing up in front of 3,000 families, facing both the murderous religious establishment of Jerusalem, and their guardians, the Roman army; and was no less than totally fearless. He is never recorded as wavering again from that day onward, yet he faces the inevitability of personal pain and martyrdom with serenity. See why we think: unbelievable, incredible & unattainable? The Apostle Paul was beaten within an inch of death in Acts 16. He was neglected to the point of abuse, thrown into a dark, damp, bug infested dungeon, fastened down with iron and wood stocks and left to grow infection, burn with fever and perhaps die. What was the result? He started to quote and sing aloud from the Psalms. He was so convincing almost everyone who heard it wanted to become a Christian also! Unbelievable, incredible & unattainable: or is it possible to live that way? The Apostle John was alone, imprisoned, troubled, and for all he knew forgotten by God and man. He was on a baked rock in the middle of nowhere, kind of like an ancient version of an Alcatraz or San Quentin Penitentiary. He had already survived beatings, mobs, and jails and even lived with the scars that marked his body from the boiling oil torture the Romans had subjected him to. So what comes out of a wasted and scarred body? He is in the Spirit, worshiping God on a Sunday: in nowhere; and all alone on that island prison he gets the best look at Heaven’s beauty even seen. Unbelievable, incredible & unattainable: or is it possible to live that way? The galaxy of unbelievable lives goes way beyond the Apostles. There are countless 1st century saints who found their pathway colliding with the godless and belligerent Roman Society, whose lives ended in the sands of the arena, at the stake or in ghastly martyrdom. Yet history records they went to their end singing, radiant with joy and serenely. Unbelievable, incredible & unattainable: or is it possible to live that way? THE LIST JUST GOES ON Then for the past many centuries the heroes have continued. Athanasius in the 4th century stood “contra mundam” against the whole world, alone in his standing for the undiluted deity of Jesus Christ in the face of the forefathers of the false doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witness movement. Unbelievable, incredible & unattainable: or is it possible to live that way? Martin Luther in the 16th century stood alone at the Diet of Worms and in the face of excommunication, and death by fire said, “Here I stand upon Gods Word, I can take no other stand!” Unbelievable, incredible & unattainable: or is it possible to live that way? Adonirum Judson in the 18th century, worked 7 years in Burma without seeing even one soul converted. He was starved for weeks and left for dead in prison. Yet he never quit. William Carey of India in the same century faced the mental insanity of his beloved wife, the hostility of the Hindus and yet never quit until Gods Word was translated. Unbelievable, incredible & unattainable: or is it possible to live that way? In the 19th century C.T. Studd faced sickness, weakness and mortal danger among the cannibal pygmies of Africa’s darkest jungles. Yet 20,000+ were saved, baptized, clothed and lived as saints: in the devil’s own dark jungles. Unbelievable, incredible & unattainable: or is it possible to live that way? Yes, is the answer to the question of whether or not it is possible to live an unbelievable, incredible life; and the secret is found in our text this morning. In fact, one word sums up Peter’s life, Paul’s life and John’s life. This same word summarizes how the galaxy of 1st through 20th century saints has stood alone triumphantly for Christ. In fact, one word tells all there is about walking in the Spirit today. Please turn with me to Ephesians 5:18-19, and as we read, may we find the secret they knew and followed and like them, do the same! Ephesians 5:18-19 (NKJV) And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, THE SECRET IN 1 WORD One word explains it all. That word in Greek would be classified by four categories. This word is an: IMPERATIVE + PLURAL + PASSIVE + PRESENT VERB. When the Holy Spirit picked the words to write down His message, He was very specific. Perhaps nowhere else in all Gods Word is the message of the grammar clearer than here! • IMPERATIVE: An imperative verb means God is commanding. He is not offering a suggestion to us for our consideration! He is commanding us as Lord God Almighty. The filling of the Spirit of God into our life is our supreme obligation. • PLURAL: A plural verb here means that God is speaking to all of us. When He says don’t get drunk it is for all believers; and this imperative command is the same for the filling. So the Spirit filled walk is the high calling and spiritual duty for every one of Gods children. • PASSIVE: A passive verb means God is asking us to open up our lives to His filling. Passive means allow this to come into your life. “Let the Spirit fill you”, is what God is saying. This is a direct call to my unreserved yielding to God’s control. • PRESENT: The use of a present tense means God is offering a continuous filling. Another tense, the aorist, would mean a single action like John 2:7 when Jesus said, “Fill the water pots”. But a present imperative means that the river of Gods Holy Spirit wants to start and not stop flowing into us, and overflowing out of our lives! That is God’s plan. Is that what you want? That is chapter 4 in my newest book: The Word Filled Life of New Beginnings. It is all about living, walking & praying in step with the Spirit.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:42:07 +0000
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