, on the subject of How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit
has some, I thought, very insightful observations. And I would like to read a couple of paragraphs to you from Dr. Tozer's book. He's dead now. He's with
the Lord. But he did some magnificent biblical exposition. And he's talking about walking with the Spirit, and being a companion of God the Holy Spirit.
He's talking about the subject of what Paul is talking about – being a mature Christian, characterized by the holiness of separation, unto the purpose
of God.
He says, on page 49, "I am talking now about how we can cultivate the Spirit's fellowship – How we can walk with Him, day-by-day, and hour-by-hour."
Now, that's an important subject. I hear Christians talking about that all the time: "I have this gift. I don't want them to use this gift to praise myself,
or to glorify myself. I want to do the will of God. I want to praise the Lord with it." And then they promptly go off, and live the lifestyle of the world.
What are you talking about? You don't even live the life of Christ, let alone, you say that you want to serve Christ?
Continuing now, on page 50: "There are some of you who are not ready for this sermon at all. You are trying to face both ways at once. You're trying
to take some of this world, and to get some of that world over yonder. You are a Christian, but I'm talking about an advance upon the first early stages
of salvation, and the cultivation of the presence of the Holy Spirit, so that He may illuminate, and bless, and lift, and purify, and direct your life.
You are not ready for this, because you haven't given up all, that you might have the all. You want some, but you don't want all. And that
is the reason you are not ready.
"You, who have not given up the world, will not be able to understand what I'm talking about. You want Christianity for its insurance value. You want
just what a man wants when he takes out a policy on his life, or his car, or his house. You don't want liberalism (modernism), because it hasn't any insurance
value. You are willing to support this proposition financially. He would be a poor man who would want insurance, and not be willing to pay for it. If
Jesus Christ died for you on the cross, you are very happy about that, because it means you won't be brought into judgment, but have passed from death
into life. You're willing to live reasonably well, because that is the premium you are paying for the guarantee that God will bless you while you live,
and take you home to heaven when you die.
"You may not be ready, because you're conception of religion is social, and not spiritual. There are people like that. They have watered down the religion
of the New Testament until it has no strength in it. They have introduced the water of their own opinion into it until it has no taste left. They're socially
minded. That is as far as it goes with them. People like that may be saved. I'm not prepared to say that they're not saved, but I'm prepared to say that
they are not ready for what I'm talking about. The gospel of Christ is essentially spiritual, and Christian truth, working upon human souls by the Holy
Ghost, makes Christian men and women spiritual.
"I don't like to say this, but I think that some of you are not ready for this message, because you are more influenced by the world than you are by
the New Testament. I am perfectly certain that I could make up 15 boxcar loads of fundamentalist Christians this hour, in the city of Chicago, who are
more influenced in their whole outlook by Hollywood than they are by the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm positive that much that passes for the gospel in our day
is very little more than a very mild case of orthodox religion grafted onto a heart that is sold out to the world, in his pleasures, and tastes, and ambitions.
"The kind of preaching that I have been giving has disturbed some people. I'm not going to apologize at all, because, necessarily, if I have been traveling
along thinking that I am all right, and there comes a man of God, and he tells me that there is much land to be possessed, it will disturb me. That is
the preliminary twinge that comes to the soul that wants to know God. Whenever the Word of God hits us, it disturbs us. So, don't be disturbed by the
disturbance. Remember that it is quite normal. God has to jar us loose.
"However, there are some who are prepared. They are the ones who have made the grand sweet committal. They have seen heaven drawn near, and earth recede.
The things of this world have become less and less attractive, and the things of heaven have begun to pull, as the moon pulls at the sea, and they are
prepared now."
So, that's the issue. It isn't that the Word of God is wrong. It isn't that the demands upon us for holiness are wrong. It's the fact that a lot of
Christians just aren't prepared for it. They don't want that kind of a life. The immature Christian bases his relationship to Jesus Christ on his emotions.
The emotions of the old sin nature are always wrong, and he foolishly thinks that he is living in the wisdom of God. And he is sadly immature –
doing his own thing in the world system. If you are not determined that it is all of Christ, and none of you, then it is none of Christ. It cannot be
both ways.
The Marks of an Immature Christian
What are the marks of an immature Christian? Everyone enters the Christian life by being born again spiritually. That very phrase indicates that you
start off as a baby Christian. You are spiritual. You are at that moment in the will of God. You are at that moment under the guidance and control of
the Holy Spirit, but you're immature. Now, the job of the local church, through the exploratory preaching of the pastor-teacher, is what God has set up
to develop this weak baby Christian into a strong mature believer. And that's what the apostle Paul has pointed out to us as his objective.
In Ephesians 4:14-16, after benefiting by the pastor-teacher instruction, we are bringing the believer to spiritual maturity with the quality of holiness,
he says, "As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men,
by craftiness, in deceitful scheming." That is what you see on TV all the time by the religious leaders: "But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow
up in all aspects into Him, Who is the Head, even Christ, from Whom the whole body, being fitted and held together, by that which every joint supplies,
according to the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body, for the building up of itself in love." the body of Christ, the
church, has a local expression, and that local expression is all kinds of different believers who are all focused on one thing: the will of God. And part
of the will of God is how you fit into that local church ministry; what your place is; what part you're to play; and, how devoted you are going to be
to that purpose for God. When it comes down to the local church, it's going to interfere with your life.
Well, the point that you notice, in Ephesians 4:16, is if you get some peace missing, then things don't go well, and things don't go smoothly. Do you
think that God is not going to notice that? Do you think that He's going to ignore that? You should have been in your spot; with your place; with your
call; with your gift; with your ability; and, with your responsibility? But were you there. No. You were on the outside, looking in, while the noble souls
were carrying on, trying to make it.
Ephesians 4:16: "From whom (from Christ) The whole body (the body of Christ – the church) is being fitted and held together." That is true about
the church universal, but it is reflected in the local church: "By that which every joint supplies." It's like a body. Every part of it has a purpose:
"According to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." If you've got a piece
missing in that local church, it's not going to be able to grow very well. It's not going to be able to maintain itself. It's not going to be as effective.
Do you think that God is not going to notice that?
Some Christian is out there doing his own thing, and not focusing upon the thing of God – a Christian with great ability, and maybe even great
appeal in the world system, and thinking that here, God has called him to do that. This is the spiritual maturity structure in the soul that we've talked
about so often.
Now, Christians who are not fed on the doctrines of Scripture, so that they know those principles, in the local church services, will never progress
to spiritual maturity. Such Christians don't have a chance to reach super-grace level. They can't. Nobody is explaining, verse-by-verse, the doctrines
of Scripture. That is expository preaching. That's not the common thing you find. Those Christians don't have a chance. Christians, however, who are regularly
fed on the Word of God ((on the doctrines of Scripture), but are negative to it, never progress to spiritual maturity either.
That was the case of the Corinthian Christians. They had great instruction, but they were so sinful, and so negative, and so cocky, and so arrogant,
and there were so many of them to encourage one another, that in spite of all the instruction from Paul, they were a bunch of spiritual babies. They couldn't
even sit in church, and keep their attention on the Word of God, before they were wandering around, distracted by some fly on the ceiling.
In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, the apostle Paul gets a little fed up with this. He says to them, "And I, brethren, cannot speak to you as to spiritual men,
but as to men of flesh (old sin nature men), as to babes in Christ." I gave you milk to drink. Oh, I could have given you so much steak. I could have
given you what the Spirit of God calls "the deep things of the Spirit of God." I could have been given you a banquet of the big food – the heavy
stuff. That stuff would've taken you to the exhilarating heights of your Christian experience. What could I do? I gave you a glass of milk, because you're
such a sorry lot. You're so entangled in the world, and you think you're so right: "I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not able to
receive it." You couldn't take the deep things.
Indeed, even now, you're not able still. But did these people have opinions? Oh my goodness, did they have opinions? Paul gets to them, and sometimes
he gets a little heavy-handed. He gets very sarcastic in 1 and 2 Corinthians, as he relates how they've treated him; the things they've said about him;
the abuse that he has suffered. These people who knew nothing until he came and brought them into the spiritual life. And now, they've become so smart.
1 Corinthians 3:3 says, "For you are still fleshly." You're still old sin nature-dominated: "For since there's jealousy and strife among you, are you
not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men, like unsaved men?" Any Christian who does not regularly attend the local church service as commanded
in Scripture is going to be spiritually weak, and prone to carnality. Any Christian who is negative to instruction that is true, will be weak. Any Christian
who does not attend, he'll be weak. Don't ever trust a Christian who does not sit in this auditorium, being instructed in the Word of God. That Christian
is a danger. He is in the world system. He has Satan's thinking. And if he knows a little bit about the Bible, he's even more dangerous, because his guidance
will be way off-center, and it will be hard to distinguish what his frame of reference is.
The divine institution of volition comes into play here in a very big, major way, in determining whether a Christian ever becomes spiritually mature.
Here is one place that you have to make a decision: being mature in a holy separation to the will of God. Most Christians are just not interested. They
don't care. They're not concerned. This does not hold their heart's attention – to be separated to the will of God; and, to be devoted to that for
which has brought you into this world.
I received a letter from a family Christian family, with formerly military background. And they live at Two Rivers, Alaska. It's sort of like the French
Riviera. It is a very lovely place: Two Rivers. In this letter, the mother writes a newsy letter about what's going on in the family. They have a daughter.
Her name is Tillandia, and she is 15. And in one of the newsy parts of this letter, she talks to us about Tillandia.
"Tillandia had the opportunity to attend a fantastic violin workshop, and to join in practice with others playing chamber music. It was an exhilarating
experience, and one she enjoyed thoroughly, even though it meant that she had to perform in the huge concert hall at the University of Alaska. At the
end of it all, she felt like she must not get involved with this kind of thing too often, because of how it appeals to her flesh. It also required some
contact with other young people who might divert her attention from her relationship with Christ. Her teacher was pleased at her success, and expressed
her desire to prepare her for similar experiences.
"I was amazed at how quickly and confidently Tillandia addressed the teacher. She told her that she did not have an ambition to be a famous violinist,
because she wanted to put her heart and energies into pleasing the Lord. The teacher, who is very antagonistic concerning things of the Lord, assured
her that her playing would surely make Him happy. Tillandia then explained that she felt like she loved the violin, at times, more than the Lord, and
that she didn't want any idols in her life, even if it meant that she would have to set aside playing the violin altogether. The teacher laughed nervously,
and stated that Tillandia was talking about something far deeper than she could comprehend.
I know that I want her to have the opportunity to excel in this area. Why? Is it because I want to be proud of her, or want her to be someone in this
world, or want to assure that our children are accomplished in in one area or another? Are we just trying to keep a door open, where they will be accepted
by the world? Sometimes the pull of the world upon our families is tied to us parents wanting something for our children.
We have watched many friends fail in this struggle with their children. They have pushed their children into areas of achievement, and in doing so,
have succeeded in pushing them away from the heart of God. We must be very careful to look at all these things carefully, to see if the pursuits that
we go after are really of the Lord. Are we pushing our children out there because it is where God wants them to be? Or is it because it appeals to our
flesh in some way? We may open our hearts to the searching of the Spirit of God as He reveals our own deceitful heart, and lines our affection with the
things that please the heart of God."
Now, isn't that a quaint attitude on the part of that 15-year-old? Can you imagine worrying about loving something more than the will of God in her
life? How quaint can you be?
Now, that is what it's all about. And how many adults have ever been able even to rise to that kind of a challenge, let alone such a young person.
She's right on target. Her violin-playing ability may indeed be magnificently used by God. But that is secondary – that playing. The primary thing
is the will of God. That's where I must be.
The apostle Paul says, as he'll tell us in the next verse, "Oh my, I knocked myself out. My job is so hard, trying to get Christians to rise to spiritual
maturity. And the evidence of that, if it is achieved, is their holiness – their separation to the will of God.
I'd like to read you another section from Dr. Tozer. It kind of summarizes the whole thing. Beginning on page 42 of How to be Filled with the Holy
Spirit, it says: "Again, before you can be filled with the Spirit, you must desire to be filled. Here I meet with certain amount of puzzlement. Somebody
will say, 'How is it that you say to us that we must desire to be filled?' That is because you know we desire to be. Haven't we talked to you in person?
Haven't we called you on the phone? Aren't we out here tonight to hear the sermon on the Holy Spirit? Isn't this all a comforting indication to you, that
we have desires of being filled with the Holy Spirit?
That is not necessarily true, and I'll explain why. For instance, are you sure that you want to be possessed by a Spirit other than your own: even
though that Spirit be the pure Spirit of God; even though He be the very gentle essence of the gentle Jesus, even though he'd be sane and pure and free;
even though he be wisdom personified – wisdom himself; even though he have a healing precious ointment to distill; and, even though he be loving
as the heart of God? That Spirit, if He ever possesses, you will be the Lord of your life.
"I ask you: do you want Him to be the Lord of your life, and that you want His benefits? I know. I take that for granted. But do you want to be possessed
by Him? Do you want to hand the keys of your soul over to the Holy Spirit, and say, 'Lord, from now on, I don't even have a key to my own house? I come
and go as You tell me.' Are you willing to give the office of your business establishment (your soul) over to the Lord, and say to Jesus, 'You sit in this
chair? You handle these telephones, and boss the staff, and be Lord of this outfit? That is what I mean. Are you sure you want this? Are you sure that
you desire it? Are you sure that you want your personality to be taken over by one who will expect obedience to the written and living Word?
"Are you sure that you want your personality to be taken over by One who will not tolerate the self-sins? For instance, self-love? You can no more
have the Holy Spirit and have self-love, than you can have purity and impurity at the same time in the same place. He will not permit you to indulge: self-confidence;
self-love; self-righteousness; self-admiration; self-aggrandizement; and, self-pity. These things are under the interdiction of God Almighty. And He cannot
send His mighty Spirit to possess the heart where these things are.
"Again, I ask you: If you desire to have your personality taken over by One who stands in sharp opposition to the world's easy ways, with no tolerance
of evil; no smiling at crooked jokes; and, no laughing off things that God hates? The Spirit of God, if He takes over, will bring you into opposition
to the world, just as Jesus was brought into opposition to it.
"The world crucified Jesus because they couldn't stand Him. There was something in Him that rebuked them. And they hated Him for it, and finally crucified
Him. The world hates the Holy Ghost as bad as they ever hated Jesus, the One from whom He proceeds.
"Are you sure, brother, that you want His help? Yes, you want a lot of his benefits. Yes, but are you willing to go with Him, in His opposition, to
the easygoing ways of the world? If you are not, you needn't apply for anything more than you have, because you don't want him, and you only think you
do.
"Again, are you sure that you need to be filled? Can you get along the way you are? You have been doing fairly well. You pray. You read your Bible.
You give to missions. You enjoy singing hymns. You thank God. You don't drink, or gamble, or attend theaters. You are honest. And you have prayer at home.
You're glad about all this. Can't you get along like that? Are you sure you need any more than that? I want to be fair with you. I want to do what
Jesus did. He turned around to them, when they were following Him, and He told them the truth" 'I don't want to take you in under false pretense. Are
you sure you want to follow Me' He asked. And a great many turned away. But Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'
And the crowd that wouldn't turn away was the crowd that made history. The crowd that wouldn't turn back was the crowd that was there when the Holy Spirit
came and filled all the place where they were sitting. The crowd that turned back never knew what it was all about."
So, how stand you, and where is your commitment?
Dr. John E. Danish, 1995
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