Good message Phil. Thanks.


----- Original Message -----
From: Phil Scovell <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Saturday, March 7, 2015 8:34 pm
Subject: Defending the Spirit Filled Life  Introduction - Part 0

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> Getting up off the basement floor of the room I used for my small recording studio, I wondered in my thoughts what the Lord wanted me to do with this new relationship I had with Him.  I felt his presence all around, as if I were walking through a cloud, and I wanted to share my private experience I had been praying about for that summer, with others I knew had to been in search of the same thing.  How could I do that without being kicked out of my own church? What would my friends say if they knew I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly, I would have to shut off my equipment in my office and lay on the floor and worship God.
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> The phone rang on my desk one day.  It was Dave; the pastor of a Nazarene church I had become friends with and had begun spending time with concerning the Spirit filled life.  He said he had something he wanted to share with me.  I sat down and listened.  He read two short stories to me, testimonies actually, by Harry Ironside and D L Moody.  Both these men described in detail how they were filled with the Holy Spirit and what happened to them thereafter.  Dave said, "Does their stories sound like what happened to you, Phil?"  I told Dave it was exactly the same and I admitted I had never heard these testimonies before.  My mind flashed back to Charles G Finny, and a man by the name of Silus Fox who had been a missionary to India for some 50 years.  They both described similar experiences of the filling of the Spirit.  So, was it real or was I falling off the deep end theologically?
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> One day, I recorded a 3 minute recording on a cassette.  God had given me 4 sermons, Biblical lessons, on the Spirit filled life so I summarized these teachings and sent the cassettes, this was before the compact disk or digital recordings, to 75 pastors I knew personally and had preached for in years past.  I waited.  Then I waited longer.  Weeks, and then months, passed and finally a letter came from one pastor.  "Phil," it read, "Thank you for the tape.  I am glad to hear about your ministry.  Keep up the good work," and he signed his name.  I had been spending my entire adult life praying and thinking and studying the Scriptures about the Holy Spirit and now the Lord had revealed Scriptural truth to me and pastors weren't even interested?
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> "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God;" (Ephesians 5:18-21 AV).
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> The synopsis of the 4 messages I recorded and sent to pastoral friends came from this passage.
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> I see 4 things in this passage that relate to maintaining the Spirit filled life.  Before explaining further, let me make something clear.  I can, and will, itemize these 4 things for you and explain what I believe they mean.  I can also explain the application, that is, how they apply to the Christian's daily life in the Holy Spirit.  This does not mean you will then be filled with the Holy Spirit.  I am not, therefore, suggesting, you do these 4 things, and bingo, you will know you are filled with the Holy Spirit.  You might feel you are a better Christian, you might feel happier in your daily life, and you might even wish to share your feelings with others.  There is, of course, nothing wrong with any of that.  Plus, being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn't mean you become a better Christian or even more spiritual and thus better than others in your church or circle of Christian friends.  The Spirit filled life is something completely different than what I am going to talk about in these teachings and besides, I have written a great deal on the Spirit filled life and how to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so I am not going to attempt to reinvent the theological wheel in these teachings.  If you wish to know more, there is plenty of information available on that doctrine alone on my website.  Whether or not you choose to believe it is between you and God.  I do want to focus on how to maintain a Spirit filled life, on the other hand, as it relates to the church; the Body of Believers but let me mention one thing more before beginning.
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> The Bible clearly states we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that is, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, at the moment we believe Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and confess such with our mouth according to Ephesians 1:13.  "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise."  This baptism can be called the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Romans Chapter 8 confirms this spiritual state of spiritual awareness in a Believer's life.
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> There is another baptism of the Holy Spirit according to Acts Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 19.  I like to refer to that baptism as the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  Of course, we have water baptism by emersion which has nothing to do with your salvitic experience with Christ but is a sign to others of what you believe as a child of God.
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> So, by way of a brief review, first, there is the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.  We are thus immersed into the Body of Christ at that moment and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise.  Secondly, there is the infilling of the Holy Spirit, or what some call the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is when the Holy Spirit becomes the Administrator of the gifts of the Spirit in your life.  Thirdly, there is water baptism that has nothing to do with being born again but demonstrates your belief in Christ to others.  Specifically, water baptism will not save you.  I have heard it taught that the Bible mentions a total of seven baptisms, some of which are not applicable today such as John's baptism, but the three I mentioned are relevant to this discussion.  I know I'm being redundant but let me say again, reading through and applying these four aspects of walking the Spirit filled life is not how you become filled with the Holy Spirit.  These things will, however, enhance your relationship with the Lord and especially enhance your relationship with others within the Body of Christ and that is the theme of this series.
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> Here is the simple outline I will follow.  I have included the Scriptural statements related to each of these points.
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> 1.  Prophecy.  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
> 2.  Prayer.  Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.
> 3.  Praise.  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
> 4.  Provision.  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
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> To be continued.
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> Phil.
> Living His Name
> WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.COM

As Always, Vicki