Christians are called to freedom, which is found not by indulging our sinful nature, but by choosing to walk by the Spirit. This continuous process of being filled with the Spirit has tangible results in our lives. It leads us to find our unique place of service within the body of Christ, helps us discover and operate in our spiritual gifts, and produces the profound joy of the Lord. This Spirit-given joy becomes our strength, enabling us to persevere through all circumstances and participate fruitfully in God’s kingdom work.

Automatically Generated Transcript

[00:00:01] Tonight we’re moving on. Last week we were asking a question about the filling of the Spirit. Whether or not there’s just one filling you get when you become a Christian and there’s never another or is having a filling of the Spirit when you first come to Christ sometimes what’s worded about that first moment is that you receive the Spirit but the idea of being filled with the Spirit is that He takes up control and although people’s experiences vary quite widely depending on the circumstances, how they first came, often when people first come and receive Christ they also find themselves taken over by Christ, controlled by Christ and that is an initial filling. But the question of last time was if you had an initial filling when you received Christ is that the only one you get?

[00:00:56] Or is the idea of being filled with the Spirit something that needs to be had again and again and again? Now if you were choosing between the two, let’s take a poll. Not that the poll is worth anything. I mean, let me say that again. It’s what God says that counts rather than what we think. But I’m curious to know if you think there’s just one filling when you first come to Christ, when you receive Christ, but that’s it. Or if you think that there are meant to be lots of fillings that happen afterwards, you’ve got to pick one or the other. Those for just one filling, let me see a hand. Those who think that there’s lots of fillings needed. Here’s one, two, some of you, all right. The answer is the second group are right. Because in the Scriptures, we find that there’s an initial filling

[00:01:55] of the disciples and the day of Pentecost, and then the people who come to Christ display by their actions the filling, but then they keep on getting other times when they’re filled with the Spirit. And the Scriptures, as you go through the book of Acts, tells about this later times, and particularly the Apostle Peter. he’s called up by the Jewish authorities he and I think it’s John are put into prison but they’ve had a filling at the start but then later on as they get out of jail they’re filled with the spirit and they do all sorts of things if you read the account so just if you had Peter alone you’ll discover that there are folk in the New Testament particularly the book of Acts who often have more fillings so the second of the choices was right but we’re talking about that was last week

[00:02:47] talking about is there just one filling or do we constantly need to be filled and are there times in Christian life when for whatever reason you don’t let yourself be controlled by God or you get disobedient or something happens and then you’re not filled you’re not controlled it doesn’t mean he’s not there because the word to be filled means that the Spirit has taken over control. Well, in the book of Galatians, it talks more about this and talks about the fact that we have a possibility of displaying the work of the Spirit or displaying the work of the flesh. And whenever in the New Testament you see those two things put in opposites, they take on polarised meanings because the Spirit could simply be referenced to God’s Spirit. That’s the usual one. It’s the Spirit of God.

[00:03:44] In our translations up on the screen, you’ll see down the bottom verse 16, or is it verse 10, verse 16. But I say walk by the Spirit. And this is the experience of everyday living. You’re relying on the Spirit to help you to do it. But if you let yourself be controlled by the Spirit, you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Flesh is the big word. Do you get the big word too? You do. Okay. So the choice is between being controlled by the Spirit or controlled by the flesh. And those two choices will bring about different results. And so what happens to you depends upon whether you give yourself to be controlled by the Spirit or you give yourself to let the flesh take over. The flesh then takes on, as I say, as with the word spirit,

[00:04:38] so the calling about the flesh takes on a polarised meaning of not just meaning – if you read through the Bible you can find spots where we’ll talk about the flesh and you know what it means, what’s underneath your skin. That’s your flesh. But in other spots what it means is humanity and so it takes a more metaphorical explanation of your personhood as a human. So the flesh is your humanness but then in a really extreme metaphorical meaning it means the humanness that’s got sin taking over everywhere. So the flesh represents the extremity of your humanness being sinful and the spirit represents the extremity of the Spirit of God having taken over control and everything happening being what he does. So in any given passage you find in the Scriptures where you put those two, flesh and spirit,

[00:05:34] in opposite positions, they take on those polarised meanings. It doesn’t mean that there’s not other occasions when you can be human and the Bible would call that your humanity. It is that which flesh sometimes is just a tag for. But when it’s in a passage like we have up in the screen at the moment, then they’re taking on these polarised meanings. And one of the things that’s key about this passage here is it says you’re called to freedom, brothers. Now what I want to talk about tonight, and I’m not sure I’m going about it too clearly, but what does being filled with the Spirit, what does it produce? And the first one is what’s here in this passage. It produces freedom. Now the moment you introduce the idea that being filled with the Spirit makes you free, it calls into understanding that you don’t have to.

[00:06:34] If you’re a human being who’s become a Christian and you have the Spirit within you, because you receive when you become a Christian, and you’re being told that you’re to walk after the Spirit, And if you do that, you’re going to have freedom. Now, I’ve got to fill in our understandings about what’s in verse 16. But I say, walk by the Spirit and you’ll not fulfill or gratify the desires of the flesh. What it is saying is that either the Spirit and his control or your sinful humanity is going to dictate how you go. And that’s the choice. You don’t actually, it’s not sort of up to you. To do the best things proper and they’ll be spiritual and they’ll be what God wants. Or if you don’t do that, you’ve got the danger of your sinful humanity that you haven’t yet finished with.

[00:07:30] You’ll have to wait to get to heaven before that’s completely taken out of you. But you have the possibility of the flesh and all of its bad points taking over. And so the more time you spend living as a Christian, you’re confronted with the fact that you have a little bit of this, sometimes you’re doing well with God and sometimes you’re sinning. Now, I’m not going to ask you to put your hand up because I know what you ought to do. And I’d be scared that some of you haven’t got the point. But if I were to ask you, have you experienced sometimes doing what God wants you to do and other times being really regretful that you did the opposite. And you all should have put your hands up because that’s the human Christian condition. And the Apostle Paul who wrote this wrote about himself.

[00:08:19] And he wrote and said that the good things he wants to do, he doesn’t actually do them. and the bad things he doesn’t want to do, he ends up doing some of them and all Christians down through the Christian era from the day of Pentecost on, that’s the Christian era, all Christians know what it is to discover in themselves they still have the capacity to do what we’d call fleshly living. Fleshly living is where the evil part of us, our commitment to doing our own thing and disobeying God will show itself. And spiritual living is where some strange miracle, knowing what you could be like, the Spirit of God takes over and you do things which turn out to be God’s hand doing something. And they’re the two choices you have in life. And that’s what this passage is saying.

[00:09:11] But why does it say you’re called the freedom brothers? Well, the freedom is that if you give in to the flesh, you’re actually in bondage. And the only way to be free from the old sinful nature that you might have been forgiven of because you became a Christian, but you turn up that it seems to be knocking on your door all the time, this old sinful nature. The only way to be free of that is to walk after the Spirit because that’s what the passage is saying. And you’re called the freedom brothers. But in that case of being freedom, if you let the Spirit of God help you and become more spiritually motivated and you find yourself doing the good things as the Spirit leads you, it doesn’t mean that he’s making you do it so that you can’t sin.

[00:09:59] You have actually been lifted from having to sin to a place of freedom where you can go on choosing to do the right thing. You’re free. But it can’t be freedom if the Spirit just took over you and made it impossible for you to sin. Now, I won’t ask you another hand up because I don’t want to… The truth is that you should know the answer to this without my having to tell you. But if I said, how many of you can remember a time when you wanted and intended to do something really good but you ended up doing something not so good? And the truth is, I’ll ask this man, as you’re representing everybody because I know him well. Has that ever happened to you? Yeah, okay, he’s answering for us all because that’s the human condition. I go to his home group, see.

[00:10:51] And the human condition that we have, that if you don’t listen to this lesson, you’re going to be in trouble because the flesh is just waiting for a good opportunity. You understand? And that’s the case we’re in. Are we going to be like that for the whole of our Christian lives? In one sense, the answer to that is yes, that you’ll never get over being flesh or spirit questions until either Jesus comes or you die and go to glory. But it will need him to change us out of having this struggle. So you’ll never get free of being a person that could get caught up by the flesh in you making you. Now, what would cause that happens? Well, sometimes it is some little thing that crept in and you gave in to it. It might be pride. It might be jealousy. All the things that are the works of the flesh.

[00:11:47] And you didn’t get rid of them straight away or go and confess them straight away. Let’s read the passage. For your call to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Don’t relax and say, well, I’m never going to be sinning again. I don’t need to really go to church on Sunday. Oh, no, I won’t say that. I don’t need to spend time with God’s people. I can spend it watching TV. Now, there’s nothing wrong with watching TV. Don’t take me wrong. The things that will put you in the flesh sometimes are just human things. But if you do it instead of loving God or instead of serving God, if you leave your Bible alone and only watch your favourite TV shows, which have got detectives and criminals running around,

[00:12:34] that if you only do the things that are of human, you’re giving yourself over too much to the flesh. So you have to realise that your freedom needs you to sow to the Spirit, which is what this passage is actually getting at. But don’t use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. But through love, serve one another. Now, corporately, that means let the work of the Spirit that sparks that sense of helping others. You can see that a lot in our church, people doing things to help other people. And I saw it this morning after the morning service. Some people just stepped out of their way to help someone. And it was a beautiful thing to see God is at work in our church. But if you don’t do that and you keep yourself for your selfish motives, you’ll find that the flesh will find an opportunity in you.

[00:13:27] That’s what it’s talking about. But through love, serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbour as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you’re not consumed by one another. Now, this can happen with a married couple. If you asked me to put my hand up, I’d have to put my hand up. And sometimes Michelle and I are for some silly little thing, you know, argue. And we can get into the non-expression of love. Well, it’s really the flesh waving a flag. So this is not anything anybody here would be absent from the possibility of. But through love, serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

[00:14:14] But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you’re not consumed by one another. Look out. And in any Christian group, if something happens and jealousy comes in or some competition happens and people are annoyed at someone else getting the limelight or all those things as examples of how the flesh can wave its flag, well, then you’ll destroy the lot. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you’re not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit and you’ll not gratify the desires of the flesh. Now, here it is. It isn’t just a case of the Holy Spirit coming on you and he fixes the lot and lo and behold, you behave very nicely because the Spirit made you. No, it’s asking you for that participation of intention that you’ll walk after the Spirit.

[00:15:10] And walking after the Spirit or this translation has got walk by the Spirit. Let the Spirit help you take one step after another. As you do that, you’ll find that you’re not fulfilling the desires of the flesh. So that’s a very wonderful thing that the Bible is saying. Let’s see this work out in the book of Acts because the early church had the Holy Spirit working powerfully in them as he’d first come. But a problem arose in the fellowship because numbers increased. But of the population of Jerusalem, the ones who were the initial ones who became Christians, our 12 disciples, for example, they were Jewish people. But the population of Jerusalem had folk who, some of whom believed in the Jewish religion, but they didn’t come from backgrounds quite as Jewish as, say, the Apostle Paul.

[00:16:08] He could boast about his Jewish background and his wonderful education and trained up in the Pharisaical way and to the highest level. Paul had lots of boasting he could have done about his Jewish training. But there were a lot of people in Jerusalem who maybe their background wasn’t Jewish very much, but they were Jewish by religion at least. Some of them were Jewish, yes, in their backgrounds, in the blood and their veins they were Jewish. But nonetheless they lived in distant places, which is amongst a lot of other styles of people. And that meant that they didn’t spend, as their local language, Hebrew, they didn’t speak in Hebrew but they spoke in Greek and when there were people who were Greeks or Greek speakers, that’s just talking about their culture and they were called Hellenists

[00:17:04] put your hand up if you know where the word Helen comes from well that’s the word for Greek and there is a name people have as Helen and my Michelle’s mother, Brindley’s grandmother Her name was Helen But actually that means a Greci And originally it was Greek by the blood in your veins But eventually it became to be the language That if you were in the culture That the Greek peoples had conquered the world And Greek culture was everywhere If you might have been a Hebrew by nature But you spoke in Greek Then you were called a Hellenist Because the word Helen means Greek anybody here got the name Helen I should ask the question no Helens ok well anyway a Hellenist was someone who is in Greek and culture if not in genes and whatever well these Hellenists they discovered that because the original persons

[00:18:09] who became Christians were largely the deep dyed Hebrew types and the disciples were this they were people who really knew the Hebrew scriptures the Apostle Paul was one even more than them but some of our disciples came from up north where they still spoke mostly in Greek but they knew a little bit about Hebrew as well but what they discovered in the early church was that the ones who come in who were the Greek speakers didn’t get as much of the help as the ones who were Hebrews and especially where there were widows who had no sustenance and they were getting hungry but there weren’t as much care getting to happen amongst the Hellenists. And so the first problem that the disciples, the apostles, had was how to resolve this complaint that had come

[00:19:02] that there was some style of people who were not being treated as well and so there was a need for someone to be found who would help them. Now at this point something could have happened in the church that would have really undone it and that was if the people of the church said hey we want our apostles, they’re meant to be leading us to do all this helping on tables and the apostles tried. They were trying to organise but they found themselves not doing what they were called to do as apostles which was to go out and preach the gospel. And so they called the whole of the people together and they get the people to help them and they do what’s a good Baptist thing to do. They get the people to appoint some persons to come to these roles. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you

[00:19:54] seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and wisdom. Now here we recognise that the use of the idea of being full of the spirit is put together with some other capacity as well. This actually happens a fair bit in the book of Acts. So they’re told that they’ll look out for people who display the Spirit taking over in their life so they walk after the Spirit well. But also one of the products of them having the Spirit control them is that they’re showing to others a wisdom that was God-given. So look out for seven men of good repute full of the Spirit and of wisdom whom we will appoint to this duty. but we, that’s we the apostles, will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. So there was a threat that the problem if the apostles had taken all their time to do it

[00:20:49] would have stopped them doing what was their proper task and that was to be busy evangelizing and devoting themselves to prayer. And anyway, they said you pick out seven men who we could put to this ministry And what they said pleased the whole gathering and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholas, who’s a proselyte of Antioch. He’s actually a total non-Jew, but he’s become a part of the Jewish nation and he’s become a Christian. And they chose these seven and set them before the apostles. And they prayed over them and laid their hands on them.

[00:21:40] And because they chose these people to do it, who then solved the problem of there being folk whose needs were not being met, along with the fact that the apostles could go back to preaching the word. By the way, quick question. Give me another definition of what is the word when it says preaching the word. the way that passage is written it’s like we should know what it means to preach the word Help me, who knows what it means to preach the word We have some newcomers here you can say something if you want to or you’re not that new What’s preaching the word? We have someone from overseas Are you from Ireland? Are you from Ireland? or are you from, I know you’re from Mexico originally, but do you say you’re from Ireland or Mexico? I’m from Mexico. From Mexico? I used to live in Ireland before Australia.

[00:22:42] Okay, yeah, that’s where they met in Ireland, those two. Anyway, what is it to preach the word? I don’t know who to pick on. I reckon I won’t ask him because I think he knows. And yes, you know, I hope. Oh, let’s try bridling. I’m going to cross my fingers. What’s preaching the word? Yeah, the word is in the first instance, Jesus. He’s the word, but in the second instance, it’s the message about Jesus and what he’s done. So the word is the gospel. They all knew that, everybody, so they just had to say, preach the word. And the thing that the apostles were set aside to do was to go around gospelising everybody. There’s another spot in the book of Acts where it says the word of God increased. Goodness, that used to really give me a struggle to know what do you picture when you read in the book of Acts

[00:23:36] the word of God increased. I had this picture of there being some Bible society group or whatever back then. And there wasn’t, but there being this group of people and they were printing off fresh Bibles. because in my early days when I got brought up in church, this was the word. That’s not wrong because this is where we get the gospel out of but it wasn’t just saying more Bibles were being printed. When it says the word of God increased, it’s actually talking about the spread of the message of the gospel and it was running. Now if you think of the word of God running, if you think of this message, maybe a tract or something, and it’s got little legs and it’s racing up. No, no, no, no. By the word of God running, it means it’s spreading everywhere rapidly.

[00:24:22] And because they had a key to their problem discovered, these early Christians, by appointing some folk who’d look after the widows, particularly the widows, but the ones who were Hellenists that no one was looking after, that left the apostles to get back to the proper job Jesus had called them to do, proper for them that is, by having others who did the other things. So when we talk about the Holy Spirit filling people, it isn’t just for preachers, it isn’t just for missionaries. The filling of the Spirit is for people to find their place within the church. And for some people, these ones, they were going to look after these widows and look after that administrational helping thing that was needed. and that allowed the apostles to get back to their task.

[00:25:14] But one of the seven they picked was a fellow called Stephen. Anybody here named Stephen? Just so I can know, to tease you. I mean, to talk about you. Stephen, Stephen with a PH. There he is, verse 8. And Stephen, full of grace and power. Help me now. How did he get the grace and power, do you suppose? How did Stephen get to be full of grace and power? Did he have a special way of reading the Bible? Come on, help me. How did Stephen get full of grace and power? I can see people, I think, no, but you’re not necessarily taking up the air to let others, hey? By being filled with the Spirit. Exactly. When the Spirit comes and takes control, then his attributes come out of you. And full of grace, who’s the person that has the greatest amount of grace? It is God and his Spirit. The Spirit of grace came upon Stephen.

[00:26:28] But in his particular case, also power. Now, that’s a bit unusual to know what to accredit him having power for. But the next part tells us, he was doing great wonders and signs among the people. He was doing things as the Spirit controlled him. And quite a number of these fellows who got picked to do this job was a practical task in the first place. But they were used of God in being filled with the Spirit. And they’re described in ways like this, full of grace and power and doing signs among the people. And there was a miraculous part of that that came out of Stephen because he was filled with the Spirit. So if we answered the question, what happens when people get filled with the Spirit, which is what we’re answering tonight, one of them is that God gives us a place in the church to fill a need.

[00:27:25] And finding where God has given you a sense of participation in the body of Christ, that’s the Christian group, is one of the things whereby you find yourself filled with the Spirit. If you haven’t found your niche, don’t just think in terms of what skills humanly do I have there. They’re useful, they’re a part of it as well. But that’s not the only explanation when you find your niche. It is where God’s Spirit uses you. You know, there are some people who just have a type of personality, they’re extreme extroverts and they organise well, and God uses them in that. Don’t look down your nose at people with something in their humanity. Actually, if you have some special ability in the way you are humanly, and God has just given you that, it’s a gift in your abilities or even in your running or whatever,

[00:28:21] if you’ve got that, he can use that. Because the actual meaning of grace and a gift is a gift is something that’s come by grace, where God didn’t have to but he gave it to you as just something he gave. And many of us have some degree of grace gifts in our human side. So if you’re a person who is able to study well, then God may call you to do something with that learning because you found it easy. Or others have got mechanical with their hands and they use it for building. There were people in the Old Testament days who had the Spirit come on them to help build the temple and to help to do the things that God wanted, like the tabernacle being built. So anything that comes by grace from God is a gift and some of that is in the natural arena. But there’s also things that are yours as a gift of God

[00:29:19] by being full of the Spirit and so therefore the gift is a spiritual capacity that the spirit gives to you. Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing wonders. Now you know, if you like this passage and you go home and say that sounds pretty exciting I’m going to be in for that and you try and get yourself to be doing wonders well I warn you, you’re going to be a bit disappointed because if you were meant to have wonders doing it they’d all just happen. And if God’s speaking to you and says I want you to pray and get ready and try and do something that’s wonderful. Well, let God tell you that, but don’t assume it. Same with signs amongst the people. They turn up by the Holy Spirit’s doing. But Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

[00:30:09] So these are ways in which we can have the filling of the Spirit take over and do things for us. And in the case of these people, they chose to do a menial task. By menial, it’s not… They didn’t become apostles or anything. They became people. They weren’t becoming leaders. They were becoming ones doing the things that were needed amongst the widows and amongst the Hellenist people who were needing someone to make tables of food available for them, for example. But while they were being filled with the Spirit, and Stephen is one of them, they also suddenly find an outside ministry in the town of Jerusalem of doing things. And Stephen was one of those. And that happens in the church. And what I’m realising here is that if you have a church where people seek after being given over to the Spirit,

[00:31:05] it’ll have repercussions in terms of things happening that you couldn’t have designed. And that happens in a church, and people somehow find ways to do things. So think about how you serve the Lord. Don’t think of it as just what you can find as a job that has to get done only. They’re good to do anyway if they’re to be done, like serving on tables. But also recognise the Holy Spirit may somehow engineer you into something and you discover that you have some knack about it. And that knack may be that you somehow work very well with people that you bump into in the street. I’ve known people who were so good at witnessing to street people for anybody they bumped into. One fellow I knew, he was one of my dad’s students in college, that he was seeing ten people every week come to Christ

[00:32:01] by him spending time out in the streets and as he bumped into people or talked to people. When he went down the beach, I remember him going down the beach on a Sunday. This is interesting because this is back in time when usually the church people told you don’t go to the beach on Sunday because they were being a bit legalistic about it. But he used to go down the beach because, you know why? He loved talking to strangers about Christ and nearly all the people on the beach were non-churchies. This is going back a few decades. And he’d go down. Anyway, he saw some young people and they were having a bit of a scruffle of some sort and they were swearing. And he walked over to them. And he said, Do you just know that then you took the name of God in vain? He’s very bold, this fellow. And they got a shock.

[00:32:53] The one of the one who’d been swearing a bit, I think, actually came from a Christian family. In fact, his parents were missionaries, return missionaries. And he was a backslider or else he’d never been converted at all yet. And he got a shock of his life of being told off. And he got right with God. And he decided that he’d do something different with his life. He says, I’m going to go to a Bible college. He came on up to our college. They actually had so many students at one stage. My dad was the principal and I became a student. But they said, because you’re the principal’s son, you have to have the worst accommodation. I don’t know where the logic was on that. But they said, we’re going to put some of you lads into the common room and three of you can get a sleeping in thing, what do you call it?

[00:33:47] And you can have a light down on the floor in the common room. And that was where I first went to college. And next to me was this fellow who came from South Australia and had gotten right with God because this Christian bloke walked over to him and told him off for using the Lord’s name in vain as he swore. He got right with God. Now, Stephen was like that, full of grace and power and doing great wonders and signs among the people. But they’re a bit extraordinary, those people, just was the bloke who used to talk to my friend. But somehow, if you give yourself over to be filled with the Spirit, God will find you a place within the working of the body of Christ. And that’s what this passage actually represents, of people finding somewhere to serve the Lord

[00:34:37] because the Spirit has somehow guided them into the right slot. It might be because you have certain characteristics that allow you to fulfill it if you have a gift of grace in your humanity. But it might also be that he’s going to do things for you in that spot that really come from the Holy Spirit. There may be a spiritual gift in it. And so one of the results of being filled with the Spirit is that you sometimes find it directs you to where is your gift because you let the Spirit take control and he ends up having you in the spot where you belong. Okay, so that’s a fantastic thing to realise and it’s one of the things that happen when you’re filled with the Spirit. I did have a third thing to say. Not only do you get to be used in the church, not only do you get to find your spiritual gift,

[00:35:35] but one of the fruits of being filled with the Spirit is joy. And when the book of Galatians, we won’t look at the passage, but where it speaks about the outworking of the Spirit in people’s lives, it has a list of what they call the fruits of the Spirit. And who can tell me the first three mentioned in the list just off the top of your head? The fruit of the Spirit. love, joy, peace thank you wherever that verse was from love, joy and peace now the middle one is the one that’s caught my attention there is nothing more wonderful than the sense of the finding of joy when somehow you end up where the spirit is working through you and you have just the joy in my early years going and being on beach mission with scripture union paying your money you’d have to pay for your own food that you ate and all the rest

[00:36:32] you didn’t get it free but going on that and then working from 6am through to late at night I went on one beach mission and I was in charge of the young people’s tent and I had to be up one of the latest times but then you get up the next morning early hour but it was one of those things I keep on talking about of the greatest joy. And then another one came along, the Youth of Christ used to have a big camp down at Talabudra where thousands of young people from all around Australasia came. And I was involved with it and I was in charge of prayer. And there was a lot of staying up late. They had two evangelistic meetings every day and people came to Christ. I was also in charge of the counselling. So when people responded to the call of the preacher usually some man from overseas was giving the gospel

[00:37:24] then they’d be brought to me and I had to organise counsellors and have them talk to the people. And sometimes you got people who’d come for counselling and they were really upset and some of my counsellors didn’t know what to do. I remember the day there was a girl who came and all she could do was cry and the counsellor didn’t know what to do. And how we’d organise it was if you didn’t know what to do with the person you’re counselling you had to bring them to me. Well, I was 18, I think, and I wasn’t very educated how to understand girls, how I say this straightforwardly. And this girl cried and cried. The only thing I could think to do was to let her cry it out. So she kept crying, and then when she couldn’t cry anymore, I led her to Christ. I want to tell you, I’ve been boasting

[00:38:17] of those Youth for Christ camps ever since, and they were back in the 60s. How’s that for a long-lasting boast? And the joy, the joy of what that brought. And I want to tell you that the filling of the Spirit will not only show you where you fit into God’s people, it will not only help you be able to do something that you may discover your spiritual gift. But you’ll discover the deepest, the best, the most wonderful joy in human life is to be a Christian and to be led of the Spirit, to participate in God’s kingdom, whether it be something small or something great. I’ve met people around Australia who I often discover to get them talking. I don’t have to have big questions to ask, just let them get talking Christians, and you find out wherein lies their joy. Like I visited my sister once.

[00:39:22] She had a first of her children, my older sister, and I went to visit them down there in Canberra, and Jenny and her husband Neil would be off at work during the day. And I can’t remember what happened to the baby. Maybe Jenny was not going to work, I don’t know. Anyway, but there was nothing for me to do. So I talked to the lady across the fence and she turned out to be a Christian. And she really blessed my soul. And in her particular Christian group, the women weren’t allowed to do very much, and she was hampered. But she discovered that she could really have an encouragement gift through writing letters. And she used to write letters to people and just hit the nail on the head with her letters. She was led of God. And she was radiant about it, telling me of the joy that was there.

[00:40:19] And if you let God’s Spirit get grip of you, one of the things you’re going to discover is joy. The joy of the Lord. The book of Psalms, I think it is, says the joy of the Lord is my strength. And there’s something that boils you up. And somehow, because you let the Spirit be in control, it’s like an immunisation against all the disappointments that can come along. Or times when you don’t succeed at something or where people have misunderstood you or where you didn’t have a success. But when you have that Spirit-given joy, it doesn’t really matter about the rest. The joy of the Lord is my strength. When you, like Psalm 23, can say, He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. All of that is just where you are filled with the joy of the Lord. And it’s your strength to go through

[00:41:24] whatever is put on your plate. Let’s have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the idea of being filled with the Spirit, the idea of walking after the Spirit, the idea of finding one’s place in the church or amongst the Christians, their thing to do. Lord, I pray that you will cause your Holy Spirit to come on this group of people right here now. Lord, and in their personal lives, may they be led to where you want them to be and know it, because they’ll know the joy of the Lord. Help some, Lord, who are looking for strength. May they know the joy of the Lord can be their strength in whatever be that circumstance. And Lord, may we be those who understand that the only way to be free is to be led of the Spirit, to walk after the Spirit, not give in to the flesh. We’re free because we can give in to the flesh. But let us know that our freedom is for letting the Spirit rule. Lord, we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.