Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy

Our God and our Father. We ask now that the words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts. Would be acceptable in your sight. For we ask it in Jesus’s name. Amen. There is perhaps no more majestic sight. Then to see the great sailing ships of the last century. The three-masted schooner, as it’s carrying its hull full of precious cargo. Diamonds, rubies, spices, silks. As it gracefully breaks the water. And with a beautiful blue-sky overhead, with the sails full, as that hull cracks across the surface of the water, carrying with it that precious cargo. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful pictures that we can imagine of power and beauty and majesty. It has been captured many times on the artist’s canvas.

And perhaps it reminds us if we could have a life that were taught a cargo that was of value to carry to a home port. Those great schooners remind us of an age that’s past. As striking as the picture is of those beautiful ships with full sail. There is probably nothing less pathetic than a derelict. A derelict is the name given to a ship that no longer sails. A derelict is a ship that has taken on water. A derelict ship is a ship that has sunk. The main staffs have been snapped. The sail has long ago decayed. The hull has been cracked. Water has seeped inside. The compass, which once moved freely, now in the depths of the ocean, is frozen by rust. The maps have long ago disintegrated.

And that derelict ship that at one time had decks that were swab polished, now those deck planks are twisted. And the cargo of great value long ago pirated away. There is no more tragic image than the image of that ship with such a noble purpose. Except it didn’t know about the reef, that reef that it never planned to strike. Until finally it struck and the ship is sunk. Whether we look at our lives as ships or we look at our lives as people, I think we all realize that there is something for each of us. As we look at our own lives. We look at the shape of the ship, sails, full hull, headed home. Or are we in the process of taking water on and hopefully not to become derelicts?

As we look at the Bible, we find that the scripture presents that in fact, there are three types of people. One of those is referred to as the natural man. The second is the carnal man. And the third, the spirit filled man. Now, the natural man is the person that you and I were born in the flesh. We were born naturally. And the scriptures tell us that as were born in the flesh by nature, we had very little interest in the things of God. As a matter of fact, the natural man, when he begins to look at the creation of God, what he does, the scriptures tell us, is suppress the truth that he sees all around him the vivid examples of the power of God.

Man looks and for a moment concludes, if there is a God behind this, then he must have some claims upon my life. The natural man suppresses those truths. And in fact, the scriptures tell us, whether overtly or covertly, we become rebellious against this God. And the natural man, the scriptures tell us, is not able to receive spiritual truths, for to him they sound like foolishness. And as he reads God’s word, why, it sounds like a riddle. When hears the preaching of God’s word, it sounds like folly. And for the natural man, he does not discern the majesty and power and holiness of God. If you are a natural man, then the scriptures say this, you are lost. You are in fact, a derelict ship. You have taken on the water of this world and you have sunk.

Now, those who are natural men, I want you to know that the scripture says, there is a way to be taken out of that natural state. And this is the good news of Christ, the gospel, that you by faith, can put your trust in Christ, and that he will take you out of that natural state, and he will place in you his holy spirit, who will help you to see and to understand his word. He says it’s received by faith. As we see that we have sinned against the Holy God, and that we put our trust in his son, Jesus Christ. And as we would make that transfer from ourselves to him and ask Jesus Christ to forgive us and to lead us, we are then taken out of the realm of being a derelict ship.

And that brings us to the second person, that is the person who is a Christian, who has been born anew. They have put their trust in Jesus Christ. Their ship now floats. And aboard that ship is a precious cargo, is a cargo of knowledge and truth. It is a cargo that is imperishable aboard that ship, as we would trust in Jesus Christ. He stocks that ship with truths. Your sins are forgiven as far as the east is from the west. Christ will forgive your sins, that you have the Holy Spirit alive and at work in you, that Christ has prepared a place for you in eternity, that he wants you to come and to be with him, to enjoy him forever. And there are many who come from the state of being a natural man into the state of being made new in Christ.

And they become aware that in this new life in Christ, they have been given a new nature, that by the working of the Holy Spirit, they are able to accomplish the good deeds that God has prepared for them, not by themselves, but by the working of the Holy Spirit who does those good works. But at the same time, this new creation learns that they have their old nature. And as a new Christian, they see that old nature and they see the new nature, and they become aware for the first time of a struggle that goes on back and forth between these natures. Sometimes the old nature wins, sometimes the new nature wins. And this is a point of development for some Christians, where they stop growing in Christ. They become aware of the battle.

Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose, and they become accepting of that status. And all those who would find themselves in that picture are, in fact, like the beautiful schooner with a full hull of precious truths. But when you look at the main staff and you look at those sails, there is no wind in the sail. As a matter of fact, the sail hangs limp. And that carnal Christian hopes above hope that they will simply be drawn to their home port, not by the blowing of the wind of God upon their sails, but rather that they might drift with the current wherever it might lead them. And so they are swayed with every new teaching that they hear. Still Christians, but swayed.

The scriptures tell us very vividly in the book of first Corinthians of the church that assembled, that was composed primarily of carnal Christians who argued among one another, Christians who sued one another, Christians who did not enjoy the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God upon them. And it is possible to be a Christian, but to be a carnal Christian who has never progressed beyond the truths of salvation in Jesus Christ, who have never grasped that there is a better way, even beyond that conversion, and that God has a purpose for each of us. And he declares that purpose to us, to Christians, be filled with the holy spirit.

We are commanded in the scripture not only to come to trust Jesus Christ and to be born anew, but also to be filled by his spirit, to continue to grow in grace, that the vessel that we have been given will be able to continue on with a full sail to that home port. There is today a great deal of confusion on the subject of the Holy Spirit. There are terms that are bantered about within the church and outside of the church. There are those who say, you must be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not but once, but twice. There are those who say you must be filled with the Spirit. And we hear all manner of variation. And I would point our attention that in the scripture there are two phrases that must be understood. One is the phrase baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The other is the phrase to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The phrase the baptism of the spirit occurs in the scripture seven times, and all of those references are found in the New Testament. And the scriptures tell us that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit, in four of the seven examples, we find this reference that he will baptize with the Holy Spirit, referring to Jesus Christ, that the ministry of Christ was to baptize in the Holy Spirit. Of the seven times that the phrase is mentioned, four are referenced, he, Jesus, will baptize with the Holy Spirit. The fifth reference to the phrase the baptism of the Holy Spirit is told by Jesus to his disciples and he says to them, before many days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

The 6th example is taken from the words of the apostle Peter when he quotes the words of Jesus saying, I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, john baptized with water, but Jesus shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And the 7th example of the phrase baptism in the Holy Spirit is found in one Corinthians 1213. For by one spirit were all baptized into one body. Now, a very helpful book has been written by John Stott and this book entitled baptism and the fullness. He talks about the difference between being baptized in the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit. John Stott says the fundamental truth of the scripture is that by uniting us to Christ at that moment of conversion, God has given us everything.

And as he looks at the word of God, concludes that of all of the occurrences of the phrase baptized in the Holy Spirit, all of those are in reference to conversion, that when a person becomes a Christian, they are baptized with the Holy Spirit. That that is part and parcel of being made new again in Jesus Christ, that we have in fact been baptized with the Holy Spirit. And it is fitting for anyone who would bear the name Christian to be able to say, when I put my trust in Jesus Christ, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. But it would be incorrect, according to the New Testament teaching, to say that after you have come to trust Jesus Christ, that there is then a need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

As a matter of fact, nowhere in the apostolic sermons or in any letter in the new Testament is there ever once an appeal to a Christian to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And why is that? Because it is the teaching of those apostles that when you trusted in Christ, you were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Rather, when we look at the teaching of scripture, we find the reference to Christians is not to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, for that has already occurred. But you will find this admonition repeated over and over, be ye filled with the Holy Spirit. And there you will find many references talking to Christians, saying, you and I ought to be filled with the Holy. Now, what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Well, some answer that to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to find the fruit in your life of being able to speak in tongues. And for those, they say that the only way that you can know that you are filled with the spirit of God is if you speak with a different language, whether a language of men or of angels. Well, it’s interesting, when we look at the book of acts, that of the many instances of conversion that occurred in the Book of Acts, it is only on three occasions that the result of the coming of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life produced the gift of tongues. And if were to say that everyone who is going to be filled with the Holy Spirit must speak with tongues, we would be taking the scripture and standing it on its head.

For it did not occur every time that someone became a Christian. It happened but thrice in the book of acts. And if you look at those references closely, you will find that the tongues that they were speaking were, in fact, languages that they never had learned, speaking to people who had never heard the gospel. And so we find that there is the natural man who is an alien to the things of Christ. There is the carnal man who puts his trust in Christ, but never goes beyond that first understanding of the truths of being new in Jesus Christ. But there is a third vessel floating upon this sea of grace, and that vessel is the spirit filled man or woman. And it is here that the scripture tells us often that those who follow Christ ought to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

The phrase to be filled with the Holy Spirit is commanded on a number of occasions. In the New Testament, however, there is but one portion of scripture that defines what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That portion of scripture is found in the book of Ephesians, chapter five, verses 18 through 21. And as you turn your Bibles to look at Ephesians 518 21, you will notice that in verse 18 we are told, do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit. Now, drunkenness is debauchery the person who would be drunk is a person who has literally lost control of themselves. And there are some within the church who say, why does not the scripture compare being filled with the Holy Spirit with the state of being drunk?

And you have probably heard on occasion people say, I am high on Jesus, and you have undoubtedly found yourself in circles where the entire sense of the meeting was a spiritual intoxication, where it seemed that no one is in control. Well, we know from scripture that the fruit of the Holy Spirit, one of those fruit, are self control, according to Galatians 523. And so I think it is incorrect for the Christian to come to the conclusion that the assembling of the church ought to be something like a drunken party, only a spiritual drunken party. John Stott says, the consequences of the fullness of the spirit, as the apostle goes on to portray them, are to be found intelligent, controlled, healthy relationships with God and with each other.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit will lead not to debauchery in an uncontrolled atmosphere, but instead will lead to moral, ethical, and rational behavior. What are the results then of being filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, we read in verse 19, those who are filled with the Holy Spirit will first speak to one another. Now, that may not sound very profound to you. You mean all we have to do is talk to one another? I have been in churches where the person that I sat next to, as we would one ship to another, bump each other. The only things that were exchanged between us was, pardon me, pass me the hymn book. And as soon as the service were over in some of those churches, everyone would snake their way out the side doors, never speaking another word to another.

One of the qualities of being in a spirit filled church, being a spirit filled Christian, is that you have an interest in talking to other people. Now you say, well, what type of conversation? Well, that brings us to the second characteristic of those who are filled with the spirit we read in verse 19. Not only do they speak to one another, but they speak to one another in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing and making melody in their hearts to the Lord. A characteristic of being spirit filled and having spirit filled conversation is that when you talk to other people that there is a spiritual dimension to your conversation. And I would ask you, if you say that you are spirit filled, when was the last time that you had a conversation with someone about spiritual things?

Now he tells us that we are to use psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. He is not saying that Christians must sing to one another in hymns to be filled with the spirit? No, he is talking about a quality of that conversation, that it would be spiritual in nature. But even if you wonder about singing. I remember reading about a man who they referred to as old Tom Fuller. Tom Fuller, by his own confession, had a defective voice. He was untenable, he said, but though I cannot chant with the nightingale or chirp like the blackbird, I would rather chatter with the swallows than be silent. And as a Christian, you and I are called upon to speak spiritually with one another and with people that we meet to tell them the things of Christ, to encourage them in their walk with him.

But third, he tells us in verse 20, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the marks of being a spirit filled Christian is the quality of thankfulness, not just when things are going well, but even to thank God when things are going badly. To thank God for the pain in your back, or perhaps to thank God for the pain in your neck, whoever that person might be, but to thank God.

And finally, in verse 21, he tells us the fourth quality of being filled with the spirit of God is that we would submit to one another in the fear of God, that each of us who are in the family of God would look to the claims of Christ, would look to his word, and that we would submit our own wills to his will. So let me ask you, are you a spirit-filled Christian? Christian? If you are, then you speak with other people. You speak in spiritual terms. You are thankful, and you are willing to submit yourself to Jesus Christ. The scriptures instruct us, be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is not an option. It is a command of God’s word.

And each day, you and I are called to be filled again with his word, as we would study his scriptures, as we would pray, as we would have fellowship one with another, as we would receive the sacraments, as we would serve Jesus Christ. These are but examples of how we demonstrate being filled with the Holy Spirit and how we would be nourished to be filled by him. For if you have been born anew by the spirit of God, your whole is full of precious gold and silver and the truths of Jesus Christ. And if you are but a carnal Christian, then you know those truths are deep inside of you, but you go nowhere. Could it be God says to you and to me, be filled with the Holy Spirit, that your sail might experience the full breeze of God’s Holy Spirit?

As with a full sail and a full hull full of precious cargo, you and I would find ourselves safely headed towards our home port. May it be that we would not be a natural man or even a carnal Christian, but that we might be marked as Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ and the promise that he has given that he will resurrect those derelict ships. That as we would put our trust in him, that he would cause us to float again.

But Father, we pray that not only would we float upon the sea of salvation, but that we would be Christians who would be filled with your Holy Spirit, that we would know those gentle breezes, that we would see sails that are full, that we might go in the direction of your spirit to the end. That Jesus Christ would be honoured. We pray in his name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to Affirm Foundation presented by Princeton Ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you and Doctor Smith looks forward to hearing from you.