HAVE YOU LOST THE EDGE (SUPPLEMENTAL)?
I love Star Trek, especially the original series. On the original series, Captain Kirk would at some point in the show say, “Captain’s log: Star Date 010820.23.” And sometimes he would say: “Captain’s log supplemental” Star Date: 010820.234.” Well, this is my Captain’s log supplemental typed at Star Date 01082023.257 and finished 5:00 AM.
I was all set to talk about in this morning’s message what God provides, and I think it was a great little message, but I made one mistake. Last night at 11:00 just as I laid down, I made one mistake, a mistake if I was planning on sleeping. I prayed, and the prayer was exactly this:
“Lord, forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Spirit, so I can preach your message in the morning in the power that You want it preached.” I prayed those exact words. It was a simple prayer in preparation of a sermon of what God provides, but God had other ideas, and these verses and this message started going through my mind like water dripping out of a faucet until I had to get up and start typing.
Dear friend, this is a message you need. I say you because I have already heard it. The church has lost its edge. Now, there are two ideas that you must separate. When you were saved, the Holy Spirit moved into your soul and body. The Holy Spirit is what Jesus promised would come into a believer when a believer accepted Christ but having the Holy Spirit in you is not the same as being filled with the Holy Spirit. At the moment you were saved, you were filled with the Spirit, but how many of you would say at this very moment that you feel like the moment you did when you got saved? I dare say none of you. WHY? Because even though you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. Let me show you what God commands in His Word about being filled with the Spirit, and without a doubt this is a command.
Ephesians 5: 18
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
In the original language, the meaning was to be being filled with the Spirit. We are to be continuously filled with the Spirit, and Paul gives an incredible description as to what that should look like. Paul says, in contrast, do not be drunk with wine in dissipation but be filled with the Spirit. When a person gets drunk, who is control, the wine or him? The wine, liquor, or beer is in control. The proof is that the drunk cannot control emotions, body movements, or their vehicles. The alcohol is in control. A Christian in regard to the Holy Spirit should be the same way. The Christian filled with the Holy Spirit is no longer in control, but the Spirit is. What do you know about the rest of Ephesians 5?
Ephesians 5: 22, 25 & Ephesians 6: 1
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
How can a Christian wife be submissive to her husband? By being filled with the Holy Spirit. How can a Christian husband love his wife as Christ loves the church? By being filled with the Spirit. How can a Christian child be obedient to his or her parents? By being filled with the Holy Spirit. God commanded us to be filled with the Spirit. All promises in the Bible are dependent upon us being filled with the Spirit. God does not want our best. Our best has never, is never, and never will be good enough. God wants His best to shine through us, and you cannot be God’s best unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever heard this? “The church service is just not the same anymore. The song service is boring. We sing the same old songs, and the same old three verses. Sunday School is boring, and the preacher talks way too long.” Well dear friend, the church has not changed, it is you that has changed. You are not filled with the Spirit. Most people come to church to go through the motions never intending on letting God’s best shine through. Why? SIN
Ephesians 4: 26-30
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Dear friend, sin keeps us from being filled with the Holy Spirit, and Paul says that we are not to let the sun go down on our wrath. We are to confess our sins and grieve not the Holy Spirit. When we do not confess our sins and by doing so grieve the Spirit, the Holy Spirit level in our souls goes down like the fuel level in our cars. Eventually, you will not even be able to feel the Holy Spirit’s presence at all because you have let sin so interrupt that relationship, but that is not what God wants. God says to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Dear friend, God has not gone anywhere, and if you are not getting anything out of church service it is because you are not filled with the Holy Spirit and not letting God be His best in you.
Think about it. What has changed to make church unappealing to you? You just want to come, be seen, and go home like its nothing. What’s changed? Has God changed? No. God is where He has always been. It is you that has changed, and what has changed is that you are not filled with the Holy Spirit.
If I can, I want to share a passage out of the Old Testament that I believe talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit. On the surface, this just seems like one of those stories that has no eternal significance at all, but dear friend, it could mean all the differences in the world to you if you want to claim the promises God has for you. This morning I want us to look at three points:
It was loaned. It was lost. It was located.
I. IT WAS LOANED
2 Kings 6: 1-5
1And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us. 2 Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” So he answered, “Go.” 3 Then one said, “Please consent to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” 4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.”
The sons of the prophets is referring to those students of Elisha, and they were busy. The Elisha Seminary was growing so much that the prophets’ school needed more room, so they went to clear some trees near the Jordan River, and these students even wanted Elisha to go with them. They were not sure what Elisha had in him, but they wanted him around in case it rubbed off on them. Now, these poor students had work to do, but this one student in particular had to borrow an axe because he did not have one or could not afford one. It was a borrowed axe. How does that tie into the Holy Spirit? The axe head is a symbol of power, and dear friend, I hope you know that all the spiritual power you have is borrowed from God. Look at this verse.
1 Corinthians 4: 7
For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
Everything you have in your life is on loan from God. All of your abilities, and I hope you understand that is referring to your intellect, your physical abilities, and your spiritual possibilities. For example, let me ask you this. How many of you think you can go to a baseball field and hit off a Major League pitcher? DO you realize the eyesight and hand to eye coordination a MLB hitter has to have to hit a baseball thrown at almost 100 mph? Scientists say that a baseball thrown at 95 mph gets to spinning so fast the last 6’ before the ball reaches home plate that the ball becomes invisible to the eye, but those guys still hit it. How? The abilities that God loaned them.
When you were saved, God loaned the power of the Holy Spirit. You can do anything in the Holy Spirit. Philippians 4: 13 says that we can do all things through Christ, but you are like these young students of Elisha. Yes, they were working, but they forgot to check the axe head. The axe head had come loose. I wished we would understand that God has given us all we need. He has given us the Holy Spirit, and we can accomplish anything through what God has given. This has really bothered me lately. Can I say this? If being filled with the Holy Spirit is measured at 100%, how much of that 100% did you put into Sunday School this morning? How much of that 100% did you put into the song service? How much of that 100% are you putting into the worship service as I am speaking? Dear friend, God wants His best in you. He has loaned you all you need. You just need to use it. This church does not know what it can accomplish as a spirit-filled body. God has loaned us all we need.
II. IT WAS LOST
2 Kings 6: 5
But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.”
Dear friend, this is so much like the church and so many of us. This young man got so busy that he forgot to check the axe head, and as a result, he lost his power. The church, today, is so busy. It is so busy doing great things, but the church has lost its power because the church has not checked its axe head. The church is like Samson, and when I say church, do not be thinking about anyone but yourself because you are a part of the church if you are saved, and when was the last time you checked the axe head? Samson is like so many Christians today.
Judges 16: 20
And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.
Samson was so full of potential. He was so powerful, and God had given him everything he needed to accomplish so much, but Samson got so busy that he forgot to check the axe head, and when he went out to shake himself free as before, he had no strength. His strength was gone. That is what has happened in the church and in your life dear friend. You have lost the power. You have not lost the Holy Spirit, but you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. You and I have lost the axe head. Why is the church not making more of a difference in this community? We have lost the axe head. We are not checking our borrowed tools. God has given us all we need, but we settle for way less than God intended. We settle for our best when our best was never good enough in God’s eyes. I wished we would understand that. God does not want your best when you are singing. He wants His best in you to come out when you open those lips. When you are teaching a Sunday School class or Discipleship class, God does not want your best. He wants His best to come out. When I am preaching, He does not want my best. He wants His best. When you are sitting in those pews, He does not want your best. He wants the best of what He has loaned you, but dear friend, we have lost the axe head.
Did you know we are mistaken about what a backslider is? Many times when we think of backslider we think of someone like David, but dear friend, you can be a backslider and never miss a church service. You do not have to commit adultery to backslide. Can I tell you how you and I lose the axe head? What keeps us from being Spirit-filled?
James 4: 17
Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Because you, if you are saved, have the Holy Spirit living in you, when you know you ought to be doing something and do not do it, you have sinned. When you know what God commands and you do not do as He commands, you have sinned. When you sin as a Christian, what are you supposed to do? You are supposed to confess it as soon as you are convicted of it, and if you do not, you have grieved the Holy Spirit. Think about it.
If you are saved, the Holy Spirit in you wants to worship this morning and if you have quenched that desire by not singing, or by not paying attention in Sunday School, or by thinking about how boring and long-winded the preacher is, you have sinned, and if you do not confess that, you will have lost the axe head, and if you continually do not confess it, you will be like Samson when the world closes in and you try to shake the world off but you find out your strength is missing. Dear friend, we miss what the Bible says about this. God wants us to live in the power He has loaned to us, but we cannot live in that power if we do not confess sin. Those sins keep us from being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Christian life should be marked by daily repentance. DO you have any idea what you could experience in worship if you let God’s best in you come out? Dear friend, this young man was loaned what he needed, but he lost it, and I dare say, if you are honest with yourself, that there is not a person in this church this morning over a certain age that has not felt the loss of power as this young man and Samson felt. We go through our lives thinking everything is okay when suddenly something comes up, and we try to shake ourselves free from it as in the past only to find our power has been lost. It was loaned. It was lost, but praise God Almighty, It was located.
III. IT WAS LOCATED
2 Kings 6: 5-7
5 But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.” 6 So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. 7 Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
What does it take to reclaim that lost power? It requires a broken heartedness over the power you lost. This young man was heartbroken, and he cried, “Alas master!” Dear friend, how can you reclaim the power you have lost and be filled with the Holy Spirit? By crying out Alas, Master! I have sinned, and the Master will supernaturally give you what you have lost. Look closely at verses 6 and 7. There was nothing this young man could do. It was out of his hands. In his mind, what he had was lost forever, but notice what Elisha does. Elisha cuts off a stick and throws it in the water and the lost power returns.
What does the stick represent? I believe it represents the Cross of Jesus Christ and what He did for us on that cross in reconciliation. Jesus Christ reconciled us before God. Think about what that means. AMEN!!! HALLELUJAH!!!! AND THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO LET THE SPIRIT WHORSHIP THROUGH US!!!!
If it were not for the Cross, our debt would never be settled, but because Jesus took care of sin forever, when I do sin, He is my mediator and intercessor before God.
Hebrews 7: 23-25
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
HALLELUJAH!!!!! God is a holy God, and sin separates us from God, but Jesus Christ died for my sins, and I called on Him as my Lord and Savior, and the only thing that keeps my sin from separating me from God today is that Jesus Christ, on His Cross, reconciled me to God forever, and when I do sin and when I confess it Christ intercedes on my behalf before the throne of glory. Christ just wants us to confess our sins. When we do that, He will fill us with the Holy Spirit.
1 John 1: 9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Christ, if we only confess, will cleanse us, and fill us with the Holy Spirit, and then we can let God’s best shine through us, but if we do not confess our sins, we will lose all our power. Did you know that is what is missing from the church today? The power is gone because the members of the church will not confess their sin. If the church today had been out cutting trees that day and lost the axe head in the Jordan River, do you know what the church would have done?
The church would have formed a committee, or the SBC would have come up with a new program, and the church would have kept trying to cut down the trees with the handle, and it would have just chopped and chopped and chopped and kept on chopping until it could not chop anymore, but the tree would still be there, and the church’s hands would have been bruised. Dear friend, we have a lot of trees that need to be cleared, but if we have lost the axe head and those trees will never be cleared.
Are you ready to let God’s best shine through your life? Are you ready to let the Holy Spirit worship through you when you come through those doors? It will only happen when you confess all unconfessed sins in your life. This young man was heartbroken. He called on the one who could help, and the One who could help went to work, and dear friend, that is what Jesus is wanting to do for you this morning.
Are you not tired of going through the motions? Do you not want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Trying to be what God wants you to be without being filled with the Holy Spirit is like the story I heard about a baseball game.
Some boys were outside playing baseball. The kids came from poor families, so they only had one baseball. Well as they played, one of them hit the ball into the weeds. It was the only ball they had, so they searched frantically. After a few minutes, one of the kids said let’s stop looking for the ball and get back to the game.
Dear friend, I feel that’s how most Christians view the church. They do not want to keep looking for the ball. They just want to play the game, but without the ball, there is no game. Dear friend, you do not possibly know what God has for you if you do not let God be God in you.
Dear friend, do you feel like you are just going through the motions? Have you lost the power you once had? You can locate that power if you will only go unto the Master heartbroken pleading ALAS MASTER! HELP ME RECLAIM WHAT I ONCE HAD!!! And when you do that, you feel just as you did when you were saved.