A huge change came in Acts 2. Jesus had gone away, but the Holy Spirit was sent like a rushing wind. The fire of God came down just as Jesus said it would. Now, we live with Him in us and working through us. (Acts 2:1-4; 1 John 2:20, 27)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller, Pastor Muhib Khafala
Sermon 12028
7:00 PM on 1/20/2021

P. Muhib –

Good evening, church. This is a prayer week. We’ve been praying. There have been some prayer meetings. We
had an amazing time today this afternoon. After church we are going to have a time of prayer.
There’s going to be music, I think. One verse on prayer. Isaiah 65:24, I love this verse
because—[prayer]. Like an amazing authority we have. Amazing authority we have with God.
Before they call, I will answer. This is the expectation we have this week. By way of testimony, I
have been going to Salem, New Jersey, Salem County, and God has been and he will answer
prayers and open doors for us. We started a Bible study. In my team I have my wife and Cody
Walker, but I also have you in prayers. We can before they even finished their prayers, God
answered the prayer because it’s in the will of God. We can use a lot of prayers. It’s not about
timing, how long I will be. But it’s about I think about it. I’m praying for the will of God to be
advanced. What is the highest will of God? That the Gospel would be preached, the mind of
God will be explained.

That’s why when we go to Glen Burnie or Owings Mills or just different places, we have this authority from God because we are doing the will of God. We are not perfect. By way of confession, I don’t really prayer a lot but I’m so glad I’m in a church like this where the Spirit is speaking to P. Schaller and the leaders and saying let’s have a prayer week.
Now I’m being reminded. Oh, prayer week. Now I can really pay attention to prayers. I can
adopt it as a lifestyle in my life. I can come to church and learn. That’s why I’m so happy to be
part of this church because the mind of God is being explained. Now I’m being not just
convicted but I’m glad. I heard the voice and came to church. In the church, my leader, my
pastor is saying let’s have a week of prayer. The Spirit is speaking to us. To make it short, come
and join us. Be led by the Spirit. It’s midweek. We’ll have a great time here. Pray for us in Salem,
New Jersey. God is opening doors. We met this gentlemen that said I have a place for you. I
have a church for you. Just come and bring your people.

Have a Bible study. Guess what? We’ve
been doing it for two or three weeks and they are watching us. And they said two weeks ago
we have a parsonage for you if you just want to stay in Salem. Just bring a team. It’s like I’m like
God. I said to Pastor Cannon – we were having a conversation about it – I said, slow down God!
Where is this going? I’m just learning. I am what I am by the grace of God. We hear that voice.
You are what you are by the grace of God and you have authority and you can go and have a
Bible study and counsel people and preach and share. I got an email last week from a pastor in
Salem County. The people in New Jersey, the people of faith are doing some work. This guy
emailed me and wants me to join their prayer call. Pastors in Salem, New Jersey are having a
prayer call every Wednesday. They are praying for their county. They are praying for their state.
They said you are someone from Baltimore and we would like you to join us in prayer. I have
yet to make that phone call but just pray for us. God is doing an amazing thing. In Jesus’ name.
Amen.

P. Schaller –

I would like to speak tonight about the Holy Spirit filling us. I’d like to speak about
praying in the Holy Spirit. I’d like to speak about living in the Holy Spirit. Let’s go to the Gospel
of John 15:26. This is at the Last Supper and Jesus is telling his disciples there is going to be a
change. I’m going to leave. That’s a huge change because they love Jesus. They had been guided by Jesus. They had been taught by Jesus. They had been helped by Jesus. They had been
amazed by Jesus Christ. He has taught them. I would like to say the word isn’t there but
“whispered” meaning intimate communication. They had been hanging on every word that he
has said at different times. They had misunderstood him, but he is their life. Three years of
living with the most incredible person you could ever imagine. His face talked to them. His eyes.
Psalm 32 he guides us by his eye. His body language. The Spirit of Christ. The experiences were
incredible. To say I’m leaving is huge. Vs. 26. What is the Holy Spirit going to do when he
comes? He’s going to be the same as Jesus but without a body. He’s going to be the same. We
read that here in chapter 16:13-19.

That’s a good word. I will be crucified, and the world will rejoice but you will weep. Then a little while, three days, you will rejoice. You will see me. And then, I will send the Holy Spirit to you and he will show you all things. That’s the kind of life we are living now. We haven’t seen Jesus but are we filled with the Spirit? Are we guided by the
Spirit? Are we corrected by the Spirit? Are we comforted by the Spirit? Are we hearing what the
Spirit says? And is the Spirit the same as Jesus Christ. Of course the answer is yes to all of these
things. That’s why here we are. 1 Corinthians 12:13, drinking the same Spirit. The Spirit ministers to us
and leads us and guides us. We are different. I was studying a little bit today about some
heresies that are present in our world today in the evangelical world. Some heresies, some false
teachings, and some categories of them. I was thinking about how a believer can go off and be
wrong. I was thinking about heretics through history, church history and the root and
fundamental character of a heretic is pride.

The pride of man grieves the Holy Spirit, quenches the Spirit. The pride of man. He no longer has prayer but thinks a lot about himself. He may be gifted intellectually. He may be gifted with his language and with his words and writing books
and he can get a crowd and influence people because he may have that ability, but he does not
have the Holy Spirit doing the work. It’s heresy and it’s in the world and we are warned about it
in the book of Jude. That’s the provoking words for us tonight to help us understand the very
important element of our new life and it is the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit. That’s
why I want to be corrected. I want to be humble. I need my sisters and brothers to help me in
my life. They being filled with the Spirit can correct me unknowingly. I see their shining face or
their meek spirit or their humble attitude and in my heart the Spirit speaks to my heart and I
say that’s beautiful. I want that. That’s Jesus is there. Jesus is with the Body. I want to be in the
Body. I want to be humble before God and be submitted to the brethren in Ephesians 5:22. Rob Bell
is one name.

Brian McLaren is another one. They are these Emerging church philosophers and
teachers and getting young people and doing the whole program and the ideology and the
Eastern mysticism and many errors that come along with pride. Pride. That’s the problem with
us as men, is pride. It grieves the Spirit. Are you and I walking in the Spirit? I say no not all the
time. Not every day I’m not. I don’t see the fruit of the Spirit in my life. I get corrected and I
admit it before God and say, God, fill me with your Spirit. Luke 11:13. How does someone get
burned out? They go so long operating in the ministry in the flesh and suddenly the pride of
their performance or the pride of their activity or the pride of life that just is naturally residing
in me kind of dominates in my soul and I get corrected by being burned out. When I get burned out, I come back to that place, the psalmist said. God is my Shepherd and he will restore my
soul. He will create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me.

Charles Spurgeon said that one of the greatest fears he had was that the Holy Spirit would leave him. Charles
Spurgeon said one of the greatest fears he had in life was that the Holy Spirit would leave him,
but he doesn’t mean leave him in terms of forsaking but just that there would be no power.
There would be no ministry. There would be no life. There would not be the joy and the love.
How do you get old? Paul said my outer body, my body is – how does it go? Is it deteriorating?
Though my outer man is perishing, what did he say? My inner man is what? Renewed. Do you
feel that? I believe you do. It’s renewed. How often? Day by day. Can you imagine getting old
and your inner man is renewed day by day. It’s almost like you are getting better and better in
the inner man and worse and worse in the outer man. The outer man is deteriorating. And a lot
of times in the world they make much about the outer man deteriorating because they don’t
have anything on the inner man. That’s tragic. But for you and I, we have Jesus walking with us
every day, guiding us every day, speaking to us every day.

Can you imagine? Jesus every day. Now listen. This is amazing. Jesus leaves. They are there in Jerusalem for ten days. They know that Jesus left and everything but it’s kind of dead. But the same prayers. They are waiting.
They don’t even know what they are waiting for, but they are waiting. You know what
happened. Let’s turn there and read it, Acts. 2. It’s almost like the Lord wanted this to be a
spiritual nuclear explosion and wanted us to read it. He is not fooling around. He is not fooling
around. Our God is not fooling around. When he said I’m going but I’m promising you the Holy
Spirit who is the Comforter and when he comes to you he will show you all things, 1 John. 2:20.
We have the anointing of the Holy One who will show us and teach us all things. What an
amazing promise that God is with us to teach us everything. Everything I need. Everything I
really need in life. Everything. Here’s another thought.

Have you ever been maybe with a group of people and they have problems. Maybe a couple people and they have problems. I don’t know how to say this. Maybe a family. Maybe a team a sports team. Maybe a group of people
at work. You know what I say sometimes? These people need the Holy Spirit. This is so crazy.
They fight with each other. They hate each other, argue with each other. There’s no patience.
You put them together and they fight. Remember that funny story about Mark Twain said he
put a cat and a dog and a goat together in a cage and after a while they got along with each
other. Then he put a Catholic and a Baptist and a Presbyterian in a cage and within hours there
was nothing left! I don’t mean. Forget it! Forget it! Honestly, you know what people need? They
need the filling of the Spirit. That’s what I need. I don’t need the psychology. I don’t need a lot
of talking. I don’t need an explanation. I don’t need a lot of money. I don’t need an education. I
don’t need a lot of this or that. I don’t need a friend.

I don’t need to go out and buy a new dog or something. You know what I need? I need the filling of the Spirit. I want Jesus to be close to me and intimate and you say but I don’t know what you are talking about. Let’s read it. Acts.
2:1-2 the jumbo 747, rushing huge sound. I’ve understood it means that. An incredibly loud
sound and it filled the house where they were sitting. Vs. 3. Do you know what the hardest part
of the human body is to control? The tongue. If God can get ahold of the tongue, that’s the power of God. That’s what the Holy Spirit does. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, there is
another tongue. You have another tongue. You have another tongue. Has anyone over the last
few months been swearing under your breath like I have at different times? I’ve said to myself,
that’s not the filling of the Spirit. What is that? Anger. Frustration. Human viewpoint.
Frustration with people. Disappointment. What is that? That’s just me but is there a greater
purpose and a greater power because I cannot change things.

If I am filled with the Holy Spirit, God will change things. You and I, how do we change this world? By being filled with God’s Holy Spirit and to pray in the Spirit and to believe God for what he has said here in the Bible. This
Bible takes on a new dimension through the Holy Spirit because he wrote it. This fellowship has
an amazing capacity for God because God sent his Spirit into us to guide us and lead us always.
Let me go back to my point about those groups of people. A husband and wife scenario and
maybe they are Christians. Maybe they even go to this church. You could go to any. They’re
Christians, but oh how mean they can be. How short fused. How angry they can be. How easy it
is to be judgmental. How easy it is to accuse each other. How easy it is to be selfish. Unless I
realize, I come to the end where I realize I am the problem. I need God to walk with me closely
so I can say, Abba, Father in Romans 8. God could teach me to pray in the Spirit. Wait on God.
Hunger for God. It says in 1 Peter 2:2 we are like newborn babes that desire the sincere milk of
the Word. We were in Fed Hill last night at a Bible study.

Marty did a great job teaching, Marty Veader, at Federal Hill and these young believers there, there is a hunger and a buzz. I love that. The buzz that happens with people as they are searching and looking and asking questions. The
humility of somebody that is saying I have lived my life my way but now I’m looking for
something else. Is there something else? Yes, there is Christ and he sends his Holy Spirit into
you so that he can fill you with the Spirit and speak to you. That Spirit will guide you in a new
way, not in our own ways but in a new way, like loving my wife and honoring my husband. Like
caring for my children. Like believing there is a mission in life. We desire the sincere milk of the
Word. Go to the book of Jude. Let’s go to 1 John. 2. It’s a great subject, isn’t it? You might say,
pastor, I know. I’ve been a Christian a long time. Even before you were born I was a Christian! I
know all that you are saying. I know but it’s fresh. It’s fresh. This is fresh. I want to hear it again.
This is fresh. How many times have you eaten pizza?

Maybe hundreds of times but after three days of not eating, please could I have a slice of pizza? It sounds great. 1 John. 2:20. I don’t know all things, but the unction does. The unction is God. God knows all things. I don’t know all
things, but I have God in my spirit and in my heart. Now, how do we live? Can you imagine the
disciples saying Jesus is leaving. What are we going to be doing? What is going to be
happening? And then Pentecost comes. Everything changes. Jesus is here and our hearts are
burning. We are walking in faith and we are not afraid. We are not intimidated. We are not
worried about life. We have the same guide, the same teacher, the same comforter, the same
one that understands me. The same one that was talking to me is talking to me now. That he
was talking to me in the flesh, but he sent the Holy Spirit and he is talking to me now early in
the morning. Early in the morning. Have an early morning and wait on God. Say God, here I am.
This is your day. What would you have me do? That’s a scary prayer.

I’m available. Would you direct my steps. Order my steps. It says in Jeremiah 10:23 “it is not in man to order his steps. It is not in man to order. I don’t know where to go or what to do. It is not in man. Then it says order my
steps according to your Word. Maybe also say order my steps according to your Holy Spirit
leading. Romans 8 says that. Isn’t that good? Okay. Let’s finish this. 1 John 2:27, that means
soulish man in the Greek. This is a soulish man. I don’t need a soulish man to teach me. I need a
spiritual man to teach me. Why a spiritual man? Because the Holy Spirit will use him to teach
me. What will I learn from a spiritual man? I will learn what the Spirit is saying in the Bible. He
wrote the Bible. The Bible will become more understandable to me, more personal and more
intimate. I will feel the Bible. It will speak to me because the Spirit has feeling. The Spirit gives
the mood. When the little girl was twelve years old and rose from the dead, I read that this
morning. It says the girl died and she’s twelve years old and everyone is wailing and crying.
They said to the father, your daughter is dead.

Your daughter has died. Your daughter is dead. I thought of all those people in the world who have heard those words “your daughter is dead.”Your son is dead. Your father is dead. Your mother is dead. How many have heard those words,
so I got the feeling of it. I read the Scripture, but I got the feeling of that. That’s what I mean.
The Spirit is our teacher. Jesus said she’s not. She sleeps. Then he takes the mother and father
into the room with Peter, James and John and tells her rise. “Talitha cumi” in the Aramaic. He
said those words, rise. And I just cried thinking about it a little bit. What do we have going on in
our life? The Holy Spirit. That’s what we have. What is going on in our country? That is what it
is. I understand it. What do we expect? What does the Bible say about the end times? The Holy
Spirit is our teacher. We understand things. It’s okay because we have something going on in
our life ordained of God that transcends this troubled world.

This world is in trouble because they are not filled with the Holy Spirit. This world doesn’t know Christ because they don’t have the Holy Spirit. There isn’t humility. They are not seeking him. They cannot find him. They do
not have the Comforter so therefore there is so much trouble. For us too, but this is what it
says here in vs. 27. What does that anointing do? It keeps me in him. I found my place. I got it.
Jesus is here. God is here. I found it. I abide. I stay in my place. I have left it. “He that wanders
out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.” Proverbs says.
But when you find him and walk with him you just come back. Actually, I’m surprised at people
that wander off and they never come back. They are not abiding. They have the anointing and
the anointing is sent so they can abide but they have quenched the Spirit. They are so occupied
with their car or their job or their troubled marriage or their wounded life of some kind. They
are so trouble with their life that the Word is choked out and the Holy Spirit is grieved and
quenched.

They don’t have any freedom, no joy, and no real usefulness because they are not
being filled with the Spirit and nor are their prayers prayed in the Spirit. I mean I don’t know
that but it’s very possible. The minute this troubled person could seek God and pray and have a
spirit of faith and humble themselves, you know, and then the blessing can come into the
family because they have the Holy Spirit that will help them. And it can come in and we can love
and forgive and be quiet and patient and kind and prayerful and pray in the Spirit, 1 Pet. 3:7.
The husband and wife when they pray together, their prayers are not hindered. The pray together in the Spirit. God can say to the angels, look at those two. That husband and wife. I can’t believe it! quick! Take a look at that! I’m joking! Thy are praying. When a church like this when we pray in the Spirit, we can move mountains. When a church like this we could change the lives of people. Maybe not the country, but we can change the lives of the hearts of people
which is greater. Greater! A soul converted and heaven goes party time in Luke 15. That’s the
message.

Pray with me, please.

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.