A powerful sermon by A.W. Tozer where he addresses suchtopics as:
- What it means to be filled with the Spirit?
- What is spirit possession?
- What are "self" sins?
- What is true joy?
- The purpose of despair and loneliness in a Spirit-filled
believer - How to be filled with the Spirit
"The Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures will also expect
obedience to the Scriptures. If we do not obey the Scriptures, we quench Him."
"Everybody is as full as he wants to be. Everybody has as much of God as he desires to have."
"The desire to be filled must become all absorbing in your life. If there is anything bigger in your life than your desire to be a Spirit-filled Christian, then you will never be a Spirit-filled Christian til that is cured...never!"
when there is nobody can help you,
when you have gone to the last person,
you've written the last editor,
followed the last evangelist around,
hunted up the last fellow to counsel with him,
when nobody can help you anymore and you are in a state of inward despair,
that's when you should never despair because you are near the kingdom.
That's getting close. You are getting near the place where God can do something for you. But there comes that despair with self, that emptying out of you. That inner loneliness.
It is part of my belief, and I think it is from the Scriptures, that God wants to get us to a place where if we only had Him we would still be happy. We don't need God and something else. It's God plus something else that's the trouble with us. But when we get God and satisfied so as we can have God and nothing else, then God gives us Himself and let's us have other things too."
"The Holy Spirit is a gift. He is a gift from the Father to His children. He's a gift from the wounded side of Jesus to His children. You can't pay down one red penny for Him. You can't turn your finger over. He's a gift 100%. But what this does for you is not to earn the Spirit but breaks up your fallow ground. It empties the vessel."
This was such a blessing to me! Thank you very much for posting it. The dispair only means that I am close to the kingdom. Praise God.
ReplyDeleteWhen you reach that place of despair,
ReplyDeletewhen there is nobody can help you,
when you have gone to the last person,
you've written the last editor,
followed the last evangelist around,
hunted up the last fellow to counsel with him,
when nobody can help you anymore and you are in a state of inward despair,
that's when you should never despair because you are near the kingdom.
_______
This made my eyes fill with tears. It was in the absolute darkest place of despair that my Lord spoke to me. I have never been the same. All had failed me - others and myself. There was nothing in this world that could give me life, but I kept calling out to Him. One day, right in the darkest of dark moments - a despair that I didn't know could exist - He showed me I was not alone. It changed everything about my life - the scales truly fell from my eyes. Bless His Name. I can't imagine ever being separated from Him.