Running on Empty | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson
by Chad Erickson
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Mark 5:1-13, Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:7, 1 Corinthians 15:45, 1 Corinthians 15:49, Luke 4:33, Matthew 4:23, Matthew 12:22, Acts 2:1-4, Ephesians 5:18, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Acts 4:31, Acts 9:17, Romans 15:13, John 16:13, Romans 8:11, Acts 2, Acts 16:31, 1 Peter 2:6-7, Mark 16:15-17

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/chad-erickson--running-on-empty
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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praise the Lord everyone amen turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter 5 and we're going to begin in verse number one so good to see you in the house of the Lord today Pastor Hammond is already welcomed you we're so thankful I believe I saw we have close to 50 guests that are in the house first time guests thank you for making this your place of worship amen that's right first step it's like I know you're turning your Bibles but maybe try to bang your hands together thank you thank you for being here uh after receiving text messages in the last couple of days Pastor Hammond I didn't know if me and you might be the only ones here today but one beautiful thing and of course we are going in into fall break just in case you don't know our school is uh let out on Friday and and that usually means a mass Exodus and that's okay because we understand people need to get away people need to spend family time together we get it and all the text messages start coming in but the beautiful thing about being in East Tennessee is just as many people are leaving that many people are coming and so we're thankful that you have filled in uh pews and spots and places where our uh our saints of God have have left town we miss them we we pray that they'd have travel Mercy as matter of fact if you are traveling this week on fall break we pray that God would give you traveling mercies and God would bring you back here safe once again but let's let's get into the word and and I I was a little nervous because Pastor Hammond began to preach my message this morning just a few minutes ago and and if you're a preacher you know how that feels you're like oh please please please so I'm just going to I'm going to count it as conf from of the Holy Ghost that God knows what we need this morning and we're just going to kind of tag team a little bit from a thought that he had just begin to speak in this Pulpit Mark 5 And1 says and they came over unto the sea other side of the sea into the country of the gines and when he was come out of the ship immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean Spirit everyone say an unclean Spirit who had his dwelling among the tombs and no man could bind him no not with chains because that he had been often bound with feathers and chains and the chains had been plucked asunder by him and the feathers broken into pieces neither could any man tame him and always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying and cutting himself with stones but when he saw Jesus AAR off he ran and worshiped him this is interesting to me and cried with a loud voice and said what have I to do with thee Jesus thou son of the most high God I adure Thee by God that thou torment us me not for he said unto him Jesus said unto him come out of the man thou unclean spirit and Jesus asked him said what is thy name and he answered saying my name is Legion for we are many and he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding and all the Devils besought Jesus saying send us into the swine that we may enter into them and forth with Jesus gave them leave allowed them to go and the unclean spirits went out entered into the swine and the herd ran violently down a steep Place into the sea and there were about 2,000 and were choked in the sea my title this morning I I'll explain it close to the end of my message but my title this morning is this running on empty Running on Empty why don't you put your Bibles down come on let's pray over the word today lift up your voice one more time the wor has been so beautiful but lift up your voice in prayer father we love you thankful Lord God that you've given us breath in our bodies you've given us another day to live you've given us another opportunity to be in your house and here we are giving you praise and song Here we are lifting up hands lifting up Hearts lifting up our worship to you father and Lord we ask in return that you feed us today feed your sheep Lord Feed Us Lord God your word let us see the importance Lord God of the Holy Ghost falling in this house house today in jesus' name we pray clap your hands one more time before you're seated give God praise one more time in the house Bless The Name of Jesus Oh Praise ye The Lord Oh Praise Him for he is good he is great and his mercy endureth forever amen and amen if you believe that you may be seated in the house today let me set a a quick Firm Foundation to this message and I don't know if I'm going to teach today I don't know if I'm going to preach but what I'm teaching and preaching about is something that I am very passionate about I'm thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost I'm thankful that I've been filled with the Holy Ghost amen the very the very first thing we've got to understand about our God is he is a Creator who designs his creation to be filled we go all the way back to Creation week and uh if if you've taught search for truth or or you've taught uh this is that Bible study the very first thing that you are going to teach when you teach a Bible study is you're going to try to explain to the person that you're teaching that God is always looking to fill his creation there's a void in every single thing matter of fact in day one God divided light and darkness but he didn't leave it like that in in day number four he created a sun to rule the day he created a moon right to to rule the he filled the day he filled the night with something to rule it it was not the Sun that created light light was created and then he gave to light a sun he gave to the night a moon and in day number two he he he he he created he divided Waters from the atmosphere he divided the waters and in day five he filled the sky with flying creatures and he filled the ocean with swimming creatures day number three he separates the Land from the oceans he brings dry land but it was day number six that he fills the land with things that walk and things that creep upon the Earth everything was separated to be filled with a creative purpose amen and so look with me and Pastor has been uh pastor's been teaching about this on Wednesday nights but look with me in Genesis 1 and 26 we we've just read this I believe uh the past two weeks we've read this this passage but I want you to see something in a addition to what we've been learning it says God said let us make man or create man or create a human being in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air over the the cattle over all the Earth over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth look at 27 so God created man in his own image in the image of God created he him male and female created he them so the the the last Adam let's let's follow along here the last Adam which we know is Jesus Christ wouldn't be spoken into existence so neither could the first Adam be spoken into existence the the second Adam Jesus he that there had to be a creation there had to be forming there had to be a process in the way he was formed he was formed in the world of his mother Mary right so the very first the the only thing that God created in creation weak that wasn't spoken into existence was man was the first Adam look with me in Genesis 2:7 it says and the Lord God formed man of the Dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath Numa the breath of life and Man became a living soul the the great Creator created Mankind in his own image and after his own likeness and then he breathed into him into his body he breathed living he he breathed Spirit a Living spirit within man however we know the story I'm not going to stay here very long sin enters the garden by way of a serpent by by way of of a serpent that was destructive that was pedaling destructive lies and Disobedience occurred everyone say Disobedience we're going to come back to that near the end of the message also but sin is born and Adam traded the spirit of God for an unclean Spirit called sin and spiritual death replaced the Breath of God right because Adam understood Eve understood that you eat of this tree you're going to die and maybe they maybe uh being the first created uh human beings maybe they didn't understand completely what death was all about but I promise you they figured out very quickly it wasn't so much physical death that they ought to fear it was the spiritual death it was the relationship with their God and so for thousands of years recorded in the Old Testament God is at work separating a nation unto himself right God's a god of separation and then he fills it he's separating a nation unto himself so he can provide a bloodline where he himself can be born into the creation that he has created matter of fact the second Adam look at look with me at 1 Corinthians 15:45 the the second Adam the last Adam he's going to be born into this creation it says and so it is written the first man Adam was made a living Soul the the last Adam Jesus was made a quickening spirit look with me at verse 49 skip down and as we become the image of the Earthly we shall also bear the image of the Heavenly oh I can't wait to preach about this so here we go I'll come back here but just keep in mind that the first man Adam mess things up the second man or the last man Adam he had to come and clean up the M that the first man Adam created but here all throughout the Old Testament we're going to see where the people are longing to have a relationship with their God they're longing to know God who are you what is your name how can we find you how can we have a relationship with you and that's none other this is what I like to call the whole that's in the soul because if you don't have the spirit of God on the inside you're always going to have something that needs to be filled and you're always going to look for something to fill that hole in the soul it's so sad to see because as as as Christians as bornn again Christians we can look out and we have kind of a uh we kind of have a view on people in the world and we watch them go through different stages of life where they think money will F that void they they they feel they drive the right car or live in the right neighborhood or if they live in the right community that that's going to feel this void inside their soul they're they're always looking to feel the void and then it goes It goes as deep as drugs and alcohol it go it goes as deep as as deep as as all kinds of things that would cause a person to be bound by addiction because they just can't find that one thing that will fill the whole in in their soul but here we got to remember that that all through the gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John although they appear in our new testament matter of fact if you look at your Bible you will see where where you'll have a page that will say New Testament and then it goes into Matthew and and so I I guess growing up and many probably even here today probably just assume that Matthew Mark Luke and John are are a part of the New Testament but they're not they're a part of the Old Testament matter of fact John the the Baptist was one of the Old Testament prophets he was known as the greatest Prophet to ever walk the earth the day of Pentecost the birth of the church is what brought us into the New Testament right everything was fulfilled the cross the grave the resurrection and then the spirit in feeling fulfilled and brought us into a new testament but we we got to remember that before this took place Matthew Mark Luke John where we're going to we're going to kind of study the story today all of these take place in the Old Testament and in the Old Testament evil spirits still had Dominion of the Earth come on think about this with me evil spirits matter of fact Luke chapter 4 you don't have to turn here it's going to be on the screens but Luke chapter 4 and verse 33 there's all kinds of devil possession in Matthew Mark Luke and John in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil cried out with a loud voice saying let us alone what do we have to do with thee thou Jesus of Nazareth Art Thou come to destroy us I I Know Thee I know who you are the Holy One Of God is it interesting that I feel like all these scripture that I'm reading about the unclean Spirit they all know who Jesus is isn't that interesting that the the the the evil the dark the unclean spiritual world knows exactly who Jesus is and we got people call themselves Christians that don't really know who Jesus is he says we know we we know that you're the Holy One Of God Jesus rebuked him saying hold thy peace and come out of him and when the devil had thrown him in the midst he came out of him and hurt him not Matthew 4:23 says and Jesus went about all of Galilee teaching in their synagogues preaching the gospel of the Kingdom healing all the manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people and his Fame went throughout all of Syria and they brought unto him all the sick that were taken with diverse diseases and tormented those which were possessed with devils and those that were lunatic and those that had the paly and he healed them one more Matthew 12:22 and then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil blind and dumb he healed him in so much that the Blind and the dumb spake and saw all these and there's even more I've got three or four written more written down but all of these are dealing with the fact that unclean spirits ruled before another Spirit came along every account of the Bible the evil unclean spirits are not being cast out watch this right here they're not being cast out of homes they're not being cast out of synagogues they're not being cast out of cities or communities or towns every single one it's a common denominator they're all being cast out of people's bodies these unclean spirits have filled people's bodies so we read another account of of demon possession in our opening text and and and I I just called this Mr Legion because here we have Jesus and his disciples and they they come ashore they bring their their their ship a ashore and they're coming into the country of the gines and and and something we got to study and research about this word gines it's a it's a Greek word Ginos which means the inhabitants of gadera these are the inhabitants of gadera well what does gadera mean I I kept on trying to figure out who exactly are these garans the name gadera itself is a semetic origin and and it's derived from the root meaning enclosed we would we would call this a place of entrapment which kind of makes sense because this man was trapped in sin this man was trapped by evil spirits this this man was possessed he was he was trapped it was a land it was it was a place of tombs and and and the mountains were were covered with with people who were entrapped in the sin that they were in Matthew Mark and Luke they all give their account of this entament matter of fact fact uh if if if if you remember reading I read through all three of the different accounts of the different gospels of this story and each account gives just a little bit more of the story it tells just a little bit more about it it starts talking about the town's people it starts talking about the people who are watching the herd of swine it's very interesting but what we've got to see is this man this man is possessed so strongly with Spirits unclean spirits within him that they cannot bind him they cannot put shackles or chains on him feeds they can't imprison him they can't keep him bound he gets out of everything but he cannot get the spirits out of himself so here we go Jesus and his disciples they're they're trying to get they're honestly trying to get away Jesus has been preaching he just preached a big conference with thousands of people they they've gotten in the boat they're crossing over the sea they're just trying to kind of trying to lay back it's it's it's Monday morning they've had a hard Sunday if you will and they're just trying to get away and here comes running this crazy guy and not only crazy guy but another gospel tells us he has no clothes on so automatically it's a really awkward situation if you know what I mean he comes running I don't know what he looks like but I just imagine he wasn't well-kept he he he did not bathe he he did not he did not shower he he was unkempt without clothes on he comes running up to Jesus and the Bible says the first thing he does is worships Jesus and again brother and sister fer this this feels very awkward to me because not only does he worship Jesus but from within him and and I know listen we're getting close to October 31st and I don't want to preach spooky things but this guy I mean anything that you've watched anything that you've seen from Hollywood it was happening right now because what was talking out of him was not him it was the spirit that was within him matter of fact when Jesus said what is your name the man didn't give him his name the man didn't say him hey my name is John hey my name's Peter my my name is my name's Saul he he didn't say that no with in him a voice and I don't know what that sounded like but I've heard some vocal effects when it comes to to to denamic spirits and the voice said my name is Legion for we are many and right away and and Jesus knew the spirit Jesus knew what was happening when he came matter of fact I guarantee the disciples knew what was happening too when he came and so right away Jes Jesus as he's about to call the spirits and cast them out of the this this man uh the the spirits begin to cry and say hold on hold on wait just a second we understand that you have power over us but please we we are begging you and I'm not really adding too much to the story this is pretty much what happened he said we're begging you please don't just cast us out one one of the Gospel says into the abyss don't just don't don't cast us away from the region just allow us to go into these swine allow us to go into these pigs and we read that there were some 2,000 pigs now number one we understand that this is definitely not an area uh the the these are not Jewish people because Jewish people do not have herds of swine so we understand this is a gentile place but they have some over 2,000 pigs swine that these men are hurting and Jesus and and again Tyler I've I've often wondered why did Jesus allow those spirits to go into the swine and the only thing that I could think was this they needed a body to go into they did not want to go out into the air they did not want to go out into the abyss they wanted to go into warm living bodies and so the very same thing that they had done to the man when when Jesus cast those demons those unclean spirits out of this man they go into these swine and the swine lose their ever living Minds just like the man had done and they go running off a cliff into the sea they drown in the sea and what I get out of this as I begin to study is is is Spirits need bodies to work through Spirits because in in in the Physical Realm the spiritual is not powerful unless it has something an instrument to use and so they said please don't send us out into the into the abyss please let us go into these into these pigs and so here we go they get cast in the pigs and and we know the rest of the story the swine they drowned all the herdsmen who were hurting these swine they get upset they go back to the city the city comes back people come back to this location here's Jes Jesus is his disciples here is this guy now who is clothed and in his right mind he's been delivered of probably thousands of unclean spirits within him everybody in the community knows who he is everybody knows whose son he is everybody knows what he's done they know what he's addicted to they know all the horrible acts that he has committed matter of fact they've they've covered their kids' eyes to make sure their kids don't look his way and here he is now clothed and I'm I need to come to preach about this here he is clothed and in his right mind and the people said the people were afraid go figure I'm afraid of a naked guy who's cutting himself and bleeding everywhere who's howling in the graves at night that that's who I'm scared of but these people come in there they they're afraid and they ask and listen there could be no there could be no worse request than to say Jesus would you leave our region demon said hey don't send us out of the region but the people of the city said Jesus we need you to get back in your ship and get out of our region oh my God I feel the Holy Ghost right now because sometimes I feel I feel that's a spirit that I come across when I talk to some people I'm thinking do you know what God can do for you do you know he can set you free he can deliver you you don't have to do the stuff you've been doing and go to the places you've been going to you don't have to be addicted and chained with feathers you could be set free but it said we we read in the story but you've got to oby oh we're going to preach about this in just a moment there's got to be there's got to be obedience but here's the deal I kept on thinking because that's what I do I kept on thinking I thought God okay now he's taken these unclean spirits have have had control over this body so if unclean spirits control a body in this manner well what happens when a clean Spirit enters a body how does a body react when a holy spirit enters into a body Holy Spirit now you know sometimes we get we get raised on religion so that terminology just becomes normal and typical right s such as we hear the word Holy Ghost and we're so used to teaching Bible studies and trying to explain people that it's not the third person of the Trinity right and we hear it so often that we don't really stop and think of what it means that it's a holy spirit which simply means the only reason it's a Holy Spirit is because it's contrasting against an unclean or an evil spirit you got one or the other so so really our only two options today are you're either filled with unclean spirits spirits and and again I'm not talking about spirits that make you rip your clothes off make you cut yourself and all that stuff although it could cause you to do that but even spirits that cause you to gossip or lie or cheat backbite deceive wrong motives wrong intentions th those are all oh y'all I'm losing people those are all unclean spirits they can fill this if there's not a holy spirit filling this pastor Hammond talked about it he said he said man sometimes God wants to take you somewhere but he can't take you there because you got stuff in you that stuff's got to get out of you in order to put his stuff in you right what does the Bible talk about that you you can't mix old wine skins and new wine together you you can't do that cuz why it's going to burst and if there's ever been a guy that knows nothing about wine it's this guy but I'm smart enough to realize that that with wine there's there well I better get off the sub because I don't know what I'm talking about although I have studied this topic ain't drank of it ain't partaking of it but I have studied it and you put it's when it becomes to ferment and you put that in an old wine skin that's cracked or decrepid it's going to it's going to swell and it's going to break in the same thing that happens with the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost is not going to share an apartment with sin the holy God of Glory is not going to come into a body that's filled with unclean spirits I'm moving on so but but let's let's let's talk about because just in case you're here today and you're like okay I've heard the term Holy Ghost but but tell me more about this holy ghost or holy spirit so we go back to the the origination the the the original scripture where the outpouring of the Holy Ghost took place and let's go back to acts chap 2 vers1 because this is very important because Jesus talked about this Jesus Jesus said hey go to Jerusalem and wait on the promise of the father he said you've got to let me go I I know that we're friends I know that we've been hanging out for the last three and a half years I know you are the ones that saw me die and you are the ones that saw me rise again you saw me resurrected but I can't stay here because there's one coming in my place there's one coming in my place that I promise you you don't want to hold me up any longer because you want this promise I'm about to pour out in Jerusalem so here we are Acts 2 and one and when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one Accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from Heaven watch this right here as of a rushing Mighty Wind it was a breath from heaven and it filled all the house where they were sitting and they were appeared under them clothing tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them but here's what the promise is right here the promise is they were all filled everyone say filled filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance now listen I don't want to go too far into this but a lot of people are looking for tongues when they ought to be seeking for the Holy Ghost boy if I could just get my prayer language no no no no don't seek after tongues seek after the spirit of God the Holy Spirit filling your life tongues are are just evidence I told I got to teach Wednesday night in our in our discipleship course and and and we talked about tongues and I said all tongues really truly are tongues are like you go into the first horizon and you go and you deposit you deposit I took some cash I took some cash to to to to First Horizon yesterday and and I put it in in that little tube and the tube sucked up sucked up in the thing and and the and the the teller the teller said how how can I help you I said I just need to deposit that into my checking account and the teller said okay thank you Mr Ericson just give me one second next thing that happened that tube came back came back I opened the door took it out and there's this little piece of paper I gave them cash money and they gave me back a little piece of paper I'm talking it wasn't it wasn't card stock paper it wasn't anything fancy matter of fact it looked like it looked like whoever whoever designed it was like back in like 1989 you know just a little just and all I had was my account number and the amount of money that I deposited it was my receipt it was my proof it was evidence that if Monday morning I look at my phone and check my balance and that money's not there I've got proof that I was at your bank it's timestamped it's my evidence that I was there it's not it's not the money if I take that down to the to the gas station and try to buy gas with it they're going to look at me and think I'm crazy but it represents and that's what the tongue when you speak in another tongue when you receive the Holy Ghost you got to have tongues because tongues is your evidence it's the proof to you it's the proof to everybody around you that you've got the Holy Ghost but that's not what we're after we're after the clean the good the Holy Spirit filling our bodies with our with our with our free program we have a we have an amazing we have an amazing free program here in the marville campus we are getting people into that classroom we're not trying it's not a self-help program we're not trying to get them to learn how to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps oh no no what we're trying to do is we're trying to get them free of the addictions and the unclean spirits that have hold of their life because we understand if we can help them get free of the guess what happens next they they show up and they're in the altar they start to pray and we have so the whites and all all their team they begin to pray with these guys they begin to pray with them and the next thing they know they start to repent uh they tell brother white Say Hey I want to get up in the baptistry I want to get baptized in Jesus name for the removal the remission of my sins and then the next thing you know what happens well they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost it happens every time I I can't remember the last time we haven't had people that they start with repentance they go up in the water get baptized and it it just it's a promise it's given unto us God says if you will turn away from your sin if you'll remove the things if you'll if you'll get the stuff out of you that I can't live with then I will take residence and I will live inside of you I thank God for the men whose lives are being changed because they're giving up the things uh that hold them captive uh they've been in the land of the gatherin way too long they've been addicted to stuff way too long and they're giving those things up and thank God for our free program because they're getting filled with the spirit of the Holy Ghost Ephesians 5:18 says and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be filled with the spirit be filled with the spirit that's a capital S that's referring to the spirit of God it says don't be drunk get that stuff out of your life but be filled with the spirit of God I I began to read through scriptures because a lot of the times in and I was raised on the Pew I was raised in the apostolic church and so uh if you're like me and this is all you've ever known we can kind of get into this this this just kind of a a cycle of a lifestyle that you just you just kind of take for granted the life we live right we've never been addicted I've never been addicted anything I've never I I just God God has has has delivered me from that stuff to never have to go to that stuff but but a lot of times I get to the place where I have the Holy Ghost but maybe I'm not full of the Holy Ghost so I began to read because because here it is right here 1 Corinthians 6:19 one of my favorite scriptures what know ye not Paul said that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God God and you are not your own you're not the decision maker any once you have the spirit of God inside of you he is now the decision maker you're not your own we belong to him and that's how we like it that's not a negative it's not bondage when you belong to the person who owns everything and has all power and can give us whatever we need that's not bondage that's empowerment that's favor amen but I began to see all the scriptures in the Bible where it talks about being fil because God doesn't just want to take up you know like a like that that spare bedroom in the house you know that you hardly ever open the door that has the the bathroom off of it that you don't really know what the condition of that bathroom is because you had been there for a while God doesn't want to take up that part of your life God wants it all he wants to fill you to overflowing acts 4:31 says and when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak the word of God with boldness acts 9:17 again I'm we're going just going to have these on the screen for you and ananas went his way entered into the house and putting his hand on him said brother Saul the Lord even Jesus hello that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest has sent me and thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost does anybody deny that Paul was filled with the Holy Ghost uh in Romans 15:13 now God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace believing and you may abound in Hope through the power of the Holy Ghost which brings me to this Wednesday night we were covering the Holy Ghost we were covering tongues and and I I began to study through our discipleship course and brother brother snitzer it is the most incredible if you have never been I'm just going to go and give a commercial if you never been through our disciplemakers discipleship course it is UN can anybody clap their hands and say it's unbelievable if you if you if you've been through it and you know what I'm talking about it is lifechanging every time every time I every time I get to teach and I have the opportunity to teach I I'd learn more and more but I began to read because a lot of times like I said when you grow grow up on the Pew you forget about the benefits of the Holy Ghost it becomes just the third step of the Plan of Salvation we believe in it we know it's essential we don't deny it we enjoy it huh right choir sings we feel it we like it but there's so much more than just Goosebumps and salvation now and I'm thankful for Goosebumps I'm thankful for salvation but it's so much more than that so I just want to go through and this was in our lesson on on on Wednesday I love this the Holy Ghost the Holy Spirit it guides us uh matter of fact in John 1613 it says how be it when he the spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all truth he will show you things to come don't you know that after the book of Acts these letters were all written to people who had already been saved they'd already received the gift of the Holy Ghost they'd already followed the Plan of Salvation if you don't have the Holy Ghost you cannot understand the rest of the New Testament essentially brother Hammond you have one book which is the book of Acts whether you obey it or not you have one book but from that point forward if you don't have the Holy Ghost you're not going to understand what's going on in Romans all the Epistles you're not going to understand the letters to the churches the get get out of your mind mind this this Roman Road of Salvation there can't be a Roman Road of Salvation the letter to the Romans was to the church it wasn't to Sinners it wasn't to the unsaved it was the people that had already received the Holy Spirit In the book of Acts but it guides you oh yes it does the Holy Ghost gives power and boldness we love the scripture but you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you you shall be Witnesses and then it goes through and tells you where you're going to be Witnesses and it's not so much a location it's simply saying you're going to be able to witness to all types of people not just your color not just your race not even just your language God's going to give you opportunity to go on mission trips and you're going to have an interpreter and and you might teach a Bible study or preach a message or teach a Sunday school class and you might have an interpreter it's simply saying you're going to be able to go to every person every language all people male female young old and the Holy Ghost gives us boldness and let's I'm talking about the benefits of the Holy Ghost listen if you've been filled with the Holy Ghost this stuff should excite you you should say hey wait a minute wait a minute you talking about benefits I've not even been using possibly there's nothing worse there's nothing worse than finding out you had benefits that you didn't know about so you're telling me I could have been getting 50% off every time I went and shopped there do you know how much money I spent at Hobby Lobby and didn't know that Christmas stuff was 50% off in October there's benefits if you don't know about it you can't use them it means nothing to you it does not profit you but when we have the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost is a quickening power Romans 811 says but if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also Quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you it's quickening power that's resurrection power it makes us alive and that's not just talking about when Jesus comes back that's not just talking about you being in a grave and you raising up out of the grave and thank God it does include that but it also talks about raising us up out of stuff in our life that's holding us bondage that's holding us down come up out of the Grave you can live a better life today if you've got the Holy Ghost it'll Quicken even your mortal body oh the spirit of God has all power listen I I love preaching about the Holy Ghost uh the Holy Ghost is the spirit of Christ it's a gift uh it's the comforter the Bible says it's Living Water it's the spirit of truth it's resurrection power it's Spirit baptism it's New Birth salvation it's the power from Heaven uh it's the spirit in which we are adopted into the kingdom of God anybody glad you've been adopted whereby we can cry ABA father we've got a relationship with the father it's the earnest the down payment of our inheritance wo it's a discerner it's a discerner it is an intercessor it leads us into all Truth uh it sanctifies us it empowers us to Bear spiritual fruit it's what causes people to know we're different come on get out of your mind it's your it's the length of your hair the length of your skirt it get out of your mind it's all about that what causes people to know we're different is because the Holy Ghost causes us to bear fruit uh there ought to be love there ought to be joy peace Longs suffering oh there ought to be gentleness within us come on somebody this is what makes us Apostolic what makes us Apostolic is not because you wear a certain name brand or a certain type of clothing what makes you Apostolic is that the Holy Ghost moves through you and speaks through you and people around you know there's something about him that I want to be like I want to love like he likes and loves I want to have peace like he has peace uh rub shoulders with people and you'll find out people are dying uh people are caught up they're destroyed by alcohol and drugs but if we can show them there is a love I can wrap my arms around you and I can help you to receive the same thing that gives me joy listen I love the Holy Ghost there's something about the power of the Holy Ghost it gives wisdom come on he gives spiritual gifts anybody thankful for the spiritual gifts in the church today are you thankful for healing come on are you thankful for healing in the church today I'm so glad we don't have to I'm looking out people who I know have been healed I look at people that had kidney Replacements and and they oh my God woo brother Malone are we thankful for a healing God are we thankful there's gifts in the church today woo signs Miracles and wonders uh I'm so thankful for prophecy I'm so thankful that we have a pastor that can look into our future and say Hey you better Walk This Road because if you walk this road you're going to go down a road you don't want to go down that's what prophecies all about is seeing into the future and understanding where you're going and where you want to go and where you don't want to go God I'm so thankful I'm so thankful he's given the Holy Ghost to anyone who ask for it he's given the Holy Ghost for anybody who's obedient to his plan the Holy Ghost is for everyone and don't just receive it don't just obtain it you ought to be filled with the Holy Ghost oh my God be filled with the Holy Ghost I just feel can we stand to our feet and just lift our hands in this place I feel the Holy Ghost in This House I don't have very much longer to go but I feel today I feel if we could get a hold of this and realize I've been born again of the water in the spirit uh and that gives me benefits that nobody else has that allows a spirit to live within me who will give me joy and peace who will give things to me that nobody else can obtain because they don't have the right spirit within them just remain standing remain standing musicians come let me let me say this the wind the wind the wind for this message if there's going to be a win for this message it's obvious right somebody's got to get the Holy Ghost somebody's got to be filled with the Holy Ghost that that would be a win there's another win I believe would be if somebody was renewed in the Holy Ghost and refilled with the Holy Ghost that that would be my if there's if there's two wins those are my two wins but let me kind of break this down a little bit because the terminology of the of the Christian church today we we we read words in the the New Testament and just assume that the meaning of those words is the same meaning how we use the words okay for instance Peter commanded in Acts chapter 2 verse 38 he commanded what he was taught by Jesus himself right the people are pricked in their hearts they realized were not saved they realized they they they crucified the Messiah right Peter preached the message first preacher first Pastor first message and he commanded me he said then Peter said to them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the one that died for you cuz that makes sense who shed his blood for you and then it said you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost look with me on the screen to acts 16:31 I want you to see this and they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house now what the what the church Community wants to say is all you have to do is believe as we Define believe today which is to acknowledge someone's existence or to trust in something so they read that word believe in the King James English but in the Days of the New Testament writer they use this word believe as the word obey and I'll prove it to you here they interchange those two words believe and Obey 1 Peter 26 and 7 says wherefore also it is contained in scripture behold I lay in Zion a Chief Cornerstone elect precious watch this right here and he that believeth on on him shall not be confounded verse 7even unto you therefore which believe he is precious but unto them which be disobedient which he is saying you there's one one of two things either you believe or you're disobedient either you obey or you are disobedient the stone which the build is just allowed the same is made the head of the corner Mark 16 15 we know this scripture he said unto them go ye into the world and preach the gospel for every to Every Creature he that believeth he that obeys and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not or disobeys shall be damned people say well it doesn't say that he does not baptized no no no that that's not they've missed it because in these new testament writers when they say believe that means that you're obedient to whoever you're a disciple to if I'm a Believer in Jesus I'm a disciple of Jesus whatever Jesus says I do if you don't believe or you disobey or you don't obey you're not a disciple of that person so again again let me read one more time said to them go ye all the world preach the gospel to every creature that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned and these signs shall follow them that believe that obey whatever he told them to do which was be baptized so belief in Jesus or believing that he is the Lord is it's not salvation obeying his word that's what leads to Salvation so if you're here this morning this is all I'm asking you it's only 11:35 we've got time nobody's in a hurry the roast hadn't even it's still red I just wonder one of two things either you're a person who has never been filled with the Holy Ghost and you're saying listen I see it in the word and I've got to obey I've got to do it I I I can't you can't you can only remain on the fence for so long you can only read the word of God and say one day for so long cuz sooner or later that one day has got to be today right what an opportunity we'll call you to the altar in just a moment but then also for you that need to be refilled with the Holy Ghost my title Running on Empty I don't know and I'm I'm sure that the majority of you now the now the youngsters aren't going to know what I'm talking about but when I was 16 decades ago the fuel pumps didn't have those Nifty little card sliders matter of fact I don't even know we had credit cards back then I'll just be honest with you I think rich people had credit cards we had cash I I didn't have checks I wer even there yet I was just a 16 17 year old driver somehow someway dad come across a good deal on a Ford Mustang that had like the coolest Megs Wheels I don't know I know Dad good enough he got a good deal on it because we would have not brother Kenny Johnson we would have not have paid what that thing was worth but somehow it it fell upon me brother Cole to drive that Ford Mustang a little bit low to the ground oh it was cool cool they didn't let me take that to Bible College I I don't I don't understand why they didn't let me take that to Bible college but they didn't but what I do remember is I always ran that thing on empty because I had I didn't have no money I was in school didn't have a job I was like scaming up I don't know if I was mowing lawns I don't know I don't I don't know I didn't have a mower I was doing something I was I was getting money but but it was like one of these things Bethany where where I would pull into the gas station and this are back in the day when when you had to go inside to pay first yeah they didn't let you like pay they didn't let you like pump gas and then go in and pay oh no sir no you had to go in give them money and then you go out and you you pump and I see I see some of y'all some of Y not in your head some My Generation not in their head with me and and usually I'll be honest with you brother Hammond it was like one or two dollars is all I had and a lot of times it was quarters I'd set those $2 a Quarters on that gas I'd be proud and go out there and pump and Now list listen $2 did give me two gallons of gas which was a little different than today pump those two gallons and let me tell you something I lived with anxiety cuz I was always just praying if I can get to a hill and Coast down a hill into this gas station I've got another I got another $2 a quarters I can put two more dollars in here but come on you can we relate together that that's how some of us are walk with God God is it's just always just getting enough putting $2 to change on the counter God it's Sunday morning again I'm going to come up the altar I'm going to get another $2 worth of fuel God what would happen this is all this I'm done what would happen in a church this size in a church this powerful a church with this many spirit filled Holy Ghost filled people if we were running on F if we were filled the Bible says be ye filled with the Holy Ghost oh God I feel I feel the Holy Ghost even right now somebody would just come on if you would take me up on this and just say brother Ericson listen I I'm a little bit I'm at half my my Tank's about about half but oh man if you would just come on if somebody would would be willing to come to this Altar and say God lord half is not enough three quarters is not enough I'm I'm sick and tired of running on empty I just want more of you come on team we're going to sing a song that says fill me up till I overflow I want to run over come on I want to where when I have that gas pump in I want that fuel to run up out of that woo come on somebody let it overflow let it be obvious to everybody around me that I've got so much Holy Ghost I can't even contain it come on if you need the Holy Ghost for the first time I wish you would obey the word of God I wish you'd begin to repent on your sins and turn away from the wrong allow those spirits of unholiness to be out of you so the Holy Ghost can take its place but if you're here today and you've got the Holy Ghost I wish you would just say God fill me up God fill me up woo how want more till I overflow oh God come on let this be our prayer right here I want to run over Jesus come on somebody let that hold ghost well up inside if you're here let the power on the inside well up and affect the outside I want to run over come on that's right I hear the Holy Ghost right here wants to move uh I hear the Holy Ghost wants to move in this place uh God telling me right now allow me to fill you with my spirit I'll change your life I'll rearrange things uh we can take out unclean spirits I'll take over I'll take over I'll take over your life woo sh come on pray that prayer Pray that prayer Fill Me Jesus I want to run over Jesus fill me up till I overflow yes come on why don't you find somebody next to you that you can team up with come on find somebody next to you you can team up with right here come on take them by the arm or take him by the shoulder come on say we can do this together let the Holy Ghost fill us oh God I want to run over that's right let the Holy Ghost minister to you right now it's a ministering Spirit come on let it minister to you right now I don't want to be who I used to be I don't want to be bound by my little spe said want to control my life I want to be set free come on Jesus send those Spirits out of me send them out of me right here I want to run over yes that's right that's right that's right come on let your Holy Ghost minister to somebody let the Holy Ghost Inside of You Minister yeah let the Holy Ghost Inside you minister to somebody else right here I the sh I hear CH fall I he the CH what's that sound I hear what's that sound I hear I he the I the I hear the ch Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break Every break every break every break every there is power in the name Jes there is power in Jesus there is power in the toak break every break every break every Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break Every I he the I hear the is fall I hear the I hear the in the name of Jesus say I hear the I hear the CH so Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break every CH every CH the name of Jesus there is power in oh there holy ghost power in the name of Jesus Jesus Break Every Chain Break Every Chain come on let's right Break Every Chain be set free in Jesus name be filled with the Holy Ghost in Jesus name come on it's power to help you walk right it's power to help you talk right there's an army rising up again there's an army the break Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break Every break every I I hear the CH for oh I hear the ch I hear the CH for iak Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break Every Chain Break CH break so break Every Chain to break every chain to Break Every Chain Break Every could we lift our hands up in this place I know there's some praying around you maybe you reach your hand over lord fill us up in this house today Lord let us be full and running over of the spirit that we claim oh God Lord let us be full Lord stir us up as the scripture says today oh we thank you for your spirit we thank you for your presence today oh god oh Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah the presence of the Lord is here today the Bible says it's for everyone it's for everyone and it's uh it's a powerful thing to know that the father wants to give good gifts