ARE YOU FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?

(5 of 11)
Adventures in Spirit-living
Jerry Vines
Acts 1:4-5; 2:4
1/31/96

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy

Spirit? This could very well be one of the most
important subjects you will ever consider. It is
crucial to your growth in the Christian life and it is
absolutely essential if you are going to be an
effective witness for the Lord. The filling of the
Holy Spirit is the truth in the Bible that bears upon
these in a very special and wonderful way.

In Acts 1 the Lord Jesus made a promise about

something that would take place on the day of
Pentecost. He told them to wait for the promise, then
He said, "You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days hence." He's talking about the day of
Pentecost. Then when you turn to Acts 2:4 it says,
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit."
Chapter 1 - you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 2 says they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
There is no mention in chapter 2 to the baptizing work
of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, this has led some
people to believe that there is not a difference
between the two. Because the baptism is not mentioned
in chapter 2 and the filling is, obviously Jesus said
they would be baptized, some people have determined
that by that that to be baptized with the Spirit is
the same thing as being filled with the Spirit. As
you study the whole Word of God, all the scripture has
to say about it -- you will find that there is a
difference between the two. The baptism and the
filling of the Holy Spirit are not the same. There
are large areas of disagreement among Christians about
this whole area of the baptism.

Many good Christians differ and disagree about

what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. There are
some who believe that the baptism of the Spirit is an
experience which takes place subsequent to salvation.
They teach that you are saved at one point in your
experience. Then at some point after that you are
baptized by the Holy Spirit. They also believe that
the evidence of being baptized with the Spirit is that
you speak in other tongues. This has caused other
Christians to shy away from the whole subject of the
filling of the Holy Spirit. A lot of Christians have
allowed the errors of some and the extremes of some to
cause them to be driven away from the truth of the
filling of the Holy Spirit. I don't want us to let
that happen to us. I don't want us to allow the
extremes to which some go cause us to miss out on what
the Bible teaches about the experience of being filled
with the Holy Spirit.

I want to show you that there is a difference

between these two subjects in the Word of God. The
baptism and the filling of the Spirit are not one and
the same. The baptism of the Spirit is a once- for-
all matter. The filling of the Holy Spirit is a
repeated matter. The baptism of the Spirit is
something that takes place in the life of every
believer. I Cor. 12:13 says, "For by one Spirit were
you all baptized into the body." The filling of the
Holy Spirit, on the other hand is an experience that
can be repeated, an experience that may and should,
but not necessarily, happen in the life of every
believer.

The filling of the Holy Spirit differs from the

baptism of the Holy Spirit in this respect also. The
baptism is in the realm of what we call positional
truth. In other words, there are certain divine
transactions that occur the moment you are saved. The
moment you are saved the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in
your heart. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit the
moment you are saved. You are given the earnest of
the Spirit the moment you are saved. You are
anointed by the Holy Spirit the moment you are saved.
That is positional truth.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is experimental

truth. All believers have the baptism. Not all
believers have experienced the filling of the Holy
Spirit. The baptism means that I belong to the Lord's
body. The filling means that my body belongs to the
Lord. I think the Scofield Reference Bible has put it
about as well as anything I've ever read. "The Bible
teaches one baptism, many fillings." We are baptized
at the moment of salvation. But the Bible does teach
there is an experience known as the filling of the
Holy Spirit.

The question I want to raise in your mind as we

study the Scriptures is this - have you been filled
with the Holy Spirit? Have you experienced the in-
filling of the Holy Spirit in your life? If you have
not, wouldn't you like to be filled with the Holy
Spirit?

Turn to the book of Ephesians. There is a

familiar verse to which we always go when we talk
about the matter of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 5:18 - "Be not drunk with wine wherein is
excess, but be filled with the Spirit." There is a
clear statement in Scripture, a clear command given to
us that every believer is to be filled with the Holy
Spirit. I'm hoping that if you have not been filled
with the Holy Spirit that I will create a desire in
your heart and that you will not be content in your
Christian life until you know that you have asked the
Lord to fill you with the Holy Spirit.

I want to make some simple statements about the

filling of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy
Spirit is -

I. A REAL Experience.

The Bible doesn't play mind games with us and

command us that something occurred that is not a real
experience. When the Bible says to be filled with the
spirit, you can be sure that this is a real
experience. Read the New Testament and you will find
that is exactly true. Many people were filled with
the Holy Spirit. It really happened to them. We have
a whole family that was filled with the Holy Spirit.
In Luke 1 the family of John the Baptist - his father
Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit. His mother
- sweet Elizabeth and we are told she was filled with
the Holy Spirit. Then there was John himself. The
Bible says he was filled with the Spirit even from his
mother's womb. A whole family filled with the Holy
Spirit.

The first disciples were filled with the Spirit.

Acts 2;4 says, "the were all filled with the Holy
Spirit." The Apostle Simon Peter stood before the
elders and the chief priests to give a testimony of
his faith in the Lord. The Bible says he was filed
with the Holy Spirit.

We are told about the selection of the deacons

for the church. One of the requirements of the first
deacons was that they be filled with the Holy Spirit
and wisdom. Don't you think deacons ought to be
filled with the Holy Spirit?

You read the life of the Apostle Paul and you

read in Acts 9 about his conversion experience and
Annanias said to him, "Brother Saul, the Lord has sent
me over here that you might receive your sight and be
filled with the Holy Spirit." And he laid his hands
on Paul and Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Don't you think if we read the New Testament and find
that believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, don't
you think in the 20th Century we need to have that
same experience. If they needed the filling of the
Holy Spirit back in those days, don't you think we
need the filling of the Holy Spirit in 1996?

Even the Lord Jesus was filled with the Holy

Spirit. You read in Luke 4:1 about the Lord Jesus
going into the temptation experience. The Bible says,
"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness." Evidently at his baptism, when
the heavens opened up and the Spirit of God descended
upon Him like a dove, our Lord Jesus was filled with
the Holy Spirit. If the perfect Son of God was filled
with the Holy Spirit, don't you think you and I ought
to be as well?

You search the pages of spiritual history and you

will find that the great Christian leaders of the past
were men who were filled with the Holy Spirit. D. L.
Moody, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, John and
Charles Wesley. These great men of God were filled
with the Holy Spirit. If they were filled, don't you
think we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Look at contemporary history and you see great

Christian leaders today like Billy Graham and others.
These men have been filled with the Holy Spirit.
Don't you think if they needed the Holy Spirit's
filling that you and I need the filling of the Holy
Spirit also.

When I was called to preach as a 16 year old boy

I began to grow in the Lord and started preaching
youth revivals primarily. Then at the age of 18 I
was called to my first church. I stayed there 16
months and I got out of Dodge, moved on and got my
second church. In my second church I was preaching, I
believed the Bible, I was studying the Scriptures, but
there wasn't the power I thought I ought to have. I
had the words but I didn't have the music. I
understood what the Bible had to say and I preached it
but the power wasn't there. There was a dear sweet
country preacher a great man of God who went home to
be with the Lord a few months ago. I had him come
over and preach a revival and I started talking to him
about the Holy Spirit and the need for the Holy
Spirit. He explained to me the truth of being filled
with the Holy Spirit. So, as a twenty year old young
preacher I asked the Holy Spirit of God to fill me and
HE did. There was a difference in my preaching. I was
not the same preacher I had been before. I was
preaching the same truths but now I had the music to
it. I had the filling of the spirit. I had the power
of God in my life.

It's important for the preacher to be filled with

the spirit but this command is a command not just for
the preachers, it's a command for all believers. "Be
ye filled with the Spirit." The word, ye, does not
occur there but it is in the original language and it
is in the plural. He is saying be all of you filled
with the Holy Spirit. That statement is not an option
it is obligatory. You should never stand to teach a
Sunday School class unless you are filled with the
Holy Spirit. You should never serve on a committee
unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit. You
should never sing or play in the orchestra or in the
choir unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit. You
should never undertake anything for Jesus Christ
unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit. This is
not a suggestion, this is a command. God commands us
to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

There were two ladies in D.L. Moody's

congregation in Chicago at the Moody Tabernacle. He
was preaching and they were having wonderful services.
Two ladies came by one night and said, "Brother Moody,
we are praying that you will be filled with the Holy
Spirit." It kind of insulted him a little. "Who are
they to tell me to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I'm
preaching these revival meetings and I'm publishing
literature and I'm going all over everywhere. Who are
they to tell me that they are praying I'll be filled
with the Holy Spirit." But God used those two little
ladies and Moody began to pray. And Moody was filled
with the Holy Spirit. He said he was preaching the
same sermons after that but they were altogether
different. He said he was using the same Scriptures,
the same sermons, but they were different because now
he had obeyed the command and he was filled with the
Holy Spirit.

I'm trying to provoke you to good works this

evening. I'm trying to prod you to get you to the
point that you will realize that the filling of the
Spirit is a real experience and God commands you to be
filled with the Holy Spirit. Have you been filled
with the Holy Spirit? Would you like to be filled
with the Holy Spirit? Just keep tuned in. We'll talk
a little further.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is -

II. A REMARKABLE Experience.

 Don't misunderstand. It is not remarkable that a
Christian is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The
normal condition of Christians in the Bible is that
they be filled with the Holy Spirit. That's not the
remarkable part. Vance Havner, one of my favorite
preachers, that mountain preacher who preached with a
twang in his voice, said one time, "The average
Christian is so sub-normal that when he becomes normal
everybody thinks he's abnormal." That's right but
that's not the way it is intended to be. The normal,
natural experience of every believer is that they are
filled with the Holy Spirit. But in and of itself the
filling of the Holy Spirit is a remarkable experience.

Look at Ephesians 3:19. Look at what Paul prays

in this verse: "That you might know the love of Christ
which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God." Did you catch what was said
or did you let that slip over you. He's praying we'll
be filled with the fullness of God. That's like me
standing out at the Atlantic Ocean with a little
teacup and say, "I'm praying my teacup will be filled
with the fullness of the Atlantic Ocean." That's like
me standing out here at sunrise in the morning and
praying that my eyes will be filled with the fullness
of the light. He's saying that it's possible for a
believer to be filled with all the fullness of the
eternal God of this universe. That is a remarkable
experience.

Go back to Ephesians 5 again. It is so

remarkable that he uses a most unusual illustration to
show us how remarkable it is. He uses the
illustration of somebody getting drunk on alcohol.
"And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be
filled with the Spirit." The illustration he is using
is of somebody drinking alcohol and getting drunk.
The more alcohol they drink the more they come under
the control of that alcohol. When he says "be not
drunk," he means be not intoxicated. Literally it
means "soaked with wine." The word, “excess,” means
abandonment. He says don't be intoxicated, don't be
abandoned to the control of alcohol.
 The thought that the human personality is capable
of being controlled by some power outside itself is a
frightening thought. Yet, when you read the Bible you
will find that it is possible for people to be filled
with all kinds of ungodly things. Romans 1:29 talks
about being filled with all unrighteousness. You read
in the book of Acts and you will find people who are
filled with confusion. You'll find people filled with
envy. You will find people filled with the devil and
they lied to the Holy Spirit. The possibility of you
and I being under the control of a power outside
ourselves.

That's what happens when a person gets drunk. An

old boy takes a drink, then he takes another drink,
then he takes another drink and the next thing you
know the drink takes him. He's under the control of
the alcohol. The person who is under the control of
the alcohol is a totally changed individual. It
changes personality. Have you ever noticed how that
happens to a drunk person? Here is a man who is
normally a very neat and well-dressed person. He gets
drunk with alcohol and he becomes sloppy. Any old way
will do. Here's a guy who is normally very shy and he
gets drunk with alcohol and he becomes loud and
boisterous. "God shave the queen." He'll say most
anything. You get a timid guy full of liquor and all
of a sudden he's going to take on the world.

I remember on our Senior trip we went to

Washington, DC. Unfortunately some of the seniors in
my class started drinking. We had a guy in our Senior
class who was a little above 5 feet. He got drunk
and I walked into the room at the hotel where he was.
He was on the bed and when I walked in he was like a
lion. He jumped off the bed, jumped around me,
roaring. "I'm going to whip you." I just took him
and threw him over on the bed. Poor old drunk, he
couldn't handle me. He was drunk. That's what happens
when people get drunk. It changes them. They are
altogether different people. They say things they
ordinarily wouldn't say. That's the illustration.
Don't let this illustration mess you up. Some people
read that to be filled with the spirit is compared to
being drunk with alcohol and they say, "Mercy, I don't
want to be like that. I don't want to make a fool of
my self." That's not the point. The thing you really
have to grab hold of is that the filling of the spirit
is like a person being drunk in that a person who is
filled with the Spirit is controlled by the Holy
Spirit. That's what you have to get.

Other people read that and they misunderstand and

they think to be filled with the Spirit they have to
act like a fool. They think the more foolish and the
more stupid they act the more evidence they give they
are filled with the Holy Spirit. That's not it
either. You've totally missed it.

Janet and I were at a football game in Atlanta,

GA, many years ago. Georgia Tech football game. This
man and his wife in their 60's came into the game.
They were dressed fit to kill. He had on a hat and a
big overcoat. She was dressed in her frilly fur, with
her pocket book. They sat down right behind us to
watch the Georgia Tech football game. In a little
while she opened up her pocketbook and she had a
bottle of liquor. They got to sampling the soup. She
would take a little snort and he would take a little
snort. Every time one of them would take a snort they
would get louder and louder and louder. Then they got
to talking to one another. I could tell we had
trouble. Before that was over they got into the
awfullest fight you have ever seen in your life. They
were drunk as Cooter Brown. High as a Georgia pine.
Finally, they stood up and at the top of their voices
and with their noses almost touching and you have
never heard such a fuss. The whole stands got quiet
and listened to these two fools up there. Don't get
the idea that's what it means to be filled with the
Holy Spirit. Now to be filled with the Holy Spirit
will be the most sane, the most sensible experience
you will ever have in all of your life.

Keep in mind this word when you are talking about

this remarkable experience of being filled with the
Holy Spirit -- CONTROL. Several pictures here of
being filled with the Holy Spirit. It is the picture
of filling vessel. It is a picture of covering a
surface. It is also a picture of completely
permeating a human personality. To be filled with the
spirit means you are under the control of the Holy
Spirit. That just solves a multitude of problems.
The whole matter of temptation. You're tempted aren't
you? You were tempted today. Every day temptation
comes knocking at your door. If you try to meet the
temptations of this world in your own strength you are
going under. You are not strong enough. If you are
under the control of the Holy Spirit, if the Holy
Spirit is in charge of your heart when old temptation
comes knocking you just say, "Hey, Holy Spirit, go to
the door and take care of that for me."

It also solves a multitude of decisions. If you

are under the control of Holy Spirit there are some
things you don't have to decide. Don't you feel sorry
for Christians who have a real struggle every weekend
deciding whether or not they are going to come to
church? Whether or not to come back on Sunday night?
They have to make a conscious decision every week.
But if you get filled with the Holy Spirit you won't
have to decide what you'll do on Sunday. It's already
decided for you. When you have those battles and
struggles in life it makes a whole lot of difference
if you are controlled by the Spirit. Remember Samson.
A young lion came roaring out in front of Samson and
the Bible says the Spirit of the Lord came mightily on
Samson and Samson took that lion and tore it up with
his bare hands. That's what the Spirit of God does.
When the young lions of the battles and struggles of
this life come upon you the filling of the spirit of
God will just absolutely slay the young lions of the
battles and the struggles. Control.

Then there's CHANGE. The Holy Spirit will change

you. You will like the person the Holy Spirit will
make out of you. Verse 19 - "speaking to yourselves
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your heart." It has a wonderful
inner healing effect. A calming effect on your
personality. "Giving thanks for all things." (verse
20) O, the healing medicine of thanksgiving. That's
the cure for complaining and grumbling. The spirit of
God makes you thankful. (verse 21) "submitting
yourselves one to another in the fear of God." If you
can get a man filled with the Spirit and get a wife
filled with the Holy Spirit they will learn the beauty
of fitting together in the Lord. It's wonderful to be
changed by the Holy Spirit.

The next word to get in mind is not only control

and not only change, but COMMUNICATION. What is THE
evidence that you are filled with the Holy Spirit?
Follow this carefully. As best I can tell with the
exception of what Jesus said when he said the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, I don't find any record of
anybody in the New Testament who said they were filled
with the Holy Spirit. Check me out. I'm not saying
it's not there, but I haven't found it yet. As far as
I know there is no record that anybody in the New
Testament said they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Not a one. "Hey everybody look at me, I'm filled with
the Holy Spirit." I got to wondering why that is. If
the Bible says to be filled with the Spirit and
commands us to be why is it nobody in the New
Testament said they were? I'm going to tell you why I
think it is. Jesus said in John 15:26 about the Holy
Spirit - "He will testify of me." Then in John 16:14
he said, "He will glorify me." Now, when a person is
filled with the Holy Spirit they will be so caught up
in Jesus and so thrilled about Jesus and so anxious to
communicate to others about Jesus they will be
thinking about Jesus and they will never have any
thoughts about themselves. It happened to Stephen.
They were getting ready to stone him to death. Yet,
the Bible says Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, said
I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at
the right hand of God. Stephen was full of the Holy
Spirit of God and he was so full while he was dying he
said, "I see Jesus."

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will
be such a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ you won't
be going around bragging you are filled with the
spirit but everybody who comes in contact with you
will say that's a man who is filled with the Spirit.
 What's the evidence of the filling? Turn to Acts
18. Jesus says, "But you shall receive power after
that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall
speak in tongues." Is that what it says? No. "Ye
shall fall in the floor." No. "Ye shall be WITNESSES
unto me." The evidence that you are filled with the
Holy Spirit of God is that it opens up your mouth and
you start being a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Back in Cedartown, Georgia, many years ago where

I was pastor I had a good friend named Pank Adams.
Pank believed that the evidence of being filled with
the Spirit is that you talk in tongues. I'm not
making fun of that, don't misunderstand what I'm
saying. I'm just illustrating. Every week or so Pank
would see me and ask, "Preacher, have you been filled
with the Holy Spirit?" I'd say,"As best I know I'm
filled with the Holy Spirit." He said, "Well, did you
speak in tongues?" I said, "No, Pank, I didn't." He
said, "You are not filled with the Spirit then." About
every week or so he would hit me again. That went on
for months. We were good friends so I could do this.
One day I said, "Pank, I want to ask you a question.
Have you led anybody to Jesus this past week?" He
said, "No." I said, "Pank, did you lead anybody to
Jesus last month?" He said, "No, but we prayed with a
fellow till midnight and he got the Holy Ghost." I
said, "Pank, have you to your knowledge led anybody to
Jesus in the last year?" He said, "No." I said,
"Now, Pank, if what you have makes you speak in a
tongue and what I have helps me lead people to Jesus,
I'd rather have what I 've got than have what you've
got." He never asked me again. That was the end of
it.

This filling of the Holy Spirit is a real

experience. It's a remarkable experience. It's -

III. A REPEATED Experience.

Ephesians 5:18 - "and be not drunk with wine

wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit."
The tense of the verb there is what we call present
tense passive verb. Literally it could be translated
"but be being continuously filled with the Spirit." I
think there are many people who may indeed, at the
moment of their salvation be filled with the Holy
Spirit as evidently the Apostle Paul was. But in many
instances I believe that there are some Christians who
though they receive a measure of the filling of the
Holy Spirit at salvation, it is sometime later on in
their experience when they are filled with the Holy
Spirit. It can be indeed a crisis experience. It can
be an experience that is monumental in their lives.
But I think we must recognize that it can be a crisis
experience, but it is not a once-for-all experience.
You will study the examples of the New Testament and
you will find that there were people who were filled
with the Spirit. In Acts 2 - they were filled with
the Spirit. Acts 4 - they were filled again. It's
repeated. It is a continuous experience. Here's why.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is an experience

you can have but it is also an experience you can
lose. You can be filled with the spirit one day and
not filled the next day. You can be filled with the
Spirit one minute and not filled the next minute. You
can so grieve the Holy Spirit by something in your
life. You can so quench the Holy Spirit by refusing
to allow Him to work in and through you. Getting
drunk is not a permanent experience. Even an old boy
that gets soused drunk sobers up and the only way he
can get drunk again is drink some more liquor. A
person can be filled with the Holy Spirit but they can
lose that filling. I think an example of that a
little before the day of Pentecost is Simon Peter.
The Lord said, "Who do people say I am?" Simon Peter
said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said, "Blessed are you Simon Peter, flesh and
blood has not revealed that to you but my father in
heaven." Filled with the Spirit. Then the next
minute Jesus was talking about the cross and Simon
Peter took him off to the side and said, "Lord, let's
don't talk about that cross business." Jesus said,
"Get behind me Satan."

Young people, you can be under the control of the

Holy Spirit and if you aren't not very careful you can
lose that filling of the Holy Spirit and be under the
control of another spirit. It has to be repeated, a
daily experience. You need to daily ask the Lord to
fill you with the Holy Spirit. Then there are special
times you ask for a special filling. I never walk
into this pulpit until I get on my knees and pray and
ask the Holy Spirit to fill me as I preach the Word of
God. I never get in my car and go out to visit
anybody to tell them about Jesus unless I pray that
I'll be filled with the spirit to know what to say and
to say it in the right way. We need that special
filling for special service, but we need that daily
infilling of the Holy Spirit. "Fill me, Holy Spirit,
take control of my life, change my life, speak through
my life today."

It's kind of like a book collector who went into

a friend's house. He found this old book. Its cover
was worn, the center was cracked, there was some loose
pages. The friend said, "I'll just give you that
book." He took that book, lamented the fact that some
pages were missing. Several days later the friend
came to his door and said, "I found some of those
missing pages that belonged to that book." That's the
way it is to be filled with the Spirit. I'm
discovering things about myself everyday I never knew.
There are certain facets and certain areas of our
personality that we don't even learn about until we
move along through life. As God shows us those new
pages of our lives we need to yield them to the
control of the Holy Spirit.

Have you been filled with the Holy Spirit? Want

to know how you can be? Can I give you a quick
summary of how to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Number 1, ask the Lord to fill you with the Spirit.
Luke 11:13, "if you fathers know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more shall your
heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask
Him." Ask Him to fill you. Number 2, you must claim
the filling. Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him
come unto me and drink." A man gets drunk with
alcohol by drinking, he claims it. A person is filled
with the Holy Spirit by claiming the Holy Spirit's
filling. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and by faith
claim the filling of the Holy Spirit. Number 3,
surrender everything you know about yourself to the
control of the Holy Spirit.

I heard this story when I was a teenage boy. It

has stayed with me all through these years. One day a
little fellow came bouncing in to a flower shop. He
had his fist doubled up, had some unsold papers under
his arm. He walked up to the counter and said to the
lady there, "I want to buy the biggest bouquet of
flowers you have in this store. I've been selling
papers, already sold 37 cents worth. Today is my
mother's birthday and I want to get her the biggest
bouquet of flowers you have in this store with my 37
cents." It touched the heart of the lady in the
flower shop. She got a huge bouquet - roses, orchids
and carnations. Brought it back to the boy. Put that
green paper around it. The little boy asked, "How
much is it?" She said, "37 centers." He said,
"That's just what I have." So, he gave the 37 cents,
took his flowers under one arm and his papers under
the other and went bouncing out of the store.

“In a moment she heard the blaring of a horn and the

screeching of tires. She rushed out and the little
boy had rushed out into the street and a big truck had
hit him. They took him to the emergency room. A
Christian doctor there who knew the family came. He
saw it was hopeless. The little boy looked up at his
doctor and said, "Doctor, I'm not going to make it, am
I?" The doctor said, "No, son, you're not." The
little boy said, "I know Jesus, I'm going to heaven
when I die, but doctor, I want you to do something for
me. I want you to take these flowers to my mother.
Today's her birthday. Tell her that it's only 37
cents worth but it's all I've got. Tell her I love
her."

I wonder if you would come to the Lord and say,

"O, Lord, I'm only 37 cents worth. But it's all I
got. I love you. Take control of my life."
 Do you know the Lord as your Savior?

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