1. Paul uses an expression here in Romans 15 that is quite fascinating to me. He says to the Christians at Rome that he was planning on visiting them and that when he did arrive, he would "come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Rom.15:29).
2. That is quite a statement. For the apostle Paul to come with the Gospel was certainly a blessing.
3. But to come "in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ," well, that is wonderful beyond words.
4. Paul uses similar expressions in his other epistles. For example, in Ephesians 3:19, Paul desires that they "might be filled with all the fulness of God."
5. Beloved, if each and every Christian gathered here today was "filled with all the fulness of God," the unsaved would get under such deep conviction of sin that they would be crying out to God even before I start to preach.
6. Spurgeon spoke of "the great necessity which exists for the continual manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit in the church of God if by her means the multitudes are to be gathered to the Lord Jesus."
7. God could have used angels to preach the Gospel. And some day He will (Rev.14:6,7). But right now in this dispensation, God has commanded you and me to go out and preach the Gospel to this wicked world.
8. Today I would like for us to look closely at what this means: being filled with the fulness of God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and coming in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ.

I. THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

1. Twice in Romans 15, the apostle Paul uses the expression, "through (or "by") the power of the Holy Ghost" (Rom.15:13,19).
2. Now if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then you will certainly be filled with joy and peace (15:13). And it is "in believing" (15:13), i.e. believing in Christ.
3. Do you believe in "the God of hope" (15:13)? If so He will "fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Rom.15:13).
4. Why is it that some Christians are energized by the power of the Holy Spirit while others are so cold and powerless? Spurgeon gave a good illustration.
5. He said that on a cold winter’s day he saw two cottages side by side. Snow had recently fallen but while one cottage had a thick pile of snow on the roof, on the other cottage all the snow had disappeared. Upon investigation, Spurgeon found out why. This is how he put it: "There is a fire burning inside the one cottage and the warmth glows through its roof, and so the snow speedily melts: in the other there is no tenant; it is a house to rent, no fire burns on its hearth and no warm smoke ascends the chimney, and therefore lies the snow."
6. My friend if the Holy Spirit is working inside of you, you will not be cold; you will not be indifferent; you will not be unfriendly and you will not be useless.
7. And let me add before moving on, if you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will be generous in your giving (Rom.15:25-27,31).

II. PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT.

1. This expression, "praying in the Spirit" or "praying in the Holy Ghost" does not appear here but it does appear elsewhere in the Bible. Jude says, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves in the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 20).
2. Now here in Rom.15, Paul asks the Christians at Rome to "strive together" with him in prayer. He needed their prayers (Rom.15:30).
3. Check this out: in all of Paul’s epistles he requested prayer. And if this great man of God, this great preacher, needed prayer – how much more do we?
4. It reminds me of Bro. Van Gelderen’s S.S. lesson . He pointed out that the Spirit of God came upon Jesus Christ (Luke 4:18,19), and he reminded us that if the Son of God needed this anointing from the Holy Spirit, how much more do we?
5. Paul asked them to pray that he would "be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea" (Rom.15:31). Likewise we must pray the same way today. Remember we still have many adversaries (I Cor. 16:9).
6. Beloved, we need to pray for the unsaved. I appreciate those who came out Wednesday night to pray for my unsaved brother and his family.
7. Lee Roberson told of a lady who prayed all night for her unsaved husband. He could not sleep and she would only agree to stop praying out loud (but would still pray quietly) after he agreed to go to church to hear Bro. Roberson. He went and got saved and went into the baptistery with all his clothes on.
8. I have spoken about being filled with the Holy Spirit, and praying in the Spirit; now I would like to say a few words about being led by the Holy Spirit.

III. BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT.

1. Let me make this simple: you are either being led by the Spirit of God or you are not. You are either in God’s will or you are not.
2. Paul writes: "That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed" (Rom.15:32).
3. And if you are being led by the Spirit of God then no matter where you go it will be "with joy by the will of God" (15:32).
4. The Lord has convicted me that whenever I get cranky, whenever I get irritated, whenever I get impatient, I am not being filled with the Holy Spirit, and I am not being led by the Holy Spirit.
5. Listen, the world is full of crabby, whining, irritable people. God has saved us and He expects more from us. Paul wanted to come to them "with joy by the will of God," that they would "be refreshed," and that he himself would be refreshed (Rom.15:32).
6. Beloved, we need to be refreshed. Not the way the world tries to refresh – through drugs and alcohol, through stupid entertainment, through illicit sex, through money and possessions, and through everything except God.
7. But only God can refresh us (cf. Acts 3:19). How unreal this seems at times. There is so much barrenness in most churches, so much coldness, so much phoniness, so much worldliness.

CONCLUSION:

1. My trip to California was refreshing. We were in a church that has grown from 12 people to 3,000 in 13 years through door to door soulwinning.
2. I have asked God to do it right here in Elmont. Won’t that be refreshing? To have 400 members out knocking on doors every week? To see souls saved all the time, and baptized, and discipled?
3. But we need to have the fulness of God. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. Are you ready for this?