WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Real joy is not dependent on circumstances. It 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:05.599 can be a steady source of strength, no matter 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:08.240 what you're facing. Discover how joy is more 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.900 than a feeling, it's a way of life. Order your 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:13.560 copy of The Strength of Joy by Dean and Jeffrey 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.600 Forrest, now available on Amazon and Kindle. 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:20.160 Welcome to week number three in our series on 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.719 spiritual growth. Everyone say spiritual growth. 00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:26.780 Let's jump right in. 1 Corinthians 2 .14 says 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:30.690 this, the natural man... does not receive the 00:00:30.690 --> 00:00:33.630 things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness 00:00:33.630 --> 00:00:37.829 to him, nor can he know them, because they are 00:00:37.829 --> 00:00:41.469 spiritually discerned. Everybody say, natural 00:00:41.469 --> 00:00:45.530 man. 1 Corinthians 3, 1 through 3 says this, 00:00:45.630 --> 00:00:48.289 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:53.189 people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 00:00:53.770 --> 00:00:56.350 I fed you with milk and not with solid food, 00:00:56.429 --> 00:00:59.560 for until now... you were not able to receive 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:04.439 it. And even now, you are still not able. For 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:08.700 you are still carnal. For where there are envy, 00:01:08.819 --> 00:01:11.859 strife, and divisions among you, are you not 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:16.019 carnal? Behaving like mere men, or we could even 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:21.879 say behaving like natural men, right there. So 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:23.659 in these verses, we see that there are three 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:26.640 types of people, and these three... Types cover 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:29.500 everybody in the room, everybody surrounding 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:34.140 us. There are only three types of people. First 00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:36.760 one described is a natural person. A natural 00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:39.840 person is someone who is not born again. They're 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:43.299 unrenewed. They're led by their sensual nature. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:46.420 Or we could say they're flesh. That's all they 00:01:46.420 --> 00:01:50.400 have to follow. They have nothing else. Right? 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.299 That verse, the first verse that we read. It 00:01:53.299 --> 00:01:55.819 says they can't receive the things of God because 00:01:55.819 --> 00:02:00.260 they're only spiritually discerned. So this is 00:02:00.260 --> 00:02:04.239 a person without Christ. All they have to live 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:08.080 by as their guide is by what feels good to them 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.599 or by what seems right in their own eyes. That's 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:16.500 the only way they have to live. Now, a carnal 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:20.419 person is a Christian. Because Paul was talking 00:02:20.419 --> 00:02:22.860 to the believers in Corinth when he was talking 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:25.560 about being carnal, being babes, not being able 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:28.560 to handle meat, not even handling the milk very 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:34.879 well. A carnal person is a Christian, but they're 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.580 still living their lives like a natural person. 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.639 They're still living according to their flesh. 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:44.800 They're immature. They live on a childhood level 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:47.300 because they will not feed on the Word of God 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:51.620 and grow. Then we see a spiritual person. Everybody 00:02:51.620 --> 00:02:55.020 say spiritual. A spiritual person is a Christian 00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:57.439 who is led by the Spirit of God. We're supposed 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:01.120 to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:05.620 of God. That is part of our inheritance in Christ. 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:10.939 So a spiritual person is a person who is led 00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:13.719 by the Spirit of God, who's serious about the 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:16.919 Word of God, because the Word of God is going 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.819 to make sure By knowing the Word, we're going 00:03:19.819 --> 00:03:23.500 to make sure that we're on the right track. Because 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:26.039 the Spirit of God will never lead you to do something 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:31.139 that is contrary to the Word of God. So a spiritual 00:03:31.139 --> 00:03:36.280 person is someone who's growing. Look to the 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:37.639 person beside you and tell them it's a process. 00:03:39.939 --> 00:03:44.599 It's a process. And we're all, all of us, including 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.159 the preacher, we're all in this same process. 00:03:48.750 --> 00:03:52.990 of spiritual growth. But to be spiritual, we've 00:03:52.990 --> 00:03:56.469 got to be regularly receiving the Word of God. 00:03:57.289 --> 00:04:01.449 You've got to be daily walking in relationship 00:04:01.449 --> 00:04:05.590 with God Himself, the Holy Spirit who is inside 00:04:05.590 --> 00:04:10.050 of us. The same Holy Spirit who took us from 00:04:10.050 --> 00:04:13.830 being in sin and moved us to being in Christ. 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:17.259 He's in us. Know you not that your body is a 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:22.100 temple of the Holy Spirit? If you're in Christ, 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:27.100 God lives in you. We're supposed to be connected 00:04:27.100 --> 00:04:32.300 with Him. A carnal person just visits God every 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:34.879 once in a while. A spiritual person is connected 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:39.379 to God on a regular basis. So where does this 00:04:39.379 --> 00:04:43.019 spiritual growth come from? Where does it come 00:04:43.019 --> 00:04:47.660 from? Are you ready for another three? Had three 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:51.160 types of people. Right? Here's another three. 00:04:52.019 --> 00:04:59.420 1 Thessalonians 5 .23 says this, Now may the 00:04:59.420 --> 00:05:04.899 God of peace... Everybody say, I'm thankful that 00:05:04.899 --> 00:05:08.839 I have a God of peace. Now may the God of peace 00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:12.920 make you holy in every way. Everybody say, set 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:17.829 apart. May the God of peace make you set apart 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:23.290 wholly in every way. May your whole spirit and 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:28.850 soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord 00:05:28.850 --> 00:05:34.250 Jesus Christ comes again. Do you see that we're 00:05:34.250 --> 00:05:40.370 made of three parts? Can you see it right there? 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:45.019 Some people might debate you on this, but I think 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:48.300 it's very clear here in 1 Thessalonians. May 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:54.060 your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:58.680 until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. So we 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:02.980 are three -part beings. When I say man, when 00:06:02.980 --> 00:06:05.060 I use man, I'm talking about mankind, I'm talking 00:06:05.060 --> 00:06:09.879 about humanity. So you are a three -part being. 00:06:11.099 --> 00:06:15.620 You are a spirit. Everybody say, I am a spirit. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.240 I know we've talked about this every week so 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:21.519 far in the series, but we need to know this. 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:30.819 You are a spirit. You have a soul. And you live 00:06:30.819 --> 00:06:37.480 in a body. It's very important that you know 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.939 that you are a spirit because we are created. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:45.800 in the very image of God, you being a spirit 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:49.100 is what separates you from every other living 00:06:49.100 --> 00:06:55.019 thing on this earth. We're created in the image 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:59.040 of God, who is spirit. He's a spirit class, we 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.519 could say, of being. There are different classes 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:09.120 of beings. Right? There's the plant kingdom. 00:07:09.850 --> 00:07:13.430 Got some living plants outside. There's an animal 00:07:13.430 --> 00:07:17.550 kingdom. I've got a wonderful grand puppy, Labradoodle, 00:07:17.610 --> 00:07:21.670 weighs almost 80 pounds, and she thinks she weighs 00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:26.670 about 10. And then there's a spiritual kingdom. 00:07:28.009 --> 00:07:30.009 Now, your biology teacher might just tell you 00:07:30.009 --> 00:07:33.089 that there's a plant kingdom and an animal kingdom, 00:07:33.149 --> 00:07:35.730 but there's another kingdom. There's a spiritual 00:07:35.730 --> 00:07:42.680 kingdom. Three types of beings. Living natural 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:47.540 beings in this world. Three types. So, we are 00:07:47.540 --> 00:07:53.120 a spirit and we have a soul. We have a soul. 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:57.939 And we live in a body. Everybody pinch yourself. 00:07:58.500 --> 00:08:03.720 That's your body that goes out. Alright. So our 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:10.819 spirit comes alive at salvation. Comes alive 00:08:10.819 --> 00:08:16.560 unto God at salvation. Do you remember in the 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:20.120 garden in Genesis where God says, hey, everything 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:22.620 is yours except this one tree. Do not eat from 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:24.759 this tree because the day you eat of it, you 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:29.480 will surely die. How many of you know Adam and 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:32.539 Eve ate from the tree? How many of you know that 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:35.779 they didn't have a massive heart attack and die 00:08:35.779 --> 00:08:45.940 on the spot? But they died. Their spirit, who 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:53.620 they were, became detached from God. Detached 00:08:53.620 --> 00:08:55.759 from God. Talking about spiritual death, not 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.580 just physical death. Now they began the process 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:05.259 physically of dying. That sin brought all that, 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:10.120 the physical death, but immediately there was 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:13.879 a separation from God that took place. Things 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:18.419 were different. Now, when we come into a relationship 00:09:18.419 --> 00:09:21.500 with Christ, when we are born again, our spirit 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:25.559 is now united with Christ. That means we're born 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:28.460 again. Everybody say born again. So our spirit 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:34.700 is now alive unto God. And at that moment, this 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:39.919 is good. At that moment, you are clothed in the 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:49.129 righteousness of Jesus. you will never be any 00:09:49.129 --> 00:09:52.549 more right with God than the day that you came 00:09:52.549 --> 00:09:56.750 into a relationship with Jesus. Because His righteousness 00:09:56.750 --> 00:10:02.690 became your righteousness. His life became your 00:10:02.690 --> 00:10:11.830 life. His victory became your victory. So, our 00:10:11.830 --> 00:10:15.779 spirit man comes alive at salvation. We become 00:10:15.779 --> 00:10:23.139 righteous and complete. Fit for heaven. Right 00:10:23.139 --> 00:10:31.039 at that point. But our souls, how we've been 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.720 living our lives up until that point, because 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.179 our spirits were dead to God, we had to just 00:10:38.179 --> 00:10:40.799 make it on our own until we come into a relationship 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:44.470 with Christ. And we're just soul beings. I'm 00:10:44.470 --> 00:10:50.230 a soul man. Alright. I'm glad some of you woke 00:10:50.230 --> 00:10:57.509 up. We just live by our souls. What is your soul? 00:10:58.669 --> 00:11:01.250 Well, your soul is comprised of three more things. 00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:04.629 Everybody say three more. It's comprised of your 00:11:04.629 --> 00:11:07.850 mind, your will, and your emotions. Let's break 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:10.210 it down so we can understand it even more. Your 00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:14.629 soul is comprised of your thought life. You're 00:11:14.629 --> 00:11:18.570 always thinking something. That's in the soulish 00:11:18.570 --> 00:11:23.190 realm. Your thought life, your desires, you're 00:11:23.190 --> 00:11:27.009 always wanting something too. And your feelings. 00:11:28.529 --> 00:11:33.309 Whoa, whoa, whoa, feelings. And we can have some 00:11:33.309 --> 00:11:36.009 great feelings and emotions. We can have some 00:11:36.009 --> 00:11:41.379 God feelings and emotions. But every feeling 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:44.779 and emotion that we experience is not a God feeling 00:11:44.779 --> 00:11:50.840 or emotion. Sometimes our emotions and our feelings, 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:54.980 if we decide that we're going to live by our 00:11:54.980 --> 00:11:58.039 emotions and feelings instead of living by our 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:03.779 spirit, we're going to have a rough life. But 00:12:03.779 --> 00:12:09.039 see, that's all we know to live in until we... 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:14.720 Find out those things that are from the Spirit 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:19.120 that are only spiritually discerned. And the 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:25.080 Holy Spirit always calls us to come up higher. 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:32.919 Always. Always. So the difference between a carnal 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:37.809 person and a spiritual person is the spiritual 00:12:37.809 --> 00:12:41.389 growth of the soul or the lack thereof. The spiritual 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:46.210 growth of our thought life. The spiritual growth 00:12:46.210 --> 00:12:52.870 of our desires. The spiritual growth of our emotions 00:12:52.870 --> 00:12:56.070 and feelings. Do you know all those things can 00:12:56.070 --> 00:13:00.929 grow spiritually? When they're led by the Spirit. 00:13:01.070 --> 00:13:05.009 When the Spirit of God who is... completely connected 00:13:05.009 --> 00:13:11.230 with you as you are a spirit, then when He helps 00:13:11.230 --> 00:13:16.850 us and empowers us and shows us and brings revelation 00:13:16.850 --> 00:13:23.070 to us, then it can begin to impact and take charge 00:13:23.070 --> 00:13:31.809 over our soul. And as that happens, Our flesh 00:13:31.809 --> 00:13:36.429 is even going to start getting in line. Hello? 00:13:38.710 --> 00:13:41.610 How many of you would agree with me that your 00:13:41.610 --> 00:13:43.450 flesh could be a little bit more in line than 00:13:43.450 --> 00:13:46.230 it is right now? How many of you agree with me 00:13:46.230 --> 00:13:48.389 that your soul, your thought life could be a 00:13:48.389 --> 00:13:50.809 little bit more in line? Your desires could be 00:13:50.809 --> 00:13:56.009 a little bit... Your emotions and feelings could 00:13:56.009 --> 00:14:05.789 be a little bit... Some people think that spiritual 00:14:05.789 --> 00:14:09.090 maturity is measured by how long you've been 00:14:09.090 --> 00:14:15.710 a Christian. That's not the case. Because time, 00:14:15.750 --> 00:14:20.330 unlike physical growth, time makes no difference 00:14:20.330 --> 00:14:25.210 whether you grow spiritually or not. You could 00:14:25.210 --> 00:14:28.490 be a Christian for one year and be more spiritually 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:30.990 mature than everybody in this room, including 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:36.840 the preacher. So spiritual maturity is not measured 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:42.500 by how long you've been a Christian, how often 00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:48.080 you attend worship services. Boy, I'm mature 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:56.360 because I go to church every week. I ain't going 00:14:56.360 --> 00:15:00.559 to say it. Spiritual maturity is not measured 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:04.029 by how loud you worship. What kind of show you 00:15:04.029 --> 00:15:09.029 put on when you're worshiping? Spiritual maturity 00:15:09.029 --> 00:15:13.149 is not even measured by how much scripture you 00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:16.850 can quote. We went around the room and said, 00:15:16.870 --> 00:15:18.690 okay, give me all the Bible verses you know. 00:15:19.169 --> 00:15:22.289 And we couldn't say that the person who knew 00:15:22.289 --> 00:15:24.570 the most Bible verses was the most spiritual 00:15:24.570 --> 00:15:28.990 in the room. Because you can know a lot of Bible 00:15:28.990 --> 00:15:36.840 verses and still be mean. Has anybody ever met 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:44.519 some mean person in a church somewhere? Has anybody 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:52.019 ever met a sour person in church? It's no matter 00:15:52.019 --> 00:15:54.340 how much you go to church or how many scriptures 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:57.779 you can quote. That's not spiritual maturity. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:02.360 How is spiritual maturity measured? Luke 6, 43. 00:16:03.179 --> 00:16:07.059 And 44 says this, A good tree does not bear bad 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:11.940 fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For 00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:17.799 every tree is known by its own fruit. So spiritual 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:22.559 growth, then, is measured by spiritual fruit. 00:16:25.419 --> 00:16:29.899 And you know that you're growing if the fruit 00:16:29.899 --> 00:16:36.190 of the Spirit is constantly increasing. You know 00:16:36.190 --> 00:16:41.490 that you're spiritually growing if the fruit 00:16:41.490 --> 00:16:44.669 of the Spirit is evidenced in your life, in your 00:16:44.669 --> 00:16:49.870 daily walk, not just in the time on Sunday morning 00:16:49.870 --> 00:16:58.750 or at life group. Not just in those times. I'm 00:16:58.750 --> 00:17:01.909 talking about when you're at work. I'm talking 00:17:01.909 --> 00:17:05.819 about when you're at school. I'm talking about 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:13.420 when you're home. Is the fruit of the Spirit 00:17:13.420 --> 00:17:21.079 evidenced in your life? And here's the deal. 00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:26.039 We're not having this series so that you can 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:30.259 look at your family member, your husband, your 00:17:30.259 --> 00:17:33.190 wife, your kids, your parents. We're not having 00:17:33.190 --> 00:17:35.250 this series so that you can look at somebody 00:17:35.250 --> 00:17:38.490 else and say, well, you're not being very spiritual. 00:17:43.069 --> 00:17:45.670 This whole thing is about a self -examination. 00:17:48.150 --> 00:17:51.349 Let's examine our own hearts. Let's examine our 00:17:51.349 --> 00:17:57.089 own lives. I've said this before in this series, 00:17:57.150 --> 00:17:59.950 but I'm going to say it again. You know, if I 00:17:59.950 --> 00:18:06.049 ask myself, How spiritual I am? My answer is 00:18:06.049 --> 00:18:09.730 almost always, if not always, always going to 00:18:09.730 --> 00:18:12.410 be, I think I'm a whole lot more spiritual than 00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:15.910 I am. That's going to be my answer. Oh, I'm going 00:18:15.910 --> 00:18:17.650 to be real spiritual because I'm the preacher. 00:18:22.309 --> 00:18:27.950 Listen, it don't matter what I think. What matters? 00:18:29.649 --> 00:18:33.750 is if the fruit of the Spirit is increasing and 00:18:33.750 --> 00:18:41.029 evident in my life. And I would say that I'm 00:18:41.029 --> 00:18:42.869 like every single one of us. There are times 00:18:42.869 --> 00:18:47.170 when it's not very evident. Come on, somebody. 00:18:48.170 --> 00:18:49.910 Don't shout me down while I'm preaching good. 00:18:53.190 --> 00:18:57.049 Because we face circumstances and situations 00:18:57.049 --> 00:19:02.349 and then all of a sudden, All of a sudden, love 00:19:02.349 --> 00:19:05.490 is not evidenced in my life. All of a sudden, 00:19:05.509 --> 00:19:09.809 joy is not evidenced in my life. And today, all 00:19:09.809 --> 00:19:12.470 of a sudden, peace is not evident in my life. 00:19:15.029 --> 00:19:17.190 Week number three, so we're going to be talking 00:19:17.190 --> 00:19:20.509 about peace. Everybody say peace. Galatians 5, 00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:23.710 22 and 23, there's a list of the fruit of the 00:19:23.710 --> 00:19:26.930 Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Everybody 00:19:26.930 --> 00:19:37.490 say love. Joy and peace. Fruit of the Spirit. 00:19:39.450 --> 00:19:45.549 Things in our life that should be growing and 00:19:45.549 --> 00:19:49.869 should be evident all the time. Somebody say 00:19:49.869 --> 00:19:53.089 all the time. All the time. No matter what we 00:19:53.089 --> 00:19:59.599 face. No matter what we encounter. Because if 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:05.759 we lose it, here's what that means. If it's not 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:11.019 evidenced in our lives when we face a challenging 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:15.180 situation, if love is not evidenced, if joy is 00:20:15.180 --> 00:20:19.640 not evidenced, if peace is not evidenced, then 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:24.259 we're depending on natural love, joy, and peace. 00:20:30.990 --> 00:20:35.549 But spiritual love, joy, and peace is something 00:20:35.549 --> 00:20:41.170 supernatural. So we're supposed to have a whole 00:20:41.170 --> 00:20:45.490 different level. When we're in Christ, when we 00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:48.910 are growing spiritually, oh, we need to be at 00:20:48.910 --> 00:20:52.690 a whole different level. A supernatural level 00:20:52.690 --> 00:20:57.069 of love and joy and peace. That's what's available 00:20:57.069 --> 00:21:00.009 to us. See, and I'm not saying that you've got 00:21:00.009 --> 00:21:07.390 to work it up in the flesh. Because some people 00:21:07.390 --> 00:21:08.910 can listen to what I'm talking about and all 00:21:08.910 --> 00:21:11.210 of a sudden they can start feeling guilty and 00:21:11.210 --> 00:21:16.750 condemned. That's not what's happening here. 00:21:19.170 --> 00:21:21.470 I'm telling you that there's something supernatural 00:21:21.470 --> 00:21:25.769 available to you that's fruit of the Holy Spirit 00:21:25.769 --> 00:21:28.970 that's going to flow. Everybody say flow. It's 00:21:28.970 --> 00:21:31.190 something that's going to flow from your spirit 00:21:31.190 --> 00:21:36.849 to your soul to your flesh to the world. It's 00:21:36.849 --> 00:21:40.509 going to flow. And I'll go ahead and throw it 00:21:40.509 --> 00:21:42.230 in. That's another way to tell if you've got 00:21:42.230 --> 00:21:44.670 the supernatural kind or not. Because it's going 00:21:44.670 --> 00:21:47.710 to flow. And people around you are going to notice 00:21:47.710 --> 00:21:51.569 it and see it. And it becomes a testimony of 00:21:51.569 --> 00:21:56.940 the goodness of God. And that's where we need 00:21:56.940 --> 00:22:10.720 to live. In the flow. Whoo! The word peace. Here's 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:14.779 the Greek word, reine. Peace, and in the strongest 00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:23.480 concordance, has this quietness, rest, to set 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:26.450 at one. How many of you know if you're just all 00:22:26.450 --> 00:22:28.910 scattered and crazy that you're not having peace? 00:22:29.089 --> 00:22:30.670 I mean, that's just like, it's all just wow. 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:35.029 Maybe not on the outside, but on the inside. 00:22:35.569 --> 00:22:39.210 Does your inside ever go wow? Too much overload. 00:22:42.490 --> 00:22:47.190 Set at one. And then I pulled this word from 00:22:47.190 --> 00:22:50.890 the New American Standard Concordance. Because 00:22:50.890 --> 00:22:52.450 I think it will help us understand a little bit 00:22:52.450 --> 00:22:56.210 more. Peace is being undisturbed. You like that? 00:22:56.430 --> 00:23:03.509 I liked it. Undisturbed. I want you to let that 00:23:03.509 --> 00:23:08.930 sink in this week. Because if you have supernatural 00:23:08.930 --> 00:23:14.710 peace, you're going to be undisturbed. How many 00:23:14.710 --> 00:23:16.269 of you know there's going to be some things that's 00:23:16.269 --> 00:23:18.680 going to happen today or this week? that are 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:21.519 going to try to take you out of being undisturbed 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.660 and make you very disturbed. If you're alive 00:23:24.660 --> 00:23:30.859 in this world, right? But this supernatural peace 00:23:30.859 --> 00:23:32.720 that I'm talking about is just living your life 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:40.660 undisturbed. It's available. It's available. 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:44.740 In Christ, it's available. See, we're living 00:23:44.740 --> 00:23:49.009 in a world filled with chaos. Everybody around 00:23:49.009 --> 00:23:51.609 us is anxious. Everybody's fearful. Everybody's 00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:53.710 overwhelmed. Everybody's mentally exhausted. 00:23:56.690 --> 00:24:07.670 Sometimes it's us. See, anybody can have natural 00:24:07.670 --> 00:24:12.670 peace. Anyone can be peaceful when their bank 00:24:12.670 --> 00:24:16.920 account's full. Anyone can be peaceful when their 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:23.079 doctor's report is good. Anybody can be peaceful 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:26.700 when all their relationships are just going really 00:24:26.700 --> 00:24:33.200 well. Anyone can be peaceful when their future 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.940 seems bright. It's like, boy, sunny horizon ahead. 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:45.140 But that's just natural peace. Natural peace. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:51.059 The Bible says that God has given us everything 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:55.859 we need. He's already given it. Somebody say, 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:58.160 He's already given it. He's given us everything 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:06.819 we need for life and godliness. He's already 00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:11.720 given it. It's already yours. If you're in Christ, 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:16.160 it's already yours. Everything you need for life 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:23.039 and godliness, it's yours. You don't have to 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:29.700 beg for it. You just have to receive it. God 00:25:29.700 --> 00:25:34.400 has given us everything we need to keep us steady. 00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:39.940 Even when our lives and the situations around 00:25:39.940 --> 00:25:47.390 us begin to feel unstable, God has already given 00:25:47.390 --> 00:25:58.069 you everything you need to keep you steady. If 00:25:58.069 --> 00:26:02.950 your mind just said, oh, I wish, he's already 00:26:02.950 --> 00:26:11.089 given it. You just have to receive it. Let's... 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.579 Talk about it a little bit deeper. Look at the 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:18.200 person beside you and say, go deeper. Go deep. 00:26:19.539 --> 00:26:26.440 Your peace, or lack thereof, begins in your mind. 00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:32.720 That's where it begins. It doesn't begin with 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:35.599 the things that are going on around you. You 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.619 might think it begins there, but it doesn't. 00:26:39.950 --> 00:26:43.109 Because two people can see the same thing, go 00:26:43.109 --> 00:26:48.410 through the same experience. Hello? See the same 00:26:48.410 --> 00:26:52.430 thing, go through the same experience. And one 00:26:52.430 --> 00:27:01.990 can have peace, and one can be tore up. Your 00:27:01.990 --> 00:27:09.359 peace begins in your mind. Your lack of peace 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:16.420 begins in your mind. Now, if you were here for 00:27:16.420 --> 00:27:19.420 our last series, Jeffrey gave an illustration 00:27:19.420 --> 00:27:23.799 that there's always birds flying over your head. 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:28.619 Thoughts. Everybody say thoughts. Birds represent 00:27:28.619 --> 00:27:32.000 thoughts. So there's always birds flying over 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:37.309 your head. You can't control. Whether the birds 00:27:37.309 --> 00:27:39.490 are flying over your head or not. But you can 00:27:39.490 --> 00:27:41.750 control which one of them builds a nest in your 00:27:41.750 --> 00:27:49.809 hair. You can control what you set your mind 00:27:49.809 --> 00:27:55.750 on. You can control how you process. See, your 00:27:55.750 --> 00:27:59.170 mind controls how you process what you see, what 00:27:59.170 --> 00:28:02.450 you experience. You process it in your thought 00:28:02.450 --> 00:28:12.549 life. Here's what God says. Isaiah 26, verse 00:28:12.549 --> 00:28:15.049 3. Does anybody want more peace than you have 00:28:15.049 --> 00:28:19.089 today? Somebody help me out. I'm telling you 00:28:19.089 --> 00:28:21.990 how to get it. I don't know if you saw my post 00:28:21.990 --> 00:28:23.730 this morning, but I said, if you're searching 00:28:23.730 --> 00:28:26.670 for peace, come to church today, and I'm going 00:28:26.670 --> 00:28:36.589 to tell you where to find it. Isaiah 26, 3. God 00:28:36.589 --> 00:28:43.130 will keep in perfect peace all who trust in Him 00:28:43.130 --> 00:28:47.829 and all whose thoughts, everybody say thoughts, 00:28:48.170 --> 00:28:57.049 all whose thoughts are fixed on Him. You as God. 00:28:57.509 --> 00:29:05.140 God, you will keep in perfect peace. everyone 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:09.259 who trusts in you, you will keep them in perfect 00:29:09.259 --> 00:29:13.180 peace. If they keep their thoughts fixed on you, 00:29:13.299 --> 00:29:18.880 you will keep them in perfect peace. Everybody 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:22.160 say expectation. See, when you know the truth, 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:36.349 you have to let it affect your expectation. Maybe 00:29:36.349 --> 00:29:40.250 you need to write this down and say this, this 00:29:40.250 --> 00:29:43.490 afternoon when you leave church. God, my thoughts 00:29:43.490 --> 00:29:48.970 are fixed on you. God, I trust you. So I expect 00:29:48.970 --> 00:29:57.890 you to keep me in perfect peace. That's setting 00:29:57.890 --> 00:30:03.049 your words in agreement with God. Romans 8, 5 00:30:03.049 --> 00:30:07.319 and 6. Listen to this. Those who are dominated 00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:13.660 by the sinful nature think about sinful things. 00:30:14.180 --> 00:30:17.759 Everybody say natural. Everybody say carnal. 00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:22.799 Natural people and carnal people are dominated 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:26.579 by their sinful nature and they think about sinful 00:30:26.579 --> 00:30:30.319 things. They set their minds on things that are 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:34.019 contrary to what God has provided, what God has 00:30:34.019 --> 00:30:41.539 promised. natural and carnal people. People who 00:30:41.539 --> 00:30:45.480 aren't being transformed by the Holy Spirit through 00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:49.220 the Word of God. Let's continue. Romans 8, 5 00:30:49.220 --> 00:30:51.740 and 6. Those who are dominated by the sinful 00:30:51.740 --> 00:30:54.700 nature think about sinful things, but those who 00:30:54.700 --> 00:30:57.720 are controlled by the Holy Spirit, everybody 00:30:57.720 --> 00:31:00.400 say spiritual people, those who are controlled 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:03.819 by the Holy Spirit think about things that please 00:31:03.819 --> 00:31:19.339 the Spirit. Is worry natural or spiritual? Hello? 00:31:20.579 --> 00:31:23.480 We're just putting it down where the rubber meets 00:31:23.480 --> 00:31:28.140 the road. Setting your mind on something that 00:31:28.140 --> 00:31:35.339 brings worry is natural. As a matter of fact, 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:38.599 Jesus said that's the way carnal people think. 00:31:38.700 --> 00:31:43.579 That's the way natural people think. Remember 00:31:43.579 --> 00:31:45.880 from our last series? I mean, I don't have it 00:31:45.880 --> 00:31:51.000 up here, but where Jesus said, you know, don't 00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:53.240 worry about what you're going to eat, what you're 00:31:53.240 --> 00:32:00.039 going to wear. He said, look at the birds. Consider 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:05.039 the birds. Here's what He's telling us. We may 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:13.559 look and see lack of food or clothes. That's 00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:16.819 natural. But Jesus said, don't look at that. 00:32:18.259 --> 00:32:25.579 He said, look at the birds. Look at the flowers. 00:32:27.319 --> 00:32:30.720 Look at the faithfulness of God is ultimately 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:33.839 what He's saying. Look at the faithfulness of 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:36.440 God. Consider the faithfulness of God. Think 00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:40.579 about the faithfulness of God. Don't think about 00:32:40.579 --> 00:32:44.589 the lack. Think about the goodness and faithfulness 00:32:44.589 --> 00:32:48.470 of God. You might say, well, what's that going 00:32:48.470 --> 00:32:53.670 to do? It's going to open up the gate to God's 00:32:53.670 --> 00:32:56.230 supernatural ability and power to work in your 00:32:56.230 --> 00:33:01.710 life. That's what it's going to do. Those who 00:33:01.710 --> 00:33:03.430 are dominated by the sinful nature think about 00:33:03.430 --> 00:33:05.430 sinful things, but those who are controlled by 00:33:05.430 --> 00:33:07.849 the Spirit think about things that please the 00:33:07.849 --> 00:33:12.109 Spirit. Letting your sinful nature control your 00:33:12.109 --> 00:33:16.609 mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control 00:33:16.609 --> 00:33:21.410 your mind leads to life and peace. Somebody say 00:33:21.410 --> 00:33:35.970 peace. Peace. You might say, well, how do I let 00:33:35.970 --> 00:33:43.359 the Spirit control my mind? You've got to acknowledge 00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:49.079 Him. You've got to consult Him. You've got to 00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:57.759 walk with Him. You've got to know what the Word 00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:03.299 of God says about your peace. You've got to side 00:34:03.299 --> 00:34:06.140 with what God says instead of what situations 00:34:06.140 --> 00:34:12.909 and circumstances in this world says. Everybody 00:34:12.909 --> 00:34:15.889 say thought life. If you're not experiencing 00:34:15.889 --> 00:34:19.150 peace, chances are your thought life has to change. 00:34:23.650 --> 00:34:25.489 Talked about the birds, but you can think of 00:34:25.489 --> 00:34:29.309 it this way. You know, at MCO, there's a control 00:34:29.309 --> 00:34:34.469 tower. At the Orlando International Airport, 00:34:34.630 --> 00:34:38.489 there's a control tower. And the control tower's 00:34:38.489 --> 00:34:44.429 in charge. Hello? Don't try to read ahead. Look 00:34:44.429 --> 00:34:48.389 at me. The control tower is in charge of who's 00:34:48.389 --> 00:34:50.530 going to land and when they're going to land. 00:34:52.030 --> 00:35:01.269 They're in charge. Your mind functions like the 00:35:01.269 --> 00:35:05.289 control tower of your life. Listen, whatever 00:35:05.289 --> 00:35:09.269 you allow into your thinking, whatever you set 00:35:09.269 --> 00:35:12.059 your mind on, See, different thoughts are going 00:35:12.059 --> 00:35:13.880 to come. Different planes are going to try to 00:35:13.880 --> 00:35:17.099 land. You know, it's coming in, but whatever 00:35:17.099 --> 00:35:21.639 you allow into your thinking begins landing in 00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:30.860 your emotions. And if the wrong planes start 00:35:30.860 --> 00:35:36.380 landing in your emotions, you're going to start 00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:41.429 walking and living by your emotions. and by your 00:35:41.429 --> 00:35:46.670 feelings, and you're going to be on a crazy roller 00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:50.269 coaster because it's going to be up and down 00:35:50.269 --> 00:35:52.289 and up and down and up and down and up and down 00:35:52.289 --> 00:35:54.610 and spin and turn and woo, up and down and down 00:35:54.610 --> 00:36:05.110 and up. Supernatural peace of God is not affected 00:36:05.110 --> 00:36:08.530 by natural circumstances. There is a peace that 00:36:08.530 --> 00:36:14.639 is higher. Than natural peace. A peace that is 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:21.659 unaffected. Here's an example. Mark 4, verse 00:36:21.659 --> 00:36:25.139 35 through 41. As evening came, Jesus came to 00:36:25.139 --> 00:36:27.119 his disciples. Let's cross to the other side 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:30.159 of the lake. So they took Jesus in the boat and 00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:33.340 started out, leaving the crowds behind, although 00:36:33.340 --> 00:36:38.199 other boats followed. But soon, a fierce storm 00:36:38.199 --> 00:36:41.309 came up. High waves were breaking into the boat. 00:36:41.429 --> 00:36:44.670 It began to fill with water. Somebody say, oh 00:36:44.670 --> 00:36:52.909 no. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat 00:36:52.909 --> 00:36:59.710 with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke 00:36:59.710 --> 00:37:03.550 him up shouting, teacher, don't you care that 00:37:03.550 --> 00:37:13.400 we're going to drown? Does that seem like us 00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:19.320 sometimes? Hey Jesus, don't you care that this 00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:25.840 is about to kill me? Don't you care about what's 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:29.219 going on in my life? Don't you care about what 00:37:29.219 --> 00:37:37.760 I'm facing? Jesus, don't you care? My son tells 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:39.440 me I'm not supposed to say stupid anymore, but 00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:46.920 that's stupid. I mean, I didn't grow up with 00:37:46.920 --> 00:37:50.920 stupid being a cuss word. So I'm not cussing. 00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:59.739 If you think I just cussed, I didn't cuss. Who 00:37:59.739 --> 00:38:06.199 are we to say and question that Jesus cares about 00:38:06.199 --> 00:38:13.019 us or not? What kind of thought is that? A wrong 00:38:13.019 --> 00:38:19.820 thought. Jesus, don't you care? Of course Jesus 00:38:19.820 --> 00:38:25.980 cares. He always cares. There's nothing that 00:38:25.980 --> 00:38:27.860 comes into your life that He's not concerned 00:38:27.860 --> 00:38:30.000 about, that He don't care about. And there's 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:32.079 nothing that comes into your life that, listen, 00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:35.019 He hasn't already provided the way of escape. 00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:38.000 He's already provided everything you need for 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:40.000 life. He's already done it. He did it on the 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:51.800 cross. Teacher, don't you care what I'm going 00:38:51.800 --> 00:38:57.000 through right now? Jesus, don't you care? Of 00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:02.699 course he cares. When Jesus woke up, see, he 00:39:02.699 --> 00:39:04.480 was sleeping through the storm because he had 00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:09.559 supernatural peace. The disciples were saying, 00:39:09.719 --> 00:39:13.099 don't you care? We're about to die. They were 00:39:13.099 --> 00:39:16.079 in panic. They were in fear. Well, they only 00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:21.119 had natural peace. When Jesus woke up, He rebuked 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:24.380 the wind and said to the waves, Silence, be still. 00:39:25.059 --> 00:39:27.639 Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great 00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:36.219 calm. Then He asked them, Hey guys, why are you 00:39:36.219 --> 00:39:48.000 afraid? Do you still have no faith? Do you still 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:53.059 have no faith? Why are you so afraid? And that's 00:39:53.059 --> 00:40:00.659 the same thing Jesus asked me and you when we 00:40:00.659 --> 00:40:04.500 go into a situation and we have no peace because 00:40:04.500 --> 00:40:07.840 all we have is natural peace and he's given us 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:10.360 supernatural peace and he's like, wait a minute. 00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:21.070 Why are you afraid? Where's your faith? So faith 00:40:21.070 --> 00:40:26.389 is involved in having the peace of God. Listen, 00:40:26.610 --> 00:40:29.730 supernatural peace is not the absence of storms. 00:40:32.050 --> 00:40:39.210 It's the constant and complete confidence. That's 00:40:39.210 --> 00:40:44.150 a lot of C's together. It's the constant and 00:40:44.150 --> 00:40:48.130 complete confidence in God during the storms. 00:40:51.690 --> 00:40:55.909 Should I say it again? Supernatural peace is 00:40:55.909 --> 00:41:01.969 not the absence of storms. It is the constant 00:41:01.969 --> 00:41:05.489 and complete confidence in God during the storms. 00:41:09.369 --> 00:41:17.429 Peace grows where trust grows. It's one thing 00:41:17.429 --> 00:41:23.219 to sing, I trust in God, right? It's another 00:41:23.219 --> 00:41:26.679 thing to really trust Him in everyday life. And 00:41:26.679 --> 00:41:32.980 peace will grow where trust grows. Are you a 00:41:32.980 --> 00:41:37.760 thermostat or a thermometer? Everybody's done 00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:40.840 right ahead. I'm going to quit putting it up 00:41:40.840 --> 00:41:43.300 there and just have notes up here for me to read. 00:41:48.710 --> 00:41:52.289 God is calling us to be thermostats, not thermometers. 00:41:53.550 --> 00:41:56.530 A thermometer just reacts to the environment 00:41:56.530 --> 00:42:01.070 around it. But a thermostat changes the environment. 00:42:05.690 --> 00:42:12.349 I thought it was good too. John 14, 27. You might 00:42:12.349 --> 00:42:15.369 say, well, you know, you keep saying that Jesus 00:42:15.369 --> 00:42:17.469 gave me this supernatural peace. Can you show 00:42:17.469 --> 00:42:21.150 me? Can you tell me when he did this? Well, he 00:42:21.150 --> 00:42:26.309 did it before he even went back to heaven, before 00:42:26.309 --> 00:42:30.730 he even died on the cross. John 14, 27, he says, 00:42:30.750 --> 00:42:37.610 I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and 00:42:37.610 --> 00:42:43.829 heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world 00:42:43.829 --> 00:42:48.440 cannot give. The world cannot give you supernatural 00:42:48.440 --> 00:42:53.619 peace. But Jesus has already given you this supernatural 00:42:53.619 --> 00:42:56.699 peace. And then he says this. So, since I've 00:42:56.699 --> 00:42:59.420 given you this supernatural peace, don't be troubled. 00:43:00.280 --> 00:43:07.500 It's a choice. Don't be afraid. Don't be troubled. 00:43:13.039 --> 00:43:15.239 You might say, do you really think I can live 00:43:15.239 --> 00:43:18.300 my life without being troubled, without being 00:43:18.300 --> 00:43:22.980 afraid? Me personally, I don't know if you can 00:43:22.980 --> 00:43:29.760 or not, but Jesus said you can. Is that not what 00:43:29.760 --> 00:43:33.900 it says? I didn't write this. This is the Bible. 00:43:36.139 --> 00:43:37.940 When are we going to start believing the Bible? 00:43:44.349 --> 00:43:47.309 Hallelujah. Peace is a gift that must be received. 00:43:50.190 --> 00:43:52.849 How many of you know that you have to receive 00:43:52.849 --> 00:43:58.230 salvation? Jesus died on the cross for your sin, 00:43:58.389 --> 00:44:02.329 for my sin. Just because He died on the cross, 00:44:02.590 --> 00:44:04.949 does that mean that everybody who's ever lived 00:44:04.949 --> 00:44:16.309 and ever will live will be forgiven? No. Was 00:44:16.309 --> 00:44:24.170 his sacrifice enough on the cross? Yes. It's 00:44:24.170 --> 00:44:27.670 available for everyone. The Bible says, God said, 00:44:27.730 --> 00:44:30.309 it's not my will that any should perish, but 00:44:30.309 --> 00:44:37.030 that all should come to faith. But salvation 00:44:37.030 --> 00:44:44.579 is a gift, but it has to be received. And listen, 00:44:44.699 --> 00:44:50.119 everything that God has for you works just like 00:44:50.119 --> 00:44:59.840 that. Just like that. It's a grace gift from 00:44:59.840 --> 00:45:05.659 God. Peace is a grace gift from God. Joy is a 00:45:05.659 --> 00:45:07.739 grace gift from God. We talked about joy last 00:45:07.739 --> 00:45:10.619 week. All these things are grace gifts from God. 00:45:12.679 --> 00:45:19.599 But we have to receive them. Philippians 4, 6 00:45:19.599 --> 00:45:23.559 -7. Here's some more verses. Don't worry about 00:45:23.559 --> 00:45:28.619 anything. Could it get any more direct or plain 00:45:28.619 --> 00:45:33.340 than that? Don't worry about anything. Instead, 00:45:33.480 --> 00:45:38.980 pray about everything. And I'm not talking about 00:45:38.980 --> 00:45:44.659 just begging God. I'm talking about declaring 00:45:44.659 --> 00:45:50.420 heavenly realities in your prayer. Pray about 00:45:50.420 --> 00:45:55.280 everything. Listen, tell God what you need and 00:45:55.280 --> 00:46:04.940 thank Him for all He has done. Then. When is 00:46:04.940 --> 00:46:08.139 then? Well, you've got to not worry about anything. 00:46:08.360 --> 00:46:10.510 You've got to pray about everything. And then 00:46:10.510 --> 00:46:12.110 you've got to talk to God about what you need 00:46:12.110 --> 00:46:17.449 and you've got to thank Him. You've got to do 00:46:17.449 --> 00:46:22.769 these things first before the then happens. Then 00:46:22.769 --> 00:46:30.409 you will experience God's peace which exceeds 00:46:30.409 --> 00:46:36.269 anything we can understand naturally or humanly. 00:46:38.130 --> 00:46:44.190 His peace. will guard your heart. His peace will 00:46:44.190 --> 00:46:51.329 guard your mind as you live in Christ Jesus. 00:46:54.090 --> 00:47:05.460 It's powerful. Powerful. Living in Christ. refusing 00:47:05.460 --> 00:47:08.559 to worry about anything, praying and keeping 00:47:08.559 --> 00:47:15.199 an open communication with God, being thankful 00:47:15.199 --> 00:47:19.460 for all He has given and all He's done and all 00:47:19.460 --> 00:47:22.760 He's provided, just being thankful and grateful. 00:47:28.659 --> 00:47:33.400 Supernatural peace begins to flow. And it's not 00:47:33.400 --> 00:47:35.179 like the world's peace, because the world's peace 00:47:35.179 --> 00:47:40.239 depends on what's going on around you. Supernatural 00:47:40.239 --> 00:47:44.000 peace. Doesn't matter what's going on around 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:52.920 you. You can have it. You can have it. It'll 00:47:52.920 --> 00:47:55.639 guard your heart and mind. There's the Greek 00:47:55.639 --> 00:48:00.690 word. Pharreo. It means to guard, it means to 00:48:00.690 --> 00:48:04.449 protect, it means to keep watch over your heart 00:48:04.449 --> 00:48:09.510 and your mind. Romans 14, 17, we quote this verse 00:48:09.510 --> 00:48:11.590 a lot around here. The kingdom of God is not 00:48:11.590 --> 00:48:13.789 about eating and drinking. It's not about the 00:48:13.789 --> 00:48:16.230 rules. I spent so many years in my Christian 00:48:16.230 --> 00:48:18.650 experience thinking that there was a set of rules 00:48:18.650 --> 00:48:21.070 that I had to keep and do things that I do, things 00:48:21.070 --> 00:48:23.829 that I don't do, and it was all just about me 00:48:23.829 --> 00:48:29.250 and my performance. But that's not what the kingdom 00:48:29.250 --> 00:48:32.909 of God is about. The kingdom of God is not about 00:48:32.909 --> 00:48:35.070 eating and drinking. It's about righteousness. 00:48:37.869 --> 00:48:40.889 It's about being right with God through what 00:48:40.889 --> 00:48:44.010 Jesus did on the cross. It's about righteousness. 00:48:44.210 --> 00:48:47.349 It's about peace. Everybody say peace. It's about 00:48:47.349 --> 00:48:57.460 joy in the Holy Spirit. Those are the markers 00:48:57.460 --> 00:49:02.079 of whether we're on the right track or not, spiritually. 00:49:07.260 --> 00:49:10.860 Not living in guilt and shame and condemnation. 00:49:10.960 --> 00:49:14.039 Living in the righteousness of God in Christ 00:49:14.039 --> 00:49:17.019 Jesus. Having the peace of God that surpasses 00:49:17.019 --> 00:49:20.519 all human understanding. Having the joy of the 00:49:20.519 --> 00:49:24.320 Lord as our strength in the Holy Spirit. Those 00:49:24.320 --> 00:49:32.940 are markers. Those are markers. In this verse 00:49:32.940 --> 00:49:36.059 we see that peace is one of the predominant expressions 00:49:36.059 --> 00:49:43.900 of the kingdom of God. Oh, please receive this. 00:49:49.980 --> 00:49:55.099 How many people are living in the kingdom of 00:49:55.099 --> 00:49:59.409 God? Just me and Kate. Okay, some hands are late. 00:49:59.949 --> 00:50:01.909 Some of your hands are real late. It's okay. 00:50:02.050 --> 00:50:03.989 How many of you want to live in the kingdom of 00:50:03.989 --> 00:50:07.750 God? In the eternal rule and reign of God? Who 00:50:07.750 --> 00:50:16.230 wants to live there? Peace is one of the predominant 00:50:16.230 --> 00:50:21.750 expressions of people who are rightly connected 00:50:21.750 --> 00:50:25.530 to God, connected to Christ. He's the vine. We're 00:50:25.530 --> 00:50:28.019 the branches. When we remain connected, when 00:50:28.019 --> 00:50:36.659 we abide, we will bear much fruit. Listen, here's 00:50:36.659 --> 00:50:39.940 the sad part. You can hear Bible verses until 00:50:39.940 --> 00:50:42.820 your ears are full. Does anybody, your ears just 00:50:42.820 --> 00:50:45.920 get full? That's a saying that, I don't know, 00:50:45.940 --> 00:50:47.699 I think I got it from Gayna's family out in North 00:50:47.699 --> 00:50:53.500 Carolina. But it's like, my ears are full. Anybody 00:50:53.500 --> 00:50:55.909 know what I'm talking about? You've heard so 00:50:55.909 --> 00:51:01.909 much that your ears are full. See, we read a 00:51:01.909 --> 00:51:03.869 lot of Bible verses about peace, and you can 00:51:03.869 --> 00:51:07.309 hear Bible verses until your ears are full. Preacher, 00:51:07.349 --> 00:51:12.889 be quiet. My ears are full. My butt's tired and 00:51:12.889 --> 00:51:24.429 my ears are full. See, it doesn't matter. I mean, 00:51:24.449 --> 00:51:26.289 faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word 00:51:26.289 --> 00:51:29.949 of God, but you can hear, hear, hear, hear, hear, 00:51:29.949 --> 00:51:36.050 hear, hear. But listen, I've discovered something. 00:51:38.170 --> 00:51:42.190 There will be no transformation until what you 00:51:42.190 --> 00:51:46.349 hear becomes alive in you. Until the Word becomes 00:51:46.349 --> 00:51:51.980 alive in you. I've seen people... that have no 00:51:51.980 --> 00:51:55.099 peace, no evidence of peace in their life, and 00:51:55.099 --> 00:51:58.980 somebody else has no peace, and then they start 00:51:58.980 --> 00:52:02.219 quoting verses. The person who is not walking 00:52:02.219 --> 00:52:04.599 in peace and has no peace, they start quoting 00:52:04.599 --> 00:52:07.460 verses about peace to somebody else who needs 00:52:07.460 --> 00:52:09.920 the peace of God. And they know all the verses, 00:52:10.039 --> 00:52:19.420 but they hadn't become alive. How do those verses 00:52:19.420 --> 00:52:25.280 become alive? I'm glad you asked. John 16, 13, 00:52:25.380 --> 00:52:28.239 but when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will 00:52:28.239 --> 00:52:31.219 guide you into all truth. He will not speak on 00:52:31.219 --> 00:52:34.619 His own. He will speak only what He hears, and 00:52:34.619 --> 00:52:37.280 He will tell you what is yet to come. He will 00:52:37.280 --> 00:52:39.440 glorify me. This is Jesus talking about the Holy 00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:40.840 Spirit, unless you haven't figured that out. 00:52:40.960 --> 00:52:44.159 He will glorify me because it is from me that 00:52:44.159 --> 00:52:47.099 He will receive what He will make known to you. 00:52:47.630 --> 00:52:50.269 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That 00:52:50.269 --> 00:52:53.429 is why I said the Spirit will receive from me 00:52:53.429 --> 00:53:00.969 and He will make known to you. The Holy Spirit, 00:53:01.170 --> 00:53:06.349 God the Holy Spirit, takes hold of the promises 00:53:06.349 --> 00:53:09.650 and the provisions of God and then He declares 00:53:09.650 --> 00:53:19.119 them, He intensifies them to us and in us. He's 00:53:19.119 --> 00:53:21.840 the one who connects. He's the one who brings 00:53:21.840 --> 00:53:24.940 this revelation, which is something that can 00:53:24.940 --> 00:53:27.780 transform your life instead of just increasing 00:53:27.780 --> 00:53:30.440 your intellect. We're talking about transforming. 00:53:32.579 --> 00:53:35.559 Having the peace of God that surpasses all understanding 00:53:35.559 --> 00:53:41.179 is spiritual transformation happening in the 00:53:41.179 --> 00:53:48.840 face of trouble or circumstances. This is why 00:53:48.840 --> 00:53:52.659 love, joy, and peace are called the fruit of 00:53:52.659 --> 00:53:58.000 the Spirit. I had that aha moment in between 00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:04.900 last week and this week. It's like, aha! It's 00:54:04.900 --> 00:54:06.880 not just knowing the verses or hearing the verses. 00:54:06.940 --> 00:54:09.500 It's the Holy Spirit taking the things of God, 00:54:09.619 --> 00:54:12.880 the promises of God, the gifts of God. My peace, 00:54:12.880 --> 00:54:15.260 I... Leave with you. My peace I give to you. 00:54:15.260 --> 00:54:17.519 Not as a world peace. The Holy Spirit, He's the 00:54:17.519 --> 00:54:21.980 one who takes that and says, this is for you. 00:54:25.739 --> 00:54:28.159 And when you read it, it's like, it's for me. 00:54:29.239 --> 00:54:33.280 It's for me. It moves from, boy, I sure would 00:54:33.280 --> 00:54:41.239 like it, to it's mine. It's mine. I receive it. 00:54:42.889 --> 00:54:45.110 Jesus wasn't just spouting a bunch of words. 00:54:45.150 --> 00:54:53.090 He was talking to me. It's mine. These thoughts, 00:54:53.329 --> 00:54:59.809 I'm kicking them out. No vacancy anymore because 00:54:59.809 --> 00:55:05.110 I have the truth. I'm established in what God 00:55:05.110 --> 00:55:07.789 has promised, in what God has said. I am now 00:55:07.789 --> 00:55:12.539 established that I have the peace of God. My 00:55:12.539 --> 00:55:14.840 mind is stayed on him. He's going to keep me 00:55:14.840 --> 00:55:23.300 in perfect peace. 1 Corinthians 2, 14. Remember, 00:55:23.460 --> 00:55:25.980 we started with this. A natural man doesn't receive 00:55:25.980 --> 00:55:30.440 the things of the Spirit of God. We could say 00:55:30.440 --> 00:55:37.360 the carnal man, the born -again believer who's 00:55:37.360 --> 00:55:41.750 not walking in the Spirit. Who's not in the Word 00:55:41.750 --> 00:55:45.670 of God. They're not going to receive the things 00:55:45.670 --> 00:55:47.829 of the Spirit of God. Pieces of the Spirit of 00:55:47.829 --> 00:55:54.409 God. Some people could listen to everything I 00:55:54.409 --> 00:55:57.969 say and say, that's just foolishness, Dean. That's 00:55:57.969 --> 00:55:59.690 foolishness. You don't know what I'm going through. 00:55:59.750 --> 00:56:01.329 You don't know what I've been through. What you're 00:56:01.329 --> 00:56:09.429 talking is just a bunch of foolishness. I'm sorry. 00:56:13.769 --> 00:56:17.130 Sorry that you can't know them. Sorry that you 00:56:17.130 --> 00:56:18.789 can't know it, that you can't have it, that you 00:56:18.789 --> 00:56:22.030 can't get it, because it's spiritually discerned. 00:56:24.949 --> 00:56:29.929 Spiritually discerned. The Holy Spirit connects 00:56:29.929 --> 00:56:33.829 us to the promises. And then our faith, by faith 00:56:33.829 --> 00:56:39.949 we receive the promises. We hear that empowered 00:56:39.949 --> 00:56:43.840 word, that anointed word. That now word from 00:56:43.840 --> 00:56:49.000 God. You can memorize a Bible verse and it still 00:56:49.000 --> 00:56:55.079 not be a now word from God for you. Then we have 00:56:55.079 --> 00:56:57.039 to believe it. Have to wholeheartedly believe 00:56:57.039 --> 00:57:04.380 it. Have confidence. Then we need to start aligning 00:57:04.380 --> 00:57:07.059 our words and our thoughts with what God says. 00:57:07.920 --> 00:57:13.860 It's not going to be just like poof. It's going 00:57:13.860 --> 00:57:20.619 to take some work. I know everybody in the room 00:57:20.619 --> 00:57:22.440 would just like to come up here and me just touch 00:57:22.440 --> 00:57:24.400 you on the head and you just be just flooded 00:57:24.400 --> 00:57:29.199 with the peace of God. Because we just want the 00:57:29.199 --> 00:57:35.599 easy way. We just want the easy way. I'll pray 00:57:35.599 --> 00:57:38.500 for anybody who wants to be prayed for. But I'm 00:57:38.500 --> 00:57:40.280 telling you, if you're going to walk in the peace 00:57:40.280 --> 00:57:42.739 of God that surpasses understanding, you're going 00:57:42.739 --> 00:57:47.119 to have to put in some work yourself. You're 00:57:47.119 --> 00:57:49.460 going to have to take over your thoughts. You're 00:57:49.460 --> 00:57:51.239 going to have to decide what's going to land 00:57:51.239 --> 00:57:54.539 in your mind and land in your emotions. You're 00:57:54.539 --> 00:58:00.440 going to have to participate. And if you're sitting 00:58:00.440 --> 00:58:03.980 there saying, well, it won't work for me, bless 00:58:03.980 --> 00:58:10.280 your heart, it won't. It won't work for you. 00:58:10.360 --> 00:58:12.739 If you say it won't work for you, I'm just going 00:58:12.739 --> 00:58:14.480 to go ahead and tell you it won't work for you. 00:58:19.119 --> 00:58:21.960 But I think I've just established that that's 00:58:21.960 --> 00:58:24.340 what God wants for you. That's what God has given 00:58:24.340 --> 00:58:29.519 for you. It is available for you. But if your 00:58:29.519 --> 00:58:31.860 thought life says you can't have it, then you 00:58:31.860 --> 00:58:43.760 can't have it. Last slide. Somebody say hallelujah, 00:58:43.820 --> 00:58:53.920 he's done. Look. I want us to walk in peace. 00:58:55.380 --> 00:58:57.719 I want you to walk in peace. Bigger than that, 00:58:57.739 --> 00:59:03.539 God wants you to walk in peace. This will change 00:59:03.539 --> 00:59:10.849 your life. I'm not interested in it changing 00:59:10.849 --> 00:59:13.190 your intellect. I'm interested in it transforming 00:59:13.190 --> 00:59:16.630 your life. The Word of God will transform your 00:59:16.630 --> 00:59:29.250 life. And the measure of your peace on bad days, 00:59:29.449 --> 00:59:35.630 on difficult days, the measure of your peace 00:59:37.840 --> 00:59:41.380 We'll let you know the measure of your spiritual 00:59:41.380 --> 00:59:47.139 maturity. Don't be condemned. Because the Holy 00:59:47.139 --> 00:59:51.340 Spirit is calling you to rise up. The Holy Spirit 00:59:51.340 --> 00:59:53.400 is calling you to receive. He's calling you to 00:59:53.400 --> 00:59:56.659 rise up. Not to be condemned. Not to start beating 00:59:56.659 --> 01:00:04.619 yourself up. That's not from God. So if that's 01:00:04.619 --> 01:00:06.159 the thoughts that are hitting your head, you 01:00:06.159 --> 01:00:10.679 say, nope, that's not from God. Nope, that's 01:00:10.679 --> 01:00:15.579 not from God. God doesn't bring me shame and 01:00:15.579 --> 01:00:20.280 condemnation. God brings me life. This online 01:00:20.280 --> 01:00:22.900 worship experience was brought to you by the 01:00:22.900 --> 01:00:24.800 friends and partners of Elation Church.