WEBVTT 00:00:20.260 --> 00:00:38.439 Hey, church. Raise your hand. How many of you 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:41.679 know what Pentecost is? Great. Good, good, good. 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:47.359 We have a Pentecost celebration planned. for 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:50.020 our church community coming up here. So for those 00:00:50.020 --> 00:00:52.100 who may not be familiar with it, Pentecost comes 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:56.140 50 days after Resurrection Sunday. So it's this 00:00:56.140 --> 00:00:59.659 time between leading up to Easter, Easter, and 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:02.520 then up to Pentecost of us as a church sitting 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:05.340 and remembering that. And the series that we 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:09.650 have been focusing on is above all. Looking at 00:01:09.650 --> 00:01:13.189 the victory of Jesus in his birth, his life, 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:16.230 his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and 00:01:16.230 --> 00:01:22.650 how that changes everything. But the greatest 00:01:22.650 --> 00:01:28.689 waste of the Christian life is to accept what 00:01:28.689 --> 00:01:31.790 we just heard and was taught about Jesus being 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:34.950 above all, and then continue to live as though 00:01:34.950 --> 00:01:39.450 it doesn't change anything. The late Dallas Willard 00:01:39.450 --> 00:01:41.170 described it this way. He said it's the great 00:01:41.170 --> 00:01:45.129 omission of the great commission. So the great 00:01:45.129 --> 00:01:47.049 commission is to go and make disciples of all 00:01:47.049 --> 00:01:49.049 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 00:01:49.109 --> 00:01:51.290 the Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them what? 00:01:51.329 --> 00:01:53.650 All that I have commanded you to do, and lo, 00:01:53.709 --> 00:01:57.469 I am with you till the end of the age. And we 00:01:57.469 --> 00:02:00.010 say, Jesus, thank you for gifting me new life, 00:02:00.189 --> 00:02:02.670 and then we continue living on in the old life. 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:05.840 So the greatest waste of the Christian life would 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.379 not be to participate in the fullness of life. 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:12.139 And so we have a series that is focused on this 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:16.479 verse here. Since we are living by the Spirit, 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:19.759 let us follow the Spirit's leading in what part 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:23.740 of our life? What part of our life? Every part 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:26.719 of our life. And that's not him exaggerating. 00:02:27.139 --> 00:02:29.659 That's Paul saying this is actually supposed 00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:33.060 to be what we are to do. So the series we are 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:36.060 stepping into is focusing on living the life 00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:40.539 with the Holy Spirit. He has been called all 00:02:40.539 --> 00:02:43.900 kinds of things. The uncle that comes to a reunion 00:02:43.900 --> 00:02:46.340 that nobody quite knows and is just over in the 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:49.599 corner. Or the familiar stranger, as Tyler Statton 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:55.479 has termed him. Who is the Holy Spirit? This 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:59.500 morning, we want to look at what... the Holy 00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:03.479 Spirit does to change us. And so the question 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:07.219 for you is, how do we change? Have you thought 00:03:07.219 --> 00:03:10.639 about this? How do I change? How do you change? 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:14.280 Or to use the biblical language, transformation. 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:18.460 What does transformation look like in the life 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:22.319 of a believer? And before we go on, I want to 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:24.740 invite us to just pause. We're going to take 00:03:24.740 --> 00:03:26.620 a moment, and it may feel a little bit awkward, 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:31.000 just some time. Just be present where we're at 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:34.199 right now. Be aware to the Holy Spirit, of the 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:37.819 Holy Spirit. And after a moment, I'm going to 00:03:37.819 --> 00:03:40.419 pray and invite us to receive according to that. 00:03:46.300 --> 00:03:52.599 Lord, here we are. Would you speak to us? Your 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:56.330 servants are listening. And Holy Spirit, would 00:03:56.330 --> 00:03:58.550 you bring to mind whatever resonates within us 00:03:58.550 --> 00:04:02.229 or whatever we resist, and would you shape and 00:04:02.229 --> 00:04:04.389 form us increasingly into the image of Jesus 00:04:04.389 --> 00:04:07.849 Christ through your word, according to the Father's 00:04:07.849 --> 00:04:10.009 will and the power of the Spirit this morning. 00:04:10.409 --> 00:04:16.310 Amen. The New Testament uses this word transformation 00:04:16.310 --> 00:04:19.490 only four times. Two of the times are used in 00:04:19.490 --> 00:04:23.050 the Gospels of Jesus. And we're not going to 00:04:23.050 --> 00:04:25.550 get into that story, but Later on, if you're 00:04:25.550 --> 00:04:27.970 not familiar with the Mount of Transfiguration 00:04:27.970 --> 00:04:30.949 where Jesus is transformed into his glorious 00:04:30.949 --> 00:04:34.250 self, go back to that story at some point. It's 00:04:34.250 --> 00:04:37.370 incredible. It's used twice in the Gospels of 00:04:37.370 --> 00:04:40.649 that scene. And then it's used two other times, 00:04:40.689 --> 00:04:43.110 transformation. This isn't about outward change. 00:04:43.170 --> 00:04:48.199 This is about inward nature renewal. And Paul 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:50.519 is the one who uses it. So why don't we do this? 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:53.139 Let's look at Paul's life, and we're going to 00:04:53.139 --> 00:04:56.720 compare who Paul was before he encountered and 00:04:56.720 --> 00:04:58.680 journeyed with the Holy Spirit, and then look 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.100 at him as he kind of has journeyed along forward. 00:05:01.379 --> 00:05:03.600 Now, to do this, we first need to understand 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.480 that Paul had two names. Can you go ahead to 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:09.879 the next slide? The clicker's not working. His 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:14.699 Hebrew name was Saul. or Shaul, which was meaning 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:17.839 the asked for one. Now, if you know the story 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:21.120 of scripture, King Saul was the asked for king. 00:05:21.339 --> 00:05:24.379 And so this was his name based on this history 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:27.720 there. And so Saul or Paul would use this name 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:30.920 in context of his Hebrew brothers and sisters. 00:05:31.689 --> 00:05:35.850 And when we first meet Saul, we believe he was 00:05:35.850 --> 00:05:38.550 born sometime between 5 and 10 AD, so around 00:05:38.550 --> 00:05:41.310 the time that Jesus was born. And we first meet 00:05:41.310 --> 00:05:44.310 him, and he's kind of a rough character. But 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:46.670 there's a lot of things that relate to him. And 00:05:46.670 --> 00:05:48.050 the words aren't going to be on the scripture 00:05:48.050 --> 00:05:50.910 here. I just want you to listen as I read just 00:05:50.910 --> 00:05:54.230 a short description of who this guy Saul is when 00:05:54.230 --> 00:05:57.949 we first meet him. This is in chapter 9 of the 00:05:57.949 --> 00:06:03.050 book of Acts. was uttering threats with every 00:06:03.050 --> 00:06:06.310 breath and was eager to kill the Lord's followers. 00:06:06.970 --> 00:06:09.470 So he went to the high priest and he requested 00:06:09.470 --> 00:06:11.910 letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, 00:06:11.930 --> 00:06:15.730 asking for their cooperation in the arrest of 00:06:15.730 --> 00:06:18.810 any followers of the way. So he's uttering threats. 00:06:19.009 --> 00:06:21.350 He's using the political system in a controlling 00:06:21.350 --> 00:06:25.649 way to cause his ends to be met. asking for the 00:06:25.649 --> 00:06:28.250 cooperation in the rest of those who are following 00:06:28.250 --> 00:06:32.149 the way of Jesus. He wanted to bring them, both 00:06:32.149 --> 00:06:38.509 men and women, back to Jerusalem in chains. Nice 00:06:38.509 --> 00:06:43.290 guy? He's kind of a rough guy, huh? And a lot 00:06:43.290 --> 00:06:45.730 of us are very familiar with this story of Saul. 00:06:46.269 --> 00:06:49.490 And something happens later with this proud, 00:06:49.709 --> 00:06:53.050 this self -righteous, this arrogant, this guy 00:06:53.050 --> 00:06:55.509 who's inflicting suffering on others, this guy 00:06:55.509 --> 00:06:59.449 who's controlling where he's on the road to accomplish 00:06:59.449 --> 00:07:01.490 some of these things and something miraculous 00:07:01.490 --> 00:07:05.329 happens. And here it says right in verse three, 00:07:05.389 --> 00:07:08.889 it says, as he, Saul, was approaching Damascus 00:07:08.889 --> 00:07:11.610 on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly 00:07:11.610 --> 00:07:14.910 shone down around him. He fell to the ground 00:07:14.910 --> 00:07:18.290 and he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, 00:07:18.509 --> 00:07:25.790 why are you persecuting me? So he's changed, 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:28.750 right? How many of you, this is your experience? 00:07:29.550 --> 00:07:31.790 Maybe not on the road, a light comes down, but 00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:34.870 you meet Christ and 180 degree, you are a totally 00:07:34.870 --> 00:07:37.389 different person from then on. And it's great, 00:07:37.490 --> 00:07:40.290 right? For those of you who may be new to the 00:07:40.290 --> 00:07:42.230 faith, I'm sorry, but it's actually a pretty 00:07:42.230 --> 00:07:44.470 long journey that you're going to see. And so 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:47.529 we may turn forward just a few chapters in Acts, 00:07:47.670 --> 00:07:50.050 and we actually come to where we are introduced 00:07:50.050 --> 00:07:54.410 to Paul's first missionary journey in Acts 16. 00:07:54.610 --> 00:07:56.610 So we're just a couple chapters forward, right? 00:07:56.670 --> 00:07:58.829 Let's read about what he's done. A little context. 00:07:58.949 --> 00:08:01.750 Paul has come in with his colleague, his missionary 00:08:01.750 --> 00:08:06.050 buddy, Silas, and they're going around preaching. 00:08:07.629 --> 00:08:10.930 And they do something that actually aggravates 00:08:10.930 --> 00:08:14.930 the city. Not because they're being unkind or 00:08:14.930 --> 00:08:17.209 cruel or inflicting suffering. He's not being 00:08:17.209 --> 00:08:20.550 proud. He's actually freeing somebody from demonic 00:08:20.550 --> 00:08:24.649 oppression. And that is what instills this aggression. 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:27.310 So here in verse 22, it says, a mob quickly formed 00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:30.189 against Paul and Silas. And the city officials 00:08:30.189 --> 00:08:32.830 ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden 00:08:32.830 --> 00:08:37.259 rods. What was their crime? Speaking of Jesus, 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:41.179 fring people. They were severely beaten and then 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:44.799 they were thrown into prison. The jailer was 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:46.580 ordered to make sure they didn't escape. Now, 00:08:46.659 --> 00:08:49.320 let's think about old Paul, Saul, and how he 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:52.559 was in this situation, controlling, inflicting 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:57.320 violence on others. Totally different here. Around 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:00.860 midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:04.360 hymns to God. They're in the middle of this dungeon 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:07.019 with their feet clamped together, completely 00:09:07.019 --> 00:09:11.860 in just accusations against them. They've just 00:09:11.860 --> 00:09:14.039 been beaten and stripped, humiliated in front 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:17.720 of others. And what do they do? They're singing 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:19.759 out praises to God and they're praying to him. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.460 And the other prisoners were listening. I would 00:09:23.460 --> 00:09:25.620 too. I'd be like, do we have a doctor in here? 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:27.539 You can go check on these ones. Something is 00:09:27.539 --> 00:09:30.809 not right with them. Suddenly there was a massive 00:09:30.809 --> 00:09:33.330 earthquake and the prison was shaken to its foundations. 00:09:33.590 --> 00:09:36.330 All the doors immediately flew open and the chains 00:09:36.330 --> 00:09:39.190 of every prisoner fell off. Great, they're free. 00:09:39.789 --> 00:09:42.450 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide 00:09:42.450 --> 00:09:44.570 open and he assumed the prisoners had escaped. 00:09:45.610 --> 00:09:47.730 Knowing that this meant certain death for him, 00:09:47.750 --> 00:09:50.210 he drew his sword and he went to kill himself. 00:09:52.169 --> 00:09:57.870 But Paul, Saul, shouted to him, stop, this is 00:09:57.870 --> 00:10:01.389 his enemy. that he's shouting to. Stop. Don't 00:10:01.389 --> 00:10:07.149 kill yourself. We are all here. This is massive 00:10:07.149 --> 00:10:10.149 transformation, right? You have somebody who's 00:10:10.149 --> 00:10:12.549 humble. You have somebody who's Christ -dependent. 00:10:12.590 --> 00:10:14.970 You have somebody who's actually absorbing suffering 00:10:14.970 --> 00:10:17.970 rather than causing suffering. You have somebody 00:10:17.970 --> 00:10:20.350 who's sacrificial, willing to give up his very 00:10:20.350 --> 00:10:23.690 freedom. He had his opportunity to run right 00:10:23.690 --> 00:10:27.070 then, right? But he's so submitted to God in 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:29.350 this situation that he's like, Lord, what would 00:10:29.350 --> 00:10:34.029 you have me do here and now? So we ask the question 00:10:34.029 --> 00:10:37.629 of what happened between our first story and 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:40.429 our second story? What was going on there and 00:10:40.429 --> 00:10:43.090 how do we experience change, right? What does 00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:46.529 it look like for us to be transformed from the 00:10:46.529 --> 00:10:51.000 inside out? Well, to do this, we're first going 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.659 to do a little bit of heavy work in philosophy 00:10:53.659 --> 00:10:56.039 and psychology. So I want you to just kind of 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:57.620 hold on to this for a little bit. It'll make 00:10:57.620 --> 00:11:00.500 sense in the end. But what we're going to see 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:02.899 is that there's, as we try to understand what 00:11:02.899 --> 00:11:05.519 it means to be a human being and what free will 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.740 is, we can understand then where Paul comes in 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:11.139 with the answer to this question here. What does 00:11:11.139 --> 00:11:14.149 transformation look like? So to do that, we're 00:11:14.149 --> 00:11:17.730 going to look at a guy by the name of Harry Frankfurt 00:11:17.730 --> 00:11:20.409 who came up with this concept. He's a philosopher 00:11:20.409 --> 00:11:24.149 and he said, you know, if I observe people and 00:11:24.149 --> 00:11:26.350 the world around me, there's these things called 00:11:26.350 --> 00:11:29.470 first order desires. These are my instinctual 00:11:29.470 --> 00:11:33.330 things that I want and I reach out to. So my 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:36.470 alarm goes off in the morning and my instinctual 00:11:36.470 --> 00:11:39.309 desire is go away, right? I want to keep sleeping. 00:11:40.690 --> 00:11:44.259 But then he says, We're reflective beings. We 00:11:44.259 --> 00:11:47.000 think through things and we realize, you know, 00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:50.500 if I've prepared to gather with you this morning 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:52.720 with a sermon teaching and I sleep through that, 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:56.139 that might not be a good thing. So I have a second 00:11:56.139 --> 00:11:59.059 order that I'm trying to move towards and it's 00:11:59.059 --> 00:12:02.440 I want what I want to be my desire, right? So 00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:04.720 there's the first desire, keep sleeping in. I'm 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.940 confessing before you. Keep sleeping in. The 00:12:06.940 --> 00:12:09.620 second desire is actually get up and participate 00:12:09.620 --> 00:12:12.580 in what? Your day has before you. This is your 00:12:12.580 --> 00:12:16.799 second order desire. Make sense? Animals move 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:18.980 on their first order desires. Generally, children 00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:21.179 are like very impulsive, first order desires. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:24.620 So what Frankfurt is saying is as we grow older 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:28.000 and we wrestle through with life, we can learn 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.220 to be reflective and move towards a better good 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:35.200 of life, a second order desire. But then he brings 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:38.259 in this next thing, which is our second order 00:12:38.259 --> 00:12:41.070 volition. Now that's just a big way of saying 00:12:41.070 --> 00:12:44.230 it's our governing force. It's what gets to dictate 00:12:44.230 --> 00:12:48.210 what is the good life. All right? So this is 00:12:48.210 --> 00:12:52.309 kind of like the capacity to choose. Sounds good, 00:12:52.409 --> 00:12:55.129 right? I can continue to journey through life. 00:12:55.210 --> 00:12:58.090 The more I know, the more I reflect and understand 00:12:58.090 --> 00:13:02.350 myself, the better I'm going to get. But if any 00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:04.610 of you have been on a tireless journey of doing 00:13:04.610 --> 00:13:10.230 that, it is extremely exhausting. This is what 00:13:10.230 --> 00:13:12.769 Augustine calls the divided will, where you have 00:13:12.769 --> 00:13:14.870 two different things that are pulling you forward. 00:13:16.629 --> 00:13:19.470 Now these terms up here, let me use a real life 00:13:19.470 --> 00:13:23.009 story that may bring some more meaning to it. 00:13:23.570 --> 00:13:26.289 As a young kid, my father had a job where he 00:13:26.289 --> 00:13:28.450 would travel around and he was equipping and 00:13:28.450 --> 00:13:30.529 training and helping modeling what it looks like 00:13:30.529 --> 00:13:33.009 to preach the gospel. And he would invite our 00:13:33.009 --> 00:13:35.009 family along on these trips. And we would go 00:13:35.009 --> 00:13:37.710 sometimes like six, seven, eight hours on these 00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:40.929 long drives. And we had one of those tiny little 00:13:40.929 --> 00:13:45.590 Suzuki's and I was the youngest. And those Suzuki's 00:13:45.590 --> 00:13:48.750 are made for four people. Maybe you can fit a 00:13:48.750 --> 00:13:51.850 third one in the back seat, but I was the fourth 00:13:51.850 --> 00:13:54.210 one. So that meant I sat up on the wheel well, 00:13:54.350 --> 00:13:57.590 right? And I love this spot because I could look 00:13:57.590 --> 00:14:00.309 down over what was happening in the car and see 00:14:00.309 --> 00:14:04.019 the siblings fighting and whatever else. But 00:14:04.019 --> 00:14:05.679 one of the things that I noticed was my father 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:08.179 was sitting there and every single time he was 00:14:08.179 --> 00:14:12.059 driving right next to him was a bag of carrot 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:16.120 sticks. And as I sat there and I looked down 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:19.620 upon him and I thought this poor creature, he's 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:23.059 never tasted the glory and the goodness of potato 00:14:23.059 --> 00:14:27.559 chips or a fudgy that is so much sugar compacted 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:29.639 into it that for the next six hours, I'm just. 00:14:30.170 --> 00:14:32.730 riding away in that Suzuki, right? And my thought 00:14:32.730 --> 00:14:35.750 is, this poor guy doesn't know the goodness of 00:14:35.750 --> 00:14:39.870 life. Maybe someday he can wake up to it, right? 00:14:42.090 --> 00:14:47.049 What do you think I have in my car next to me 00:14:47.049 --> 00:14:51.149 on every single long road trip now? Carrot sticks, 00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:55.409 right? What happened? How did I move from one 00:14:55.409 --> 00:14:58.940 to the other? Well, my first order desire initially 00:14:58.940 --> 00:15:03.440 was, I want this thing that tastes really good. 00:15:03.779 --> 00:15:07.580 Six hours of eating salty, oily, crispy chips 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:10.320 does not make you feel good after the six hours. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:12.039 But as you're putting it in, man, it's good, 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:13.539 it's good, it's good. And then you're like, oh. 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:20.080 So I come around the age of 18, 19, 20, and I'm 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:21.840 studying a little bit of health. And I'm like, 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:24.259 oh, I can't believe I was putting that much sugar 00:15:24.259 --> 00:15:27.850 and fat into my body. So now I have my first 00:15:27.850 --> 00:15:29.809 order desire that I still want to eat that. But 00:15:29.809 --> 00:15:33.509 my second order desire, based on my second order 00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:38.009 volition, says, I want to be healthy. But my 00:15:38.009 --> 00:15:40.809 heart's not there. But I'm making a choice to 00:15:40.809 --> 00:15:44.070 eat carrots. But right now, if you put a bag 00:15:44.070 --> 00:15:47.970 of chips and you put a fudgy bar next to me and 00:15:47.970 --> 00:15:51.789 you put a bag of carrots, I will eat the carrots 00:15:51.789 --> 00:15:54.090 every single time. And that's not me saying, 00:15:54.169 --> 00:15:56.399 wow, look at what has happened. The thing that 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:00.159 switched inside me is a journey with my own father 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:03.519 relationally, who I trust and I love and who 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.879 loves me. And I've seen that he's participated 00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:08.580 in the good life. And there was a relational 00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:11.700 transformation that happened there with me that 00:16:11.700 --> 00:16:15.039 moved me where my first order desire is now carrots, 00:16:15.179 --> 00:16:19.559 right? That's a simple way of trying to understand 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:24.529 the human concept. So we try all kinds of forms 00:16:24.529 --> 00:16:29.250 of power to move us to choose the better thing. 00:16:29.690 --> 00:16:33.570 And we may try behavior modification. If any 00:16:33.570 --> 00:16:35.870 of you know in psychology, Pavlo's dogs, right? 00:16:35.950 --> 00:16:38.309 They had this experiment where they put food 00:16:38.309 --> 00:16:40.070 out and every time they did, they would ring 00:16:40.070 --> 00:16:43.269 a bell and then the dog would eat the food and 00:16:43.269 --> 00:16:45.889 they were making the association between the 00:16:45.889 --> 00:16:49.370 bell ringing and the food being eaten. But then 00:16:49.370 --> 00:16:50.970 they took away the food and they would ring the 00:16:50.970 --> 00:16:53.830 bell and the dog was conditioned, was through 00:16:53.830 --> 00:16:58.169 behavior modification to want food. And so he 00:16:58.169 --> 00:17:00.870 would start salivating, but there was no food. 00:17:01.610 --> 00:17:04.289 And so they thought, ha, we figured out how to 00:17:04.289 --> 00:17:07.250 change people. You just need to use behavior 00:17:07.250 --> 00:17:09.970 modification. And this works, doesn't it? It 00:17:09.970 --> 00:17:12.829 works to a certain degree with parenting, but 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:18.329 it has a limit. And same with Imitation, right? 00:17:18.410 --> 00:17:20.630 Paul says this, imitate me as I imitate Christ. 00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:23.349 But there's only a certain level of imitation 00:17:23.349 --> 00:17:26.789 if I'm imitating somebody, a pastor or a theologian 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:29.430 or a guru of some sort, and I'm trying to make 00:17:29.430 --> 00:17:32.130 my life better by imitating them. There's only 00:17:32.130 --> 00:17:34.930 a limitation to what will cause me to do that. 00:17:35.750 --> 00:17:38.049 What about information? Maybe if I just have 00:17:38.049 --> 00:17:40.609 the next piece of information, the next book, 00:17:40.789 --> 00:17:46.309 that'll fix my life. Or, Let's consider detachment 00:17:46.309 --> 00:17:48.650 and all forms of it. There's religious systems 00:17:48.650 --> 00:17:51.190 around this. Let me push away desire. Let me 00:17:51.190 --> 00:17:54.549 kill desire. Let me control desire. Because if 00:17:54.549 --> 00:17:57.509 desire is present, I may make choices that I 00:17:57.509 --> 00:18:00.470 don't necessarily want to. So maybe I can get 00:18:00.470 --> 00:18:03.170 rid of desire and I can just lower my expectations 00:18:03.170 --> 00:18:07.970 in life. These all offer a vision of life for 00:18:07.970 --> 00:18:12.660 you and for me. But how do they work? In 1952, 00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:17.500 there was an event in the UK in London, a catastrophic 00:18:17.500 --> 00:18:22.819 event. What was the event? Well, the UK empire 00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:26.680 had built their entire power source, their way 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:31.200 of life based on coal. So coal was what ran their 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.359 economy. It was their electricity source. It 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:37.500 was what moved factories and, of course, all 00:18:37.500 --> 00:18:42.990 the lights and stuff in the city around. 1952, 00:18:43.049 --> 00:18:45.250 this thing happened where because of the weather 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:49.890 pattern, all the coal just stuck, the smog from 00:18:49.890 --> 00:18:54.450 it. And within a few days, hundreds and hundreds 00:18:54.450 --> 00:18:57.869 and hundreds of people died. And estimates of 00:18:57.869 --> 00:19:00.549 somewhere around 100 ,000 people ended up with 00:19:00.549 --> 00:19:03.230 long -term respiratory conditions because of 00:19:03.230 --> 00:19:06.250 this. You see, coal had offered a great power 00:19:06.250 --> 00:19:10.730 source for a while. but it came with bondage. 00:19:10.730 --> 00:19:14.329 It came with a cost. It came with a price. And 00:19:14.329 --> 00:19:17.710 so any change or transformation that is outside 00:19:17.710 --> 00:19:20.529 of what Paul is going to highlight is going to 00:19:20.529 --> 00:19:23.410 come with a cost. You're going to think I'm free, 00:19:23.490 --> 00:19:25.109 but it's going to come with a cost. And it doesn't 00:19:25.109 --> 00:19:27.349 mean it doesn't help you move forward, but if 00:19:27.349 --> 00:19:29.750 you ultimately rely on that, it comes with a 00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:33.809 cost. This is because of what Paul calls our 00:19:33.809 --> 00:19:38.380 flesh, our sarks. These are our disordered, self 00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:41.660 -directed desires. And what this means is even 00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:43.559 if I wake up and I think I'm going to have the 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:49.099 right desires, my willpower, which is next, is 00:19:49.099 --> 00:19:52.079 this choosing thing within me and it's super 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.339 weak. My willpower is really weak. And if you 00:19:55.339 --> 00:19:58.539 think, oh, my willpower is super strong, enjoy 00:19:58.539 --> 00:20:00.619 continuing living along in life, you'll find 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:03.380 that as you are pressed into a place like Paul, 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:07.039 when he's in prison, and his enemy is facing 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.480 there, that your willpower disappears really 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:12.700 quickly, or it's not strong enough to withhold 00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:16.619 that. So Paul's going to consider both of these 00:20:16.619 --> 00:20:18.619 things and say, hey, we're understanding what 00:20:18.619 --> 00:20:20.839 it means to be human, but now let's look at what 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:24.859 true transformation, how that happens. Any of 00:20:24.859 --> 00:20:26.519 these other things are going to be the absence 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:28.660 of true change, and you're going to experience 00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:31.299 that. Please don't hear me wrong. I'm not saying 00:20:31.299 --> 00:20:33.400 don't engage in any of these. There's things, 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:35.859 there's wisdom found within a lot of this, but 00:20:35.859 --> 00:20:38.240 it doesn't mean that that will ultimately change 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:41.880 you. So what happened between the story we read 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:44.680 about Saul and then the story we read about Paul 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:47.619 later on? What was his transformation? How do 00:20:47.619 --> 00:20:51.759 we change? Well, here's the verse again. Since 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:55.039 we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:59.930 Spirit's leading in every part of our life. And 00:20:59.930 --> 00:21:02.849 here's the part that we often will skip over 00:21:02.849 --> 00:21:05.809 if we're just reading an Acts. There is a time 00:21:05.809 --> 00:21:10.170 between when Saul was converted and when he goes 00:21:10.170 --> 00:21:12.289 on his first missionary journey in this situation. 00:21:12.529 --> 00:21:14.990 And God is working in and through him this entire 00:21:14.990 --> 00:21:17.609 time. But there's a three -year period where 00:21:17.609 --> 00:21:20.069 he's up in the desert of Arabia. We don't really 00:21:20.069 --> 00:21:22.869 know what he's doing up there. Except that in 00:21:22.869 --> 00:21:25.630 Galatians 1 .17, he says, God was teaching me 00:21:25.630 --> 00:21:28.029 how to live and be transformed, essentially. 00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:32.460 how to live my life. And then Paul goes to Tarsus, 00:21:32.519 --> 00:21:34.480 his hometown, and he's there for a long time, 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:36.680 also preaching the gospel. But there's something 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:42.019 happening in this timeframe that I wish Paul 00:21:42.019 --> 00:21:46.180 would have written about. Luckily, he did. We 00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:49.400 see it in his other books. 25 % of the New Testament 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:51.799 was written by Paul. And so we're going to jump 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:54.359 into 2 Corinthians, and we're going to look at 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:57.819 those verses that Selina read for us. as what 00:21:57.819 --> 00:22:01.640 true transformation looks like. So I want you 00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:05.019 to read together with me. You ready? But whenever 00:22:05.019 --> 00:22:08.559 someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:12.400 away. Okay. If you're not familiar with the whole 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:14.059 back end story, you're thinking, what is this 00:22:14.059 --> 00:22:16.559 veil? What is Paul talking about there? Well, 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:20.819 Exodus 34, there's a story of Moses where he 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:23.359 encounters God on behalf of the people and he 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:25.259 goes to speak with God and then he'll come back 00:22:25.259 --> 00:22:27.500 to the people. And when he comes back from the 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:30.759 people, he's actually physically glowing. His 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:33.259 face is glowing and the people are terrified 00:22:33.259 --> 00:22:36.039 and they're like, what is going on here? And 00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:38.160 Paul will then speak whatever message it was, 00:22:38.259 --> 00:22:41.660 but the people are really scared by it and it 00:22:41.660 --> 00:22:46.250 fades away. So then Moses goes back into the 00:22:46.250 --> 00:22:48.609 glory of God. His face shines again. So what 00:22:48.609 --> 00:22:51.329 he realizes is, let me put a veil over my face 00:22:51.329 --> 00:22:53.569 after I've spoken to the people so that they're 00:22:53.569 --> 00:22:56.549 not seeing it fading away and are like panicking. 00:22:56.589 --> 00:22:59.569 Oh no, God has left us. How many people were 00:22:59.569 --> 00:23:03.349 able to go into the extreme presence of God? 00:23:03.410 --> 00:23:10.490 How many? Just Moses, right? Only Moses. A few 00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:14.119 years ago, we, We're gifted the privilege by 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:17.180 an upgrade of renting a car that happened to 00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:20.779 be a Tesla. And I was so excited. I was like, 00:23:20.819 --> 00:23:23.660 we've got an electric car that can drive itself. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:26.700 And I'm like, this is going to be awesome. But 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:30.779 you see the picture behind me here. This was, 00:23:30.900 --> 00:23:34.000 so let me back up. One of my favorite things, 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:36.900 life -giving realities. that I enjoy is being 00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:38.839 in nature, going on hikes, getting up into mountains. 00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:41.000 And we were traveling some of the most beautiful 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:44.599 part of the world, the west coast of the US, 00:23:44.619 --> 00:23:46.299 down the line there through the mountains and 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:48.619 all this. And I'm so excited because I'm thinking 00:23:48.619 --> 00:23:50.819 I'm going to get to do all these wonderful hikes. 00:23:51.660 --> 00:23:53.940 But this was an older Tesla, right? Nothing comes 00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:56.420 free. It's an older Tesla and the battery was 00:23:56.420 --> 00:23:59.259 a little worn out. And so we found ourselves. 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:02.839 doing this most of the trip, not most, but it 00:24:02.839 --> 00:24:05.799 felt like it, sitting along the highway, looking 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:08.180 at the mountains that I should have been enjoying 00:24:08.180 --> 00:24:10.640 while the car was trying to recharge itself. 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:14.759 And in a certain sense, this was Moses' experience 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:16.940 in the Old Testament. You plug in for a little 00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:18.859 bit, and you've got a little bit of energy, and 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:21.730 then you go back out, and it's good. But then 00:24:21.730 --> 00:24:23.450 it has to happen again and then it goes again 00:24:23.450 --> 00:24:25.750 and it goes again. So Paul is addressing it. 00:24:25.809 --> 00:24:27.549 He's saying, hey, actually we're going to remove 00:24:27.549 --> 00:24:29.789 the veil. The curtain is going to be torn when 00:24:29.789 --> 00:24:32.029 Jesus rises from the dead or when he did rise 00:24:32.029 --> 00:24:34.750 from the dead. So the key is that the Holy Spirit 00:24:34.750 --> 00:24:39.250 now becomes what? For the Lord is the Spirit 00:24:39.250 --> 00:24:42.589 and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there's 00:24:42.589 --> 00:24:47.490 freedom. Who's the Lord? Usually it's Jesus or 00:24:47.490 --> 00:24:50.099 the Father, but in this situation, Paul references 00:24:50.099 --> 00:24:54.240 the Holy Spirit as being the Lord. The Lord is 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:57.700 the Spirit. What Paul is talking about is that 00:24:57.700 --> 00:25:01.700 the Spirit is the agent of transformation. It 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:03.640 doesn't mean that he doesn't use other things 00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:06.440 to help transform us, but the ultimate primary 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:10.220 reason for our transformation is the person, 00:25:10.299 --> 00:25:13.440 presence, and power of the Holy Spirit within 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:17.269 us. Everything else will feel at best like that 00:25:17.269 --> 00:25:20.849 Tesla and at worst like coal. We are plugging 00:25:20.849 --> 00:25:23.130 into things and hoping to move along in life. 00:25:23.509 --> 00:25:25.890 But there is something actually gifted within 00:25:25.890 --> 00:25:28.049 those who have had the veil removed, who are 00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:31.150 reconciled with God Almighty, where the power 00:25:31.150 --> 00:25:33.829 source is actually inside me to move my will. 00:25:34.930 --> 00:25:38.369 And Paul continues on and he says, so all of 00:25:38.369 --> 00:25:42.640 us who have had that veil removed, can see and 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:45.960 reflect the glory of the Lord. This see and reflect 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:49.920 is a difficult word to translate between the 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:52.599 Greek and what we have today in English. It's 00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:55.000 probably better to say contemplate or behold. 00:25:55.950 --> 00:25:59.150 It's not about like I'm walking by and I see 00:25:59.150 --> 00:26:03.390 you and I move on. This is maybe akin to a wedding 00:26:03.390 --> 00:26:06.109 where the groom is standing there and the bride 00:26:06.109 --> 00:26:09.210 walks in for the first time and there's a contemplating 00:26:09.210 --> 00:26:13.109 or a beholding, a gazing upon and just being 00:26:13.109 --> 00:26:17.369 taken up by what this person is seeing. So Paul 00:26:17.369 --> 00:26:20.210 says you have had that veil removed. Now you 00:26:20.210 --> 00:26:22.529 can see and reflect. You can contemplate. You 00:26:22.529 --> 00:26:27.019 can spend time. having that energy source and 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:30.940 person and presence actually change you. Just 00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:37.319 sitting before God. So the means is the awareness 00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:40.440 of God's love within us. I was speaking with 00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:43.900 a brother within our community a few weeks ago. 00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:47.319 And he was telling me some of his story and he 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:51.220 said that, you know, his background was extremely 00:26:51.220 --> 00:26:56.529 difficult. So much pain. There had been awful 00:26:56.529 --> 00:27:00.670 things that had happened. And he found himself 00:27:00.670 --> 00:27:03.950 outside of his home country in a small community. 00:27:04.029 --> 00:27:07.809 And at one point, the rest of his roommates all 00:27:07.809 --> 00:27:11.470 went away for a trip. And he was left alone there. 00:27:11.609 --> 00:27:14.009 And he's left alone with all of what was in his 00:27:14.009 --> 00:27:16.470 past. And as he sat there and he went out onto 00:27:16.470 --> 00:27:19.029 the balcony, there was something inside him that 00:27:19.029 --> 00:27:24.269 said, I should just end this. Now, he didn't. 00:27:26.460 --> 00:27:31.359 Obviously. But that point, that story in it was 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:34.599 not the end because later on, as he shared, he 00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:36.619 said he was doing something that's called a manual 00:27:36.619 --> 00:27:39.619 journaling. And this is where you are entering 00:27:39.619 --> 00:27:41.960 into your story and placing it before scripture 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:43.920 and before God. And you're saying, Lord, would 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:46.880 you help me to see where you were in all of this? 00:27:47.059 --> 00:27:49.140 Would you help encounter me, Emmanuel meeting 00:27:49.140 --> 00:27:52.700 God with us? I want you to be here with me in 00:27:52.700 --> 00:27:54.599 this. And you know what the Holy Spirit brought 00:27:54.599 --> 00:27:58.900 to mind for this brother? He brought to mind 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:02.019 a vision in that time of him sitting on the balcony 00:28:02.019 --> 00:28:05.750 and he wasn't alone. Jesus was there holding 00:28:05.750 --> 00:28:09.250 onto him and pushing against him. His desire 00:28:09.250 --> 00:28:11.410 was something very different, but the love of 00:28:11.410 --> 00:28:13.289 God through the power of the Holy Spirit brought 00:28:13.289 --> 00:28:16.210 to light what was happening in that moment. This 00:28:16.210 --> 00:28:18.369 is the type of transformation that begins to 00:28:18.369 --> 00:28:22.029 move us in a different way than behavior modification 00:28:22.029 --> 00:28:24.230 or all these other things that we have for us. 00:28:25.750 --> 00:28:30.470 We become what we behold. What you focus on, 00:28:30.529 --> 00:28:32.450 what you gaze on, that's what you will become. 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:35.759 We become what we behold is what Paul is saying 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:38.900 here. He's not done. He says, in the Lord who 00:28:38.900 --> 00:28:41.039 is the spirit. Okay, we got this, Paul. You said 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:42.519 that at the beginning. Now you're saying it again. 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:46.240 This is because our will wants to think I'm the 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:49.480 one who's in control. The Lord who is the spirit 00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:54.640 makes us more and more like him. as we are changed 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:57.759 into his glorious image. Now the language here, 00:28:57.900 --> 00:29:00.759 if you've heard this passage preached before, 00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:04.420 it's that of a caterpillar to a butterfly, metamorphosis. 00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:07.839 It's this transformation that is, you participate 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:10.460 in it, but it kind of happens to you. It's a 00:29:10.460 --> 00:29:13.099 both and reality, but the heavy lifting is not 00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:18.079 your part. And this change is gradual. And that's 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:19.759 why I asked that question at the beginning. How 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:21.380 many of you have changed? You came to know Jesus 00:29:21.380 --> 00:29:25.660 and you're like, I'm just like him. Get a community 00:29:25.660 --> 00:29:27.200 around you and they'll let you know you're not. 00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:29.660 And then it'll be a long journey, right? Join 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:33.839 a life group. So here's what we come to find 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:37.000 out. That God is telling through Paul that there's 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.359 a process. Sometimes there's sudden moments and 00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:42.839 sometimes gradual. John Mark Comer uses the word 00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:45.920 breakthrough and process moments. Breakthrough 00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:50.240 moments are very rare. Process moments are the 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:53.799 heavy, the long -term thing that God uses. I 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:56.160 like the breakthrough moments. I want to be one 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.220 and done type situation. But you know what's 00:29:58.220 --> 00:30:00.319 going to happen if God meets me in that way every 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:02.700 single time? I'm going to forget I need him. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:05.680 And the point is not about me being fixed. The 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:09.460 point is me being with God. So the process moments, 00:30:09.500 --> 00:30:12.440 the slower movement that keeps transforming us 00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:16.180 step by step gives me that space to really encounter 00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:19.339 and be with God and have that relationship come 00:30:19.339 --> 00:30:22.920 to a deeper awareness for me. We are loved into 00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:27.160 loving. This is back to that carrot story. My 00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:30.519 behavior changed because I trusted my father 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:33.160 and I trusted what he was doing and I participated 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:35.779 in it. And as I was beholding him there, first 00:30:35.779 --> 00:30:39.819 with judgment, later it was with a sense of deep 00:30:39.819 --> 00:30:43.519 appreciation for how he had raised me in that 00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:48.920 situation. So we are loved into loving. For the 00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:51.640 Lord is the spirit and wherever the spirit of 00:30:51.640 --> 00:30:55.339 the Lord is, there is what? There's what? Freedom. 00:30:56.959 --> 00:30:59.660 So anytime there's this feeling of like, oh, 00:30:59.859 --> 00:31:03.299 I don't want to choose that. You know, you have 00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:06.259 a choice right there, right? It's that choice 00:31:06.259 --> 00:31:09.559 is to say, okay, but I'm just going to grit my 00:31:09.559 --> 00:31:12.380 teeth and do it. Or it's going to say, Lord, 00:31:12.500 --> 00:31:16.339 meet me here. Spirit, empower me to this end. 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:20.140 And just so you don't come to talk to me later 00:31:20.140 --> 00:31:21.880 and you say, I tried it and it didn't work. Remember, 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:25.779 it's a slow, gradual movement. And your change, 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:28.400 where that second order volition begins to become 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:30.900 your first order volition, happens over time. 00:31:32.140 --> 00:31:34.299 And it will be complete one day, as Paul says. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:37.660 Jesus is committed to the fact that he will transform 00:31:37.660 --> 00:31:42.579 us. So the presence of true change has the outcome 00:31:42.579 --> 00:31:44.980 of freedom as well in it. This is going to be 00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:48.599 the experience of increased freedom that we participate 00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:52.039 with the Holy Spirit. Here's another way that 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:55.160 Paul says it in the book of Philippians. For 00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:58.180 God is working in you, and go ahead and read 00:31:58.180 --> 00:32:01.160 this second part with me together. What? Giving 00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:05.579 you the desire and the power to do what pleases 00:32:05.579 --> 00:32:10.579 him. The desire and the power. So go back to 00:32:10.579 --> 00:32:14.059 this whole framework and we look at what the 00:32:14.059 --> 00:32:16.900 question of how do we change and consider Frankfurt's 00:32:16.900 --> 00:32:19.740 model. If I'm left with first order desires, 00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:22.880 second order desires, and my governing or second 00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:25.829 order volition, I'm going to be an exhausted 00:32:25.829 --> 00:32:30.309 human being. But if I participate in it and realize 00:32:30.309 --> 00:32:33.509 that the Holy Spirit comes into that very center 00:32:33.509 --> 00:32:36.450 of who I am and begins to transform me from the 00:32:36.450 --> 00:32:41.569 inside out, in participation with me, some beautiful 00:32:41.569 --> 00:32:44.809 things can begin to happen. And it goes out from 00:32:44.809 --> 00:32:49.450 not only the worldview, but then my very values 00:32:49.450 --> 00:32:52.430 and my behaviors, my attitudes, and what I choose 00:32:52.430 --> 00:32:54.809 to have around me, the artifacts around me. And 00:32:54.809 --> 00:32:58.009 so what you see around me is this complex reality, 00:32:58.049 --> 00:33:00.869 but at the inside is the Holy Spirit with me, 00:33:00.890 --> 00:33:05.029 moving me towards that end. So we kind of come 00:33:05.029 --> 00:33:08.630 to the end here with a question for you. What 00:33:08.630 --> 00:33:11.490 would it look like? Church, what would it look 00:33:11.490 --> 00:33:14.789 like for you to truly welcome the Holy Spirit 00:33:14.789 --> 00:33:19.329 in every area of your life? What might that look 00:33:19.329 --> 00:33:25.009 like? If this is where freedom is found, if this 00:33:25.009 --> 00:33:28.390 is the greatest participation in the news of 00:33:28.390 --> 00:33:31.869 being a follower of Jesus, if this is what life 00:33:31.869 --> 00:33:34.450 in the presence of the Holy Spirit is like, what 00:33:34.450 --> 00:33:37.089 would it look like for us to be increasingly 00:33:37.089 --> 00:33:40.470 open? To not think of the Holy Spirit as some 00:33:40.470 --> 00:33:42.450 strange uncle that's in the corner of our family 00:33:42.450 --> 00:33:46.589 reunion, but actually host him in a hospitable 00:33:46.589 --> 00:33:49.630 way and participate with him in our very lives. 00:33:50.809 --> 00:33:53.470 And what we are going to be doing here in celebrating 00:33:53.470 --> 00:33:56.930 communion is one of the ways you can respond. 00:33:57.950 --> 00:34:00.029 Because see what the Holy Spirit is going to 00:34:00.029 --> 00:34:03.170 do in and through this time, so long as you surrender 00:34:03.170 --> 00:34:09.760 to it, is to take the gift of Jesus Christ, sacrificial 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:16.300 death for you and bring it into who you are. 00:34:16.780 --> 00:34:19.760 Not just a story out there to think, wow, that's 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:22.840 a really amazing story, but to take that truth 00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:25.940 and impart it relationally into who you are. 00:34:27.059 --> 00:34:32.300 So I want you to hold that posture. Say, Lord, 00:34:32.340 --> 00:34:34.739 what would it look like for you, Holy Spirit, 00:34:34.860 --> 00:34:38.340 to bring this time of communion? actually very 00:34:38.340 --> 00:34:42.480 personally to me now. This is actually a way 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:45.139 of us remembering the death of Jesus Christ, 00:34:45.280 --> 00:34:48.400 the sacrificial way he gave of himself. His body 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:50.760 was broken on our behalf. His blood was spilled 00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:53.760 as an eternal lifelong covenant for you and for 00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:57.880 me. And he did this as a once and for all victory 00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:02.039 because he is above all. And those who follow 00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:05.539 him continue to be shaped in and from this story 00:35:05.539 --> 00:35:08.409 as it goes forward. What you hold before you, 00:35:08.449 --> 00:35:13.269 brothers and sisters, is a small reminder of 00:35:13.269 --> 00:35:15.690 the most significant gift that has ever been 00:35:15.690 --> 00:35:20.510 given. The all -powerful, almighty God, who is 00:35:20.510 --> 00:35:23.050 in all places at all times, has been forever 00:35:23.050 --> 00:35:25.210 in the past and will be forever in the future, 00:35:25.289 --> 00:35:32.769 who holds the cosmos together, said, you are 00:35:32.769 --> 00:35:36.050 worth me giving my own life for because I love 00:35:36.050 --> 00:35:39.980 you. And so as you partake in this, remembering 00:35:39.980 --> 00:35:42.639 the body that was broken and the blood that was 00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:47.179 spilled, we do this out of gratitude, remembering 00:35:47.179 --> 00:35:51.960 what Jesus has done for us. It brings a combination 00:35:51.960 --> 00:35:55.159 of sorrow for what he went through and joy for 00:35:55.159 --> 00:35:58.500 what we get to experience. And his blood that 00:35:58.500 --> 00:36:01.059 was spilled, an everlasting covenant, say I'm 00:36:01.059 --> 00:36:04.679 forever yours, you are forever mine. Jesus, thank 00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:08.059 you. Thank you once again. for bringing to mind 00:36:08.059 --> 00:36:10.980 what you have done. Holy Spirit, we ask that 00:36:10.980 --> 00:36:14.840 you would, based on the righteousness of Jesus 00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:19.119 Christ, continue to form us more and more like 00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:22.199 him, increasingly so that we can reflect your 00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:25.920 glory to the world around. We pray this in the 00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:34.630 wonderful, matchless name of Jesus. Amen. Thank 00:36:34.630 --> 00:36:37.590 you for tuning in to the ECB sermon podcast. 00:36:38.190 --> 00:36:41.969 Whether near or far, if you are looking for community 00:36:41.969 --> 00:36:45.809 or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage 00:36:45.809 --> 00:36:50.630 by sending us an email to office at ecb .asia. 00:36:51.130 --> 00:36:54.250 If God is calling you to support our ministries, 00:36:54.349 --> 00:36:56.969 you will find giving options on our website. 00:36:57.730 --> 00:37:01.210 And remember to join us next week. God bless 00:37:01.210 --> 00:37:01.449 you.