WEBVTT 00:00:02.260 --> 00:00:05.259 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.660 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.179 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.679 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:15.960 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:20.100 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:29.750 enjoy this week's message. presence of the Lord 00:00:29.750 --> 00:00:32.609 incredible in the water baptism tank, just watching. 00:00:33.850 --> 00:00:37.530 The beauty is, you know, some people know more 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:40.270 of the story. Many of us know just the fact of 00:00:40.270 --> 00:00:44.969 what it means to really decide to follow Jesus. 00:00:45.950 --> 00:00:50.689 And it does. There's a cost. You know, I think 00:00:50.689 --> 00:00:54.250 that's one of the great things that we can take 00:00:54.250 --> 00:00:59.670 away this morning in the The joy of the Lord 00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:02.350 that comes to watch people count the cost and 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:06.790 say, I'm going to follow Christ. Those that have 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:09.709 walked away and then come back, recognize what 00:01:09.709 --> 00:01:13.510 they've missed. And to be able to say, God, remove 00:01:13.510 --> 00:01:17.129 from me the trespasses, remove the time I hardened 00:01:17.129 --> 00:01:21.349 my will, bring me back into the fellowship. Listen, 00:01:21.430 --> 00:01:24.590 there's a cost to following Jesus. Those that 00:01:24.590 --> 00:01:27.349 are following on screen and watching the internet, 00:01:27.769 --> 00:01:32.069 There's a cost. It's not just about pray a prayer 00:01:32.069 --> 00:01:37.430 and then have no faith and obedience to walk 00:01:37.430 --> 00:01:42.469 with the Spirit of God. It's about choosing to 00:01:42.469 --> 00:01:46.230 follow him. Jesus spent most in every gospel, 00:01:46.390 --> 00:01:50.049 spent significant amount of time talking about 00:01:50.049 --> 00:01:53.549 making sure you understand what it means to follow 00:01:53.549 --> 00:01:56.629 the Lord, what it means to confess him before 00:01:56.629 --> 00:02:01.760 men. what it means to take up your cross. And 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.319 you know what that is? You know what your cross 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:10.800 is? Your cross is your will. That's what it is. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:16.979 Where God is willingly can cross your will. And 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:21.419 just like Jesus, pray, thy kingdom come, thy 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:26.840 will be done. And it's personal in me. As you 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:30.879 live inside of me. That's my cross. Am I willing. 00:02:31.300 --> 00:02:34.680 To allow him to cross me. At every level. When 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:39.280 my will is not in alignment with him. Amen. Come 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.280 on turn to somebody and say. Come on follow him. 00:02:41.620 --> 00:02:45.219 Come on follow him. It's worth. It's worth it. 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:50.520 It's worth it. It's worth it. Pastor Jenny is 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:52.240 going to stay. And just play for me a little 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:56.530 bit this morning. I want to. shift gears from 00:02:56.530 --> 00:03:02.389 some of our multifaceted series that we've been 00:03:02.389 --> 00:03:04.330 talking about, the Something More Church, and 00:03:04.330 --> 00:03:07.509 I want to stay in the theme of what we dealt 00:03:07.509 --> 00:03:10.949 with last night. I prayed about it all through 00:03:10.949 --> 00:03:14.370 the night. I woke up at different times and came 00:03:14.370 --> 00:03:16.189 this morning, met with the staff, prayed with 00:03:16.189 --> 00:03:18.349 the staff and the team, and I just felt like 00:03:18.349 --> 00:03:21.490 I want to stay in the theme. We had a special 00:03:21.490 --> 00:03:25.579 fire on the altar service last night. Simply 00:03:25.579 --> 00:03:28.360 that for us means what? Fire on the altar means 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:30.759 what? It's a place of sacrifice. It's a place 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:34.060 of commitment. It's a place of every time you 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:38.360 look in the scriptures, God did nothing without 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:43.599 bringing fire and that passion to ignite the 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:47.060 sacrifice. The New Testament talks about that 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:50.740 we... willingly present our bodies as a living 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:53.800 sacrifice, holy and acceptable. The fire comes 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:58.400 from his presence. Jesus said in Matthew 3 and 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:03.539 in Luke 3, he said, I have a baptism that I desire 00:04:03.539 --> 00:04:06.680 to baptize with. It's a baptism of what? Fire. 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:13.909 So that's who he is. The Holy Spirit is And there's 00:04:13.909 --> 00:04:17.470 many things. I think I counted 15. I won't go 00:04:17.470 --> 00:04:21.009 through all 15 today. There's a few, but there's 00:04:21.009 --> 00:04:25.670 many symbols that the Holy Spirit is used all 00:04:25.670 --> 00:04:28.589 through the scripture. One of them being the 00:04:28.589 --> 00:04:31.209 main one being oil and the other one being fire. 00:04:31.730 --> 00:04:35.430 And then the third most popular is out of your 00:04:35.430 --> 00:04:39.269 belly shall flow rivers of living water. That's 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:44.110 The imagery that Jesus uses, the oil of the spirit, 00:04:44.350 --> 00:04:48.430 the fire of God always showing up. God's first 00:04:48.430 --> 00:04:52.769 encounter with his people after he brought them 00:04:52.769 --> 00:04:55.790 out of the house of bondage in Egypt, after he 00:04:55.790 --> 00:05:00.009 put the blood and had them spread the blood of 00:05:00.009 --> 00:05:02.269 the lamb on the doorpost, the next encounter 00:05:02.269 --> 00:05:05.930 they had after a few wanderings and getting some 00:05:05.930 --> 00:05:08.610 water is he would come down on the mountain with 00:05:08.610 --> 00:05:13.939 fire. 50 days, 50 days from Egypt, he visited 00:05:13.939 --> 00:05:16.579 the mountain with fire and he spoke to them. 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:19.560 Out of what the Bible says, the mountain looked 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:23.899 like a kiln. It was a furnace and fire and the 00:05:23.899 --> 00:05:27.220 voice of the Lord spoke from the midst of the 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:30.959 fire. Moses encountered the one who did not burn 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:34.560 up as the holy living fire that called him into 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:38.279 ministry. We can go over and over and over. He 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:40.930 is the fire presence of the Lord. That's why 00:05:40.930 --> 00:05:46.209 it says in Hebrews 12, our God is a consuming 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:50.949 fire. One of the key things that God always does 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:55.389 and his admonition to both the Old Testament 00:05:55.389 --> 00:05:59.589 Levites and priests and represents for us, the 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:02.709 scripture is their responsibility was to what? 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:11.019 Always keep the fire going. In every priest and 00:06:11.019 --> 00:06:13.579 every Levite, their assignment was to always 00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:18.300 have a fire on the altar. Why? Because it's always 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:21.040 the place that represents what? The passion, 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:24.779 the motivation, and the place of sacrifice where 00:06:24.779 --> 00:06:28.399 I encounter the Lord at every level. Never ever 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:32.220 should the hearth be cold. Never ever should 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:36.279 the place of encountering God. God get religiously 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:41.259 cold. It must have fresh wood. It must be stoked. 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:44.439 It must be maintained. And that's one of the 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:47.660 things that Jesus takes from the principle of 00:06:47.660 --> 00:06:50.639 what he told all of his people that worked around 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:54.360 in and in his presence. He carries it all the 00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:57.699 way over to the New Testament in the last day 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:01.879 church. And he says to this, I would that you 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:06.639 were either cold or you're hot. But to live a 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:10.360 life of lukewarmness, I will spew you out of 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:14.600 my mouth. Now, I didn't bring anything to spew 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:18.740 out on the front row today. Just so, you know, 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:20.740 because sometimes we have illustrations, so I 00:07:20.740 --> 00:07:24.720 didn't decide not to do that. But the reality 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:30.839 is, what does, why would God say, I would spew 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:37.930 you out of my mouth? Now, we think of, especially 00:07:37.930 --> 00:07:40.910 every parent in here has probably had an experience, 00:07:40.990 --> 00:07:44.430 or maybe you've had an experience with your spouse. 00:07:44.569 --> 00:07:46.910 I know Jenny has had plenty with me where all 00:07:46.910 --> 00:07:49.730 of a sudden, coming back from nations, I get 00:07:49.730 --> 00:07:53.149 food poison or a virus or something, and I don't 00:07:53.149 --> 00:08:01.970 just spew quietly. She is amazing, quiet almost 00:08:01.970 --> 00:08:06.379 in everything she does. I'll wake up in the morning. 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:08.160 I said, how's your night? Oh, terrible. I threw 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.759 up three times. I didn't even hear. If I throw 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:19.879 up, the neighbors call. My toes curl, hair pops 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:22.720 out in new places. I mean, it's just, you know, 00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:25.860 I mean, there's something on the inside of why 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:29.389 is this forceful rejection? When Jesus said, 00:08:29.449 --> 00:08:31.670 I will spew you out of my mouth, he didn't say 00:08:31.670 --> 00:08:34.389 I'm spew you out of my stomach. He said, I spew 00:08:34.389 --> 00:08:38.590 you out of my mouth. Why? Well, there's multiple 00:08:38.590 --> 00:08:43.289 reasons of why that could be. One of it is tempered 00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:49.210 water in that area and place isn't what you needed. 00:08:49.929 --> 00:08:52.970 You either needed really cold water or you needed 00:08:52.970 --> 00:08:56.809 hot water. But probably more than anything is 00:08:56.809 --> 00:08:59.990 the mouth of God represents what? Now listen 00:08:59.990 --> 00:09:04.289 to this. It's important. The mouth of God represents 00:09:04.289 --> 00:09:11.470 where God speaks to you. Remember, Jesus said, 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:15.090 or John actually said of Jesus, in the beginning 00:09:15.090 --> 00:09:17.909 was the word and the word was God and the word 00:09:17.909 --> 00:09:21.730 was with God and the word came forth from God. 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:26.440 And the word became manifested in the flesh and 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:29.259 we held him, we touched him. Between Gospel of 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:34.759 John, that passage, and between 1 John, his little 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:39.539 book, the reality is he laid out who that word 00:09:39.539 --> 00:09:45.340 is. The word came from the heart of the Father 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:49.519 and was the mouthpiece for everything that God 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:54.669 actually is. So when God speaks, when you begin 00:09:54.669 --> 00:09:58.389 to look at that original understanding of Genesis, 00:09:58.529 --> 00:10:04.289 and it says, and God said, it was thought, it 00:10:04.289 --> 00:10:07.730 was determined, and the saying part was both 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:13.690 God and Christ the word. Christ the word formed 00:10:13.690 --> 00:10:19.169 the world because he speaks the heart of the 00:10:19.169 --> 00:10:24.399 father. Therefore, When the word himself says 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:30.019 to his own people, because you're lukewarm, because 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:33.639 you won't keep the fire on the altar, because 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.220 you won't stoke and let fire constantly burn, 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:40.679 I'll have to spew you out of my mouth. It was 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:45.019 a serious rebuke to the church. Why? Because 00:10:45.019 --> 00:10:51.279 the word is where you hear. The word is what 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:55.879 brings you direction. The word is what he promises 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:58.799 to give you, to guide you and to keep you. And 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:01.440 when he says, I'll spew you out, he's saying, 00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:04.860 I, if you don't change this in your life, you 00:11:04.860 --> 00:11:07.460 don't know how you are. See, Jesus was dealing 00:11:07.460 --> 00:11:10.860 with a Laodicean culture. They were wealthy. 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:15.740 They saw themselves as having everything that 00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:19.919 they needed. There was nothing. And it's a little 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.220 bit like our culture today, not a little, a lot 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:25.299 like our culture today, especially in Western 00:11:25.299 --> 00:11:30.059 culture. For the majority in this room, fact 00:11:30.059 --> 00:11:34.820 is 80%, maybe 90 % of us in this room, it's probably 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:39.059 even higher than that. Compared to the rest of 00:11:39.059 --> 00:11:42.460 the populations of the world, we are considered 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:46.799 the wealthiest of wealthy people. Now you would 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:51.679 say in here, We're working two jobs. We got house 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:53.340 payment, car payment. What are you talking about 00:11:53.340 --> 00:11:58.399 wealthy? In our culture, many of us aren't. But 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.659 compared to the rest of the world, we live on 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:05.919 a scale and means that is beyond. They can't 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:12.940 even fathom having money to tip. That money that 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:16.159 we would tip would represent money that they 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:20.519 would just. be living to eat. That's where the 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:22.340 majority of the world is. And so when Jesus was 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:26.179 saying to the Laodiceans in that last day, seventh 00:12:26.179 --> 00:12:28.460 church in the book of Revelation chapter three, 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:31.879 he goes, you see yourselves as having need of 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:36.720 nothing. You're rich. You think you see, you 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:41.220 think you know. You think there's nothing that 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:44.529 can be added to you. Why? Because they began 00:12:44.529 --> 00:12:49.070 to see themselves as satisfied in everything 00:12:49.070 --> 00:12:53.210 else and the gospel and the fire for Jesus alone 00:12:53.210 --> 00:13:02.230 had just become one of other fires. One of other 00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:06.990 pursuits. Seek first the kingdom of God and his 00:13:06.990 --> 00:13:11.139 righteousness had waned. Jesus just became one 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:13.960 of the things that made my life secure, and so 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:16.100 there's other things that made it secure. That 00:13:16.100 --> 00:13:20.000 was the condemnation of Laodicea. And Jesus' 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:23.399 word is saying, unless you repent. I've got to 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:26.059 what? I've got to remove you from my mouth. I've 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:28.720 got to remove you from the place of revelation. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:31.659 I got to move you from the place of now words. 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:34.440 I've got to remove you from a place of my personal 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.379 guidance. Why? Because you don't want it because 00:13:37.379 --> 00:13:41.000 it's lost. It's become lukewarm in everything 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:46.759 else. So the scripture was either be hot or cold. 00:13:47.850 --> 00:13:50.570 Now, listen, cold is not a good thing. Jesus 00:13:50.570 --> 00:13:53.590 was, as he always did, he commended the unjust 00:13:53.590 --> 00:13:57.370 steward, not because Jesus liked unjustness or 00:13:57.370 --> 00:14:00.129 unrighteousness, but he commended them for if 00:14:00.129 --> 00:14:02.909 they were going to be unjust, they actually went 00:14:02.909 --> 00:14:07.590 in on all unjust. And so Jesus was actually saying 00:14:07.590 --> 00:14:12.429 to the church, if you're going to be worldly, 00:14:12.629 --> 00:14:18.710 then understand living a life Straddling is never 00:14:18.710 --> 00:14:22.090 something I'm going to accept. I'll not accept 00:14:22.090 --> 00:14:26.450 it. I'll remove the straddle. And I'll force 00:14:26.450 --> 00:14:28.950 you to make a decision. And here's what I'm going 00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:32.009 to tell you. Either get cold as though you'd 00:14:32.009 --> 00:14:36.509 never been experienced hot or stay hot. That's 00:14:36.509 --> 00:14:39.230 how you have to follow me. Now that doesn't mean 00:14:39.230 --> 00:14:41.730 that there aren't seasons that we go through. 00:14:42.610 --> 00:14:47.970 By the way, welcome to the house of God. There 00:14:47.970 --> 00:14:52.009 are seasons like where we need, but the principle 00:14:52.009 --> 00:15:04.009 is, am I living bringing wood to the fire? Is 00:15:04.009 --> 00:15:08.289 there fire on my altar? Is there fire in my heart? 00:15:08.929 --> 00:15:12.990 Is there fire that actually burns for the things 00:15:12.990 --> 00:15:16.559 of God? And if there isn't, just like Jesus said 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.960 to the Laodiceans, he says, you think you have 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:20.940 need of nothing, but I want to tell you how I 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:26.519 see you. I see you as pretty pathetic. He actually 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:30.440 uses the word wretched. You know why he would 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:32.860 use that word? Because wretched is connected 00:15:32.860 --> 00:15:37.539 to spew. When your stomach wretches, what does 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:44.690 it do? You see, I see you as wretched. poor, 00:15:44.690 --> 00:15:51.850 naked, blind. That was an indictment that they 00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:56.649 were 180 degrees off from what they thought the 00:15:56.649 --> 00:15:59.289 Lord thought of them. I don't know about you 00:15:59.289 --> 00:16:02.710 church, but that is a scary thought that I could 00:16:02.710 --> 00:16:05.710 be, I'm going to say this carefully. I could 00:16:05.710 --> 00:16:11.289 be thinking Portland was South and Eugene is 00:16:11.289 --> 00:16:15.509 North. There's a big, well, there's not a huge 00:16:15.509 --> 00:16:17.669 difference between Portland and Eugene, but there's 00:16:17.669 --> 00:16:22.230 some, right? And the reality is to think I'm 00:16:22.230 --> 00:16:25.730 going to Eugene when I'm heading north, only 00:16:25.730 --> 00:16:29.870 to be arrested halfway there and go, you are 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:32.929 completely going the wrong way in your thought 00:16:32.929 --> 00:16:39.269 process. That's why Jesus said, come, buy from 00:16:39.269 --> 00:16:43.580 me, salve, that I can anoint your eyes. Why? 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:46.360 Because you're blind. You haven't been seeing 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:49.340 where your error is. And one of the reasons you're 00:16:49.340 --> 00:16:52.080 not seeing what your error is, is that you've 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:56.279 not stoked the fires of the passion of knowing 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:00.220 him, living for him, and allowing him to consume 00:17:00.220 --> 00:17:06.039 you. You doing all right? Now, this fire on the 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:12.210 altar, why? Because fire on the altar represents 00:17:12.210 --> 00:17:18.150 something that's a big deal in our culture. It 00:17:18.150 --> 00:17:25.130 represents that I'm prepared to give myself away. 00:17:26.269 --> 00:17:30.589 When there's no fire on the altar, it means I'm 00:17:30.589 --> 00:17:34.710 not thinking about giving myself away. I'm not 00:17:34.710 --> 00:17:38.289 thinking about... willing to actually let more 00:17:38.289 --> 00:17:41.490 of me go. I'm actually thinking about getting 00:17:41.490 --> 00:17:45.990 more for me. That's what the culture of this 00:17:45.990 --> 00:17:49.630 world does. Everything is about what? We have 00:17:49.630 --> 00:17:52.269 to fight that. It's about self. It's about more. 00:17:52.470 --> 00:17:56.089 It's about consuming myself. And what happens 00:17:56.089 --> 00:17:59.430 when I do the consuming and live for self and 00:17:59.430 --> 00:18:02.950 think about self, I back away from that principle 00:18:02.950 --> 00:18:07.490 of staying. I'm to be in a place to be pulled 00:18:07.490 --> 00:18:11.529 on and to give away for the sake of Christ as 00:18:11.529 --> 00:18:16.390 my first love is him. I think probably more than 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:19.930 anything, if I'm just to be honest, moms can 00:18:19.930 --> 00:18:25.170 probably feel this the most. A godly mom has 00:18:25.170 --> 00:18:31.950 multiple areas of pulls. The husband, the kids, 00:18:32.109 --> 00:18:36.029 the house, I'm not saying that the husband doesn't 00:18:36.029 --> 00:18:38.069 do anything. Let's just hope for the best in 00:18:38.069 --> 00:18:43.589 my analogy here, okay? Okay, in all that's there, 00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:49.109 she's pulled what? Multiple directions and feels 00:18:49.109 --> 00:18:52.890 like many times, all I have been doing is at 00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:56.170 the beck and call of everybody else. I'm seeing 00:18:56.170 --> 00:18:58.910 some ladies going, yes, yes. He's finally getting 00:18:58.910 --> 00:19:08.180 it, yes. And the pulling. Jesus is actually saying 00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:12.480 it's not the natural pulling of things, but spiritually, 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:17.319 what is a mom known for? A nurturer, a giver 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:23.859 of life. Jesus wants every single person, every 00:19:23.859 --> 00:19:28.079 single person to recognize that as he is, he's 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:32.640 longing for us to pull on him. And he's longing 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:37.279 for us to be willing to be pulled from. Because 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.619 that's the nature of who he is. The moment we 00:19:40.619 --> 00:19:44.039 begin to insulate ourselves from that, we begin 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:48.440 to wane in the personal fires. And then it becomes, 00:19:48.660 --> 00:19:54.279 we can take it or leave it. And then we're only 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:57.400 reminded about the important things when somebody 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:00.710 else reminds us. not from the fact that the Holy 00:20:00.710 --> 00:20:04.390 Spirit has personally reminded us and our relationship 00:20:04.390 --> 00:20:08.690 has been that close. We begin to develop excuses. 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:12.109 We begin to develop justifications. We then allow 00:20:12.109 --> 00:20:15.289 hurts and we allow expectations and we begin 00:20:15.289 --> 00:20:18.039 to judge and we begin to... create all sorts 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.160 of caveats, and before we know it, we're walking 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:25.160 around like one ice cube in the center of an 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:29.400 ice cube tray surrounded by coldness rather than 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:33.220 actually surrounded by a warmth of hotness that 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:37.559 comes through passion. Fire on the altar simply, 00:20:37.819 --> 00:20:40.779 what we did last night, in fact, how many were 00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:42.960 here last night? Let me see your hands. Okay, 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:47.910 maybe about 15, 20%. Okay, great. I wanna talk 00:20:47.910 --> 00:20:51.509 this morning in the time that I have left. I 00:20:51.509 --> 00:20:53.769 wanna talk this morning about the person of the 00:20:53.769 --> 00:20:59.750 Holy Spirit because he is the one who puts the 00:20:59.750 --> 00:21:04.789 fire on the altar. Jesus couldn't speak that 00:21:04.789 --> 00:21:08.569 way. Now listen, I've spent a lifetime. I know 00:21:08.569 --> 00:21:11.960 I'm only gonna be 57 years old this. This summer, 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:14.380 I know I'm still a pup compared to some of the 00:21:14.380 --> 00:21:16.839 others here. I'm walking among those that are 00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:21.140 ancient of days in the congregation. I get that. 00:21:21.299 --> 00:21:28.200 But the reality is for 40 some odd years, the 00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:32.220 book of Revelation has been my passion. I'm in 00:21:32.220 --> 00:21:36.299 it every week no matter what because I find that 00:21:36.299 --> 00:21:43.059 all of the 66 books have its close and its closings, 00:21:43.059 --> 00:21:47.039 its fulfillments, because it's still an active 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:50.220 book that's being taken place even now. And the 00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:54.619 only way Jesus could speak to the Laodicean church 00:21:54.619 --> 00:21:58.880 the way he did was to know that he had sent the 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:03.779 Holy Spirit to be the form of God and the God 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:08.809 representative to keep people's lives, the church 00:22:08.809 --> 00:22:11.950 personally and the individuals of that church, 00:22:12.009 --> 00:22:15.150 the ecclesia and the members of the ecclesia 00:22:15.150 --> 00:22:19.690 stoked with passion. So he had to come because 00:22:19.690 --> 00:22:24.630 what happened? They, now stay with me, they shunned. 00:22:25.009 --> 00:22:30.210 You see, if you have lost the fire, you've shunned 00:22:30.210 --> 00:22:33.730 the representative of God called the fire, which 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:39.960 is the Holy Spirit. Let me say that again. If 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:43.420 you've lost the passion, fire for God and for 00:22:43.420 --> 00:22:47.099 the love of Jesus, you've lost your connection 00:22:47.099 --> 00:22:49.720 with the Holy Spirit. Doesn't mean the Holy Spirit 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:53.059 has left you. You've just lost your personal 00:22:53.059 --> 00:22:56.259 relationship time because he's the one who is 00:22:56.259 --> 00:23:04.180 fire. And so when we speak about the Holy Spirit, 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:10.150 we have to because of our westernized thinking 00:23:10.150 --> 00:23:18.289 and because of how many of us were raised, we 00:23:18.289 --> 00:23:21.589 focused on God the Father and we focused on Jesus 00:23:21.589 --> 00:23:25.769 the Son, but we have not appropriately honored 00:23:25.769 --> 00:23:30.529 the third person of the Trinity who has been 00:23:30.529 --> 00:23:35.049 sent by the Father and the Son to actually bring 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:40.359 the witness of his spirit, the fire, and the 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:46.500 graces to grow and stay in fervent fellowship 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:53.700 with him. And we have brought our faith and tried 00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:58.640 to boil it down into a intellectual Christianity. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:06.099 And I need you to understand something. intellectual 00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:11.500 Christianity by itself is not biblical. It's 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:15.799 not biblical. Never has been. If you can think 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:24.579 you're self -saved, you're not saved. Right? 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.920 That doesn't mean you don't need to learn. That 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:30.160 doesn't mean that there isn't an education process 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:33.279 of getting to know God and studying the scripture. 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:36.180 Of course, all of that's relevant. But if you 00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:40.460 can rationalize and think yourself and your faith 00:24:40.460 --> 00:24:44.099 in your salvation is no bigger than your mind, 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:49.980 you've got the wrong gospel. Because the gospel 00:24:49.980 --> 00:24:53.779 starts with something that is so profound and 00:24:53.779 --> 00:24:57.180 so bigger than you. And you need someone that 00:24:57.180 --> 00:24:59.759 could bridge the gap that could never be bridged 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.079 by your own righteous works or by our own righteous 00:25:03.079 --> 00:25:06.380 thinking or by our own form of morality. You 00:25:06.380 --> 00:25:09.180 were in desperate need. I was in desperate need 00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:12.359 of someone that was so much larger, so unattainable 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:15.960 that God would have to send one of himself down 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:20.079 and bridge the gap for us. And if that same awe 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:23.519 and that same reality doesn't stay in your life, 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:26.480 you've distanced yourself from how incredible 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:32.599 God really is. And that's where we start. That 00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:36.259 was my pre -introduction. So now let's move to 00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:42.700 the introduction. Lord, I'm asking, don't. I 00:25:42.700 --> 00:25:44.940 don't want another series on top of another series 00:25:44.940 --> 00:25:47.680 right now. Okay, help me stay focused. Okay, 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:54.079 so who is the Holy Spirit? He's incredible. And 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:58.660 first of all, we have to start with the fact 00:25:58.660 --> 00:26:02.880 the Holy Spirit is, are you ready for this? He's 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:10.339 a person. The Father is a person. The son is 00:26:10.339 --> 00:26:13.799 a person and the spirit of God is a person. Now, 00:26:13.859 --> 00:26:16.339 when I say the spirit of God is in person, I'm 00:26:16.339 --> 00:26:18.680 not talking about the spirit of God is in the 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:23.900 flesh. Jesus was the word made flesh. He was 00:26:23.900 --> 00:26:26.980 wrapped in flesh and blood as the only begotten 00:26:26.980 --> 00:26:30.240 son of God and the son of man. He was what we 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:33.880 would call, he was the God man. When I say the 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:36.519 Holy Spirit is a person, I'm not saying that 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:38.880 he has flesh. He doesn't have flesh. He's the 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.880 Spirit. That's why he's called Holy Spirit. He's 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:46.519 not called Holy Man. Right? He's Holy Spirit. 00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:51.299 But it means that he has all the personal characteristics 00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:56.099 of personhood. And the scripture lays out his 00:26:56.099 --> 00:26:58.880 personal characteristics. He's supposed to be 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:06.529 treated as a person, not just a thing. See, that's 00:27:06.529 --> 00:27:12.029 the first clue that we've actually moved from 00:27:12.029 --> 00:27:15.470 not having fire on the altar is that we've treated 00:27:15.470 --> 00:27:21.650 Holy Spirit as a thing, as an it. We've treated 00:27:21.650 --> 00:27:26.029 him as a what? Kind of an influence. Or we've 00:27:26.029 --> 00:27:28.710 treated him as what? Kind of like your Milwaukee 00:27:28.710 --> 00:27:33.329 power tool. He's always on the charger ready 00:27:33.329 --> 00:27:39.549 to go. That's not who the Holy Spirit is. Holy 00:27:39.549 --> 00:27:49.710 Spirit has what? Well, number one, he's a spirit 00:27:49.710 --> 00:27:57.150 sent from God to work through us and in us to 00:27:57.150 --> 00:28:00.640 allow God's holy work. and God's holy graces 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:05.700 to come in and bring what? Fruit through our 00:28:05.700 --> 00:28:08.000 dedication to God through what Jesus Christ has 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.059 done. If we were talking about a plant or a tree, 00:28:12.180 --> 00:28:15.200 the Holy Spirit would represent the sap in the 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:21.319 tree. He is the force of growth and sanctification. 00:28:21.700 --> 00:28:25.579 He brings about and illuminates the truth of 00:28:25.579 --> 00:28:32.170 God's word. Holy Spirit, always is working to 00:28:32.170 --> 00:28:36.470 deal with vessels. See, here's our problem. Many 00:28:36.470 --> 00:28:38.769 times those that have displayed the Holy Spirit, 00:28:38.829 --> 00:28:41.430 display the Holy Spirit as though it's a power 00:28:41.430 --> 00:28:44.430 tool to work for them. And that's the problem 00:28:44.430 --> 00:28:50.009 that the Holy Spirit can be maligned. Why? Because 00:28:50.009 --> 00:28:52.750 there is an anointing, there are gifts, there 00:28:52.750 --> 00:28:56.940 are graces. there are aspects that the Holy Spirit 00:28:56.940 --> 00:28:59.619 flows through that are totally biblical. And 00:28:59.619 --> 00:29:02.380 once you get a gift, the Bible says, once you've 00:29:02.380 --> 00:29:05.539 received a spiritual gift from God, that gift 00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:10.279 is irrevocable. So it says the grace and gifts 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:14.500 of God are irrevocable. That means if you've 00:29:14.500 --> 00:29:20.700 been filled with his spirit and you have a spiritual 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:25.150 gift, That gift is irrevocable. It does not mean 00:29:25.150 --> 00:29:28.029 that God rescinds all of his gifts the minute 00:29:28.029 --> 00:29:32.410 you sin. Irrevocable means you can still have 00:29:32.410 --> 00:29:36.250 that gift and warp it and use it for your own 00:29:36.250 --> 00:29:39.569 benefit. Use it under your own control. And what 00:29:39.569 --> 00:29:43.210 we see many people do is they use the Holy Spirit 00:29:43.210 --> 00:29:46.849 like that DeWalter, that Milwaukee Power. tool 00:29:46.849 --> 00:29:50.630 and they use that grace gift for them and they 00:29:50.630 --> 00:29:53.910 see the Holy Spirit as a tool for them to use 00:29:53.910 --> 00:29:56.869 in their ministry under their control. And it 00:29:56.869 --> 00:30:03.150 couldn't be 180 degrees opposite. Yes, the Holy 00:30:03.150 --> 00:30:05.190 Spirit works through man. Yes, the Holy Spirit 00:30:05.190 --> 00:30:08.049 works through woman. Yes, the Holy Spirit moves 00:30:08.049 --> 00:30:12.529 in gifts and graces, but the core of it is that 00:30:12.529 --> 00:30:17.589 we are the We are the vessel that the Holy Spirit 00:30:17.589 --> 00:30:24.029 uses, not us using the Spirit. We're vessels 00:30:24.029 --> 00:30:30.150 that God uses to partner. God gives glory for 00:30:30.150 --> 00:30:34.630 his work. Holy Spirit brings glory to God through 00:30:34.630 --> 00:30:40.960 his work in clay vessels called us. Holy Spirit 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:43.180 is sent to bring us the work of sanctification. 00:30:43.500 --> 00:30:47.119 Holy Spirit is sent to enable us to partner with 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:50.579 him to do the work, advancement, and demonstrations 00:30:50.579 --> 00:30:54.059 of the Father and the Son's kingdom. Holy Spirit 00:30:54.059 --> 00:30:57.059 advances the will of the Father as he is part 00:30:57.059 --> 00:31:00.500 of the Trinity. Now listen to me. He's sent to 00:31:00.500 --> 00:31:05.289 build the church. This is why... Having a relationship 00:31:05.289 --> 00:31:08.750 with the Holy Spirit is so radically important 00:31:08.750 --> 00:31:13.150 and that you actually know the Spirit in his 00:31:13.150 --> 00:31:16.430 guiding and in his truth. Why? Because he's the 00:31:16.430 --> 00:31:21.410 agent that's building. He's right now on the 00:31:21.410 --> 00:31:25.750 earth building the body of Christ, the bride 00:31:25.750 --> 00:31:30.289 of Christ, and he's setting people into families. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:34.119 Say this carefully because there's going to be 00:31:34.119 --> 00:31:38.450 some zingers. I'm warning you in advance. Any 00:31:38.450 --> 00:31:40.789 person that would set them sideways and say, 00:31:40.809 --> 00:31:43.569 I only want the Father and the Son, I only want 00:31:43.569 --> 00:31:47.109 with that Spirit just a little Jesus in me, and 00:31:47.109 --> 00:31:51.230 sets them aside as the stone set aside for not 00:31:51.230 --> 00:31:54.710 being built in a spiritual house to bring spiritual 00:31:54.710 --> 00:31:57.750 sacrifice, connected to a spiritual family, connected 00:31:57.750 --> 00:32:00.809 to a spiritual community, serving God, glorifying 00:32:00.809 --> 00:32:04.529 God, is actually saying, I don't want fellowship 00:32:04.529 --> 00:32:08.470 with you, Holy Spirit. That is the Bible truth. 00:32:09.710 --> 00:32:19.250 It's the Bible truth. Holy Spirit is sent to 00:32:19.250 --> 00:32:23.250 bring boldness, courage, so that you can be a 00:32:23.250 --> 00:32:27.109 witness, not just verbally, but in demonstration 00:32:27.109 --> 00:32:31.730 of what the fruits of the Spirit look like. See, 00:32:31.849 --> 00:32:35.380 it isn't just... I'll come over here because 00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:37.940 I'm related and he has to forgive me. It isn't 00:32:37.940 --> 00:32:42.720 just dealing with the demoniac, right? It isn't 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:47.619 just dealing with the demon vexed person. It's 00:32:47.619 --> 00:32:51.339 not just dealing with the manifestation of healing. 00:32:52.259 --> 00:32:57.980 It's dealing with what? Patience, gentleness, 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:07.630 kindness, self -control. Love. You see, the fruits 00:33:07.630 --> 00:33:11.490 of the Spirit, that's part of the witness. Yes, 00:33:12.029 --> 00:33:15.250 healing the sick is part of the witness. Casting 00:33:15.250 --> 00:33:17.990 out devils is part of the witness. But so is 00:33:17.990 --> 00:33:23.130 the fruit of the Spirit. Come on. And how does 00:33:23.130 --> 00:33:27.789 this work? The trials, the testings come what? 00:33:28.589 --> 00:33:33.859 To what? Allow the Spirit of God in you. to change 00:33:33.859 --> 00:33:38.099 you, not just in how you see yourself, but in 00:33:38.099 --> 00:33:41.359 how others see you. When you're squeezed, let 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:44.920 me just come over here. My favorite sitting on 00:33:44.920 --> 00:33:48.000 the aisle person to pick on. When you come over 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:53.180 here, when I, now listen, if all that God did 00:33:53.180 --> 00:33:57.579 all the time was just gently, you know, God, 00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:05.079 God is a great masseuse. There are times that 00:34:05.079 --> 00:34:08.159 he just, it's so, he just touches our life gently. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:14.079 There's other times. Yeah. Right. Sorry. Come 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:16.179 on. I thought it was a little harder down. Okay. 00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:20.079 We'll work on that. Those abs. Back off. I'm, 00:34:20.099 --> 00:34:23.500 I'm, I am, I am dough boy for a reason. Hallelujah. 00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:30.650 All right. Now the, the, the reality is. Sometimes 00:34:30.650 --> 00:34:33.730 the squeeze, right? So when you said that, when 00:34:33.730 --> 00:34:36.429 you kind of said it, when you went, ah, it's 00:34:36.429 --> 00:34:39.909 okay, you can do that. No, work with me on that. 00:34:39.969 --> 00:34:42.210 You want me to, I want you to, an expression 00:34:42.210 --> 00:34:45.170 of what happens when somebody squeezes you. There 00:34:45.170 --> 00:34:55.909 we go. When that squeeze happens, the question 00:34:55.909 --> 00:35:03.309 is what comes out of him? If the squeeze is, 00:35:03.389 --> 00:35:09.190 ah, and he sounds like the Tasmanian devil. Okay, 00:35:10.170 --> 00:35:14.869 that is not the spirit of God. That's why he's 00:35:14.869 --> 00:35:18.650 called the Tasmanian devil. But if the squeeze 00:35:18.650 --> 00:35:27.579 happens, okay, Asa. I had to pick between two 00:35:27.579 --> 00:35:30.420 godly kings, David and Asa. All right. When the 00:35:30.420 --> 00:35:35.059 squeeze happens, what comes out of him is, oh 00:35:35.059 --> 00:35:38.539 God, I love you. Thank you that you're with me 00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:42.679 in this trial or something like that. Thank you 00:35:42.679 --> 00:35:47.219 that it's been difficult in this season. People 00:35:47.219 --> 00:35:50.059 are like, oh brother, suck up. You're right. 00:35:51.219 --> 00:35:58.170 No. Something's happening on the inside that 00:35:58.170 --> 00:36:01.610 the Holy Spirit... Now, I'm not saying that David 00:36:01.610 --> 00:36:03.869 is a devil, okay? So just let me just clarify 00:36:03.869 --> 00:36:06.550 that. What I am saying is the difference here 00:36:06.550 --> 00:36:09.369 between the two illustrations is when the squeeze 00:36:09.369 --> 00:36:16.710 isn't pleasant and the squeeze feels... And there's 00:36:16.710 --> 00:36:22.389 a push. And there's a... What comes out of you? 00:36:24.909 --> 00:36:30.630 That's what the Holy Spirit is for. And why there 00:36:30.630 --> 00:36:35.349 must be a fire. Why? Because that fire is what 00:36:35.349 --> 00:36:39.329 changes the natural response into a spiritual 00:36:39.329 --> 00:36:44.130 response. Let me say that again. It changes the 00:36:44.130 --> 00:36:49.349 natural response into a spiritual response. So 00:36:49.349 --> 00:36:53.090 the Holy Spirit is the divine person of the Godhead. 00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:57.260 As part of the Trinity, he is one with the Father 00:36:57.260 --> 00:37:01.760 in all things. He's God's divine person on the 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:09.119 earth right now. Listen to how Paul closes. You're 00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:14.800 doing so good. Thank you. See, she's making it 00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:18.960 sound mellow. And I need that from time to time. 00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:23.949 Hallelujah. 2 Corinthians 13, 14. He's closing 00:37:23.949 --> 00:37:26.969 his letter to the Corinthian church. And he says 00:37:26.969 --> 00:37:30.409 it this way. He says, may the grace of the Lord 00:37:30.409 --> 00:37:35.969 Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship 00:37:35.969 --> 00:37:41.469 of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Notice what 00:37:41.469 --> 00:37:44.469 he's saying to the church. You need the grace 00:37:44.469 --> 00:37:48.769 of Jesus. You need the love of the Father. But 00:37:48.769 --> 00:37:52.230 you better have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. 00:37:53.190 --> 00:37:58.010 Why? He's the one that brings the fire. He's 00:37:58.010 --> 00:38:02.809 the one that brings the warmth. Without him, 00:38:02.809 --> 00:38:10.070 what happens? Without him, we become less than 00:38:10.070 --> 00:38:15.340 what God paid for. Now we all, listen, we all 00:38:15.340 --> 00:38:18.099 get a measure. Let me just explain this. We all 00:38:18.099 --> 00:38:20.960 get a measure of the Holy Spirit when we get 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:23.539 born again. It's not like you get some Jesus 00:38:23.539 --> 00:38:26.179 -sized Mattel doll that comes into your life 00:38:26.179 --> 00:38:29.179 and lives here. You know, you just get to dress 00:38:29.179 --> 00:38:32.639 Jesus up in his Sabbath rabbi clothing or, you 00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:36.780 know, okay. No, no, you get a measure of the 00:38:36.780 --> 00:38:40.539 Holy Spirit. A measure comes to you, a witness. 00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:45.239 It's what the Bible calls, you've been guaranteed 00:38:45.239 --> 00:38:51.159 or entrust. The guarantee or the seal of God 00:38:51.159 --> 00:38:54.539 comes. But that doesn't mean that you're actually 00:38:54.539 --> 00:38:57.800 filled or full or that you actually are having 00:38:57.800 --> 00:39:01.989 a relationship with him. It means that the love 00:39:01.989 --> 00:39:05.250 of God, because you said yes to his son, actually 00:39:05.250 --> 00:39:08.510 gave you a measure of his spirit to seal you 00:39:08.510 --> 00:39:11.750 for the day of redemption. But there is more 00:39:11.750 --> 00:39:17.369 that God wants in you and from you. And his desire 00:39:17.369 --> 00:39:20.269 is that you would be what? It's all through the 00:39:20.269 --> 00:39:22.659 scriptures. But one of the keys is the... is 00:39:22.659 --> 00:39:26.800 Romans 8, that those who are of God become the 00:39:26.800 --> 00:39:30.039 sons of God, meaning what? They grow, they move 00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:35.460 from the place of being led by the law as a tutor 00:39:35.460 --> 00:39:39.800 to a place of what? Being led as mature sons 00:39:39.800 --> 00:39:42.559 and daughters by the Spirit of God. Those who 00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:45.480 are led by the Spirit are the sons and daughters 00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:48.079 of the Spirit, meaning what? You have to grow 00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:51.800 past. The initial deposit. And how do you grow 00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:54.480 past? It's not that you grow out of. You grow 00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:58.780 into more of him. And you get filled with more 00:39:58.780 --> 00:40:04.019 of him. That's the whole point. Now the reason. 00:40:04.480 --> 00:40:06.960 People don't like to talk about the Holy Spirit. 00:40:07.059 --> 00:40:12.139 Is what does it do? It removes. Your control. 00:40:17.460 --> 00:40:22.820 Holy Spirit. actually, the more close you get 00:40:22.820 --> 00:40:25.820 to him, actually is more concerned about what 00:40:25.820 --> 00:40:31.059 God thinks than you think. Right? I know that 00:40:31.059 --> 00:40:33.219 sounds kind of weird putting it that way, but 00:40:33.219 --> 00:40:38.199 his whole job is, he's God. He's the agent of 00:40:38.199 --> 00:40:42.280 God on the earth. He thinks more about... Who 00:40:42.280 --> 00:40:45.480 God is because he is God. He's holy. He's pure. 00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:49.320 He's righteous. He's true. Holy Spirit. Can I 00:40:49.320 --> 00:40:52.260 say it this way? Holy Spirit never makes a bad 00:40:52.260 --> 00:40:56.239 decision. Holy Spirit never gives wrong counsel. 00:40:56.820 --> 00:41:00.059 Holy Spirit never asks you to do something that 00:41:00.059 --> 00:41:05.300 will somehow violate who he is. Thank you so 00:41:05.300 --> 00:41:08.320 much. Have I told you today how much I love you? 00:41:08.380 --> 00:41:16.130 All right. Come on. Holy Spirit will always bring 00:41:16.130 --> 00:41:22.949 righteousness, peace, joy, and holiness. Why? 00:41:23.150 --> 00:41:26.849 That's who he is. What he's not concerned about 00:41:26.849 --> 00:41:35.989 is how you feel about it. Right? Now, he loves 00:41:35.989 --> 00:41:40.809 you. He cares about you. But in the process of 00:41:40.809 --> 00:41:43.170 growing you, just like you had to do with your 00:41:43.170 --> 00:41:48.789 parents for the most of us, if your parents never 00:41:48.789 --> 00:41:53.309 trained you, taught you, shaped you, corrected 00:41:53.309 --> 00:41:57.050 you, they were actually, the Bible says they 00:41:57.050 --> 00:42:01.389 were actually in sin. It's a sin just to let 00:42:01.389 --> 00:42:05.130 your children grow up unhinged, doing their own 00:42:05.130 --> 00:42:10.579 will. And it's a shame. The Bible actually says 00:42:10.579 --> 00:42:15.260 that. An unruly child is a shame to their parents. 00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:20.360 That's a good word, preacher. Keep on. The whole 00:42:20.360 --> 00:42:26.400 principle of having authority is understanding 00:42:26.400 --> 00:42:30.219 that the authority is meant in love to shape 00:42:30.219 --> 00:42:34.429 and direct. for success and for blessing. And 00:42:34.429 --> 00:42:37.269 so that others would be enhanced by that life, 00:42:37.389 --> 00:42:43.090 not just a life lived for self. Why would God 00:42:43.090 --> 00:42:48.050 as not our parents do that for us? The whole 00:42:48.050 --> 00:42:51.710 goal would be to let Christ be formed in you. 00:42:52.329 --> 00:42:56.909 And if you resist him on that part of your life, 00:42:57.070 --> 00:43:01.090 guess what he does? He doesn't do. What the education 00:43:01.090 --> 00:43:06.030 system does today. We'll just pass you on. No. 00:43:06.550 --> 00:43:11.090 He stays right there. And you stay right there. 00:43:11.889 --> 00:43:15.650 And you stay right there in your grade level 00:43:15.650 --> 00:43:21.849 in God until you're willing to say yes. That's 00:43:21.849 --> 00:43:28.559 why you can see 50 and 60 year olds not advancing 00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:31.260 in God where they could actually be giving more 00:43:31.260 --> 00:43:34.139 of their life away, being more of a blessing 00:43:34.139 --> 00:43:37.579 to people, allowing people to pull on them, being 00:43:37.579 --> 00:43:39.960 connected, cheering on the next generation. Why? 00:43:40.099 --> 00:43:43.059 Because they're still stuck. Now, Adam, I'm not 00:43:43.059 --> 00:43:45.000 referencing you, but if the shoe fits, wear it. 00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:50.880 Okay, okay. They're stuck in what's in it for 00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:56.570 me. What's in it for me? How come don't I get 00:43:56.570 --> 00:43:59.190 it? How come this? Everything is a negative thing. 00:43:59.230 --> 00:44:01.610 So what happens? Holy Spirit has to stay right 00:44:01.610 --> 00:44:07.090 here and keep coming around the mountain, coming 00:44:07.090 --> 00:44:11.130 around the mountain. The nature of the Holy Spirit 00:44:11.130 --> 00:44:15.809 is to move us out of the place of our control 00:44:15.809 --> 00:44:20.889 and into the place of yielding to his Holy Spirit. 00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:24.619 Now listen, I'm gonna say something that's really, 00:44:24.699 --> 00:44:27.139 really important. Biblically speaking, I have 00:44:27.139 --> 00:44:30.519 so many scriptures here in the next 23 pages. 00:44:31.280 --> 00:44:34.320 We're not gonna get to them today. But I am gonna 00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:36.159 introduce this topic and we'll just see where 00:44:36.159 --> 00:44:41.380 we go. Jesus help me. I need you to understand 00:44:41.380 --> 00:44:44.659 that what I'm gonna say here is absolutely I 00:44:44.659 --> 00:44:46.500 have scriptures to back this up and I'll try 00:44:46.500 --> 00:44:52.719 to read a couple. But the Holy Spirit. is a gift 00:44:52.719 --> 00:45:00.320 to us equal to the gift Jesus is to us. Now let 00:45:00.320 --> 00:45:03.300 me say that again. Because if you were raised 00:45:03.300 --> 00:45:09.179 in any form of classical, super strict evangelical 00:45:09.179 --> 00:45:16.179 background like I was, you could hear that statement, 00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:19.300 but you would weigh it in the heart and not weigh 00:45:19.300 --> 00:45:25.380 it equally. You go, yeah, I know. Holy Spirit 00:45:25.380 --> 00:45:28.219 is God. Holy Spirit's co -equal with the Father, 00:45:28.260 --> 00:45:31.219 co -equal with the Son. But you would do what? 00:45:31.300 --> 00:45:36.119 You would heavily weight Jesus and you would 00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:42.420 lightweight Holy Spirit. What God is trying to 00:45:42.420 --> 00:45:49.099 do in the earth, in his church, to prepare them 00:45:49.099 --> 00:45:51.820 for what's coming. You need to hear me on what 00:45:51.820 --> 00:45:53.639 I'm saying here in just these last few moments 00:45:53.639 --> 00:45:57.820 before we move into some ministry. What God is 00:45:57.820 --> 00:46:02.380 doing on the earth, the church is not prepared 00:46:02.380 --> 00:46:06.059 for what's coming. The church means what? You 00:46:06.059 --> 00:46:11.119 and I. The majority of the church now, the church 00:46:11.119 --> 00:46:15.400 in the world is way more prepared for what's 00:46:15.400 --> 00:46:19.360 coming than the church in Western culture. God 00:46:19.360 --> 00:46:22.619 in his mercy is trying to get Western culture 00:46:22.619 --> 00:46:28.980 to begin to embrace the role of the Holy Spirit, 00:46:29.079 --> 00:46:32.440 which means what? The very first thing in prepping 00:46:32.440 --> 00:46:35.639 the church for what is coming and how they have 00:46:35.639 --> 00:46:38.500 to live and be is that you have to be willing 00:46:38.500 --> 00:46:43.079 to submit your control. to the feet of Jesus 00:46:43.079 --> 00:46:46.519 and embrace the Holy Spirit because he is the 00:46:46.519 --> 00:46:49.360 counselor. He is the guide. He is the one that 00:46:49.360 --> 00:46:52.719 the Bible says is actually, he's going to actually 00:46:52.719 --> 00:46:56.719 bring and lead you in and through. And if he 00:46:56.719 --> 00:47:01.340 is not in the center of your GPS system, you're 00:47:01.340 --> 00:47:05.960 going to end up living like Laodicea, completely 00:47:05.960 --> 00:47:11.139 opposite of where God wants you to be. He's a 00:47:11.139 --> 00:47:17.000 gift like Jesus was. So much so, so much so that 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:20.179 Jesus said this, right? He said, it is better 00:47:20.179 --> 00:47:26.980 that I go away. For if I don't go away, the helper 00:47:26.980 --> 00:47:29.760 will not come. Now, many translations, let me 00:47:29.760 --> 00:47:32.219 just, I'm going to skip ahead here because I 00:47:32.219 --> 00:47:35.119 want to speak on the personhood, but I don't 00:47:35.119 --> 00:47:39.559 have time. I want to speak about what Jesus says 00:47:39.559 --> 00:47:57.260 about The Holy Spirit. Praise God. John 16, 7. 00:47:59.639 --> 00:48:01.519 Reading from the New Living Translation, you 00:48:01.519 --> 00:48:03.099 can read it from any translation, it says the 00:48:03.099 --> 00:48:06.940 same thing. But in fact, Jesus, this is Jesus' 00:48:07.139 --> 00:48:11.230 direct words to the disciples. But in fact, It 00:48:11.230 --> 00:48:17.510 is best for you. Would you say that out loud 00:48:17.510 --> 00:48:24.269 with me? In fact, it is best for you. That is 00:48:24.269 --> 00:48:29.510 hard for us to believe. Because our thinking 00:48:29.510 --> 00:48:33.010 in Western culture is it would be better if Jesus 00:48:33.010 --> 00:48:39.110 was here. If you're honest with yourselves, that's 00:48:39.110 --> 00:48:43.010 been ingrained. Oh, if we could just live like 00:48:43.010 --> 00:48:45.789 the days when Jesus was here. He actually says 00:48:45.789 --> 00:48:53.150 it's best. For God to say it's better or best 00:48:53.150 --> 00:48:59.570 is the same. Let me just use the rationale. Is 00:48:59.570 --> 00:49:02.550 the same rationale as when God said in the garden, 00:49:02.650 --> 00:49:06.809 it was not good that man be alone, even though 00:49:06.809 --> 00:49:09.630 he called everything good and he created a what? 00:49:10.059 --> 00:49:16.059 Do you understand the analogy? Everything that 00:49:16.059 --> 00:49:19.820 Jesus is doing now with his bride is about what 00:49:19.820 --> 00:49:24.059 he did in the garden with Adam. Do you understand 00:49:24.059 --> 00:49:29.340 that it was not just only about the fellowship 00:49:29.340 --> 00:49:34.260 in Adam having with all of creation? No, that 00:49:34.260 --> 00:49:37.079 was not. It was good, but it wasn't the best. 00:49:37.159 --> 00:49:40.599 The best was what? there would be a helpmate 00:49:40.599 --> 00:49:45.400 suitable, made like him in every dimension to 00:49:45.400 --> 00:49:50.159 share everything. That same concept is now taken 00:49:50.159 --> 00:49:53.179 over in the New Testament. Now we understand 00:49:53.179 --> 00:49:56.119 that divinity is not being made like us. We're 00:49:56.119 --> 00:49:59.519 being formed and made like Christ, but the principle 00:49:59.519 --> 00:50:04.059 of the advocate and the helper is the same mindset 00:50:04.059 --> 00:50:07.059 that was in the garden. We're just, we're the 00:50:07.059 --> 00:50:09.820 ones that are being made as the helper. He's 00:50:09.820 --> 00:50:12.119 the one that we're being joined to. It's the 00:50:12.119 --> 00:50:16.440 Holy Spirit that is now sent to actually make 00:50:16.440 --> 00:50:23.280 us that helper. So the better word for him, even 00:50:23.280 --> 00:50:26.579 though he's called Spirit of Truth in the scriptures, 00:50:26.900 --> 00:50:32.059 the counselor, the comforter, the helper, the 00:50:32.059 --> 00:50:35.210 best word that describes him according To our 00:50:35.210 --> 00:50:39.449 English language is what? He is the advocate. 00:50:40.849 --> 00:50:44.489 The advocate represents all of it. Comforter, 00:50:44.590 --> 00:50:51.230 truth, counselor, helper, and attorney. How many 00:50:51.230 --> 00:50:55.230 know when you never really want an attorney until 00:50:55.230 --> 00:50:59.610 you need an attorney? Now, if you're an attorney 00:50:59.610 --> 00:51:01.909 in the room, God bless you. We need saved attorneys. 00:51:02.230 --> 00:51:07.760 Okay. But the reality is what? An attorney in 00:51:07.760 --> 00:51:12.980 our spiritual world, a spiritual attorney is 00:51:12.980 --> 00:51:18.500 absolutely necessary because he's the counsel 00:51:18.500 --> 00:51:24.420 that navigates you through the what? The legalities 00:51:24.420 --> 00:51:30.739 of how sin tries to trip us up. He brings counsel 00:51:30.739 --> 00:51:33.659 on how to apply the blood of Jesus Christ. He 00:51:33.659 --> 00:51:37.219 brings counsel on where root issues have actually 00:51:37.219 --> 00:51:40.119 manifested and you keep tripping and opening 00:51:40.119 --> 00:51:43.980 doors. And he teaches you how to apply the truth 00:51:43.980 --> 00:51:47.219 of God's word, which is fullness of grace and 00:51:47.219 --> 00:51:52.500 truth over the broken law. Holy Spirit is the 00:51:52.500 --> 00:51:55.440 best representative you could ever have. And 00:51:55.440 --> 00:51:58.699 even though he has all things, searches all things, 00:51:58.820 --> 00:52:03.150 knows all things, is God, he does what? For his 00:52:03.150 --> 00:52:05.730 primary job, and then I'm going to stop here. 00:52:05.869 --> 00:52:14.230 His primary job is to what? To fill you with 00:52:14.230 --> 00:52:22.889 God's love. Because everything he brings from 00:52:22.889 --> 00:52:28.349 God is all the nature of who God is. His primary 00:52:28.349 --> 00:52:33.570 job is to do what? Fill you. Fill you with truth, 00:52:33.789 --> 00:52:37.690 fill you with hope, fill you with faith, but 00:52:37.690 --> 00:52:41.170 fill you with love, fill you with power, fill 00:52:41.170 --> 00:52:44.429 you with strength. Everything that the Holy Spirit 00:52:44.429 --> 00:52:47.889 does out of all that he does. And there is a 00:52:47.889 --> 00:52:51.289 Bible written about what the Holy Spirit does. 00:52:51.369 --> 00:52:57.090 His main job is to fill you with love. I've got 00:52:57.090 --> 00:53:01.349 to just read this. This was. This is why the 00:53:01.349 --> 00:53:05.449 apostle Paul wrote this. We pray it now as a 00:53:05.449 --> 00:53:09.710 prayer, but he was writing it and praying it 00:53:09.710 --> 00:53:13.409 and releasing it as doctrine into the Ephesian 00:53:13.409 --> 00:53:17.710 church that soon his young son Timothy in the 00:53:17.710 --> 00:53:21.070 faith, it wasn't that young by the time Timothy 00:53:21.070 --> 00:53:23.829 got to pastor, but still relatively young, that 00:53:23.829 --> 00:53:28.230 he would have inside of him as the key. He says, 00:53:28.250 --> 00:53:31.750 for this reason. I bow my knees, Ephesians 3, 00:53:31.829 --> 00:53:34.889 14 through 19. I bow my knees before the Father, 00:53:35.070 --> 00:53:38.909 in whom every family in heaven and earth is named, 00:53:39.030 --> 00:53:43.010 that according to the riches of the Father's 00:53:43.010 --> 00:53:47.590 glory, he may grant you to be what? Strengthened 00:53:47.590 --> 00:53:54.469 with power through his Spirit. Why do I want 00:53:54.469 --> 00:53:57.940 a relationship with the Holy Spirit? Because 00:53:57.940 --> 00:54:01.239 in order to navigate dark seasons, dark times, 00:54:01.360 --> 00:54:03.440 and things that are coming on the earth that 00:54:03.440 --> 00:54:06.659 God said would happen as the end of the age begins 00:54:06.659 --> 00:54:10.059 to break on us in even greater fashion, what 00:54:10.059 --> 00:54:16.460 we need is holy power, not self -power. Because 00:54:16.460 --> 00:54:20.260 that's the system of the Antichrist. Antichrist 00:54:20.260 --> 00:54:24.800 is always about man's ability, man's mind, man's 00:54:24.800 --> 00:54:28.860 invention, and man's answer. Holy Spirit is always 00:54:28.860 --> 00:54:33.300 about submitting to God's mind, God's mind, God's 00:54:33.300 --> 00:54:39.380 answer, God's power. What else? So that Christ 00:54:39.380 --> 00:54:43.320 may dwell in your hearts through faith and that 00:54:43.320 --> 00:54:46.699 you be rooted and grounded in love. In love. 00:54:47.119 --> 00:54:49.480 And that you may have the strength to comprehend 00:54:49.480 --> 00:54:53.139 with all the saints. The strength to comprehend 00:54:53.139 --> 00:54:54.679 with all the saints. You're strengthened with 00:54:54.679 --> 00:54:59.650 power. your inner being in your inner being. 00:54:59.690 --> 00:55:02.329 Notice it says, through power in your inner being. 00:55:03.489 --> 00:55:05.610 Notice that it wasn't, I'm gonna give you power 00:55:05.610 --> 00:55:10.769 in your outer being. No, the inner being is what? 00:55:11.650 --> 00:55:15.070 The fruit of the spirit where the life of Christ 00:55:15.070 --> 00:55:18.190 is in you is the essence of that which is the 00:55:18.190 --> 00:55:23.010 fire of God on the inside. That you may have 00:55:23.010 --> 00:55:25.030 the strength to comprehend with all the saints 00:55:25.030 --> 00:55:28.090 what is the breadth, length, height, depth. And 00:55:28.090 --> 00:55:32.909 to what? Know the love of God that surpasses 00:55:32.909 --> 00:55:36.630 knowledge. How does the love of God surpass knowledge? 00:55:36.989 --> 00:55:41.289 Why? Because the only way you get the love of 00:55:41.289 --> 00:55:45.889 God is to have fellowship with his spirit that 00:55:45.889 --> 00:55:51.489 bypasses knowledge. You're to know God in your 00:55:51.489 --> 00:55:55.010 mind, but your love for him is to surpass your 00:55:55.010 --> 00:55:57.909 knowledge. Why? That is the essence of biblical 00:55:57.909 --> 00:56:00.489 Christianity. And that means what? There has 00:56:00.489 --> 00:56:04.050 to be fire on the altar. Why? That you may be, 00:56:04.150 --> 00:56:08.570 are you ready? Filled with all the fullness of 00:56:08.570 --> 00:56:16.409 God. How do I get filled? The only way I get 00:56:16.409 --> 00:56:20.139 filled is I welcome the one who is the filler. 00:56:24.019 --> 00:56:28.920 Jesus is in heaven. Jesus, the Bible says, is 00:56:28.920 --> 00:56:31.800 now operating. Please hear me. He's operating 00:56:31.800 --> 00:56:34.880 under what? He's now living under the eternal 00:56:34.880 --> 00:56:39.340 order of king and priest. Means he's operating. 00:56:39.500 --> 00:56:42.380 What it means is king of Salem, king of peace. 00:56:42.539 --> 00:56:45.230 That's what that means. and king of righteousness. 00:56:45.429 --> 00:56:47.690 That's what Melchizedek means. That means he's 00:56:47.690 --> 00:56:50.690 in the eternal office of righteousness. And what 00:56:50.690 --> 00:56:53.150 does he do? The Bible tells us in the whole book 00:56:53.150 --> 00:56:54.889 of Hebrews, it's a great book if you haven't 00:56:54.889 --> 00:56:58.070 read it, the whole book says what? He now lives 00:56:58.070 --> 00:57:02.630 to intercede for you and me. His whole point 00:57:02.630 --> 00:57:07.989 before the father is to what? Intercede on the 00:57:07.989 --> 00:57:11.579 throne of grace. Because of his blood and because 00:57:11.579 --> 00:57:14.280 of his work that he's gone before, he now is 00:57:14.280 --> 00:57:18.579 able to answer and bring grace to every situation 00:57:18.579 --> 00:57:21.400 where sin abounds, his grace much more abounds. 00:57:21.440 --> 00:57:24.679 What has he released? He's released the same. 00:57:25.469 --> 00:57:28.750 type. The father has released the same type of 00:57:28.750 --> 00:57:32.190 gift that Jesus was in bringing the blood of 00:57:32.190 --> 00:57:35.050 Christ and the grace of Christ. Now the father 00:57:35.050 --> 00:57:37.269 releases when it says, I will send you another 00:57:37.269 --> 00:57:40.510 helper or an advocate. That word another in the 00:57:40.510 --> 00:57:44.349 Greek means what? All together the same. You 00:57:44.349 --> 00:57:47.489 can't separate. If it's another, it's just like, 00:57:47.570 --> 00:57:49.449 okay, I'm looking at one egg and I'm looking 00:57:49.449 --> 00:57:52.900 at another egg. It's the same. thing, only it's 00:57:52.900 --> 00:57:55.179 another. I can't call that egg, this egg, and 00:57:55.179 --> 00:57:57.019 I can't call this egg, that egg, but they are 00:57:57.019 --> 00:58:00.820 the same egg. That's the Holy Spirit. So he says, 00:58:00.900 --> 00:58:05.300 I go to what? I go to send you the promise of 00:58:05.300 --> 00:58:07.059 the father. What's the promise of the father? 00:58:07.159 --> 00:58:11.840 The gift of the another. That is the very essence 00:58:11.840 --> 00:58:16.559 of God. meant to distribute God instead of just 00:58:16.559 --> 00:58:20.039 having limited relationship with one man in the 00:58:20.039 --> 00:58:23.539 flesh, the God man. I now have made myself available 00:58:23.539 --> 00:58:27.860 to everyone and Holy Spirit's job is to fill 00:58:27.860 --> 00:58:33.840 people. Fill them with what? Love. Every gift, 00:58:33.920 --> 00:58:41.760 every grace, every truth. Every truth is what? 00:58:42.760 --> 00:58:47.880 If it's from God, it's love. That's why to say, 00:58:48.019 --> 00:58:52.659 I don't want the things that God has given as 00:58:52.659 --> 00:58:56.199 a gift in the Holy Spirit is to say as a Christian, 00:58:56.340 --> 00:59:00.860 I don't want that form of Christianity. And I 00:59:00.860 --> 00:59:07.619 don't want God to be God. That's a big deal. 00:59:10.659 --> 00:59:15.599 Because literally, You may not like the way somebody 00:59:15.599 --> 00:59:19.079 operates in a grace or a gift, but if it's biblical, 00:59:19.320 --> 00:59:22.239 it's actually rooted in love and comes from God. 00:59:23.099 --> 00:59:26.619 And when Paul says, I pray that you be filled 00:59:26.619 --> 00:59:31.340 with the love of fullness to the love of God, 00:59:31.420 --> 00:59:34.019 he's actually saying, you've got to get acquainted 00:59:34.019 --> 00:59:37.940 now with the one who's the filler. Because he 00:59:37.940 --> 00:59:41.400 brings everything from the Father and he fills 00:59:41.400 --> 00:59:46.239 you. He'll surround you. For those that are watching, 00:59:46.360 --> 00:59:49.239 this is my daughter. So just FYI. Just don't 00:59:49.239 --> 00:59:53.840 pick out random women. All right. So he fills 00:59:53.840 --> 00:59:57.019 you. He surrounds you. Not only does he come 00:59:57.019 --> 01:00:00.639 around you, he does what? He wants to pour into 01:00:00.639 --> 01:00:05.559 you. There you go. The nature. I mean, he gets 01:00:05.559 --> 01:00:08.500 so close, it's almost like he's wearing you. 01:00:09.139 --> 01:00:16.579 Right? The reality is that's what the filler 01:00:16.579 --> 01:00:20.400 does. The filler comes to bring every aspect 01:00:20.400 --> 01:00:24.900 of God and to fill you with the fullness of who 01:00:24.900 --> 01:00:29.639 you are. That means grace and gifts and power 01:00:29.639 --> 01:00:35.380 and sanctification and truth and light and love 01:00:35.380 --> 01:00:38.719 and forgiveness. Oh, it just goes on and on. 01:00:38.739 --> 01:00:43.969 To fill you to the full. The only person in the 01:00:43.969 --> 01:00:48.150 Godhead that can do that is the Holy Spirit. 01:00:48.170 --> 01:00:51.510 Why? All the others could, but they have chosen 01:00:51.510 --> 01:00:56.050 to send Holy Spirit as the representative. And 01:00:56.050 --> 01:00:59.909 embracing the Holy Spirit is embracing Father 01:00:59.909 --> 01:01:04.630 and Son. Loving the Holy Spirit is embracing 01:01:04.630 --> 01:01:10.170 Father, loving the Father, loving the Son. Now 01:01:10.170 --> 01:01:15.150 here's what we're going to do. We're going to 01:01:15.150 --> 01:01:20.869 just tell the pastor to shut up. Not everybody 01:01:20.869 --> 01:01:23.670 at once. All right, here we go. And we're going 01:01:23.670 --> 01:01:27.070 to open the altars in just a little bit. There's 01:01:27.070 --> 01:01:30.289 not going to be a formal close to this service. 01:01:31.030 --> 01:01:36.750 Like last night, I want to give people time to 01:01:36.750 --> 01:01:40.090 wait in the presence of God and to allow the 01:01:40.090 --> 01:01:43.170 Holy Spirit This is why we say come to the altar. 01:01:43.269 --> 01:01:45.869 Why? What does the altar represent? The reason 01:01:45.869 --> 01:01:48.269 there's fire on the altar is the altar represents 01:01:48.269 --> 01:01:53.610 exchange. You never come to an altar thinking 01:01:53.610 --> 01:01:56.449 that you're going to go back different. You come 01:01:56.449 --> 01:01:59.969 to an altar knowing that there's something that's 01:01:59.969 --> 01:02:04.050 going to be exchanged. My life for his. And whatever 01:02:04.050 --> 01:02:07.389 he asks. for me coming to that altar experience, 01:02:07.829 --> 01:02:11.329 I know that what he gives me is gonna be better 01:02:11.329 --> 01:02:15.030 than what I let go of. And so that's what we're 01:02:15.030 --> 01:02:16.530 gonna do here in just a little bit. We're gonna 01:02:16.530 --> 01:02:19.829 pray for people to be filled. We're gonna, listen, 01:02:19.989 --> 01:02:22.829 because the Bible over and over, I got 10 pages 01:02:22.829 --> 01:02:25.849 of scriptures that talk about how God fills at 01:02:25.849 --> 01:02:30.260 every aspect. He fills. Some need strength. Some 01:02:30.260 --> 01:02:33.300 need courage. Some need faith. Some need grace. 01:02:33.440 --> 01:02:38.360 Some need power. Some need what? A identity of 01:02:38.360 --> 01:02:40.880 filling them with who he is and who they are. 01:02:40.920 --> 01:02:43.579 That whole principle, we're going to open this 01:02:43.579 --> 01:02:46.929 altar and say, this is about the... A place of 01:02:46.929 --> 01:02:50.269 exchange this morning. The fire on the altar 01:02:50.269 --> 01:02:53.309 is burning. Jesus says, I've come to baptize 01:02:53.309 --> 01:02:56.849 you. John baptized in water. I baptize in fire. 01:02:57.050 --> 01:03:00.110 I go to the Father to send the promise of the 01:03:00.110 --> 01:03:03.070 Father, which is what? The Holy Spirit, the one 01:03:03.070 --> 01:03:06.190 who is wind, the one who is fire, and the one 01:03:06.190 --> 01:03:09.949 who is the oil that anoints everything. You can't 01:03:09.949 --> 01:03:13.070 have any of those unless blood is first shed. 01:03:14.130 --> 01:03:16.559 Meaning in the Old Testament, You couldn't put 01:03:16.559 --> 01:03:19.940 oil on anything until blood was on it. Same thing 01:03:19.940 --> 01:03:22.360 is true in the New Testament. You can't move 01:03:22.360 --> 01:03:25.199 forward in the things of God unless you're saved 01:03:25.199 --> 01:03:28.159 by the blood of Jesus Christ. And then he meant 01:03:28.159 --> 01:03:31.739 to have every part of you touched under the anointing 01:03:31.739 --> 01:03:35.960 oil and presence of God. So as we begin to do 01:03:35.960 --> 01:03:38.900 this, Tiffany will come up in a little bit. I'm 01:03:38.900 --> 01:03:40.440 going to give you this reminder. She'll give 01:03:40.440 --> 01:03:43.340 you a reminder in just a few minutes. Don't forget 01:03:43.340 --> 01:03:48.920 your children. Relieve. Hear the cry of Egypt 01:03:48.920 --> 01:03:53.599 coming up. Let your children go. Okay? Go get 01:03:53.599 --> 01:03:55.699 them if you want to come back into the service. 01:03:55.719 --> 01:03:58.119 If you can keep them with you and somewhat contained, 01:03:58.179 --> 01:04:00.860 you can do that so that you can enter in and 01:04:00.860 --> 01:04:03.059 do that. We're going to stay here for at least 01:04:03.059 --> 01:04:05.579 another 40 minutes from what we have right now. 01:04:05.960 --> 01:04:07.820 The band is going to worship. We're going to 01:04:07.820 --> 01:04:10.179 worship. If you need to go, I understand that. 01:04:10.280 --> 01:04:12.860 But I'm saying for those that want that, I'm 01:04:12.860 --> 01:04:15.820 going to have... Our prayer teams come now, if 01:04:15.820 --> 01:04:17.460 you can. Could you stand with me, congregation? 01:04:17.699 --> 01:04:19.719 I want to pray for us. If I could have our prayer 01:04:19.719 --> 01:04:22.019 teams, that means elders, pastors, altar workers, 01:04:22.219 --> 01:04:27.719 come. Just begin to line the very front. Thank 01:04:27.719 --> 01:04:31.159 you, Jesus. I want to pray for us, inviting. 01:04:32.079 --> 01:04:35.960 Lord Jesus, we come now. Lord, we've talked about 01:04:35.960 --> 01:04:39.639 you. We've worshiped you. Lord, we've honored 01:04:39.639 --> 01:04:42.900 you. We're now honoring you as the baptizer of 01:04:42.900 --> 01:04:46.440 the Holy Spirit. You're the one, Lord, that said 01:04:46.440 --> 01:04:50.219 it's better, it's best that I go that I could 01:04:50.219 --> 01:04:54.139 send the advocate. Right now, this morning, we 01:04:54.139 --> 01:04:56.820 thank you for the advocate. We thank you for 01:04:56.820 --> 01:04:59.340 the helper. We thank you for the counselor. We 01:04:59.340 --> 01:05:01.900 thank you for the spirit of truth, the one who 01:05:01.900 --> 01:05:04.920 guides, the one who shepherds. In Jesus' name. 01:05:04.960 --> 01:05:07.119 I need some more altar workers. Come on. AJ, 01:05:07.219 --> 01:05:08.900 get them around here. You guys know who they 01:05:08.900 --> 01:05:12.440 are. Find them out. In Jesus' name, Lord, we 01:05:12.440 --> 01:05:17.039 welcome your presence. We welcome your holy presence. 01:05:17.159 --> 01:05:21.039 And we ask now, as we honor God and as we worship 01:05:21.039 --> 01:05:25.860 you, Holy Spirit, we welcome you in our hearts. 01:05:25.880 --> 01:05:29.960 Come. As we come to the altar, come and bring 01:05:29.960 --> 01:05:33.820 your filling. Bring your anointing. Bring your 01:05:33.820 --> 01:05:37.780 graces even now. In Jesus' name, Lord, that your 01:05:37.780 --> 01:05:40.480 people would encounter you. They would encounter 01:05:40.480 --> 01:05:43.619 the one who loves them and who's sending them 01:05:43.619 --> 01:05:47.239 a gift from heaven. We love you, Jesus, and we 01:05:47.239 --> 01:05:50.739 bless you this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. 01:05:51.320 --> 01:05:56.300 Amen and amen. Thank you for taking the time 01:05:56.300 --> 01:05:59.480 to listen to this week's message. We are so grateful 01:05:59.480 --> 01:06:02.059 for those who tune in each week and have given 01:06:02.059 --> 01:06:05.300 generously to this ministry. If you would like 01:06:05.300 --> 01:06:07.840 to give, click the link in the episode description 01:06:07.840 --> 01:06:11.019 below. You can also help us by subscribing to 01:06:11.019 --> 01:06:13.119 this podcast and sharing it with your friends 01:06:13.119 --> 01:06:16.519 and family. Lastly, if you are in need of prayer, 01:06:16.639 --> 01:06:22.460 send us a text message at 541 -625 -1365. We 01:06:22.460 --> 01:06:23.659 would love to pray with you.