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Speaker 1: We have been studying the Holy Spirit, who he is

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Speaker 1: and what he does, and just looking at a variety

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Speaker 1: of things that God's Word tells us about his ministry

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Speaker 1: and all that his ministry entails. And this morning we're

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Speaker 1: going to be talking about something that I would assume

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Speaker 1: for many believers is somewhat of a lesser known activity

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Speaker 1: or doctrine, and that's the filling of the Holy Spirit.

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Speaker 1: What do I mean by that, the filling of the

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. Well, we're going to spend some time this

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Speaker 1: morning taking a look at what scripture tells us about

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Speaker 1: what he does as he fills believers. And if you

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Speaker 1: would take your bibles and open up with me to

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Speaker 1: Ephesians chapter five. I'm going to read from Ephesians chapter five,

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Speaker 1: starting with verse fifteen, and I'm going to go down

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Speaker 1: to verse twenty one. And we're going to be looking

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Speaker 1: at a variety of other scriptures this morning as well.

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Speaker 1: But we're going to start with Ephesians five, verse fifteen.

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Speaker 1: And this is what we find in that portion of

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Speaker 1: God's word. Here it says, look carefully, then, how you walk,

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Speaker 1: not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use

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Speaker 1: of the time, because the days are evil Therefore, do

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Speaker 1: not be foolish, but understand what the will of the

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Speaker 1: Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for

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Speaker 1: that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit, addressing

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Speaker 1: one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing

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Speaker 1: and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving

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Speaker 1: thanks always and for everything to God the Father, in

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Speaker 1: the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, submitting to one

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Speaker 1: another out of reverence for Christ. Let's pray, Lord, thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for the privilege that it is to

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Speaker 1: be able to look at your word together today. We

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Speaker 1: pray that as we look at this portion of your

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Speaker 1: Word from Ephesians chapter five, as we talk about this

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Speaker 1: idea of the ministry of of your spirit filling us

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Speaker 1: as He fills us, we pray Lord that you'd help

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Speaker 1: us to understand what that concept is all about. And

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Speaker 1: we pray Lord that that's something that we would desire

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Speaker 1: more and more and more of His filling. So, Lord,

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Speaker 1: thank you so much for the privilege to be able

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Speaker 1: to start off our week thinking about these things. Today.

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Speaker 1: We pray that you prepare our minds in our hearts

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Speaker 1: to receive these truths, and we pray this all in

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Speaker 1: Jesus's name. Amen. So I was actually just talking about

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Speaker 1: this yesterday at the picnic that we had at Dave

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Speaker 1: and Susie's home. But a persistent and recurring injury that

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Speaker 1: I have had over the course of my life is

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Speaker 1: the severe spraying of my right ankle. I've done it

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Speaker 1: several times now, I haven't done it in a while,

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Speaker 1: so I'm due. So I expect, like any minute now

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Speaker 1: it's probably going to happen to me yet again. But

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Speaker 1: each time I sprain in it, it looks worse, and

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Speaker 1: each time I sprain it it takes longer and longer

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Speaker 1: to hear. And I have noticed now when you you

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Speaker 1: know how when you fly you have to go through

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Speaker 1: you know, the TSA security check in frequently it doesn't

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Speaker 1: happen every single time, but frequently, after I go through

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Speaker 1: that thing that scans your whole body, they make me

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Speaker 1: stop and then they ask me to give them my

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Speaker 1: right ankle and they pat down my right ankle because

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Speaker 1: apparently it must not look normal in there. They always

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Speaker 1: I'm like, wow, they even check my right ankle when

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Speaker 1: I go through TSA security at at an airport, and I,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's I guess it's that damage and that

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Speaker 1: confused it shows up funny on their machine. And if

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Speaker 1: you've ever sprained an ankle, you know it's a very

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Speaker 1: painful injury. It's one of those injuries that when it happens,

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Speaker 1: you keep thinking the pain's going to go away, and

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Speaker 1: it doesn't. And I have noticed, after having sprained my

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Speaker 1: ankle a few times severely, that that experience has contributed

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Speaker 1: to my desire to be particularly cautious when I'm walking

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Speaker 1: on on even ground, or when I'm walking near a curb,

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Speaker 1: so that I don't step off a curb just the

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Speaker 1: right way and end up injuring the ankle all over again.

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Speaker 1: And I mention that not because I want to even

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Speaker 1: think about that, because they don't necessarily want to think

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Speaker 1: about that injury. But when you look at the portion

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Speaker 1: of scripture we just read together, and we're going to

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Speaker 1: revisit some of these verses in just a moment, but

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Speaker 1: you probably noticed right away in Ephesians five that God's

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Speaker 1: word encourages us to be careful about how we walk.

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Speaker 1: That's a phrase that gets used here. You know, it says,

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Speaker 1: look carefully then how you walk. God's encouraging us in

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Speaker 1: his word to be careful about how we walk. But

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Speaker 1: the analogy it carries a deeper significance. And just the

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Speaker 1: way we put one physical foot in front of the

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Speaker 1: other physical foot, right, Scripture teaches us to walk in

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Speaker 1: a particular way. And what it's talking about is live

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Speaker 1: in a particular way. That's what it means, you know,

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Speaker 1: live according to the teaching of God's Word. It's describing

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Speaker 1: the way we intentionally journey through life, either toward the

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Speaker 1: Lord or away from him. And Scripture uses that analogy

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Speaker 1: quite frequently. Now, I think most of us would probably

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Speaker 1: agree that the majority of people on this planet are

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Speaker 1: running in a direction that is far from God's desire

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Speaker 1: for them. That's the majority opinion, that's the majority activity.

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Speaker 1: Many people in this world are embracing foolishness, and the

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Speaker 1: main reason they're embracing foolishness is that their hearts are

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Speaker 1: not anchored in the truth. If your heart is not

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Speaker 1: anchored in the truth, you're going to be swayed very

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Speaker 1: easily by foolish things. And you see that taking place

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Speaker 1: in every generation, including ours. But we who have known

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, we who know him personally and have entrusted

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Speaker 1: our lives and our futures and all of ourselves over

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Speaker 1: to him. We're called, when you look at what scripture says,

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Speaker 1: to walk with spirit empowered wisdom to live in a

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Speaker 1: different way. We're called to make a careful use of

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Speaker 1: the time that we've been blessed with on them earth,

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Speaker 1: because that time will be up before we know it.

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Speaker 1: It's like a vapor, right, just happens over the course

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Speaker 1: of a very short period of time, and then it's done.

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Speaker 1: And Scripture is encouraging us even when we look at

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Speaker 1: the scripture we just read here and again, we're going

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Speaker 1: to revisit these verses in just a moment. But we

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Speaker 1: may be surrounded by evil, you know. You look at

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Speaker 1: your life, I look at my life. We're surrounded by

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Speaker 1: evil in all sorts of directions. But God's will for

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Speaker 1: us is that in the midst of the context that

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Speaker 1: he allows us to live in, that we shine the

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Speaker 1: goodness of His gospel in the midst of a dark world. Now,

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Speaker 1: how does this have anything to do with the filling

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Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit. Well, I'll show you in just

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Speaker 1: a moment. And when you look at the apostle Paul

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Speaker 1: talking to the church at Ephesus. Here he wanted them

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Speaker 1: and all believers anyone who would read these words, to

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Speaker 1: be very intentional about using their lives to bring glory

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Speaker 1: to Jesus Christ. When you think about your purpose in

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Speaker 1: this world, When I think about my purpose in this world,

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Speaker 1: our goal is to bring glory to the name of

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And so you have Paul encouraging the church

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Speaker 1: to have that mindset. He encouraged the church to embrace

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Speaker 1: a manner of living that was the genuine fruit of

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Speaker 1: sincere faith. And here's how you know someone's faith is sincere.

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Speaker 1: Here's how you know if your own faith is sincere.

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Speaker 1: Real faith is marked by obedience. If I tell you

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Speaker 1: that I have real faith in Jesus Christ, but yet

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Speaker 1: my life is not marked by obedience to Jesus Christ,

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Speaker 1: you would have right to question whether or not I'm

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Speaker 1: actually serious about what I'm saying. Real faith in Christ

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Speaker 1: is marked by obedience to Christ. And even though there

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Speaker 1: may be people in your day to day life who

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Speaker 1: are taking their lives in an unwise direction and inviting

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Speaker 1: you to join them in that unwise direction, you don't

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Speaker 1: have to join them, nor do you need to follow

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Speaker 1: their example. And you're going to be surrounded by that

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Speaker 1: all the time. And I found myself in a context

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Speaker 1: not that long ago that kind of reminded me of this.

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Speaker 1: A little bit. Recently, I was in a meeting with

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Speaker 1: a group of people that I've known for a while.

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Speaker 1: Some of them I've known for a while, some of

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Speaker 1: them I guess I haven't known all that long, including

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Speaker 1: one man who, the way I would describe me, he

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Speaker 1: just kind of has a reputation for vulgarity and not

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Speaker 1: just like a little bit, kind of a lot. And

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Speaker 1: I thought to myself as soon as I saw him

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Speaker 1: walk into the room at this particular meeting, I thought

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Speaker 1: to myself, all right, how long is it going to

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Speaker 1: be before this guy says something either disgusting or immature.

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Speaker 1: There was like a mental countdown in my mind. And

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Speaker 1: the truth is I didn't have to wait very long.

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Speaker 1: It didn't take very long. As soon as there was

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Speaker 1: a lull in conversation, you know, I'm pretty sure it

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Speaker 1: was one of the first things that came out of

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Speaker 1: his mouth. And he continued to do that throughout the meeting,

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Speaker 1: and each time I decided, you know, I'm just going

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Speaker 1: to scan the room. I want to see the reaction

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Speaker 1: to people in this room, because I think this guy's

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Speaker 1: kind of missing this. And I noticed each time you

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Speaker 1: would do this, I would watch the room collectively just

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Speaker 1: look down in embarrassment, not embarrassment for themselves, embarrassment for him,

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Speaker 1: thinking like I think he thinks he's funny, It's not funny, right.

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Speaker 1: He never seemed to catch on that most people were

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Speaker 1: trying to avoid eye contact with him. And I look

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Speaker 1: at that, and I think, all right, you know, you

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Speaker 1: and I are going to be surrounded by all sorts

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Speaker 1: of things that we could either participate in or set

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Speaker 1: a different example. And if I say that I have

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Speaker 1: real faith, and if you say you have real faith

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Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ, our lives should be marked by obedience

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Speaker 1: to him. And so you have the apostle Paul at

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Speaker 1: verse fifteen of the Book of Ephesians, Chapter five, verse fifteen,

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Speaker 1: he says it this way. He says, look carefully, then,

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Speaker 1: how you walk, not as unwise, but as wives making

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Speaker 1: the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

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Speaker 1: And he says, therefore, do not be foolish, but understand

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Speaker 1: what the will of the Lord is. So I like

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Speaker 1: how he sets this up. You know he's setting this

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Speaker 1: up in a particular way where he's saying, listen, don't

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Speaker 1: waste your life, don't waste your time, don't go about

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Speaker 1: things in a foolish way, just because you're constantly surrounded

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Speaker 1: by people making foolish choices. Look careful how you walk.

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Speaker 1: You know, God's word encourages us to be more careful

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Speaker 1: than my particular acquaintance was at that meeting. To be

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Speaker 1: more careful with our words, to be more careful with

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Speaker 1: our mindset, with our attitude. Because the days are evil

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Speaker 1: and the prevailing thoughts of what constitutes humor and our

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Speaker 1: day to day is foolish. But we don't have to

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Speaker 1: embrace that foolishness, because the Holy Spirit lives within all

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Speaker 1: who trust in Jesus Christ, and he grants us a

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Speaker 1: mature understanding of his will. And his will is that

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Speaker 1: our lives should mirror the heart and the character of Jesus.

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Speaker 1: And then Paul says something very interesting here, and this

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Speaker 1: is where he starts to get into the essence of

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Speaker 1: the doctrine that we're talking about today. When you look

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Speaker 1: at verse eighteen of Ephesians five, Paul says, and do

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Speaker 1: not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. But

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Speaker 1: be filled with the spirit. Now, when you look at

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Speaker 1: that phrase where he's saying be filled with this spirit,

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Speaker 1: I want you to kind of take a guess in

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Speaker 1: your mind what you think that means, be filled with

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Speaker 1: the spirit, because there's actually a lot of misconceptions about

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Speaker 1: what that happens. To me. The other day, I had

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Speaker 1: the opportunity to take my family to our very first

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Speaker 1: visit to Kennoble's amusement resort this this summer. I hope

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Speaker 1: that there are many more, but it's getting trickier for us.

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Speaker 1: And while we were eating, what do you suppose the

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Speaker 1: pastor's family likes to talk about while we're eating? Usually

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Speaker 1: dumb stuff. I'm that's the truth. But in this moment,

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Speaker 1: I said, Hey, I'm just gonna I quiz my family

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Speaker 1: or part of my family. I quized him. I said, Hey,

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Speaker 1: this Sunday, I'm going to be talking about the filling

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Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit. What do you think it means?

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Speaker 1: And the very first person to speak up was my

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Speaker 1: son Jay, and he nailed it. He got it right.

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Speaker 1: I was like, I gave him more ride tickets because

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Speaker 1: not really, but I was I was excited because it's

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Speaker 1: when when this term is brought up, the filling of

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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. I don't know you think it means.

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Speaker 1: Pick a definition in your mind. I'm gonna define it

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Speaker 1: in just a moment. But take a guess what you

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Speaker 1: think it means based on the context of what Paul's

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Speaker 1: talking about. Here he says, and do not get drunk

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Speaker 1: with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with

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Speaker 1: the spirit. He's saying something specific, but I'm going to

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Speaker 1: give you a hint at what he's talking about. And

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Speaker 1: for this hint, you have to revisit a high school

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Speaker 1: assembly with me. Back when I think I was in

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Speaker 1: I might have been it might have been my junior

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Speaker 1: year of high school, somewhere around that season of my life.

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Speaker 1: And I was told, when you're in high school and

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Speaker 1: they told you that there was going to be an assembly,

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Speaker 1: did you ever find yourself saying like, oh great, and

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Speaker 1: you start thinking which class does it get me out of? Right? Well,

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Speaker 1: I was having that feeling. I'd heard there was going

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Speaker 1: to be a school assembly, and so for a while

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Speaker 1: I was trying to figure out what's the assembly going

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Speaker 1: to be about? And I was told, you know, something's

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Speaker 1: coming up later that day, trying to figure out what

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Speaker 1: it's going to be about, finally found out someone said, yeah,

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Speaker 1: the school brought into a hypnotist who going to attempt

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Speaker 1: to hypnotize students. And I was like, they brought in what?

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Speaker 1: And I was like, someone's playing a prank on me.

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Speaker 1: I'm thinking, like, this is a trick, Like the school

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Speaker 1: didn't bring in a hypnotist, what did they really bring in?

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Speaker 1: And then I come to find out no, they literally

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Speaker 1: brought in a hypnotist to try and hypnotize students for entertainment.

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Speaker 1: And at that point, I was at a season where

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Speaker 1: I was taking my faith very seriously and I was

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Speaker 1: posed with a dilemma. My dilemma was this, I don't

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Speaker 1: feel it's biblical for me me to yield control of

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Speaker 1: my mind over to anything other than the spirit of God.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that's a biblical statement. I was already

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Speaker 1: convinced of that at that season of my life. So

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Speaker 1: then I was posed with another dilemma, stay or leave.

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Speaker 1: So I just left. I just walked home. I was like, oh,

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Speaker 1: all right, I left. I walked out of school. Now

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Speaker 1: that was in an era where the world didn't go

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Speaker 1: on lockdown. If a student did that, I just left.

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Speaker 1: No one knew. I just I didn't make a big

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Speaker 1: deal about it. My friends knew. And I remember at

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Speaker 1: the time thinking to my they're probably going to get

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Speaker 1: on my case about this. They're probably going to look

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Speaker 1: at this and say, why would you do that? Like

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Speaker 1: that's so dumb. It's just a school assembly. Why do

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Speaker 1: you have to have convictions about everything? Stangy, right, But

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Speaker 1: my honest feeling in that moment was I'm not comfortable

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Speaker 1: with this. I'm not even if it's just in fun,

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Speaker 1: even if it's just an entertainment, whatever. Nothing is supposed

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Speaker 1: to have control over my mind other than Christ himself

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Speaker 1: and his spirit. And when you look at what Paul's

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Speaker 1: talking about here in Ephesians chapter five, when you get

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Speaker 1: to verse eighteen, that's part of what the church. What

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Speaker 1: Paul was trying to encourage the church to understand. When

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Speaker 1: you look at this verse here, although you know the

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Speaker 1: context he speaks about, he uses the contrast of drunkenness.

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Speaker 1: But you could substitute anything that would take unhealthy control

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Speaker 1: of a person's mind for drunkenness. That's just one example. Right.

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Speaker 1: We all know that too much alcohol is going to

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Speaker 1: cause a person to lose control of their thinking, it's

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Speaker 1: going to cause a person to lose control of their actions.

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Speaker 1: You know, if somebody takes in too much alcohol, they're

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Speaker 1: going to think and say and do things that may

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Speaker 1: cause severe harm to themselves or others if they give

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Speaker 1: alcohol control of their thinking. But again, sometimes for some people,

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Speaker 1: it's not alcohol, it's something else they give control of

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Speaker 1: their thinking. Alcohol is not the only thing vying for

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Speaker 1: control of your life or my life. We're surrounded by

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Speaker 1: all sorts of things that want to control our minds.

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Speaker 1: And when you look at the teaching of Scripture and

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Speaker 1: what it actually tells us is going on, it reveals

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Speaker 1: that there is a spiritual battle that I think a

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Speaker 1: lot of times we're uncomfortable thinking about or really dwelling on.

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Speaker 1: But the truth is that's real. There's literally a spiritual

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Speaker 1: battle taking place seeking to control the minds of humanity.

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Speaker 1: There are spiritual forces that are more than happy to

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Speaker 1: use media as a form of mind control, different apps

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Speaker 1: that we have on our phones to try and influence

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Speaker 1: us in unhealthy ways, substances, false beliefs, all sorts of

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Speaker 1: things that are trying to influence us to think in

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Speaker 1: an ungodly way, because if our beliefs can be brought

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Speaker 1: into submission to Sin, our behaviors will soon follow my

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Speaker 1: behavior and your behavior will always follow what we believe.

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Speaker 1: So I think that when Satan attempts to influence people,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think a lot of times we tend

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Speaker 1: to think that his main goal is to influence or

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Speaker 1: to start with influencing our behaviors. And I'm convinced that

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Speaker 1: his main tactic is to try and influence our beliefs,

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Speaker 1: because if he can influence our beliefs, our behaviors are

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Speaker 1: going to quickly follow. And here you have the apostle

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Speaker 1: Paul saying, don't give, in this case a substance unhealthy

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Speaker 1: control of your mind. Don't yield the control of your

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Speaker 1: thinking over to something that's going to produce unhealthy results

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Speaker 1: in your day to day life. And what he's saying

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Speaker 1: here is, as believers in Jesus Christ, we have a

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Speaker 1: much better option than granting control role of our thought

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Speaker 1: life over to Satan or Satan's influence. Here you have

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Speaker 1: the contrast that Paul's using here, and he's saying that

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Speaker 1: for us, as believers in Christ, our desire ought to

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Speaker 1: be to be filled with the spirit, not yielding our

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Speaker 1: mind over to other things, not to be filled with

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Speaker 1: unhealthy things, but to be filled with the spirit. But again,

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Speaker 1: what do you suppose Paul meant by that phrase, because

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Speaker 1: it's a phrase that I think a lot of times

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Speaker 1: people look at and they say, I don't actually know

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Speaker 1: what that means. What does that mean to be filled

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Speaker 1: with the spirit? Well, scripture makes it very clear that

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Speaker 1: the moment we come to faith in Jesus Christ, that

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Speaker 1: moment we are in dwelled with the Holy Spirit. You'll

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Speaker 1: see that in the Book of Ephesians, chapter one, when

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Speaker 1: you look at verses thirteen and verse fourteen, it reveals

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Speaker 1: to us that the moment you trust in Jesus Christ

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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, he takes up residence within you, and

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Speaker 1: every believer is in dwelled with the Holy Spirit. That's

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Speaker 1: an irrevocable and unchangeable reality of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Speaker 1: Once the Spirit takes up residence within you, he's not leaving.

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Speaker 1: So how is the filling of the spirit different from

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Speaker 1: his in dwelling. If all believers are in dwelled, but

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Speaker 1: yet not all believers are filled, what does that mean? Well,

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Speaker 1: to be filled with the Spirit. It means to live

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Speaker 1: a life that's completely yielded over to His control. That's

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Speaker 1: what it means. You and I are going to be

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Speaker 1: filled with the Spirit of God. We're saying, I'm going

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Speaker 1: to live a life that I'm completely yielding over to

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Speaker 1: the control and the influence of the Holy Spirit. It

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Speaker 1: carries the idea of holding nothing back from Him. So

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Speaker 1: if I'm going to be filled with the Spirit, I

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Speaker 1: can't hold a single thing back from Him. When we're

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Speaker 1: filled with the Spirit, what we're doing is we're submitting

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Speaker 1: every area of our lives over to his leading, and

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Speaker 1: every area of our mind over to His leading. We're saying,

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Speaker 1: Spirit of God, influence me, Spirit of God, take control

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Speaker 1: of my thinking. Spirit of God direct the steps that

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Speaker 1: I choose. We're literally welcoming His presence to fill our

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Speaker 1: lives in every single way, and we're not granting any

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Speaker 1: remaining room over in our lives over to evil. That's

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Speaker 1: what it means to be filled with the spirit. So again,

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Speaker 1: every believer is in dwelled with the Spirit. But because

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Speaker 1: of the presence of our old nature, you and I

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Speaker 1: have an old nature, an old sinful nature. We still

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Speaker 1: struggle with sin and I have to tell you, the

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Speaker 1: longer I've walked with the Lord, the more frustrating my

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Speaker 1: old nature is to me. Do you ever feel that way?

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Speaker 1: Do you ever find yourself just looking forward to the

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Speaker 1: day when you know Scripture says there's going to be

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Speaker 1: a day when we're in the presence of the Lord

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Speaker 1: and we're going to be in glorified bodies. We're not

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Speaker 1: going to struggle with sin any longer. But right now,

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Speaker 1: each of us we struggle with sin. There are moments

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Speaker 1: in your life and in my life that we look

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Speaker 1: at and we say, you know what, There I did

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Speaker 1: what I say I don't want to do, and there

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Speaker 1: I went and did the very thing I say I

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Speaker 1: don't want to do, the very thing that I knew

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Speaker 1: was wrong, and I still did it in that moment.

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Speaker 1: Is that a moment where we've lived as one who

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Speaker 1: is filled with the spirit or not? The answer is,

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Speaker 1: anytime I give into temptation, what I'm doing is I'm

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Speaker 1: choosing not to be filled with the spirit, even though

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Speaker 1: he indwells me. I'm choosing not to submit areas of

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Speaker 1: my life over to his control. And that's unhealthy. It's

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Speaker 1: not what he desires. We still struggle with sin. And

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Speaker 1: so that's why the scripture here is talking about the

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Speaker 1: fact that we aren't always filled with the spirit in

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Speaker 1: the sense that Paul's using that phrase in this passage.

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Speaker 1: And I'm going to give you a few examples of

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Speaker 1: how this pans out. Ephesians chapter four, verse thirty, just

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Speaker 1: the chapter right before this, the apostle Paul makes a

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Speaker 1: statement here, and he says, and do not grieve the

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for

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Speaker 1: the day of redemption. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit

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Speaker 1: of God by whom you were sealed for the day

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Speaker 1: of redemption. Now, on that passage in Ephesians chapter four,

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Speaker 1: you have the Ustle Paul making it clear that Christians

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Speaker 1: have the capacity to grieve the heart of God. I

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Speaker 1: don't know how often we think of that. I would

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Speaker 1: imagine more often we think of angering God than we

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Speaker 1: think of grieving God. But when you look at what

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Speaker 1: scripture tells us, it tells us we have the capacity

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Speaker 1: to grieve the heart of God. The Holy Spirit grieves

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Speaker 1: over any evil we unnecessarily welcome into our lives. He

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Speaker 1: grieves over every time we adopt a worldly view, and

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Speaker 1: treat it like it's true. His heart's grieved over just

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Speaker 1: the trivial ways. Sometimes we tinker with sin, we try

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Speaker 1: and dance around the edges like it's not going to

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Speaker 1: have an impact on us. And Ephesian chapter four, verse

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Speaker 1: thirty says, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God? Well,

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Speaker 1: why is the scripture telling that to us? And it's speaking,

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Speaker 1: by the way, to Christians. It's not speaking to non

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Speaker 1: Christians here, it's speaking to Christians. Well, we're being told

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Speaker 1: this is because we have the capacity to do that.

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Speaker 1: And sometimes we can even say not just the capacity,

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Speaker 1: but the propensity to do that. To grieve the Spirit

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Speaker 1: of God. Well, if we're grieving the Holy Spirit, we're

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Speaker 1: not filled with the Holy Spirit. Does that make sense?

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Speaker 1: If I'm grieving the Holy Spirit in that moment, I'm

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Speaker 1: not filled with the spirit. I'm in dwelled by the

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Speaker 1: Spirit of God. He lives within me. But it's clear

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Speaker 1: that I'm not submitting all areas of my life over

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Speaker 1: to His control and guidance in a moment where I'm

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Speaker 1: choosing to grieve him. If I grieve him, obviously that's

430
00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:29,439
Speaker 1: a moment where I'm not living is one filled with

431
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,240
Speaker 1: the Spirit. How about what Paul said to the Thessalonian

432
00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,400
Speaker 1: believers in Chapter five of First Thessalonians. In verse nineteen,

433
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,840
Speaker 1: he says, do not quench this spirit. So think about

434
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,840
Speaker 1: that statement for a second. Do not quench the spirit?

435
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,760
Speaker 1: What does it mean to quench the spirit? Well, quenching

436
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,280
Speaker 1: the spirit involves placing our will above his. So if

437
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 1: I place my will above the will of the Holy Spirit,

438
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,359
Speaker 1: I'm quenching the Spirit. We quench him. Anytime we ignore

439
00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:01,200
Speaker 1: his leading, anytime we reject his counsel, we quench the Spirit.

440
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,119
Speaker 1: Every time we work against him by pursuing our own agenda.

441
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,720
Speaker 1: When those even when those desires conflict with the will

442
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,399
Speaker 1: of God, we quench the spirit of God. So if

443
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 1: I'm quenching the Holy Spirit, am I filled with him? No?

444
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,240
Speaker 1: In that moment, I'm not. So it's possible to grieve

445
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 1: the Spirit of God. It's possible to quench the spirit

446
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:28,520
Speaker 1: of God. But the greater option is to be filled

447
00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 1: with the Spirit of God. And that's what the Apostle

448
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 1: Paul is encouraging us as believers to do. He's basically saying,

449
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,520
Speaker 1: cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Is He's trying to accomplish

450
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:45,119
Speaker 1: something in your day to day life. I don't know.

451
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:48,960
Speaker 1: I mean, we know what the Lord has revealed to

452
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 1: us in his word, but sometimes I just wonder what

453
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 1: the Lord thinks when he looks at believers, in particular,

454
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 1: when we get to a spot where we choose not

455
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,880
Speaker 1: to cooperate with him. It's like, do you ever see

456
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,800
Speaker 1: I saw something the other day. It was a reenactment

457
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,840
Speaker 1: that my wife and I were watching of somebody trying

458
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:12,520
Speaker 1: to save a drowning person. And you look at that

459
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,920
Speaker 1: and you're like, cooperate, cooperate with the person that's trying

460
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 1: to help you. And what do you see in many

461
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,560
Speaker 1: instances like that fighting against the person trying to save you.

462
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,159
Speaker 1: Don't we as believers at times try to do that.

463
00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: You know, we're in this spot where we're dealing with

464
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 1: all sorts of chaos in our life. We're dealing with

465
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 1: all sorts of adversity. We're dealing with all sorts of

466
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,159
Speaker 1: things that are trying to drag us in an unhealthy direction.

467
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,159
Speaker 1: And the Lord offers his help, and he offers us

468
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,120
Speaker 1: his guidance. The Holy Spirit literally offers to fill us

469
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,639
Speaker 1: and empower us and enable us to do what he

470
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,679
Speaker 1: calls us to do, and we have this tendency to

471
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 1: fight against him. And when we fight against him, what

472
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,520
Speaker 1: are we basically saying. We're saying, I trust me more

473
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,360
Speaker 1: than I trust you, or effectively, I know more than

474
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,879
Speaker 1: you know about how to help me in this particular situation.

475
00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 1: And so the Scripture encourages us listen, don't grieve the

476
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,720
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, and don't quench the Holy Spirit, but be

477
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,600
Speaker 1: filled with the Holy Spirit so that you can cooperate

478
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 1: with what He's trying to accomplish in your life. Do

479
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:15,919
Speaker 1: you believe the Lord wants to accomplish something amazing in

480
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,199
Speaker 1: your life? Is that a fair statement to say that

481
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,720
Speaker 1: he wants to accomplish something amazing or miraculous in your life?

482
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 1: He really does. He delights in doing that. You see

483
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 1: that all throughout Scripture. I mean, one of the fascinating things.

484
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 1: I have a habit during the summer months, I like

485
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,440
Speaker 1: to read through the Gospels. I got into this habit

486
00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:37,359
Speaker 1: when I was in college and I still continue it.

487
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,040
Speaker 1: I like to just read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, or

488
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:42,040
Speaker 1: John or all of them are a portion of them.

489
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:43,640
Speaker 1: I like to do that in the summer months. It's

490
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,880
Speaker 1: a good refresher for my mind. And when you look

491
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 1: throughout the Gospels, what do you see story after story

492
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,080
Speaker 1: of the people that Jesus reached into their lives to

493
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 1: help people that were going in all sorts of directions

494
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:57,439
Speaker 1: that were unhealthy and unwise. And what did the Lord do?

495
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,160
Speaker 1: He reached into hopeless situations and he sought to help

496
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,320
Speaker 1: people that were dealing with all sorts of things. And

497
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:04,919
Speaker 1: I look at that and it's a reminder to me.

498
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,480
Speaker 1: Don't fight God when he's trying to accomplish something in

499
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 1: your life. Cooperate with him, trust him to make the

500
00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:15,880
Speaker 1: right call. And the odd part about the moments when

501
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,760
Speaker 1: we either grieve the Holy Spirit or quench the Holy Spirit.

502
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,639
Speaker 1: In those moments, I think sometimes we actually feel like

503
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,679
Speaker 1: we may have gotten away with something, you know, we

504
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 1: feel like, yeah, I think I got away with something right.

505
00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 1: I did what I wanted to do instead of actually

506
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,520
Speaker 1: cooperating with what God wanted to do in my life.

507
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,399
Speaker 1: But there's a downside to failing, a downside that comes

508
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,520
Speaker 1: with failing to cooperate with the work that he's trying

509
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 1: to do within us. Grieving him and quenching him results

510
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,480
Speaker 1: in us failing to experience the full expression of His

511
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:52,360
Speaker 1: power working in miraculous ways through us. Now, I'll tell

512
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,120
Speaker 1: you what, the older I get, the more I desire

513
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,359
Speaker 1: the power of God to be at work in my

514
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,000
Speaker 1: life and through my life. But if I reject the

515
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:03,679
Speaker 1: opportunity to be filled with the spirit, what I'm doing

516
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:06,600
Speaker 1: and what we're doing collectively, is we end up robbing

517
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:11,480
Speaker 1: ourselves of amazing experiences and amazing opportunities. And I think

518
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 1: moments that would foster our hearts to give him praise

519
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,119
Speaker 1: that because we're just looking at the miraculous things that

520
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,000
Speaker 1: He does around us or even through us. We rob

521
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,920
Speaker 1: ourselves of those moments when we fail to cooperate with Him,

522
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 1: when we submit our minds over to the forces of

523
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 1: evil that corrupt our thinking. And I look at that,

524
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 1: and I think, what a sad thing that is to

525
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:38,080
Speaker 1: rob ourselves of the experience of God's power accomplishing something

526
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,919
Speaker 1: miraculous within us. And I think there's something else that

527
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 1: we give up when we choose not to be filled

528
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 1: with the Spirit of God, and that's power in our

529
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:52,160
Speaker 1: prayer life. There's a portion of Scripture that in James

530
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,840
Speaker 1: chapter five, where you have James explaining a variety of

531
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 1: things about prayer and the power that we access in

532
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,800
Speaker 1: those moments of prayer. And James says this in James

533
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,240
Speaker 1: Chapter five, verses thirteen through sixteen, He says, is anyone

534
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 1: among you suffering, let him pray. Is anyone cheerful, let

535
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,920
Speaker 1: him sing praises. Anyone among you sick? Let him call

536
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,760
Speaker 1: for the elders of the church and let them pray

537
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,879
Speaker 1: over him, anointing him with oil in the name of

538
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,879
Speaker 1: the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the

539
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,960
Speaker 1: one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

540
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:33,119
Speaker 1: And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore,

541
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 1: confess your sins to one another. By the way, even

542
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,320
Speaker 1: before I finish that statement, why do you suppose James

543
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,400
Speaker 1: is encouraging the church to confess to one another? Is

544
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 1: it to just embarrass ourselves in front of one another?

545
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:47,840
Speaker 1: I think what he's trying to do is say, listen,

546
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,560
Speaker 1: when you call sin out into the light, you rob

547
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 1: it of its power. Because what does sin like to do.

548
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 1: Likes to operate behind the scenes, secretly, likes to get

549
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,320
Speaker 1: away with things. And he's saying, call it out into

550
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,480
Speaker 1: the light. You know, and in a conversation with someone

551
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,680
Speaker 1: who loves you and you trust. Just call it out,

552
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 1: confess it so that it rot. You can rob sin

553
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 1: of its power in moments like that. But he says, therefore,

554
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,040
Speaker 1: confess your sins to one another and pray for one

555
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,840
Speaker 1: another that you may be healed. And then I highlighted

556
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,400
Speaker 1: this yere where he says, the prayer of a righteous

557
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 1: person has great power as it is working. The prayer

558
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,600
Speaker 1: of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James,

559
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:33,480
Speaker 1: by the way, was known as a man of prayer

560
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 1: during his generation. He was the half brother of Jesus,

561
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:41,280
Speaker 1: and he was a church leader during that particular era.

562
00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,080
Speaker 1: He was known for being particularly wise, and by the way,

563
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 1: I think it's pretty fair to say that a healthy

564
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 1: prayer life and wisdom go hand in hand. I think

565
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,560
Speaker 1: that the wisest people I've ever met are also people

566
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,440
Speaker 1: that tended to have a healthy prayer life. But the

567
00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,280
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit inspired James to encourage the church to pray,

568
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:02,600
Speaker 1: and they were called to pray when they were cheerful,

569
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:04,400
Speaker 1: They were called to pray when they were dealing with

570
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,080
Speaker 1: illnesses and infirmities and all sorts of things. They were

571
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,400
Speaker 1: invited to confess their sins to one another and seek

572
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 1: divine intervention on behalf of one another. But the church

573
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 1: was also reminded here in James's letters. He's talking to

574
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,880
Speaker 1: them here that there's great power in prayer. And I

575
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,080
Speaker 1: think sometimes we need that reminder. I think sometimes we

576
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:26,000
Speaker 1: pray in such a light and and genteel way when

577
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,240
Speaker 1: really we're supposed to be aggressively approaching the throne of

578
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,720
Speaker 1: God with confidence that He can miraculously intervene in our

579
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,400
Speaker 1: day to day lives. And here you have James saying

580
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: there's great power and prayer, specifically when those prayers emanate

581
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,760
Speaker 1: from a person who walks in righteousness, if you're a

582
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,920
Speaker 1: man or a woman who walks in righteousness. The Book

583
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:49,080
Speaker 1: of James tells us here that there's great power that

584
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,720
Speaker 1: accompanies the prayers that come from somebody like that. I

585
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:53,640
Speaker 1: think another way we could say that is that men

586
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,200
Speaker 1: and women who are filled with the spirit, men and

587
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,880
Speaker 1: women who completely submit their lives, their minds, and their

588
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:07,840
Speaker 1: intentions over to the Spirit of God, they pray powerful prayers,

589
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,240
Speaker 1: and miraculous and amazing things are accomplished in the midst

590
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 1: of that. That's things happen when people like that pray.

591
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 1: By the way, each of us have the opportunity to

592
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,760
Speaker 1: be that kind of person that James is talking about here,

593
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,560
Speaker 1: not a self righteous person, but a person who says,

594
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,360
Speaker 1: I just want to taste the righteousness of Christ. I

595
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,320
Speaker 1: want the righteousness that He will give to me, and

596
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,640
Speaker 1: then I want to live it out, not my own righteousness,

597
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 1: but His righteousness. You know, you look at examples that

598
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 1: are given to us in Scripture of disease is healed?

599
00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 1: Do you think you could pray for God to miraculously

600
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 1: heal someone of a disease? Do you think you would

601
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:45,680
Speaker 1: still do this in this generation? Why wouldn't he Why

602
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:47,400
Speaker 1: would he tell us to pray for these things and

603
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: then not answer prayers like that? Things happen when when

604
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,840
Speaker 1: the people of God pray, When people submit themselves over

605
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 1: to Him and then pray, what about you know, just

606
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,000
Speaker 1: the miraculous? I mean, do you ever do you ever

607
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:03,280
Speaker 1: find yourself in a s where you are so desperate

608
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,760
Speaker 1: for God to do something in the life of someone

609
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 1: you love and you just lift them up before the

610
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,440
Speaker 1: Lord and prayer because you've tried everything you can think

611
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,800
Speaker 1: of and you've run out of ideas, and then you realize.

612
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,960
Speaker 1: You know what, the best idea I ever had was

613
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 1: just submitting this person over to the Lord and just

614
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:24,080
Speaker 1: praying that the Lord would do something miraculous in their life.

615
00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 1: Do you think God delights to answer prayers like that?

616
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:31,680
Speaker 1: Do you ever pray prayers of reconciliation, you know, just praying, Lord,

617
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:36,200
Speaker 1: reconcile this brother, reconcile this sister. Do you ever pray

618
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,200
Speaker 1: prayers that the Lord would speak wisdom into the life

619
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,640
Speaker 1: of a rebellious person, someone that you care for, but

620
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,480
Speaker 1: you're just praying, Lord, please change their heart, change their mind.

621
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:47,880
Speaker 1: Do you think you could pray with that kind of power?

622
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,720
Speaker 1: According to James, you can. You know the example that

623
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,880
Speaker 1: he gives right after these verses here he talks about

624
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:59,480
Speaker 1: Elijah praying that the Lord would withhold rain for three

625
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:06,360
Speaker 1: and a half year years and the Lord said, what, Okay, Now,

626
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,280
Speaker 1: I don't know. Dave told me he was praying yesterday

627
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,400
Speaker 1: before the picnic that it would be a rain free event,

628
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 1: and it ended up being very much rain free at

629
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 1: his house, but it wasn't. I live eight minutes from him,

630
00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,800
Speaker 1: and we got pouring rain at my house but not

631
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,320
Speaker 1: at Dave's house. And he mentioned to me before church

632
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 1: here he said, yeah, I prayed it wouldn't rain. There

633
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 1: are examples of that in scripture in James chapter five.

634
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:34,040
Speaker 1: But the truth is you can ask the Lord. And

635
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:35,800
Speaker 1: here's the thing. Can I give you some counsel here?

636
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:39,080
Speaker 1: This is unsolicited counsel, but you look very receptive to

637
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,200
Speaker 1: this thought. So I'm just going to say it. Ask

638
00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 1: God to do impossible things. Do you ever hear people

639
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,240
Speaker 1: pray very very safe prayers and say to yourself, you

640
00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:50,960
Speaker 1: know you could ask him for bigger stuff than that.

641
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:57,120
Speaker 1: You really can hear people? Now? Obviously, when we pray,

642
00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,240
Speaker 1: we're supposed to submit our prayer requests over to the

643
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 1: Lord's wilt, But why not ask for the biggest thing

644
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,720
Speaker 1: you could think of and then accept the fact that Lord,

645
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,280
Speaker 1: whatever your will is, I accept. Sometimes I hear people say,

646
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,319
Speaker 1: you know what, Lord, do whatever you want in this

647
00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:18,160
Speaker 1: particular circumstance, amen, And I'm like, okay, Now, Ultimately, we

648
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:20,879
Speaker 1: trust the Lord to do whatever he wants in every circumstance,

649
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,399
Speaker 1: and that's fine, and I believe in submitting our prayer

650
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,680
Speaker 1: requests over to as well. But why not ask him

651
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:29,000
Speaker 1: to miraculously heal your family member of cancer. Why not

652
00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:32,479
Speaker 1: ask for the big thing he can do it. Why

653
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:36,400
Speaker 1: not ask for your errant child's heart to be brought

654
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:40,600
Speaker 1: in line with the will of God? Why not ask

655
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:44,360
Speaker 1: for the Lord to miraculously draw our nation back to him.

656
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,520
Speaker 1: Why not ask for those things? Why not ask for

657
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:51,640
Speaker 1: the salvation of the person that you know seems so

658
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,560
Speaker 1: far away, like my vulgar friend that I mentioned just

659
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,560
Speaker 1: a moment ago, who speaks no differently than I spoke

660
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:00,520
Speaker 1: before I came to know Christ and he got a

661
00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:04,880
Speaker 1: hold of my mind. Why not ask for the big stuff?

662
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:07,759
Speaker 1: I say, ask for the big stuff. Ask for the

663
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,200
Speaker 1: biggest stuff that you could ask, and then trust the

664
00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 1: Lord to say yes or no. But ask big, pray big,

665
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:20,640
Speaker 1: pray boldly. And James says that the prayer the way,

666
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 1: the phrase that the prayer of a righteous person has

667
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:24,920
Speaker 1: great power as it is working. I think part of

668
00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 1: the reason why we don't ask for big things is

669
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,440
Speaker 1: because we don't understand what it means to be completely

670
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:33,480
Speaker 1: filled with the spirit of God. And there might be

671
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:37,719
Speaker 1: some element in our prayer life where we're looking at it,

672
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:42,239
Speaker 1: we're thinking, would God actually respond to me with a

673
00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 1: big answer, like am I that much? On the radar

674
00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:51,520
Speaker 1: of God, that he would actually answer my big prayer request.

675
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,640
Speaker 1: Why wouldn't he? There are reasons he puts portions of

676
00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:59,120
Speaker 1: scripture like this in his word, it's to challenge you

677
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,240
Speaker 1: and I to actually test him with it, to try

678
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:05,360
Speaker 1: it out, to see what he actually does. I remember

679
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,600
Speaker 1: some years ago our family sat down in our living

680
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,040
Speaker 1: room praying on behalf of somebody that the Lord would

681
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:14,480
Speaker 1: miraculously intervene in their life, and we had the opportunity

682
00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,440
Speaker 1: to see within a day heart change occur within this

683
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,280
Speaker 1: person's life. When we were amazed, and I thought to myself,

684
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,840
Speaker 1: why are we amazed? We literally sat down and prayed

685
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,560
Speaker 1: that way. I shouldn't be amazed. I should be like,

686
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:30,000
Speaker 1: of course, I should be thankful, but probably not amazed,

687
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 1: Like why wouldn't the Lord answer that prayer request? It

688
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:37,879
Speaker 1: was very much in line with his will. And here

689
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:41,560
Speaker 1: you have James reminding the church that there's great power

690
00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:44,920
Speaker 1: in prayer, especially when those prayers are coming from the

691
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,839
Speaker 1: heart of someone completely filled with the Spirit of God,

692
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,600
Speaker 1: completely submitted over to the Lord, without holding anything back.

693
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 1: So let me ask this, just in a personal way,

694
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 1: just answer this in your own mind. Do you consider

695
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 1: yourself someone who is filled with the spirit of God.

696
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:09,000
Speaker 1: Or here's the contrast, or are there still areas of

697
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 1: your life that you are knowingly holding back from him.

698
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:16,319
Speaker 1: It's kind of a confrontational question, but it's meant to

699
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:17,759
Speaker 1: be that way because I think I want us to

700
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:22,120
Speaker 1: really wrestle with that. Are you filled with the spirit

701
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:26,799
Speaker 1: of God? Or can you, if you're honest, identify one

702
00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,680
Speaker 1: area or two areas or three or more where you

703
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:34,480
Speaker 1: would say, yeah, that's probably probably not an area that

704
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,120
Speaker 1: I have submitted over to the Lord's will yet, maybe

705
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:38,919
Speaker 1: because I'm afraid of what he is going to ask

706
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:40,880
Speaker 1: me to do with this thing or that thing, or

707
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:45,920
Speaker 1: whatever it may be. You ever, have you given control

708
00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:48,360
Speaker 1: of your faith over to the Lord? Have you submitted

709
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 1: that over to him? Have you given control of your

710
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:56,239
Speaker 1: attitude over to the Lord? And said, Lord, work in

711
00:37:56,280 --> 00:38:00,880
Speaker 1: my attitude, work in my heart. Let my addatude reflect

712
00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:05,920
Speaker 1: your character. Have you given him complete control over the

713
00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:08,400
Speaker 1: way you speak to other people, whether in your household,

714
00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:10,880
Speaker 1: or in your community, or in your workplace, so you

715
00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:14,520
Speaker 1: have control of your tongue. How about your career? Have

716
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:17,920
Speaker 1: you submitted your career over to him? Or are you

717
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:21,319
Speaker 1: on a path that you think you want to be on,

718
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:23,239
Speaker 1: but you're not really sure if that's what the Lord

719
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 1: wants you to be on. Have you submitted your career

720
00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:28,640
Speaker 1: over to him? Have you submitted your finances over to him?

721
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:32,280
Speaker 1: Or do you call the shots there? Are you ingesting

722
00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:36,040
Speaker 1: things in your body that result in your mind not

723
00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 1: being fully submitted over to him? Are you allowing evil

724
00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:43,319
Speaker 1: coming from media or apps or anything like that to

725
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,680
Speaker 1: influence your day to day life and your thinking? Is

726
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,880
Speaker 1: your mind and your heart fully submitted over to the Lord?

727
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:53,440
Speaker 1: Are you welcoming the filling of the Holy Spirit? Now

728
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:56,239
Speaker 1: here's the thing. I recognize that none of us does

729
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,920
Speaker 1: this perfectly, and that's why Scripture tells us to be

730
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,319
Speaker 1: filled with the spirit of God. If this was an

731
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 1: easy and automatic thing, do you think the scripture'd be

732
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:07,120
Speaker 1: telling us to do it. The reason we're being told

733
00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:10,000
Speaker 1: to do it is because the understanding is this will

734
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:12,520
Speaker 1: be a struggle for us on some days. There's going

735
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,040
Speaker 1: to be some days where I want my will instead

736
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:16,960
Speaker 1: of God's will, and you want your will instead of

737
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,480
Speaker 1: God's will. And so the apostle Paul saying, no, be

738
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,400
Speaker 1: filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't give anything else control

739
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:25,719
Speaker 1: over your thinking. I want to share a quote with

740
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:29,640
Speaker 1: you from Andrew Murray some years ago. Andrew Murray said this.

741
00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,560
Speaker 1: He said, and he's saying this basically is a prayer,

742
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:35,000
Speaker 1: and I want to challenge us to pray this if

743
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,960
Speaker 1: you dare. But he said it this way. He said,

744
00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,680
Speaker 1: may not a single moment of my life be spent

745
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:47,799
Speaker 1: outside the light, love and joy of God's presence, and

746
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:51,640
Speaker 1: not a moment without the entire surrender of myself as

747
00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:55,279
Speaker 1: a vessel for Him to full a fill full of

748
00:39:55,320 --> 00:40:00,160
Speaker 1: His spirit and his love. That's a bold thing to pray,

749
00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:03,080
Speaker 1: wouldn't you say. I'm just going to throw that out

750
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:06,160
Speaker 1: there and encourage if you're willing, I'm going to leave

751
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:07,960
Speaker 1: that up on the screen. I'm going to challenge you,

752
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:12,360
Speaker 1: if you're willing to pray that very thing for yourself,

753
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,719
Speaker 1: that not a single moment of your life would be

754
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:20,840
Speaker 1: spent outside of just a complete filling of the Holy Spirit.

755
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:22,360
Speaker 1: That's the kind of prayer I want to be praying.

756
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:24,719
Speaker 1: I want to live in the light. I want to

757
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:25,960
Speaker 1: live in the love. I want to live in the

758
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:29,200
Speaker 1: joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to

759
00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,719
Speaker 1: surrender myself to be filled with His spirit. And I

760
00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:35,760
Speaker 1: want my heart to grieve like his heart grieves every

761
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:39,359
Speaker 1: time I veer in a direction that's anything other than

762
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:40,840
Speaker 1: the course that He wants for my life. And I

763
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:42,960
Speaker 1: hope you're willing to pray for the very same thing.

764
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,480
Speaker 1: It's a very hard thing to pray in one respect,

765
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,279
Speaker 1: because we know our frailties and we know our struggles,

766
00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:51,719
Speaker 1: and we probably know a few things that we still

767
00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,359
Speaker 1: kind of want to hold on to. But I'll tell

768
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:56,719
Speaker 1: you what, as your faith matures, his heart starts to

769
00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:59,279
Speaker 1: become your heart, and you find yourself saying, you know,

770
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:02,360
Speaker 1: praying prayer like we see in Psalm nineteen. Let the

771
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:04,560
Speaker 1: words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

772
00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:08,400
Speaker 1: be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and

773
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:11,600
Speaker 1: my Redeemer. But again, I want to bring Andrew Murray's

774
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:14,319
Speaker 1: prayer up on the screen, and I just want to

775
00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:20,040
Speaker 1: think about this together as we finish up. If there's

776
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,560
Speaker 1: anything that you're still holding back, I just want to

777
00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:27,520
Speaker 1: encourage you and us as a church family to give

778
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:31,040
Speaker 1: it over to the Lord and welcome the filling of

779
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:33,600
Speaker 1: the spirit of God. I'll tell you what, life on

780
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:39,680
Speaker 1: this planet is so much better when we're operating in

781
00:41:39,719 --> 00:41:42,920
Speaker 1: the power that the Lord supplies. When we try and

782
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,400
Speaker 1: go through life under our own wisdom, strength and power,

783
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 1: it goes in one direction and it's not healthy. But

784
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:51,000
Speaker 1: when we submit ourselves completely over to the Lord, trusting

785
00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,319
Speaker 1: every element of our lives, every aspect of ourselves over

786
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:57,720
Speaker 1: to his guidance and care, that's when you experience real

787
00:41:57,800 --> 00:41:59,719
Speaker 1: power in your day to day life. And it's not

788
00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:02,960
Speaker 1: pay that comes from you. It's power of the power

789
00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:06,400
Speaker 1: of God at work within you. And so as we

790
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:09,400
Speaker 1: finish up our time in prayer, I'm just going to

791
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:13,160
Speaker 1: pray this on our behalf. But if this is something

792
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:15,920
Speaker 1: that you desire to truly be filled with the spirit

793
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:19,239
Speaker 1: of God, like we're encouraged in Ephesians chapter five, i'd

794
00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:25,360
Speaker 1: encourage you to make it your prayer. Let's pray, Father,

795
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:29,360
Speaker 1: we come before you, just as Andrew Murray did some

796
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:32,000
Speaker 1: years ago, and we just lift up our hearts before

797
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,319
Speaker 1: you and pray that not a single moment of our

798
00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:38,800
Speaker 1: lives would be spent outside the light, love, and joy

799
00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:42,720
Speaker 1: of your presence, and not a moment without the entire

800
00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:46,440
Speaker 1: surrender of our self as a vessel for you to

801
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:52,320
Speaker 1: fill full of your spirit. And your love. By your grace, Father,

802
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:54,800
Speaker 1: we pray that you would accomplish that in our lives

803
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:57,600
Speaker 1: through the presence of your spirit. We pray that there

804
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:00,279
Speaker 1: wouldn't be any element or aspect of our day to

805
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:03,680
Speaker 1: day lives that we hold onto that we shouldn't be

806
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:06,200
Speaker 1: holding onto. We pray that we would experience what it

807
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:11,640
Speaker 1: means to be men and women who are counted among

808
00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:14,879
Speaker 1: your family. That when we pray before you, that those

809
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:19,240
Speaker 1: prayers are accompanied with great power, and that we watch

810
00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:21,880
Speaker 1: your hand at work all around us in the lives

811
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:25,800
Speaker 1: of those we love and care about, in the hearts

812
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:30,120
Speaker 1: of those who are distant from you. In our own lives,

813
00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:34,160
Speaker 1: even as we deal with areas of temptation or addiction,

814
00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:39,560
Speaker 1: or persistent sin that seems like it hangs on there. Lord,

815
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:41,719
Speaker 1: we pray for the power of your Holy Spirit to

816
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:45,080
Speaker 1: overcome all of these things. And we know that your

817
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:49,640
Speaker 1: power is sufficient. We know that you can do miraculous

818
00:43:49,640 --> 00:43:52,560
Speaker 1: things around us, that the miracles that you accomplish that's

819
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:55,319
Speaker 1: not just for a generation before us, that's also in

820
00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:58,719
Speaker 1: this generation. You do miraculous things. And Lord, we're just

821
00:43:58,719 --> 00:44:00,319
Speaker 1: so grateful for the fact that we get to be

822
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:05,880
Speaker 1: the beneficiaries of your hand at work. So, Lord, we

823
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,840
Speaker 1: know that it's your desire that we trust you completely.

824
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:10,839
Speaker 1: You don't want us running from you. You don't want

825
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:13,879
Speaker 1: us going in a direction that's going to be dishonoring

826
00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:16,800
Speaker 1: to your name and grievous to your spirit, and harmful

827
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:18,920
Speaker 1: to others and harmful to ourselves. That's not what you

828
00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:21,560
Speaker 1: want for us. You want us to just completely submit

829
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:23,640
Speaker 1: ourselves over to you as men and women who know

830
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:28,040
Speaker 1: you through faith in your son, Jesus Christ. We pray

831
00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:30,640
Speaker 1: that our hearts and our minds would reflect the love

832
00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:34,239
Speaker 1: and the character of your son, and we pray that

833
00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:36,600
Speaker 1: the power of your spirit would be evident among us.

834
00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:42,719
Speaker 1: Thank you, Father for making this possible for us. Thank

835
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:44,640
Speaker 1: you for the fact that you give us the privilege

836
00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:46,480
Speaker 1: to walk with you. Thank you for the fact that

837
00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:51,319
Speaker 1: you are stronger than our weaknesses, and that when we

838
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:53,440
Speaker 1: think about the things in the past that we've given

839
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:58,600
Speaker 1: our minds and our hearts over to, that we go

840
00:44:58,719 --> 00:45:01,200
Speaker 1: look at those things and realize we don't have to

841
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:04,480
Speaker 1: keep doing that. We don't have to yield control of

842
00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:06,759
Speaker 1: our minds, or our thinking, or our attitude over to

843
00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:11,040
Speaker 1: anything other than your spirit. So by your grace. We

844
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:13,319
Speaker 1: pray that that would be exactly what takes place in

845
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:15,960
Speaker 1: our day to day life. We thank you, Lord for

846
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:18,400
Speaker 1: your goodness, We thank you for your love, and we

847
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:20,640
Speaker 1: thank you for your presence with us. Right now, we

848
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:24,760
Speaker 1: commit ourselves to you in Jesus' name, Amen,