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S1: Hey, this is Young Thunder and thanks for listening to

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S1: the Carl and Cruz Show cast. If you didn't know,

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S1: we're actually a live radio program. We air Monday through Friday,

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S1: 5 to 9 a.m. Central time. If you want to

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S1: know more, go to Carl and crew to get details

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S1: for your listening area. Now enjoy the show.

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S2: Coming to you live from the call of Hope studio.

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S2: This is Carl and crew.

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S3: It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step

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S3: with Jesus. I want you to know with absolute confidence

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S3: that you can come as you are. Experience God, overcome

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S3: what seems impossible and live as you never imagined. God

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S3: wants that for you. And the question is, what's in

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S3: this gap between where we stand today and those promises

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S3: of God? What's holding us back? And often times, and

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S3: I'm going to admit this myself, I had a lost

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S3: God for many years. And you might say, what? Yeah.

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S3: Even as a pastor for a number of years, it's

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S3: probably been ten, 15 years ago. Now that I've really

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S3: done a deep dive on the power of the Holy Spirit,

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S3: most recently the last couple three years, and our guest

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S3: coming up here has really helped me with this a lot,

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S3: and I'm grateful for him. I want to spike, what's

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S3: going on? We are going to have Doctor Sam Storms here.

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S3: We don't need to keep him secret. Uh, he is

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S3: a tremendous man of God. We'll get full. We'll give

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S3: his whole pedigree here in a moment. Ali. I'll rattle

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S3: it off here. And Sam doesn't know what he's in for,

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S3: I don't think. I don't know that he knows. Wednesday.

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S3: Bottom of the hour. Every hour. It's our Ali thinks

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S3: it's funny segment. So Sam is just probably going to

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S3: be thrilled with this segment. Ali that's coming up.

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S4: Uh. We'll see.

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S3: All right. Yeah. We're going to have a good time. Okay.

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S3: Coming up here in a moment. My lost God. And

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S3: we're going to talk about the power of the Spirit

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S3: of God. And what does this mean for us today?

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S3: He is here. It's not it by the way. It's

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S3: not it. He God with us. If Jesus said, it's

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S3: to your advantage that I go. We better find out. Well,

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S3: what's the advantage? Hang on. Doctor Sam Storms coming up.

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S2: Take your next step with Jesus today. You're listening to

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S2: Carl and crew.

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S3: You know, um, let's let's introduce him rightly. Give the

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S3: whole lowdown here.

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S4: Doctor Sam storms, he's the founder and president of Enjoying

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S4: God Ministries, serves on the Council of the Gospel Coalition.

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S4: He's the author or editor of over 40 books, served

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S4: as visiting associate professor of theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois,

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S4: and is the past president of the Evangelical Theological Society.

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S4: That's just naming a few of the highlights.

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S3: Just a few things there and all. And and the

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S3: biggest thing, he's just a good guy all the way around.

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S3: Sam storms. Good to have you with us this morning,

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S3: my man.

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S5: Well, it's good to be with you. I've been looking

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S5: forward to this.

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S3: This is going to be tremendous. We're focusing on the

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S3: power of the spirit today. And this was my loss. God,

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S3: Sam and and I and I, and I try to

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S3: be that bold with it. It was, as Michael and

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S3: I were talking, even last night, he says, yeah, we

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S3: had father, son and the Word of God, and we

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S3: forgot the Holy Spirit. And it's just true. Why did

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S3: this happen? Why was this there, this bifurcation of camps

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S3: for decades that seems to be healing now. But it

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S3: was this. I've got the Holy Spirit over here, and

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S3: we pendulum swung over here into two different camps, and

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S3: I think both lost in that in that stretch of time. Sam,

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S3: what's your opinion on this thing?

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S5: Yeah. Uh, I agree with you entirely. In fact, uh,

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S5: for pretty much the first 15 to 20 years of

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S5: my public ministry as a pastor and professor, um, I

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S5: was very much like you. The spirit was kind of

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S5: relegated to the sidelines. And I think it was really

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S5: basically for two reasons. The first two that come to mind.

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S5: Number one, we didn't properly understand the spirit as a person.

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S5: We thought of him only as some sort of heavenly

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S5: energy that empowers us, which of course he is, that

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S5: he is the power of God. But it's hard to

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S5: think of him and relate to him on a daily basis.

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S5: If you don't understand, he's a person with a with

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S5: a mind, with a will, with emotions. He makes decisions. Uh,

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S5: he can be offended and grieved. So we need to

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S5: get back to understanding that he is a person. Now

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S5: I'm going to add another one. Another reason, you know,

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S5: we talk about the Trinity, rightly so. And we talk

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S5: about first person, second person and third person. Father, first son,

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S5: second spirit third. Well, nowhere in the Bible are the

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S5: are the persons of the Godhead described as if this

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S5: one is one, that one is two and three. But

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S5: if you do that often enough, you think hierarchy. Yeah,

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S5: I relate to the first and second, but oh, Holy Spirit,

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S5: he's way down here at the bottom. He's just the third. Well,

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S5: that's that's a misunderstanding. And then I think, um, another

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S5: reason why we have kind of relegated the spirit to

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S5: the sidelines is a misunderstanding of what Jesus said in

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S5: the upper room, in the upper room, when he was

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S5: with his disciples on the night in which he was betrayed,

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S5: when he said, The spirit will come and he will

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S5: glorify me. And that's true. One of the Spirit's primary

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S5: purpose is to shine a light upon Jesus and reveal

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S5: his glory and his beauty to us. But that's not

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S5: all that he does. Uh, what's happened, I think, is

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S5: we've committed the error of what I call reductionism. In

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S5: other words, we've taken one of the roles of the

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S5: Holy Spirit and reduced his entire ministry to that one role.

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S5: But the spirit does far more than just magnify and

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S5: glorify Jesus. He certainly does that. But people have thought, well,

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S5: that's all he does. He's over there. He's going to

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S5: shine a light on Jesus. I don't need to worry

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S5: about anything else. I need to talk to him. I

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S5: don't need to relate to him. I don't need to

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S5: trust in him. He's just there to direct my attention

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S5: to Jesus. Well, he certainly does direct your attention to Jesus,

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S5: but he does far, far more than that. And I'm

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S5: I think our failure to realize that of thinking that

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S5: he only has one primary role, uh, when when he

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S5: was sent to the earth and indwells us. I think

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S5: that's been one of the big problems.

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S4: Doctor Sam storms our guest this morning. You know, another

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S4: thing that you can't really talk about the Holy Spirit

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S4: with in most circles without most people having things come

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S4: to mind if they've been raised in a a church

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S4: culture where maybe there was some weird things that were

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S4: attributed to the Holy Spirit that made people feel a

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S4: little uncomfortable, that that has to be part of it, too, right? Why?

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S4: Sometimes people shy away even talking about the Holy Spirit

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S4: because of maybe things that they associated with, uh, incorrectly.

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S5: Yes, definitely. Um, we kind of want to attribute a

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S5: lot of weird things to the spirit, father and the son.

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S5: They don't do anything weird, but the Holy Spirit, he

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S5: does strange things. And so I think a lot of

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S5: the fanaticism and the sensationalism of some platform ministers, um,

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S5: has given the Spirit of God a bad name because

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S5: they call out for the spirit to move, and then

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S5: either they blow on people and knock them down, or

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S5: they make claims that the Word of God does not

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S5: justify in any way, shape or form. So yeah, I think, um,

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S5: it depends on a lot of the tradition in which

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S5: you were raised, and I was raised Southern Baptist, and

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S5: we barely talked about the spirit at all.

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S3: You got that right.

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S5: And I love my Southern Baptist, I really do. But, um,

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S5: the only thing the spirit did in the Southern Baptist

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S5: church was to help you resist temptation. But anything else

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S5: was pretty much out of bounds. And then, on the

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S5: other hand, you had the other extreme, some of the

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S5: more radical Pentecostal and charismatic folk who will, you know,

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S5: cry out to the spirit for everything? Like Holy Spirit,

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S5: tell me which color of socks I'm supposed to wear today.

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S5: You know, help me know, am I supposed to eat

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S5: at chick fil A or at McDonald's today? And as

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S5: if somehow, uh, God wants us to live in this, uh,

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S5: in make every even minor and trivial decision based on

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S5: something the spirit's going to reveal. Now, I do believe

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S5: the spirit talks to us and he reveals things to us,

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S5: but sometimes we just go overboard with that, and it

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S5: ends up bringing reproach upon us. The gospel and upon

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S5: the person of the Spirit himself.

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S2: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl

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S2: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.

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S3: Doctor Sam storms with us today. We are going to

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S3: start with and really drill down on this in exhausted

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S3: as best we can, the power of the Holy Spirit,

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S3: the realness of the Holy Spirit as a kid growing up,

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S3: and then even in Bible college and a little bit

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S3: at Denver Seminary, I think we looked we focus a

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S3: lot on First Corinthians, and that was almost a central

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S3: passage for, uh, the power of the spirit, interestingly enough.

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S3: And now, after the years go by, I find that

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S3: more corrective in nature. It's it's it's illuminating, it's instructive,

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S3: but it's also got a corrective nature to it. When

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S3: John 14, John 16, Romans eight. Those are three power

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S3: packed chapters. Sam, what do you say?

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S5: Well, yeah. In fact, you mentioned Romans eight. Most people

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S5: aren't aware of this, but there are more references to

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S5: the Holy Spirit in Romans eight than in any other

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S5: chapter in the Bible. I mean, it's just everywhere. And, uh, so, yeah,

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S5: you know, when Paul's Paul's letter to the Corinthians, they had, um,

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S5: they had gone to an extreme, some people were saying

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S5: that certain gifts of the spirit were more important than others,

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S5: and they were a reflection of the comparative value of

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S5: an individual like, God loves you more because you have

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S5: that gift, and therefore you should be allowed to dominate

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S5: the church service in its exercise. So he does write

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S5: a very healthy corrective in chapter 14 especially. Um, but yes,

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S5: the Spirit of God in Romans eight, that's the that's

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S5: the one of the most amazing chapters. I would just

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S5: say to people who are listening if if you want to,

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S5: you're saying, I'm not. I don't know as much about

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S5: this Holy Spirit. Read Romans eight. It will just overwhelm you. Um,

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S5: the way that Paul describes living in accordance with the

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S5: spirit and walking in in conformity with his will and

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S5: understanding his mind and realizing that he intercedes for us

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S5: when we pray with the father. It's just remarkable.

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S3: Yeah, and walking in the spirit, according to Paul, right

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S3: there in Romans 813 is the very means by which

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S3: we get victory over sin, which is a huge advantage. Okay,

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S3: who do we have here?

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S4: Let's go to Kerry. First time caller from Crystal River, Florida.

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S4: Give us your question.

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S6: Hi. I am a nurse, and I. I feel like

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S6: I'm in constant conversation with God, but now I think

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S6: I'm confused. It might be the Holy Spirit, but even

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S6: little things like I'll go to leave a patient's room

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S6: and I'll get the did you clamp that back? And

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S6: on my mind is completely off in a different direction.

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S6: And that's why I feel like I thought that it

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S6: was God checking me. Um, and I'll go back to.

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S6: The bag isn't clamped, and I would have ran a

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S6: whole bag of saline into a patient, you know, or

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S6: I'm out in the garden pruning. I was pruning a tree,

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S6: and I was like, man, these trees really got some stronghold,

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S6: you know? And and then it made me aware of

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S6: my own strongholds that I've been working through, that I've overcame.

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S6: Is that God or is that the Holy Spirit or

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S6: is that me?

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S5: Well, the Holy Spirit is God. Let's make sure we

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S5: understand that right from the start. So the all three

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S5: persons of the Godhead are equally God. They share one

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S5: divine nature. They are all equally glorious and equally powerful. Um,

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S5: the question you're asking, how do I know if it's

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S5: the spirit or just me? Um, sometimes you can't know.

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S5: I mean, we just have to realize it's a very

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S5: subjective experience. And sometimes we make a mistake of thinking that,

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S5: you know, this idea or thought that just popped into

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S5: my head. Is that me, or is that God reminding

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S5: me of something I need to do? Well, I think

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S5: the best thing to do is if it if it's

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S5: something that's worthwhile, you go ahead and you pursue it

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S5: and you just have to ask the Lord, Lord, is

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S5: that you give me some confirmation. Uh, bring conviction to

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S5: my heart. Uh, I think one of the reasons why

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S5: we don't discern between ourselves and the promptings of our

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S5: own mind and the spirit is because we don't relate

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S5: to the spirit as a person. We have to live

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S5: in a conversational relationship with the spirit, constantly asking, Spirit

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S5: of God, lead me, spirit of God, is this you?

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S5: Give me. Give me a conviction, a confirmation that this

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S5: is what I should do, and then just step out

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S5: in faith and do what you think is the best thing.

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S5: And if it turns out it was just you. But

244
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S5: it was a good thing. Praise God. If it turns

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S5: out the spirit, it was the spirit and it was

246
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S5: a good thing. Praise God, you can't lose. So I

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S5: just say, follow the promptings of your heart and always

248
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S5: be open to correction. Always bring them into conformity with Scripture.

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S5: You know the first question you should ask if you're

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S5: wondering if this is the Spirit of God that that

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S5: that prompted me here, is this something that's consistent with

252
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S5: God's Word, or is this something that is somehow contrary

253
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S5: to Scripture and would lead me, lead me astray? So

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S5: that's the first and most important thing you should do

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S5: in trying to discern the Spirit's voice.

256
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S3: Yeah. Sam. So this teaching of Jesus in John 14

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S3: and John 16 wedged in the middle here is Jesus's

258
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S3: words to his disciples that if you abide in my word,

259
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S3: my word abides in you. Ask whatever you wish and

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S3: it will be done. The the inner. I find I'm

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S3: getting spirit promptings very often all throughout the day. While

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S3: I'm preaching a message, I feel nudged by the spirit, Sam.

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S3: And it's always related, though, to the glory of God

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S3: and grounded in the Word of God. Speak to that

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S3: for a minute.

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S5: Yeah, absolutely. In fact, those are the the primary criteria

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S5: by which we discern the Spirit's voice. Uh, I'll give

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S5: you an example. We had a gentleman in our church who, uh,

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S5: got this idea that every random thought that entered into

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S5: his head was the Spirit of God speaking to him

271
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S5: and directing him. Now, occasionally, he was spot on. And

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S5: it was. But to think that every idea that passes

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S5: through our minds is the spirit can lead down some

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S5: dangerous paths, and we have to be cautious and careful

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S5: with that. And like you said, one of the questions

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S5: we have to ask is, is this prompting? Is this impression,

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S5: is this this guidance that I'm sensing from I hope

278
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S5: it's from the spirit. Is this going to glorify God

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S5: or me? Is this just going to bring attention to

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S5: me as a as a super spiritual saint, or is

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S5: this going to bring attention to Jesus? Is it going

282
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S5: to glorify God? Is it going to going to magnify

283
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S5: his character and his ways? Um, so I think that's

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S5: the as you said, that is the primary issue right there.

285
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S5: Is it conforming with Scripture? Is it glorifying to God,

286
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S5: or is it really? If I really dig down deeply

287
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S5: into it, am I prompted to do this because it'll

288
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S5: draw attention to myself, and people will look at me

289
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S5: and say, wow, there's a super saint. There's somebody God

290
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S5: really loves. So again, those are those are the kind

291
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S5: of questions we have to constantly be asking.

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S4: Let's go to Nancy, first time caller from Meadville, Pennsylvania.

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S4: Go ahead.

294
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S3: Ashley in Chicago. What's your question for Doctor Sam Storms?

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S7: Hi. Good morning. I'm going to try to ward this

296
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,840
S7: so it makes sense, but bear with me. Um, I

297
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S7: hear so we only get the Holy Spirit when we

298
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S7: become saved. Correct?

299
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S3: Correct.

300
00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,640
S5: I'm sorry. I didn't quite pick up that.

301
00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,000
S3: She said we only get the Holy Spirit when we

302
00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,520
S3: are born again. According to Ephesians one. Sam, that is correct.

303
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,160
S3: Were sealed in the spirit. Is that right?

304
00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,240
S5: Yes, yes, I do believe that. Ephesians one I think

305
00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,800
S5: it's really basically verses 11 through 14 says, it's when

306
00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,840
S5: you believe that you are sealed with the spirit of promise.

307
00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,640
S5: So yes, and we know that, you know, in Romans eight,

308
00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:56,760
S5: if I can go back to that chapter once more,

309
00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,160
S5: Paul says, If the Spirit of God is not in you,

310
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S5: then you don't have Christ. Whoever has Christ has the spirit.

311
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S5: So from the moment you put your trust in Jesus,

312
00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,360
S5: you do that by the power of the spirit and

313
00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:08,840
S5: he permanently indwells you.

314
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,280
S3: Okay. So, Ashley, I think your question. Yeah. Go ahead.

315
00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:17,240
S7: I'm sorry. So how does God work in somebody's spirit? Like, say,

316
00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,560
S7: somebody is planting seeds and then they say God is

317
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,120
S7: working in their spirit, like to try to get them

318
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S7: to become a believer. But how does God work in

319
00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,440
S7: their spirit if they don't already have the Holy Spirit?

320
00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:30,840
S3: Great question. What do you say?

321
00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:35,200
S5: Yeah, well, that's the that's the majesty of God's grace.

322
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:39,810
S5: Is that before we ever have any promptings from our

323
00:16:39,810 --> 00:16:43,890
S5: own heart, remember? You know, Paul talks in Romans eight about, um,

324
00:16:44,010 --> 00:16:46,010
S5: those who walk in the flesh and they don't have

325
00:16:46,010 --> 00:16:49,610
S5: the spirit. Uh, Jesus said in John chapter three that

326
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S5: the spirit is like the wind. He blows where he wills.

327
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S5: You can't control it. You can't. You can't grab it

328
00:16:55,650 --> 00:16:58,450
S5: and and make lay hold of it. The Spirit of

329
00:16:58,450 --> 00:17:01,890
S5: God is sovereign, and he will work in the lives

330
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S5: of those whom he's drawing to faith in Jesus. And again,

331
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S5: you know, I kind of kind of think kind of

332
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S5: a tangential question here is, is there something that an unbeliever,

333
00:17:12,410 --> 00:17:17,090
S5: an unregenerated person, can do to prepare himself or herself

334
00:17:17,090 --> 00:17:19,169
S5: for the work of the spirit? And that's been a

335
00:17:19,170 --> 00:17:22,770
S5: very controversial question. Um, I think the answer to that

336
00:17:22,770 --> 00:17:25,850
S5: is yes. I mean, obviously, if I'm talking to an

337
00:17:25,850 --> 00:17:27,689
S5: unbeliever and they say, I don't know, I don't know

338
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S5: how to become a Christian, how do I get all this?

339
00:17:29,410 --> 00:17:31,730
S5: I said, well, come to church with me. Listen to

340
00:17:31,770 --> 00:17:35,090
S5: the word of God being preached. Uh, listen to the

341
00:17:35,170 --> 00:17:39,010
S5: songs of praise. Um. Observe Christians in their love for

342
00:17:39,010 --> 00:17:41,450
S5: one another. And all of these are means by which

343
00:17:41,450 --> 00:17:46,370
S5: the spirit will progressively awaken somebody, open their eyes, regenerate

344
00:17:46,369 --> 00:17:49,970
S5: their hearts, and bring them to saving faith. So it's

345
00:17:49,970 --> 00:17:52,530
S5: not as if somehow we have three steps that we

346
00:17:52,530 --> 00:17:55,530
S5: can do, and that binds the spirit, and we obligates

347
00:17:55,530 --> 00:17:57,850
S5: him to do for us what we want done, but

348
00:17:57,850 --> 00:18:01,570
S5: rather we are simply to heed the instruction of Scripture.

349
00:18:01,570 --> 00:18:06,090
S5: We are to counsel unbelievers into into availing themselves of

350
00:18:06,090 --> 00:18:09,489
S5: those opportunities. Uh, I love the way Jonathan Edwards put it.

351
00:18:09,490 --> 00:18:12,770
S5: He said we should lay ourselves in the way of

352
00:18:12,770 --> 00:18:16,610
S5: allurement and what he meant by that great Puritan language,

353
00:18:16,609 --> 00:18:20,010
S5: isn't it? What he meant by that is there are pathways.

354
00:18:20,010 --> 00:18:23,810
S5: There are places, times when it's more likely the Spirit

355
00:18:23,810 --> 00:18:27,170
S5: of God will work, and we need to. And that being,

356
00:18:27,210 --> 00:18:30,650
S5: of course, fellowship with God's people at the Lord's Table,

357
00:18:30,690 --> 00:18:34,410
S5: reading Scripture, praying, um, you know, to give you a

358
00:18:34,450 --> 00:18:37,490
S5: really crude, crass illustration of this. If somebody came to

359
00:18:37,530 --> 00:18:40,530
S5: me and they said, Sam, I've never been struck by lightning,

360
00:18:40,530 --> 00:18:43,770
S5: I'd really like to know what that's like. Well, obviously

361
00:18:43,770 --> 00:18:46,330
S5: they're a little bit crazy. First of all, but for

362
00:18:46,330 --> 00:18:48,490
S5: the sake of the argument here, I would say, well,

363
00:18:48,490 --> 00:18:52,050
S5: wait for a rainstorm. Real thunderstorm. Take a steel rod,

364
00:18:52,050 --> 00:18:53,570
S5: climb up to the top of a tree and hold

365
00:18:53,570 --> 00:18:56,330
S5: that rod up in the air. That doesn't guarantee you're

366
00:18:56,330 --> 00:18:59,130
S5: going to be struck, but it certainly increases the chance.

367
00:19:00,410 --> 00:19:01,369
S3: Sam storms.

368
00:19:01,690 --> 00:19:04,729
S5: Yeah. So there are things that we are told to

369
00:19:04,730 --> 00:19:08,409
S5: do in Scripture that greatly increase the percentages. If I

370
00:19:08,410 --> 00:19:11,129
S5: can use that language, that we will encounter the spirit

371
00:19:11,130 --> 00:19:12,450
S5: in a life changing way.

372
00:19:12,730 --> 00:19:15,929
S3: Yeah. Wouldn't you say, Sam, that, uh, John 16 eight

373
00:19:16,250 --> 00:19:18,729
S3: alludes to this big time, and when he comes, he

374
00:19:18,730 --> 00:19:23,250
S3: will convict the world, not just believers, the world concerning sin, righteousness,

375
00:19:23,250 --> 00:19:24,929
S3: and judgment. Quick comment on that.

376
00:19:25,250 --> 00:19:29,570
S5: Absolutely. Yeah. In fact, that that's one of the key factors, uh,

377
00:19:29,609 --> 00:19:32,500
S5: I think that will help, Ashley, is if you're dealing

378
00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:35,260
S5: with an unbeliever, you need to ask them. The question says,

379
00:19:35,260 --> 00:19:39,460
S5: do you sense in your soul that you are living

380
00:19:39,460 --> 00:19:42,740
S5: in in rebellion against the creator of this universe? Do

381
00:19:42,740 --> 00:19:47,460
S5: you sense that in your conscience, this moral piercing pain

382
00:19:47,460 --> 00:19:50,180
S5: that I have violated what I know to be an

383
00:19:50,220 --> 00:19:53,699
S5: eternal moral law? Well, hopefully they will say yes. And

384
00:19:53,700 --> 00:19:55,900
S5: you can begin then to talk to them about the

385
00:19:55,900 --> 00:19:59,139
S5: remedy for that that Jesus provides. But that's one of

386
00:19:59,140 --> 00:20:01,659
S5: the things that awakens us to the presence of the spirit.

387
00:20:01,660 --> 00:20:06,340
S5: He does convict the world of sin. Um, and so, yeah,

388
00:20:06,380 --> 00:20:08,860
S5: I think all of us, if we shared our testimony,

389
00:20:08,980 --> 00:20:11,619
S5: we would make that very clear. We are brought to

390
00:20:11,619 --> 00:20:15,260
S5: an awareness of, oh my, I have engaged in cosmic

391
00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:18,420
S5: treason against the creator of this universe. And that's one

392
00:20:18,420 --> 00:20:19,820
S5: of the things that the spirit does.

393
00:20:20,260 --> 00:20:23,020
S2: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

394
00:20:23,220 --> 00:20:27,420
S3: Okay, we are just doing a sidestep here for something

395
00:20:27,420 --> 00:20:31,300
S3: that the boom crew would say. Where are they? It

396
00:20:31,300 --> 00:20:33,659
S3: is time right now. Here we go.

397
00:20:34,060 --> 00:20:37,540
S2: Making herself laugh no matter who joins her. It's time

398
00:20:37,540 --> 00:20:39,620
S2: for Allie. Thinks it's funny.

399
00:20:41,220 --> 00:20:45,859
S4: Anyone still have, like, a analog clock in your house somewhere?

400
00:20:46,060 --> 00:20:46,540
S1: No.

401
00:20:46,820 --> 00:20:47,859
S4: I think I yeah, I do.

402
00:20:47,900 --> 00:20:48,619
S3: I do, I do.

403
00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:50,660
S4: Yes, I do. You still have like a clock on

404
00:20:50,660 --> 00:20:51,300
S4: the wall.

405
00:20:51,340 --> 00:20:53,020
S3: Yeah. It needs batteries every now and then.

406
00:20:53,060 --> 00:20:56,140
S4: Yes, yes. Wind it up. Yeah. You still need those.

407
00:20:56,140 --> 00:20:58,780
S4: Those have a certain charm, don't they? How do you

408
00:20:58,780 --> 00:21:02,660
S4: know when your clock is still hungry? When your clock

409
00:21:02,700 --> 00:21:04,020
S4: is still hungry?

410
00:21:04,940 --> 00:21:05,460
S8: I don't know.

411
00:21:05,700 --> 00:21:06,859
S3: When it's been cleaned.

412
00:21:07,300 --> 00:21:09,220
S4: It goes back for seconds.

413
00:21:11,100 --> 00:21:11,619
S8: Man.

414
00:21:12,340 --> 00:21:14,780
S4: It's a little bit of a riddle. Part joke, part riddle.

415
00:21:14,820 --> 00:21:18,140
S9: I love that it goes back for second. That's not

416
00:21:18,140 --> 00:21:20,180
S9: just Allie thinks it's funny. I love that one.

417
00:21:20,540 --> 00:21:22,500
S3: All right, give us one more.

418
00:21:22,540 --> 00:21:28,180
S4: Next up for you. How did the hacker escape the FBI?

419
00:21:29,460 --> 00:21:33,740
S4: Everybody was looking for him. How did the hacker escape

420
00:21:33,740 --> 00:21:35,420
S4: the FBI? Intriguing.

421
00:21:35,460 --> 00:21:35,980
S8: I don't know.

422
00:21:36,859 --> 00:21:38,060
S4: He. Ransomware.

423
00:21:40,420 --> 00:21:42,220
S8: Wow. Man.

424
00:21:42,540 --> 00:21:44,500
S4: These are like. I feel like these are, like.

425
00:21:44,540 --> 00:21:45,100
S9: Those are good.

426
00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:45,580
S4: Hi.

427
00:21:45,700 --> 00:21:46,900
S9: Those are good. High level.

428
00:21:46,940 --> 00:21:47,500
S3: Those are high.

429
00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:48,020
S9: Level.

430
00:21:48,060 --> 00:21:49,580
S4: High level thinker jokes.

431
00:21:49,619 --> 00:21:51,419
S9: He ran somewhere. Come on.

432
00:21:51,460 --> 00:21:53,659
S8: Oh, yeah. They do. Take a quick second to catch on.

433
00:21:53,700 --> 00:21:55,420
S9: Take it. Yeah. Just take, take the second.

434
00:21:55,420 --> 00:22:00,100
S4: And then it hits you. Text jokes. 805 five. Five. 78. 98.

435
00:22:00,140 --> 00:22:04,020
S4: Jokes to 800 555 78. 98.

436
00:22:04,060 --> 00:22:07,300
S3: I'm dying to know. Sam, did, uh, do anything for you,

437
00:22:07,340 --> 00:22:08,340
S3: or is it just Ali?

438
00:22:08,940 --> 00:22:11,340
S5: I just began wondering how in the world do you

439
00:22:11,340 --> 00:22:13,180
S5: work side by side with this person?

440
00:22:17,420 --> 00:22:19,620
S3: Sam, in all seriousness, this is one of our most

441
00:22:19,619 --> 00:22:21,980
S3: favorite segments. That's why we can't leave it out even

442
00:22:22,020 --> 00:22:25,900
S3: on a Wednesday or Carl. No, he's talking about both.

443
00:22:25,940 --> 00:22:26,340
S3: I'm going to.

444
00:22:26,340 --> 00:22:27,219
S9: Take. Careful.

445
00:22:27,780 --> 00:22:30,980
S3: That's funny. Oh, it's called Ali thinks it's funny. And

446
00:22:30,980 --> 00:22:36,180
S3: the jokes. You can come and get them to 800 555, 78, 98,

447
00:22:36,220 --> 00:22:41,139
S3: 805 five, 578, 98. Okay, we are in Ask the

448
00:22:41,140 --> 00:22:44,940
S3: Experts week. This has been amazing. Doctor Sam storms with

449
00:22:44,940 --> 00:22:49,460
S3: us right now answering questions related to the Holy Spirit.

450
00:22:49,619 --> 00:22:53,220
S4: Let's go to Lisa calling in this morning from Twinsburg, Ohio. Lisa,

451
00:22:53,220 --> 00:22:54,780
S4: give us your question for Doctor Storms.

452
00:22:56,220 --> 00:23:00,500
S10: Good morning. My question is, can someone be walking with

453
00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:03,980
S10: the Holy Spirit and pray and bring healing to someone

454
00:23:04,340 --> 00:23:07,780
S10: if they're really living in a life where their fruits

455
00:23:07,780 --> 00:23:11,100
S10: are very bad fruits according to the Word of God?

456
00:23:11,540 --> 00:23:12,780
S3: Great question. Lisa.

457
00:23:12,820 --> 00:23:16,780
S5: Yeah, that is a great question. Um, well, obviously, I

458
00:23:17,100 --> 00:23:20,140
S5: if the second part of your question is true, in

459
00:23:20,140 --> 00:23:24,020
S5: other words, this person is walking in sin if they're

460
00:23:24,020 --> 00:23:28,470
S5: somehow not bearing good fruit, That really undermines the first

461
00:23:28,470 --> 00:23:31,109
S5: part of your question. Namely, are they really walking in

462
00:23:31,150 --> 00:23:33,150
S5: the power of the spirit? In other words, if they're

463
00:23:33,150 --> 00:23:37,229
S5: walking in close conformity and fellowship with the spirit, the

464
00:23:37,230 --> 00:23:40,590
S5: Spirit of God is going to bring conviction to their hearts.

465
00:23:40,790 --> 00:23:42,510
S5: The Spirit of God is not going to allow them

466
00:23:42,510 --> 00:23:45,390
S5: to sin with impunity, as if somehow they can just

467
00:23:45,470 --> 00:23:49,910
S5: continue in the bearing of bad fruit, as if as

468
00:23:49,910 --> 00:23:54,070
S5: if that's ordinary. So to walk according to the spirit is,

469
00:23:54,070 --> 00:23:56,389
S5: I think, just if we try to define what that means,

470
00:23:56,390 --> 00:24:00,230
S5: it means that you are constantly checking your heart, checking

471
00:24:00,230 --> 00:24:03,590
S5: your words, checking your thoughts, and asking the Spirit of

472
00:24:03,590 --> 00:24:06,110
S5: God to keep your heart and your mind pure and

473
00:24:06,109 --> 00:24:11,030
S5: focused on Jesus. So I don't think that the basic

474
00:24:11,030 --> 00:24:13,270
S5: answer to your question is no. I don't think it's

475
00:24:13,270 --> 00:24:18,790
S5: possible for an individual to to do those two things simultaneously. Now,

476
00:24:18,910 --> 00:24:23,110
S5: that doesn't mean I'm not suggesting that a person who

477
00:24:23,109 --> 00:24:25,870
S5: is struggling with sin and may be yielding to some

478
00:24:25,869 --> 00:24:28,750
S5: sort of daily addiction that they can't be born again.

479
00:24:29,030 --> 00:24:31,429
S5: I'm not saying that at all, because we all sin.

480
00:24:31,430 --> 00:24:34,149
S5: We know that to be true. But I don't think

481
00:24:34,150 --> 00:24:37,669
S5: the Spirit of God will allow that individual to sin

482
00:24:37,710 --> 00:24:42,030
S5: with an unrepentant attitude and a hard heart. The Spirit

483
00:24:42,030 --> 00:24:45,109
S5: of God will bring us to conviction. Now that's what

484
00:24:45,150 --> 00:24:47,629
S5: First John is all about. And when it says that

485
00:24:47,630 --> 00:24:49,510
S5: the that the one who is born of God does

486
00:24:49,510 --> 00:24:53,669
S5: not practice sin, the person commits sin. But there's a

487
00:24:53,670 --> 00:24:57,470
S5: difference between committing sin and practicing it in an unrepentant way.

488
00:24:57,950 --> 00:25:00,790
S5: So it's a good question, but yeah, I would have

489
00:25:00,790 --> 00:25:03,629
S5: to say no to your to the fundamental focus of

490
00:25:03,630 --> 00:25:04,390
S5: your question.

491
00:25:04,670 --> 00:25:08,310
S3: Great word Gary. First time caller in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

492
00:25:08,310 --> 00:25:09,230
S3: What do you say, Gary?

493
00:25:09,630 --> 00:25:14,590
S11: Yeah. How are you guys doing? Question grieving the spirit.

494
00:25:14,630 --> 00:25:18,230
S11: I read that, and I just don't know what what

495
00:25:18,270 --> 00:25:20,910
S11: an example of what that is. So Sam can kind

496
00:25:20,910 --> 00:25:23,190
S11: of expand on that that that'll be helpful for me.

497
00:25:23,470 --> 00:25:25,270
S3: Grieving the spirit. Sam, what is it?

498
00:25:25,270 --> 00:25:26,950
S5: Yeah, because it kind of cut out there. So he's

499
00:25:26,950 --> 00:25:28,350
S5: referring to grieving the Holy Spirit?

500
00:25:28,350 --> 00:25:30,869
S3: Yes. Grieving the Holy Spirit. What is it? How do

501
00:25:30,869 --> 00:25:31,510
S3: we do it?

502
00:25:32,150 --> 00:25:35,510
S5: Right. Well, that's in Ephesians chapter four. And Paul in

503
00:25:35,550 --> 00:25:39,270
S5: that context is talking about, um, let me in fact,

504
00:25:39,270 --> 00:25:40,790
S5: let me just read it just for the sake of

505
00:25:40,790 --> 00:25:43,150
S5: all of us, so we'll know what it says. Um,

506
00:25:44,190 --> 00:25:46,150
S5: he says, be angry and do not sin. Do not

507
00:25:46,150 --> 00:25:48,070
S5: let the sun go down on your anger and give

508
00:25:48,070 --> 00:25:51,350
S5: no opportunity to the devil. Uh, and then he goes

509
00:25:51,350 --> 00:25:54,830
S5: on to say, uh, down in verse 36, he's talking

510
00:25:54,830 --> 00:25:57,390
S5: about let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth,

511
00:25:57,869 --> 00:26:00,230
S5: and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by

512
00:26:00,230 --> 00:26:03,950
S5: whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Well,

513
00:26:04,350 --> 00:26:06,590
S5: what this reveals to us is so very important. It

514
00:26:06,590 --> 00:26:10,350
S5: means that the Holy Spirit is a feeling person, not

515
00:26:10,350 --> 00:26:16,590
S5: this ethereal energy that's just very impersonal. It is. This

516
00:26:16,590 --> 00:26:20,310
S5: is a person, a person who has feelings. In fact, um,

517
00:26:20,430 --> 00:26:25,320
S5: over in Hebrews 1029. It says it talks about insulting

518
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,760
S5: the Holy Spirit. Uh, I think the ESV translates it

519
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,440
S5: outraging the Holy Spirit. I mean, think of those terms.

520
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:37,040
S5: So I think what it means is we can displease

521
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:40,920
S5: the spirit by our actions, by our sinful actions. If

522
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:45,240
S5: we allow in this particular case, if we allow the

523
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,640
S5: sun to go down on our anger. In other words,

524
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:51,280
S5: if we do not, uh, resolve that issue and reconcile

525
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,320
S5: with the person with whom we were angry, it. If

526
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:57,760
S5: I can use this language, it hurts the Holy Spirit.

527
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,919
S5: He has feelings. It grieves him. Now, I know that

528
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,840
S5: there are some people, maybe some listening to this, who

529
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:07,919
S5: will object because they think that God doesn't have emotions

530
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,600
S5: and feelings and that somehow he's that would make him

531
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,080
S5: less than divine. Well, I don't think that's the case

532
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,840
S5: at all. Uh, the Spirit of God is we read

533
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,320
S5: about the love of the spirit, and that's not necessarily

534
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,439
S5: love for the spirit. It's the Spirit's love for us. Um,

535
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,480
S5: so I think what he said. Let me give you

536
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,240
S5: another example. Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council. You know, when

537
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,400
S5: James pronounces the decision, they said it seemed good to

538
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,600
S5: us and to the Holy Spirit. In other words, the

539
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,760
S5: Spirit of God was pleased with the decision that those

540
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,240
S5: elders came to in Jerusalem about how do we deal

541
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,600
S5: with Gentiles coming to faith in Christ. So grieving the

542
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:49,480
S5: Holy Spirit simply means that when we live in unrepentant sin,

543
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:55,040
S5: if we continue without confessing and repenting that we are causing.

544
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,720
S5: If I can use this graphic language, we are causing

545
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,440
S5: pain to the Spirit of God. Yeah, it grieves him.

546
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,840
S5: It hurts him. That's not how he wants us to live.

547
00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:07,200
S5: So it's a that's a weighty, weighty text. Seriously, to

548
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,200
S5: think that by our actions we can grieve the Spirit's.

549
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,560
S5: Like Paul says in first Thessalonians five, that when we, um,

550
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:19,520
S5: despise prophetic utterances, we quench the Holy Spirit. So here's

551
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,960
S5: the spirit is portrayed as if he's this fire and

552
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,240
S5: we're pouring the water of all of our objections on

553
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,680
S5: that fire. We're we're quenching it. So when we see

554
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,120
S5: all of this language, I don't think this is necessarily

555
00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:35,119
S5: metaphorical language. I think we're to take it just in

556
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:39,400
S5: a straightforward sense. So, yeah, grieving the spirit, uh, is

557
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:43,680
S5: inflicting distress or pain on the Spirit of God. And

558
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:45,880
S5: we should that should grieve us. I mean, we can

559
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,000
S5: grieve the father and the son as well. Yeah. So

560
00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:51,520
S5: I hope that helps answer that question.

561
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,280
S3: Yeah. How important is emotion? Jesus wept. I mean, if

562
00:28:55,320 --> 00:29:00,000
S3: we detach emotion from God, what do we have? Sam?

563
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:09,320
S5: You have a bland, uh, uh, impersonal deity who cannot

564
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,160
S5: identify with us in our struggles and our own pain.

565
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:16,160
S5: You know, I think emotion or passion, these are very

566
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:20,600
S5: real in God. I mean, think about Zephaniah 317, which

567
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:25,400
S5: says that God sings in joy over his children. Well,

568
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,600
S5: that is a heightened passion and emotion that I think

569
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,320
S5: we need to realize. And there's so many texts like that.

570
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,320
S5: So we have to deal with it in straightforward terms.

571
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,560
S2: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.

572
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,000
S2: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

573
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,600
S4: Doctor Sam storms our guest right now answering your questions

574
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:47,959
S4: about the power of the Holy Spirit. This came in

575
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,720
S4: by text message. Can I increase the power of the

576
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,000
S4: Holy Spirit in my life? What do you say?

577
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:59,320
S5: Absolutely. Definitively, yes. And I know that strikes some as

578
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:01,120
S5: odd because I say, well, now wait just a minute.

579
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,240
S5: I thought all Christians were indwelt fully by the Holy

580
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,280
S5: Spirit at the moment of their new birth. And that

581
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,880
S5: is true. But it's very much like, uh, if I

582
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,080
S5: can use an analogy, it's like turning up the volume

583
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,440
S5: on your radio, you know, you can barely hear it,

584
00:30:16,570 --> 00:30:18,410
S5: And then suddenly you turn it up and it just

585
00:30:18,410 --> 00:30:22,250
S5: blasts forth and it increases your awareness of what is

586
00:30:22,290 --> 00:30:26,209
S5: being played. So let me give you some examples. Obviously

587
00:30:26,530 --> 00:30:29,050
S5: there is the reality of being filled with the spirit.

588
00:30:29,370 --> 00:30:32,490
S5: So it's fascinating in the book of acts that here

589
00:30:32,530 --> 00:30:36,450
S5: are these apostles who have been fully, um, indwelt by

590
00:30:36,450 --> 00:30:39,090
S5: the spirit after the day of Pentecost. And yet it

591
00:30:39,090 --> 00:30:43,410
S5: says on certain occasions, having been filled with the spirit,

592
00:30:43,410 --> 00:30:46,090
S5: they spoke. You know, Paul, it says, having been filled

593
00:30:46,090 --> 00:30:48,650
S5: with the spirit, he saw that a man had faith

594
00:30:48,650 --> 00:30:51,370
S5: to be healed. So the filling of the spirit is

595
00:30:51,370 --> 00:30:57,250
S5: just another way of describing an increase and intensification, a

596
00:30:57,290 --> 00:31:01,890
S5: greater outward expression of what the spirit does. So, for example,

597
00:31:01,890 --> 00:31:05,130
S5: the spirit is always in me. It's always in you

598
00:31:05,130 --> 00:31:08,570
S5: if you know Jesus as Lord and Savior. But everyone,

599
00:31:08,570 --> 00:31:11,610
S5: I think, will acknowledge that there are encounters in life,

600
00:31:11,610 --> 00:31:16,450
S5: experiences in which suddenly we have this very, almost tangible

601
00:31:16,450 --> 00:31:20,370
S5: awareness that the Spirit of God is working in us

602
00:31:20,570 --> 00:31:23,210
S5: and prompting us to share the gospel. This person that

603
00:31:23,210 --> 00:31:26,290
S5: we've just met, I mean, there are numerous texts of Scripture,

604
00:31:26,290 --> 00:31:28,730
S5: by the way, that that talk about this. I one

605
00:31:28,730 --> 00:31:31,890
S5: of them that I love is Luke chapter 11, where

606
00:31:31,890 --> 00:31:35,090
S5: Jesus has been talking about prayer. And you know how

607
00:31:35,090 --> 00:31:37,770
S5: he says, if you then who are evil, know how

608
00:31:37,770 --> 00:31:40,650
S5: to give good gifts to your children, how much more

609
00:31:40,650 --> 00:31:43,210
S5: will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those

610
00:31:43,210 --> 00:31:46,570
S5: who ask him? So I think that's a that's a

611
00:31:46,570 --> 00:31:49,850
S5: very real experience in the life of a believer. Um,

612
00:31:50,290 --> 00:31:53,770
S5: there's Ephesians chapter one, where Paul prays for that God

613
00:31:53,770 --> 00:31:56,770
S5: would give the Ephesians and us a spirit of wisdom

614
00:31:56,770 --> 00:31:59,490
S5: and revelation. And I think, I think the ESV is

615
00:31:59,490 --> 00:32:01,810
S5: right in capitalizing spirit there. I think he's talking about

616
00:32:01,810 --> 00:32:07,690
S5: the Holy Spirit. Uh, Galatians three five, where Paul talks about, um,

617
00:32:08,210 --> 00:32:11,810
S5: the God who supplies the Holy Spirit to you. Present tense.

618
00:32:11,850 --> 00:32:16,090
S5: That's the way miracles are performed. Or Philippians 119 when

619
00:32:16,090 --> 00:32:17,770
S5: Paul is in prison and he says, I'm going to

620
00:32:17,810 --> 00:32:21,250
S5: make it because of the provision of the spirit. In

621
00:32:21,250 --> 00:32:23,850
S5: other words, the spirit is comes to me in an

622
00:32:23,850 --> 00:32:29,570
S5: extraordinarily powerful way to enable me to endure or. First

623
00:32:29,570 --> 00:32:32,690
S5: Thessalonians four, where Paul talks about, he calls us to

624
00:32:32,730 --> 00:32:37,650
S5: sexual purity and he says, um, this God is giving

625
00:32:37,650 --> 00:32:41,450
S5: you the Holy Spirit to enable you to resist temptation. Uh,

626
00:32:41,450 --> 00:32:44,250
S5: so there are numerous times in the life of a

627
00:32:44,250 --> 00:32:48,410
S5: believer when we sense the spirit working at a higher

628
00:32:48,410 --> 00:32:52,170
S5: level of power. So again, it's not that I've only

629
00:32:52,170 --> 00:32:54,330
S5: got 80% of the spirit, and then later I get

630
00:32:54,330 --> 00:32:58,530
S5: the other 20. The Holy Spirit is fully present, but

631
00:32:58,530 --> 00:33:02,050
S5: that doesn't mean that he's always acting to the same

632
00:33:02,050 --> 00:33:06,010
S5: degree of power and manifestation. Let me give you a

633
00:33:06,130 --> 00:33:09,450
S5: good example in Ephesians three. It's my favorite prayer in

634
00:33:09,450 --> 00:33:13,850
S5: the Bible. Verses 14 through 21, Paul prays that the

635
00:33:13,890 --> 00:33:16,490
S5: that they would be strengthened in their inner being through

636
00:33:16,490 --> 00:33:18,850
S5: the power of the Holy Spirit, so that Christ may

637
00:33:18,850 --> 00:33:23,050
S5: dwell in their hearts. Now I say whoa! If these

638
00:33:23,290 --> 00:33:25,570
S5: if these people are born again, Christ is already dwelling

639
00:33:25,570 --> 00:33:28,050
S5: in their hearts. So what could Paul be praying for?

640
00:33:28,530 --> 00:33:32,530
S5: He's asking that through the spirit that we would experience

641
00:33:32,530 --> 00:33:35,010
S5: at a higher degree, a level that we have never

642
00:33:35,010 --> 00:33:38,850
S5: known before. The reality of Jesus living in us to

643
00:33:38,890 --> 00:33:41,290
S5: enable us to know his love for us. And the

644
00:33:41,290 --> 00:33:43,410
S5: same thing can be said of the spirit. You know,

645
00:33:43,450 --> 00:33:46,410
S5: I hear people all the time they object. They say, well,

646
00:33:46,410 --> 00:33:48,290
S5: what do you mean? When you pray, come, Holy Spirit,

647
00:33:48,290 --> 00:33:51,290
S5: the Spirit's already here. Well, of course he is what

648
00:33:51,290 --> 00:33:54,610
S5: we're mean. What we mean by that is Spirit of God. Act.

649
00:33:54,650 --> 00:33:58,370
S5: Now do something, uh, for the sake of this person

650
00:33:58,370 --> 00:34:01,970
S5: to whom I'm ministering. Do something for me that prior

651
00:34:01,970 --> 00:34:05,010
S5: to my prayer wasn't happening. So it's a it's a

652
00:34:05,010 --> 00:34:08,770
S5: cry and a prayer for a greater manifestation of the

653
00:34:08,770 --> 00:34:12,420
S5: Spirit's presence in us. So that's a very long answer

654
00:34:12,420 --> 00:34:16,100
S5: to a question that I could be answered with one word. Yes,

655
00:34:16,540 --> 00:34:18,980
S5: we can experience an increase in the power of the

656
00:34:18,980 --> 00:34:20,020
S5: spirit in our lives.

657
00:34:20,420 --> 00:34:24,219
S3: Fantastic, Sam. It's interesting. D.L. Moody said we leak when

658
00:34:24,219 --> 00:34:26,860
S3: he was asked about being filled with the spirit. And.

659
00:34:27,060 --> 00:34:31,500
S3: And so the question is, how are you filled with

660
00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:35,300
S3: the spirit? You've cited one. You can ask God to

661
00:34:35,340 --> 00:34:38,740
S3: fill me with the spirit. That's one you cited. How

662
00:34:38,739 --> 00:34:40,820
S3: else can we be filled with the spirit?

663
00:34:41,739 --> 00:34:47,060
S5: Well, in Ephesians five, it's by singing songs of praise and, uh,

664
00:34:47,260 --> 00:34:50,859
S5: and walking in close fellowship with other believers. But it

665
00:34:50,860 --> 00:34:53,940
S5: is interesting. Uh, people ask that question all the time.

666
00:34:53,940 --> 00:34:58,060
S5: There isn't a text that gives us steps by which

667
00:34:58,060 --> 00:35:01,620
S5: we can be filled. Uh, I wish there were one.

668
00:35:01,620 --> 00:35:03,140
S5: If there is one, somebody's going to have to alert

669
00:35:03,140 --> 00:35:05,739
S5: me to it. But there's no text that says, all right,

670
00:35:05,739 --> 00:35:07,900
S5: here's going to be filled with the spirit. One, two, three,

671
00:35:07,900 --> 00:35:12,219
S5: and you'll get it. It. Rather, we see individuals walking

672
00:35:12,219 --> 00:35:16,299
S5: with Jesus, devoting their lives to to his glory and

673
00:35:16,300 --> 00:35:20,740
S5: to his praise, praying for the manifestation of the spirit

674
00:35:20,780 --> 00:35:23,500
S5: who is already in them, asking that the spirit would

675
00:35:23,500 --> 00:35:26,899
S5: now express his presence and his power through us. So

676
00:35:26,900 --> 00:35:29,980
S5: I think and also obviously in worship, I think we

677
00:35:30,020 --> 00:35:32,500
S5: are filled with the spirit when we sing songs of

678
00:35:33,420 --> 00:35:37,700
S5: praise as Ephesians five and Colossians three describe. So again,

679
00:35:37,700 --> 00:35:40,259
S5: there's no, uh, there's no formula that I see in

680
00:35:40,260 --> 00:35:43,780
S5: Scripture for it. Uh, I think obviously abiding in Jesus,

681
00:35:43,820 --> 00:35:46,859
S5: you know, constantly. Yes. Um, living in the, in the

682
00:35:47,219 --> 00:35:49,700
S5: kind of immersing our souls in the truth of his

683
00:35:49,700 --> 00:35:54,219
S5: words and constantly engaging in prayer. And, you know, I,

684
00:35:54,260 --> 00:35:56,060
S5: for example, I mean, I've been in some form of

685
00:35:56,060 --> 00:35:59,060
S5: ministry for 50 years, and I can honestly say there's

686
00:35:59,060 --> 00:36:01,300
S5: never been a time when I it was either preaching

687
00:36:01,300 --> 00:36:03,460
S5: a sermon or teaching a lesson that I didn't start

688
00:36:03,460 --> 00:36:07,220
S5: out silently in my own heart, crying out, Spirit of God,

689
00:36:07,219 --> 00:36:12,660
S5: I know you're in me. Please express your presence. Fill me,

690
00:36:12,660 --> 00:36:16,939
S5: empower me. Inundate me with your. With your power so

691
00:36:16,940 --> 00:36:19,980
S5: that what I'm saying is in accordance with your will

692
00:36:19,980 --> 00:36:22,180
S5: and for the good of God's people and the glory

693
00:36:22,180 --> 00:36:23,020
S5: of Jesus.

694
00:36:23,060 --> 00:36:26,060
S3: That's beautiful. You want more? We have got a website

695
00:36:26,060 --> 00:36:28,460
S3: landing page for you and this is how you get

696
00:36:28,460 --> 00:36:29,739
S3: it for Sam right now.

697
00:36:29,780 --> 00:36:35,620
S4: Just text storm to 800 555 7898. Storm to 800

698
00:36:35,660 --> 00:36:38,340
S4: 555 7898.

699
00:36:38,940 --> 00:36:42,940
S2: Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl

700
00:36:42,940 --> 00:36:43,580
S2: and crew.

701
00:36:43,660 --> 00:36:47,580
S3: What a week. Carl and crew. It's called Ask the Experts.

702
00:36:47,580 --> 00:36:49,300
S3: And boy, has this been epic.

703
00:36:49,340 --> 00:36:51,860
S4: Let's go back to the phones. We've got Christine. First

704
00:36:51,860 --> 00:36:55,060
S4: time caller calling in from Chattanooga, Tennessee with the guests

705
00:36:55,060 --> 00:36:58,259
S4: for a question for Doctor Sam Storms. Go ahead. Christine.

706
00:36:58,700 --> 00:36:59,299
S7: Yes.

707
00:36:59,300 --> 00:37:03,700
S10: Thank you for taking my call. Um, Mr. Storms, I

708
00:37:03,700 --> 00:37:06,340
S10: was wondering whether if you could give me a specific

709
00:37:06,430 --> 00:37:13,350
S10: verse in the Bible that would point to. Being not

710
00:37:13,390 --> 00:37:17,390
S10: altogether in the Word of God with practicing Reiki or

711
00:37:17,430 --> 00:37:20,270
S10: yogurt or not. Yogurt. Yoga.

712
00:37:20,670 --> 00:37:22,870
S3: Yeah. Well, so.

713
00:37:22,910 --> 00:37:26,390
S5: So a specific verse about whether or not we should

714
00:37:26,390 --> 00:37:28,990
S5: practice yoga. Was there more to the question than that?

715
00:37:29,910 --> 00:37:36,030
S10: No, that was yogurt and yogurt, yoga and crystals and

716
00:37:36,510 --> 00:37:38,230
S10: all that stuff. And I guess it must be hungry.

717
00:37:38,989 --> 00:37:42,230
S5: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yogurt is just fine.

718
00:37:42,870 --> 00:37:44,469
S3: Yeah, we're good with that.

719
00:37:44,510 --> 00:37:47,670
S5: You're good with that. There is no text of Scripture

720
00:37:47,670 --> 00:37:53,750
S5: that explicitly prohibits yoga or crystals. One reason is simply because,

721
00:37:53,790 --> 00:37:57,069
S5: as far as I know, that was not an issue

722
00:37:57,070 --> 00:38:00,029
S5: in in Israel during the time that the Word of

723
00:38:00,030 --> 00:38:02,910
S5: God was being written. What the Bible does talk about, though,

724
00:38:03,310 --> 00:38:08,110
S5: is divination that is trying to connect with the spiritual world,

725
00:38:08,110 --> 00:38:11,910
S5: or trying to gain insight and knowledge through any means

726
00:38:11,910 --> 00:38:16,150
S5: other than the appropriate means that God has provided. So

727
00:38:16,190 --> 00:38:20,590
S5: I know yoga is a massively controversial issue. Um, some

728
00:38:20,590 --> 00:38:25,430
S5: people engage in it strictly for the physical, uh, benefits.

729
00:38:25,469 --> 00:38:28,669
S5: It's just like kind of exercise of some sort. But

730
00:38:28,670 --> 00:38:31,790
S5: I fear that sometimes others think that it's harmless and

731
00:38:31,790 --> 00:38:34,629
S5: that they can empty their mind, or they can chant

732
00:38:34,670 --> 00:38:36,750
S5: a particular word. And again, I don't know that much

733
00:38:36,750 --> 00:38:39,430
S5: about yoga because I've never done it. I would I

734
00:38:39,430 --> 00:38:44,589
S5: would just issue a strong word of caution against employing

735
00:38:44,630 --> 00:38:47,550
S5: against engaging in yoga, because it does have its roots

736
00:38:47,550 --> 00:38:51,710
S5: in Hinduism, and oftentimes it crosses a boundary into the

737
00:38:51,710 --> 00:38:54,750
S5: New Age practices. It's the same thing would be true

738
00:38:54,750 --> 00:38:57,910
S5: of crystals. Nowhere in Scripture are we told that we

739
00:38:57,910 --> 00:39:00,109
S5: are to discern the word of the will of God

740
00:39:00,110 --> 00:39:04,190
S5: for our lives by crystals. That is divination that is

741
00:39:04,190 --> 00:39:08,109
S5: roundly condemned in Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, in

742
00:39:08,110 --> 00:39:12,350
S5: the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. So, um, I think

743
00:39:12,390 --> 00:39:15,629
S5: the use of crystals is definitely out of bounds. I

744
00:39:15,630 --> 00:39:19,549
S5: would say yoga also is, unless somehow you've been able

745
00:39:19,550 --> 00:39:23,830
S5: to just utilize these exercises as a form of physical therapy.

746
00:39:23,830 --> 00:39:26,029
S5: But you need to be very careful you don't cross

747
00:39:26,030 --> 00:39:29,110
S5: a line. So I would just say, why run the risk?

748
00:39:29,310 --> 00:39:33,270
S5: I mean, there are certainly greater, better ways of uh, of,

749
00:39:33,430 --> 00:39:35,950
S5: you know, connecting with God than that. And by the way,

750
00:39:36,469 --> 00:39:39,670
S5: I'm all in favor of meditation. I have a chapter

751
00:39:39,670 --> 00:39:43,750
S5: in my book, Pleasures Evermore, on biblical meditation that is

752
00:39:43,750 --> 00:39:47,989
S5: focusing and concentrating on who God is and reflecting in

753
00:39:47,989 --> 00:39:52,150
S5: your heart on text of Scripture. Um, but unfortunately, the

754
00:39:52,150 --> 00:39:55,710
S5: kinds of meditation that are often associated with yoga and crystals.

755
00:39:55,989 --> 00:39:58,710
S5: You empty your mind, you open yourself up to an

756
00:39:58,710 --> 00:40:04,750
S5: influence from outside. That's something other than God. So biblical meditation,

757
00:40:04,790 --> 00:40:07,029
S5: you know, the Bible talks about meditating on the law

758
00:40:07,030 --> 00:40:11,230
S5: of God daily. So just talking about ruminating, thinking, reflecting

759
00:40:11,230 --> 00:40:15,070
S5: upon the truth that God has given us. Um, but again,

760
00:40:15,670 --> 00:40:19,469
S5: be very cautious about yoga and definitely stay away from crystals.

761
00:40:19,870 --> 00:40:21,830
S3: You know, Sam, to follow that up quickly. What about

762
00:40:21,830 --> 00:40:24,750
S3: the pursuit of power? Just the sheer pursuit of power.

763
00:40:24,750 --> 00:40:29,350
S3: You see, Simon the sorcerer? Uh, that's dangerous, isn't it?

764
00:40:29,350 --> 00:40:33,390
S3: When we're. When we're even playing with God as a

765
00:40:33,430 --> 00:40:37,310
S3: means to an end, our own end. Speak to that quickly, Sam.

766
00:40:37,750 --> 00:40:40,469
S5: Well, absolutely. Um. I mean, again, it comes down to

767
00:40:40,510 --> 00:40:43,270
S5: what is your motivation? Uh, because people who are just

768
00:40:43,270 --> 00:40:47,270
S5: longing for power are very selfish. They're thinking, well, this

769
00:40:47,270 --> 00:40:49,950
S5: will enhance my reputation. This will promote me in the

770
00:40:49,950 --> 00:40:52,989
S5: eyes of others. They'll they'll think I'm more holy than

771
00:40:53,030 --> 00:40:56,669
S5: somebody else. The power of God is not an end

772
00:40:56,670 --> 00:41:00,230
S5: in itself. It's a means to the glorification of God.

773
00:41:00,230 --> 00:41:03,520
S5: It's a means to the salvation of souls, to the

774
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:07,319
S5: to empower our own battle with sin and temptation. But

775
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:10,440
S5: if we if we're just looking for power because we

776
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,280
S5: really hanker after an experience, we just want to feel

777
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:17,560
S5: something unique and different and transcendent. That's very dangerous. And

778
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:20,040
S5: that's when we open ourselves to, you know, Satan is

779
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:24,000
S5: a very powerful being. And if he'd be more than

780
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:27,200
S5: happy for people who profess to know Jesus, to be

781
00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:30,880
S5: hungry just for power, for power's sake, know the power

782
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,800
S5: of God is there for a purpose. And it's always

783
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:38,040
S5: for holiness, for glorifying God, for sharing the gospel, for

784
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:41,360
S5: praying for the sick, and doing those things that will

785
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:42,359
S5: honor Jesus.

786
00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:45,440
S3: Sam, we had a great question. Come in. Last four

787
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:48,640
S3: numbers of your number 7898. What does it mean to

788
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:53,080
S3: blaspheme the spirit? Matthew 12, Luke 12. This one wigs

789
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,680
S3: people out. And I've as a pastor, I've heard it

790
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:59,400
S3: so many times I'm afraid I've blasphemed the Blaspheme the spirit.

791
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:03,080
S3: It's the unpardonable sin. Well, let's clear this one up

792
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:04,160
S3: right now, Sam.

793
00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,160
S5: Sure, I'd be happy to do that, because if I

794
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,400
S5: had a nickel for every time I was asked that question,

795
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:15,160
S5: I would be a wealthy individual. Uh, seriously, I it almost.

796
00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:20,520
S5: I can't even overexaggerate how many times Christians have come

797
00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:23,880
S5: to me in tears, worrying, fretting. Oh, my. Have I

798
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:26,239
S5: committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? And my response to

799
00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:30,279
S5: them is, the fact that you care means that you haven't.

800
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:30,880
S3: Correct.

801
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:35,080
S5: Blasphemy of the spirit. Is that final step of so

802
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:38,480
S5: hardening your heart against the work of the spirit for

803
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:41,280
S5: the sake of the glory of Jesus, that you basically

804
00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:44,960
S5: have put yourself beyond the reach of divine grace. There

805
00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:47,760
S5: are times when we sin, when a person can sin

806
00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:51,920
S5: so grievously and can engage in the denial of Jesus

807
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:56,880
S5: with such vehement anger that basically God lets go. God

808
00:42:56,920 --> 00:42:58,680
S5: just kind of lifts his hand. You know, in Romans

809
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,760
S5: one it talks about God gave them over to their sin,

810
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:04,000
S5: to cultivate it in a more in a deeper and

811
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,239
S5: more intense way. So I personally do not think that

812
00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:09,759
S5: a Christian can commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. In fact,

813
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,960
S5: I often say, I think a Christian is capable of

814
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,759
S5: committing every sin except blasphemy of the spirit. And the

815
00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:19,879
S5: reason is, is because blasphemy of the spirit is that

816
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:24,240
S5: final step in which you are so hardened, so resistant,

817
00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:29,360
S5: so defiant to the gospel that you attribute to the spirit,

818
00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:32,320
S5: or you attribute to Satan the work of the spirit?

819
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:34,719
S5: That's what was happening in Matthew 12. Here are these

820
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,359
S5: these Pharisees. They had watched Jesus perform this healing miracle.

821
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,560
S5: They didn't have they didn't have many options. I mean,

822
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:43,799
S5: it's either it's either he did it because he is

823
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:47,000
S5: the Messiah, or he pulled off some sleight of hand,

824
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,399
S5: some trick, or he did it by the power of Satan. Well,

825
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:51,839
S5: we know he didn't do it by sleight of hand

826
00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:54,440
S5: because we were watching him do this. We knew this guy,

827
00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:58,969
S5: that he healed us. And so their only option left was, well,

828
00:43:58,969 --> 00:44:01,370
S5: he did it by the power of the devil. That

829
00:44:01,370 --> 00:44:05,529
S5: shows that they had reached a level of defiance, that

830
00:44:05,770 --> 00:44:09,450
S5: it was blasphemy of the spirit, because they were attributing

831
00:44:09,450 --> 00:44:13,570
S5: the work of the spirit to Satan himself. That's why,

832
00:44:13,610 --> 00:44:16,450
S5: you know, Jesus says, if I cast out demons by

833
00:44:16,530 --> 00:44:18,770
S5: the Spirit of God, by whom do your sons cast

834
00:44:18,770 --> 00:44:21,049
S5: them out? So, by the way, that leads into a

835
00:44:21,050 --> 00:44:22,810
S5: very important question. Maybe we can get into it a

836
00:44:22,810 --> 00:44:25,370
S5: little bit later about the relationship of the Holy Spirit

837
00:44:25,370 --> 00:44:28,410
S5: to Jesus and why that's important for us to understand.

838
00:44:28,410 --> 00:44:32,770
S5: But I would just say to anybody who's fearful, they're concerned,

839
00:44:32,770 --> 00:44:35,650
S5: they're broken. They think they've committed blasphemy of the spirit.

840
00:44:35,969 --> 00:44:39,089
S5: The mere fact that you care proves that you haven't,

841
00:44:39,250 --> 00:44:41,850
S5: because one of the indications that you have blasphemed the

842
00:44:41,850 --> 00:44:44,690
S5: Holy Spirit is that you don't care. You're so hardened

843
00:44:44,690 --> 00:44:47,930
S5: in your heart that you are, that you couldn't care less,

844
00:44:47,930 --> 00:44:51,089
S5: that you maybe have have defamed Jesus, or that you

845
00:44:51,090 --> 00:44:55,530
S5: have defiled the Holy Spirit. So I say to people, hey, look,

846
00:44:56,130 --> 00:44:58,569
S5: take comfort and be encouraged by the fact that you're

847
00:44:58,570 --> 00:45:01,330
S5: shedding tears over your fear that you've committed this sin,

848
00:45:01,330 --> 00:45:03,130
S5: because that means you haven't.

849
00:45:03,730 --> 00:45:07,250
S3: Let's tackle that relationship quickly. Isn't blasphemy of the Holy

850
00:45:07,250 --> 00:45:11,250
S3: Spirit connected directly as well to the rejection of Christ

851
00:45:11,250 --> 00:45:14,090
S3: as Messiah? Isn't that how they relate, Sam?

852
00:45:14,570 --> 00:45:18,810
S5: Yes. Um, by the way, isn't it interesting that that

853
00:45:18,850 --> 00:45:23,049
S5: here are these Pharisees who are resisting Jesus and they're

854
00:45:23,050 --> 00:45:26,529
S5: saying wicked things about him, and yet Jesus doesn't say

855
00:45:26,530 --> 00:45:29,770
S5: they committed blasphemy of the son. He says he committed

856
00:45:29,770 --> 00:45:34,529
S5: blasphemy of the spirit. Why? Because Jesus Jesus said, it

857
00:45:34,530 --> 00:45:37,450
S5: is by the power of the spirit that I cast

858
00:45:37,450 --> 00:45:40,610
S5: out demons. Uh, the same thing we find, for example,

859
00:45:40,610 --> 00:45:43,770
S5: in in acts chapter one, after his resurrection, it says

860
00:45:43,770 --> 00:45:49,049
S5: that Jesus, through the spirit was teaching the apostles. So yes,

861
00:45:49,050 --> 00:45:55,129
S5: it's this final step of defiant unbelief. Rejecting Jesus as

862
00:45:55,130 --> 00:45:59,370
S5: the Messiah is in fact a blasphemy of the spirit,

863
00:45:59,370 --> 00:46:02,529
S5: because it's the spirit who bears witness to Jesus. So

864
00:46:02,530 --> 00:46:06,490
S5: when you attribute his works to Satan, you have. You've

865
00:46:06,489 --> 00:46:09,530
S5: reached a kind of a point of no return. And

866
00:46:09,530 --> 00:46:11,650
S5: I know that that's kind of fearful to some people,

867
00:46:11,650 --> 00:46:14,530
S5: but I would say, if you're afraid of it, be encouraged.

868
00:46:14,530 --> 00:46:15,770
S5: That means you haven't done it.

869
00:46:17,770 --> 00:46:21,210
S4: Doctor Sam Storms our guest this morning, got two callers

870
00:46:21,210 --> 00:46:23,330
S4: who have a very similar question. So I'm going to

871
00:46:23,330 --> 00:46:26,770
S4: let you go first. Mary from Warrenville, Illinois, in a

872
00:46:26,770 --> 00:46:28,730
S4: in a sentence or two. Give us your question for

873
00:46:28,730 --> 00:46:29,850
S4: Doctor Sam Storms.

874
00:46:31,610 --> 00:46:35,810
S12: Um, I know that the Holy Spirit will take my

875
00:46:35,810 --> 00:46:39,609
S12: prayers and convert them into what they should be. I mean,

876
00:46:39,650 --> 00:46:43,569
S12: you know, sometimes I'm just obtuse for what I'm praying. Um,

877
00:46:44,050 --> 00:46:49,129
S12: what I'm questioning is there are three distinct parts of

878
00:46:49,130 --> 00:46:53,089
S12: the Godhead. To whom do I address What? Like I

879
00:46:53,090 --> 00:46:58,090
S12: can picture the father. Um. And I can picture Jesus.

880
00:46:58,090 --> 00:47:00,810
S12: I don't know how to picture the Holy Spirit, but how?

881
00:47:01,530 --> 00:47:06,250
S12: You know, how do I categorize, um, my prayers when

882
00:47:06,290 --> 00:47:07,450
S12: talking to the Godhead?

883
00:47:07,570 --> 00:47:10,850
S4: Before you answer. Thank you. Mary. Before you answer, doctor storms,

884
00:47:10,850 --> 00:47:13,890
S4: bring John, first time caller from Plano, Illinois. Your question

885
00:47:13,890 --> 00:47:15,330
S4: very similar. Go ahead.

886
00:47:16,410 --> 00:47:21,529
S13: Yes. Uh, I'm wondering if we're correct in praying to

887
00:47:21,570 --> 00:47:26,890
S13: the spirit, I think of Jesus teaching us or teaching

888
00:47:26,890 --> 00:47:30,650
S13: the disciples. He says, uh, pray to the father and

889
00:47:30,650 --> 00:47:33,290
S13: in the Heavenly Father and so forth. And I don't

890
00:47:33,290 --> 00:47:39,290
S13: see any examples of the apostles praying to the spirit. And, uh,

891
00:47:39,290 --> 00:47:44,089
S13: I'm just very hesitant, uh, to pray to anyone but

892
00:47:44,090 --> 00:47:46,690
S13: the father in the name of Jesus. You know, I,

893
00:47:47,010 --> 00:47:51,379
S13: I remember when Jesus said, uh, you've asked nothing in

894
00:47:51,380 --> 00:47:53,899
S13: my name. Ask that you might receive. So I. You know,

895
00:47:53,940 --> 00:47:58,100
S13: I'm good with that, but I'm just concerned that, uh,

896
00:47:58,100 --> 00:48:01,379
S13: I don't see any examples of praying to the spirit.

897
00:48:01,380 --> 00:48:04,500
S13: And I realize the spirit is a person and he

898
00:48:04,620 --> 00:48:07,620
S13: dwells in me. And I thank God for that. But

899
00:48:07,620 --> 00:48:10,380
S13: I'm afraid to, uh. Well. I'll stop.

900
00:48:10,580 --> 00:48:11,100
S9: Well, that's.

901
00:48:11,420 --> 00:48:14,460
S4: That's a great question, John. First time caller and Mary

902
00:48:14,500 --> 00:48:17,339
S4: with very similar questions. Can you tackle both, Doctor Sam

903
00:48:17,340 --> 00:48:18,779
S4: Storms sure.

904
00:48:19,180 --> 00:48:21,819
S5: Um, you I don't know if you're aware of this, but, uh,

905
00:48:21,860 --> 00:48:26,500
S5: Zondervan just released my book, Understanding Prayer. Yes. And in

906
00:48:26,540 --> 00:48:29,420
S5: that I addressed this question very directly. I have an

907
00:48:29,420 --> 00:48:32,940
S5: entire I haven't actually an appendix in the book asking

908
00:48:32,940 --> 00:48:35,620
S5: the question, is it appropriate to pray to the spirit?

909
00:48:35,780 --> 00:48:37,500
S5: And I draw a lot of help from my good

910
00:48:37,500 --> 00:48:40,620
S5: friend Greg Allison, who's written a book on the Holy Spirit.

911
00:48:40,940 --> 00:48:45,380
S5: But my here's here's my response. The Holy Spirit is God,

912
00:48:45,380 --> 00:48:48,339
S5: no less so than is the son and the father. Now,

913
00:48:48,340 --> 00:48:50,220
S5: let me come back to I think it was Mary

914
00:48:50,260 --> 00:48:53,020
S5: who said she can see and picture the father and

915
00:48:53,020 --> 00:48:56,859
S5: the son, but not the spirit. Uh, Gordon Fee was

916
00:48:56,860 --> 00:48:59,180
S5: a great New Testament scholar. He's now with the Lord.

917
00:48:59,180 --> 00:49:01,140
S5: But he said that a student came up to him

918
00:49:01,140 --> 00:49:04,780
S5: after class one day and said, Doctor Fee, the father.

919
00:49:04,780 --> 00:49:07,900
S5: I can understand the son makes perfectly good sense to me,

920
00:49:08,180 --> 00:49:12,660
S5: but the spirit is this gray, oblong blur, and I

921
00:49:12,660 --> 00:49:16,420
S5: think that's the problem. We have the language of Holy Spirit.

922
00:49:16,580 --> 00:49:20,180
S5: You don't you don't necessarily connect it with a face

923
00:49:20,180 --> 00:49:23,740
S5: or a body or a person like, you know, I

924
00:49:23,780 --> 00:49:25,740
S5: all of us have had a father, all of us,

925
00:49:25,940 --> 00:49:28,540
S5: you know, we understand what what what it means when

926
00:49:28,540 --> 00:49:31,020
S5: it talks about the son. I mean, the disciples walked

927
00:49:31,020 --> 00:49:33,100
S5: with him and talked with him and ate dinner with

928
00:49:33,100 --> 00:49:36,460
S5: him and embraced him. So I think it's a little

929
00:49:36,460 --> 00:49:38,739
S5: bit of a problem to us when we try to

930
00:49:38,780 --> 00:49:41,180
S5: envision the spirit as a person, but when you read

931
00:49:41,180 --> 00:49:44,980
S5: in Scripture that he has a mind, uh, read in

932
00:49:44,980 --> 00:49:49,340
S5: Romans 827, it says he who searches the hearts knows

933
00:49:49,340 --> 00:49:52,180
S5: what is the mind of the spirit. He has emotions.

934
00:49:52,180 --> 00:49:56,500
S5: He groans within us. Uh, he has a will. He

935
00:49:56,500 --> 00:50:00,140
S5: distributes spiritual gifts as he wills. So when we think

936
00:50:00,140 --> 00:50:02,899
S5: of the spirit as a person, that will help a

937
00:50:02,900 --> 00:50:06,180
S5: lot in dealing with Mary's problem. Now, the other question

938
00:50:06,180 --> 00:50:09,540
S5: that both of them have asked, my answer is yes.

939
00:50:09,540 --> 00:50:12,260
S5: I do think it's appropriate to pray to the spirit

940
00:50:12,260 --> 00:50:15,300
S5: for the simple fact that he is God. In fact,

941
00:50:15,300 --> 00:50:19,060
S5: when I pray to the father, the son is equally

942
00:50:19,180 --> 00:50:21,780
S5: in on that prayer as is the spirit that we

943
00:50:21,820 --> 00:50:24,620
S5: need to be careful we don't separate the persons of

944
00:50:24,620 --> 00:50:29,260
S5: the Godhead in such a way that we're tritheism. We're monotheists.

945
00:50:29,260 --> 00:50:33,060
S5: There's one God, one divine being, who subsists in three

946
00:50:33,060 --> 00:50:38,460
S5: co-equal persons. So it's in, you know, the theologians, they

947
00:50:38,460 --> 00:50:41,939
S5: like to talk about what they call inseparable operations, that

948
00:50:41,940 --> 00:50:44,500
S5: what one person of the Godhead does, they all do.

949
00:50:44,940 --> 00:50:49,739
S5: They don't act independently of one another. So as long

950
00:50:49,739 --> 00:50:53,700
S5: as you remember that the that the Spirit is God himself,

951
00:50:53,900 --> 00:50:56,420
S5: I think it's perfectly appropriate to pray to him. Now

952
00:50:56,900 --> 00:50:59,140
S5: to the question of the second caller. I think his

953
00:50:59,140 --> 00:51:02,060
S5: name was was his name John, I can't remember. Um.

954
00:51:02,620 --> 00:51:03,580
S3: Yes. John.

955
00:51:03,780 --> 00:51:08,060
S5: Yes. The the pattern in Scripture, he's exactly right, is

956
00:51:08,060 --> 00:51:10,060
S5: praying to the father in the name of the son,

957
00:51:10,060 --> 00:51:13,060
S5: in the power of the spirit. I would recommend that.

958
00:51:13,060 --> 00:51:15,259
S5: I think that is the most appropriate way that we

959
00:51:15,260 --> 00:51:19,020
S5: envision prayer, but I wouldn't want to be so locked

960
00:51:19,020 --> 00:51:21,779
S5: into that that I would say it's inappropriate to pray

961
00:51:21,780 --> 00:51:24,020
S5: to the son, because I do think there are texts

962
00:51:24,020 --> 00:51:26,420
S5: of Scripture where we pray to the son. And I

963
00:51:26,420 --> 00:51:28,899
S5: think because the Spirit is God, it's appropriate to pray

964
00:51:28,900 --> 00:51:31,780
S5: to him as well. So yes, there is a standard

965
00:51:31,780 --> 00:51:34,859
S5: pattern in the Bible to the father in the name

966
00:51:34,860 --> 00:51:37,980
S5: of the son, in the power of the spirit. But again,

967
00:51:37,980 --> 00:51:41,580
S5: let's not envision as if we've got these three altogether

968
00:51:41,580 --> 00:51:44,740
S5: separate beings, as if there are three gods. No, there's

969
00:51:44,830 --> 00:51:48,270
S5: one God who exists in three persons, all of whom

970
00:51:48,270 --> 00:51:50,710
S5: are involved in hearing our prayers, all of whom are

971
00:51:50,710 --> 00:51:52,270
S5: involved in answering our prayers.

972
00:51:53,469 --> 00:51:59,549
S3: Uh, in the incredible passage about the spirit intercedes. Is

973
00:51:59,550 --> 00:52:02,270
S3: it the spirit groaning, us groaning, or is it a

974
00:52:02,270 --> 00:52:03,590
S3: little bit of both? Sam.

975
00:52:04,710 --> 00:52:07,270
S5: Yeah, that I've wrestled with that question a lot lately

976
00:52:07,270 --> 00:52:09,910
S5: because I just published a commentary on Romans with Baker

977
00:52:09,910 --> 00:52:14,710
S5: book House and commentators. Uh, don't agree on this. It

978
00:52:14,710 --> 00:52:17,190
S5: could be any one of the things you just mentioned.

979
00:52:17,550 --> 00:52:21,350
S5: But here's the important part. The spirit helps us in

980
00:52:21,350 --> 00:52:24,310
S5: our weakness. Well, how does he do that? Well, he

981
00:52:24,310 --> 00:52:26,509
S5: says we do not know what to pray for. You know,

982
00:52:26,550 --> 00:52:29,069
S5: we come to the Lord and say, Lord, my mind

983
00:52:29,110 --> 00:52:31,150
S5: is blank. I've run out of thoughts. I don't I

984
00:52:31,190 --> 00:52:33,470
S5: don't know what to ask on behalf of my brother

985
00:52:33,469 --> 00:52:36,950
S5: or my sister. He says the spirit himself intercedes for

986
00:52:36,950 --> 00:52:40,430
S5: us with groanings too deep for words. I personally think

987
00:52:40,430 --> 00:52:43,550
S5: it's the Holy Spirit who is groaning. I know that

988
00:52:43,550 --> 00:52:48,710
S5: that strikes some as odd. I mean, God would groan and, uh.

989
00:52:48,710 --> 00:52:51,430
S5: And yet I do think it is the spirit who groans.

990
00:52:51,590 --> 00:52:54,149
S5: He does it through us, and it says he who

991
00:52:54,150 --> 00:52:57,870
S5: searches hearts. That, of course, is God. The father knows

992
00:52:57,870 --> 00:53:00,430
S5: what is the mind of the spirit, because the spirit

993
00:53:00,430 --> 00:53:02,590
S5: intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

994
00:53:02,950 --> 00:53:06,750
S5: That is a profound reality that, you know, when we

995
00:53:06,790 --> 00:53:09,870
S5: get stuck in prayer, we don't know how to communicate

996
00:53:09,870 --> 00:53:13,630
S5: our deep, heartfelt needs. And I just say, Paul's saying,

997
00:53:13,630 --> 00:53:16,189
S5: don't worry, the Spirit of God is there. He knows

998
00:53:16,190 --> 00:53:18,870
S5: what your needs are. He knows the desires of your heart.

999
00:53:18,910 --> 00:53:22,350
S5: He knows what your concerns and anxieties are, and he

1000
00:53:22,350 --> 00:53:25,469
S5: will communicate those to the father in a way that

1001
00:53:25,469 --> 00:53:29,670
S5: he and the father both understand. Uh, now, is it

1002
00:53:29,670 --> 00:53:33,230
S5: possible that in the midst of that kind of prayer,

1003
00:53:33,430 --> 00:53:37,310
S5: we ourselves groan? Uh, yes. And then, of course, you

1004
00:53:37,310 --> 00:53:40,750
S5: have to answer the question, are these audible or inaudible? Um,

1005
00:53:40,950 --> 00:53:45,390
S5: and again, there's there's no real clear indication of that. Um,

1006
00:53:45,510 --> 00:53:48,750
S5: I think certainly there are times when I agonize in

1007
00:53:48,750 --> 00:53:52,510
S5: prayer and I almost audibly groan. But I think more

1008
00:53:52,510 --> 00:53:57,629
S5: times than not, it's that internal, inaudible groaning, indicating just

1009
00:53:57,630 --> 00:54:00,550
S5: the passion with which we come to God with our requests.

1010
00:54:00,950 --> 00:54:04,109
S5: So yeah, that is a very, very challenging text. And again,

1011
00:54:04,110 --> 00:54:07,549
S5: like I said, there's no agreement among commentators about what

1012
00:54:07,550 --> 00:54:10,390
S5: it means. But, um, I like to think maybe it

1013
00:54:10,390 --> 00:54:13,270
S5: means both things. Maybe it's the spirit's groanings and it's

1014
00:54:13,270 --> 00:54:16,070
S5: our groanings, and we do it through the spirit. Uh,

1015
00:54:16,070 --> 00:54:17,470
S5: I'm happy with that as well.

1016
00:54:17,630 --> 00:54:21,750
S3: Yeah. Tremendous. It's fascinating, Sam, that even there's no patent

1017
00:54:21,750 --> 00:54:24,230
S3: prayer for salvation. It's a groaning of a soul that

1018
00:54:24,230 --> 00:54:30,070
S3: cries out, I'm. I'm bankrupt spiritually. Oh, God save my soul.

1019
00:54:30,350 --> 00:54:32,870
S3: And and can a mute person be saved? And the

1020
00:54:32,870 --> 00:54:36,589
S3: answer is absolutely. So can he interpret the groanings of

1021
00:54:36,590 --> 00:54:39,390
S3: our heart? Most certainly. Fascinating stuff.

1022
00:54:39,670 --> 00:54:42,520
S2: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the Carl and

1023
00:54:42,520 --> 00:54:45,080
S2: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.

1024
00:54:45,120 --> 00:54:49,000
S3: Sam, it's an interesting thing when you think about direction

1025
00:54:49,160 --> 00:54:54,239
S3: of the spirit. Uh, in acts 16 six through ten,

1026
00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:57,320
S3: you see that the church early church was blocked, going

1027
00:54:57,360 --> 00:54:59,839
S3: one direction with the gospel and re guided by the

1028
00:54:59,840 --> 00:55:04,560
S3: Holy Spirit. Does the Holy Spirit give guidance to individuals

1029
00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:10,120
S3: today by saying, no, not this way, yes. This way.

1030
00:55:12,080 --> 00:55:13,879
S5: Well, I was wondering when we were going to get

1031
00:55:13,880 --> 00:55:15,839
S5: to a controversial question like that.

1032
00:55:15,840 --> 00:55:18,960
S3: Yeah, I mean, I that's mine. I'm throwing it at

1033
00:55:18,960 --> 00:55:20,880
S3: you because we gotta we got to get this stuff

1034
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:21,840
S3: sorted out here.

1035
00:55:21,840 --> 00:55:24,520
S5: Yeah. This might blow up the telephone lines and the

1036
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:27,759
S5: responses you get, but, um, I personally believe the answer

1037
00:55:27,760 --> 00:55:30,600
S5: to that is yes. I do believe that the Spirit

1038
00:55:30,600 --> 00:55:35,000
S5: of God can communicate his will for us. Uh, may

1039
00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:38,000
S5: not be the same way it happened to Paul and

1040
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,720
S5: Silas there. It says that a man of Macedonia appeared

1041
00:55:40,719 --> 00:55:43,279
S5: to them in a dream or a vision, probably an

1042
00:55:43,280 --> 00:55:46,400
S5: angelic being. Um, but, I mean, it's very clear the

1043
00:55:46,400 --> 00:55:49,479
S5: Holy Spirit prohibited us from going here. He he wouldn't

1044
00:55:49,480 --> 00:55:52,680
S5: let us go there. He said, no, go over to Macedonia,

1045
00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:56,960
S5: to the to the town of Philippi. So I don't

1046
00:55:56,960 --> 00:55:59,880
S5: think let me put it this way. I don't buy

1047
00:55:59,880 --> 00:56:02,520
S5: into what we call the message. A minute view of

1048
00:56:02,520 --> 00:56:05,520
S5: divine guidance. Uh, in other words, as if somehow the

1049
00:56:05,520 --> 00:56:08,960
S5: spirit is going to communicate to us about every decision

1050
00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:11,200
S5: we have to make in life. When I was teaching

1051
00:56:11,200 --> 00:56:13,480
S5: at Wheaton College, I had a student. And this is

1052
00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:16,600
S5: a true story who said, you know, he really prays

1053
00:56:16,600 --> 00:56:18,680
S5: to the spirit about which pair of socks to wear

1054
00:56:18,719 --> 00:56:21,719
S5: in the morning. Uh, and every decision he has to

1055
00:56:21,719 --> 00:56:24,520
S5: make and what he's supposed to eat for lunch. And

1056
00:56:24,520 --> 00:56:26,759
S5: I said, you know, uh, I'll call him Bob. That

1057
00:56:26,760 --> 00:56:29,600
S5: in his name. I said, Bob, uh, the Lord has

1058
00:56:29,600 --> 00:56:32,680
S5: given you common sense, and he doesn't want you to

1059
00:56:32,719 --> 00:56:35,480
S5: live as if you were just a child. He's given

1060
00:56:35,480 --> 00:56:38,600
S5: you a mature mind, and you need to. Yes, the

1061
00:56:38,600 --> 00:56:41,400
S5: Spirit of God will will communicate to you in those

1062
00:56:41,480 --> 00:56:45,720
S5: really important decisions that maybe are hard for you to

1063
00:56:45,760 --> 00:56:49,760
S5: make a final choice. But this message a minute, like

1064
00:56:49,760 --> 00:56:53,279
S5: every minute, the spirit's communicating something to us. I think

1065
00:56:53,280 --> 00:56:55,200
S5: that goes a little bit over the top. I don't

1066
00:56:55,200 --> 00:56:58,680
S5: see that reflected in Scripture. But yes, I do think

1067
00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:02,160
S5: let's say, for example, um, that, um, a couple comes

1068
00:57:02,160 --> 00:57:03,640
S5: to me and they say, you know, we're really committed

1069
00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:07,080
S5: to world missions. We have we've got the training, we've

1070
00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:10,640
S5: got the financing behind us. We just don't know where

1071
00:57:10,640 --> 00:57:13,840
S5: to go. We're trying to decide, should we go to, uh,

1072
00:57:14,080 --> 00:57:18,560
S5: to Indonesia or should we go to the Sudan? And

1073
00:57:18,560 --> 00:57:22,000
S5: I would say, well, let's pray and and ask other

1074
00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:24,320
S5: people to pray that God would give you some indication

1075
00:57:24,320 --> 00:57:26,560
S5: of his will for you. And I think the Spirit

1076
00:57:26,560 --> 00:57:30,880
S5: of God, through a variety of means can then indicate, uh,

1077
00:57:31,200 --> 00:57:34,680
S5: where he wants that individual, those that couple to go. Now,

1078
00:57:34,720 --> 00:57:37,480
S5: others might say, well, no, God doesn't really care where

1079
00:57:37,480 --> 00:57:39,720
S5: they go. He just wants them to go. Well, I

1080
00:57:39,720 --> 00:57:44,440
S5: understand that, but maybe there are pressing needs in Indonesia

1081
00:57:44,800 --> 00:57:47,960
S5: that really need the presence of this young couple. And

1082
00:57:47,960 --> 00:57:50,400
S5: I think if that is the case, the spirit will

1083
00:57:51,040 --> 00:57:54,240
S5: communicate that sometimes he'll do it through a third party

1084
00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:56,600
S5: who will just, uh, you know, somebody will come and say,

1085
00:57:56,600 --> 00:57:59,160
S5: you know, I just had a real strong impression in

1086
00:57:59,160 --> 00:58:01,760
S5: my heart of you all going to Indonesia. Does that

1087
00:58:01,760 --> 00:58:03,160
S5: make any sense at all to you?

1088
00:58:03,600 --> 00:58:04,720
S3: So yes, we.

1089
00:58:05,400 --> 00:58:07,600
S5: Yeah, I think we have to pay attention to all

1090
00:58:07,600 --> 00:58:10,040
S5: the ways in which the spirit can prompt us and

1091
00:58:10,040 --> 00:58:14,520
S5: guide us. Um, so, yeah, I mean, like in in

1092
00:58:14,560 --> 00:58:17,480
S5: acts 18, when Paul was being had the tar beat

1093
00:58:17,520 --> 00:58:20,320
S5: out of him in Corinth and he left and says he,

1094
00:58:20,360 --> 00:58:23,080
S5: you know, wiped the dust off of his shoes. Well,

1095
00:58:23,080 --> 00:58:25,240
S5: Jesus appeared to him the next day and said, Paul,

1096
00:58:25,240 --> 00:58:28,479
S5: go back. I have many people in this city, uh,

1097
00:58:28,480 --> 00:58:32,120
S5: and no one will harm you. Well, that's really clear guidance.

1098
00:58:32,120 --> 00:58:34,120
S5: When the Lord himself appears to you in a dream

1099
00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:36,810
S5: or a vision. But I do think the spirit does

1100
00:58:36,810 --> 00:58:40,930
S5: communicate through a variety of ways and can prompt us

1101
00:58:40,930 --> 00:58:44,490
S5: in helping us make a decision when we're stuck, when

1102
00:58:44,490 --> 00:58:47,130
S5: we think we're supposed to do one thing, but somehow

1103
00:58:47,130 --> 00:58:49,170
S5: we feel a check in our heart. Well, I don't know.

1104
00:58:49,170 --> 00:58:53,410
S5: Maybe this isn't the wisest move. And then you consult

1105
00:58:53,410 --> 00:58:55,729
S5: other people. Sometimes the spirit can speak to you through

1106
00:58:55,730 --> 00:58:59,610
S5: the counsel of other wise individuals. So there's so many

1107
00:58:59,610 --> 00:59:02,090
S5: ways in which the spirit can do this. It doesn't

1108
00:59:02,090 --> 00:59:04,490
S5: necessarily have to conform to what we read in acts

1109
00:59:04,490 --> 00:59:07,370
S5: 16 or acts 18. But yes, I do think the

1110
00:59:07,370 --> 00:59:09,730
S5: spirit does speak and guide in that way today.

1111
00:59:10,050 --> 00:59:10,730
S3: Okay. That was.

1112
00:59:10,730 --> 00:59:11,450
S5: A long.

1113
00:59:11,450 --> 00:59:13,130
S3: Long. No. That's good. That's good.

1114
00:59:13,170 --> 00:59:14,610
S5: A very difficult question.

1115
00:59:14,650 --> 00:59:17,090
S3: Well, let's get a little more difficulty for you then.

1116
00:59:17,090 --> 00:59:20,090
S3: I'm going to follow that up. I've been to um

1117
00:59:20,490 --> 00:59:23,810
S3: I've been to Mumbai, India, and I've been to Bujumbura,

1118
00:59:23,810 --> 00:59:28,010
S3: Burundi in the last year and various other countries around

1119
00:59:28,010 --> 00:59:32,729
S3: the globe. I see a not a recklessness, but a

1120
00:59:32,970 --> 00:59:36,090
S3: sensitivity to the spirit realm, and there's no denying it.

1121
00:59:36,130 --> 00:59:38,410
S3: In fact, even people that I'm going to use the

1122
00:59:38,410 --> 00:59:41,370
S3: word cessationists believe that the Spirit of God is moving

1123
00:59:41,370 --> 00:59:46,210
S3: definitely through dreams, angelic impressions, and the like around the globe,

1124
00:59:46,330 --> 00:59:51,970
S3: in Afghanistan, in Iran. What is going on abroad that

1125
00:59:51,970 --> 00:59:54,090
S3: isn't going on here, Sam?

1126
00:59:55,610 --> 00:59:59,330
S5: Yes. Well, I think one reason is because we in

1127
00:59:59,370 --> 01:00:06,130
S5: the West are a highly educated, technologically sophisticated country in

1128
01:00:06,130 --> 01:00:08,650
S5: which we have become. So, you know, if I want

1129
01:00:08,650 --> 01:00:11,210
S5: something heated, I don't have to go out and rub

1130
01:00:11,210 --> 01:00:13,570
S5: two sticks together and create a fire. I just stick

1131
01:00:13,570 --> 01:00:17,970
S5: my coffee in the microwave and in 30s it's boiling hot.

1132
01:00:18,250 --> 01:00:23,890
S5: We are so dependent upon the the conveniences of life

1133
01:00:23,890 --> 01:00:28,770
S5: in a technologically sophisticated world that we never think about,

1134
01:00:29,050 --> 01:00:32,810
S5: depending upon the spirit. But in these third world countries,

1135
01:00:32,810 --> 01:00:37,970
S5: in places where, uh, these kind of technological advances don't exist, where,

1136
01:00:38,010 --> 01:00:41,610
S5: for example, places that don't have hospitals, they don't have medicine.

1137
01:00:41,970 --> 01:00:44,130
S5: You know, I can go into my kitchen right now

1138
01:00:44,370 --> 01:00:46,290
S5: and get an Advil or an aspirin to help me

1139
01:00:46,290 --> 01:00:48,890
S5: with my headache. A lot of these places, they don't

1140
01:00:48,890 --> 01:00:52,730
S5: have that. So they are compelled to depend upon the spirit.

1141
01:00:52,730 --> 01:00:56,810
S5: They have no other choice. We have been so conditioned

1142
01:00:57,170 --> 01:01:02,050
S5: by the, uh, the privileges and the resources we have

1143
01:01:02,050 --> 01:01:04,930
S5: here in the Western world that we never even think

1144
01:01:04,930 --> 01:01:07,050
S5: of praying to the spirit instead of running off to

1145
01:01:07,090 --> 01:01:09,890
S5: get a couple of Advil. You know, the idea that

1146
01:01:09,890 --> 01:01:13,090
S5: I would stop and say, Spirit of God, I'm really

1147
01:01:13,090 --> 01:01:14,970
S5: in pain right now, and I'm crying out to you.

1148
01:01:15,010 --> 01:01:18,490
S5: Would you please heal me? Amen. Um, uh, we just

1149
01:01:18,490 --> 01:01:20,450
S5: don't do that very much in our world. And I.

1150
01:01:20,450 --> 01:01:22,890
S5: And they do that all the time in these places

1151
01:01:22,890 --> 01:01:26,450
S5: that you've just mentioned, because they don't have any other options.

1152
01:01:27,010 --> 01:01:30,290
S3: I couldn't agree more, Sam. We've we've actually got the

1153
01:01:30,380 --> 01:01:33,060
S3: incredible shrinking God here stateside in the West.

1154
01:01:33,780 --> 01:01:37,980
S5: Yeah. We, uh, it's really a sad state of affairs

1155
01:01:38,380 --> 01:01:41,140
S5: that the blessings that we have. And I'm not I'm

1156
01:01:41,140 --> 01:01:44,260
S5: not minimizing. I'm thankful for all the blessings we have.

1157
01:01:44,260 --> 01:01:48,380
S5: I'm thankful for modern medicine and hospitals and resources and

1158
01:01:48,380 --> 01:01:52,060
S5: microwave ovens. I'm not denying that at all. I'm just

1159
01:01:52,060 --> 01:01:55,700
S5: saying that I think it is sometimes conditioned us to

1160
01:01:55,740 --> 01:01:58,340
S5: a dependence on something other than the presence and power

1161
01:01:58,340 --> 01:01:59,100
S5: of the spirit.

1162
01:02:00,180 --> 01:02:03,900
S2: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to

1163
01:02:03,940 --> 01:02:05,060
S2: Carl and crew.

1164
01:02:05,100 --> 01:02:07,940
S3: Well, we don't want to disappoint. No way. Uh, uh,

1165
01:02:08,140 --> 01:02:09,939
S3: we've got to do it. It's the bottom of the hour.

1166
01:02:09,940 --> 01:02:11,900
S3: It's a Wednesday. You know what that means.

1167
01:02:12,820 --> 01:02:16,420
S2: Making herself laugh no matter who joins her. It's time

1168
01:02:16,420 --> 01:02:18,500
S2: for Allie. Thinks it's funny.

1169
01:02:19,860 --> 01:02:20,300
S9: His first.

1170
01:02:20,300 --> 01:02:23,340
S4: Joke. We might have to defer to Carl, who has

1171
01:02:23,340 --> 01:02:28,300
S4: some commercial fishing experience. Correct. You've spent some time out

1172
01:02:28,300 --> 01:02:29,020
S4: on the water.

1173
01:02:29,140 --> 01:02:31,180
S3: Eight seasons in the Bering Sea.

1174
01:02:31,740 --> 01:02:34,060
S4: What kind of fish has two legs?

1175
01:02:34,460 --> 01:02:36,060
S14: Oh, boy. You got me there.

1176
01:02:36,100 --> 01:02:40,060
S4: What kind of fish has two legs? A tuna fish?

1177
01:02:42,940 --> 01:02:43,500
S9: Okay.

1178
01:02:43,980 --> 01:02:45,380
S3: I'm going with that one.

1179
01:02:45,420 --> 01:02:49,060
S9: Wow, I couldn't have guessed it, but that's good. Oh,

1180
01:02:49,700 --> 01:02:52,740
S9: you haven't caught any. Knee to knee. Fish like.

1181
01:02:53,260 --> 01:02:54,620
S3: Cod. Tuna, but never tuna.

1182
01:02:54,900 --> 01:02:57,100
S9: Anyway, next up, um.

1183
01:02:57,580 --> 01:03:00,939
S4: There was some construction happening at the same time that

1184
01:03:00,940 --> 01:03:06,380
S4: a bank robbery occurred. The thief fell in wet cement.

1185
01:03:06,980 --> 01:03:10,260
S4: What happened? What happened next? The thief fell into wet

1186
01:03:10,300 --> 01:03:12,660
S4: cement after attempting to rob the bank.

1187
01:03:13,220 --> 01:03:13,660
S8: I don't know.

1188
01:03:13,700 --> 01:03:18,660
S4: Unfortunately, it turned into a hardened criminal. He became.

1189
01:03:20,020 --> 01:03:20,620
S8: Oh, man.

1190
01:03:22,340 --> 01:03:24,580
S9: Oh. Sam storms. What do.

1191
01:03:24,580 --> 01:03:25,220
S3: You. What do you rate.

1192
01:03:25,220 --> 01:03:25,900
S9: Those on.

1193
01:03:25,900 --> 01:03:26,340
S3: A scale.

1194
01:03:26,340 --> 01:03:28,979
S9: From 1 to 10? I actually think both.

1195
01:03:28,980 --> 01:03:29,380
S3: Of those are.

1196
01:03:29,380 --> 01:03:29,740
S9: Great.

1197
01:03:30,380 --> 01:03:33,060
S5: It takes a really sick mind to come up with those.

1198
01:03:36,660 --> 01:03:38,220
S9: Would you say whoever.

1199
01:03:38,220 --> 01:03:40,460
S3: Came up with those is maybe not in step with

1200
01:03:40,460 --> 01:03:42,180
S3: the spirit? Sam? Oh.

1201
01:03:42,980 --> 01:03:43,940
S9: Come on. Oh.

1202
01:03:44,780 --> 01:03:49,660
S4: Sex jokes to 800 555 7898. Don't let them discourage you.

1203
01:03:49,660 --> 01:03:52,140
S4: You go ahead and text for those jokes. You are

1204
01:03:52,140 --> 01:03:56,940
S4: with me. Text jokes to 800 555 7898.

1205
01:03:57,220 --> 01:03:59,220
S3: I want to do a little ear warning. I'm going

1206
01:03:59,260 --> 01:04:01,540
S3: to put a little ear warning here. Not on you,

1207
01:04:01,540 --> 01:04:03,540
S3: the caller. Lauren, I'm just going to put a little

1208
01:04:03,580 --> 01:04:05,900
S3: ear warning here. Give you time to turn it down

1209
01:04:05,900 --> 01:04:09,380
S3: here if you've got little ears listening. Just a little

1210
01:04:09,380 --> 01:04:12,900
S3: time there okay. Lauren in Cleveland, Ohio, go ahead with

1211
01:04:12,900 --> 01:04:14,820
S3: your question for Doctor Sam Storms.

1212
01:04:15,780 --> 01:04:16,700
S12: Hi. Good morning.

1213
01:04:17,140 --> 01:04:21,180
S15: So my question is about my seven year old. She

1214
01:04:21,180 --> 01:04:25,420
S15: has always been very, I guess in tune with God

1215
01:04:25,420 --> 01:04:30,020
S15: and loves Jesus. She's spoken about him for so many

1216
01:04:30,020 --> 01:04:32,620
S15: years already and just seems to get it. She wants

1217
01:04:32,620 --> 01:04:35,500
S15: to be baptized. She says I love him. I want

1218
01:04:35,500 --> 01:04:39,460
S15: to follow him. Um, but twice now. One one time

1219
01:04:39,460 --> 01:04:41,780
S15: last week she came out after I put her to

1220
01:04:41,820 --> 01:04:44,980
S15: bed and she has asked me or said to me

1221
01:04:44,980 --> 01:04:47,979
S15: that she feels like Satan is telling her to say

1222
01:04:47,980 --> 01:04:52,180
S15: no or don't follow him. You know, follow me, listen

1223
01:04:52,180 --> 01:04:55,260
S15: to me. And it freaks her out. Freaks me out too,

1224
01:04:55,300 --> 01:04:58,140
S15: a little bit. Um, how would you respond to her?

1225
01:05:00,260 --> 01:05:03,140
S5: Yeah, that's a great question. In fact, um, it's very

1226
01:05:03,140 --> 01:05:05,940
S5: similar to a question I often hear from parents. As

1227
01:05:05,980 --> 01:05:10,020
S5: they said, their young children are having, uh, these terrifying

1228
01:05:10,060 --> 01:05:15,500
S5: nightmares in which, uh, demonic beings appear to them and

1229
01:05:15,820 --> 01:05:20,260
S5: torment them. And, uh, I think you need to take

1230
01:05:20,260 --> 01:05:22,419
S5: it very seriously. I don't think you need to write

1231
01:05:22,420 --> 01:05:26,670
S5: this off, as this is just a childish Imagination run amok. Um,

1232
01:05:26,870 --> 01:05:30,670
S5: obviously your daughter, who's very attuned to the Lord and

1233
01:05:30,710 --> 01:05:33,350
S5: the Lord is working in her life. And you can

1234
01:05:33,390 --> 01:05:37,150
S5: bet Satan doesn't like that. And the demonic forces that

1235
01:05:37,150 --> 01:05:39,830
S5: we battle against, you know, Paul says in Ephesians six,

1236
01:05:40,150 --> 01:05:42,470
S5: our battle is not against flesh and blood. It's not

1237
01:05:42,470 --> 01:05:46,750
S5: against other humans. Ultimately, it's it's the demonic spirits working

1238
01:05:46,750 --> 01:05:51,070
S5: behind them. He calls them principalities and powers and spiritual

1239
01:05:51,070 --> 01:05:53,670
S5: forces of this darkness. And I think one of the

1240
01:05:53,670 --> 01:05:57,190
S5: things you can do is you can open to Ephesians six,

1241
01:05:57,190 --> 01:05:59,950
S5: and you might have to obviously kind of change the

1242
01:05:59,950 --> 01:06:03,310
S5: language to a level where she can understand. But to

1243
01:06:03,350 --> 01:06:06,470
S5: walk her through the various armor of God, where he

1244
01:06:06,470 --> 01:06:09,390
S5: talks about the helmet of salvation and just reassure her,

1245
01:06:09,430 --> 01:06:12,510
S5: you know, honey, uh, you are saved. You're a child

1246
01:06:12,510 --> 01:06:15,430
S5: of God, and it's like God has put a helmet

1247
01:06:15,430 --> 01:06:17,830
S5: on your head and nothing can hurt you. Nothing can

1248
01:06:17,830 --> 01:06:21,230
S5: harm you or the shield of faith. You know, your

1249
01:06:21,230 --> 01:06:24,630
S5: your confidence is in Jesus and what he's done for

1250
01:06:24,630 --> 01:06:27,510
S5: you and the Word of God. I mean, if she's

1251
01:06:27,510 --> 01:06:30,910
S5: meditating on Scripture, she can memorize Scripture and be able

1252
01:06:30,910 --> 01:06:33,670
S5: to to quote Scripture back to the enemy when he

1253
01:06:33,670 --> 01:06:37,270
S5: tries to, to tempt her or to torment her. So

1254
01:06:37,550 --> 01:06:40,150
S5: I think you should take it very seriously. Uh, I

1255
01:06:40,150 --> 01:06:42,590
S5: think sometimes parents just kind of write it off, not

1256
01:06:42,590 --> 01:06:46,189
S5: only because they think it's childish imagination, but another reason

1257
01:06:46,190 --> 01:06:48,030
S5: is because they don't know what to do. They don't

1258
01:06:48,030 --> 01:06:50,630
S5: know what are what other options there are. But I

1259
01:06:50,630 --> 01:06:53,070
S5: think Ephesians six, verses ten to the end of the

1260
01:06:53,070 --> 01:06:55,750
S5: chapter are as much intended for our children as they

1261
01:06:55,750 --> 01:06:59,390
S5: are for adults. So I think one other thing that, uh,

1262
01:06:59,670 --> 01:07:03,070
S5: that we have always done is we have worship music

1263
01:07:03,070 --> 01:07:06,110
S5: playing nonstop in our home. When our children were here,

1264
01:07:06,110 --> 01:07:09,470
S5: our two daughters, um, and we've just found that when

1265
01:07:09,470 --> 01:07:13,110
S5: you bathe and saturate and soak your home in the

1266
01:07:13,110 --> 01:07:16,950
S5: praises of God, uh, that it's very difficult for the

1267
01:07:16,950 --> 01:07:20,390
S5: enemy to find inroads. So I would highly recommend that.

1268
01:07:20,390 --> 01:07:23,430
S5: And obviously, you know, praying with her and for her

1269
01:07:23,430 --> 01:07:25,990
S5: before she goes to bed at night and calling for

1270
01:07:25,990 --> 01:07:28,510
S5: the Lord to protect her heart and her mind and

1271
01:07:28,510 --> 01:07:30,710
S5: to keep the enemy at bay. So those are just

1272
01:07:30,710 --> 01:07:32,790
S5: a few practical steps that I would employ.

1273
01:07:33,190 --> 01:07:35,870
S3: Uh, Sam, speak to the sovereignty of God and that

1274
01:07:35,870 --> 01:07:39,669
S3: there is nothing happening that he is somehow powerless to

1275
01:07:39,710 --> 01:07:42,030
S3: deal with right now. That's important for her to hear,

1276
01:07:42,030 --> 01:07:44,030
S3: isn't it? For Lauren to hear as a mama?

1277
01:07:44,550 --> 01:07:49,229
S5: Absolutely, absolutely. Um, I've been preaching through Ephesians, by the way,

1278
01:07:49,270 --> 01:07:52,310
S5: and I, you know, I spent three weeks in Ephesians one,

1279
01:07:52,310 --> 01:07:57,470
S5: verses three through 14 and, um, uh, in verse 11

1280
01:07:57,470 --> 01:08:00,110
S5: it says that God works all things according to the

1281
01:08:00,110 --> 01:08:02,750
S5: counsel of his will. And I told the people this

1282
01:08:02,750 --> 01:08:06,710
S5: last week, I said, what if you're being tormented at night, uh,

1283
01:08:06,750 --> 01:08:10,350
S5: just before you go to bed, read verses three through 14,

1284
01:08:10,350 --> 01:08:13,550
S5: just read it slowly, meditate upon it, and then rest

1285
01:08:13,550 --> 01:08:17,189
S5: confidently that the God who works all things according to

1286
01:08:17,229 --> 01:08:20,349
S5: his will, that's a clear statement of God's sovereignty, is

1287
01:08:20,430 --> 01:08:22,550
S5: there to protect you and to guard you and to

1288
01:08:22,590 --> 01:08:25,950
S5: defend you. So, uh, that's that's a very important principle

1289
01:08:25,950 --> 01:08:26,790
S5: to keep in mind.

1290
01:08:27,550 --> 01:08:30,750
S4: Doctor Sam storms our guest this morning. Let's go to Jerry.

1291
01:08:30,750 --> 01:08:34,110
S4: First time caller from Lakeland, Florida. Go ahead with your question.

1292
01:08:34,270 --> 01:08:38,670
S16: Yeah, I, I backslid for 50 years, but I got

1293
01:08:38,710 --> 01:08:43,309
S16: reunited with my Lord and Savior six years ago. But

1294
01:08:43,350 --> 01:08:47,030
S16: I seem to have problems. Uh, I mean, I pray

1295
01:08:47,030 --> 01:08:51,189
S16: all the time, but it's it's always, uh, 99% the

1296
01:08:51,189 --> 01:08:54,429
S16: same prayer. I mean, for the people of my church,

1297
01:08:54,470 --> 01:08:57,750
S16: my brothers and sisters, Israel and stuff like that. It's

1298
01:08:57,750 --> 01:09:01,349
S16: just it's always the same prayer. I just I just

1299
01:09:01,350 --> 01:09:05,469
S16: wondered if, uh, if I'm doing something wrong. I don't

1300
01:09:05,470 --> 01:09:08,670
S16: read the Bible like I should because I don't understand it.

1301
01:09:08,950 --> 01:09:12,750
S16: I do read it some, but I go to Bible

1302
01:09:12,750 --> 01:09:15,389
S16: class in the morning, on Sundays at my church because

1303
01:09:15,390 --> 01:09:18,470
S16: I'm handicapped in a wheelchair with one leg. I go

1304
01:09:18,470 --> 01:09:21,719
S16: to the to church services Sunday right after Bible study,

1305
01:09:21,720 --> 01:09:24,679
S16: but I just I just seem to pray the same

1306
01:09:24,680 --> 01:09:25,759
S16: prayer all the time.

1307
01:09:25,960 --> 01:09:28,280
S3: Yeah. Jerry, at first, before I kick this, Sam, I

1308
01:09:28,280 --> 01:09:29,760
S3: want to tell you, thank you for being in the

1309
01:09:29,760 --> 01:09:32,080
S3: boom crew. You are an awesome man of God. Your

1310
01:09:32,080 --> 01:09:34,719
S3: vulnerability is powerful, isn't it, Sam?

1311
01:09:35,640 --> 01:09:39,600
S5: Absolutely, absolutely. And I've got the answer to that question

1312
01:09:39,600 --> 01:09:43,280
S5: and that concern that he's expressed. Pray the prayers of

1313
01:09:43,280 --> 01:09:46,680
S5: the Bible. So, for example, I would say go to

1314
01:09:46,680 --> 01:09:49,080
S5: the Book of Psalms and just start reading through the

1315
01:09:49,080 --> 01:09:53,040
S5: Book of Psalms, because about 75 to 80% of the

1316
01:09:53,040 --> 01:09:57,519
S5: Psalms are prayers. Their prayers of David and others. And

1317
01:09:57,520 --> 01:10:00,919
S5: make those prayers your own. Let those let the content

1318
01:10:00,920 --> 01:10:05,000
S5: of those prayers become your own. I think also praying

1319
01:10:05,000 --> 01:10:09,200
S5: the prayers of the apostles. So, for example, uh, pray,

1320
01:10:09,360 --> 01:10:14,080
S5: uh Ephesians chapter three, verses 14 through 21, pray Philippians

1321
01:10:14,080 --> 01:10:19,520
S5: chapter one, verses six through about ten. um, in Colossians,

1322
01:10:19,560 --> 01:10:22,760
S5: you know, Paul prays for the saints there. So read

1323
01:10:22,760 --> 01:10:26,320
S5: the New Testament letters of Paul primarily, and you will

1324
01:10:26,320 --> 01:10:30,719
S5: find him praying at many ways at many times, and

1325
01:10:30,720 --> 01:10:34,200
S5: make those prayers your own. The kinds of things that

1326
01:10:34,200 --> 01:10:37,120
S5: the apostles request of God are the same things that

1327
01:10:37,120 --> 01:10:41,599
S5: we need. So two things. Read the Psalms. Don't just

1328
01:10:41,600 --> 01:10:45,200
S5: read them for information. Take the prayers of those Old

1329
01:10:45,240 --> 01:10:49,360
S5: Testament saints and make them your own. And then also

1330
01:10:49,360 --> 01:10:52,760
S5: pray the prayers of the apostles in the New Testament.

1331
01:10:52,760 --> 01:10:55,400
S5: And I promise you, if you'll do this, and if

1332
01:10:55,439 --> 01:10:58,600
S5: you'll ask the Spirit of God to help you, he will.

1333
01:10:58,720 --> 01:10:59,960
S5: And by the way, let me just go back to

1334
01:11:00,000 --> 01:11:03,120
S5: Romans eight. Um, this is a problem that all of

1335
01:11:03,120 --> 01:11:06,000
S5: us face. Paul says we do not know what to

1336
01:11:06,040 --> 01:11:10,439
S5: pray for. We all have that problem. And he says,

1337
01:11:10,760 --> 01:11:14,160
S5: don't worry, the Spirit of God is praying for you

1338
01:11:14,160 --> 01:11:17,640
S5: and through you to the father. So be be encouraged

1339
01:11:17,680 --> 01:11:19,080
S5: knowing that that is the case.

1340
01:11:20,160 --> 01:11:24,640
S2: Breaking chains and running free. You're listening to Carl and crew.

1341
01:11:24,680 --> 01:11:27,160
S4: Doctor Sam Storms. I want to kind of summarize a

1342
01:11:27,160 --> 01:11:31,400
S4: couple questions I've seen come across text message this morning,

1343
01:11:31,400 --> 01:11:35,759
S4: basically around being saved but not feeling the Holy Spirit.

1344
01:11:35,760 --> 01:11:38,240
S4: Would you speak to that? What am I supposed to feel,

1345
01:11:38,240 --> 01:11:40,280
S4: if anything? And if I don't feel it, how do

1346
01:11:40,280 --> 01:11:41,600
S4: I get that feeling?

1347
01:11:43,040 --> 01:11:45,000
S5: Yeah, that's a great question. I think a lot of

1348
01:11:45,000 --> 01:11:47,639
S5: people struggle with that. Uh, first of all, you need

1349
01:11:47,640 --> 01:11:50,280
S5: to keep in mind that simply because you don't feel

1350
01:11:50,439 --> 01:11:53,880
S5: something doesn't mean it isn't present and real. Uh, there

1351
01:11:53,920 --> 01:11:56,400
S5: are a lot of reasons why we don't feel what

1352
01:11:56,400 --> 01:11:59,200
S5: the spirit is doing in our lives. It may be

1353
01:11:59,200 --> 01:12:03,840
S5: that we're, um, perhaps we're, you know, exposing ourselves to

1354
01:12:03,880 --> 01:12:07,439
S5: influences from the world and society and images on TV

1355
01:12:07,439 --> 01:12:10,880
S5: and the internet that tend to grieve the Spirit of God.

1356
01:12:10,880 --> 01:12:14,000
S5: And so it's hard to sense his presence. But I

1357
01:12:14,000 --> 01:12:17,290
S5: would say if, if, if you don't feel his presence,

1358
01:12:17,290 --> 01:12:20,290
S5: I would just say there are two things or three things.

1359
01:12:20,330 --> 01:12:23,729
S5: Let's say three things. Number one, pray for it. Ask

1360
01:12:23,729 --> 01:12:27,290
S5: the Spirit of God to quicken your emotions. Uh, and

1361
01:12:27,290 --> 01:12:29,930
S5: there may be reasons why your emotional life is a

1362
01:12:29,930 --> 01:12:33,210
S5: little bit shut down and ask the Spirit of God.

1363
01:12:33,210 --> 01:12:35,450
S5: Spirit of God, would you show me? Would you convict me?

1364
01:12:35,490 --> 01:12:38,530
S5: Am I doing something or failing to do something that

1365
01:12:38,530 --> 01:12:44,570
S5: has closed my heart to your presence? Secondly, meditate on Scripture. Uh,

1366
01:12:44,610 --> 01:12:47,849
S5: read the Gospels and just let the and just say,

1367
01:12:47,850 --> 01:12:50,650
S5: Spirit of God, would you awaken me to the beauty

1368
01:12:50,650 --> 01:12:52,650
S5: and the glory and the majesty of Jesus and all

1369
01:12:52,650 --> 01:12:54,090
S5: that he is for me and all that he's done

1370
01:12:54,090 --> 01:12:56,490
S5: for me? And then the third thing, and this just

1371
01:12:56,490 --> 01:13:01,170
S5: comes from my own personal experience, um, I love worship.

1372
01:13:01,170 --> 01:13:04,330
S5: I love, uh, in fact, my book Understanding Worship is

1373
01:13:04,330 --> 01:13:06,969
S5: going to be released in two weeks. Um, I wrote

1374
01:13:06,970 --> 01:13:10,090
S5: a whole book on it. I love singing praises to

1375
01:13:10,130 --> 01:13:12,570
S5: the Lord and not just in church on Sunday morning,

1376
01:13:12,570 --> 01:13:15,250
S5: although I'll do that. But throughout the day, I mean,

1377
01:13:15,290 --> 01:13:18,650
S5: I put on my. You know, when I'm in my car,

1378
01:13:18,810 --> 01:13:22,090
S5: anywhere I go. I love singing praises to the Lord.

1379
01:13:22,090 --> 01:13:24,530
S5: And I think when you do that, when you rivet

1380
01:13:24,530 --> 01:13:27,450
S5: your heart, as it were, when you fixate and focus

1381
01:13:27,450 --> 01:13:30,050
S5: your thoughts on who God is and what he's done

1382
01:13:30,050 --> 01:13:34,009
S5: for you, it will serve to gradually awaken those feelings

1383
01:13:34,010 --> 01:13:36,330
S5: in your heart. So those are the three steps that

1384
01:13:36,330 --> 01:13:37,290
S5: I would recommend.

1385
01:13:37,970 --> 01:13:40,570
S3: And it's interesting, Sam, you know, remember that old classic

1386
01:13:40,570 --> 01:13:42,970
S3: I sing praises to your name, O Lord. Praises to

1387
01:13:42,970 --> 01:13:45,210
S3: your name, O Lord. For your name is great and

1388
01:13:45,210 --> 01:13:49,490
S3: greatly to be praised. That's one song of many that

1389
01:13:49,490 --> 01:13:52,290
S3: when I sing that alone with God, or I get

1390
01:13:52,290 --> 01:13:55,530
S3: choked up right now, or with a group of people,

1391
01:13:56,170 --> 01:14:00,450
S3: there is something about God inhabiting the praises of his people.

1392
01:14:00,450 --> 01:14:04,890
S3: And Sam, drill down on that further. There's something about

1393
01:14:04,930 --> 01:14:10,849
S3: getting off of, um, a Netflix binge and maybe going

1394
01:14:10,850 --> 01:14:13,610
S3: for a drive with God, with the stereo turned up

1395
01:14:13,610 --> 01:14:17,010
S3: and some praise and worship going that we underestimate the

1396
01:14:17,010 --> 01:14:20,049
S3: power of the spirit to fill us in that moment. Sam,

1397
01:14:20,050 --> 01:14:20,889
S3: speak to that.

1398
01:14:21,850 --> 01:14:26,290
S5: Yeah, I agree. In fact, um, you know, I'm disciplining

1399
01:14:26,290 --> 01:14:30,130
S5: myself in this regard if I'm on Netflix or I'm on, um,

1400
01:14:30,170 --> 01:14:32,889
S5: you know, Amazon Prime or I'm watching some sporting event,

1401
01:14:32,890 --> 01:14:37,370
S5: I'm just kind of vegetating, so to speak. Sometimes I'll say, no,

1402
01:14:37,410 --> 01:14:40,570
S5: wait just a minute, Sam. Technology is a great gift.

1403
01:14:40,570 --> 01:14:44,370
S5: So I will immediately go to YouTube and it has

1404
01:14:44,650 --> 01:14:47,849
S5: and just type in the word worship. And so many

1405
01:14:47,850 --> 01:14:51,769
S5: worship services, so many worship leaders just immediately are there

1406
01:14:51,770 --> 01:14:55,610
S5: and for hours singing and celebrating the Lord. And it

1407
01:14:55,610 --> 01:15:00,050
S5: just it just heals my heart. But, um, yeah, you know,

1408
01:15:00,090 --> 01:15:03,570
S5: people have often asked me, um, you know, how have

1409
01:15:03,570 --> 01:15:06,650
S5: I persevered? And I'm not that I'm boy, I've failed

1410
01:15:06,650 --> 01:15:09,809
S5: so many times, but I'm 74 years old and I'm

1411
01:15:09,810 --> 01:15:11,530
S5: still walking with the Lord. And I say, how have

1412
01:15:11,530 --> 01:15:16,850
S5: you done it? Honestly, aside from Scripture itself, it's worship

1413
01:15:16,850 --> 01:15:19,250
S5: that is done it. I just I connect with God

1414
01:15:19,250 --> 01:15:22,290
S5: through the presence of the spirit. You know, he you know,

1415
01:15:22,330 --> 01:15:24,210
S5: it does say in the Psalm, I think it was

1416
01:15:24,210 --> 01:15:28,250
S5: Psalm 22 that he and he lives upon. He dwells

1417
01:15:28,250 --> 01:15:31,610
S5: in the praises of his people. It's what awakens us

1418
01:15:31,610 --> 01:15:34,650
S5: to his presence that has been the key to me.

1419
01:15:34,770 --> 01:15:38,210
S5: And the Spirit of God, obviously, is the one through

1420
01:15:38,250 --> 01:15:40,970
S5: whom we sing these praises. It's by his power that

1421
01:15:40,970 --> 01:15:44,689
S5: we do so. So, um, yeah, I agree with you.

1422
01:15:44,970 --> 01:15:47,370
S5: If we could just sometimes just learn how to shut

1423
01:15:47,370 --> 01:15:51,530
S5: off the world and engage directly with God in times

1424
01:15:51,530 --> 01:15:54,410
S5: of and again, some people may say, well, I don't

1425
01:15:54,410 --> 01:15:56,650
S5: have a very good voice. You know, I'm always off key.

1426
01:15:56,890 --> 01:15:57,969
S5: God doesn't care.

1427
01:15:58,130 --> 01:15:59,169
S3: Yeah, he.

1428
01:15:59,290 --> 01:15:59,809
S9: He doesn't.

1429
01:16:00,090 --> 01:16:02,410
S5: He's not up there going, yeah, boy that's a that

1430
01:16:02,410 --> 01:16:05,889
S5: person's really off key. No, he loves your heart. He

1431
01:16:05,890 --> 01:16:09,340
S5: loves the way that you love him. So engage with

1432
01:16:09,340 --> 01:16:12,020
S5: him and worship in that way. And I assure you,

1433
01:16:12,020 --> 01:16:15,179
S5: the Spirit of God will not fail to quicken your heart,

1434
01:16:15,180 --> 01:16:18,740
S5: to quicken your emotions, and to deeply impress upon you

1435
01:16:18,740 --> 01:16:21,059
S5: all the good things that God has accomplished for us

1436
01:16:21,060 --> 01:16:21,780
S5: in Jesus.

1437
01:16:22,220 --> 01:16:24,620
S3: Love it. We want to give out a link here.

1438
01:16:24,620 --> 01:16:27,740
S3: We've got so many of you around North America listening

1439
01:16:27,740 --> 01:16:31,179
S3: right now. I'd venture to say tens of thousands right

1440
01:16:31,180 --> 01:16:33,140
S3: now at this moment. And I want you to go

1441
01:16:33,140 --> 01:16:38,900
S3: to Sam's website, this website Alli. It is an epic.

1442
01:16:39,100 --> 01:16:42,260
S4: There's a ton of blogs. I mean, that alone is

1443
01:16:42,260 --> 01:16:44,099
S4: worth it. You can if you want to do more

1444
01:16:44,100 --> 01:16:46,900
S4: of a deep dive sometimes. Maybe you're not as much

1445
01:16:46,900 --> 01:16:50,420
S4: of an auditory learner, but sometimes being able to read

1446
01:16:50,420 --> 01:16:53,660
S4: and reread something. That's where great books and blogs can

1447
01:16:53,660 --> 01:16:58,979
S4: be helpful. Just text storm to 800 555 7898. Text

1448
01:16:59,020 --> 01:17:03,700
S4: storm to 800 555 7898. You'll also find links there

1449
01:17:03,700 --> 01:17:06,179
S4: to the books he's mentioned a couple already out and

1450
01:17:06,180 --> 01:17:08,379
S4: then one coming out in a couple of weeks.