Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM250005S
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00:01 The hour is urgent, as darkness is dispelled by the light of
00:07 God's Word, a new day begins. 00:11 Jesus, the light of the world is shining. 00:14 Prepare your hearts to proclaim the final cry. 00:17 This is 3ABN Summer Camp Meeting. 00:23 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Summer Camp Meeting. 00:27 We're so glad that you are here. 00:28 What a great theme, right? 00:30 You see it on the backdrop behind me. 00:31 Let's all say it together. 00:34 Preparing to proclaim the final cry. 00:38 Ha ha! 00:39 We heard you at home also joining with us as well. 00:41 We want to make sure we don't forget you. 00:43 We're having a blessed time here at 3ABN's facility in 00:48 Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:49 We received a lot of rain last night and this morning. 00:53 We received about 1.7 inches. 00:55 I counted it as like showers of blessings, but it was almost 00:59 more than showers, wasn't it? 01:00 It's more like a downpour of blessings, but we're receiving 01:03 spiritual blessings here too, aren't we? 01:05 So I have to tell you at home, even though it's been a little 01:08 bit wet here, just the atmosphere has been so joyous. 01:13 It's because of the Lord Jesus Christ, right, that we can be 01:16 happy in Him. 01:17 You know, I have the privilege of introducing to you. 01:25 It is Jill. 01:29 September. 01:32 Jill, why don't you come on out, Jill. 01:35 I think there she is backstage. 01:36 All right. 01:38 And no, we didn't get married when we were 14 and 15 years of 01:42 age. 01:43 She looks younger every year. 01:45 Well, now I'm starting to feel old. 01:48 You're not old, baby. 01:49 But yeah, what a blessing to actually be in ministry 01:52 together with you here at 3ABN. 01:54 Yesterday, 3ABN has this Board of Directors meeting, just 01:56 before a camp meeting usually, and I appreciate working with 01:59 Mr. Danny so much. 02:00 And he was talking about the calling that each one of us has 02:03 on our life, right? 02:05 And so I know Jill and I feel called to the ministry of 3ABN. 02:09 Just like each one of you, God's called you to do 02:11 something. 02:12 And a lot of you I know pray for and support the ministry of 02:15 3ABN. 02:16 So you're making a difference. 02:19 of you and you at home as well. 02:22 But Jill, I'm looking forward to your message today. 02:24 We're not going to have music right now. 02:26 Tim will have a closing song at the end of your message, but 02:29 your message today is indwelt, baptized and led by the Holy 02:34 Spirit. 02:34 God be with you. 02:35 Thank you, sweetheart. 02:38 It's a privilege to serve God in ministry, but it's such a 02:42 privilege to serve God in ministry together. 02:45 I love ministering with Greg. 02:48 And as you know, we don't have kids, so we consider 3ABN as 02:51 our child, as it were, if that makes any sense. 02:54 So we live, eat, breathe, sleep 3ABN, which just means we think 03:01 about the gospel all the time and want to do everything we 03:05 can to help proclaim that gospel message. 03:07 It is a wet day, but praise the Lord we're inside and we're dry 03:13 and we can look forward to those showers of blessings. 03:18 My message is on indwelt, baptized and led by the Holy 03:21 Spirit. 03:23 Five effects, you knew a list was coming, five effects of the 03:29 indwelt Holy Spirit. 03:31 Our opening scripture is Galatians 5 and then we'll 03:34 pray. 03:35 Galatians 5 verses 16 and 17. 03:40 I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the 03:46 lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit. 03:50 Have you experienced that? 03:52 And the Spirit against the flesh. 03:54 Have you felt that? 03:55 And these are contrary to one another, almost as if it were 04:00 that tug of war experience in the life of the believer so 04:06 that you do not do the things that you wish. 04:09 It reminds me of the Romans 7 experience. 04:13 Remember Paul, he says what I want to do, those are the 04:17 things I don't do. 04:19 And what I don't want to do, those are the things I end up 04:24 doing. 04:25 Then we get down to Romans 7 verse 24. 04:28 Do you remember what it says? 04:30 Oh wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body 04:37 of death? 04:38 I would say if we ended there, we would be of all people most 04:43 miserable because we cannot obey in our own strength. 04:47 We cannot become like Jesus in our own. 04:50 It is the power of the indwelt Spirit in the life of the 04:57 believer. 04:57 That is what we're looking at today. 04:59 If you just go, we were in Romans 7 25. 05:02 If you go to chapter 8 verse 1, it says what? 05:05 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are 05:11 in Christ Jesus, who don't walk according to the flesh, but 05:17 according to the Spirit. 05:20 Let's pray. 05:22 Holy Father, as we open and study your word, which is alive 05:28 and powerful, God, would you come and cut our hearts being 05:34 sharper than that two edged sword? 05:37 Would you show us the areas in our lives that we need to 05:42 surrender, those areas that are not like Jesus? 05:47 Would you speak to us, give us ears to hear and a heart to 05:53 obey in Jesus' name. 05:56 Amen. 05:57 I was a young teacher, fresh out of college, bursting with 06:02 life and energy. 06:04 I thought I could change the world. 06:06 Have you ever experienced that? 06:08 Young, idealistic, thought everything. 06:12 I was a English and Bible teacher. 06:15 This is before Greg and I got married, Academy High School 06:18 students. 06:19 She was a young girl. 06:22 We'll call her Sarah. 06:24 That's not her real name. 06:27 Beautiful, perfect hair, even peaches and cream complexion, 06:33 perfect white pearly teeth. 06:36 And I was so busy. 06:39 And this gentleman said you're describing my wife. 06:42 That's precious. 06:44 I was so busy. 06:48 Just the stress of starting to teach, making lesson plans and 06:53 grading papers and just learning the ropes of what 06:57 you're supposed to do as a brand new teacher. 07:00 It was my first job, my first right out of college that I 07:04 neglected to sit down and ask Sarah about her heart, how she 07:09 was doing. 07:10 And so a couple months went by and it was late fall and we had 07:14 a school retreat. 07:15 You know, time schools do that. 07:17 We went away for the weekend, all the entire student body and 07:20 the faculty. 07:22 And I remember Sarah came and she said, Miss Jill, can I talk 07:24 to you? 07:25 And I said, Oh, of course. 07:26 And we sat down and I remember she looked up at me and I was 07:31 amazed at the pain in her eyes. 07:33 Had it always been there? 07:35 Had I been too busy to see it before? 07:40 And she said, Miss Jill, I want to show you something. 07:43 And she had a long sleeve shirt on and she went to unbutton it. 07:47 And as she did, I remember thinking she always wore long 07:50 sleeve. 07:50 Why hadn't I noticed that before? 07:53 And she rolled up her sleeve and she'd been cutting. 07:59 Now, I was super sheltered growing up, homeschooled 08:03 family. 08:09 And I remember I looked at her and my heart broke that there 08:13 was so much pain in her life. 08:15 And Jill had been so busy. 08:18 I had not even noticed. 08:21 And just as I was ready to say something, she said, No, no, 08:24 no, Miss Jill. 08:25 And she turned her arm. 08:28 And then I recognized it wasn't just random slashes in the 08:32 skin. 08:33 She had cut herself to spell one word, help. 08:39 H E L P. At some point in life, you and I discover this truth. 08:51 We cannot do it on our own. 08:55 Have you discovered that? 08:57 We cannot save ourselves. 09:00 Our righteousness is filthy rags. 09:03 Isaiah 64 verse six. 09:05 At some point we discover it is the blood of Jesus that 09:10 cleanses us from all sin. 09:12 That's first John one seven or as Ephesians one seven says, in 09:16 him we have forgiveness, the redemption from sin. 09:21 At some point in our lives, we discover we cannot change 09:24 ourselves. 09:26 Can the Ethiopian change the color of his skin? 09:29 Can the shepherd remove his spots? 09:31 No. 09:32 Then may we also do good who are accustomed to doing evil. 09:38 If we are in Christ, we are a new creation. 09:43 All things have passed away. 09:45 Behold, all things have become new. 09:48 Second Corinthians five seventeen. 09:50 At some point we discover we cannot make ourselves happy. 09:56 Have you seen a facade of happiness? 10:01 But we can't make joy inside. 10:04 At some point we discover we cannot love other people. 10:10 We can pretend to like people but we cannot create love in 10:15 our hearts for other people. 10:18 At some point we discover we cannot give up our addictions. 10:24 We can do behavior modification and try to act right but we 10:29 cannot change our hearts and the addictions inside. 10:35 So many times in the Seventh -day Adventist Church and many 10:40 other denominations, we have the outward trappings of 10:44 religion. 10:46 We do the right thing. 10:47 We say the right things. 10:50 We go to church on the right day but we've never been 10:55 changed inside. 10:57 We don't know the power of the gospel. 11:00 We have never experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 11:04 That is what we're talking about today. 11:07 The power of the gospel in the life of the believer. 11:11 Five effects of the indwell Holy Spirit. 11:15 They all start with the letter C. 11:17 You know I like alliteration. 11:19 Effect number one is conviction. 11:22 You want to say it again? 11:24 Conviction. 11:26 The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. 11:31 Turn with me to John chapter 16. 11:34 John chapter 16. 11:35 I love this passage in the book of John. 11:38 Remember John 13 is the disciples, the foot washing, 11:43 Jesus, the last supper right before he goes to the cross. 11:47 And then John 14, 15, 16, and 17 is his last words to the 11:54 disciples. 11:58 So Jesus knows that he's going to the cross and he's not 12:02 always going to be with his disciples here in person. 12:06 And so these are like the last words that he gives to them. 12:10 We're in John 16 verse 7. 12:21 The helper, that word in Greek, parakeletos. 12:25 It means advocate, comforter, literally one called alongside. 12:33 Oh are you grateful that the Holy Spirit comes alongside. 12:37 The helper will not come to you, but if I depart I will 12:43 send him to you. 12:44 Now some people read this and they say oh the Holy Spirit was 12:47 not present in the Old Testament. 12:49 The Holy Spirit only came after Jesus went to heaven. 12:53 Well if you read the word of God and you go all the way back 12:56 to the second verse in the Bible, Genesis 1 verse 2, what 13:00 does it say? 13:01 The earth was without form and void. 13:03 Darkness was on the face of the deep and the spirit of God 13:09 hovered over the waters. 13:10 That word spirit in Hebrew. 13:12 We're going to talk about this ruach. 13:15 Can you all say that? 13:16 Ruach, yes, and it can be translated sometimes wind, 13:21 sometimes breath, and spirit, meaning the Holy Spirit. 13:28 In this instance Genesis 1, 2 and in many other instances is 13:33 talking about the Holy Spirit. 13:35 In the Old Testament we see that the Holy Spirit can 13:38 indwell people and the Holy Spirit empowers. 13:40 We see reference to the Holy Spirit all throughout the Old 13:43 Testament, but in a special way Jesus has been 33 years with 13:47 the disciples, with the people there. 13:49 He's going to heaven, but he will be with them forever by 13:52 the power of the Holy Spirit. 13:54 The Holy Spirit was given at the time of Pentecost and then 13:58 he would be present forever with them in a special way 14:02 through that power of the Holy Spirit. 14:04 So what's the Holy Spirit going to do? 14:05 We're in John 16 verse 8. 14:07 When he has come he will convict the world of sin, 14:14 righteousness, and judgment. 14:16 We said the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. 14:22 Romans 2, 4 says it's the goodness of God that leads us 14:24 to repentance. 14:31 shoulder as it were when I've stepped into sin. 14:38 Now put a point pause in that. 14:40 We're right back to that thought. 14:42 I'm going to ask you what seems like a random question. 14:45 Is pain a gift? 14:49 So who thinks pain is a gift? 14:51 Raise your hand. 14:53 Okay. 14:54 Who thinks pain is not a gift? 14:56 Raise your hand. 14:58 Okay. 15:00 Who is unsure? 15:01 I think there are quite a few people who didn't raise your 15:03 hand at all. 15:04 And who just doesn't want to vote? 15:06 Okay. 15:07 So is pain a gift? 15:09 I read a book a couple years ago by a medical doctor and 15:13 Philip Yancey. 15:14 It's called The Gift of Pain and what they talked about was 15:17 lepers and the gift of pain in that experience. 15:24 Do you know sometimes people say well leprosy is simply you 15:27 know you see maybe a nose or fingers or toes and you think 15:32 oh is it rotting off? 15:34 No. 15:37 Leprosy causes sensory nerve damage meaning when the sensory 15:41 nerves are damaged we cannot register pain and that means 15:46 you could burn a finger or injure a finger and you don't 15:52 know about it because you cannot register that pain. 15:56 It's the same reason that they can go blind because you could 16:00 get a dirt or irritant in the eye and because of the nerve 16:03 damage you not know that there is something wrong there. 16:08 Pain can be a gift. 16:13 So how does that connect in with convicting power of the 16:18 Holy Spirit? 16:19 Have you ever thought boy it sure would be nice if I had no 16:23 conviction of sin? 16:25 Can you imagine a world with no conviction of sin? 16:30 A world where we're never sorry when we hurt someone else? 16:36 A world where there's no recognition that stealing from 16:40 someone is wrong or murder is wrong or neglecting children is 16:45 wrong or rape is wrong. 16:48 Romans 7 says I would not have known sin except through the 16:53 law. 17:01 the law. 17:05 Remember partook of the forbidden fruit and they 17:08 immediately felt fear and guilt. 17:12 Do they not? 17:13 And remember that they hid from God and what did God say? 17:17 Where are you? 17:18 Of course he knew where they were but where are you? 17:21 And then Adam said I was afraid and I hid and God said who told 17:25 you you were naked? 17:29 The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. 17:34 Now let's pause for just a moment. 17:36 I want to make it clear there is a vast difference between 17:40 the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and condemnation. 17:47 Condemnation comes from the enemy. 17:50 Satan is the accuser of the brethren. 17:52 Revelation 12 10 tells us the accuser of our brethren accuses 17:56 us before God day and night and at that point he can be cast 18:02 down. 18:07 do we not? 18:09 I don't know about you but I can step over into 18:11 condemnation. 18:13 The voices in our head you're not good enough. 18:15 Have you heard that lie before? 18:17 You'll never amount to anything. 18:19 Have you heard that lie before? 18:21 Who do you think you are trying to follow God seeking to 18:25 restore that relationship struggling to find freedom from 18:29 addiction? 18:30 You're just a failure. 18:33 You'll never amount to anything. 18:36 Now I've been a Christian. 18:38 I was born and raised in the Adventist Church. 18:40 That does not mean I was a Christian but I would say that 18:43 when I accepted Jesus in my heart for the very first time I 18:46 was a teenager so that's a very long time ago and some of you 18:50 say well it might just be a few years ago but anyways it was 18:54 several years ago and yet even today Satan can still come with 19:02 his accusations. 19:04 Even today he comes in with condemnation and at that point 19:10 you and I don't have to live under that. 19:13 We don't have to live in shame. 19:16 I'm reminded of Zechariah 3. 19:18 I love that Joshua the high priest is there Satan standing 19:22 at the right hand to accuse him because that's what Satan's 19:25 good at and Jesus says the Lord rebuke you the Lord rebuke you 19:31 and he covers him in his righteousness takes off the 19:37 dirty robe covers him in his righteousness so the Holy 19:41 Spirit brings conviction of sin not in a sense of condemnation 19:47 not in a sense of failure or shame he just pricks our 19:53 conscience and says I love you There's something here in your 19:57 life, and I want you to surrender that or repent or 20:01 give that to me. 20:03 So, result number one of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our 20:06 hearts is conviction. 20:09 The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. 20:11 Number two is courage. 20:15 The Holy Spirit gives us courage to act because once we 20:18 have conviction, once the Holy Spirit brings conviction to our 20:23 heart, we have a choice to make, do we not? 20:26 So when the Holy Spirit says, Jill, you need to go ask 20:30 forgiveness over here of so-and -so because you acted badly or 20:35 your attitude was wrong. 20:36 I have a choice, do I not? 20:38 And I can say, oh, thank you God for showing me my heart and 20:43 I want to go and make that right. 20:45 Or I can say, it was their fault. 20:48 You ever been there? 20:49 Oh, I'm the one in the right. 20:50 There's no issue here, and I can harden my heart against the 20:56 prompting of the Holy Spirit. 20:58 Every time the Holy Spirit brings conviction to our 21:02 hearts, we have a choice. 21:04 Are we going to act, courage to act, or are we going to act and 21:08 repent? 21:12 just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 21:15 Are we going to reach out for the wrongs that we have 21:21 committed against someone else and ask forgiveness, or what if 21:24 somebody asks me for forgiveness? 21:27 Sometimes that takes courage to say, I do forgive you and not 21:30 hold that grudge. 21:31 Is that true? 21:33 Sometimes we're called to make restitution. 21:35 Remember Zacchaeus? 21:36 He stole from all those people and what did he do? 21:39 He said, I'm going to give fourfold back restitution. 21:45 Sometimes if we gossiped about somebody else, God says, I want 21:49 you to go back and make that right. 21:52 Courage. 21:53 The Holy Spirit gives us courage to act. 21:56 He brings conviction to our heart, and once we have that 22:00 conviction, we have a choice to make. 22:02 Are we going to act on the convicting power of the Holy 22:04 Spirit? 22:05 Are we going to do what he's asking us to do? 22:08 Result number three is change. 22:11 Let's go back to the book of Galatians. 22:13 We started there. 22:14 Go back to Galatians chapter five, change. 22:18 The Holy Spirit is the one who transforms our lives. 22:24 Galatians five, we have this tug of war experience, the 22:27 flesh warring against the Spirit and the Spirit warring 22:31 against the flesh going back and forth. 22:33 Galatians five, we have this list, the works of the flesh on 22:38 this side, and they are plural because there's a multiplicity 22:41 of evil that Satan can entice us to do and the fruit of the 22:46 Spirit being singular because it's not as if I work for 22:52 several weeks on love and then I'm going to graduate to joy 22:56 and then I'm going to try to achieve peace. 22:58 It's all the work of the Holy Spirit. 23:00 And when he enters my heart, he gives me everything, the love 23:04 and the joy and the peace and the patience. 23:07 All of that is the work of the Holy Spirit. 23:10 So let's look at it. 23:11 We'll spend just a moment on the works of the flesh. 23:14 I don't want to spend too much time on that. 23:16 Then we'll transition to the fruit of the Spirit. 23:19 Galatians five, 19. 23:20 The works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, 23:25 fornication, uncleanness, lewdness. 23:29 Now those four, they all have to do with what type of sin? 23:33 Sexual sin. 23:34 Do they not? 23:35 All four of them have to do with Now many times when we 23:41 talk about sexual sin, we address the brethren. 23:47 Do we not? 23:50 And there is sexual sin there. 23:52 Absolutely. 23:53 Pornography is a huge issue. 23:55 Other types of sexual sin, that's a big issue. 23:57 And I'm not saying that's only a male issue. 23:59 Females can get involved in that as well. 24:02 But I want to talk to my sisters as Pastor Ryan Johnson 24:05 taught me a new word, I love that word. 24:08 I said, I am a sister in. 24:10 I never knew I could be a sister in. 24:11 I just love that. 24:13 The brethren and sister in. 24:15 So I want to talk to my sister in right now. 24:19 I believe we can step into this sin just as much. 24:26 Because for a woman, it's a sin of the mind. 24:30 It is fairy tales, imagination, romantic thoughts, and 24:37 daydreams. 24:38 It is why women like to read romance novels. 24:42 It's why women like to watch soap operas. 24:46 It's why women like to watch romantic movies. 24:50 Because it makes us dissatisfied and it creates 24:54 lust in the heart. 24:56 And my sister in, it is just as much sin as when we talk to our 25:03 brethren in pornography. 25:05 It manifests differently and it looks differently, but sin is 25:08 sin. 25:09 So this is the works of the flesh. 25:11 We talk about the sexual sins in verse 20, Galatians 5, 20. 25:14 What's the next word? 25:16 Idolatry. 25:19 I don't worship Baal or Ashtoreth. 25:23 No, I don't worship graven images. 25:25 Do you know what idol is? 25:26 Anything you put in the place of God. 25:29 An idol is anything that we give more attention to than 25:32 God. 25:34 An idol is anything that we give more time to than God. 25:39 So that means sports can be an idol. 25:42 That means my house can be an idol. 25:45 That means my relationship with my family could be an idol. 25:51 That means my ministry at 3ABN could be an idol. 25:58 Anything that we put ahead of God, idolatry, sorcery, that's 26:05 witchcraft, hatred. 26:07 Have you seen hatred in the families? 26:09 Have you seen hatred in the church? 26:14 Jealousy. 26:15 Have you seen jealousy in the church? 26:17 Outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition, dissension, heresy, 26:21 envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries, the like, of which I 26:24 tell you beforehand, just as I told you in time past, those 26:27 who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 26:37 I think so many times we can feel that we're secure. 26:44 I go to church on the Sabbath. 26:47 I pay tithes. 26:50 I believe in the doctrines. 26:53 And yet you and I have hatred in our heart for other people. 26:58 We backbite. 27:00 There might be lust lurking inside. 27:06 I could be holding something in the place of God. 27:10 If I'm being honest with you, I'm every one of those works of 27:15 the flesh. 27:16 I think at one point or another in my life, I have stepped into 27:21 every single one of those sins. 27:25 But we don't have to stay there. 27:27 We don't have to live that way. 27:32 Just because we have a past does not mean that God cannot 27:37 transform us. 27:38 We're talking about the third result of the work of the Holy 27:41 Spirit in the life of the believer is change. 27:44 The Holy Spirit takes us from these works of the flesh, 27:50 transforms us to the fruit of the Spirit. 27:52 And what is that fruit? 27:54 We see that in verse 22. 27:55 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy. 28:01 I want love for everyone, not just certain people. 28:06 I want peace in my heart, no matter what the circumstances. 28:09 I want long suffering and patience. 28:12 I want kindness and goodness to be exemplified in my life. 28:17 I want faithfulness. 28:19 The Greek word pistis is the root word for faith. 28:22 I want that in my life. 28:24 Gentleness, humility, self -control. 28:30 Oh, praise the Lord. 28:31 This is the work when you and I surrender to allow the Holy 28:36 Spirit access. 28:38 Galatians 2.20. 28:39 I think Pastor John Denzi quoted that. 28:41 I'm crucified with Christ. 28:43 Nevertheless, it's not me who lives, but Christ does the 28:46 work. 28:52 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave 28:58 himself for me. 29:00 I got a letter at work. 29:02 Now that's not unusual. 29:04 We get mail all the time, but this one is extra special to 29:06 me. 29:07 I crossed my desk probably eight years ago and you say, 29:11 how do you remember a letter from eight years ago, Jill? 29:14 You'll find out why. 29:15 So it was addressed to Mrs. Jill Morricone. 29:21 And instantly when I saw the handwriting, it was cursive and 29:24 super feminine looking. 29:26 And I just thought, oh, one of my sisters in Jesus must've 29:29 written me a really nice note. 29:31 And I was so excited. 29:32 And it was from a woman. 29:33 She had her name there. 29:34 And I opened up the letter. 29:36 It was handwritten, every page, beautiful, almost calligraphy, 29:40 beautiful handwriting, eight pages long. 29:43 And I was excited. 29:45 And I thought, thank you, Jesus. 29:47 One of my sisters is sending me a note just to encourage, cause 29:51 you know, we all need to encourage each other. 29:53 And there's days where you need extra encouragement. 29:56 And I was so happy and I opened up the letter and there was not 30:03 one word of encouragement. 30:08 So there was talk about how my voice sounded and what I need 30:15 to do to improve it. 30:17 There was talk about the gestures I make when I talk 30:20 with my hands and it showed pride in my life. 30:25 And there was talk about the way I dressed and how I fixed 30:30 my hair. 30:31 And she ended by saying, there's sin in your life and 30:37 you're selfish. 30:39 There's pride. 30:41 You need to repent. 30:43 I believe you're a Jezebel. 30:47 And I remember, I just cried. 30:51 You know, one of those hurtful. 30:54 And this is the power of the gospel. 30:57 It was probably three days later, later I was reading in 31:01 my devotions and I just happened to be, this is the way 31:05 of the Holy Spirit works. 31:07 I just happened to be in the book of Romans and that's where 31:11 I was in my devotions. 31:13 I didn't open up to Romans and say, I'm going to read this 31:15 passage. 31:21 morning for devotion, I came across this passage, Romans 15 31:24 verse five. 31:26 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like 31:31 -minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that 31:36 you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and 31:39 father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 31:41 Therefore receive one another just as Christ received us to 31:48 the glory of God. 31:51 And instantly the Holy Spirit brought conviction to my heart. 31:56 Remember the first result of the Holy Spirit is conviction 31:58 as in, and he said, Jill, I have received you as my 32:04 daughter. 32:05 Can you not receive this woman as your sister? 32:14 And then he said, there is pride in your life because the 32:20 spirit of pride is the spirit of offense. 32:24 And that letter had offended me. 32:28 And because it had, that showed me that pride was self was 32:33 still alive in my heart. 32:36 And so I went to God and I asked forgiveness and he said, 32:40 it's already done. 32:43 And then what's the next step? 32:45 We need courage to act. 32:47 So God said, you write her a letter. 32:50 And so I wrote her back and I said, it took a lot of courage 32:54 to send that and thank you. 32:57 And you were right. 32:59 There is pride in my life and I want to grow. 33:05 Thank you. 33:07 And you know what happened? 33:09 She became a friend. 33:10 Amen. 33:13 Look at God. 33:15 That's the power of the Holy Spirit to change our hearts. 33:22 It reminds me of Ezekiel 36. 33:24 I love Ezekiel 36. 33:25 Ezekiel 36 verse 26 is a new heart I'm going to give you and 33:31 I'm going to give you a new spirit. 33:33 Now this word for spirit means disposition. 33:37 That means God can give Jill an attitude adjustment. 33:41 Do you know how many times I need an attitude adjustment? 33:44 How many times God wants to work in my heart? 33:47 He can give me a new disposition, but it doesn't 33:49 stop there. 33:50 He's going to take out my heart of stone. 33:53 He's going to give me a heart of flesh. 33:56 Verse 27, I will put my spirit. 33:58 That word is ruach. 34:00 Remember wind, breath, spirit. 34:02 Here it means Holy Spirit. 34:04 I will put my Holy Spirit within you. 34:07 And what is the result of the Holy Spirit? 34:10 And cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my 34:13 judgments and do them. 34:14 What does that mean? 34:15 When the Holy Spirit dwells in, we have power to obey. 34:19 It's not me trying harder. 34:21 It's not me gritting my teeth. 34:23 It's not me saying, well, I need to try to forgive, or I 34:26 need to try to do better, or I need to try to change my 34:29 attitude. 34:36 walk in obedience. 34:37 It is a natural outgrowth of the Holy Spirit dwelling 34:41 inside. 34:43 He says, when the spirit's within you, you will walk in my 34:46 statutes. 34:47 You will keep my judgments and do them. 34:49 You would dwell in the land I gave your fathers. 34:51 You would be my people and I will be your God. 34:54 So number one result was, do you remember? 34:58 Conviction, conviction of sin. 35:00 Number two was courage, courage to act. 35:03 Once we have conviction, we need to do something with that 35:06 conviction. 35:07 So we need to walk in obedience. 35:09 Number three was change. 35:12 The Holy Spirit is the one who transforms our hearts and lives 35:15 inside. 35:16 Number four, now you might be a little surprised at this, is 35:19 combat. 35:21 Combat, war, battle, combat. 35:25 Number four is combat. 35:27 The Holy Spirit empowers us for war. 35:32 Now you might say, wait a minute, Jill, I thought the 35:35 Holy Spirit was all about the fruits of the spirit. 35:39 He is. 35:40 I thought it was all about exhibiting peace and love and 35:44 joy. 35:45 That's true. 35:46 I thought it was all about forgiveness and compassion. 35:50 That's true. 35:52 I thought it was all about kindness and humility. 35:56 That's true. 35:57 I thought it was about turning the other cheek, Jill. 36:01 Well, that's biblical. 36:03 I thought it was all about exhibiting the fruit of the 36:06 spirit. 36:07 That is true. 36:09 But war, does the Holy Spirit call us to go to combat? 36:14 Go to me to Judges. 36:15 Go with me to the book of Judges. 36:17 Judges chapter three, we just finished recording fourth 36:21 quarter for the 3 a.m. 36:22 Salvation School panel. 36:23 Quarter three is on the book of Exodus. 36:25 It's a great study. 36:26 You're going to love it. 36:27 Quarter four was on the book of Joshua. 36:30 We finished it a couple of weeks ago. 36:32 It's a great study. 36:34 And at the very end of Joshua, the last chapter, Joshua is 110 36:39 years old. 36:41 He's about ready to die and he does a covenant renewal with 36:45 the people and then he challenges them. 36:49 Do not worship other idols. 36:52 Stay true to God. 36:54 Follow him. 36:56 We get to Judges chapter three, which is not that many years 37:00 after the death of Joshua and what has happened to the 37:02 people. 37:03 They have stepped into idol worship. 37:06 They've already stepped over to worshiping Baal. 37:11 And the Lord delivered them, if you were to call it that, into 37:18 the hand of an impressive foreign ruler. 37:21 They served him for eight years. 37:22 We're in Judges three, verse eight. 37:24 The children of Israel served Cushon Rishatham eight years. 37:31 Now, he was an impressive foreign ruler from Mesopotamia. 37:36 And in Hebrew, his name means Cushon of double wickedness or 37:43 doubly wicked Cushon. 37:45 So he's an evil tyrannical king. 37:49 The children of Israel are in bondage because of their idol 37:53 worship. 37:54 Verse nine, when the children of Israel cried out to the 37:56 Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of 37:59 Israel who delivered them. 38:00 His name is Alphenel. 38:02 I love that, that even when we step into sin, even when we're 38:07 in judgment because of that sin, God's mercy is still. 38:13 God loves us. 38:15 And the moment they repented, the moment they responded to 38:20 the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, God set about 38:25 events to bring deliverance. 38:28 And God used Alphenel. 38:29 Verse 10, the spirit of the Lord, that word is Ruach, here 38:34 referring to the Holy Spirit, came upon him and he judged 38:37 Israel. 38:44 The Berean standard Bible said the spirit of the Lord came 38:46 upon him. 38:47 He became Israel's judge and he went out to war. 38:53 So the Holy Spirit enabled Alphenel to judge and we would 38:56 say, okay, we understand that the Holy Spirit gives wisdom 38:59 and ability to judge, but the Holy Spirit also enabled him to 39:03 what? 39:04 Go out to war. 39:07 So the Holy Spirit enabled him to war. 39:09 So let me ask you, what are you and I to war against? 39:15 Yes. 39:17 Ephesians 6, 12, we do not wrestle against flesh and 39:21 blood. 39:24 spouse. 39:25 No, that's not what the Bible says. 39:27 We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. 39:29 I thought we were going to war against the pastor. 39:32 No, that's not what the word says. 39:34 I thought we were going to war against the coworker we don't 39:36 like. 39:38 No, that's not what the word says. 39:40 We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against 39:43 principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this 39:46 age, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly 39:49 places. 39:50 You and I do not war against people. 39:54 We war against Satan. 39:57 We war against self, and we war against sin. 40:05 Three S's. 40:07 Satan, self, and sin. 40:10 Now you say, oh, I'm going to war against the self in you. 40:12 It doesn't work that way. 40:13 I war against my own self, which is Satan and sin, right? 40:17 Inside of me. 40:21 That's self in your own life. 40:25 My meeting went badly. 40:29 You ever had a bad meeting where you win the argument and 40:35 you lose the war? 40:36 I wish I could tell you this is a very long time ago, but it 40:39 was probably just a month ago. 40:42 And I remember lying in bed that night. 40:47 I think Greg was sleeping. 40:49 And he sounded like he's sleeping. 40:54 That came out wrong. 40:55 He does not snore. 40:56 Okay, that was too much information. 40:59 Just for the record, he does not snore. 41:02 Okay, so he was sleeping. 41:03 That's the point. 41:04 And I was crying because the Holy Spirit was bringing 41:10 conviction to my heart that I needed to apologize. 41:18 Not saying anything was wrong with what took place in the 41:21 meeting, but my heart was not right. 41:24 You ever known that? 41:26 My spirit was not surrendered. 41:30 I had let self get in the way. 41:36 And so I wrestled with God. 41:41 I went to war. 41:43 The Holy Spirit enabled me to go to war against my own self 41:48 and against sin and against Satan in my life at that 41:53 moment. 41:54 Cause I wanted to say, Oh, I'm not going back and I'm not 41:57 going to apologize. 41:58 And we're going to let, right? 41:59 This was a human nature wants to do that. 42:04 And so I'm so grateful for the power of the Holy Spirit. 42:07 And I'm so grateful that we can surrender to that conviction. 42:11 And I went back the next day to make restitution, to talk to 42:18 the people involved in the situation and say, I am so 42:22 sorry. 42:23 My heart was not and it was not the spirit of Jesus. 42:27 So when we talk about going to war, who are our enemies? 42:31 I don't know about you, but I wore against hereditary and 42:36 cultivated tendencies to sin. 42:38 I wore against sinful emotions and passions. 42:45 The Holy Spirit empowers you and I to go to war against self 42:52 against sin and against Satan in our hearts and in our lives. 42:58 And the beautiful thing is it all involves surrender. 43:02 When the Holy Spirit, number one was conviction, when the 43:05 Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin, I have a choice. 43:08 Am I going to surrender to God's way? 43:10 God, I want you to live inside. 43:11 God, I don't want this God. 43:13 And then when he comes in number three, he changes us, 43:17 transforms our lives into his image and then and only then 43:20 you and I are enabled to go to war, go to combat as it were 43:24 against self and Satan and sin. 43:26 And finally, number five is commission. 43:31 Number five is commission. 43:33 The Holy Spirit sends us forth. 43:38 We're going to the book of Acts. 43:39 We're going to end there. 43:40 The book of Acts turned with me to Acts one verse eight. 43:43 You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon 43:46 me. 43:47 You shall be witnesses. 43:49 That word is Martus in the Greek. 43:51 It means an eye or an ear witness. 43:55 In other words, you and I are to share what we have seen and 44:01 what we have heard. 44:03 The most effective witness for Jesus Christ is someone who has 44:08 experienced the power of the gospel in their own life and 44:13 their own heart. 44:15 When you and I know that God can give us victory over sin. 44:19 When you and I know that God can change a heart of stone and 44:23 turn it into a heart of flesh. 44:25 When we have experienced that for ourselves, then we have a 44:30 testimony to share. 44:32 Then we can share what God has done in our heart and in our 44:34 life. 44:36 That's at home in Judea, Samaria to the end of the 44:40 earth. 44:41 If you look at Acts chapter two verse one, it says what? 44:46 When the day of Pentecost had fully come, there were with one 44:51 accord in one place. 44:52 Now Pentecost means in Greek fiftieth. 44:56 It's 50 days from the crucifixion. 44:58 Jesus died, was resurrected, and 50 days later Pentecost 45:02 comes. 45:03 The disciples have spent 10 days in the upper room, 10 days 45:07 repenting and confessing sins, 10 days working to make things 45:12 right with each other as brothers and sisters, 10 days 45:19 in united prayer. 45:20 And what happened? 45:22 Verse four, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. 45:23 The Holy Spirit was poured out upon them. 45:28 And what was the result? 45:29 The end of that chapter, we find out that 3000 people were 45:32 added to the church. 45:34 And then you get down to the end of chapter two verse 47, 45:37 the Lord added to the church daily those who are being 45:42 saved. 45:43 And as you keep reading, you discover the numbers now 5,000 45:46 men and you keep reading through the book of Acts and 45:48 you discover now the priests and the religious leaders are 45:51 accepting Jesus. 45:52 And then we get to act seven and we have the stoning of 45:55 Stephen and you'd think that would crush the New Testament 45:58 church. 45:59 And yet what happened? 46:00 The believers were scattered, the persecution pushed them out 46:04 from Jerusalem and they were scattered around the then known 46:09 world, preaching the gospel, sharing Jesus and the power 46:15 that the Holy Spirit can bring in life and heart. 46:19 A.W. 46:26 today, 95% of what we do would go on and nobody would know the 46:34 difference. 46:35 If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New 46:39 Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop and 46:46 everybody would know the difference. 46:52 I want to ask you in closing, is the God of the past the God 46:59 of the present? 47:02 Is the God of the Bible the God today? 47:07 I heard a story many years ago and it stayed with me through 47:12 all those years. 47:14 I'm going to share it with you briefly. 47:17 There was a missionary who went to the far East 47:25 and he shared the gospel. 47:32 Simple. 47:35 Many people in that remote village accepted Jesus and then 47:43 the missionary went on to another place, another 47:47 location, and the people who were left there in that village 47:56 carried on with what they knew and the knowledge of the word 48:01 that they knew. 48:07 They didn't know much but they knew that Jesus had died for 48:09 their sins. 48:11 They didn't know a great deal but they proclaimed the truth 48:15 that they knew. 48:22 And then a man in the village passed away and one of the new 48:27 Christian leaders went to his bedside. 48:29 He's laid out in the bed. 48:31 They're getting ready to bury him and the man knew enough. 48:37 He didn't know a lot about God but he knew enough to know that 48:42 when Jesus walked this earth, he calmed the storms and he 48:49 controlled the winds. 48:51 He knew enough to know that when Jesus walked this world, 48:57 he cleansed the leper and he healed the sick. 49:02 He knew enough to know that when Jesus walked this world, 49:08 he raised the dead. 49:10 But he didn't know enough to know that that same Jesus 49:15 couldn't do that today. 49:18 And so he knelt down by the dead man and he prayed a very 49:23 simple prayer. 49:25 Lord Jesus, so that others may know that you are real, would 49:31 you please wake up my brother? 49:36 And the dead man opened his eyes and he sat up. 49:42 That, my brothers and sisters, brethren and sister, is the 49:49 work of resurrection power in the life of a believer. 49:55 Now I know that's physical resurrection power but God, by 49:59 the power of his Holy Spirit, wants to do spiritual 50:03 resurrection power in our hearts and in our lives. 50:08 Do you want to experience change in your life? 50:13 Do you want to experience change in your heart? 50:17 Are you tired of running forward and then falling back 50:22 into sin, into addiction, into whatever's going on in your 50:27 life? 50:28 Do you want to experience transforming grace of God, the 50:34 power of the Holy Spirit in your life and in your heart? 50:39 I do. 50:41 Do you want to experience change in your marriage? 50:45 Do you want to experience change in your home and with 50:48 your children? 50:50 Do you want experience that resurrection power in your 50:54 ministry and in your church? 50:58 Sometimes, if I'm being honest with you, the way is really 51:05 deep. 51:06 The valley is difficult. 51:07 Have you felt that? 51:09 Sometimes the mountain is steep and we don't know how we're 51:13 going to get up over it. 51:17 Sometimes the body is just weary and we say, God, I've 51:22 stumbled yet again. 51:26 And he, the convicting power of the Holy Spirit says, come 51:31 back, repent, turn to me. 51:35 I can give you the grace and the power and the strength to 51:44 carry on. 51:46 And so as Tim ministers right now, I want to invite you if 51:51 twofold, if in your hearts and in your life, you want to 51:56 experience resurrection power, I invite you to come forward. 52:01 Or if in the life of someone in your family that you are 52:07 praying for, if they need resurrection power, if they 52:11 need to know that the God of the past is still the God of 52:16 the present, I invite you to come forward as Tim ministers. 52:21 When the valley is deep, when the mountain is steep, when the 52:38 body is weary, When we stumble and fall, when the choices are 52:53 hard, when we're battered and scarred, When we've spent our 53:06 resources, when we've given our all, 53:18 in Jesus' name we press on. 53:29 In Jesus' name we press on. 53:41 Dear Lord, with the prize clear before our eyes, we find the 53:59 strength to press on. 54:07 Dear Lord, with the prize clear before our eyes, we find the 54:28 strength to press on. 54:37 God, we come before you because we are weak. 54:44 We can't change our hearts. 54:47 We can't do good who are accustomed to doing evil. 54:52 But you are the God of the impossible. 54:55 You are the God who can take what is dead and make it life 54:59 again. 55:01 So God, in our hearts that may seem hard and stony and cold, 55:07 in our lives and relationships that may seem broken, could you 55:13 bring healing? 55:17 In our bodies that may seem broken, could you restore us? 55:27 We surrender right now. 55:32 We surrender. 55:34 Those things we've been holding on to, those sins which so 55:39 easily be said, and we ask that you would come in by the power 55:45 of your Holy Spirit, that you could bring change. 55:50 And God, we want to go to war against Satan and self and sin 55:57 in our lives. 55:58 We know that you can change us and make us into the image of 56:04 Jesus. 56:05 And we want to be sent forth to share the glorious power of the 56:11 Gospel with our brothers and sisters. 56:16 We thank you Lord Jesus in the precious and holy name of 56:21 Jesus. 56:22 Amen. 56:24 So here, we're going off air in just a moment. 56:28 I'll come right down here and anybody who wants special 56:30 prayer will spend time together. 56:32 We have a half hour before the next meeting so we can spend 56:34 time together praying. 56:36 And for those of you at home, you are part of the 3BN family. 56:40 We have a pastoral department you can call. 56:43 We would love to pray with you because God wants to bring 56:47 resurrection power into your heart and into your life and he 56:51 wants to change you. 56:54 Our God is good. 56:55 Our God is faithful. 56:58 Our God can bring change and transformation and where it 57:03 seems dead and hopeless, our God can do a new thing. 57:09 God bless you. |
Revised 2025-06-05