Matthew, I don't remember if I told you where to turn, Matthew chapter 7. We're in a study about the Holy Spirit, and that's an important thing, that we might know the Holy Spirit, which that's connected to our salvation, of course. But as I was preparing and reading, Of course last time we didn't get through the whole study And I'm not gonna read teach all of that but I got to get us to a point where we can jump in okay Matthew chapter 7 verse 11 And Jesus says, now we're in, that's Matthew 7, so that's part of the Sermon on the Mount. Okay, that's a discipleship lesson that Jesus is giving. Just, I think it's important that we remember that this is not a general sermon for a bunch of unsaved people. This is not a gospel message. The Sermon on the Mount is a discipleship message. Way back in chapter 5, seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them saying." Meaning he taught his disciples. Were there other people there? Most assuredly. There were always a lot of people there. But the key is the lesson was to his disciples. So that's important. All right, verse 11, excuse me, here in chapter 7. Jesus says, If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? Now go to Luke, Luke 11. because the question may arise what does he mean by the good things and in Luke 11 we find in the parallel passage we find the answer Luke 11 and verse 13 Jesus says if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children Almost what we just read How much more shall your heavenly father give? the Holy Spirit to them that ask him Give the Holy Spirit father. Would you help us, please? I? Tonight, as we look at a subject that is vitally important in our Christian life, and I pray you might help us give me clear thought and speech. We do pray for the meetings with Brother Brady that are upon us. And Father, I pray you might even be bringing to our mind Faces and names of people that we want to influence and encourage to to come and attend that the Word of God Through the power of the Holy Spirit would had an impact in their life and help them Would you bless in those efforts, Father, all the mailings that have been done, the ads that'll show up in the paper, the flyers that'll be distributed. Would you bless all those efforts, Father, please? We pray you might watch over Brother Brady as he travels and just give clarity and direction to him as to what it is you want him to preach. and that our hearts would be tender and receptive. Father, would you work, please? I pray. I pray for Mandy and just help her with recovery from the surgery. Father, I'm sure that she and Joe are a bit discouraged with the outcome of the case. But as we heard previously in another prayer, you knew all this was going to happen. And so you can use these things for your glory in our lives. And so we pray that for them. Would you help them? Be with us now tonight, I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Isn't it wonderful that Jesus says that the Heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit if we'll ask. That's a great thing, isn't it? But what does that mean? And that's maybe where there is some confusion, or potentially some confusion. As I said last time, the Holy Spirit is not a power that we access like a spiritual Red Bull or something. He's not an energy drink. He's not, it's a he, he's a person. It's a person. And so he's not a power that we access, but he is the source and seat of God's power for us to live the Christian life. He's the one we need to enable us and he's willing It's interesting, he's probably more willing to give us that enabling. How do I say this? His willingness is greater than our commitment. I mean, that's just... Doesn't Paul say, be not drunk with wine? Okay. But, be filled with the Spirit. Both of those are commands. He's commanded us. That's a command from the Lord. Be not drunk with wine. So, you know, to be drunk is to violate God's commands. But the command to not be drunk is equally as powerful as the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So, I've never been drunk, praise the Lord. I don't know if you have. You don't need to confess that. I don't know what that's like. I've seen some drunk people and they usually don't behave very well. whether they're angry drunks or happy drunks, they have problems, okay? And when they're in the midst of being drunk, because they're kind of, you know, whether we want to say, oh, they're controlled by the drink, well, the drink doesn't really control them, the drink just removes their natural inhibitions. And what they would have said or done without normal self-control, that self-control is now not engaged. That's one way to think about it But the point is if I'm commanded to not do this, but then on the flip side, but I am commanded to do this That means I'm as filled with the Holy Spirit as I choose to be That's a that's a choice I made So that's another way of us thinking about, if we'll ask, He says that He will give. Now, thinking about the Holy Spirit as a power. So in preparation, I started reading this little book, again, I was probably the third or fourth time, because I found two bookmarkers in this book, which means I Each time I forgot I had already begun to read it. It's a rather old book. I know that because it's falling apart. The pages are yellow. It's old. The author is Charles Finney. If you know anything about, that's a long time ago, okay, long time ago. Charles Finney is sometimes credited with, sometimes it's called the Third Great Awakening stages of things that happened in the religious realm in our country. But the title is Power From On High. So it's a collection of, I think, sermons or lectures that he gave about the Holy Spirit. And he starts by talking about how there's all this asking, meaning a desire that we'll have this power. And so there's lots of asking, but very little evidence of it. And It makes me think about an event when I was a teenager between, well that would have been between my junior and senior year in high school. I went on a summer missions trip with a group called Team Missions International. And our particular group was like a work party all summer long and it started out in Florida and we were at this camp ground and so we were supposed to build a big pavilion. Kind of like the one we built at camp. The outside sports pavilion. That's kind of what we were supposed to be building. But we had to chop these trees down. I don't know what kind of species of pine tree they were, but I think they were made out of concrete, because they gave us axes, which was probably pretty dangerous, actually, for a bunch of teenagers to be swinging axes. So there we are, swinging axes, and Paul Bunyan does not look like me. Okay, I don't have Babe the Blue Ox. But we'd swing that axe and the axe was a boing, it just bounced off. I mean, after about three chops, we'd have to go to the shop and one of the staff would re-sharpen the axe. I don't know how many times we sharpened those axes. They must have been down to like, you know, butter knife size by the time we got done because they were constantly sharpening those axes. And we didn't have enough power. In fact, eventually what we did is we quit chopping those trees and we went to a different project. It's like, well, we can't get that done. You know, sometimes our Christian life seems to be like that. We're facing something, and we know we need the Lord to help, so we ask, but we can't seem to get it done, and so rather than figure out why, it's easier just to say, oh well, so much for that, let's try something else. Well, there may be some reasons for that. Jesus said in John 15 5 without me ye can do Nothing. Okay, so we know we need the Lord, right? We need the Lord to help us and all these things in our life And Jesus, you know John 14 through 16 those three chapters he talks about That he's not gonna be here and so he's gonna do what I Send the Comforter. Who is that? That's the Holy Spirit, right? Has the Comforter come? Yes, he has. So he's here. Now, that leads me, because I want to read a chunk, because it just struck me. Not a good way, actually. He says that this is made a constant subject of prayer. Everybody prays for this at all times. And yet with all this intersection, how few comparatively are really endued with the spirit of power from on high. So he begins to talk about why. How then is this discrepancy to be explained? I then proceeded to show why this endowment is not received. If there was something you could do to ensure you had the power of the Holy Spirit, would we do it? We all know what the proper answer would be is, of course. If I have to do X, Y, and Z, then give them to me in the right order and I'll go do them. Check, check, check, bingo, I qualify. Right? Okay. So he says, I then proceeded to show why this endowment is not received. I said, number one, we are not willing, upon the whole, to have what we desire at ask. Number two, God has expressly informed us that if we regard iniquity in our hearts, He will not hear us, but the petitioner is often self-indulgent. This is iniquity, and God will not hear him. Three, he is uncharitable. Four, censorious. Five, self-dependent. Six, resists convictions of sin. Seven, refuses to confess. And I could go on. He lists 27 things, and that's why we don't have the power of the Holy Spirit. Now I'm just going to tell you, I reject that 100%. Because you cannot work the power of the Spirit up. The power of the Holy Spirit isn't a work that you can get or qualify to get. Because it's not a power, it's a person. It's a person. He even goes on to talk about how people in the ministry, you know, they don't have the power of the Spirit. And that's because they haven't done what it says in Acts and wait for the coming of the promise. And say, well, Esther, how dare you, you know, be in conflict with Charles Finney? He's just a man. He's just a man. I don't deny God used him in great ways at the time that God used him, in phenomenal ways. But that doesn't mean all his theology is correct. We need a clear proclamation from the word, not the opinion of the preacher. Okay, we need the word, what's God say? So, as I read that, it kind of, my blood pressure was going up, and it was bothering me. I thought, really what he's saying is, it's all my fault. Now, I don't deny, if I'm hiding sin in my heart, God's, that's gonna hinder my prayers. Okay. But you know, if the power of the Spirit is like water going through a pipe, in other places Jesus talks about the presence of the Spirit is gonna be like fountains of living water flowing out of you, right? Well, if your pipe is clogged, sometimes it shuts the water off all the way. In the parsonage, Bridget and I have discovered that if either one is in the shower, please do not turn on the dishwasher. It is an immediate change of temperature. And now I feel like I'm in one of those Arctic sort of challenge things, like, whoa, you know, you can't even scream, it's freezing me to death. So there could be a clog in the pipe, so there's no flow of water. But typically it doesn't happen instantaneous, does it? The clog sort of builds. I only say that because there are people who maybe, even Charles Finney, many places where he would go and preach, it was phenomenal what would happen. People would fall right out of the pew. they would cry out for mercy. People in the town would become so overwhelmed with the guilt of their own sin, they would try to find their way to the church, and they hadn't heard any preaching at all. It's just amazing things happen, okay? Bars shut down and a lot of those villages along the Pennsylvania and East Coast where Fenny's ministry primarily was, it just was amazing. Revival broke out. So I'm not dismissing that, but I just want us to clarify some things that the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, isn't just like, again, a commodity that I access. And so the problem may be my expectation is not correct. I'm looking for some external evidence of the power of the Spirit, like Pentecost. And that's not going to happen again. The Holy Spirit has come, and he's here. And so that amazing day with its amazing things that happened was a one-time event. That doesn't mean that there can't be amazing things in revivals, but it may not be like it was in Acts chapter 2 or in Finney's day. or in Wales for the Welsh Revival, or in Korea. I shouldn't be looking for that. I shouldn't be looking for tangible, temporary evidences of something that's eternal and spiritual. Because that's up to the Holy Spirit. to allow that. That's up to him. I'm not going to work it up or pray it down. Because he's already here. I don't have to pray him down. He's already here. First, go to Ephesians. We'll just go in order, the book says there. Okay, so you're not flipping back and forth and back and forth. Okay, Ephesians. And chapter four and verse 30. Here's a familiar, very familiar verse. We start talking about the Holy Spirit and we're trying to emphasize and highlight that he is a person, okay? He's not a force. He's not a, you know, a commodity, whatever. He is a person. He is the third member of the Godhead. He's part of the Trinity. He is a person and he is God, fully God. Okay, verse 30 says, and grieve not, which just means to make him sorrowful. Now who is Paul writing to? The church at Ephesus. He's writing to God's people. Therefore it's God's people who can grieve the Holy Spirit because they're His. I'm not saying that the Lord's pleased with those who are unsaved and rebellious and godless I'm just saying this this thing of causing the Holy Spirit to be disappointed and Sorrowful that happens because we already are his people And we're not living or doing as we should Notice it says and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed Okay? He's put his seal on you. You're his. Okay? You're his. And this is part of his, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the marking us as belonging to the Lord, that's part of his whole purpose for us as his people. As he marks us as his. He guides us, instructs us, enables us. That's all wrapped up in that sealing process. Go to 1 Thessalonians 5. A few books over. And verse 19. And we're told Quench, not the spirit. Quench, not. Now you can't obviously put the fire out, et cetera. But you can't do that if, in the illustration of fire, I can't quench it if it's not already there. It has to already be present. So if we're talking about quenching the Holy Spirit, the only way you could quench Him is He's already present. He's already there. Now, So we kind of understand the sense of the personhood and purpose of the Holy Spirit. I want us to move on and think then about the power of His personhood, His presence. So go to Acts chapter one. Now, sorry, now you are going backwards, but it's the second point of the lesson, so we gotta go backwards. As I was thinking through all this, because, you know, the idea of praying for the power of the Spirit, wanting however we want to describe that, the power of God to be present, et cetera, even, I mean, we have Brother Brady coming, so we're hoping, I would anticipate, we're desirous, that might be a better word, that God's gonna meet with us in a very special way. He's gonna change our lives, because the truth's gonna be presented. Okay. And so we're looking for revival. So what does that mean? You know, I mean, we could define the terms. That's not the problem. But sometimes we're anticipating, well, we're going to have revival, which means 42 people are going to get saved and join the church. So even though Mike and Donna are going to be gone, we're going to need to baptize Sheffield anyways, because half of them are going to be here Sunday morning. They're going to get saved and want to get baptized right away. Like, whoa, wow, wow, wow, isn't that amazing? And that would be amazing, amen? That would be phenomenal, okay? But then we're looking for some kind of external evidence, aren't we? So what happens if that doesn't happen? That's right, that's right. Let me ask you Rick in the last 23 years has that happened at any of our special meetings No So do we quit Do we some, what's that? Keep striving? Is it possible we might feel like maybe we should quit trying? Can we get to that point? Yeah, we can get discouraged and think, what's the point? And just go through the motions mechanically. So now there's another problem, isn't there? And so as I think about that, maybe more so because I'm the pastor and so things are supposed to be happening, right? How do you know that Rick was successful as a police officer? Yeah, reports. Yeah, what is the evidence? I'm putting you on the spot. Longevity. Reputation. There's one real obvious that nobody wants. He made it the chief. And how long as a chief? 20 years. That's got to be some kind of record. In Montana, is that the longest serving chief? Yeah. That's evidence. OK. Don't you think we want that for our church? Yeah. So when we don't see it? Yeah. But if you do it again, and you do it again, and you do it again, and you do it again, and you do it again, and you do it again, and you do it again, eventually you get to the point where you're like, now why am I doing this? Yeah. So I want to bring you to something, I don't know if it was an epiphany, maybe that's not the right term for me to use, but it's like... So here we are in Acts, okay? Now back in... And we're not gonna turn there, but we could turn back and look in Luke 24, 49, when Jesus tells them to wait for the promise of the Father. He specifically orders them before he ascends, you need to wait. And in Acts 1, it's kind of repeated again, verse 4, and being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. So he's referring back to what he said in Luke. for John truly baptized with water but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Something we have to understand, we talked about this just a little bit Monday night in the Monday night class, Acts is often referred to as a transitional book. And that's because what's happening is we're moving from a way in which God dealt with his people to a new way he's dealing with his people. God hasn't changed. Grace hasn't changed. Salvation hasn't changed. It's the outworking of how that's taken place. That's what's changed. So we could go back, we're not gonna turn there for sake of time, but we could go back to Exodus, okay, here's the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, they're leaving their time of slavery, and they're freed, and now they're out, and they get the law, right, they get the Ten Commandments, and everything that happens on Mount Sinai. And so when God enters into this very special covenant relationship with an entire nation, there was an expectation of them that they would keep the commandments. and his statutes in fact at least 11 times God specifically says about if I'm gonna paraphrase it if you'll keep all my commandments and all my statutes and I will be you know I'll give you my blessing in essence that's what he says if you want if you want if you're writing down you can write down Exodus 15 26 specifically well did that expectation ever get fulfilled Yes, in Christ. He fulfilled it. Romans 10, four. Romans 10, four, for Christ is the end of the law. righteousness to everyone that believeth." Back in chapter 8 of Romans, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled. Us not because of us but because of Christ So that expectation had a fulfillment in Christ. Well now there's a new expectation Because Christ isn't going to be here He's ascended and that's why he said you need to wait for the promise of the Father And that's Holy Spirit So Acts is a very pivotal time. If we want to put a pin somewhere, we could put it right on the day of Pentecost, because the Holy Spirit comes. Because John the Baptist said that, you know, I'm baptizing you with water, but the one who's coming, the Messiah, he's going to baptize you with the Spirit and with fire. Isn't that what happened in Acts chapter 2? The Holy Spirit came. Not that the Holy Spirit wasn't there, because the Holy Spirit is God. But there was like the next step or phase of His purpose or His function, what He was going to do. And so in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit comes. And that's what Jesus said, you wait. Verse 8, look at verse 8. Acts 1 but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth Now here's what's What I'm trying to get at Jesus didn't say and you will witness about me. That's not what he said. I We know we should, amen? Yep, we know we should. But that's not what he said. He said, ye shall be. You are a witness. Period. You are a witness. The fact that you are a believer in Christ, even the fact that you're sitting in church tonight, is part of the fact that you are a witness. You are. Either you're a good one or a bad one, but you are one. You are one. If your co-workers and neighbors don't know anything about your Christianity, which end of the spectrum are you? Bad. Okay, thank you. So if they do know, you are, yeah, better. Thank you, Sharon. Okay, okay. You don't have to wait for some kind of special evidence to be the witness. The enabling is the presence of the Holy Spirit. And that's not when you get goosebumps, or you have a flame of fire above your head, or all of a sudden you're, you know, saying funny words or whatever. That is not the evidence. He is here. He's already come. You have and I have all the enabling that we need because we're already witnesses. Already. I don't have to look for something to happen that says now I can be the witness because I already have him. because Okay, so now we go to the end the end of last Wednesday the practice Okay, so we we looked at the personhood in his purpose the power and his personhood now is the practice of his personhood Okay Which it begins with Romans 8 9 we were just reading in Romans So let's flip back over there Romans 8, 9. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. You don't have to get in the Spirit. You are already in the Spirit. He's already quickened you and made you alive. That happened at the moment of salvation. He made you alive. Okay? Now, granted, sometimes in my life the spiritual water pipes were a bit clogged, to use kind of a crude illustration. And sometimes it was flowing better. But it's not like I didn't have the spirit. I already had him. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. If you don't have the Spirit of God, you're not saved. You're not saved. So having the spirit of God isn't speaking in tongues, it's not the gift of healing, it's not somehow you have this amazing ability to talk to anybody and everybody and share the gospel. Now some people aren't like that, but my point is having the spirit of God within you isn't necessarily evidenced by an external something or other. He's there already. So then what's the... That's me making the choice. Do I submit to him? Or do I resist him? But the fact that he's there, I don't have to wait for him to show up. He's already there. Now if I'm resisting him, I would suspect There are times in your life as a child of God that the Lord was kind of poking you. You know, you ought to talk to your friend about maybe coming to church or the gospel or, you know, whatever. Something, there was that prodding. Maybe it was just, you know, maybe I ought to give them a gospel track. It was a poking, okay? The ability to do that, it's not like, I'm not like, Danny Clement, so that I can't do that. My son-in-law can talk to anybody, everybody. My brother's the same way. I used to say, he was a salesman. I said, man, he could sell ice to Eskimos. I mean, he just, you know, that's kind of, that's what he, he just had that, whatever, you get it. You don't need that to give a gospel tract. You don't need that to open your mouth. and talk about the Lord, you don't need some, ooh, I feel the Spirit's on me. Well, I mean, what is that? I don't know what that is. We just say, you know what, the Lord said, I am a witness, and I want to be a good witness. So when the Spirit sort of pokes me, I should just do what he says. Say, well, it won't be very pretty. So what? I don't have to wait for him to show up. He's already there. The power is all ready and ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon. Do you have the Holy Spirit? If you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit. You don't have to wait for something special down the road. You don't have to come down to the altar and sob your eyeballs out. You don't have to jump up and down and you know, whatever He's all ready here already Already there. I Don't have to wait for something special No spirit, no salvation 1st Corinthians 12 30, okay It says If I can get the page to turn. There we go. Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? And that applies to all the rest of the gifts. Not all have the same gift. I shouldn't expect that. But all are indwelt. All have the promise of the Father. And for some, yes, he wants you to be that sort of bubbly person who can go and talk to people. Okay, but that's not the only people who talk about who are a witness. All God's people are a witness. You might be, this could be stepping on toes, or whatever. There is the gift of giving. I don't have it. That doesn't mean I don't give. If it's a spiritual gift, it's a supernatural enabling to do something, isn't it? It's not a natural ability. It's a supernatural ability. That's a supernatural ability to somehow generate revenue to give to God's work, and maybe quite phenomenally. Okay? Some people just, you know, they have, to borrow from the world, they have the Midas touch. Okay? Anybody here have the Midas touch? Everything you touch turns to gold. Yeah, I don't have that touch. It doesn't turn to gold. It turns to something else sometimes. So it's not gold, okay? But that doesn't mean I don't give. You see how that works? I still buy my tithes and my offerings and I give over and above and I give to the Lord. I don't think that's a gift of giving, that's just I want to be thankful and express it. So some have the gift of evangelism, if you will, but that doesn't mean I don't try to evangelize. Some have the gift of, and I think preaching is a gift, some have the gift of preaching, and we can debate whether I do or not, but that's not the point, because I'm doing it, because God's told me to do it. So, not all have the same gifts, but all have the same spirit. That's the Holy Spirit, and he's the power and the enablement for us to do whatever it is he wants us to do. Lastly, Galatians 3.3. And this, I think, is gonna help me. Hopefully it will help you too. Finally, okay, so no spirit, no salvation. Not all have the same gift, but all have the same spirit. Some are filled, and that means enabled. Some are. All need it. Notice what it says in verse three. Are ye so foolish, having begun in the spirit, he's talking about salvation, you don't get saved unless the spirit of God brings conviction and you turn to Christ. Are ye now made perfect? And he's talking about spiritual maturity. Are you made perfect by the flesh? No. That's right. The same spirit that convicted you of the need to get saved is the same spirit that enables you to be mature in the Lord. And that's the only way we get there. We do not get there by developing what Kent Hughes in his book calls the spiritual disciplines. Now, that doesn't mean we shouldn't develop good habits, but Maturity in the Lord doesn't come about because you've learned good habits. But the Spirit of God enables you to establish those habits and to continue those habits. Because as soon as we start relying on ourselves, our good habits go down the tubes. So when we think about, you know, the Spirit of God, His power, revival, and what we want to happen, we're not looking necessarily for some miraculous thing to happen. That we could say, wow, that was amazing. The whole church got up and started hopping up and down and clapping hands in unison. Man, that was amazing. You know, whatever that college was back east, and they were having a big revival. And it lasted for, I don't know, weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. And everybody was kind of ranting and raving about this amazing revival. And I read one post, the guy said, Well, of course the students are down there. They don't have to go to class. Because the college administration canceled all classes. Well, yeah, they're all going to join in because I don't have to go to class. Until eventually the administration said, OK, that's gone on long enough. Stop. And it stopped just like that. I'm not so sure that was a work of God then. If man can start it and stop it, I'm not so sure that's God doing it. We don't have to wait for him. He's already here. We just have to obey him. Let him have his way. Amen? Father, I pray you'd help us. You have enabled us already. The Spirit dwells within. We have everything we need for life and godliness. We can be victorious. We don't have to wait for a special sermon. We don't have to wait for a special song or a feeling or an event because we have the person of the Holy Spirit residing within, ready to help us. Would you work, please? And even as we are looking forward to the special meetings with Brother Brady, a time that we can set aside and focus upon your truth, and that's good. We need special times of emphasis. I pray you might use that to instruct us and guide us, and you might show us things, and certainly maybe even things that need to happen in our own lives. Help us, please, I pray. Bless now, give us safety as we go our separate ways. In Jesus' name, amen.