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[0:00] Well, good morning, everybody. It's Romans chapter 8 is our reading, and this is what we call! Our vision month reflects and thinks about our purpose statement, which is on the back.

[0:19] ! We're going to get bigger at some point and put somewhere else. But it says that as followers of Jesus, we direct our lives around three objectives. We seek to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. And that's our purpose. And I'm really pleased I can take my glasses off and still see that.

[0:40] It shows I'm long-sighted, but I have to put them on to read. So if you ever wonder why does he keep doing that, it's because I need to see the Bible in front of me, as well as everything far in the distance. So it's quite a statement, isn't it? To be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

[1:00] But it shows that for us the most important thing when it comes to living the Christian life is to live that in harmony with Jesus. And today we're going to think about how God makes that possible. God makes that possible for us by giving us a divine guest to live within us, whom we call the Holy Spirit. We're going to learn whistle-stop tour through the person and work of the Holy Spirit this morning, before we get into a number of ways in which the Holy Spirit ministers to his church in this series called Word and Spirit.

[1:41] So Romans 8, first of all. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of the Son of Death.

[1:57] What was God to do in which it was beaten by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the life of the sinful man to be a self-redued.

[2:10] And so he condemns sin in sinful man. In order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit.

[2:24] Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what the nature desires. But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

[2:38] The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the sin is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

[2:51] Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.

[3:05] And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

[3:17] And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.

[3:31] Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation. But it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it, for if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die.

[3:41] But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

[3:53] For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

[4:07] Now, if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

[4:23] Amen. And the Lord will bless to us the reading of his holy word. Our divine guest, imagine that you're sitting at home and the postman arrives. Nowadays it's in the afternoon, not in the morning, like it used to be.

[4:36] And the postman arrives and there's a lovely letter, clearly sent to you by somebody who's got lots of money. And you notice the royal insignia on it.

[4:48] And you open the envelope and you take out a beautiful piece of writing paper and it's handwritten to you from King Charles. I was calling Prince Charles because Queen Elizabeth is still my queen in my head.

[5:00] But King Charles, there's a letter from King Charles III and he says to you that he's going to pay you a visit and come for tea. Excellent indeed.

[5:12] I would be really happy with that. I'm a royalist, have been all my life, always will be, I guess. And so that would be a great privilege to have King Charles visit my home.

[5:24] My wife might not think so, but I would think it was. What would I do? What would I do? Well, I would go into panic mode to prepare. Every bit of the house would be cleaned up.

[5:38] If I had time, I'd get Shane in for a bit of painting and decorating. I'd make sure the finest Earl Grey tea was in the cupboard because I'm sure he'll drink Earl Grey. And we'd have to get some China cups and tosses, although I think I have some of my mom's stuck in a cupboard at the back somewhere.

[5:56] And everything would have to be right. Even the dog would have to be cleaned. Why? Because the king is coming to your house.

[6:07] You're going to entertain a divine guest. However, bad news comes. Another letter arrives, and you're told that that visit is delayed.

[6:20] And unfortunately, they cannot tell you the day or the hour in which he will come. Your king is on his way. You just don't know when he's going to get there.

[6:33] Now, what might happen then? Well, Maggie would almost certainly go out for a walk and get mucky. Shed her dog hair all over the house. Dust would gather again.

[6:44] The paintwork would get scratched. And if Charles arrived without warning, I think I'd be a bit embarrassed by the state he'd find the house in.

[7:03] I'm going to get told I'm going to get home. Now, the point, of course, is that if you're preparing for a king to come and you know when he's going to arrive, everything would be spick and span and in order.

[7:16] But if you didn't know when he was going to arrive, you might get caught out. Now, those of you who know your Bible know where I'm going with this. Jesus said, I'm going to go away, but I'm going to send a divine guest to live in you, the Holy Spirit.

[7:34] And he's going to live in you and remind you all about me. He's going to help you to keep you as a Christian so that you can walk and follow me in this world where you will have trouble.

[7:49] Now, we know all that, and the divine guest arrives and moves in, and our body becomes what the New Testament calls a temple of the Holy Spirit.

[7:59] Oh, well, that's good, except you've got to keep it clean. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 and also in chapter 6 that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, but if you do things that displease your Lord, then you will make that temple unclean when God wants it to be clean.

[8:22] And the Bible says, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed on the day of redemption. Don't mess up the divine temple. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20 says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you've received from God?

[8:41] You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. And if you know chapter 6, Paul is talking about those who claim to be Christians, who follow the name of Christ, and then go into prostitutes.

[8:57] And he even says, Are you going to take a prostitute into your temple when Jesus is there? Is that what you're going to do? Are you going to mess up your house?

[9:10] So just because the Holy Spirit lives in you, it does not mean that you're walking with the Spirit, nor keeping in step with the Spirit, nor not quenching the Spirit's fire.

[9:23] The Holy Spirit is absolutely vital to the Christian life. He is our divine guest.

[9:34] And if we are going to be like Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did, then we need the power of the Holy Spirit within us. And that will not happen automatically with a zap from heaven.

[9:45] It will happen as we determinedly and intentionally walk with Jesus and are ministered to by the Holy Spirit within. We must be open to His flow.

[10:00] Now, Tyler Stanton, whose book I've read in preparation for this series, talks about the Holy Spirit as the most misunderstood person in the church. The most misunderstood person in the church.

[10:11] You might be surprised that that's not you, but it's not you. It's the Holy Spirit. And He's misunderstood because one of the problems we have is that we can relate to God as Father because most of us, if not all of us, have known our fathers, and whether they're good or bad, we know what fatherhood is as a concept.

[10:32] And we can relate to Jesus as a Son because, well, we know what it is to be children, but also because we've seen lots of pictures of Him and we can imagine what He looked like. And we've heard His words and we think, yeah, He'd be a good guy.

[10:45] He might look a bit like Ken with his long hair and his beard. But, you know, great. You'd be a good Jesus, Ken. But the Holy Spirit, that's difficult.

[10:58] That's why somebody asked me that the other day. How do you relate to the Spirit? How do you relate to a Spirit? So, He calls His book, Talistatin, Familiar Stranger.

[11:11] Because we've heard about the Holy Spirit, we have an idea about, well, we believe in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, don't we? But we just find really difficult to relate, at least some of us.

[11:26] I mean, how do you relate to a Spirit? It sounds a bit weird and sort of otherworldly, doesn't it? Now, Jesus said something astonishing about the Spirit in John chapter 14.

[11:38] He said to His disciples, it is better for you that I go away because unless I go away, the Holy Spirit will not come to you. And we kind of hear those words and we think, yeah, I actually don't believe that, Jesus.

[11:50] Not really. I mean, I'd rather just be here face to face with you and we could have a chat and I could ask you all the questions that I don't know the answers to and you would tell me some of the answers and I would be blessed in your presence.

[12:02] So how can it be better to have the Holy Spirit within me when the Holy Spirit is intangible, I can't touch or feel Him, but I could touch you and I could feel your presence and I could be with you.

[12:16] How can that be better? And yet Jesus is saying that. It is better for you for unless I go away, the Holy Spirit will not come to you. And when the Holy Spirit comes to you, I will come to you because the Holy Spirit becomes the means by which Jesus comes to His disciples on a daily basis.

[12:35] That's why Jesus can say, and lo, I am with you always, even to the ends of the world. It doesn't matter where you are. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter that you're separated from one another. I will always be with you because the Holy Spirit becomes the means of divine connection with Jesus.

[12:51] He makes Jesus live in us. So better that Jesus is, sorry, better that the Holy Spirit is within us than Jesus is beside us.

[13:02] Hard to take in. Better that the Holy Spirit is within us than just having Jesus beside us. After all, there were lots of people who had Jesus beside them while He walked this earth who will not end up in heaven.

[13:18] But there is no one who has the Holy Spirit within them that will not end up in heaven. For if you do not have the Spirit of Christ, Paul says in Romans 8, you do not belong to Christ.

[13:31] So let's think then about the Holy Spirit. Quick whistle-stop tour. The person of the Holy Spirit. Notice the language of the person. The Spirit is not an it.

[13:43] But He is God. Personal, relational, intentional. And Scripture is insistent that when we speak about the Holy Spirit, we use the personal pronoun He rather than the word It.

[14:00] The Holy Spirit is a person. Jesus calls Him in John 14, verse 16, the paraclete, the paracletos. That means one who comes to you and calls alongside you and stays side by side with you.

[14:16] He is your companion on the road of life. He is the one that keeps you in the way of Jesus. And He's your friend, your counselor, your advocate.

[14:28] He stands in your defense so that when you are accused before God, the Holy Spirit stands in your defense. When your sin accuses you, the Holy Spirit speaks comfort into your soul.

[14:41] He is a teacher. He reveals the words of Jesus and makes them make sense to us. He is a convictor of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment to come.

[14:53] He brings conviction into your heart and makes you say, oh, I feel really bad about that. I am sorry. Please forgive me. He does that. He guides us.

[15:05] He is the applicator of the truth of Jesus into our hearts and lives. He makes Jesus real to us so that Jesus is no longer a historical figure of mild interest, but the lover of our soul and the one whom we desire above all else.

[15:22] That's the work of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit speaks. He spoke to the church in Acts 13 and said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.

[15:33] Now a power doesn't speak. A person speaks. He teaches, we've already seen. He guides. He comforts. He can be grieved. He can be upset. A power can't be upset.

[15:45] And he also can be lied to, which is what Ananias and Sapphira did when they lied to the Holy Spirit about how much they'd put in the offering and tried to make themselves look good.

[16:02] And Peter said, how could you lie to the Holy Spirit? This is a person that we are cut to come into relationship with, the Spirit of God.

[16:14] and he is God. When you lie to the Holy Spirit, Peter says, you're not just lying to men, you're lying to God. He's absolutely explicit about that.

[16:26] This is the eternal Spirit as Hebrew 9 verse 14 says, and the only eternal being is God. So the Spirit must be God, the Holy Spirit. And he is sovereign.

[16:38] He gives gifts to the church as he wills. He exercises sovereignty because he is God. And he is relational.

[16:51] Jesus says, I will send you another helper, another of the same, another just like me. And you've been in relation with me, and you'll stay in relationship with me because the Holy Spirit will fill your life.

[17:03] He is the manifestation of Jesus within us. Now many Christians think of the Holy Spirit like we think of Wi-Fi today.

[17:15] Yeah? As an invisible and useful means of connecting with God. Connecting us to power, a bit like electricity. We get plugged into God through the Holy Spirit.

[17:26] But he is more than that. He is a person who wants to be known, not a power to be plugged into. And so when we worship God, we worship God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to use the language of a very early hymn in the 12th century, Veni Creator.

[17:46] Come, Holy Spirit, Creator, come from your bright heavenly throne. Come, take possession of our souls and make them all your own.

[17:57] You who are called the paraclete, best gift of God above, the living spring, the living fire, sweet unction and true love. Oh, guide our minds with your blessed light, with love our hearts in flame, and with your strength which never decays, confirm our mortal frame.

[18:17] Through you may we know the Father, through you the eternal Son, and you the Spirit of them both, thrice blessed, three in one. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

[18:30] let that be our prayer as we get to know the person of the Holy Spirit, that He is a person, that He is God, and He wants relationship with us.

[18:42] And then secondly, we have the presence of the Spirit, the presence of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit's presence is an empowering presence and an enlightening presence.

[18:57] He is not simply around us, He is within us. He is not simply an experience to be enjoyed, He is a holy presence to be honored and worshipped.

[19:11] And the New Testament makes it clear that the Spirit dwells in us. Did you notice in Romans 8 how many times Paul said, the Spirit lives in you? That's the thing to grasp.

[19:22] If the Spirit lives in you, He will make a difference in your life, specifically in regard to sin. He asks in chapter 6 of Romans, shall we go on sinning that grace may abound?

[19:36] Then he says, God forbid, how can we who have died to sin live any longer in it? And why is it not possible to do that? Well, because the Spirit of God is in you. And once the Spirit of God is in you, sinning becomes a difficult thing to do.

[19:51] That's the thing I noticed about Christianity when I, back in 1981, I started to hear about Jesus and I used to then feel guilty about sinning. Before that, I can't remember feeling particularly guilty about sinning, as long as I wasn't the worst sort of lad.

[20:04] I was just an ordinary lad so I could do anything I wanted. Everybody else did, why not? Then I read about Jesus and I thought, oh goodness, can't do that anymore. And if I did do it, I used to feel guilty about it.

[20:17] Why? Because the Holy Spirit was at work in me. And the Holy Spirit was saying, against my will, that's not right. That's not good.

[20:28] You ought to repent of that. Oh, give me a break, God. No, no, no. The Holy Spirit lives within us to clean us up from the inside out.

[20:40] And Paul says in Romans 8, verse 9, you, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit. If the Spirit of God lives in you, if. Because if you are being controlled by the sinful nature, then you've got to question whether the Spirit of God is living within you.

[20:57] The Holy Spirit makes us holy. that is His nature. And if you do not have the Spirit of Christ, then you do not belong to Christ.

[21:10] The evidence of a Christian is in a changed life because the Holy Spirit lives within us. That doesn't mean to say we're perfect. It doesn't mean to say we're sinless.

[21:20] Paul doesn't say that. All He says is that you will seek to put to death the misdeeds of the body. When you are faced with temptation and with sin, you will seek to drive it out.

[21:34] The Spirit dwells within us. Also, this Spirit assures us. Romans 8, 15, and 16 says, For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.

[21:48] And by Him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. So the Holy Spirit's work within us is not just to clean up our lives.

[22:02] It is to assure us that we are Christian believers, that we are the people of God. There is a voice within that says, You are a child of God. And when you become a Christian, you just know that you know.

[22:17] For as Paul puts it, in 2 Timothy 1, 12, I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.

[22:27] I know I'm saved. I know I'm going to go to heaven. I know I am blood-bought by the precious blood of Jesus. I know that because the Holy Spirit lives within me. The Holy Spirit assures me of that sonship.

[22:42] He quietens my fears. He silences my doubts. He strengthens my fear. That's what the Holy Spirit does. And then, inevitably, He transforms us.

[22:54] He transforms us by shaping our character, by cleaning us up, by producing in us the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

[23:08] By partnering with us as we walk this life so that we are called to keep in step with the Spirit, to move and walk in the Spirit.

[23:19] He does all of that. He encourages us to a glad and willing surrender to His will. And as He does that, we begin to notice we are changing.

[23:32] Christ has been formed in us, the language of Galatians 4, verse 19. He's becoming dearer to us, more important to us.

[23:43] And that happens as we exercise faith. Remember I said it doesn't happen automatically. It doesn't zap us with the fruit of the Spirit. It grows within us. And that happens as we exercise faith and are determined to walk in the Spirit.

[23:58] In Galatians chapter 3, Paul is speaking to the church that had been deceived by false teachers that came from Jerusalem who told them that if they obeyed the law they would be saved but they would have to become Jewish in order to be saved.

[24:12] And then Paul rebuked those teachers including Peter and said, a person is justified not by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. Oh well, you say that's all we need then, just a belief.

[24:23] No, faith is not just a belief. Faith is something that leads us to Jesus and that opens us up to the Holy Spirit that leads to a transformed life.

[24:35] We don't strive to become better people. We are determined to surrender to the Spirit's influence in our life so that we become better people by His grace.

[24:47] And in Galatians chapter 3 verse 5, Paul asks the Galatians a question. Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you've heard?

[25:01] So, that's wonderful. You've had miracles. God has given you His Spirit. He's at work within you. How did that happen? Because you believe the Word. You open yourself up to the Holy Spirit, to the transformational power of the Spirit.

[25:16] Christ is being formed in you and you are beginning to change. He's beginning to shape His image in your life. we become clay in the hands of the potter and we become mireble and if Jesus was to plant His face into that clay, you would see His image coming out.

[25:38] We become more and more like Jesus as the Spirit works within us. John Piper says, reminding us that the Holy Spirit is the divine agent and reminding us of 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18 that we are being transformed by ever increasing glory from one degree of glory to another, one degree of glory to another, gradual change.

[26:03] He says, we should be Christ-made people who get glory for God by trusting Him to shape us every day. Christ-made people who get glory for God by trusting Him to shape us every day.

[26:23] We are being shaped every day by something, aren't we? Whether it's influencers on Instagram, you see, you didn't know I knew that, did you? That there were influencers on Instagram or by people telling you the latest news on Facebook or whatever else you get your social media from, the newspaper where we're all being shaped by something.

[26:47] The New Testament encourages us to be shaped by Jesus every day as the Holy Spirit lives within us, His presence to transform us.

[26:59] And then there's the power of the Holy Spirit. Again, it's an inevitable logical position, isn't it? If the Holy Spirit is a person whose presence is in our life to shape us to be like Jesus, He has to give us power to make that happen because we can't do it ourselves.

[27:19] The Spirit's job is not to make us better versions of ourselves to be the best John Winter that could ever be. He is there to make Jesus real in John Winter. John Winter is only secondary to that important moment.

[27:34] As John the Baptist said, He must become greater and I must become less. So the Spirit gives us power to overcome sin.

[27:45] Verse 13 of Romans 8, If you live according to the sinful nature you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live. And the Spirit grows His fruit within us as we've already seen.

[27:59] So our relationships change, our character changes, how we relate to others change. We become kinder, better, gentler, more humble people. And then the Spirit produces what we cannot manufacture.

[28:15] Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. We all want to be better in those areas. We all want to be more patient, more loving, more kind, at least I hope we do.

[28:29] Well, if that happens, the Spirit of God is working in us. And then He gives us power to witness. When the disciples saw the resurrected Christ, they didn't have enough.

[28:42] And when Jesus spoke to them, they still didn't have enough, though they were face to face with Him. He said to them, you have to wait here until my Spirit comes upon you, and then you will go into all the world and preach the Gospel.

[28:53] And as soon as the power of the Spirit came upon them, they were able to do what they could not do in their flesh. We cannot witness effectively. We cannot build a church effectively.

[29:04] We cannot do the works of God effectively without the Holy Spirit within us. We need His power every day, as well as His presence and His person.

[29:15] And then He equips us with supernatural abilities. We look at some of these over the next few weeks. The gifts of the Spirit, they're called. There's a list of them in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, Romans 12, and then Ephesians 4.

[29:29] And the point of the gifts of the Spirit is this. In order to minister effectively and powerfully to bring about conviction and convincing people of their need of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has to move through you.

[29:44] with sign gifts and serving gifts like administration, mercy, helps, speaking gifts like prophecy, teaching, evangelism, tongues, exhortation, wisdom, and knowledge, sign gifts like faith and healing and miracles and discernment of spirits.

[30:01] And if the Spirit is in us, we should see the operation of these things among us, which is partly the reason for the series.

[30:15] Those of us who walk with Jesus, who want to be like Jesus, do what Jesus does, want to exercise and move within the power of the Spirit. And then lastly, and most importantly today, all of that stuff just gone and there was a lot.

[30:33] I get that. So you're probably already mentally tired and you can listen to it again. But all of that's really important. But what is crucially important today is that Ephesians 5.18 says, do not get drunk on wine in which is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.

[30:56] Be filled with the Spirit. Now, a little bit of a Greek lesson here. He uses a present imperative and imperative is a command and present means now.

[31:10] And so you would translate it this way to get the sense of it. Be being filled with the Spirit. Think of it as a continual flaw. The flaw never stops, but you may stop the flaw.

[31:25] Yeah? The Holy Spirit is always ready to fill you, but you may not always be ready to receive. Paul says, don't be like that. Be filled with the Spirit.

[31:37] And he contrasts it with getting drunk. Have you ever been drunk? It isn't a pretty sight. It may feel all right for a little while until you stagger and it certainly doesn't feel good when the room goes dizzy and you begin to feel sick or even are sick.

[31:51] And even worse when you can't remember you did something, though you think you did something really bad, but you can't remember. What happens when you're drunk?

[32:04] You lose control. You also lose power. You might think you have power, so that bouncer that is six foot six and you're only four foot six and you think you can take him, that is an illusion.

[32:17] But I've noticed drunken people do that. But you lose power and you lose clarity. You are no longer in control.

[32:29] What happens when you're filled with the Spirit? The opposite. You gain power, you gain clarity, you gain control. You begin to live in a way that God intended you to live under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit.

[32:46] So you have a choice to make and you have a choice to make today. How am I going to respond to somebody who provokes me, makes me angry? Am I going to get angry back or am I going to be filled with the Spirit and not get angry but to return a blessing?

[33:03] Am I going to give in to that sinful lust or desire because it's easy and well, it doesn't really matter, does it? Yes, it really does. Am I going to give in to that or am I going to say, Holy Spirit, take control of my desires?

[33:17] Enable me to live in a way that is holy and good. That's the choice we make every day. When Paul writes into the Ephesians, he's writing them, he's saying to them, look, how should you behave toward one another?

[33:32] You might gossip, you might hurt one another, but I'm saying to you, don't do that. Be imitators of Christ and live a life of love and be filled with the Spirit and speak to one another.

[33:43] What? In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Let your language be holy and worshipful and good. And when you think about reaching out and hurting other people, ask yourself, would this bring a smile to the face of God or a deep frown and deep grief?

[34:07] Being filled with the Spirit leads to active overflow of joyful worship, gratitude, and humility. and it impacts our relationships. Do you know what Paul goes on to do after this?

[34:19] He says, if you're filled with the Spirit, wives, you'll submit to your husbands. Husbands, you'll love your wives. Slaves, you will submit to your masters.

[34:30] Masters, you will treat your slaves well. In other words, all of human relationships will be better if you are filled with the Spirit. And you must be willing to be filled.

[34:44] This is a command, not a suggestion. Be being filled every day by the Holy Spirit of God. So how do you do it?

[34:59] Keep your heart clean and walk in holiness. Can't do that, Lord. Try that. That's really hard. Yes, it is really hard.

[35:09] So ask to be filled with the Spirit. Remember that sin grieves the Holy Spirit. So desire above all else to bring a smile to the face of God.

[35:20] And just literally say to yourself sometimes, when you're tempted to do evil, just say to yourself sometimes, how would God look at me now if I was looking Him in the face?

[35:33] Would this please Him or would this grieve Him? God help me to please you in all things. And then walk in step with the Holy Spirit every day.

[35:44] Get up and begin the day with God and every day say today, Lord, we're going on an adventure. I don't know where we're going. I'm going to walk with you and I'm going to talk with you today.

[35:56] And then thirst after Jesus. Thirst after Him. If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink, he says. And out of his belly rivers of living water will flow.

[36:08] Don't you thirst for Jesus and long for Him? Don't you want Him to flow in and through you and out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit? And you know, Jesus said when He talked to people about praying and He said to them, look, remember that if your child asks for something, like say he asks for a fish, you'd not give him a snake.

[36:31] If he asks for bread, you wouldn't give him a stone. And if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, well then, how much more will He give? What? The Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.

[36:45] How do you know that, Jesus? Well, because for 33 years of His life, He did that every day. For 33 years of His life, He lived and moved in the power of the Holy Spirit.

[36:58] For 33 years of His life, He knew that the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit when He was asked. And when He went out to preach, the first thing He said was, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me and He has anointed me to preach good news.

[37:15] Don't you want that in your life? The Spirit of the Lord is upon me tomorrow of all as you get inducted. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me as we lead an Alpha group.

[37:26] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me as I serve coffee in the cafe. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me as I speak to my neighbor, my friend, my loved one about Jesus. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

[37:39] His person, His presence, His power. Let me be open to His filling. And so, we are opening ourselves now as the worship group comes back.

[37:54] we are going to sing Spirit, Holy Spirit, rain down, Holy Spirit, rain down. We are going to sing that and then I am going to lead us in a prayer.

[38:09] But as we sing that, this is your moment. the flow of the Spirit is available to you.

[38:22] The Spirit comes not to those who are clever, He comes to those who are open and willing to receive Him.

[38:33]  So where you are, sitting where you are, we'll stay seated, open hands maybe to receive. Let us sing this song.