1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,800 To the nations, and that's where we flip over to the New 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:07,680 Testament. Roughly 850 years after Naman 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,200 takes 2 mule loads of soil back with him to Syria. 4 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,440 Jesus Christ is born and Jesus is God in the flesh. 5 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,800 Amen. He lives the perfect life, He 6 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,040 proves that he's God, He performs miracles, he goes to 7 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:27,480 war with demons, he teaches, he gains a bunch of followers, and 8 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,200 at the height of his ministry, everything seems seems to take a 9 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,920 wrong turn. Jesus marches into Jerusalem, 10 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:41,120 the holy City, Ground Zero of holy ground, and he cleanses the 11 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,600 temple and it ticks off all the religious leaders. 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,880 And so they plot and they decide to kill them. 13 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,680 They put them on a cross and they kill them. 14 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,960 But there's good news, like we celebrated at Easter. 15 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:55,880 Three days later, he's resurrected. 16 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,600 And for the next 50 weekdays, he spends his time in the public 17 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:05,360 square talking, hanging out and eating with people, which is 18 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:07,480 great. But here's the bad news. 19 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:12,240 After 50 days, he ascends to heaven. 20 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:19,480 Sit at the right hand of God, and we're just stuck down here. 21 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,240 And it's kind of frustrating, isn't it? 22 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,640 Kind of frustrating? It's like, hey, what the heck, 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:33,400 Jesus, you're just going to leave us down here on enemy 24 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:38,840 territory in the middle of a spiritual war? 25 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,640 What the heck? Is that how it feels? 26 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,160 Has Jesus left you alone? And the answer to that question, 27 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,080 of course, is no. And So what I want you to do 28 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,480 over these next 30 minutes, 25 minutes, is I want you to see 29 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:58,320 Jesus as the new Elijah who actually gives us something 30 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:05,760 better than dirt to take back to the nations. 31 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,720 Sound good? Cool. 32 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:11,600 If you're able, let's stand for the reading of God's Word. 33 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,360 OK, so this Acts chapter 2, this is the Pentecost text. 34 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:23,920 There's a million things going on here. 35 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:28,280 I cannot touch on every one of them that this Acts chapter 2, 36 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,440 this is the new temple St. in Exodus, after they build the 37 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,080 temple, fire falls from heaven and fills the temple and the New 38 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,680 Testament after Jesus builds the temple, fire falls down and 39 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:44,120 descends on humans. You're the new temple. 40 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,960 Isn't that amazing? This is the new. 41 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,440 This is the reversal of Babel. At at Babel, we see humanity 42 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,800 scattered to the nations and we see their tongues confused. 43 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,760 This is the undoing of that. Here we see the nations gathered 44 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:00,760 and they're given tongues to understand one another. 45 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:02,560 So there's like a million things going on right here. 46 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:05,800 I can't unpack them all. I'm going to stay stuck on the 47 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,720 soil. Here's chapter 2 of Acts. 48 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,800 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all gathered 49 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,440 together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven 50 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:22,920 a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire 51 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:35,560 house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire 52 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:44,160 appeared to them, and then rested not on a building on 53 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,080 them. And they were all filled with 54 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,280 the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues as the 55 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:56,240 Spirit gave them utterance. Now, and this is an important 56 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,400 detail, there were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from 57 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:08,120 every nation under heaven. They were there for a festival. 58 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,520 Jesus waits strategically for this festival, knowing that 59 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:15,440 people from every nation are going to come and celebrate 60 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,079 together. At this sound the multitude came 61 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:21,519 together and they were bewildered, as you would be too, 62 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:24,600 because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 63 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,800 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, Are not all 64 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:30,640 these who are speaking Galileans? 65 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:35,600 How is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language, 66 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,960 tons of nations, Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and 67 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,840 residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontius and Asia, 68 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,640 Frisia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to 69 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,520 Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 70 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,600 Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own 71 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,840 tongues the mighty works of God. And they were amazed and 72 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:00,920 perplexed, saying to one another, What does this mean? 73 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,000 But of course, when there's a mighty work of God, verse 13, 74 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,960 there's always this. But there were others who 75 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:12,920 mocked, saying they're just filled with new wine, which is 76 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,720 truer than they could have imagined when they mocked them. 77 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:29,040 Heavenly Father, I I wonder how many of us in here this morning 78 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,400 don't really believe the Holy Spirit. 79 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:47,720 Maybe we find Christian morality attractive, but we don't believe 80 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:52,800 in the Holy Spirit. Maybe we, maybe some of us even 81 00:05:52,800 --> 00:06:00,000 find the story of Christ compelling, but we don't believe 82 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:08,000 in the Holy Spirit. And if that's you, my prayer for 83 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:15,320 you this morning is that somehow, someway, God would 84 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,680 douse you in the gasoline of the Holy Spirit and just light you 85 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,640 on fire. The image I've had all week in 86 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:30,680 my mind, stacked firewood. We're like stacked firewood here 87 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:36,280 this morning. If you don't send fire, there 88 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:40,240 won't be any real warmth. God and so light us on fire. 89 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,200 It's in the precious name of Jesus that all God's people 90 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:43,960 prayed. Amen. 91 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:49,520 You can have a seat. OK? 92 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:51,680 As I mentioned, there's 1000 things going on in this text. 93 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,360 I can't do all of it. I want to draw your eyes to two 94 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,320 different observations, which means we're going to leave 998 95 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,080 stones unturned. Have a fun week reading Acts in 96 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:04,840 your spare time and it will blow your mind. 97 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:07,360 I just want you to see two things right here in this text. 98 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:12,000 The first thing I want you to see is that no, Jesus did not 99 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:17,320 ascend to heaven and leave you alone in the middle of the 100 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:22,720 spiritual war. Jesus sense to heaven so that he 101 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:29,360 can actually give you something. That's better than having Jesus 102 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:34,320 in the flesh by your side. That sounds heretical. 103 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,400 Doesn't that sound like heresy? Something better than having 104 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,680 Jesus in the flesh by your side? If that sounds heretical to you, 105 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,360 that's actually Jesus's own words before his death in John 106 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,480 16 verse 7. Jesus says, nevertheless, I tell 107 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,040 you the truth, it is to your advantage or some translations 108 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,640 literally translate it. It's better for you. 109 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,120 Both translations are good. It is to your advantage. 110 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,480 It's better for you that I go away. 111 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:09,040 How could that possibly be true? For if I do not go away, the 112 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:15,520 helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send them to 113 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:17,720 you. So what's better than Jesus 114 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,720 beside you, the Spirit of Jesus within you? 115 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,920 You're not alone. And the second piece I really 116 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,800 want to draw your attention to, especially in light of the 117 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:35,400 sermon last Sunday, is that no, despite what you might think or 118 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:43,520 guess, Jesus doesn't give his people dirt, which is strange 119 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:46,960 because the vast majority of the people in Acts chapter 2 are not 120 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,120 from Israel. I wonder if you notice that 121 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:53,840 they're like name them. They're from foreign nations and 122 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:58,720 they do not live in Old Testament Israel on holy ground. 123 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,760 They can't worship every week in the temple. 124 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:03,320 Did you notice that here's verse 5. 125 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,240 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem. 126 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:13,040 Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 127 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:17,560 And so they see the Holy Spirit descend upon the disciples and 128 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:20,160 they listen to Peter preach the gospel of Jesus. 129 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,720 And they are chapter 2 says, cut to the heart. 130 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:31,320 You're felt that way. Cut on the tender part of your 131 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,360 heart. And So what we see is they're 132 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:35,800 basically like naman. They experience a miracle. 133 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,040 They go all in on Jesus, but they're faced with the problem 134 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:41,840 that you're faced with. They can't just pitch tents and 135 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,240 shack up in Jerusalem and live the rest of their life in 136 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,360 Jerusalem, right? They've got to go back to their 137 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,520 jobs and their homes and their families and those homes are 138 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:57,480 outside of holy ground. It's the same predicament Naman 139 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,520 was in. How can I worship Jesus if I 140 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,400 have to go live in my home nation that's under the power 141 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,960 and influence of foreign gods? How do I, how do I worship 142 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,200 Jesus? If I have, If I only get to be 143 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,040 at church for an hour and a half every week and then I got to go 144 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,120 back to my house and my job, what do I do? 145 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,560 And so if you know the story of naman, here's your expectation. 146 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:21,160 How do you take the presence of God with you get a lot of 147 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,120 shovels, right? What's the number of people 148 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:26,480 here? It's like 3000, isn't it? 149 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:32,880 Get a lot of shovels, get a lot of mules, and get ready for a 150 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,200 lot of manual labor because that's a lot of holy ground to 151 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:41,560 take back to the nations, right? But here's the beautiful thing 152 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:44,880 about this text. Jesus isn't the prophet Elijah. 153 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:47,920 He's greater than the prophet Elijah. 154 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:51,920 And so his gift is greater than Elijah's gift. 155 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,520 And so he doesn't give these people dirt to carry back to the 156 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:56,480 nation's. What does he do? 157 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,960 Jesus gives Peter the Holy Spirit. 158 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,360 Times of fire descend upon him and then Peter passes the Spirit 159 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,360 on to the other people from other nations. 160 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:12,800 Verse 38, Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized everyone 161 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,560 of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of 162 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:22,600 sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 163 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:27,280 So upon repenting of their sins and believe in the Gospel, they 164 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:31,400 get something better than holy ground. 165 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:38,880 They get the Holy Spirit. And what are they going to do 166 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,320 with the Holy Spirit? Exactly what Naaman did with 167 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,200 holy ground. They're going to take the Holy 168 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,880 Spirit back with them to the unbelieving nations where they 169 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:55,680 live. Pentecost is the invasion, the 170 00:11:55,680 --> 00:12:04,480 invasion of God's own presence back into enemy territory all 171 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:06,720 across the globe. That's what's happening. 172 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,440 That's why Jesus waited for this day to send his Holy Spirit. 173 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,360 He knew for a festival all the nations would be coming, and 174 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,680 then he could slam dunk him with the Holy Spirit. 175 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,800 That's better than holy ground. You know why the Holy Spirit's 176 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:24,080 better than holy ground? Because the Spirit. 177 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:27,600 I don't know if anybody's ever told you this before. 178 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:30,840 The Spirit, If you're filled with the Spirit, the Spirit 179 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:36,520 literally makes you into the holy ground. 180 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:40,560 Has anybody ever told you that before? 181 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,720 If you are filled with the Spirit, you are holy ground. 182 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,440 You're the holy ground. That's the shock of Acts chapter 183 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,520 2. Soil from Jerusalem's cool, 184 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:54,520 right? Like maybe some of you have been 185 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,560 to Jerusalem and you visited and you got like a vial and a Ziploc 186 00:12:57,560 --> 00:13:00,000 and you filled it up and it's kind of sitting on a shelf at 187 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,520 home. That's pretty cool. 188 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,280 I've never done it. I'd like to do that. 189 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:08,800 But you know what? You can lose that dirt, right? 190 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:11,760 You can drop that dirt. You know what? 191 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:18,240 You can't lose the Holy Spirit. I hope you have. 192 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:28,120 I hope you know the Holy Spirit. I, I was this week early. 193 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,600 I was prepping the Sir. I was banging my head against 194 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:32,760 the text. Now we're just getting up. 195 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,480 And so I decided I was like, OK, I'm just going to, I'm going to 196 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:39,160 step away from my desk. I'm going to walk out of my 197 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:40,880 office. I'm going to go on a nice long 198 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:43,160 walk and I'm just going to ask the Holy Spirit, what do you 199 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:47,240 want me to say to your church? And so I went on a walk around 200 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:50,000 the block and around the neighborhood and I and I asked 201 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,800 God, I was like, Holy Spirit, what do you want to say to this 202 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,440 church this week? And do you know, he told me 203 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,160 nothing for the first 25 minutes. 204 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:05,960 And I was like, all right, maybe I'm not patient enough. 205 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:07,320 I'll ask you a couple minutes there. 206 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,840 I was like, Holy Spirit, what do you want to say to your people? 207 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:12,400 Like there's nothing. I was like, that's fine. 208 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,000 I'm probably not even ready to hear. 209 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:17,480 I'll keep walking, I'll keep praying and I'll keep asking. 210 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,000 And sometimes that's what the Christian life is like. 211 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:21,800 You just got to keep banging at the door. 212 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:27,000 You just got to keep asking. You just got to keep begging. 213 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:33,160 And so about 25 minutes and I was like, Holy Spirit, what, 214 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,320 what do you want to say to our church? 215 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,640 And that's when I heard. Maybe the better, maybe the 216 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:43,200 better word is sensed. It didn't come to me in an 217 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:48,000 audible voice, but I, I felt or I sensed the Holy Spirit speak 218 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,440 to me. And I felt like the Holy Spirit 219 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:52,320 whispered. I was like, what do you want to 220 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,040 tell this church? And I felt like the Holy Spirit 221 00:14:54,040 --> 00:15:03,160 whispered, there's too much dirt and too few fires. 222 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:18,200 Too much dirt and too few fires. Dirt's heavy, too low, mule. 223 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,680 Loads of dirt to carry around of of holy ground. 224 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,360 That's heavy to carry around with us. 225 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:31,560 I think a lot of us life feels really heavy because we're 226 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,480 trying to carry our Christianity around with us. 227 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,520 Like there are loads of dirt, right? 228 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,720 You're like, I got to read my Bible today. 229 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,880 That feels heavy. I got to pray today. 230 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:47,520 I got to forgive my enemies today. 231 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:53,560 That feels heavy. I got to listen to Cole preach 232 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:58,080 on cosmic geography and he's going along. 233 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,360 That sounds heavy, right? That's just heavy. 234 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,440 Carry your spirituality around with you. 235 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,920 That's that's heavy. I wonder if that's what 236 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,200 spirituality feels like to you and if that's what Christianity 237 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,320 feels like to you. I've got really good news for 238 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,080 you. You don't have to carry a holy 239 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:20,360 ground everywhere with you anymore because you don't. 240 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,600 You don't carry fire, you're carried by fire. 241 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,440 That's radically different, right? 242 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,000 The posture is no longer. I read my Bible. 243 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,320 It feels heavy. The posture is, man, I got a 244 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:38,960 spirit. I get to read my Bible. 245 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,120 Speak to me. Spirit, I made the church speak 246 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:43,600 to me. What do you want me to learn in 247 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:45,040 the same? The liturgy, the preaching, the 248 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:46,640 Communion. Cole's going along again this 249 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:47,760 morning. OK. 250 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,920 Give me an extra dose of fire. I guess that's being carried. 251 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:58,120 You don't carry fire. You're carried by fire. 252 00:16:58,120 --> 00:16:58,760 Right? I want. 253 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:00,880 Oh, I was thinking about this this week. 254 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:07,839 Man. Man, I wonder how much of our 255 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:12,920 exhaustion in the modern world we're so tired. 256 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:17,760 I wonder how much of our exhaustion in life actually has 257 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:23,480 less to do with the volume of our task load in our To Do List 258 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,800 and actually has everything to do with the fact that we don't 259 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:34,720 follow the Spirit. So life feels it's the Christian 260 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:42,080 life feels like you're shoveling the sidewalk, you know, rather 261 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:46,760 than ice skating. Life in the Spirit is not 262 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,960 shoveling the sidewalk. Life in the Spirit is ice 263 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,640 skating. You don't carry fire, you're 264 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:54,600 carried by fire. I want you to see this in Acts 265 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,480 chapter 2. These people who believe the 266 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:58,360 gospel, I keep on drawing your attention to this. 267 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:03,360 They don't carry loads of soil or holy ground with them back to 268 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:07,440 the nation because the Holy Spirit, it's them, the Spirit 269 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:12,920 makes them into holy ground. That's this is the whole point 270 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,600 of all the temple language in the New Testament. 271 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,120 Have you ever noticed how much temple language there is? 272 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:21,520 And in the New Testament, look at First Corinthians chapter 3, 273 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:26,680 Paul says, do you not know that you are God's temple and that 274 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:33,000 God's Spirit dwells in you? The temple is where the presence 275 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:38,240 of God in heaven is on earth. Paul's point there is you're the 276 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:43,080 holy ground now, right? I love that he had to ask it. 277 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:45,680 Did you notice there's a question mark at the end of 278 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:47,240 that? He says, did you not know this? 279 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:50,800 I mean, you make an inference from that. 280 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,800 The inference there is, yeah, Some of the Christians didn't 281 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,680 know this, but apparently it's possible to be a Jerry Springer 282 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,600 Christian. When I was little, I was haunted 283 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,880 by this Jerry Springer episode, like every Jerry Springer 284 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,560 episode where there was this crazy woman on the show who 285 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,720 didn't know she was pregnant until she almost gave birth. 286 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,800 Apparently you can be a Jerry Springer Christian, right? 287 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,640 You can have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, filled with the 288 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:20,200 Holy Spirit and not even know it. 289 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,280 Did you all know this? You're objectively filled with 290 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:27,560 the Spirit and you don't act like it. 291 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:28,840 You don't know it. Paul goes on in first 292 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,760 Corinthians 6 to say your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit 293 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:34,880 within you, whom you have from God. 294 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,200 What's the point? You're the temple now. 295 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,480 You're holy ground. You're where God in heaven 296 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,680 invades earth. And then he explicitly ties it 297 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,040 to spiritual warfare in 2nd Corinthians 6. 298 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,160 He goes on to say 2nd Corinthians 6, what agreement 299 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:51,960 has the temple of God with idols? 300 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:55,080 What's the answer to that question? 301 00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:02,280 None, none. No agreement with idols, no 302 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,240 idols, no false gods coming to God's temple. 303 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:09,520 And the beautiful thing is that these Christians, they didn't 304 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,760 have to do what Naaman did. They don't have to carry soil 305 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,560 around everywhere with them, even though it was admirable and 306 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:17,800 the right thing for Naaman to do in the context of the Old 307 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,760 Testament, right? When it's time to worship God, 308 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:23,040 New Testament Christians, they don't have to do what Naaman 309 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,160 did. And like, I don't, it doesn't 310 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,440 actually tell us what Naaman did with the soil. 311 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,680 My best guess, and I'm stealing this from Michael Heizer, is he 312 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,000 maybe he took it with them in into the False Gods Temple back 313 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:40,720 in Syria and sprinkled it on the ground and then stood on that 314 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,600 holy ground when he was praying and worshiping. 315 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,320 And these Christians in the New Testament, they don't they don't 316 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,480 have to do it when they leave Jerusalem and go back to their 317 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,080 houses in Rome and Syria and all over the world. 318 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:56,680 They don't have to double check whether or not Oh my gosh, this 319 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,440 is our it's like the Holy Spirit's not like your keys. 320 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:04,280 Did I leave that put soil in my pockets today by my keys? 321 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:05,640 With me? They don't have to do that 322 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:11,080 anymore. Because if you have the Spirit, 323 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:18,120 everywhere you go becomes holy ground. 324 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:25,560 Does this not fascinate you? Do you see life this way? 325 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:32,800 Like, OK, if you want to go to a really holy place, place where 326 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:37,520 God is very present, he's there and you're there. 327 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,600 Do you know what you have to go? You know what you have to do? 328 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:42,960 You don't have to buy a plane ticket. 329 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,160 You literally just have to believe the gospel and then look 330 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,000 at your feet. You're the holy ground. 331 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,760 Everywhere you go is heaven invading enemy territory. 332 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,800 Everywhere you go, you're the frontier where heaven meets 333 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,000 earth. Everywhere you go, the Garden of 334 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:05,280 Eden is breaking into the wilderness. 335 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,520 You should, you should test this out this week. 336 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:12,680 Test it. Like test this out in your 337 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:14,880 spiritual practices. OK, so every time you read your 338 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:16,440 Bible this week, I want you to do something. 339 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,360 Every time you read your Bible, before you even read it, I want 340 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:23,760 you to take your face. I want you to put it right into 341 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,400 your Bible. I want you to breathe into the 342 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,800 pages. I want you to feel the warmth of 343 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,680 your own breath bouncing off of the page and coming back onto 344 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,600 your face. And when you feel that, I want 345 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,640 that to be a reminder to you that this isn't just printed 346 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,320 text. It's the Spirit speaking to you. 347 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:50,720 It's God's own breath coming to you. 348 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:52,920 You know what happens to your Bible reading when you see it 349 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:58,440 that way. It's not heavy anymore, pretty 350 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,080 heavy. It's like a dialogue between two 351 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,720 friends, right? Test this. 352 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,800 Test it this week in your spiritual test it even in your 353 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:09,720 non spiritual practices this week, like the places of your 354 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,360 life where you're like, oh, that's that's secular. 355 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:15,480 That's not really Christian. That's not really sacred, right? 356 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,400 One of the central claims of Christianity is that the Holy 357 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,880 Spirit is remaking all of creation in the temple, 358 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,400 sanctifying all of the secular world is sacred and transforming 359 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,800 every square inch of the cosmos into holy ground. 360 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:28,960 So one thing I tried to do a couple weeks ago, and this blew 361 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,000 my mind. One thing I tried to do a couple 362 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,200 weeks ago was I, I, I, I was, I came downstairs after the kids 363 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,920 bedtime. I was in a bad mood and I was 364 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,520 going to do the dishes. And so I asked myself, what 365 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:46,360 would a person, how would a person with the Holy Spirit do 366 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:51,320 the dishes? Bro, that'll mess you up, 367 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:54,320 sister, that question will mess you up. 368 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,880 You know what happened? The dishes magically wash 369 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:02,840 themselves. No, they didn't. 370 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,400 I still had to use dish soap. Or what? 371 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,000 What are the packets called that you put in there? 372 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,480 Dish detergent. I had to use dish detergent. 373 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:13,560 The Spirit wouldn't even do that for me. 374 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:15,960 So you still got to use the dish soap. 375 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,440 So what what did happen? What did happen is that washing 376 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,840 the dishes was no, that one time was no longer heavy. 377 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:31,640 It was transformed into an act of sacrificial spiritual 378 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,080 worship. And guys, I was there with my 379 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,520 shaker bottle, like scrubbing out the dried chunks of protein 380 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,760 at the bottom from 2 weeks ago. And I was like, Oh my goodness, 381 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,880 this is what the Holy Spirit's doing in my heart right now. 382 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,600 He's cleaning out all those hockey trunks and it become the 383 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,320 whole thing gets transformed into an act of spiritual 384 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:53,560 worship. I wasn't carrying it anymore. 385 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,280 I was being carried by the Spirit. 386 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:58,640 Do that. Pick a mundane daily task, 387 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,000 mowing the lawn, going to gym, doing the dishes. 388 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:04,920 Oh, if you have kids, do this one. 389 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:11,000 How would somebody who has the Holy Spirit do bedtime routines? 390 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,720 That'll mess you up, too. You get lit on fire. 391 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:17,720 You're playing with fire, literally. 392 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,440 If you ask that question right, it changes everything. 393 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:25,040 Carl Jung, Not a Christian, but a brilliant man nevertheless, 394 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:26,920 who needs to be reckoned with? Jung said. 395 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:31,600 The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life 396 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,840 than the greatest of things without it. 397 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:42,440 Bingo. I would rather wash the dishes 398 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:49,440 in the Spirit then give a Ted talk to millions of people in a 399 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,600 sold out audience without the Spirit and walk away thinking 400 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,240 what was the point of all of that? 401 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,440 The beautiful thing too about the Holy Spirit is that He is as 402 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,880 effective in protecting you from demons as He is at protecting 403 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,320 you from your own crappy attitude while washing the 404 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,200 dishes. That's what the Spirit does. 405 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:10,880 What? What does the Spirit do in your 406 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,160 life? And the better question is, what 407 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,400 doesn't he do right? He, the Holy Spirit, saves you. 408 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,320 It's the Spirit that plants faith in Jesus into your heart 409 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,600 and regenerates your heart and helps you believe in the gospel. 410 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,640 The Spirit saves you, but the Holy Spirit also sanctifies you. 411 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,160 It's the Spirit that takes all the finished work of Jesus and 412 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,600 applies it to your heart so that you can bear fruit in your life. 413 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:41,560 Every good work you've ever done has been a fruit that comes from 414 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,560 the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn't just 415 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,680 sanctify you, he also perseveres you until glory. 416 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,640 It's the Spirit that will protect you from Satan, demons, 417 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,920 evil spirit, the devil himself. Bofing says quote where the 418 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:03,280 Spirit of God dwells there Satan's dominion is broken. 419 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,600 That doesn't mean that you won't experience spiritual warfare. 420 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:14,120 Read Acts, right, right when that's the Holy Spirit descends 421 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:17,640 on believers immediately. What they're like magnets for 422 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,280 spiritual warfare. The presence of the Holy Spirit 423 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,960 triggers nonstop attacks from demons in the book of Acts. 424 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,400 So getting the Holy Spirit doesn't mean that you'll be 425 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,360 spared from spiritual warfare. It means you'll be spared from 426 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:32,840 losing in spiritual warfare. That's what he protects you and 427 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:41,040 perseveres you from. Like I get, I get nervous when 428 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,640 Christians tell me, you know, I don't really experience 429 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:51,000 spiritual warfare. The good news is you might be 430 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:57,320 right. The bad news is teammates don't 431 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:02,800 usually attack teammates. And so this the reason why you 432 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,520 don't experience any spiritual warfare, maybe because you're on 433 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:16,080 the wrong team and you're not a threat the enemy, but the Spirit 434 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,080 will guard you in this warfare. I'm not making this up. 435 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,920 John 14 verse 26. The question is, how does he do 436 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,360 it? Watch this John 1426. 437 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:29,360 Jesus says, But the helper of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father 438 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,720 will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring 439 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,880 to you remembrance all things that I said to you. 440 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:41,200 In other words, the Holy Spirit helps us fight spiritual warfare 441 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:45,600 by reminding us of Jesus, the Gospel of Jesus, the teachings 442 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,160 of Jesus, the life of Jesus, or John 16. 443 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,480 Jesus says, when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide 444 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:58,160 you into all truth. So how does the Holy Spirit help 445 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,080 us fight spiritual warfare? He keeps us in truth. 446 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,640 He keeps us believing the gospel. 447 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:10,040 Ephesians 1 When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of 448 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:14,600 your salvation, and believed in him, you were sealed with the 449 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:20,640 promised Holy Spirit. Sealed, sealed. 450 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,400 The Holy Spirit's within you and you've been sealed. 451 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,840 What's that mean? That means there aren't any 452 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:34,480 other messages getting into you. He'll protect you from lies, 453 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:41,200 false gospels, the schemes of the devil. 454 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:43,840 You'll experience spiritual warfare. 455 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,360 But if you have the Holy Spirit, you're going to win. 456 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:54,960 I was at the zoo for, for Della went on a field trip last week 457 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,560 or the week before that. And so I went, I went to the zoo 458 00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:58,960 with Chloe on their little field trip. 459 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:01,000 And so I'm walking around with a bunch of 6 year olds, right? 460 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,320 And we, we walk up to this exhibit. 461 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,560 I can't remember what animal it was, but all these six year 462 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,640 olds, they press their face up against the glass and they're 463 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:11,840 looking for this animal on this exhibit and they're like, where 464 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:12,720 is it? We can't see it. 465 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,120 So I leaned in and I was like, Dang, that thing's a beast. 466 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,120 Whoa. And they're like, where is he? 467 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:20,960 And I was like, look at that thing. 468 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,400 He's he's huge. He's massive, he's menacing. 469 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,120 And they were like, where is he? And I was like, you don't see 470 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,960 that beast in there. And I was like, oh wait, it's 471 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,560 just my reflection. And a bunch of 6 year olds 472 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:37,360 literally started booing me like right when I was like, I was 473 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:43,080 just like they were like. There is more going on than you 474 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,160 think though. And so sometimes when you 475 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:51,320 experience lust and temptation and spiritual warfare, sometimes 476 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,960 you are looking through the glass and you have come face to 477 00:30:54,960 --> 00:31:01,080 face with a beast. Sometimes it's just your own 478 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:07,160 stupid reflection looking back at you, your own flesh, your own 479 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:09,680 stupidity, your own sins, your own struggle. 480 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:14,280 OK, so, Cole, the question is, how do I know when I'm under 481 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,920 spiritual attack from the enemy? And how do I know when I'm 482 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:20,920 experiencing spiritual attack just because I'm a dummy? 483 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,400 And the answer to that question is I'm not sure. 484 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,800 But the beautiful thing is, the solution is the same either way. 485 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:35,520 You must ask the Spirit to help you believe the gospel in that 486 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,240 moment. What? 487 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,680 What did the Spirit descend as fire? 488 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,000 In what shape? In Acts chapter 2 did you notice 489 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,000 that? Tongues? 490 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,000 Why tongues? Tongues? 491 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:58,480 Because the Christian faith is a faith built around a message. 492 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:03,280 The gospel preached, the gospel spoke, and the gospel believed. 493 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,280 And so every time you struggle and wrestle with doubt in the 494 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:11,800 gospel, and you feel the Spirit help you believe that Jesus 495 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:14,000 Christ was crucified for your sins to give you his 496 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,080 righteousness. And no matter what happens, no 497 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:17,840 matter what sin you're struggling with, you're good 498 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,720 because you got Jesus. Every time that happens, a 499 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,720 miracle has occurred. And you may not see it that way. 500 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,560 You may not have eyes to see, but in that moment tongues of 501 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:34,560 fire have descended upon you and kept you grounded and rooted in 502 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,160 the gospel. The Holy Spirit lights us on 503 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:41,320 fire, and He lights us on fire for the gospel. 504 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:53,560 I was hanging out with some pastors last year in Chicago, 505 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,640 and this particular network, you wouldn't believe how much they 506 00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:58,520 spoiled us. We had this beautiful cabin that 507 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:02,240 we're all at outside of Chicago, and the centerpiece in the 508 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:08,080 living room was this beautiful fireplace, and it was surrounded 509 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:09,880 by white brick. Can you picture that? 510 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:14,000 And the white brick next to the fireplace, It had a slot in it, 511 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:18,840 and it had this perfectly neatly stacked firewood. 512 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,320 And I was like, man, that's a gorgeous centerpiece. 513 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,960 And the next day in the morning, I was reading my Bible. 514 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,480 I started admiring the fireplace again. 515 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,600 And then I was like, what the heck? 516 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:35,400 It dawned on me. And I can't believe it took me 517 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:39,080 an entire day to notice this. Like, what the heck, That 518 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:41,440 electric, that fireplace is electric. 519 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:47,760 Took me a whole day to notice that, so I said what's that 520 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:52,520 firewood doing next to it? I looked at the neatly stacked 521 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:57,920 firewood and I was like a ha. There it was. 522 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:03,800 Right above the slot that held the neatly stacked firewood was 523 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:08,080 a little plaque that you had to squint if you wanted to read it. 524 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:18,320 The plaque said for decorative purposes only. 525 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:31,000 I hope that's not you. I hope your faith is not for 526 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:37,480 decorative purposes only. Read Acts when people get lit on 527 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,600 fire by the Holy Spirit. I mean they carry the Spirit 528 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:42,480 back to the nations. They don't go back to the 529 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:47,120 nations and live the same way. They're carried by fire. 530 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,760 They preach the gospel, believe the gospel, make disciples, 531 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,840 battle demons, worship Christ Jesus. 532 00:34:56,159 --> 00:35:00,280 They weren't plastic firewood neatly stacked. 533 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,880 They were lit on fire. Too. 534 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,200 Many Christians in the modern world are for decorative 535 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:12,960 purposes only, and that's why so many modern churches are just 536 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:17,280 electric. Fireplaces don't give off real 537 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:24,480 heat or real warmth. It's just neatly stacked plastic 538 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:26,680 firewood. They sit on a shelf. 539 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,120 Too many Christians treat their faith as an ornament. 540 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:35,240 Pretend to be Christian to attract a spouse, or because 541 00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:37,240 they want an easier life? Good luck with that. 542 00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:41,000 Or because they want to gain social approval or standing 543 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,360 worse, because they want to gain power or influence. 544 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:48,240 Or maybe worse yet, to feel morally superior, or to maintain 545 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:51,640 an image, or whatever. It's all for decorative 546 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:53,440 purposes. And it's like, no, the Holy 547 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:57,880 Spirit hates that. He doesn't want you to just sit 548 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:03,600 on a shelf neatly stacked, never burning for him. 549 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:12,720 Now, what's he want? He wants you to burn for him to 550 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:18,520 be on fire, to be holy ground that carries the presence of God 551 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,880 into the nations and back home and into every square inch of 552 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:26,960 your life. You're meant to be flammable, to 553 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,960 burn brightly, to give off real warmth. 554 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,680 In the Old Testament, with naman, holy ground had borders. 555 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,640 At Pentecost, holy ground gets legs. 556 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,640 You don't need to carry soil around anymore. 557 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,440 You're the soil. You're the holy ground. 558 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:46,680 Stop looking around. It's you. 559 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,640 There's so much freedom in that because it's like, aren't you 560 00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:55,800 tired of living your own life, your way, your will, 561 00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:01,400 micromanaging everything, holding on tightly to yourself, 562 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,760 image holding on tightly to everything, controlling every 563 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,800 little aspect of life, of living with your fists clenched and 564 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,640 your teeth grit? When has that ever produced 565 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:16,680 flammable joy? Never, Never. 566 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:19,640 But you know what does produce flammable joy? 567 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:27,480 The Holy Spirit, real joy, real warmth, real light, real fire, 568 00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:31,160 real belief, real purpose, real mission. 569 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:35,360 Brother, sister, believe in the gospel and receive the Holy 570 00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:40,120 Spirit, and you will become holy ground and you will be lit on 571 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:45,680 fire and you will burn brightly. Heavenly Father, I pray that we 572 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,440 would let go of the dirt and just be carried. 573 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:56,240 Sometimes all it takes is one person, one person to get lit on 574 00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:58,640 fire. And the whole church, the whole 575 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,320 town, the whole city goes up in flames. 576 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,360 And so I just pray that your Holy Spirit would do that this 577 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:07,920 morning. Descend from heaven, whether we 578 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:12,920 see it or not. Change hearts, transform hearts, 579 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:19,720 make us into holy ground so that wherever we go, there you are. 580 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,600 Man, that's awesome news. I don't want to have to buy buy 581 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:26,880 a plane ticket every time I want to be in your presence. 582 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,520 Jesus already paid the price for that plane ticket and made that 583 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:33,200 trip. I pray that we would just 584 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:36,120 believe in His finished work and rejoice in the Holy Spirit. 585 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:38,880 It's in the press name of Jesus that all God's people prayed. 586 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:41,960 Amen. Let's stand together and let's 587 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,120 worship this God in spirit and in truth.