1 00:00:00,790 --> 00:00:03,000 Hey friend, welcome to another episode of the Sunday. 2 00:00:03,010 --> 00:00:06,730 Sit down and we are happy to have you along with us for 3 00:00:06,740 --> 00:00:10,120 another conversation around sermon from this past Sunday. 4 00:00:10,130 --> 00:00:13,400 So a little bit different. This last Sunday was Part 2 of 5 00:00:13,410 --> 00:00:18,080 A2, part where two weeks ago on the 28th, we showed a video of 6 00:00:18,150 --> 00:00:21,820 our internal like insider baseball sermon prep 7 00:00:21,830 --> 00:00:25,140 conversation that happens every week here at the building. 8 00:00:25,150 --> 00:00:28,100 And then this past Sunday, I preached on that same passage or 9 00:00:28,110 --> 00:00:33,460 passages from Acts 1 and 2. So this was our launch into the 10 00:00:33,470 --> 00:00:39,020 new year and for Sunday of 2026, basically just trying to slow us 11 00:00:39,030 --> 00:00:42,510 down and think a little bit about who we're called to be and 12 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:43,890 how we're called to be. Yeah. 13 00:00:43,900 --> 00:00:47,650 And what is it that enables us to do the things that we believe 14 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,040 God has called us to do? So spoiler alert, it does. 15 00:00:51,050 --> 00:00:53,150 The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is what it 16 00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:56,170 enables us to do the things that God calls us to do. 17 00:00:56,300 --> 00:00:58,270 So that's what we're talking. About, yeah. 18 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,850 And these are great passages to return to, I think regularly 19 00:01:01,940 --> 00:01:04,819 like like that as a church, if you only talk about this like 20 00:01:04,830 --> 00:01:06,800 once in a generation, like you're doing yourself a 21 00:01:06,810 --> 00:01:09,390 disservice. So when you look at the, at the, 22 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,860 this Acts 2 church and, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, and 23 00:01:12,870 --> 00:01:15,200 hopefully you're doing that fairly regularly, whether it's 24 00:01:15,210 --> 00:01:16,980 Pentecost or other, you know, whatever. 25 00:01:17,030 --> 00:01:19,270 But like, these are passages that I, I was thinking about 26 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,410 that as you were preaching. I, I wasn't there for worship 27 00:01:22,420 --> 00:01:25,270 yesterday, but I was listening this morning and it struck me as 28 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,100 like, man, the church needs to talk about these passages like 29 00:01:29,110 --> 00:01:32,280 every couple of years at least. You know, they're, they're so 30 00:01:32,290 --> 00:01:36,070 foundational and, and formative, which is I think what we're 31 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,370 after is we want to see how is this? 32 00:01:38,500 --> 00:01:43,810 How is the gift of the spirit shaping who we are as a, as, as 33 00:01:43,820 --> 00:01:45,810 an individual, as a church, as people? 34 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,090 Yeah, I, I agree. So I think what I, what I hope I 35 00:01:49,100 --> 00:01:52,330 did and what I tried to do is, is say like there are some core 36 00:01:52,340 --> 00:01:55,070 habits of the church, like there are some core markers, There are 37 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,630 some things that every church should be doing. 38 00:01:57,860 --> 00:02:01,790 And we see that at the very beginning of the church in Acts 39 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,730 as it's being formed and shaped. And so that's where we started 40 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,580 was with this idea that like the the church really has always and 41 00:02:09,590 --> 00:02:12,330 should always continue to be devoted to these things. 42 00:02:12,340 --> 00:02:16,140 Yeah. And so I was just going back to 43 00:02:16,150 --> 00:02:18,240 it. So in Acts 2, it says they 44 00:02:18,250 --> 00:02:21,100 devoted the early church devoted themselves to the apostles 45 00:02:21,110 --> 00:02:23,420 teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to 46 00:02:23,430 --> 00:02:26,140 prayers. And awe came upon every soul. 47 00:02:26,230 --> 00:02:28,780 Many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, 48 00:02:29,130 --> 00:02:31,370 and all who believed were together had everything in 49 00:02:31,380 --> 00:02:32,720 common. Then it goes on to say, like 50 00:02:32,730 --> 00:02:35,870 they start selling their possessions and giving to those 51 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:37,860 who have need. Like as needs arise, people 52 00:02:37,870 --> 00:02:41,090 choose to sell their things so that they have to give away. 53 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,650 And they continue to eat together, they break bread, they 54 00:02:44,660 --> 00:02:47,880 share communion, they have meals in each other's homes. 55 00:02:48,100 --> 00:02:51,090 And they do it all with this glad and sincere heart. 56 00:02:51,300 --> 00:02:54,550 Like it's, it's like, how can we, how could I like, what would 57 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,630 I have to do to convince myself to sell all that I have give to 58 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:03,150 those who don't and do it with a glad and sincere heart. 59 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,060 Like, I think it's just such a, it's such a striking and 60 00:03:06,070 --> 00:03:10,260 convincing, compelling image of what the church should look like 61 00:03:10,270 --> 00:03:12,280 and can look. Like, and it's not something 62 00:03:12,290 --> 00:03:16,380 that like I, I don't think we are generally going to be 63 00:03:16,390 --> 00:03:23,560 compelled on our own by our own volition, our own just like will 64 00:03:23,610 --> 00:03:26,580 hmm, to do those things. I think there's always gonna be 65 00:03:26,590 --> 00:03:28,400 times where it's when you talk about specifically selling 66 00:03:28,410 --> 00:03:34,400 things, sometimes, you know, people will see a need arise. 67 00:03:34,410 --> 00:03:36,760 They'll see a, you know, a humanitarian crisis or whatever. 68 00:03:36,770 --> 00:03:38,860 And they say, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give to that. 69 00:03:38,870 --> 00:03:41,620 I'm gonna sacrifice. Something like that happens once 70 00:03:41,630 --> 00:03:44,540 in a while, I think, depending on the person. 71 00:03:44,590 --> 00:03:48,360 But I think to have a a life that is dedicated to these 72 00:03:48,370 --> 00:03:52,200 things, devoted to these things, that takes something different, 73 00:03:52,210 --> 00:03:54,480 which is I think where we're sort of going with this, which 74 00:03:54,490 --> 00:03:57,360 is the the work of the Holy Spirit and that being the 75 00:03:57,370 --> 00:04:02,180 precursor to the devotedness of these apostles. 76 00:04:02,390 --> 00:04:05,650 Yeah, yeah. And I like I alluded to this, 77 00:04:07,060 --> 00:04:09,020 you know, we talked a little bit about what it means to be 78 00:04:09,030 --> 00:04:13,010 devoted and like, what is actually devotion? 79 00:04:13,020 --> 00:04:16,709 What does it look like? And so I compared it to, you 80 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:23,130 know, a marriage and basically said, you know, you can tell, 81 00:04:23,140 --> 00:04:26,690 like you can see when a spouse, when spouses are devoted to one 82 00:04:26,700 --> 00:04:30,850 another, it looks different than just simply being together or 83 00:04:30,860 --> 00:04:36,450 choosing something. It's it's a love and a longing 84 00:04:36,460 --> 00:04:40,420 and a committed madness that acts toward the other. 85 00:04:40,430 --> 00:04:42,180 I think love is really what grounds it. 86 00:04:42,190 --> 00:04:45,870 And, you know, one of the reasons why Christians have, 87 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,300 have had such a high view of marriage is because we believe 88 00:04:48,310 --> 00:04:52,290 that it in, in many ways is created by what it entirely is 89 00:04:52,300 --> 00:04:55,450 created by a God who is love. And in many ways it represents. 90 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,050 Yeah. God's love toward humanity. 91 00:05:00,060 --> 00:05:02,610 Yeah. And sacrificially and what, you 92 00:05:02,620 --> 00:05:05,430 know, all of what it, what that ought to look like. 93 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,960 Obviously we know it doesn't, and it falls short and we're 94 00:05:07,970 --> 00:05:11,850 humans and we fail. But you know, to be devoted to 95 00:05:11,860 --> 00:05:15,930 something, it requires love. And what was the word? 96 00:05:15,940 --> 00:05:19,390 What was the word that that you like or the phrase that you 97 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:21,650 used? Like you said, there was like a 98 00:05:21,660 --> 00:05:25,880 translation like the Latin or whatever, Like what was there 99 00:05:25,890 --> 00:05:29,390 was a way to to think about devotedness that you mentioned? 100 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:31,970 Yeah. So it's, it's so French. 101 00:05:31,980 --> 00:05:36,220 And then before French, Old French, Latin, it's it's a word 102 00:05:36,230 --> 00:05:40,090 that simply means to vow singularly. 103 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:45,780 So it's to be devoted to something is to vow to like 104 00:05:45,790 --> 00:05:48,940 singulate so, so singularly, singularly. 105 00:05:48,950 --> 00:05:50,600 I can't say that word. It's a hard. 106 00:05:50,610 --> 00:05:57,900 Word professional communicator to vow singularly toward a thing 107 00:05:57,990 --> 00:06:00,780 usually a person right yeah. So that's why the marriage 108 00:06:00,790 --> 00:06:03,860 works. Is, is the IT is the act of 109 00:06:03,870 --> 00:06:13,560 vowing of of committing yourself by vow legal, you know, 110 00:06:13,570 --> 00:06:20,590 commitment in front of witnesses to a singular person that I 111 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,460 think is the closest image that we have to this. 112 00:06:23,470 --> 00:06:26,720 So, yeah, to vow singularly. Got it that time. 113 00:06:27,490 --> 00:06:30,040 Yeah. Toward usually toward a a 114 00:06:30,050 --> 00:06:32,060 person. In this case, it's toward like a 115 00:06:32,070 --> 00:06:34,420 group of people. It's like toward the church and 116 00:06:34,430 --> 00:06:37,170 entity and the work, the work and life of the church. 117 00:06:37,180 --> 00:06:39,280 Right. So they devoted themselves to 118 00:06:39,370 --> 00:06:42,260 the life of the church is really what we see. 119 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,510 And I think it's rooted and, and this is where like I've 120 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:50,210 mentioned this, but didn't take a lot of time to go down this 121 00:06:50,220 --> 00:06:51,790 this path. Like I think it's rooted 122 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,470 ultimately in God's love and devotion toward humanity. 123 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,450 And that's why it requires the Holy Spirit to enable in us 124 00:06:58,460 --> 00:07:00,930 because you and I, we and, and anybody you know, so you 125 00:07:00,940 --> 00:07:03,550 listener like we want to be devoted to a whole lot of 126 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,010 different things. And I think we have love or want 127 00:07:07,020 --> 00:07:10,060 to love or have inclination toward a whole lot of different 128 00:07:10,070 --> 00:07:13,540 things. And so it takes a conscious 129 00:07:13,550 --> 00:07:17,560 choice, an effort and decision and empowerment to choose 130 00:07:17,570 --> 00:07:19,320 against those things, towards something else. 131 00:07:19,330 --> 00:07:24,340 So James K Smith, who I quoted, wrote a book on Augustine's 132 00:07:24,350 --> 00:07:27,850 theology, and it's called You Are what you Love. 133 00:07:28,260 --> 00:07:32,750 And like, that's the idea. Like we are, we are loving 134 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:34,610 beings. We are beings who love. 135 00:07:34,620 --> 00:07:36,050 And that's why I love that quote. 136 00:07:36,470 --> 00:07:38,670 You know, he says we're not, we're not primarily thinking 137 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:39,830 beings. We're loving beings. 138 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:42,510 But here's the trick. Our love is shaped and formed by 139 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:46,050 our habits. And so if we just let ourselves 140 00:07:46,060 --> 00:07:50,250 love whatever we want to love and like habituate or make 141 00:07:50,260 --> 00:07:52,830 habits out of those things, we're going to love more of 142 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,660 those things. And so there needs to be this 143 00:07:55,670 --> 00:08:00,940 conscious decision to vow away from those multiple of things. 144 00:08:00,990 --> 00:08:04,680 So again, like a marriage, when what you are doing is you are 145 00:08:04,690 --> 00:08:07,110 vowing your love. I don't even know if that's a 146 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:08,350 word. Vowing I, I made it. 147 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,010 It is now. It is, but you are you are 148 00:08:11,020 --> 00:08:19,030 vowing to be committed singularly to your spouse away 149 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:23,710 from any other quote like air quotes here, potential spouses. 150 00:08:23,820 --> 00:08:25,710 So that's what you do when you marry somebody. 151 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:31,060 You are saying I'm singularly devoted to you over and against 152 00:08:31,790 --> 00:08:34,020 everybody else. Yeah. 153 00:08:34,150 --> 00:08:38,280 And that becomes like your, your, your, your person, your 154 00:08:38,289 --> 00:08:45,020 primary commitment, your, that, that first relationship. 155 00:08:45,030 --> 00:08:50,660 And So what the early church does is they form a community 156 00:08:51,070 --> 00:08:53,360 that is devoted to the things of Jesus and the things of the 157 00:08:53,370 --> 00:08:55,470 early, like the things that work of the church and of God's 158 00:08:55,480 --> 00:09:00,140 Kingdom over and against their own kingdoms over and against 159 00:09:00,210 --> 00:09:03,200 other religions and other kingdoms over and against 160 00:09:03,210 --> 00:09:06,610 empire. So living in Rome, like, like 161 00:09:06,620 --> 00:09:09,770 not in Rome, but like in Roman occupied land, like they're, 162 00:09:09,780 --> 00:09:12,780 they're committing themselves, they're devoting themselves over 163 00:09:12,790 --> 00:09:15,550 and against all of these other things that they could be 164 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:18,490 devoted to, to the work of the church. 165 00:09:18,550 --> 00:09:20,070 Yeah. And the work of the Kingdom. 166 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:22,550 So that takes the power of the Holy Spirit. 167 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:27,190 That takes it takes people who are living in step and empowered 168 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:31,610 by the Spirit. And so that raises other 169 00:09:31,620 --> 00:09:36,290 questions kind of connected specifically to the person of 170 00:09:36,300 --> 00:09:43,830 the Holy Spirit, the the how we as believers understand that we 171 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:49,220 receive the Spirit and we were just in our brief chat before 172 00:09:49,330 --> 00:09:52,360 pushing record. We're like, oh, it's, it's, it's 173 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:55,750 sometimes a little complicated, sometimes a little bit 174 00:09:56,220 --> 00:09:59,190 interesting. The way that the Bible, I guess, 175 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,710 I guess maybe the way I would say it is like the way that the 176 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,910 Bible reveals the Holy Spirit, right, Because when you go into 177 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:10,070 into the the Hebrew Bible, the Spirit is, is certainly 178 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,110 mentioned like all throughout, right, But very differently. 179 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:16,690 You know, like when you read through like say like especially 180 00:10:16,700 --> 00:10:20,530 the like I'm thinking of like First Samuel with like Saul and 181 00:10:20,540 --> 00:10:22,610 whatnot and often talks about like the holy, the Spirit 182 00:10:22,620 --> 00:10:26,220 rushing upon these individuals, like the kings and whatnot. 183 00:10:26,290 --> 00:10:29,540 Yeah. And I don't have like a, a fully 184 00:10:29,550 --> 00:10:34,660 fleshed out, I'll use a big word, pneumatology for the, for 185 00:10:34,670 --> 00:10:36,860 the Spirit and the Old Testament. 186 00:10:36,910 --> 00:10:42,400 But there it certainly shifts in the New Testament, right. 187 00:10:43,070 --> 00:10:44,910 Yeah. Yeah. 188 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:50,250 So, yeah, well, there's there's a whole books could and should 189 00:10:50,260 --> 00:10:54,250 and can and will and have been written on the Holy Spirit. 190 00:10:54,290 --> 00:10:56,120 Yeah, I'm actually working through one right now. 191 00:10:56,130 --> 00:11:01,850 I'm listening to one started off my new year with Tyler Staton's 192 00:11:01,860 --> 00:11:06,530 book on the Holy Spirit and it is called The Familiar Stranger. 193 00:11:06,620 --> 00:11:08,550 OHS that's which is a great title. 194 00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:11,290 I've decided I'm only buying books with awesome titles. 195 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,810 So anyways it's a good one. The Familiar Stranger and I'm 196 00:11:16,820 --> 00:11:18,390 far enough in that I think I could recommend. 197 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,790 I try not to recommend books I have not read entirely, but I'm 198 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:25,470 far enough in, I've read enough of his stuff that, yeah, easily, 199 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,630 easily recommend it. So there's a whole lot of 200 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,000 different places. Let me just do like a hop, skip 201 00:11:31,010 --> 00:11:34,890 and a jump for us really quick. So in, in Genesis, we see the 202 00:11:34,900 --> 00:11:37,670 Spirit of God like this, this divine breath. 203 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:42,250 Yeah, the ruach of God hovering over at the time of creation. 204 00:11:42,260 --> 00:11:46,590 And so, so there is the Spirit of God present from the very 205 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,750 beginning of what Scriptures speak about God and about the 206 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,330 world and God's presence in the world and involvement in its 207 00:11:54,340 --> 00:11:57,540 creation and continued involvement in the world. 208 00:11:57,550 --> 00:12:02,730 So there are passages where, you know, Moses is led up the 209 00:12:02,740 --> 00:12:07,540 mountain and where he's told go, you know, go up and my I will 210 00:12:07,550 --> 00:12:10,540 pass like my spirit will pass in front of you. 211 00:12:10,710 --> 00:12:14,980 So the Old Testament has this language just baked into it 212 00:12:14,990 --> 00:12:18,350 about the Spirit of God being, you know, God's presence in the 213 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:23,000 world. And it is though in this, I 214 00:12:23,010 --> 00:12:24,940 think this is where it may be becomes a little bit more 215 00:12:24,950 --> 00:12:30,360 difficult for for Christians to to picture and understand it. 216 00:12:30,370 --> 00:12:36,480 It feels at least a little bit like this disembodied like 217 00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:40,780 presence, yeah, which is just hard to name and it's hard to 218 00:12:40,870 --> 00:12:42,700 picture and it's hard to relate to. 219 00:12:43,130 --> 00:12:45,920 But the what, what I think is important to notice is in the 220 00:12:45,930 --> 00:12:51,430 Old Testament we have these characters who are relating to 221 00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:55,830 the Holy Spirit as a as the presence of God. 222 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,890 And I think what what later Christians would describe as a 223 00:12:58,900 --> 00:13:02,090 person of God. So you see it there. 224 00:13:03,380 --> 00:13:08,050 And Ezekiel. So Ezekiel's got this great the 225 00:13:08,060 --> 00:13:13,440 valley of dry bones passages. And so like in in Ezekiel, 226 00:13:15,140 --> 00:13:19,550 there's so starting in 37 the hand of the Lord was on me and 227 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:23,110 he brought me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in 228 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,010 the middle of a valley. And then he says, you know, son 229 00:13:26,020 --> 00:13:28,990 of man, can these bones live? And I answered, you know, Lord 230 00:13:29,060 --> 00:13:30,770 only you know. And then he said to me, prophecy 231 00:13:30,780 --> 00:13:32,970 over these bones and say them dry bones, hear the word of the 232 00:13:32,980 --> 00:13:36,570 Lord. And so he says, Listen, I will 233 00:13:36,580 --> 00:13:40,950 cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. 234 00:13:41,670 --> 00:13:45,570 And then, you know, sinus form on their bones and then there's 235 00:13:45,580 --> 00:13:47,940 there's flesh and but it says they. 236 00:13:47,950 --> 00:13:49,560 Kind of creepy, yeah. Exactly. 237 00:13:49,570 --> 00:13:52,520 So but he's prophesying. It's, it's, it's this, it's, 238 00:13:52,530 --> 00:13:56,480 it's an image that Ezekiel has. It's this prophetic image that 239 00:13:56,490 --> 00:14:03,160 God sweeps him up into. And it's, it's got this really 240 00:14:03,490 --> 00:14:09,890 powerful image of humanity and being created and then given the 241 00:14:09,900 --> 00:14:14,260 breath of God into them, similarly to into in Genesis, 242 00:14:14,270 --> 00:14:17,690 where God breathed his spirit into Adam and Eve. 243 00:14:17,750 --> 00:14:23,070 Hmm. And so this this goes on, yeah, 244 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:28,790 basically it goes on to a point where he says, and I wanna find 245 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,800 the exact word in verse 8. He says, and I looked and 246 00:14:31,810 --> 00:14:34,490 behold, there were sinews on them and flesh had come upon 247 00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:37,600 them and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. 248 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,010 So, so Ezekiel taken through this whole like prophetic image 249 00:14:42,020 --> 00:14:46,340 where he's he's prophesying to these dead, dusty, dry bones in 250 00:14:46,350 --> 00:14:49,050 a valley. And you know, God says, hey, can 251 00:14:49,060 --> 00:14:51,310 these live? And Ezekiel says, you know, only 252 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,140 you know God, but if anybody can do it, you can do it. 253 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:58,320 And so he says prophesied of the bones say like I will make flesh 254 00:14:58,370 --> 00:15:03,180 come back on and sinews to form and muscles and tendons and skin 255 00:15:03,190 --> 00:15:06,070 like I will breathe new life into you. 256 00:15:07,150 --> 00:15:10,670 But also and all of that happens, but there's no life in 257 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,750 them until until in 90 says then he said it's me prophecy to the 258 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,830 breath prophecy, Son of man. Thus says the Lord of God come 259 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,230 from the four winds of breath and breathe on these slain that 260 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,680 they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded 261 00:15:22,690 --> 00:15:25,250 in the breath came into them and they lived and stood on their 262 00:15:25,260 --> 00:15:28,980 feet and exceedingly great army. And then he goes on to say how 263 00:15:29,050 --> 00:15:32,300 you know this, these this image represents the House of Israel. 264 00:15:32,310 --> 00:15:36,060 And like it's a it's a prophecy for Israel and for the future 265 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,290 redemption and restoration and etcetera. 266 00:15:40,300 --> 00:15:45,370 But he goes on through this whole passage at the end of 37, 267 00:15:47,110 --> 00:15:49,460 God is still speaking to his ego, and he says my dwelling 268 00:15:49,470 --> 00:15:51,690 place shall be with him, and I will be their God and they shall 269 00:15:51,700 --> 00:15:54,080 be my people. So those are lines that we then 270 00:15:54,090 --> 00:15:57,540 attribute to Jesus and also the coming of the Holy Spirit. 271 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,400 You know, I will set them into their land and multiply them. 272 00:16:01,410 --> 00:16:05,260 I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever, like my presence 273 00:16:05,270 --> 00:16:06,940 will be with them forever. Right. 274 00:16:07,010 --> 00:16:07,420 Yeah. Yeah. 275 00:16:07,430 --> 00:16:13,200 So we get this like mixture of, of accounts where the Holy 276 00:16:13,210 --> 00:16:19,170 Spirit is present and active and related to and relating to these 277 00:16:19,180 --> 00:16:22,370 characters in the Old Testament, these people who encounter God 278 00:16:22,380 --> 00:16:29,660 through his Spirit and also acting as this creative, I 279 00:16:29,730 --> 00:16:33,760 hesitate to say force or power because I want us to think away 280 00:16:33,770 --> 00:16:35,180 from that and more toward a person. 281 00:16:35,190 --> 00:16:38,900 But this, this the creative energy of God in the world, the 282 00:16:38,910 --> 00:16:42,690 creative presence of God in the world that creates humanity and 283 00:16:42,700 --> 00:16:45,180 then recreates humanity and continues to recreate humanity. 284 00:16:45,190 --> 00:16:48,420 So then just to jump forward when we jump to the New 285 00:16:48,430 --> 00:16:53,290 Testament and start seeing passages where the Spirit is 286 00:16:53,300 --> 00:16:58,890 present both as a person, like as as a a, a person of God to be 287 00:16:58,900 --> 00:17:02,530 related to and a power that's really continuing forward. 288 00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:05,410 A lot of the imagery that we get in the Old Testament where 289 00:17:05,700 --> 00:17:08,450 people are relating to the Holy Spirit, it's a presence that 290 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:14,160 passing by them and it is this creative and recreative presence 291 00:17:14,170 --> 00:17:16,660 and power of God active in the world so. 292 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,480 And then sorry, like in Jesus early ministry, we see, you 293 00:17:19,490 --> 00:17:23,160 know, the, the spirit at work, especially around like Jesus 294 00:17:23,170 --> 00:17:25,829 baptism and whatnot, the spirit hovering over like a like a 295 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:27,940 dove. And then and then it gets pretty 296 00:17:27,950 --> 00:17:34,640 full on as Jesus talks about talks about the the gift and 297 00:17:34,650 --> 00:17:38,660 coming of the Holy Spirit even long before he he dies and is 298 00:17:38,670 --> 00:17:42,090 raised. And as in a sense, which one are 299 00:17:42,100 --> 00:17:43,000 you going to? You going, John? 300 00:17:43,010 --> 00:17:44,280 Yeah, I was gonna go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 301 00:17:44,290 --> 00:17:46,060 That's that's where I was hoping you would go. 302 00:17:46,070 --> 00:17:49,500 Yeah. So like where Jesus gives like 303 00:17:49,510 --> 00:17:53,310 this bold claim while you just read it? 304 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:55,370 Yeah, I'm just trying to, I'm trying to find it. 305 00:17:55,380 --> 00:17:55,900 Exactly. Yeah. 306 00:17:55,910 --> 00:17:59,370 But you know, John is talking to his disciples and essentially he 307 00:17:59,380 --> 00:18:04,390 says if if I don't go away, then the Holy Spirit then then I 308 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,050 won't send the Holy Spirit. And so he says it's for your 309 00:18:07,060 --> 00:18:09,420 benefit that I'm going away. So he's, he's predicting his 310 00:18:09,430 --> 00:18:10,630 death. He's well, he's talking about 311 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,570 his death and he's saying I'm going to go. 312 00:18:12,580 --> 00:18:14,450 He's not only talking about his death, but he's actually talking 313 00:18:14,460 --> 00:18:17,870 about his ascension as well. So death, resurrection, and then 314 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,670 ascension of Jesus. And so that's what we see at the 315 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,920 beginning of Acts. GSS is taken up into heaven and 316 00:18:26,180 --> 00:18:30,380 he says to his disciples when the helper comes so this he he's 317 00:18:30,390 --> 00:18:32,150 got. It's all this language, but in 318 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:37,930 in Acts or not Acts, sorry. In John, John 15, he says when 319 00:18:37,940 --> 00:18:42,110 the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the 320 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,770 spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear 321 00:18:45,780 --> 00:18:49,500 witness about me. And you also will bear witness 322 00:18:49,810 --> 00:18:52,500 because you have been with me from the beginning. 323 00:18:53,270 --> 00:18:54,800 So it's kind of mixed up, this one. 324 00:18:54,810 --> 00:18:57,300 Anyways, this passage is mixed up a little bit into this. 325 00:18:57,850 --> 00:18:59,860 You know, the world's gonna hate you, and that's OK. 326 00:18:59,870 --> 00:19:02,170 If it hates you, don't worry. It hated me before they hated 327 00:19:02,180 --> 00:19:03,520 you. Just get over and get on with 328 00:19:03,530 --> 00:19:04,640 it. But not, that's not actually 329 00:19:04,650 --> 00:19:06,580 what you said. But he's saying like, don't 330 00:19:06,590 --> 00:19:07,870 worry about that. It's going to happen. 331 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:13,470 It's fine and we get one of these passages that that shows 332 00:19:14,340 --> 00:19:19,430 Jesus promising the Spirit and promising that the Spirit will, 333 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:21,450 you know, proceeds from the Father will bear witness about 334 00:19:21,460 --> 00:19:26,170 me. And in in another passage, he 335 00:19:26,180 --> 00:19:33,750 says, and I think that's in 16, he says essentially what what I 336 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:40,490 said, which is I'm going away. It's a good thing that I will go 337 00:19:40,500 --> 00:19:43,990 away because if I don't, then the Holy Spirit won't come. 338 00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:47,730 And if I do, the Holy Spirit will come, and the Holy Spirit 339 00:19:47,740 --> 00:19:51,130 will do some very specific things. 340 00:19:51,140 --> 00:19:55,140 Verse John 67 So very truly I tell you it is for your good 341 00:19:55,150 --> 00:19:57,570 that I'm going away. Unless I go away, the advocate 342 00:19:57,580 --> 00:19:59,870 will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to 343 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:01,160 you. Yeah. 344 00:20:01,170 --> 00:20:03,930 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning 345 00:20:03,940 --> 00:20:07,100 sin, righteousness and judgment concerning sin, because they do 346 00:20:07,110 --> 00:20:09,950 not believe in me, concerning righteousness, because I go to 347 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,020 the Father and you will see me no longer. 348 00:20:13,070 --> 00:20:16,180 So the righteousness of Christ and Christ's earned 349 00:20:16,190 --> 00:20:19,880 righteousness. And then he says concerning 350 00:20:19,890 --> 00:20:23,500 judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 351 00:20:24,610 --> 00:20:29,160 And I just go, man, like that's such a powerful theological 352 00:20:29,170 --> 00:20:33,180 statement about what Jesus has accomplished. 353 00:20:33,250 --> 00:20:35,020 Yeah. So death, resurrection, 354 00:20:35,030 --> 00:20:40,350 ascension, spirit comes. The Spirit testifies about sin 355 00:20:41,190 --> 00:20:44,540 because the world is broken and people don't recognize who Jesus 356 00:20:44,550 --> 00:20:49,340 is and they're, you know, the need that we have about 357 00:20:49,550 --> 00:20:53,090 righteousness because I go to the Father because I've earned, 358 00:20:53,100 --> 00:20:56,280 he said Jesus because I've earned this righteousness right 359 00:20:56,290 --> 00:21:01,200 standing before God has now been made possible for the human. 360 00:21:01,310 --> 00:21:05,160 I go to God or I go to the Father, he says, and then 361 00:21:05,170 --> 00:21:09,320 concerning judgment because not because the world will be 362 00:21:09,330 --> 00:21:13,780 judged, but because God the Father has placed his divine 363 00:21:13,790 --> 00:21:18,470 judgment on the person of Jesus. And Jesus has one righteousness 364 00:21:18,550 --> 00:21:21,020 on behalf of humanity. So like it's such a powerful 365 00:21:21,030 --> 00:21:22,750 theological, like theological statement. 366 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,450 But that's the work of what Jesus is saying is the work of 367 00:21:25,460 --> 00:21:29,130 the Holy Spirit who convicts and challenges and reminds and 368 00:21:29,140 --> 00:21:31,890 encourages and then does it all over again. 369 00:21:31,900 --> 00:21:35,130 Convicts and challenges and encourages, reminds us of who 370 00:21:35,140 --> 00:21:38,570 Jesus is and our deep need for what he's accomplished. 371 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,030 So what the Holy Spirit doesn't do here, and I love this, the 372 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:42,810 Holy Spirit is like, doesn't say, yeah, the Holy Spirit is 373 00:21:42,820 --> 00:21:46,490 going to make you feel so guilty about all that you've done that 374 00:21:46,610 --> 00:21:50,460 you finally recognize and realize that, you know, you need 375 00:21:50,470 --> 00:21:52,300 to be better, right? Right. 376 00:21:52,310 --> 00:21:57,750 So all of what the Holy Spirit does is is teach and convict the 377 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,890 the human being based on entirely based on who Jesus is 378 00:22:00,980 --> 00:22:06,250 and what Jesus has accomplished. And so then when we get to Acts, 379 00:22:07,950 --> 00:22:11,080 we get even more like we get even an even greater sense of 380 00:22:11,090 --> 00:22:13,990 who the Spirit is. And so in Acts 1 and Jesus, you 381 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,410 know, says I am, I'm going to leave sending, sending the 382 00:22:16,420 --> 00:22:20,680 Spirit. And, and then we, we have this, 383 00:22:20,690 --> 00:22:27,360 this moment in Acts 2 where the spirit comes almost in a similar 384 00:22:27,370 --> 00:22:28,680 way. Like when you, when you, you 385 00:22:28,690 --> 00:22:31,370 know, see the language in, in the, in the Old Testament about 386 00:22:31,380 --> 00:22:33,460 the way that the spirit comes upon people. 387 00:22:33,500 --> 00:22:37,700 Hmm. Like it often is the language 388 00:22:37,710 --> 00:22:41,250 feels a little similar. And then, but something is 389 00:22:41,260 --> 00:22:43,240 different here because it feels like this is like, this is not 390 00:22:43,250 --> 00:22:45,800 just a one time. The spirit is going to rush upon 391 00:22:45,810 --> 00:22:48,180 this place and then not return. But no, this is like, this is 392 00:22:48,190 --> 00:22:52,490 like for good. This is like available to every 393 00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:59,220 believer for all time, you know? But the revelation of the Spirit 394 00:22:59,270 --> 00:23:02,240 seems to continue on a little bit over the course of of the 395 00:23:02,250 --> 00:23:04,240 early church as well. So there's something interesting 396 00:23:04,250 --> 00:23:07,080 there, yeah. I think it's So what I want 397 00:23:07,090 --> 00:23:09,480 people thinking about and I, I said that I alluded to this. 398 00:23:09,490 --> 00:23:12,540 I actually think I said this in a prayer on Sunday, not actually 399 00:23:12,550 --> 00:23:15,640 as part of the sermon, you know, but we've alluded to it already. 400 00:23:15,650 --> 00:23:19,200 I, I want for us to be thinking about the Holy Spirit as a 401 00:23:19,210 --> 00:23:23,420 person to be related to and not a power to be tapped into. 402 00:23:23,510 --> 00:23:26,020 So I think that's one of the mistakes that we make as 403 00:23:26,030 --> 00:23:30,710 Christians in the West. And I'll just say that is that 404 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:35,750 we, we view the Holy Spirit as a power, like exclusively as just 405 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:40,150 a power that we as Christians have access to when we need it. 406 00:23:40,940 --> 00:23:43,210 And it's like, OK, I got to figure that out. 407 00:23:43,260 --> 00:23:46,950 But I know the Holy Spirit is there if I need God's power, if 408 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,450 I need etcetera, or if I'm going through whatever it is like it's 409 00:23:51,460 --> 00:23:55,920 this power external to me. You think of like, I've, I've 410 00:23:55,930 --> 00:23:59,420 got this battery bank and I take it with me to the cottage and we 411 00:23:59,430 --> 00:24:01,030 go up north because the power always goes out there. 412 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,690 Yeah. And what I have to do is I have 413 00:24:03,700 --> 00:24:08,690 to charge that battery so that I can charge like my phone, a 414 00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:10,510 camera, things like that, right? Yeah. 415 00:24:10,580 --> 00:24:14,310 And so sure enough, you know, I usually forget to plug that 416 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:15,850 thing in a few days before we leave. 417 00:24:15,860 --> 00:24:17,770 And so I plug it into the car. I'm like, hopefully this will 418 00:24:17,780 --> 00:24:19,850 generate enough power that if the power goes out, we're fine. 419 00:24:19,860 --> 00:24:22,190 So anyways, I've got this battery bank that I carry around 420 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,700 and I think we kind of consider, you know, think about it this 421 00:24:24,710 --> 00:24:28,180 way, that if we think about ourselves as that battery bank, 422 00:24:28,430 --> 00:24:31,600 like we're gonna deplete and then when we need it, we can 423 00:24:31,610 --> 00:24:35,980 plug ourselves back in and recharge and then go on our way 424 00:24:36,050 --> 00:24:40,540 until we need it again. And it's yes, there is power 425 00:24:41,700 --> 00:24:46,110 that God offers through the giving of the Holy Spirit, but 426 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:50,830 it's a power that is in found I found in God's presence, 427 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:57,210 continual presence and not in this, OK, my, you know, battery 428 00:24:57,220 --> 00:25:00,650 banks a little low. I better go plug it in, get what 429 00:25:00,660 --> 00:25:05,170 I need and then move on. So person to be related to as 430 00:25:05,180 --> 00:25:08,010 opposed to power just simply to be tapped into. 431 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,390 It's something that, that I, I worry about sometimes and, and 432 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,510 certain traditions of, of Christianity will focus on the 433 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,190 power and presence of the spirit in different ways. 434 00:25:20,370 --> 00:25:25,060 And I, and I'm, I'm worried sometimes when we do focus so 435 00:25:25,070 --> 00:25:29,150 much on, on the power of the spirits, because it almost feels 436 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,320 like when, when the power of the spirit doesn't show up in a, in 437 00:25:33,330 --> 00:25:37,100 a kind of mind bending kind of way, like whether whether it's a 438 00:25:37,110 --> 00:25:40,830 healing or whatever, we're kind of left like disappointed. 439 00:25:41,510 --> 00:25:44,680 Where whereas if, if I read again, like just some of the 440 00:25:44,690 --> 00:25:48,420 things that the at the end of Acts 2, when we see like the way 441 00:25:48,430 --> 00:25:53,110 that the Spirit has has settled into the Holy Spirit's work in, 442 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:58,430 in the church, it's a lot of normal stuff like supernatural, 443 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,690 but normal, you know, like they're, they're, they're 444 00:26:01,700 --> 00:26:04,130 breaking bread together, they're praying together. 445 00:26:04,340 --> 00:26:06,190 They're they're giving away possessions. 446 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:10,130 They are like, they have found this like settled way of being. 447 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,690 And yeah, like there, there's cool miracles as well. 448 00:26:12,700 --> 00:26:17,740 Like God is doing some like profound things, but the, the 449 00:26:17,750 --> 00:26:22,580 presence of the spirits, I think, and then maybe this is 450 00:26:22,590 --> 00:26:24,820 maybe this is a bold claim. I think the presence of this 451 00:26:25,050 --> 00:26:29,920 spirit should generally be like normal, like like that, that 452 00:26:30,010 --> 00:26:33,880 when we, when it is normative that we just, we're, we're going 453 00:26:33,890 --> 00:26:36,410 to be generous with our stuff and we're going to and because 454 00:26:36,420 --> 00:26:39,960 that is a sign of of the gods of God's presence at work in me. 455 00:26:41,050 --> 00:26:44,300 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so. You know, I think just like the 456 00:26:44,310 --> 00:26:47,460 early church had to figure out, or actually the, the church just 457 00:26:47,470 --> 00:26:50,780 like the disciples had to figure out who Jesus is, right. 458 00:26:50,790 --> 00:26:53,450 So they've got these like 3, roughly 3 years with him. 459 00:26:54,390 --> 00:26:57,160 And at the beginning I got like, who is this guy? 460 00:26:57,230 --> 00:27:00,420 Yeah, I could he be like, Oh yeah, this guy's definitely on 461 00:27:00,430 --> 00:27:03,580 Messiah, like oht, but we misunderstood what Messiah 462 00:27:03,590 --> 00:27:05,430 meant. OK, alright. 463 00:27:05,490 --> 00:27:08,270 So you see the disciples throughout their entire journey 464 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:12,050 with Jesus discovering who Jesus is. 465 00:27:12,980 --> 00:27:16,760 And I like that as an image because I think we as Christians 466 00:27:16,830 --> 00:27:21,840 continue to wrestle that out and need to need to in relationship 467 00:27:21,890 --> 00:27:26,980 to the Holy Spirit, allow God to reveal who is the Holy Spirit 468 00:27:27,250 --> 00:27:29,400 and how is God present in my life. 469 00:27:29,410 --> 00:27:33,160 So I could see you know, and and we had one, one question asked, 470 00:27:33,170 --> 00:27:37,530 which is essentially how does one receive the Holy Spirit 471 00:27:38,170 --> 00:27:42,300 right? How do you how do you get the 472 00:27:42,370 --> 00:27:45,540 the spirit? How do you understand it and I 473 00:27:45,550 --> 00:27:50,480 go like so understand it in relationship overtime probably 474 00:27:50,490 --> 00:27:55,200 not entirely not going to be able to person to be related to 475 00:27:56,090 --> 00:28:01,650 is is a dynamic relationship that you need to work at and 476 00:28:01,700 --> 00:28:06,290 invite yourself into an invite got into and ask for revelation. 477 00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:09,760 So there's this great line in in Luke where Jesus says how much 478 00:28:09,770 --> 00:28:12,880 more will God give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. 479 00:28:13,610 --> 00:28:18,760 So I think there's a certain level of ask and it's, it comes 480 00:28:18,770 --> 00:28:23,140 in like Jesus is saying, ask, keep on asking, seek, keep on 481 00:28:23,150 --> 00:28:24,800 seeking, knock, keep on knocking. 482 00:28:24,810 --> 00:28:27,040 And you know what? Those who keep on asking and 483 00:28:27,050 --> 00:28:29,420 keep on seeking and keep on knocking, keep it like those are 484 00:28:29,430 --> 00:28:31,890 gonna be the ones who find the door will be opened. 485 00:28:32,130 --> 00:28:35,570 And how much more will your father give? 486 00:28:35,580 --> 00:28:42,050 So he's, he's talking about, you know, fish and loaves and snakes 487 00:28:42,060 --> 00:28:44,710 and eggs and good gifts and bad gifts. 488 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:46,770 But you know, he says how much more. 489 00:28:46,780 --> 00:28:51,610 So Jesus is a assumption, right? And, and what Jesus declares in 490 00:28:51,620 --> 00:28:55,790 that statement is that God will give you the Holy Spirit as you 491 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:57,550 ask. God's presence, the Holy Spirit 492 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,490 will be with you as you ask. So first screen, I wrote some 493 00:29:00,500 --> 00:29:02,050 other passages down that are just helpful. 494 00:29:02,060 --> 00:29:06,230 First Corinthians 619, which has to do with lawsuits against 495 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,360 believers and sexual immorality. But Paul has this line at the 496 00:29:09,370 --> 00:29:10,980 end. He says, or do you not know that 497 00:29:10,990 --> 00:29:14,260 your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you 498 00:29:14,270 --> 00:29:16,170 have from God? You are not your own. 499 00:29:16,410 --> 00:29:19,380 And so he's saying, hey, listen, flee from sexual immorality. 500 00:29:19,430 --> 00:29:22,220 Don't sue each other. You guys gotta figure some stuff 501 00:29:22,230 --> 00:29:25,260 out. Don't you know that your body is 502 00:29:25,270 --> 00:29:28,520 the temple? So think about what that 503 00:29:28,530 --> 00:29:32,880 statement means. Like the temple for Jewish 504 00:29:32,930 --> 00:29:38,000 believers, like for Jewish believers of Jesus, like the 505 00:29:38,010 --> 00:29:43,730 temple was the place where God's presence dwelt Noah like no 506 00:29:43,740 --> 00:29:45,870 other place. Yeah, God's presence was in the 507 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:51,750 temple and people had to Pilgrim like Pilgrim, they make 508 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:56,270 pilgrimage to the temple in order to access God's presence. 509 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,770 And even then, only certain people were allowed to go into 510 00:29:58,780 --> 00:30:01,170 where God's presence was and only at certain times and with 511 00:30:01,180 --> 00:30:03,890 ropes tied around their waist in case they died, somebody could 512 00:30:03,900 --> 00:30:06,160 pull them out, like right there was a whole thing. 513 00:30:06,500 --> 00:30:08,950 But that like the God's presence was known. 514 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,910 Hey, if you want to seek God that the temple is where you go. 515 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:17,220 Paul says by by Paul's writing, it's already he's assumes that I 516 00:30:17,230 --> 00:30:19,680 say, hey, don't you know, haven't you guys figured it out? 517 00:30:19,820 --> 00:30:22,710 Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 518 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:28,320 God's presence is like is with you in you, and so therefore you 519 00:30:28,330 --> 00:30:29,830 need to act differently than you're acting. 520 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,950 That's where he wants to go. But it's an assumption that he 521 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,380 makes. And so I think that's that's 522 00:30:35,390 --> 00:30:39,390 also helpful to say like Jesus, his base assumption, God gives 523 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:40,990 the Holy Spirit to those who ask. 524 00:30:41,130 --> 00:30:45,300 Paul's base assumption is that God gives the Holy Spirit to 525 00:30:45,310 --> 00:30:49,460 dwell inside of you as you become a follower of Jesus. 526 00:30:50,110 --> 00:30:51,760 So it's not something that is earned. 527 00:30:51,770 --> 00:30:53,360 It's not something that is found. 528 00:30:53,370 --> 00:30:56,180 It's not something that is like, you know, you, you get the Holy 529 00:30:56,190 --> 00:31:00,480 Spirit when you earn enough Christian points, you know, Oh 530 00:31:00,490 --> 00:31:01,930 well, that person spoke in tongues. 531 00:31:01,940 --> 00:31:03,700 So they earn it. They earned it, right? 532 00:31:03,710 --> 00:31:07,720 Like it's not, that's not it. That's not the way. 533 00:31:07,730 --> 00:31:10,180 The way the whole spirits presence work is a gift from 534 00:31:10,190 --> 00:31:12,400 God. Well, and Peter, you know, going 535 00:31:12,410 --> 00:31:17,490 back to Acts 2, at the end of kind of Peters big sermon, he 536 00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:20,300 says, you know, that people are like, well, what do we do? 537 00:31:20,370 --> 00:31:22,900 And he's like, repent, be baptized, every one of you in 538 00:31:22,910 --> 00:31:25,200 the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and 539 00:31:25,210 --> 00:31:27,340 you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirits. 540 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:32,950 And and A, it's a gift. B says it seems to coincide when 541 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:37,110 you when you receive Christ, you receive God's spirits. 542 00:31:37,180 --> 00:31:39,840 Right. Now, as I say that, you know, 543 00:31:39,850 --> 00:31:42,330 without opening a can of theological worms, like a few 544 00:31:42,340 --> 00:31:46,290 chapters later, as they go, as they venture out into Samaria, 545 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,950 they start realizing that there are some believers that have put 546 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,610 their faith in Jesus but didn't know about the Spirit, right. 547 00:31:52,620 --> 00:31:54,800 And like, oh, well, let me tell you about the Holy Spirit, you 548 00:31:54,810 --> 00:31:56,640 know, and then they receive the Holy Spirit, right? 549 00:31:56,650 --> 00:31:57,810 Yeah. I don't know. 550 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,860 And maybe I'll ask you, I I don't know that that is 551 00:32:00,930 --> 00:32:06,060 normative for Christians today. Would you say yes or no? 552 00:32:07,070 --> 00:32:10,300 Oh, that, that, that, that that that timeline. 553 00:32:10,310 --> 00:32:13,380 Of I can receive Jesus and then later receive the spirits. 554 00:32:13,450 --> 00:32:17,960 I, no, I think that you receive the spirit as you receive Jesus 555 00:32:17,970 --> 00:32:22,220 like this is so that, that I think is more we, you know, we 556 00:32:22,230 --> 00:32:26,380 hear stories of people who in, in what it would consider like 557 00:32:27,350 --> 00:32:30,080 closed countries, they use that term cautiously. 558 00:32:30,090 --> 00:32:32,100 I don't know if that's a term that's still used, but in, in 559 00:32:32,110 --> 00:32:34,450 countries, in countries where it's illegal to be a Christian 560 00:32:34,460 --> 00:32:36,500 and where, you know, mission, it's illegal to be a missionary 561 00:32:36,510 --> 00:32:38,400 and there are no public churches and there's no worship 562 00:32:38,410 --> 00:32:39,640 happening. Like we know, obviously we know 563 00:32:39,650 --> 00:32:42,250 that Christians will gather in worship and in houses and 564 00:32:42,260 --> 00:32:45,240 etcetera. But you know, you hear people of 565 00:32:45,330 --> 00:32:50,170 you hear people coming to faith in Jesus who have had 0 0 566 00:32:50,180 --> 00:32:53,530 connection or interaction with any Christian anywhere, right. 567 00:32:53,540 --> 00:32:56,250 Well, Jesus, this guy Jesus showed up to me in a dream. 568 00:32:56,310 --> 00:32:59,570 Yeah. And so I think that kind of 569 00:32:59,580 --> 00:33:04,010 story is closer to like what's happening in Acts is closer to 570 00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:08,710 the story that I just recounted where, you know, I think that if 571 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,910 you profess. So there's there's a verse that 572 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:16,240 says no one can, no one can declare that Jesus is Lord 573 00:33:17,150 --> 00:33:19,020 except by the power of the Spirit. 574 00:33:20,070 --> 00:33:23,280 So if you've declared that Jesus is Lord, then you, you have 575 00:33:23,290 --> 00:33:27,880 access, you have this, the Holy Spirit with you, alongside you. 576 00:33:27,950 --> 00:33:31,200 This is God's presence for you. And what I would say is maybe 577 00:33:31,210 --> 00:33:34,660 your language needs to change. Maybe we need to rediscover what 578 00:33:34,670 --> 00:33:37,590 it means to relate to the Holy Spirit as a person and not 579 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:43,220 simply a power. And you know what it looks like 580 00:33:43,230 --> 00:33:48,860 to daily think about God's presence with you. 581 00:33:49,010 --> 00:33:52,460 I think that line from Paul is is a helpful one to me. 582 00:33:52,470 --> 00:33:55,500 Like, hey, like sometimes I just need to remember, hey, remember 583 00:33:55,630 --> 00:33:57,340 your bodies at the temple of the Holy Spirit. 584 00:33:57,590 --> 00:34:00,440 Yeah, whether you want it or, like whether you want it to be 585 00:34:00,450 --> 00:34:01,390 or. Not. 586 00:34:01,570 --> 00:34:04,580 So choose a healthy, you know, choose the healthy decision 587 00:34:04,630 --> 00:34:09,060 right options and. Yeah, and I'm, I'm just trying 588 00:34:09,070 --> 00:34:11,860 to think that through because I think that there are people who 589 00:34:11,870 --> 00:34:14,170 I, I know who have been Christians their entire life. 590 00:34:14,389 --> 00:34:17,679 And and then they, they have what I would, you know, maybe 591 00:34:17,690 --> 00:34:21,659 describe as as a spiritual renewal in their life, right? 592 00:34:21,670 --> 00:34:23,600 It happens in churches, it happens in individuals. 593 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:28,199 And often that is coincided with a, a newer and deeper 594 00:34:28,210 --> 00:34:30,679 understanding of God's spirits, right. 595 00:34:31,489 --> 00:34:33,679 But I think it would, yeah. It would be incorrect to say 596 00:34:33,690 --> 00:34:36,659 that, you know, they didn't have the spirit before and now do. 597 00:34:36,670 --> 00:34:39,190 But now they've they've way better, better understood. 598 00:34:39,199 --> 00:34:41,630 I don't know, I don't mean understood cognitively, but 599 00:34:41,639 --> 00:34:46,290 they've had a, a better openness to the work of the spirit in 600 00:34:46,300 --> 00:34:49,460 their life who is already present and has been present. 601 00:34:49,469 --> 00:34:50,500 Right? Yeah. 602 00:34:50,540 --> 00:34:54,620 And so, yeah, I, I would, yeah. Being thoughtful around our 603 00:34:54,630 --> 00:35:01,250 language so that we're not assuming that someone has, you 604 00:35:01,260 --> 00:35:05,010 know, gone their whole life as a follower of Jesus without ever 605 00:35:05,020 --> 00:35:06,770 encountering the spirits. Yeah. 606 00:35:06,820 --> 00:35:08,690 Yeah. And I think, you know, we, we 607 00:35:08,700 --> 00:35:12,840 are, we're certainly, we're Reformed Church in the sense 608 00:35:12,850 --> 00:35:14,090 that we are a church like we are. 609 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,410 We are a child as a church, a child of the Reformation. 610 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,390 I think one of the things that the Reformation did well and 611 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,550 poorly at the same time is prioritized intellectual assent 612 00:35:25,660 --> 00:35:28,190 and understanding knowledge, right? 613 00:35:28,980 --> 00:35:34,560 We, we, yeah, I still have a sermon like teaching moments are 614 00:35:34,630 --> 00:35:36,580 a large part of our worship gatherings. 615 00:35:36,650 --> 00:35:39,740 And so we, we have put a lot of emphasis on the right 616 00:35:39,750 --> 00:35:43,070 understanding of, and I think what we're seeing shift in the 617 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,940 next generation is they're looking less for the right 618 00:35:45,950 --> 00:35:52,040 understanding first and looking more for give me an experience 619 00:35:53,110 --> 00:35:55,980 and, and like an experience of God or an experience of the 620 00:35:55,990 --> 00:35:58,960 church and of community and of what this thing could look like. 621 00:35:59,030 --> 00:36:02,410 And then tell me why, right. As opposed to, you know, I think 622 00:36:02,420 --> 00:36:06,040 we're coming out of an era where emphasis was put on, OK, I will 623 00:36:06,050 --> 00:36:09,560 teach you how to think about the thing and then you'll think 624 00:36:09,570 --> 00:36:12,380 rightly about the thing and then you'll believe the thing. 625 00:36:12,970 --> 00:36:14,920 And I think we're seeing that flip and shift. 626 00:36:14,970 --> 00:36:19,120 So I think a really unique opportunity to just simply say, 627 00:36:19,130 --> 00:36:22,900 OK, God, like what? Like how do you need or want our 628 00:36:22,910 --> 00:36:26,380 language to shift and change around who you are as Holy 629 00:36:26,390 --> 00:36:29,640 Spirit and how you're present and how you're working in the 630 00:36:29,650 --> 00:36:32,120 world and what that means for us and in my life. 631 00:36:32,170 --> 00:36:34,280 I love. So Karl, Bart has this language 632 00:36:34,290 --> 00:36:38,230 around salvation where he says that what Jesus accomplished on 633 00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:41,530 the cross is, and I'm going to paraphrase. 634 00:36:41,540 --> 00:36:44,250 So you know any Bart scholars listening to this? 635 00:36:44,260 --> 00:36:45,930 Not that there are any. You know, I might get this 636 00:36:45,940 --> 00:36:50,980 wrong. The salvation that Jesus 637 00:36:50,990 --> 00:36:57,620 accomplished on the cross is no less true before you know it. 638 00:36:58,890 --> 00:37:00,880 Ohhhhh yeah. So it, it happened. 639 00:37:00,990 --> 00:37:03,500 So he, he, he puts a whole lot of emphasis on the fact that 640 00:37:03,510 --> 00:37:07,080 Jesus work of salvation on the cross, his death and his 641 00:37:07,090 --> 00:37:10,130 resurrection, along with all of his teaching, but his death and 642 00:37:10,140 --> 00:37:13,480 resurrection was a real event inside of human history that 643 00:37:13,490 --> 00:37:16,010 happened. It's not just something that's 644 00:37:16,020 --> 00:37:18,340 true for you. If you believe it, it's true, 645 00:37:18,390 --> 00:37:20,270 period. It has to be an event inside of 646 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,480 history. And so it is no more true after 647 00:37:23,490 --> 00:37:26,380 you believe it. It's no less true before you 648 00:37:26,390 --> 00:37:29,260 believe it. What happens is that you are in 649 00:37:29,270 --> 00:37:32,180 his language. You are woken up into the 650 00:37:32,190 --> 00:37:36,020 reality of it. You, you're, you know you're, 651 00:37:36,070 --> 00:37:39,680 you're awake now and you're alive because you know it and 652 00:37:39,690 --> 00:37:42,120 you believe it and you experience it in a different 653 00:37:42,130 --> 00:37:44,860 way. Doesn't mean that that moment is 654 00:37:44,870 --> 00:37:48,020 any more or less true. What is changing is your 655 00:37:48,030 --> 00:37:50,900 relationship to the the event inside of history. 656 00:37:51,110 --> 00:37:53,020 And I think the spirit is the same. 657 00:37:53,110 --> 00:37:57,360 Yeah, this is where I'm going. Is that for the believer? 658 00:37:57,550 --> 00:37:59,780 And I like, I need to wrestle this out too. 659 00:37:59,790 --> 00:38:02,750 Like I, I'm, I'm, I'm loving the book that I'm working through 660 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,100 because it's like, oh, I, I get these moments. 661 00:38:05,110 --> 00:38:08,620 I'm like, yeah, absolutely. I'm not misunderstood it, but 662 00:38:08,690 --> 00:38:11,860 all my emphasis was over here. I'm like, man, like God's doing 663 00:38:11,870 --> 00:38:14,320 so much more over here. And I'm pointing in different 664 00:38:14,330 --> 00:38:16,220 directions. If you're listening online, not 665 00:38:16,230 --> 00:38:20,360 that there's significant directions, but I think the what 666 00:38:20,370 --> 00:38:27,170 is true is that the Holy Spirit is present and dwelling in and 667 00:38:27,180 --> 00:38:30,830 with the believer. That is true inside of human 668 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:33,470 history because that's what Scripture points us to. 669 00:38:33,550 --> 00:38:38,450 That's what Jesus talks about and what we need. 670 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:44,660 What I need is help waking myself up to the reality and the 671 00:38:44,670 --> 00:38:46,370 presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. 672 00:38:46,380 --> 00:38:49,260 That's no or less, no more, no more true, no less true, no more 673 00:38:49,270 --> 00:38:55,220 present, no less present. I need God to wake me up and 674 00:38:55,310 --> 00:38:58,620 show me what that means, not just for my life, but for how I 675 00:38:58,630 --> 00:39:01,310 live it toward others. That's good. 676 00:39:01,790 --> 00:39:06,200 There's a Wesleyan theological tenant and I always like to 677 00:39:06,210 --> 00:39:09,480 bring up my Wesley Wesley and theology when I can prevenient 678 00:39:09,490 --> 00:39:13,180 grace the the idea. And maybe there's an analog in, 679 00:39:13,250 --> 00:39:17,930 in kind of Reformed theology, but like just that, that God's 680 00:39:17,940 --> 00:39:22,400 Spirit has been at work long before you knew it in in our 681 00:39:22,410 --> 00:39:27,060 lives leading up to it is an essential part of of our 682 00:39:27,070 --> 00:39:29,760 soteriology, which is like our method, the way in which we 683 00:39:29,770 --> 00:39:33,320 understand our salvation. And so it just made me think of 684 00:39:33,330 --> 00:39:34,880 that as you were talking, talking that through. 685 00:39:34,890 --> 00:39:35,710 That's really cool. Yeah. 686 00:39:35,720 --> 00:39:37,790 Yeah, yeah. Long, long before we knew it, 687 00:39:37,860 --> 00:39:40,690 long after we're gone. Yeah, God's Spirit is still 688 00:39:40,700 --> 00:39:43,430 gonna be at work. Yeah, and maybe just a little 689 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:47,220 pitch before we close out that if you're listening and you're 690 00:39:47,230 --> 00:39:49,330 and you're like still kind of trying to wrestle some of this 691 00:39:49,340 --> 00:39:54,430 out like the Alpha course, which in real time January 2026 will 692 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:59,610 be starting up they they spend a whole weekend on the the Holy 693 00:39:59,620 --> 00:40:02,740 Spirit and and greater. Understanding of the Holy Spirit 694 00:40:02,750 --> 00:40:07,230 and so that might be a great place for you to plug into, but 695 00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:08,950 other than that, anything else we want to close out? 696 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:12,060 With No, we hope that you're having a great start to 2026. 697 00:40:12,130 --> 00:40:13,460 Yeah, and we'll see you next time.