1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,880 Good morning. Grab your Bible, open up to 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:10,560 Romans chapter 8. I don't know if your Bible's 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:12,440 like my Bible. It now opens it automatically 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,240 when I put it down. We've been in there for quite a 5 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:19,160 while and I want to, I want to just jump in to the 1st 4 verses 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:21,080 before we unpack it. I'll read it for you. 7 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:23,120 It'll be up on the screen. But if you're there, I'm reading 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,440 from Romans 8 verse one. Therefore, there is now no 9 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:28,840 condemnation. For who? 10 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,440 For those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ 11 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,880 Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life, has set you free 12 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,360 from the law of sin and death. Who has He set us free at? 13 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,120 Those who are in Christ Jesus For what the law was powerless 14 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,160 to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, by sending 15 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:50,080 His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,080 offering. And so He condemned sin in the 17 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,240 flesh in order that the righteous requirements of the 18 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,480 law might be fully met in US. Who's us? 19 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:04,720 Those who are in Christ Jesus. Comma Paul makes a sudden turn 20 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,320 here because all of a sudden he delineates from those who are in 21 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:11,280 Christ Jesus essentially the work of the cross. 22 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,680 And now for the rest of Romans 8, he's going to start talking 23 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,200 to us about the walk of the cross. 24 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:22,080 So he's defined those who have no condemnation, those who are 25 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,040 set free, those who in whom the fullness of the law has been 26 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:28,960 fully met, those who are in Christ Jesus comma. 27 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,960 Now he defines what you and I are meant to look like in this 28 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:36,080 walk of the cross. And he says we are those who do 29 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:41,720 not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 30 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,720 There should be the defining fruits. 31 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:48,720 When people see you at work, they should know that you are a 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,720 Christian, not because you go to church, not because you have a 33 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,720 big family Bible, but because you do not live according to the 34 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,240 flesh, but you live according to the Spirit. 35 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:00,120 So we're going to take a look at that. 36 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,280 What does that mean? Live according to the spirit? 37 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,480 Because when you dig a little deeper, this word living 38 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,240 according to or in accordance to the spirit is a, is a very short 39 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:15,200 Greek word, Qatar, but it means living to the uttermost in the 40 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:17,920 spirit. Now remember, we're right at the 41 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:19,600 very beginning. We were talking about the full 42 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,600 inheritance that God has for us. And we're looking at those 43 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,080 boundary lines in Romans eights. Those boundary lines are found 44 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,320 in the fullness, the uttermost of living in the spirit. 45 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,560 So we're going to dive into that over the next few weeks. 46 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,360 But what I want to do today, before we we jump into this, I 47 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,080 would just want to take a bit of a bird's eye view, you know, 48 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,280 30,000 feet high view of the work of the Holy Spirit through 49 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,160 Scripture. Because you know, sometimes when 50 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,520 you jump into things, there's a whole bunch of past and 51 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,040 preconceived ideas that come to the surface. 52 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,000 I don't know if you know, I don't know if you've actually 53 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,360 ever bungee jumped at Bloke Grants Show of hands, has anyone 54 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,120 here? OK, for those of you who don't 55 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,440 know, Bloke Grants is the highest bungee jump in the world 56 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,440 and not only is it the highest, but they say that the recoil is 57 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:11,240 so strong and it is so high that you recoil almost to as high as 58 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,040 the second highest bungee jump in the world. 59 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,480 So you really do get your bang for your buck, right? 60 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:18,840 So I had the privilege of doing this a while back, but I heard 61 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,960 apparently now this might just be rumour, but I heard 62 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,280 apparently that you get a birthday special. 63 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,800 So next time you're there, if you go, they ask for the 64 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,600 birthday special. I must have spoiled it for you, 65 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,160 but the birthday special, essentially a bunch of mates did 66 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,440 this and they had decided, no, they're going to give their 67 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,440 mates a birthday special because it was his birthday, but also he 68 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,400 had done the jump quite a few times. 69 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,880 And so the birthday special, instead of jumping out 321 70 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,360 bungee jumping or forwards, the birthday special is that you 71 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,480 turn around, you stand on the edge and then you fall 72 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,480 backwards. And apparently it's way scarier 73 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,360 because you know, you still don't see where you're going, 74 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,720 You just see yourself disappearing into the ether. 75 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,720 So that's the story. The real story is now you're 76 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:03,280 strapped in. They've done all the security 77 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,120 checks and everything like this. And as they go 3 to 1 bungee and 78 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,680 you start falling, the security officer, the instructor, as you 79 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,800 tip off the edge goes wait, wait, wait. 80 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,360 Apparently the guy literally wet himself. 81 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,440 Now tell that story because if we are talking about the Holy 82 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,440 Spirit in this city, I've got saved in the city, I've 83 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:34,080 experienced the Spirit in the city. 84 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,880 And a lot of the time when we start talking about the Holy 85 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,480 Spirit in in Pretoria, a lot of you are going to wait, wait, 86 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,280 wait. I've heard, I've seen I've, I 87 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:45,240 don't know who is this Holy Spirit. 88 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,520 What role does he play? Isn't that's sensationists. 89 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,400 And so I just want to clarify some things so that we're all on 90 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,800 the same page and so that our hearts are open and responsive 91 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,080 to the Holy Spirit. Because you if you've been 92 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,000 around like I have you seen things, done things, experienced 93 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,280 things, had questions, not just in one sense with very broad 94 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:09,040 brush strokes when I answer some of those questions before we get 95 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,760 deeper into living in the spirit to the uttermost. 96 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,840 So this is how I want to do it. I want to look at sort of the 97 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,360 meta narrative of Scripture in three ways. 98 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,480 The Bible talk. I can very crudely put the Holy 99 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,600 Spirit into three different compartments. 100 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,600 The one would be the Holy Spirit in you, the other would be the 101 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,680 Holy Spirit working through you, and then lastly, the Holy Spirit 102 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:33,960 coming upon you. We're going to look at how the 103 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,240 Bible talks about that. Very broad brush strokes. 104 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,560 I know there's going to be a lot going unsaid, but I just want to 105 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,760 bring everyone onto the same plate that that's OK. 106 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:47,960 So the Holy Spirit in you, I want to ask you a question. 107 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,120 When was the last time you had a personal encounter with the Holy 108 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,880 Spirit? When was the last time you had a 109 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,200 personal encounter with the Holy Spirit? 110 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:03,320 Now, I'm sure when you think about that, you're probably 111 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,240 thinking of something dramatic, maybe something weird. 112 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,240 And that is our tendency whenever we start talking about 113 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:12,920 the Holy Spirit. It seems like we go to the 114 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,120 external immediately. But the whole meta narrative of 115 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:21,120 Scripture builds towards a God who wants to come close, the 116 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:24,360 Holy Spirit in you. And it's funny when we think, 117 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,120 when I ask you that you're not thinking about your the last 118 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:32,560 time you were really convicted about your driving or really 119 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,200 challenge to obey or maybe to start tithing, That's the Holy 120 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,080 Spirit working in you. It's funny. 121 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:39,720 We don't think of that, but you'll think of the weird 122 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,600 things. Yeah, people rolling around, 123 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,440 barking like a dog jumping on the spot. 124 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,480 But in Romans 8, Paul looks specifically at the work of the 125 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:52,640 Spirit in us. Now, I raised this because I've 126 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,400 come front and center when it comes to all the weird and 127 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:00,120 wonderful of the Holy Spirit, and he's God and he can do as he 128 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,640 pleases. But we had this one occasion. 129 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:08,040 So I was at Bible college at Hadfield Christian Church when, 130 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,400 what was it called? The Toronto Blessing Porter. 131 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,640 Anyone familiar with that? I think it was 94. 132 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,360 It was way back when, and what happened was Ed Rabbit, who was 133 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,360 leading Hatfield at that stage, he began to prepare us for the 134 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,080 move of the Holy Spirit. And so we would spend 1015 135 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,160 something, sometimes 20 minutes just waiting on the Holy Spirit. 136 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,240 The band would be playing and we'd just sit and wait and kept 137 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,600 on saying, come Holy Spirit, come and do what you want to do 138 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:37,600 in our midst. And then the Holy Spirit came 139 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,560 and now we're a second or third year in Bible college. 140 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,240 So we kind of important, you know, we really, we've got our 141 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,760 act together. And there was this one lady who 142 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:53,040 didn't, she broke all the rules. But the thing was she was, and I 143 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,120 don't mean it defensively. She was German in all her 144 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,400 mannerisms. I want to hear Vaughn click. 145 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,560 She was sort of dressed in in Gray and had her familiar Babel 146 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,360 and you know, the the dress went below the knees and she was 147 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:09,160 stoned and had a forehead like Flint and then got a good hold 148 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,400 of her. Now we're all studying the word 149 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:19,040 of the Lord and we're watching this lady drunk as a skunk look 150 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,640 for days cannot stand. She's rolling and laughing and 151 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:27,040 crying. And so we decided as students we 152 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:28,800 were going to run a little bit of an intervention. 153 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:30,720 And you know, she needs to give an account for this. 154 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:32,039 We want to know what is going on. 155 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:33,880 Like give us chapter and verse, please. 156 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,080 So she comes, and it was probably a month later before 157 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,200 she could actually string a sentence together. 158 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,880 Like, seriously, it was unbelievable what God was doing. 159 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:44,840 And so she stands. And now we're all sitting there. 160 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:46,480 I remember it was in between class. 161 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:48,600 We're like, OK, explain yourself. 162 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,280 Yeah. And now high and mighty biblical 163 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,120 theology. And so she gets up there and she 164 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:56,880 was probably spoke for 30 seconds. 165 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:01,800 All she said was, I don't know. I don't know what God was doing, 166 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,320 but you know what God was doing. You've known me for many years. 167 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,880 You know who I was, and now you know who I am. 168 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,200 And I remember when she said that, I was so rebuked because 169 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,120 I've never seen someone transform as radically as she 170 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,680 did, not only internally but externally. 171 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:28,080 The only way I could describe it visibly was like she lost 172 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,400 wrinkles, but she was young. Like she went from Gray to full 173 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,240 3D living color. It was unbelievable. 174 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,960 But when she said that, I remember realizing, you know, 175 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,040 we've lost touch with what God is actually doing here in our 176 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:49,760 high and mighty ivory tower. We've lost the wonder that the 177 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:54,640 God of all creation has set his sights on her, has poured 178 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,160 himself out upon her, is rescuing and redeeming and 179 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,080 healing and restoring and delivering and empowering. 180 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,320 And we're going like, yeah. But it doesn't fit my 2 181 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,440 dimensional approach to how God ought to, should do, could do. 182 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:15,440 We had lost the wonder of what was happening right in front of 183 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,520 us. No wonder the Holy Spirit wasn't 184 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:23,200 doing that to me. His story of a father who took 185 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,040 his son on the plane for the first time. 186 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,200 His dad was a businessman. It was a business trip and he 187 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,120 took his son along. So they're sitting in business 188 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,600 class, him and his. I think it was like a six year 189 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,720 old boy. And so because he had never 190 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,400 flown before, he had booked a seat right next to the window as 191 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,920 a real treat. And so you can just imagine, you 192 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:43,520 know, it's all the La Di Da's in business class and then the 193 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,080 pilot does this and this little 5-6 year old boy is like, I 194 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:51,440 think I'm going to die. Are you the same daddies? 195 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,680 And then, you know, that moment that I absolutely love my wife 196 00:10:54,680 --> 00:11:01,680 dreads. And the dad initially was keep 197 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:02,400 it down. Yeah. 198 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,680 Because what will the rest of the people in business class 199 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:06,480 think? But when he looked around, 200 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,360 everyone was like, you know, with a little bit of a wonder in 201 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:12,040 their eyes. And then they'd taken off. 202 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:14,840 And so the boys looking at daddy, the causes is small, 203 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:16,720 like, can't see the houses anymore. 204 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,080 Daddy, Daddy, is it bumpy when we go through the clouds because 205 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:21,920 it was a rainy day. And then when they Pierce and 206 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:23,680 Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, I can see the sun. 207 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,920 I thought the sun went away. And the entire business class is 208 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,720 stupid, still marveling at this renewed wonder. 209 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:37,640 They've flown so many times but lost the wonder of 300 people in 210 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:39,960 a tin can 50,000 feet in the sky. 211 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,920 But when they saw the wonder in this kids eyes, When I saw the 212 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:53,240 wonder in her eyes, your see we forget forget the same spirit 213 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,640 that we bump into on page one of our Bibles where it says now the 214 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,720 earth was formless and void. Darkness was over the surface of 215 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,160 the deepness Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit was hovering over 216 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,840 the waters. That same spirit, at the very 217 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:10,960 foundation of the world, was busy in her life, hovering over 218 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,720 the darkness, the chaotic waters of her life, restoring and 219 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:16,720 rescuing and redeeming and renewing. 220 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:18,960 And we were sitting, judging on the side here. 221 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:25,560 The same Spirit that raises Jesus from the dead dwells in 222 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:30,240 you. Have you lost the wonder of a 223 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:35,440 God like this, wanting to dwell in you, wanting to draw near to 224 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,920 you? Or as Tyler Staton says, every 225 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,360 follower of Jesus has been filled with the very Spirit that 226 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:47,520 filled Jesus. And I'd like to add Phil, Samuel 227 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:55,440 and David and Esther and Peter, James and John dwells in you. 228 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:57,640 But that's not all. I don't know if you've seen the 229 00:12:57,640 --> 00:12:59,640 movie past lives. I haven't. 230 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,720 So I can neither recommend it or encourage you not, you know, to 231 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,080 stay away from it. But I did see a little snippet. 232 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:06,520 I can't remember where I came across it. 233 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,120 The past lives. The back story is it's a it's a 234 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:14,320 romance, a ROM com where a American guy marries a Korean 235 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,200 lady. And the little snippet was about 236 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,320 how he was trying to learn Korean because he was a true 237 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,280 blue American boy. And she had been raised in Korea 238 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:24,560 and then come over with her parents. 239 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:27,800 And the moment in this clip is she's challenging him because 240 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:31,360 he's trying to learn Korean. And so she's like, what's the 241 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:33,840 point? I speak fluent English. 242 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,800 My family speaks fluent English. You don't need to learn this 243 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:38,320 language. And he was really struggling. 244 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,560 And then he said the following to he said, listen, The thing is 245 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:47,520 you dream in Korean and you speak and you sleep and you 246 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:51,800 speak in Korean. And he says, I want to learn 247 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,200 Korean, not so that I can talk to you, but so that I have 248 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:58,320 access to a part of your heart, a part of your life I don't have 249 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,800 access to. I want to know you. 250 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,880 I want to love you and I want to pursue you to the NTH degree. 251 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,120 I don't want anything to be kept from me. 252 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,120 And I say that because in the same way, God has given us his 253 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,800 Holy Spirit and he has given us the gift of tongues. 254 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,520 Because in the same way that he didn't have access to that part 255 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:24,520 of her heart, God wants to give us access to that part of his 256 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,320 heart that sometimes we bump up against because we just can't 257 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,000 find the right words. And so He's given us this gift, 258 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,960 a language of love so that we can drop anchor in His heart. 259 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,360 And the Bible talks about us praying in the spirit, which 260 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,480 allows us to drop anchor into his heart. 261 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,160 It it gives us this gift of, of tongues so that we can commune 262 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:45,640 with our heavenly Father. When you're going through a 263 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:50,400 tough time or when you're broken or when you just don't know, he 264 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,240 said, just just come to me. But we steer clear because to us 265 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:55,600 it's like a wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. 266 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,320 And so Paul leans in here. He says, I want you to know that 267 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,880 the Plumb line for your relationship with your heavenly 268 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,880 Father, this walk of the cross is a life in the spirit to the 269 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:13,240 uttermost nothing hidden, nothing kept away. 270 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:19,240 And he calls us to this Will you let a little opinion stop you 271 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,280 from full access to the heart of your Heavenly Father? 272 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:28,120 Would you let past experience or the unknown really block you 273 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:34,680 when Paul is saying give him everything that you have, take 274 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:39,400 hold of everything that he has to the uttermost. 275 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,360 When you reach the uttermost, then you've only really reached 276 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,280 the foothills of all that he has for you and I. 277 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,000 And so the Bible talks about that from page one to the very 278 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:54,560 last, this call to respond and allow the life of the Holy 279 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,920 Spirit in us. But it doesn't stop there. 280 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:02,160 It also calls us to allow the Holy Spirit to work through US. 281 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:08,240 Now, this is tricky because I had a conversation with the 282 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,520 businessman. I said, I wonder if your staff 283 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:17,720 knows that you're a Christian. Anyone in business here? 284 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,200 I wonder if those you work with know that you're a Christian. 285 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,160 You know, because the kickback is no, no, business is business. 286 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,920 No, no, no. A son and daughter of God is a 287 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:28,520 son and daughter. It doesn't matter where you're 288 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:30,520 at. And Scripture says we are called 289 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,640 to live to the fullness, the uttermost of the Holy Spirit. 290 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,160 And so you can't just rub out in your Bible the gifts of the 291 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,480 Spirit. Now, if you're new to church, 292 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,360 I'll give you just a brief overlay. 293 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,400 We don't have time on it. That's not the purpose of this 294 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,320 morning to go into it. But the Bible talks on three 295 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,480 different spaces about the gifts of the Spirit. 296 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,000 They're not exhaustive. But in one Corinthians 12, it 297 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,840 talks about the gift of word of Wisdom. 298 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:59,040 Now that's where you chatting to Dennis and you just feel God say 299 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,040 something about him and you encourage him or ask him about 300 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,319 that and there's a breakthrough, a moment of prayer, gift of 301 00:17:04,319 --> 00:17:08,359 healing, prophecy, faith, all of those in one Corinthians 12 and 302 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:09,880 make notes and look at it for yourself. 303 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:12,839 In Romans 12. They're teaching and encouraging 304 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:14,800 gifts. You know that encouragement is a 305 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:18,599 gift of the Holy Spirit, mercy, leadership. 306 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:20,480 And then you've got the the churchy top gifts. 307 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,000 Ephesians 4 apostle, prophets, pastor, teacher, evangelist. 308 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:27,200 But I say that because I was looking at this thinking like, 309 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,040 sure, should I put this in and how much time will it take to 310 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,560 unpack all of this? When I came across a statistic, 311 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,280 you know me and my statistics. So in 2023, they did a study of 312 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:38,920 you and your cell phone and they discovered that you pick up your 313 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,480 phone, phone on average 144 times a day. 314 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,560 What has that got to do with the gifts of the Spirit? 315 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,800 Well, that works out to be about once every 5 minutes. 316 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,120 And I was thinking, imagine if we reached for the gift of the 317 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:57,320 Spirit every 5 minutes in our day, 144 times in the office, 318 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:02,320 and we just went, Lord Avril, what are you saying about Avril? 319 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,840 And then it says it's something like 89% of us have had what 320 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:11,280 they call phantom vibration syndrome. 321 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,640 Have you ever had that? And I was like, oh, sorry, my 322 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:14,600 phone is ringing, you pick it up. 323 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:16,800 No, it wasn't. Imagine if we were that 324 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:23,920 sensitive to the Holy Spirit. That's one thing, The Holy 325 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,120 Spirit in me, but through me for all of no. 326 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,080 So we're going to do the Alpha course in the next few weeks. 327 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,680 We're rolling it out in some of our life groups, and we're going 328 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:33,360 to have a corporate one here in the building. 329 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,120 And I don't know if you know this, but part of the Alpha 330 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:38,920 course actually covers the work of the Holy Spirit. 331 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,520 And in prepping for that, I came across an unbelievable account 332 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,800 of a guy named Liam who went to Alpha. 333 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,880 So the back story was Liam. He describes himself as a 334 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:55,400 militant atheist, an alcoholic, suffering with depression and 335 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,280 all of that was a fruit of the fact that he had early onset 336 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,880 blindness. So in I think it was primary 337 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,040 school, he started losing his sight and he tells the story of 338 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:08,080 how and 11 moment he was. Now his eyesight was terrible. 339 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,880 He tried 7 or 8 times to put toothpaste on his toothbrush. 340 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,840 Now I've had that experience, you know, wife is asleep and you 341 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,520 sort of come home late and so you're in the bathroom in the 342 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,800 dark and he's like, yo, it's actually quite tricky. 343 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,520 But this was his every day. And he said that after like the 344 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,240 7th or 8th time, he just screamed. 345 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,760 He threw his toothpaste at the mirror and he collapsed in the 346 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,720 heap and he kicked a hole in the cabinet door in front of him and 347 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,000 he screamed. He's like, God, if you're there, 348 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,160 show yourself. And like that suddenly it was 349 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,760 almost like 20% of the cloudiness over his eyes 350 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,640 disappeared to the point where he was like, just smile and 351 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,360 wave, boys, just smile and wave. You know, don't know what 352 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:53,240 happened there. But it bothered him because he 353 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:54,840 had cried out to God and something had happened. 354 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,680 And so he walking down the streets of London, I think it's 355 00:19:57,680 --> 00:19:59,360 HTB who do it. Yeah. 356 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,800 So HTB, it's Holy Trinity Brompton. 357 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,600 It's a church in London that formulated the Alpha course. 358 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,880 Have these big signs. You know, you've got questions. 359 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:08,640 Want to know more about God or whatever it is? 360 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,240 Come do the Alpha course. So he decided, OK, he's going to 361 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,720 do the Alpha Course. So he goes there and they get 362 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,320 now to this point where they're discussing the Holy Spirit. 363 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,000 So he's got a million questions and like cynical because of this 364 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,280 depression. And as a militant atheist, he 365 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:24,920 like, he's still not fully convinced. 366 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,240 And so he's asking questions like, seriously, how can this 367 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:32,760 Holy Spirit come through me? And you know, how can I hear his 368 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:35,440 voice? And and so one of the guys said, 369 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:39,560 well, interesting you asked that because when I first met you, 370 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:41,560 it's like God gave me this picture. 371 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:44,200 You know, we're talking about the Holy Spirit through you. 372 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:49,360 He just said, God gave me this picture of you sitting with a 373 00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:52,040 box over your head because I don't know what that means. 374 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,840 But I kind of feel like, you know, God would never shame you. 375 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,280 And actually there's maybe areas in your life where he wants to 376 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:01,040 take this box off your head. And someone else said, well, 377 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,080 listen, I always had a picture. I saw you playing in the bath. 378 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,800 You know, there's a young boy splashing and, you know, with 379 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:08,720 these submarines and your ships and laughing. 380 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:10,320 And I just, I don't know what it means. 381 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,400 Maybe like, you know, God the lasts in you. 382 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:15,600 So these two people have now shared this. 383 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,280 And he breaks and he cries so hard he falls off his chair. 384 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:23,280 And once he'd gathered himself, now everyone's like, OK, what 385 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,000 did we say? So that you said you saw me with 386 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,000 a box over my head. He said when I was young, when 387 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,800 my eyes started failing me, my parents didn't understand. 388 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,800 I didn't understand. So I was that raucous, 389 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:37,880 rebellious kid because I couldn't see the board. 390 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:39,400 I could hardly see my handwriting. 391 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,440 And so I was kept back a year. And the teacher whose class I 392 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,360 was in when I was kept back used to punish me and berate me by 393 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:49,960 putting a box on my head, having me sit in the corner. 394 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,760 Can you imagine the scars and a young boy's heart when that is 395 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:59,160 done to you? And at the same time, he's not 396 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,280 having this little moment. He said, you know the picture of 397 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:02,760 me in a bath. He said that happened. 398 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:05,440 So when I was 8 years old, I was sitting in the bath. 399 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:07,480 I was playing. I was having a lot of fun. 400 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:08,960 Yeah. I was messing around and 401 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,080 splashing everywhere. My dad burst in the doors, 402 00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:15,960 screamed at me. So I cannot handle you anymore. 403 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,040 Walked out, walked past his mom and never came back. 404 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,400 They got divorced. So yeah, you're struggling with 405 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,760 early onset blindness. You're being tormented and 406 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:29,480 bullied by teachers at school. You've got a dad who left 407 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,600 because of you and these two people. 408 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,960 Just in a moment. They didn't have him come up, 409 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,560 rub up, up, up Shunda. They didn't anoint him with oil. 410 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,080 They just said Holy Spirit, work through me. 411 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,640 Not only did he get set free, but got radically saved and 412 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,680 baptized. This is an atheist, an 413 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:57,640 alcoholic, suffering with deep depression, probably suicidal. 414 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,000 Just a moment of obedience. Now I know this is not an 415 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:08,640 everyday occurrence, or maybe it could be, or maybe it should be, 416 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,920 but because we never know, we never ask, we never say. 417 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:14,320 Holy Spirit, would you work through me? 418 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,400 Instead we reach for our phone rather than reaching for just a 419 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,400 sense around what God is doing here. 420 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,360 How can I step in here? How can I be your hands and feet 421 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:29,080 here? Because you cannot read from 422 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,240 page one to the end of of Scripture without coming across 423 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,600 accounts upon account upon account upon accounts of the 424 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,920 Holy Spirit working through people. 425 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,480 Actually, I'd go as far as saying the only reason why you 426 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,800 know about them in Scripture was because they were willing for 427 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:46,600 the Holy Spirit to work through them. 428 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,720 So in you, through you, upon you. 429 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,680 So the Bible talks in Acts that says you will receive power when 430 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,280 the Holy Spirit comes upon you to be my witnesses in 431 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,160 Mozambique. Jesus reading from Scripture 432 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,280 says the Holy Spirit is upon me because he has anointed me to 433 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,080 preach, to teach, to set the captors free. 434 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,160 And while I'm prepping, I kid you not, last night I decided I 435 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:20,920 haven't read for a while. You know, sort of like whenever 436 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:22,880 I'm preaching, you know, everything else comes to a 437 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,560 standstill. So last night I climbed into 438 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:26,680 bed. I grabbed for a book. 439 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,680 I opened it up to the chapter where I was at, and it says 440 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,520 there. And I don't even know if I've 441 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,280 ever read this verse before in my whole entire life. 442 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,160 I must have because I've been through the whole of Scripture a 443 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:41,080 few times. But Luke 2449 says, and you will 444 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:45,680 receive, you'll be clothed with power from on high. 445 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,400 I don't know if I have a category for that in my life. 446 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,240 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. 447 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,080 You will be clothed on high with power. 448 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,960 So what I had prepped to share about on this point was a guy 449 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,000 named Duncan Campbell. I don't know if you know him. 450 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,920 He was the guy that got used for the revival in the Hebrides. 451 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,480 So the, the, the Hebridean revival is, I would say the, the 452 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,120 greatest revival in living memory happened in the, the 453 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:24,720 early 1950s. And I've mentioned it a few 454 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,200 times. But just for those who don't 455 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,560 know, we're talking about a moment when Duncan Campbell, 456 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,040 who's the, the pastor of the church at the moment, at that 457 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:35,560 time just saw the Holy Spirit come upon this congregation. 458 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,640 And they were worshipping and, and crying and praying and 459 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,080 repenting and gods were on their knees and people were lying on 460 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,760 the floor on their face. And, and we're talking like 461 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:49,480 about 5-6 hundred people. While this was happening, a 462 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,560 police officer came in sort of like stepping over all the 463 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,680 bodies and everything came to the Duncan and said, listen, you 464 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:56,760 need to come to the police station. 465 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,680 There's about 1000 people there. It seems like the Holy Spirit 466 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,760 had come upon them and they felt the need to repent. 467 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,400 So they didn't know what to do. And it was like, well, let's go 468 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:07,880 tell the police. I did this. 469 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,360 I said that to my mom as this year. 470 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:11,280 So there's almost 1000 people around there. 471 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,320 He goes out there the Holy Spirit just fulls and power 472 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,480 comes upon them to the to the point that people who are on 473 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:22,720 yachts or sorry shipping vessels and ships going past would be 474 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,480 falling down under the presence and weight of God and said we 475 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,680 need to get to shore because we need to repent. 476 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,120 We need to get saved. So this is that's why I said 477 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:34,680 like one of the greatest revivals definitely in living 478 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:38,720 memory. But Gordon, oh, sorry, Duncan 479 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:43,000 Campbell says this. He says he's talking about up to 480 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:47,040 that point, he talks about 17 years of faithfulness, but 481 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,840 fruitless. And he says, I'll read it to you 482 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,640 after spending 17 years in a barren wilderness, baffled and 483 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,040 frustrated in Christian work and witness. 484 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:58,920 Maybe that's you. Maybe you're a life group 485 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,400 leader. And you say I'm frustrated just 486 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:06,120 like this just feels like duty. Maybe you were in the ministry 487 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:08,880 and you called it quits because just like Duncan Campbell's like 488 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:13,160 17 years of wilderness. Canimiani Corporal. 489 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,560 But he said I suddenly came to realize that God had made 490 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,840 provision for clean hands and a pure heart. 491 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:20,960 We sang it earlier, clean hands and a pure heart. 492 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,800 He's referring to Psalm 24 that says who may ascend the heal of 493 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,240 the Lord, who may stand in his holy place. 494 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:33,360 Remember, he is the Holy Spirit. While we're dabbling with 495 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:40,240 WhatsApp groups, commenting and criticizing, he said. 496 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,840 I came to suddenly realize that God had made provision for clean 497 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:49,120 hands and a pure heart. And he said on my face, in my 498 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:52,560 study, I came to know the power of the blood of Christ, clean 499 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:56,320 hands and pure heart, and the glorious baptism in the Holy 500 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,600 Spirit. Explain it as you will, he says. 501 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:05,360 It was a baptism from God, the Holy Spirit coming upon me, and 502 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:12,240 the result was history. Hebridean revival, You know, AW 503 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,800 Tosa says this. We'll pop it up on the screen. 504 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,560 If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, he 505 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,080 guesstimates 95% of what we do would go on and no one would 506 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,280 know the difference. Can I hear an A? 507 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:31,760 Nah. If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn 508 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:38,080 from three CR today, would that statistic be true If the Holy 509 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:42,640 Spirit was withdrawn from you, from me? 510 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:51,800 See, we are called to live a life in accordance with the 511 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:56,440 Spirit to the uttermost. What are we holding back? 512 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:01,920 What are you holding back? Since the pandemic, there's been 513 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,160 such a swing from a church in decline. 514 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,480 We're talking about the US to the church in renewal, that the 515 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,160 majority of churches in the US are now reporting that they're 516 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,120 growing. Bible sales in the US alone are 517 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:20,360 up 22 percent. 30 million Americans have come to faith in 518 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:26,720 Jesus in the last four years. Globally, growth of the church 519 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,120 is outpacing the growth of the population. 520 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:35,480 There's been a 30% increase in church attendance in Denmark, a 521 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:41,160 31% spark in adult baptisms in France, massive increase in 522 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,080 young men attending churches in Finland. 523 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:49,320 In the UK, 18 to 24 year olds are now 50% less likely to be 524 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:54,440 atheists like their parents. Today, China is the global 525 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,760 center of atheism, but experts believe that by 20-30 there will 526 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,120 be more Christians in China than in America. 527 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:06,800 In Great Britain, Bible sells up a whopping 87%, and with it 528 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:10,360 young people and young men in particular are returning to the 529 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,920 church in droves. The underground church in Iran 530 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:19,560 is currently growing by 20% each year, the church in Iran, making 531 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,680 Iran the fastest growing church in the world. 532 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:32,760 God is on the move. We have no claim to him or his 533 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:37,120 move or the outpouring of his Holy Spirit because we are three 534 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:44,240 CR. We have a claim because he says 535 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:50,520 this is what I have for you. One last quote, Doctor Ed Young, 536 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:55,440 take a look at this. He says historically in the US 537 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,600 there's never been a revival that was not directly connected 538 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,720 to the study of the book of Romans. 539 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,560 Wake up three CR God is on the move. 540 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:12,720 Life in the Spirit to the uttermost. 541 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,280 Are you hungry? Are you open? 542 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,000 You'll be clothed with power from on high. 543 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:27,520 Who see if I can get through this. 544 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,840 This is Richard Fath, He's a preacher. 545 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:33,800 I heard him read this letter and I want to read it to you to whom 546 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,680 it may concern so someone who not in their church but sent 547 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,400 this letter to him. As the senior pastor says for 548 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,200 you it may be an everyday moment, but for me it has been 549 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,080 an unbelievable life changing miracle. 550 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,120 My name is Josiah, and I've lived near your church for 551 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,440 almost 20 years to make me think about the people living next 552 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,480 door. I migrated here as a hippie in 553 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:59,480 search of peace. I deviled in witchcraft, which 554 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:03,320 empowered me and destroyed me at the same time, often leading to 555 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,480 me living under bridges. When things got really rough. 556 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:10,240 And this is over the past 20 years here right next to your 557 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,840 church, at least 100 of your people came to me, talked to me 558 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:18,280 and wanted to get me saved. And then he says they had words 559 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:24,240 but no power until last Thursday morning at 11:30. 560 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:28,400 AMI and some friends were putting putting curses on cars 561 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,480 and I was laughing because there was a car with your church 562 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,160 sticker on it and we were spitting on it and putting 563 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:38,160 rubbish on it when a young guy came out of the shops. 564 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,760 I turned around, I looked into his eyes and I saw a power I did 565 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:47,680 not know. He just looked at me and said 566 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:49,920 you came here looking for peace and they took it from you. 567 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,480 You came here looking for peace, do you still want peace? 568 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,080 I went crazy. He said everything in me wanted 569 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:59,960 to kill him but he just stood there asking do you want peace? 570 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:05,720 I burst into tears as I felt the power of God flood my soul and 571 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,640 set me free. As a young guy who came out of 572 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:12,240 the shops, I turned around and looked into his eyes and I saw 573 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:17,920 power I did not know. On the last page he said I don't 574 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,240 know who it was but tell him I love him for what he did. 575 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,680 Oh and please put the same power in the rest of your people. 576 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:41,240 Sure, if he looked into my eyes what would he have seen if he 577 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:49,290 looked into your eyes? If he looked into my eyes, he 578 00:33:49,290 --> 00:33:51,890 would have seen a man who keeps guard at arms length. 579 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,800 Because I like to be in control. It's my way. 580 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:05,200 I think I've got it all. And if he looked into your eyes, 581 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,040 that's when a young guy came out of the shops. 582 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,320 I turned around and looked into his eyes and I saw a power I did 583 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:16,440 not know. I'm going to ask the band to 584 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:21,080 come up and I'm going to ask you if anything in here has stirred 585 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,280 in you and you want him to say, Lord, I don't know what to do, 586 00:34:24,199 --> 00:34:26,000 but my eyes are on you. Then I'm going to ask you to 587 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:27,840 stand. Are we going to pray? 588 00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:37,159 That's you, Holy Spirit in you. Maybe Holy Spirit through you or 589 00:34:38,760 --> 00:35:05,150 his power upon you. Come Holy Spirit, Come Holy 590 00:35:05,150 --> 00:35:16,400 Spirit, Lord, we as best as we know how, we just, we just want 591 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:24,160 to open our hearts to you, our lives, our fears, our past 592 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,000 experience, or our lack of understanding of you. 593 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:32,480 We want to lay it all before you, Father, and we want to say, 594 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:40,120 come Holy Spirit, Lord, as Eugene said before the service, 595 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,120 you are wanting to do something new. 596 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:49,160 Old things are passed away. Behold, I'm doing a new thing. 597 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,760 And would you do that? And thus, Father, I pray for 598 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,640 those here who have never cried out for it to you to be filled 599 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:58,800 with the Holy Spirit. I know that you give your Holy 600 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,800 Spirit as a as a down payment to deposit when we are saved, but 601 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,640 your word also says that we are to keep on being filled. 602 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,760 And it talks about your Holy Spirit coming upon us and we 603 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:16,000 want everything, everything that you are willing to give, we are 604 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:20,720 wanting to receive. So Heavenly Father, this morning 605 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,600 we turn our eyes to your Holy Spirit and we say, Holy Spirit, 606 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,520 would you come? Would you be in US? 607 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:30,200 Would you draw close where we have put gods up? 608 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,080 Would you tear that curtain and come in? 609 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:38,560 But we also want to say we want to be your vessels. 610 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:43,360 We want our lives to be yours. That you would flow through us, 611 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,600 not just in US. Or that you would touch the city 612 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:50,920 in and through us. That you touch our families, our 613 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:55,560 relationships, our future, our finances through Your Holy 614 00:36:55,560 --> 00:37:01,160 Spirit working through us. But Lord, if we have permission, 615 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:07,760 I would like to ask that you come upon us, Holy Spirit, that 616 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,920 you would come upon us. You came with tongues of fire. 617 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:18,440 You came in the wind. You came like you did on that 618 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:21,760 German friend of mine and radically changed her from the 619 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:27,160 inside out. You came on Liam's life, early 620 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,000 onset blindness, but you radically set them free. 621 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,120 And I pray wherever we are in our journey with you, Holy 622 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,640 Spirit, I just ask for more spirit. 623 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:38,960 Come, Holy Spirit.