Ours for the Asking, Part 2

Jamie Greer to understand the glory of the God who gave himself for you in the gospel and all these appetites are produced in you the spirit of God transforms your appetite to the Christianity is not a have to religion Christianity become the kit to religion as you desire. You see God because you desire to follow God because you crave it. Raleigh, Durham, North Carolina hi Molly, good events. As Christians we often wonder how exactly were supposed to become more like Jesus by reading the Bible more were getting an accountability partner volunteering at church.

Those are definitely good steps that lead us in the right direction, but truthfully their only dealing with surface level issues today.

Pastor Janie explained how the Holy Spirit works to transform our hearts and our desires changing us from the inside out. Here's Pastor JD with a message titled arthritic, but I want us together this week. It is about your chapter 3 verse 20 Lord says about.

I've heard the report of you and your work or do I fear another words I'm familiar in Philly with the power that you have been x-rays in the midst of the years of my years revive it in the midst of my years making no so in one wrap is what we deserve in wrath remember mercy. Let us a familiarity with it.

There are three primary primary things, try to show you about that verse number one bet Velma try to show you one that every major spiritual awakening the Bible was connected to an intense time of prayer. The number two will show you five things that the Holy Spirit does when he comes. Number three give you a couple of examples of what this looks like in the Bible one the connection between prayer and the power of the holy spirit the connection between prayer the power the Holy Spirit. Every major spiritual awakening.

All of in the Bible are connected to intense times of prayer like intense time to prayer, Joshua 24 that was a time when Israel was reawakened and renewed in the covenant and it starts out Joshua 24 one St. that they all stood before God judges has a number of spiritual awakenings of Israel may always go like this is really wonderful God, cold, apathetic, get a lot of trouble and so they cry out to God in desperation and God raises up a champion.

That's Old Testament and New Testament shows you over the last several weeks that Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke seems to go out of his way to show you the Holy Spirit's power comes in the midst of prayer. Even with Jesus and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. It says Luke 321 that after he Babbitt was baptized. He stood praying acceptor for right at this point the deal was a pretty intense opposition. Their courage is starting to flag a little bit. So what I do they get it back together met up a room and they play and it says up 431 when they had prayed, then the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit to continue to speak the word of God with boldness rights record number 25 things of the Holy Spirit does when he's present.

Things that only he can do number one, number one, he convicts John 16, eight, nine, Jesus said when he, the Holy Spirit comes he will convict the world concerning sin concerning righteousness and concerning judgments. I so what does that mean what that means is that he takes those things send righteousness and judgment, and he makes them real, it makes sense seem disgusting. He makes Jesus and his righteousness become beautiful.

It makes judgments seem eminence before there might be a knowledge of those things but there's kind of a separation permit you know about them theoretically, but suddenly they become really overwhelming to you as number two, number two. He creates all the criticism will among the people you see in acts 243, when the spirit of God came in to the church a great sense of fear and awe came upon every soul, but only every soul means people inside the church and outside the church before the Holy Spirit comes there might be a knowledge of doctrines, there might be external conformity to Christian weights.

But when the spirit of God comes those things are in golf, and a sense of awe and worship that gives you a holy harsh before God makes all the different colors of a mystery. In the Old Testament there is a phrase that gets repeated over and over and over again that is core to somebody really knowing God, and that is this phrase the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 17 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom that someone 03 verse 17 the Lord's eyes are upon those who fear him, on numbers to keep his covenant fear for each of these is dominant throughout the Old Testament is the thing in the New Testament. You hardly ever see that phrase but every once in a while but it's not merely the dominant place. It is in the Old Testament. Why Old Testament scholar John Murray says because that phrase is interchangeable with the fullness of the spirit, so that's a phrase you see repeated in the New Testament because to be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with a sense of awe in the presence of God. Fear of the Lord for the spirit boat referred to a profoundly spiritual encounter with the presence of God that goes way beyond simple intellectual beliefs or external religious observances through the sins of all God's presence and awareness of his largeness spirit of worship and a taste of his glory. Number three. He transforms appetites he transforms appetites dispersed frequently or flipping through 13.

It is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure to watch. It's not just the Holy Spirit that gives you the power to do the works of God gets the Holy Spirit gives you the desire to do the works of God, did you not just the power to do it also gives you the will to gets. He creates new taste in you so that you began to desire God.

I love that image of tastes because you know you can think my decisions about what I eat are free choices right nobody tells me was what I have the they conform to my taste. For example, my wife and I love Thai food, I just mentioning Thai food makes me begin to salivate. Roasted duck with red curry comb Kaiser Tom Yum soup all that stuff and I will give you a Thai restaurant at the like like this is a taste of the new millennium. This is where were all headed in heaven with Jesus welcomes Ron Burns go to type jobs that bring it on our logo site so that's I love it. Wife find it disgusting. If you're tied to a fence, but she just just doesn't like when we review notes. She has other taste you all can't give me a choice between typhoons amount I'm always going to stop because I love it there when I was in Southeast Asia us are there for two years. It was a fruit there. Some of you heard about the fruit called durian. Anybody ever heard of durian tasted durian like durian.

Put your hands up just a few of us are spirit filled the room.

Okay, I got my rear durian is a fruit that honestly when I first got to Southeast Asia, it is the most disgusting smell, but you probably have ever encountered something that you're supposed to eat. It's not that I kid you not about it smelled like a mixture of Cap'n Crunch and armpit. If you could mix those two that's what it smells like for you to be like this is discussed that what was wrong with you people.

Why would you eat that and then the strangest thing happens consistently to people after they spent about a year there, not everybody could not matter by select, but after about a year.

About a year. I noticed that that smell that had been so repulsive began to be appealing to me and then I tried it and I tasted it out and tell you after I get hooked on it is the greatest of the greatest fruit ever know you and I could both be in the presence of that it would be repulsive to you. It would be desirable to me because our taste have changed.

You see my what I hate. For example, is cottage cheese that is a food from the devil is not my roommate think you testified my roommate in college, my room, and a copy of cottage cheese from our daily buttermilk and cottage you. You can put that in front of me 100 times and I would never choose it. What what the spirit of God does is he takes appetites and he makes them distasteful a mix of appetite suddenly come alive. The reason that's important is because some of you feel like Christianity is up. I have to religion you have to do this you have to say – you have to give this and you have to go there. But just as you never really taught of the spirit of God I don't have to hear is Chris thing I don't have to kiss my wife. I don't have to take a nap I did to do over six not in that order. Sorry those are my tasters are my desires with the spirit of God does when he comes and re-creates desires that by the way, is the theme of the entire book of Galatians entire book of Galatians the faintness of the spirit of God is in your heart with the demands of the wall.

Never could the spirit of God produces in your heart, love, joy, peace, patients in five of the ones I can't rooftop my head produces all those things in your heart the wall the demands of the law could tell you to do those things with the demands of the law can never give you desire to do those things. The spirit of God burst those things in you and the way that he does that is not by giving you a list of things that you're supposed to be for God the birthday things in you by helping you understand what God has done for you. That's why the other theme of the book of Galatians is justification by faith because it is that you understand the glory of the God who gave himself for you in the gospel that then all these appetites are produced in you the spirit of God transforms your appetites to the Christianity is not have to religion initiated become a get to religion as you desire. You see God because you desire it to follow God because you crave it. By the way, this is what I pray for my children.

I remember when I first started out, I would only thoughtfulness of the spirit is something you would preferably minaret. I was reading in the gospel of Luke and I'm pretty sure this is okay. I if you're harassing me to result in some you know later, but it says about John the Baptist in Luke the early Gospels of Luke that he was get this filled with the spirit from his mother's womb. That means that kid was born for the spirit. My God, whatever markets did I want them to develop tastes from an early age the righteousness I want them to develop a taste for God.

I used a memory usually listen to people tell the testimony and about the coolest testimonies what the really dramatic once you know was on drugs and I've been in prison five times and I was a prostitute and I was just about to kill somebody with a voice from heaven spoke to me. Wow, that's awesome would be cool if I had a testimonial like that and I was boring as I just you know that stuff that was there about those of the court testimonies and then I had kids, and I thought that's on the testimony I want for my kids here is to a generation of summer children growing up with boring testimonies right but say I was more God spirit was upon me from the time I was a kid and I started to develop a taste for righteousness and sin always seems stupid to me right that's on the spirit of God comes into my children and I'm praying that for them that they would be filled with the Spirit right number for the real number four manifest God's power manifest God's power first ring is 14 Paul gives you a description of the spirit filled worship service and he says that one of the characteristics is edible unbeliever. A gas comes into contact with the church, with a small group with an individual in the church and the spirit of God is on the members so strongly that they are speaking supernatural words of insight and prophecy into him or her and it says quote the secrets of his heart are disclosed and falling on his face. He worships God and declares that God is really among you know why does he do that is because the guitar riff manager the welders was get together with awesome.here is because of the carefully close logic, the eloquent speech of the pastor is great, but nobody noted here, it's because the spirit of God was so on. The members of the church that they had insight into somebody's life that they wouldn't have any other way of knowing God had given it to give you dimension of this motion, speaking to the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 47 is telling them what distinguishes them from the nations around how the other nations, you know that God is real, that is upon you. Deuteronomy 47.

What great nation is there is a God so near to it as the Lord our God is the presence whenever we call upon him.tell other nations know what I'm talking about summit listen is people coming into contact with you what our church and you having supernatural insight into their lives knowing just what to pray.

Knowing just what to say in a manner that makes them say God is the only one that could've no net he gave you insight God exist for you, pray for them and God answers your prayers in a way that they say while God was in that they realize his presence is upon you and talk more about it and do a whole week on here a couple weeks a PhD of systematic theology, and I've served all of my ministry all my life in a Southern Baptist Church and I will tell you the Holy Spirit is for the most part despised in the religious Academy and he is altogether domesticated by the church but he is desperately needed. Among the people of God today because he is what listen. He is once brings this awakening.

He is what brings the awareness in our community that we so long for there is nothing that can replace him.

Nothing I will not talk about even just a few more churches were all about plan churches, you know that what were not about me preaching better sermons were not about a new professor at Chapel Hill they could just articulate the reason for the resurrection and the way that all students would commit all those things are great.

What we need is the spirit of God because he alone does that and that's really is despising you cannot Academy of domesticated by the church. These are desperate, he is our only hope. Number five empowers the church empowers the church. This is something you get two more a couple weeks but Paul says in Ephesians that the Holy Spirit gives them the Holy Spirit. God gives gifts to his church quote to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, the Holy Spirit, when he comes into a church empowers each Abydos so that we build one another up in the faith to maturity in a spirit filled church listen everywhere you turn your being spoken to by God's spirit filled church any everywhere you turn God speaking to somebody giving you reassurance in the spirit filled church. That's me. Can you give me words of counsel and wisdom and guidance. How would you like to be a place where everywhere you turn at every point in your life. God himself is speaking to you and speaking in your life would you like to be a place like that, that encounter powerful sermons accomplished spirit filled church members because he makes you the eyes and ears on the mouth and hands so that everywhere we go, you can't come into contact in our church with anybody without being contacted by Jesus himself if he spending time around here you know that I'm a big fan of getting Tim Keller and I quote him a lot right if God will play something about this before he got replace where I will sometimes because I read every covered so much of what is written in a listen to so many of his sermons. But I will plagiarize him without even hearing him talk about a certain subject because I just read so much and I know what to say about it. So there been times that I will work through the passage and I'll come up with what I think is a good insight of the passage and then then I will get his sermon on the same passage in a listen to it and be like this.

It is like 35 years and so I'm going to be able to hear this become plagiarizing once again it's not fair. Listen to it.

I think I told him that's all like I thought to plagiarize you without even knowing your asset. So I told the church one time for all that anything in sight what I say may or may not end up going back to him and so I could just about one blanket statement and will be okay and he laughed and he said he's a while and he named the guy that he had done that with these as a mentor is the he got it done the plagiarize. When this wasn't when the spirit of God comes in you start plagiarize Jesus because you become so admiring of him, you start to know his mind so much that you begin to say what he would say and do what he would do to sort of instinctively and automatically plagiarism of Jesus's spiritual maturity plagiarism attempt. Keller is illegal okay but plagiarism of Jesus is spiritual maturity. That is what we desire in the church is that Jesus be plagiarized over the place because we become lies in the hands in the years the feet of Jesus. The five things only the Holy Spirit can do.

I want them all like my life. On my life or my family. When you all of all of I want to Holy Spirit you get those convicting grading all transform an appetite manifesting God's power and power in our church now my last section here right Rick quickly is your couple biblical example showing how the Holy Spirit what it looks like when he comes into a church right you want the Old Testament once menu which you want first knew it is accepted.

Seven verse 54 Stephen Stephen is a non-possibly just a regular church member. He is a place where he's begin to testify to Jesus and he's in front of a lot of the religious leaders. A lot of the political leaders, and he basically tells them that the reason they don't believe in Jesus is because their hearts are hard, and the reason that their fathers didn't believe in Jesus is because their hearts were hard and for all of Jewish history are hard to been hard and that's what they rejected and killed the prophets just for the record, that's not your popular message in any culture right your whole generation. He says is been hardhearted so verse 54 when they had heard these things, they were enraged and they ESP is so boring around their teeth at him. The KJV says Nacht their teeth at him.

I'm not really sure what that means but it sounds nasty rights of a master teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, behold, he said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man, Jesus standing at the right hand of God question you think that last statement help or hurt is because of those people that didn't turn out well for Stephen to get started right after this right.

Tim Keller says to bring them up for vices of this provides a pattern for being filled with the spirit you see threes, stages in their right.

Stephen looks up and have it engages in the heaven's eyes were filled with the glory of God and he is full of the Holy Spirit's and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, by the way, Trinity right there. I see the throne of God sees Jesus standing and he still with the spirit of God, not what is it that he saw specifically about Jesus little detail and that he should skip over it is unusual what position is Jesus and stating his right Jesus standing what's unusual about that is every other place in the New Testament where Jesus is, by the very God is always seated. He sat down the right hand of God. What you see happening as you see all of these leaders in hatred of Stephen picking up stones gnashing their teeth calling him a fool about to kill him.

Stephen looks up in heaven and he sees Jesus Powell. Some of this admin standard respect and turn to God and say they call him a heretic. I called nine religious leaders are telling he's a fool would heretic the Prince of theology Sadie belongs. Stephen sees that he is filled with a sense of God is filled a sense of God's glory and many turns and claims God knows better listener pray God opens your eyes to see his glory. Life-giving presence comes to prayer your listening to Summit life and if you'd like to hear this message again or share with the friend visit JD Greer.com Katie something that we've noticed is that while most Christians believe the Bible is true.

So many of us don't really spend time studying.

We prefer to have you pastor walking us through it. Our goal here at Summit life is to help our listeners learn how to read the Bible for themselves. Now that's a personal confession is Amalia that I feel like you are in the Bible all the time so I want to take that as you're asking for a friend. As I write I was away don't you just taking my word for it when it comes to the Bible we want to equip you to study and then dig in for yourself because the best things you learn IRR with your Bible open when you are before the Holy Spirit. This listening and speaking to you. That's why we created this devotional book to accompany the series.

It's allow it allows us a way for you to good deeper into the things your hearing so that you're not just a curious but it's saturating your soul devotionals give you a chance to go deeper in Scripture and maybe most importantly, pray to the scripture and pray what your your learning back to God.

That's the most important part of II think Christian discipleship is his daily time with God.

So much so much of my own spiritual life flows out of those moments for me in the morning and evening that I spend with my heavenly father.

This particular devotional goes along with our current teaching series on the Holy Spirit that leave you hanging on how to process what you're learning. It's just one or two questions per day. That'll help you reflect and pray about what you've heard and seen in the Scripture were praying that this devotional will help you feel more confident and more joyful in reading your Bible so I am very happy to be able to offer to you, and I think it will be a help and I think you like castigating go more in depth with this concept of understanding the Holy Spirit get a copy of this devotional study today when you give it a suggested level of $25 or more to history your copy of the book along with our gratitude for the rushing wind devotional again by calling 833-5286 six 335-5224. Give online JD Greer.com JD are our monthly benefits time he reminds us of the most that's Wednesday. JD Greer