Being a Spirit-Filled Church (Part 1)

This is a special retreat on the Holy Spirit, right?

If anyone come to you and say that he or she is an expert of the Holy Spirit,

please don't believe them.

That is the truth, that is the truth.

The Holy Spirit is perhaps one of the most elusive topics.

Martin Lloyd-Jones mentioned that this is perhaps also one of the most neglected topics in churches.

And you either overemphasize it and therefore leading in an unhelpful direction,

or you underemphasize it.

So there are two ways that we can make the error when it comes to the topic of the Holy Spirit.

It's probably important for us before we dive into the third member of the Trinity

to just have a quick overview of what the Trinity is all about.

Father, Son, Spirit.

Now, what does that mean?

I'm going to go to just two passages.

We're going to camp most of our time in Acts chapter 2 for this retreat.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

But before that, let us go to a passage of Jesus' teaching in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

So I just want us to open our own Bible and take a look at these verses.

Now, this is what many Christians call the upper room discourse.

It's like a long chunk of teaching from Jesus, three chapters.

And if you are at the end of your life, you are about to go to the cross,

you are about to die,

the things that you say before you depart will be really important.

So this is the teaching of Jesus.

We're going to read chapter 14, John 14, from verse 15 onward.

I'm going to read for us.

Are we all there in John 14, verse 15?

John 14:15

Just give me a nod if you're there.

I really want you to look at this text and be confronted by this text.

As Kevin mentioned, let's look at the word of Jesus and not the word of a man.

Reading for us from ESV in verse 15.

If you love me, you will keep my commandment.

So one of the marks of being filled with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit,

is obedience, keeping the commandment of Christ.

And then verse 16,

And I will ask the Father,

Jesus referring to another person of training,

I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper

to be with you forever.

Now most of us know that the Holy Spirit is known as a helper to us.

But notice there's a word here, another.

Another.

What does that imply?

Another.

Someone who is similar to Himself.

Jesus has been there helping them,

walking with them.

And the Father will send them another helper.

Let's camp there for a while.

What does that mean?

Someone of equal status.

In fact, Jesus even implied later on,

that this is going to be a better gift for you.

That I will go,

and the Father will send the helper,

another helper to you.

And verse 17,

I'm going to just read the second part.

You know Him,

for He dwells with you,

and will be in you.

So this is the next level, right?

Christ dwells on earth with the disciples,

walking side by side.

As a person who is fully human,

fully God,

walking with the disciples.

And now you have the gift of another person of the Trinity,

who dwells not just with you,

but in you.

Now how does that work?

Dwelling with you,

and in you.

That really is the goal of this retreat.

We're going to see how the Spirit dwells among us,

with us,

and in us.

Now,

one observation.

Notice that whenever the Holy Spirit

is being mentioned in this text,

you have

He or Him being referred.

The Holy Spirit is a person.

The Holy Spirit

is not a thing.

The Holy Spirit

is a person.

It's a third person of the Trinity.

And

here's what is so complex

about this whole topic.

You have a person

who is equal

to Jesus,

who comes

from the Father.

Jesus is praying to the Father

to send

us

another helper.

And in verse 23,

in John 14,

if anyone loves me,

he will keep my word,

and my Father

will love him,

and we

will come to him

and make our home

with him.

Are you there with me

at verse 23?

Now,

this is mind-blowing.

So,

he is

leaving,

and he is sending

another

helper,

and now in verse 23,

we

will come to

him,

the person who

keeps the command

or the person

who is loved by God,

referring to Christians,

right?

And we

will make

our home

with him.

Wow.

So,

when you get

one person

of the Trinity,

you get all three.

Okay,

so how does that work?

He's leaving,

he's telling us

that we are going

to receive

another helper,

the Spirit

is going to come

to be with us

and in us,

and then through

the Spirit,

we are going to get

all three members

of the Trinity now,

because I only have

30 minutes,

and I want to make sure

that we have lunch

later on.

This is a complex

topic,

the Trinity,

but maybe

the best way

for me to put it

is this,

Christians

are those

who believe

in the God

that is bigger

than us,

right?

I love the way

we open

the retreat.

We have a picture

of the stars,

the galaxies,

a God

that is big,

a God

that is huge,

a God

that is transcendent,

and in our singing

earlier,

it's really God-centered.

I don't know

whether you know

this about

the lyrics

of those songs.

We're praising

a God,

a King,

who is big,

who is mighty,

and He is with us.

He dwells with us.

Now,

that is meant

to blow

your mind.

That is meant

to lead us

into worship.

And therefore,

as Christians,

because we believe

in the God

that is bigger

than us,

that is transcendent.

Now,

what it means

is that we cannot

fully understand Him.

Are we okay

with that?

In some ways.

And yet,

at the same time,

His attention,

we cannot fully

understand Him,

but He has chosen

to make Himself

known to us,

you and I,

in a deeply

personal way.

and He has

given to us

His Word,

the Bible,

which is why

from the get-go,

we look at the

Word of Jesus

from the Scriptures.

So,

there are all

these things

that I'm mentioning

to you right now.

I'm actually

inviting you

to simply

take God's words

as it is

and believe it.

The Scripture

presents to us

a God

that is one,

one God.

that's the emphasis

of the entire Old Testament.

The Lord,

our God,

is one.

And one God,

three persons.

Three persons.

The Father sent the Son.

The Son went to the cross.

And now,

as the Son

is interceding for us

at the right hand

of the Father,

we have the Spirit

dwelling

with us

and in us.

One God,

three persons.

Now,

that's the unique feature

of the Christian faith.

Are you all okay with that?

I just want to make sure

that we are all

on the same page.

That is huge.

That is huge.

Now,

someone once said

that if the Christian faith

is a scam,

someone tried to make money

by creating,

inventing a religion,

this would not be

one of the features.

Because no matter

whoever tried

to explain it,

you are going

to make yourself

look a little bit foolish

and stupid

because you cannot

quite fully

explain how it works.

If you want

to invent a cow,

you want to make sure

that it's something

that you can share

with people

in a way

that they think

that you are smart.

But any pastors,

any theologians,

any preachers

who try to,

you know,

use our own intelligence

to make sense

of the Holy Spirit,

are going to come away

feeling like

that doesn't quite

fully satisfy

or answer all the questions.

And that is okay, guys.

That is okay

because we serve

and we believe

in a transcendent God.

So that is how

I want to begin

before we go

into

the person

of the Holy Spirit.

We are going to look

at Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

for a moment.

The Holy Spirit

is not a thing.

He is not just

feelings

and emotions,

a tingling sensation.

He is

a person,

the sovereign God

of the universe.

So let's turn

to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

This is how,

this is a famous passage.

I think many of us here

are familiar

with Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Pentecost.

Are we there

at Acts chapter 2?

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Just want to make sure

we are there.

Let me read for us

as you follow me along

in your Bible.

Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

When the day

of Pentecost arrived,

they were all together

in one place

and suddenly

there came

from heaven

a sound

like a mighty

rushing wind.

Now notice,

this wind

comes from

heaven.

It doesn't come

from earth.

So the wind

has arrived

from heaven

and it filled

the entire house

where they were sitting.

And divided tongues

of fire

appeared to them

and rested

on each one of them

and they were filled

with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak

in other tongues

as the Spirit

gave them

utterance.

We'll stop here

for a moment.

Pentecost

is a Jewish feast

seven weeks

after the Passover

to celebrate

the first fruit

of the wheat harvest.

And for today,

for many of us,

it is actually

seven weeks

after Easter Sunday

where we remember,

where we celebrate

the coming

of the Holy Spirit

upon the church.

Now Acts

is not an easy book

to read.

It's not easy at all.

It is descriptive.

It tells us

what happened.

It is not meant

to be prescriptive.

And when I put it

that way,

there are two ways

that we can

make error

in how we read

and apply

the book of Acts.

Not just this portion

but the whole book.

If we say

that this is

supposed to be

prescriptive,

that means

whatever happens here,

let's try to apply this

by copying

what's happening here.

I'm going to go

to places where

it's just going to feel

really, really odd

because these are

actually records

of what happened

and it's not

so straightforward

in terms of how

we apply it

in the here and now.

But if we say

that this is purely

descriptive

and let's not try

to emulate

what's going on here,

again,

we lose sight

of how valuable

this text is

in imparting to us

wisdom

and revealing to us

who God is.

So,

let's talk air

or leader extreme.

But what is this text

really saying,

let me just try

to lower down

my bar

by saying that

I'm not here

to teach you

techniques

but the first part,

the first 30 minutes,

if the takeaway

is that the Holy Spirit

is a person

and He is fully,

He is God,

that would be

a great outcome.

But let me build

my case

from this text.

Now,

notice

in the first

few verses

of Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

you have

reference of

mighty rushing

winds

from heaven.

Winds.

I know that

over the past few

weeks there were

typhoons in this city,

right?

One or two.

I am really glad

that I arrived

just after the typhoon.

But you guys

experience typhoon.

We don't get to

experience typhoon

in Singapore.

And my kids,

when they arrive,

they're like,

it would be exciting

if we can bump

into a typhoon.

I'm like,

no.

No,

you're a mighty

rushing wind.

We're talking about

really,

really unusual

kind of wind

that came down

from heaven,

that they knew

this is supernatural.

And what else

do we see here?

Fire.

Fire,

right in this text.

Prophetic

utterance.

Now,

do you know

that these are

all little,

little clues

images

from the Old Testament?

Let me give you

some examples.

Maybe let's

don't go back

to Old Testament first.

Let's look at

the book of Luke.

Because Acts

is written by

the same author,

Dr. Luke.

In Luke chapter 3,

Luke 3 · chapter mention

you don't have to

turn to your Bible,

but let me read for us.

This is what Luke said.

I baptize you

in water,

but he who is

mightier than I

is coming.

The strap

of whose sandal

I'm not worthy

to untie.

He will baptize you

with the Holy Spirit

and with

fire.

Fire.

So,

this is a fulfillment

of what John the Baptist

said.

So,

and we see

further back

in the Old Testament,

2 Samuel.

Let me just read for us

one verse from 2 Samuel.

When the Lord appears,

this is how Samuel

describes,

the channels

of the seas

were seen.

Like the seas,

you can actually see

what's going on

under the sea.

The foundation

of the world

were laid bare

at the rebuke

of the Lord,

at the blast

of his breath.

Now,

Samuel described

to us

a God

that is majestic,

a God

that is huge.

Or what about

the psalmist

in Psalm 18?

The earth rocked

the foundations

of the mountains

tremble

and quits

because

he was angry.

Smokes

went up

from his nostrils

and devouring

fire from his

mouth.

Verse 13

of Psalm 18,

the Lord

thundered in the heavens

and the Most High

uttered his voice

and he flashed

forth lightnings

and routed them.

Now,

do you notice

the pattern?

Storms,

fire,

majestic signs

of great power,

all these,

they were

imageries

of the presence

of God.

Whenever God

arrived,

we go back

to Exodus

in Mount Sinai,

there was

smoke,

there was

fire,

thunder,

and the

descending

of God,

his very

presence

where Moses

came close.

He was beaming

with glory.

So that is

the presence

of God.

Now,

there's one more

thing in the book

of Numbers

which may give us

some clue

to Acts 2,

prophetic utterance.

In Numbers 11,

when the Lord

came down

in the cloud

and spoke

to Moses,

he took

some of his

spirit

and put it

on 70

elders.

Numbers 11,

Numbers 11:25

verse 25,

I'm reading

from that.

And as soon

as the spirit

rested on them,

they prophesied.

They spoke.

So,

again,

Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

is helping us

to see a

continuation

of the whole

Bible.

That whenever

the presence

of God

arrived,

it is accompanied

by these signs.

fire,

storms,

things that

are frightening

and scary

because who

can tame

the Lord?

Who can tame

the Lord?

He's not

to be controlled

or summoned

by us.

He's sovereign.

He is God.

He's the spirit

of God.

And then,

we see here

utterance,

words,

that come

from the mouth

of man,

declaring who

he is,

declaring his

holiness.

Now,

what do you think

is my point

here?

In the first

four verses

of Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

Maybe I should

put it there.

What do you think

is the Bible's

point in those

first four verses

describing

Pentecost?

The Lord

has arrived.

The Lord

God,

Yahweh,

the Lord

who cannot

even be named,

he has

arrived.

he has

arrived.

He has

come,

he has

fulfilled

his promise

to dwell

among us.

Through Jesus,

through what

he has done,

his spirit

will now

be poured

out upon

all of us.

Now,

you know what

happened when we

read Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

those four verses?

We tend to skip

past them really

quickly.

I don't know about you.

I tend to skip

past those four

verses very quickly

and go down

to the actions,

right?

Because right

after that,

you have tongues,

you have

an outstanding

sermon from Peter

and you have

things that

happen,

you have the

community coming

together,

and then you

have signs and

wonders that

follow after

this chapter.

That becomes

something that

the apostles

experience and

do as they

preach and

proclaim the

gospel.

And we

often read the

book of Acts,

particularly Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

asking,

what is this

about us?

What does this

passage tell us

about what we

must do to

experience this

power?

Can I just

lovingly encourage

you,

Wondermark Church,

and I say the

same to

Redemption 2

Church as

well,

whenever we

come to a

text,

let's first ask

the question,

what does this

reveal about

God?

How big,

how marvelous,

how praiseworthy

He is?

This is a

declaration of

the Lord's

arrival.

And this

must cause to

my and

obvious question,

how can the

big,

transcendent

God dwells

in you and

I?

Thank you for

your prayer

earlier,

Kevin.

I appreciate

the part when

you mentioned

that this is

a fellow

sinner,

this is just

a man used

by God,

filled by

His Spirit,

here,

wanting to

serve you

and love

you,

not because

of me,

but because

of God.

And I

often find

myself

wondering,

how can

God use

an unworthy

man like

me?

And the

only way

I can make

sense of

it is to

look to

the cross.

Jesus,

Jesus is

the only

reason.

Let me

just,

before I

continue,

let me

just share

a little

bit of

my

testimony.

This is

the church

that I

met for

the first

time.

I think

it's

helpful,

just a

bit of

an

introduction.

I came

to faith,

I mean,

there's actually

a few

parts where

I felt

that I

was born

again.

I don't

know whether

it's

theologically

correct to

put it

that way.

I was born

again once,

born again a

second time,

and there

were like

three occasions

when I felt

I had this

born again

experience.

The first

time was

when I was

a teenager

in my late

teens,

standing a

mega church

environment.

A friend

invited me

to their

church,

and the

pastors was

talking about

hell,

and I was

terrified,

and I rushed

forward to

receive the

salvation,

say the

sinner's

prayer,

and the

idea that I

had was I

go to hell,

and this

church

focused a

lot on

love,

and how

God will

help me

in my

studies,

and my

career,

so I

want to

have a

good life

now,

through the

help of

this God,

Jesus,

his name,

and after

that,

I got a

free ticket

out from

hell into

heaven,

so that's

quite a

good deal,

so I

signed up

for that

by raising

my hand

and said

a prayer,

and I

was at

age 19.

At

age 24,

it was

about 20

years ago,

my life was

falling apart,

I was

really,

really

downcast,

things were

so bad

that I

missed an

exam

paper,

because I

felt so,

I think back

then,

20 years ago,

the word

depression wasn't

quite commonly

used,

right,

I think now,

in the past

five to

seven years

or so,

mental health

awareness has

become a

thing,

20 years ago,

if you feel

depressed,

and you tell

your parents

that you feel

depressed,

what do you

think they

would tell

you to do?

don't be

depressed,

right,

just get out

of bed,

and do

something about

it,

but that was

the first

time I

felt that

whatever

confidence I

had as a

young man,

everything was

falling apart,

and I

experienced

God's grace

and goodness

in my life,

I fell on my

knee,

and I

confessed to

him that

God,

all this while

I've been

using you,

I've been

using you

to get

what I

want,

and now

I realize

that going

on my

way is

bad for

me,

I want

to trust

in a

better way,

help me,

so I

don't know

which is the

exact conversion

experience,

but at age

34 that was

very profound,

in my late

20s I had

another profound

experience,

where I

literally was

shivering in

the presence

of God,

I was

terrified,

there would

be a workshop

later on about

reform and

charismatic,

right,

that was the

time when I

understood the

reform theology

for the first

time,

that God

is sovereign,

and as I

look at his

word,

as I realize

that this

cannot be

written by

mere human

beings,

there was a

sense of

fear that

filled me,

that God

is real,

that God

is meek,

and when I

think about

my sin,

even as a

Christian,

there were

many moments

where I

will call

that I

fall into

sins,

or I

fall into

temptations,

but you

want to

know the

truth?

The truth

is I

disobey,

and calling

that falling

into sin

often makes

it sound

like I'm

just a

victim of

temptations,

of unmet

needs,

of circumstances,

I start to

use the

language of

God,

I disobey

you,

and I

need to

repent

before you,

and I

need to

have the

fear of

you put

in me,

and I

need to

take my

walk

seriously,

and I

need to

know that

I am a

temple of

the Holy

Spirit,

I'm

called to

be holy

as you

are holy,

that was

my turn,

I don't know

whether it's

quite a

born again

experience,

but it was

very,

very profound,

it was very

profound,

so those

three points

made me

realize how

big,

how good

God is

to a

sinner

like myself,

and here's

how I've

grown in

experiencing

the Holy

Spirit,

when I

was young,

when I

think about

the experience

of the Holy

Spirit,

it is always

something that

comforts me,

it is always

something that

makes me feel

delightful,

and love,

and as I

grow older,

I begin to

realize that

the Holy

Spirit,

if God

is to be

God,

and I

am to be

a worshiper

of God,

often the

Holy Spirit

comes in

the form of

disagreement,

comes in

the form of

telling me

that,

hey,

you are

walking the

wrong way,

turn back,

hey,

your heart,

your heart,

though your

actions may

seem right,

there are

areas in

your hearts

that are

not right

before God,

even for

the right

things that

you do

with the

wrong

motive,

the Holy

Spirit often

convict me

towards

repentance,

we come

from a

church,

Redemption

Hill

church,

how should

I describe,

we are

big on

gospel,

we are

big on

theology,

and we

are also

a church

that

believe in

vibrant

community,

so we

want to

make sure

everyone

is plugged

into the

community

and serving

the city,

we are a

church who

also believe

highly in

experiential

faith,

that the

faith is

not just

something that

we know

intellectually,

but it is

to be applied

in everyday's

life,

so I've

grown from

how in my

younger days

that the

experience of

the Holy

Spirit is

maybe the

worship service,

maybe in the

way certain

elements in

the services

is being

designed,

to a

constant

daily

fellowship

with God

that often

moved me

to tears,

I got

sent a

press

period,

man,

by the

name of

Tim Keller,

and I

just,

in the past

few years,

he's the

guy that

made me

tear up

the most,

that's

listening to

his podcast

as I'm

driving and

I'm just

fascinated by

how often

when I'm

pointing to

the bigness

of Jesus,

the Spirit

just convict

my heart,

this is

Jesus,

this is what

he has

done for

you,

and the

Spirit

convict and

moved my

heart towards

repentance and

faith in

Jesus.

Now,

we are

going to be

praying

later on

for each

other,

on that,

for the

Spirit to

fill us,

but not

just in,

sometimes,

some of us,

when we

experience someone

praying over

you,

you may not

even experience

anything,

but you know

what faith

look like?

Faith is

living not

by sight,

and not by

our own

emotions,

even when I

don't feel

it,

I trust that

God is at

work,

and that is

the mark of

the Holy Spirit.

There is,

whenever we

talk about

the topic

of the

Holy Spirit,

there is

something that

we can

often fall

into,

the language

of being

filled by

the Holy

Spirit,

being filled

by the Holy

Spirit,

and you know

what,

you and I

are most

prone to

respond to

words like

that,

filled by the

Holy Spirit,

we can

sometimes think

in terms of

this way,

I have

three units

of the Holy

Spirit right

now,

I want

more,

Kevin,

can you

pray for

me so

that I

can receive

six units

of the

Holy Spirit,

that there

is a sense

that we

begin to

reduce the

Holy Spirit

to things,

he's a

thing,

or we

begin to

reduce any

kind of

teachings of

the Holy

Spirit to

techniques,

how can

we summon

the Holy

Spirit?

Now,

let's consider

for a moment,

the wind

came from

heaven,

the signs

of fires

and storms

point to the

bigness of

God.

Who can

say that we

can summon

the Holy

Spirit with

a prayer?

Now,

those who

abide most

deeply in the

Holy Spirit

understand the

Spirit bigness,

and therefore,

coming before

the Spirit

means surrender,

surrender and

repentance.

Another aspect

of what it

means to be a

Spirit-filled

church is that

you and I,

we are siblings.

I'm going to

talk about that

more in

session 3,

what it

means to be

brothers and

sisters in

Christ,

equal.

There is a

culture in

our church,

in Redemption

Youth Church

that we often

take for

granted,

because we

are in an

Asian city,

similar to

you,

Asian city,

and in a

lot of

Asian

churches

and contexts,

it's quite

hierarchical,

right?

The guy who

leads the

church,

the guy who

pastors,

the guy who

stands in

front to

preach and

teach,

is often

deemed with

a great

sense of

respect,

which is

good and

healthy,

but at

some point

often it

tip over

to become

unhealthy.

Now,

Christians

believe in

the priesthood

of all

believers,

because you

and I,

we all have

the person

of the

Holy Spirit

dwelling in

us.

So,

if we ever

use language

such as,

your name is

Leo,

right?

John,

sorry,

Leo was another

guy that I spoke

to earlier,

John,

so if

John come

up and

he claims

to be more

sensitive in

the Holy

Spirit than

Kevin,

we have a

problem there,

in some ways

you can

almost,

if you look

at it in

the best

possible way,

you could be

referring to

maturity,

you could be

referring to

someone who

understands and

who walks

with them,

so there are

those categories,

but if we

use the

category of

Asian religion

to talk about

the Holy

Spirit,

where one

person is

a shifu in

the Holy

Spirit,

more than

the other

person,

and has the

power to

summon the

Holy Spirit

in a more

evident,

experiential way

than others,

friends,

Watermark Church,

can I gently,

lovingly,

encourage you

to steer away

from that,

to steer away

from that.

The great

equalizer of

the cross is

that you and

I, as

believers,

we all have

the Holy

Spirit.

I need you

to pray for

me.

I need you.

I'm standing

up here

preaching this

word, I

believe,

because of

the prayers

of all of

you guys

for this

retreat,

and that

makes me

feel empowered

to do

this work.

By my own

strength,

I am very,

very weak.

That's the

truth.

So this is

not an expert

of the Holy

Spirit coming

to lead this

retreat so

that you can

learn from

me.

Let's learn

from each

other.

Let's point

each other

to who

Jesus is.

Just one

more thing

before I

close this

portion.

One of the

other signs

of being

dwelt by

the Holy

Spirit is

that your

life will

start to

feel uncomfortable.

I don't

know whether

you experience

that.

It's like,

have you

ever prayed

prayers like,

God, I

just want to

experience you,

know you,

love you,

walk according

to your

ways,

just do

whatever you

want in

my life.

Have you

prayed that

prayer before?

And then you

start to

experience real

afflictions and

sufferings and

things don't go

your way.

And if you

look back,

hey, I

actually prayed

that prayer and

God is answering

my prayer,

right?

I love this

quote by C.S.

Lewis.

Let me pray

for us and

then we'll pray

for each other

in a moment.

Imagine yourself

as a living

house.

This is from

C.S.

Lewis.

I did not

come up with

that.

God comes

in to rebuild

the house.

At first,

perhaps you

understand what

he's doing.

He's getting

the drain right

and stopping

the leaks

in the roof

and so on.

You knew that

those jobs

needed to be

done, so you

are not surprised.

You need a new

drain, you need a

roof to be fixed.

But presently,

he starts knocking

the house about

in a way that

hurts and does

not seem to

make sense.

What on earth

is he up to?

The explanation

is that he is

building quite a

different house

from the one

that you

thought of.

He's throwing

out a new

wing here,

putting on an

extra floor

here, running

up the towers,

making courtyard

and it hurts.

You thought

that you were

being made

into a decent

little cottage.

But friends,

he is building

a palace.

He is building

a palace.

He intends

to come and

live in it

by himself.

So that is

the implication

of what it

means to be

filled by the

Holy Spirit.

God intends

to live in

you.

And it's no

minor renovation

and it could

mean tearing

down the

entire building

and rebuilding

it all over

again.

When the

Holy Spirit

comes into

your life,

you are now

partaker of

divine nature.

I'm quoting

2 Peter 1

2 Peter 1:4