Spirit in the Sky - Week 1

Brand new series. Today, we want to spend the month of May talking

about Holy Spirit. I think that of the of the three parts of the

Godhead, I believe Holy Spirit is probably the most misunderstood. We uh.

We we talk about we talk about what he does, but not who he

is, the role that he plays in our lives. We we sometimes reduce

Holy Spirit to kind of magic tricks in an altar where things happen and they're

unexplainable. But he is so much more than that. Uh. And I

want to talk over this month about that. And of course, on the

nineteenth is the day of Pentecost, where the New Testament Church was born,

and we will certainly celebrate that as well. But if you have a Bible,

go to Genesis chapter one, Genesis chapter one, and we're going to

start in verse one, the very first verse of the Bible. In the

beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without

form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and

the Spirit of God was hovering over all the face of the waters. Let's

pray, Father, we thank you for your word. See only change agent

on the face of the planet. And today we invite it to take root

at the very fabric of our being, to a lighten us, enlighten us,

to set us ablaze, to motivate us, to be a catalyst for

kingdom activity. We thank you in Jesus name, Amen. This is this

is the very first verse of the Bible, the introduction of who God is

and what he did. And we see the first character hanging out. If

you want to look at a book filled with characters, the Holy Spirit is

hovering. You say, well, it says the Spirit of God. But

literally the name used there is brahuk alohem. Oh you hear that. I've

been practicing that all morning. Came out almost just like a plant. Almost.

Y'all don't know what it's really supposed to sound like. So that's how

you say it, which literally translated can mean the great wind, the great

wind. And when we know for a fact that when we jump over to

the Book of Acts on that day of Pentecost, that there was a sound

of a mighty rushing wind, that literally, Holy Spirit didn't just come onto

the scene on the day of Pentecost. He didn't miss all the rest of

creation, miss all the rest of salvation history. That this third part of

the Godhead has always been and always will be, just like the Father and

the Son. That he is equal in every way, that he has personhood.

He's not just the power of God on the face of the planet,

but he is a person in the Godhead. And I wish I could explain

with technical resources exactly how the Trinity works, but smarter people than me have

tried and fallen short. Some things. We just have to take by faith

that there is the three part Godhead that are all equal, but yet one

God. Just another great question for us to ask when we get to heaven.

Amen. And this person the Holy Spirit was present. There was present

through every major event that we see throughout scripture. That at the birth of

Jesus he was the overshadower, That at the baptism of Christ he descended like

a dove. That at the birth of the New Testament Church, that he

filled that room and fill those men with power. That he is the catalyst

of change. That he is the the nearest and dearest, not besides,

not beyond, but with the Father and Son. And we shouldn't treat him

like he's something else, that he's setted and far from the other two,

because it is not robbery to count him equal with God, just like it's

not robbery to count equal the Son with the Father. They are all united

together, and we've got to begin to seek God that way. In Matthew

chapter twenty eight, verse eighteen, and Jesus came and spoke to them,

saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name

of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them

to observe all things that I've commanded you, and low I am always with

you, even to the end of the age. Amen. Jesus himself says

that when we are baptized, when we have that symbolic experience of the old

man dying and the new man coming to life, that we're baptized not just

in the name of the Father, not just in the name of the Son,

not just in the name of the Father and the Son, but in

the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. That Jesus

counts him coequal. And I know that so many times we feel almost theoretical

or wrong to think about the Holy Spirit alone and what he does like we

do the Son and what he does, and the Father and what he does.

But I believe that's a tool of the enemy to bring confusion to the

Church, to move us and keep us in a place of fear and instability.

And think about the Holy Spirit is just a thing that happens rather than

a person that is. But when we can come into relationship with Holy Spirit,

just like we have a relationship with the Father and the Son, it

changes the way that we move and be. It changes the way we talk

and the way we act because then we realize that we're not waiting on something

to come through me. He's already living in me, and the power is

already resident, and the gifts that he brings are already resident in me.

So we're not waiting on something else to happen. He's already here and alive

in me. So we're not calling something to happen out here. We're trying

to release something to happen out there. And you carry that power, You

carry that presence with you everywhere you go. The same spirit that raised up

Christ Jesus from the dead, dwells on the inside of you. You know,

Jesus truly lives in our hearts, but so does Holy Spirit. He

is resident and there the giver of gifts, the manifesto power. In One

Corinthians, chapter nineteen, it says, or do you not know that your

body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom

you have from God. And you are not your own, for you were

bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your

spirit, which are God's. He says. Listen, He's in you,

and he's in you because you were bought with a price. You know,

there's this there's this this rule in sales right that you always under promise and

overperform. God understands that rule. He's the creator of that rule. And

he did not just save you from your sin, but he gave you a

guide, a comforter, and a friend that would stick closer than a brother

along with the package. But the moment you get saved and listen, Okay,

I want all the good Pentecostals right now to shout, yeah, one

one one. You're gonna need to come off. I'm gonna say some things

that are only gonna be partial things. Okay, let me give y'all one

more chance. Some of y'alls faces are so red because y'all grew up.

You know your grandma was rolling over right now because you didn't claim to be

Pentecostal. All the good Pentecostals say, yeah, there we go, there

we go. So I'm gonna get there. I'm gonna I'm gonna say some

things, and then I'm gonna get to the answer to those things later on

in this series. This thing is built upon each other, So if you

miss a week, you need to watch it online. Amen. But when

you get saved and you invite Jesus into your life, the Holy Spirit comes

with him. The Holy Spirit becomes present in your life at the moment of

salvation, and he doesn't just fill you up a little bit. He fills

you all the way up. Every available part of you is saturated with the

presence of the Holy with the presence of Holy Spirit. He is there,

and he is in you and working for you and through you. He is

there. Now we're going to get to this whole being filled with the Spirit

thing, Amen, in a couple of weeks. But I want us to

do the hard work first. I want to get some understanding. Remember a

few weeks ago when we said in all you're getting get under because wisdom is

the principal thing. Wisdom is the knowledge you have in action, and we

want to give you some tools that when the enemy comes in like a flood,

the spirit of the Lord raises up a standard against him because there's no

room for misunderstanding for him to exploit. The more we know, the more

wisdom we can have. So I'm going to try listen. It's hard to

teach about the Holy Spirit and not preach because you just get there. You

just want to go. As a matter of fact, I almost changed my

whole message just a few minuting. I'm like, oh, no, I

need to and that I just I know God, I know you gave me

a plan. Come on, somebody, don't let me get in front of

the plan. In John chapter sixteen, verse twelve, I thought somebody told

me to shush. That's the first time I think I've ever heard anything from

the crowd, But I thought somebody shushed me. Larry John chapter sixteen,

verse twelve. That says, I still have many things to say to you,

but you cannot bear them now. However, when he the Spirit of

Truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. For he

will not speak on his own authority, but will whatever he but will whatever

he hears. He will speak and he will tell you things to come.

Here's the thing that Jesus promised. He said, you know, I've got

to go away. I gotta go away, and when I go away,

I'm going to send another like me. Because Jesus in his pre glorified state

was one place at one time. Come on now, when he came and

was incarnate in the flesh as the sun, he was in one place at

one time. He said, I'm going away. Holy Spirit's coming. And

he can be everywhere all the time. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere that no

matter where you go, you go to the club, he's there. If

you go to the club, he's there because you took him. He rode

there with you. I'm just saying that everywhere he is. That he's at

every softball game and an umpire makes a bad call and I want to emphatically

correct him. Amen, But he's there. He's there now. He probably

don't know that, probably don't know him, but he don't want me to

chew him out either. There he says, I'm going away, and I'm

sending you one who will be your lead. Listen to what it says.

I have many things to say to you, but I cannot bear them now.

However, when he, the Spirit of Truth, has come, he

will guide you into all truth. That sneaky little gut feeling that pulls you

this way instead of that way, that uneasiness right before you do something you

shouldn't do. Now, I'm not saying you don't still do it, but

it's that uneasiness. It's that God he said. Listen. No, no,

no, no, no no no no no no no, no no

no no. That's not that's that's not truth. That's that's not truth.

Listen, everything contrary to the word of God, anything outside of the Word

of God is not actual truth. It may be reality, but it's not

truth because truth is founded in the Word of God, and truth sets you

free. If it doesn't set you free, it's not actual truth. It

may be your reality, but it's not God's truth. And he will guide

you towards God's truth. He will guide you into the things that Jesus said.

Listen, I'm not I promise, not talking about Latter Day Revelation,

not talking about any else. He will tell you those things that are written.

He will remind you of those things. He's there to guide you towards

those things, but also the things that Jesus said, I don't have time

to tell you everything. The Holy Spirit's gonna come and nudge you in that

direction, because listen, there are some things that you have to trust the

Holy Spirit for. Because I have searched the word of God over and the

Bible does not tell me which car to buy. Amen. The Bible does

not tell me which school my kids should attend, does not tell me.

The Bible does not tell me whether I should buy the lady in front of

these groceries or not, so that I can tell her about Jesus. I

have to trust the leader who is resident in me to guide me towards those

things that Jesus didn't have time to reveal, And there wasn't enough pages to

write all those things down. The Holy Spirit is our guide, and he

leads us into our individual destinies because every single one of them us were created

with a purpose in mind, and Holy Spirit guides us and moves us in

those directions, and he changes and corrects along the way. That we have

an idea that we're going to do this and we get this training, and

then we find out later that we were there not for the training, but

to meet somebody that's going to be instrumental in our future. Because the Holy

Spirit was guiding the car the whole way. So when we become sensitive to

the person of the Holy Spirit living in us, we can trust his lead

because he is just as sound as Jesus. In John chapter fourteen, verse

twenty five, says these things I've spoken to you while being present with you.

But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in

my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all

things that I said to you. Now, I had a student one time

that came and he said, listen, I need to talk to you,

Pastor Steve. And I was still youth pastor then and I said, okay,

he said I need So we went and we sat down in my office.

He said, I had a test and I prayed. I asked the

Holy Spirit to give me the answers. He's actual conversation, I promise,

he said, And listen, I just got the test back. I made

a fifty two. He said, why would the Holy Spirit let me down

like that? Actual conversation with a live teenager. Now, I know their

brains are not fully formed, but nonetheless, I said, listen, I

almost just call a kid's name. I said, listen, y'all might know

him. He may at every mind. I'm not even gonna give you more

hints, I said, listen. He didn't let you down, he said,

yeah. The Bible says that he breathed to remembrance everything I need to

know, but you gotta know it so he can bring it to your remembrance.

First. That's not a get out of jail free. You don't have

to study. I'm just gonna pray my way into an ad. The Holy

Spirit comes alongside that knowledge and that wisdom that we have, and he empowers

that knowledge and that wisdom. He is our helper. The Bible says,

he is our paraclet, the one who comes alongside of us, that walks

locked literally arm in arm, and walks with us. So he guides us,

and he tells us where to go, and then he walks with us

so that we're protected and that we have the wisdom of God right there within

arm's reach, so we can activate the wisdom into our situation, so we

know how to navigate the difficult things that we face. Those moments where somebody's

talking to you and you just know that what they're telling you is not the

whole story. Amen that I know something else is happening. And suddenly I

have this revelation of what it is. It's the undwelling power of the Holy

Spirit and a manifestation of his gift called Word of knowledge. I'm having a

conversation and I don't really have all the answers to what's being said, but

suddenly the person looks at me, and it's in that moment and faith rises

up and I begin to share wisdom that I did not know was inside me.

It's Word of wisdom. And those are manifestations of the person of the

Holy Spirit. Those are what we call the gifts of the Spirit. But

it's not that he throws out some packages. Taty gets one and Lane gets

one. Greg gets two. It's Greg's special, right. He gets two

tape together so we don't lose them. He moves into our lives and he

brings everything with him, every gift, every bit of power, every bit

of knowledge. He moves in and he unpacks his suitcases and all of his

stuff is there right there within Arm's reach and activation for you to use.

And the more we get to know him, the more readily accessible those gifts

are. But we treat those gifts as if they are things to be attained

rather than manifestations just simply to be released. They're already there. You seek

him for a mastery of those gifts. You talk to him about the desires

of your heart, and you put yourself in those situations so that those gifts

are necessary. See, the reality is Holy Spirit is not just there for

you. He's there for all humanity. His desire is to lift up all

humanity, to point all humanity towards the cross of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice

that was made of Calvary. And those gifts are just tools in the tool

belt of someone living a missional life that's always got him on the very front

of their tongue, so that they're lifting up Jesus and he draws people towards

Christ. It's your job to tell the truth. The Holy Spirit living in

you draws people to Jesus. You don't talk somebody into being saved. Come

on now, if you talk them into it, devil, talk them out

of it. Because he's a better talker than everybody in this building. They're

drawn into a grace collision with Jesus by the power the Holy Spirit far out

there somewhere, but is right there in you, the comforter that walks with

you arm in arm, so that he is there for every kingdom connection and

encounter that you have clay, you can bring the band and get ready.

And Ephesians chapter one, verse thirteen, it says in him you also trusted

after you heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and

whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.

To the praise of His glory, says the final job of Holy Spirit

in us, for us and through us, as in individuals, is the

sealer of our salvation. That the moment we trusted him and we believe the

Gospel of Truth, that the Holy Spirit sealed us. When Jesus is teaching

the Parable of the Seeds, he says, lett the birds of the air

come and steal them away, that the Holy Spirit is there to fend off

those invisible adversarial attacks that we all face even when we don't realize we're facing

them. But every single day as believers, we are attacked by the enemy.

That he is attacking your spirit man, that he's trying to get a

foothold, he's trying to gain ground, he's trying to manipulate, he's trying

to bring fear, he's trying to bring confusion, he's trying to bring distraction.

Holy Spirit is there watching over that spirit man on the inside of you,

that at the moment of salvation, it's made alive and he says,

nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope,

and he's fending off those invisible attacks because he's in us. And you're

thinking, will Pastor, if he's the sealer of our salvation, does that

mean I don't have anything to worry about. I don't listen. I want

to just I don't worry about my salvation. I don't wake up every day

just hanging on trying to stay saved. That's not how I live my life.

I understand the covenant in my relationship with Jesus, but the Holy Spirit

will allow you to walk out from under his protection because He's not a possessor.

He's an expressor. He expresses the goodness of God. He expresses the

power of God, he expresses the grace. But he doesn't possess you and

keep you trapped in a covenant with Jesus. You can walk out of that

covenant with a moment you repent. Listen. The moment you repent of God

is the moment you have broken the covenant, the moment when you say,

I don't want anything to do with him. He's not real and has no

authority over me. The same way we get saved, we can be unsaved.

We repent of our sins and run towards Him. Then we repent of

God and run towards sin. But it will not happen to you. Listen

to me. I want you to take comfort in this. It will not

happen to you accidentally. You won't just wake up one day with the salvation

covenant broken, because while you're asleep, Holy Spirit saying nope, nope,

nope, nope, he keeps that Emberor if it's just a spark, a

flame at the spirit man level, waiting for you to fuel that spark with

the word of God, waiting you to for you to fuel that spark with

worship and praise, waiting for you to allow that thing to catch and burn

into a raging, roaring fire that encompasses your whole life and the lives of

those around you. Because it's very very hard to depart from him, but

it's very very easy to be set ablaze for him. Because Holy Spirit is

alive and well in you that at the fabric of your being. He has

entwined himself on every part of that double helix that makes you who you are.

He's encoded himself on your d and he's there and he's imploring you step

up and step out. There's greatness still to be revealed. There's miracles to

be done through your hands. There's still opportunities, there's Kingdom connections. There's

things before you. Because I'm here to speak of the things to come,

and the things to come are better than the things that have been. That's

who Holy Spirit is in you. That's his job as the third person in

the trinity of the Godhead. And today I want you to acknowledge that that

power, passion promise is in you. I believe that's where he lives in

me. The biggest part right there, James, that's why I look like

this. It's not food the Holy Spirit. There's a lot of him in

there. Press it out. But today, if you'll acknowledge his personhood and

lean into his leadership, lean into his comfort, lean into who he is,

it will revolutionize your life as a believer. Everybody's staying with me.

But here's the caveat Pastor Clay. You can't have Holy Spirit unless you've trusted

Jesus as your Lord and savior. Salvation is the prerequisite for the indwelling power

of the Holy Spirit. If you've never asked Jesus to forgive you of your

sins, to repent of those sins, then you can't have the power of

the Holy Spirit. So if you're here today and you've never asked Him to

be your Lord, to be your savior, this is that moment. This

is that moment where you turn your life over to him. If you're here

and you're far from him, you've prayed a prayer, you've had an experience

and an altar, but you've allowed sin to rush into your life, and

you lean into the pleasures of the world more than you lean into the presence

of the Lord. Then the clarity and the voice and the leadership of the

Holy Spirit is diminished by the presence of that sin in your life. So

today you can repent of those things and restore that connection and that voice the

Holy Spirit so that He can be more readily available and accessible in your life.

But today those are the only thing, only two things we're praying about

in the altar. If you're here and you need to trust Jesus as your

Lord and your savior, or if you're here and you need to come back

to Him because you've allowed space to be created sin to creep in. If

you're here and you're struggling with either of those things, accepting Jesus as my

savior or rededicating life to Him as my savior. F that'st you. On

the count of three, I want you to step out and move. I

know it's scary. I know I listen. It has to be scared.

I didn't do it this way. I did it a much more difficult way.

I got saved in my dorm room along with one other person. And

I believe with all my heart that that was my last opportunity. That was

it. There wasn't going to be another chance for me don't miss this opportunity.

You're not promised another one. Trust him as your savior. Come back

to him, alter team, come quickly on the count of three. I

want you to step out and move If that's you, I've got to know

him. I got to come back to him on the count of three,

one, two, three, step out and move right now, Come on,

come on, come on. I believe in my heart there's at least

two more people here. Don't miss this chance. Don't miss this opportunity.

I think I can speak for everybody in this room when I say, when

you respond to an apt when you respond to an altar call about salvation or

rededication, and you respond to those things, it does not diminish how much

we love you. Listen. We love you in the midst of your dysfunction.

We love you in the midst of your fear, and we love you

in the midst of your sin. We'll still love you when you give your

life to Jesus. Come on, where are you? Where are you?

Come on? Step out and come right now? Where are you? Holy

Spirit? Draw right now, Holy Spirit? Draw right now in Jesus' name. Okay,