God's Light in a Dark World

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

You know, today, that song, I want all of you.

I can remember the day on my way back from Troy State, Alabama, that God got a hold of my heart.

I'm gonna tell my age.

In my car coming home that day, I had an eight-track C D.

Actually, it's an eight-track tape.

Anyone remember those days?

All right, thank you, thank you.

And in that tape player bolted under the dash with two big old speakers in the back window.

Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Anybody, young kids are saying, what, who, where?

A legend.

When I was your age, he was a legend.

Singing, Were You There?

When they crucified my Lord.

God got a hold of my heart.

I started crying so hard I just had to pull over.

And I don't even know how long I was there.

But I made a promise that the Lord would let me get home.

I was gonna pack my bags, get my wife, my little boy, and we were headed to Liberty University for full-time ministry.

So it radically changed my life.

And that's been about 38 years ago.

God be the glory.

But he wants all of you.

Hey, 98 and a half won't do, won't do.

God wants 100%, and he wants you.

Amen.

I want you to turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

And if you do not have a worship guide, if you'll raise your hand, we'll make sure you get one.

Because we want you to follow along with us.

I have the outline on the back of the worship guide.

I believe when you come to church, God desires us to worship him in spirit and in truth.

For the Father seeketh such to worship him.

And it's such a joy to be able to uh, man, that music's good.

Benji, where's Benji?

All right, Benji.

There you are back there.

We gotta, hey, we gotta get a group.

That's we gotta we gotta take it to the next level, son.

I mean, we're good, but we gotta go to the next level.

Yeah, we gotta have a group.

I gotta get a group going like that.

Yeah.

Amen.

Woo! Yeah.

In fact, in Galatians chapter 5, and we've been looking at Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

And if you missed last week, you got to go online and watch the message.

God just showed up and showed out last week.

I brought the message on the example of a Christ uh living in you, what?

Enabling you to be a Christian that's courageous about your faith.

And we looked at David and Goliath.

And I'm gonna be preaching that in a couple of weeks at the state evangelism conference.

I've uh, and Marquita told me, I told her, I said, God laid that on my heart.

After the message, she was in dialysis this past week and started sharing what God had teaching her through the message last Sunday.

She got to preach and she was having to speak out loud because of the machines, and everybody in there was listening.

But one guy got so involved, he said, I don't understand that.

And long story short, he said, I need that.

And she said, Well, would you like to do it right now?

He said, Yes, I would.

And she led him to the Lord right there in the dialysis uh room.

Hey, amen.

And she said, three or four others were saying, after he prayed the prayer, they were saying, Hallelujah, amen.

Being a courageous Christian, wherever you go, folks, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

Amen.

I'm not ashamed.

And uh, and you shouldn't be.

You shouldn't be.

And uh, isn't it amazing how many Christian movies are coming out now?

Isn't it amazing that for the, I haven't heard in such a while in a long time, how conservative Christianity is being brought to the head even in the election.

I said, hey, let me tell you, when you think God's dead, I got news for you.

God's not dead.

And he's got a plan, and his plan will be fulfilled.

But today and next Sunday, I want to end this series on two subjects.

One, next week we'll close with what does it really mean to walk in the spirit?

But in order for you and I to walk in the spirit, we've got to understand how the Spirit of the living God is what guides us.

He says in Psalms 32, verse 8, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go.

Psalms 32:8

I will guide thee with my eye.

So how does he do that?

He does that through a theological word that we use, illumination.

And illumination means bringing light to a subject.

That's the simplest definition I could give you about illumination.

Allowing the Holy Spirit to illuminate the word of God to each of our hearts.

And so that's what we're going to be looking at today.

In Galatians chapter 5, verse 16.

Galatians 5:16

And what it does it say?

It's powerful.

And it says, This I say, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

See, we are either walking as Christians in the spirit, or we're walking in the flesh.

There's no in-between.

You're either in the f walking in the flesh or you're walking in the spirit.

And it's pretty detectable which one you're walking in.

And we'll see that here as we look at these powerful uh scriptures.

And then notice what he says.

This I say, then walk in the spirit, and you should not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh, lust is against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.

And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law.

And then he goes on and he gives us the work of the flesh compared to the work of the spirit.

The evidences of you walking in the flesh, the evidences of you walking in the spirit.

So today, though, that powerful statement that he makes right there, and it's a powerful statement, made right there at the end of verse 18.

You are not, I meant, excuse me, the beginning, but ye are being led of the Spirit.

How are you and I led by the Spirit?

We are led by the Spirit about, hey, by the Holy Spirit illuminating the truth to our hearts so that we can apply those truths in our actions as we live out our lives daily.

Now that's the really proposition of what we're gonna look at today.

And it's gonna, I'm gonna try to make it very simple because a lot of people don't understand what it means to be illuminated in the Spirit, and that's a big word, it's a theological word, but it's an easy word to understand.

And in this message, we're gonna discover how the Holy Spirit illuminates, hey, the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a dark and dreary world today.

So let's begin.

First, he is involved in the revelation, the Holy Spirit's involved in the revelation of the Word of God.

In other words, the giving of truth.

That's what he does.

The Holy Spirit gives us the truth of the Word of God.

In fact, he is our teacher.

And then, secondly, he is involved in the inspiration of the Word of God.

It's very clear, for all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man or woman of God may be equipped to fulfill the will of God.

2 Timothy 3.16 and 17.

In fact, my granddaddy used to say, uh, in reference to 2 Timothy 3.16, God's word, when he says all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and profitable doctrine for proof, for correction, for assertion of righteousness, he used to say, the God of Word.

Hey, the Word of God teaches us what's right, what's not right, how to get right, and how to stay right.

What else is there?

And that's what the Holy Spirit literally does through the illumination of the Word of God to our hearts.

John 16, 13 tells us that He is Spirit, and He's the Spirit of truth, and that He teaches us the truth.

So let's look at three things this morning.

First thing I want us to look at is the mandate for spiritual illumination.

The mandate, the command, and it's so important.

The word of God is incomprehensible to a person that is not a Christian.

If you're not a Christian, you don't have a clue to what the Word of God says.

Here's why.

1 Corinthians 2.14 says, the natural man, the lost man, receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.

What does that spiritually discern mean?

They are spiritually illuminated.

They are spiritually brought light unto.

That's what it means.

And they don't have that spirit, so they have no concept or understanding of what the word of God means, much less applied to their lives.

The mandate for spiritual illumination, look at it.

2 Corinthians chapter 2, excuse me, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 3 and 4.

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention 2 Corinthians 4:3

They're on the screen for us.

Look at what he says.

And this is this is a powerful statement by Paul to the church at Corinth.

And by the way, the church at Corinth was not a very spiritual church.

It was a very carnal church.

And so he's having to bring retribution to the church and straighten them out, basically, when he writes 1 and 2 Corinthians.

And he's writing to them, telling them there's three types of people in the church.

And he deals, first of all, with the non-Christian, the natural man.

Then he does, he deals with the second type of person in the church, is the carnal Christian.

And then he deals with the spiritual Christian.

So there's three types of people here today.

There's the person that's lost that does not know Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit does not dwell in their temple.

And then there's the Christians that are saved, but they're not walking in the Spirit.

They're walking in the flesh.

They're doing what they want to do instead of what God's told them to do.

And there's always conflict.

But then there's the third type, and that's that spirit-filled Christian walking in the spirit, denying the flesh.

They are living what we call a crucified life.

I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.

In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

It's a spirit-filled, illuminated life.

Now notice what he says in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4.

2 Corinthians 4:3

And I really love this.

But he says, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.

When the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Powerful statements should shine unto them.

How does the Word of God, hey, how is it brought to light to our hearts and to our minds?

Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God.

And it's so important that we understand that.

But when the Spirit of God comes to live in us, we started this whole series by saying, once you and I get saved, 1 Corinthians 12.13, for by one Spirit are we all baptized into the body.

The Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts, and now it is mandatory that we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us, to guide us, to direct us in our walk with Christ.

He is our master teacher.

And it's so exciting to see him at work in each of our lives.

So he opens, when the Holy Spirit comes, he opens the Word of God so we can begin to understand it.

And that is what we mean by illumination.

Here it is.

Write it down.

The Spirit of God, write this, I want you to write this down.

The Spirit of God shines on the Word.

Here's the greatest definition, most understandable definition of illumination.

The Spirit of God shines on the Word, and then He shines the Word in our hearts.

He shines on the Word, He brings the Word to our attention, He brings the Word to our understanding, and then He places it into our hearts.

That is spiritual illumination.

He opens the Word of God so that we can begin to understand it.

The Spirit of God shines on the Word and shines in our hearts so that the Word begins to make sense to us.

That is spiritual illumination.

If you don't understand the Word of God, then you've got to realize that possibly the reason you don't understand it, the Spirit of God's not dwelling in your heart.

If you have no desire for the Word of God, chances are the Spirit of God's not dwelling in your heart because the Bible says, when you and I get saved, 1 Peter 2, he says, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby.

We have a hunger for the word because the Holy Spirit is ready to teach us and to illuminate the principles.

He says in John 6.63, it is the Spirit that quickens, brings the life.

It is the spirit that quickens.

The flesh profits nothing.

These things I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.

There's a difference, folks, a big difference.

There's a joy, there's an excitement, there's a peace that passes all understanding, regardless of the circumstances.

When you're walking in the flesh, let me tell you when you tell you walking in the flesh.

Hey, you're worried about everything.

Hello, come on.

You with me?

You're frettened, you're discouraged, you're worried about everything.

Oh, what am I gonna do?

What am I gonna do?

What am I gonna do?

Relax.

And I'm the world's worst.

Let's fix it.

I'm a fixer.

Take it on.

Fix it now.

So we see how important it is.

So it's a mandate.

God says, be not drunk with wine where it is excess, but watch.

Be filled with the Spirit of God.

Ephesians 5.18.

We have a mandate to allow the Holy Spirit to control our life.

Notice the second thing.

The mystery of the spiritual illumination.

Now, before we discuss, in fact, we're looking at the mandate, the mystery, and then the ministry.

But we got to understand the mystery first of spiritual illumination.

I want to show you why it is so important that we understand this unbelievable secret to understanding the Word of God.

It really is.

And you know, I've had people say, I don't really need that stuff.

You know, I'm saved, I'm okay.

As long as I'm saved and I'm going to heaven, I'm okay.

No, no, you're not okay.

You need to be a, hey, yes, you need to be saved and going to heaven.

Yes, that your destiny's fixed in heaven.

I understand that.

But you're not okay unless you're a spirit-filled Christian.

Can I get an amen?

You want to walk in the spirit.

You remember I used the illustration last week with my cell phone, that new six I got, and I said I can turn it on and I can text.

And now that I can, now that Ciri's understood my dialect, I almost threw Siri out the window before she got to understanding my voice.

She says, I don't understand.

You can't understand Alabama lingo.

But all that it does, you know, I'm learning every day how to work that.

I've just made up my mind.

I'm getting the apps, I'm learning, and every day I learn all the access of things I have with that little phone.

It's unbelievable.

I have, uh oh, I'm on the tele on myself.

I learned how to go eBay shopping on my telephone, free shipping.

I don't have to go to the store.

Two days it's at my door.

Man, I'm even buying Susan stuff on eBay.

She said, Oh, I'm taking your phone away.

I said, I'm 62 years old.

She said, I don't care, I'm still taking it away.

But the more I learn about that phone, the more exciting it is, and the more I can do.

Well, that's it, folks.

Once you get saved, the Holy Spirit takes up residency in your life.

And you've got so much power, you've got the power and the presence of an awesome real God.

And if you let Him control everything and you learn who He is and allow Him to control you and you walk with Him, whoo! You ain't seen anything yet.

Amen.

Oh, He has so much more for you than you can comprehend.

He really does.

I promise.

I promise.

So we see the key to success in the Christian life, the reason we study this book and don't study other books with the intensity and with the vigor and the excitement and the enthusiasm.

Because this book is life-changing.

And I love reading.

I'm a history bruff.

But this book, there's nothing like it.

Every morning it teaches me something new.

Isn't it amazing?

You tell me any other book you can read and read the same verse four or five times.

Hey, every day read the same verse and something different.

God teaches you and shows you.

That's a God thing.

That's a book.

That's the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

Bring into your understanding the principles that God wants you to work out and live through your life.

This book is unlike any other we could ever read.

In fact, right here, look at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 6.

1 Corinthians 2:6

In the surrounding context, our key verses, we're reminded that the wisdom of God is a different kind of wisdom.

In 1 Corinthians 2, 6, look at it.

It's powerful.

Listen to what it says.

Verse 6.

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, in other words, that are maturing.

Yet not the wisdom of this world, nor the princes of this world that come to know.

But we speak, verse 7, the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory.

What tremendous truth we see right here.

God tells us that it is a wisdom for the spiritual mature, not the wisdom of the world.

We know wisdom and knowledge exists out there, but hey, not godly wisdom.

Paul is saying that the wisdom of God is concealed from the worldly wise of this age.

But he's also saying only mature Christians, as you're maturing, can understand the word of God.

And the more you understand, the more mature you get.

Well, the more you understand, the more you apply, the more mature you get.

It's God's book.

Oh, I love, I love 1 Corinthians 3.19.

Listen to what it says.

I flip over and oh, this is awesome.

He says, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain.

In other words, he's saying all the thoughts and the wisdom of the world is vain with God.

Thank God for Mobile College.

Thank God for Liberty University.

Thank God for all the Christian schools.

Because when they put their money and they invest their time and their effort, they're gaining godly wisdom, not worldly wisdom, and there's a big difference.

I'll throw in a commercial for Mobile and all the other Christian universities.

My kids went to a Christian university.

They had a choice.

And they didn't want to go to Liberty at first.

No.

We were professors there.

That's probably why they didn't want to go.

Susan and I were.

But but I told them, I said, I'll tell what, you can go to any other university you want.

If you go to any other university than Liberty, you pay.

You go to Liberty, I pay.

Your choice.

Hello.

Guess who?

Guess where they went?

Liberty.

Why?

Because I paid.

And we got a great discount being a professor.

That was part of our plan for our kids' education.

Hello.

But it was awesome to sit in chapel and hear the word of God, the most anointed men and women of God coming through three times a week and hearing the gospel preached and challenged.

I can remember when, again, telling my age, W.A.

Criswell preached my graduation in undergrad.

And he was, and he held this book up and he said, and he preached, and I can see him now, that big, boisterous voice and white hair, and he was in his 70s then and he says, I'm gonna preach the B I B L E.

It's the book for me.

And son, he went through the uh and used the word Bible for an acrostic, and 25 minutes later, I met me and several of my friends that were studying for ministry in uh seminary.

We were on our knees at the altar saying, Oh God, use us like that.

Use us.

We want to be men of the book.

Men of the book.

Because it never returns void.

Isaiah 55, 11.

Never forget it.

Still there.

See him preaching it.

And for the last 33 years, I have done everything I know to preach the book every time I speak.

I can't talk without quoting your scripture.

I can't help it.

I can't help it.

I can't help but speak the things that I've seen and heard.

Acts 4.20.

Peter had it too.

Amen.

Good company.

So I've often said, little old lady who has no education, but knows Jesus and knows this book.

My granddaddy had a fourth-grade education, but he knew the book.

And he, I couldn't, every day he would give me a principle from God's book.

He'd say, Danny boy, this book, hey, this book will keep you from sin.

But sin will keep you from this book.

I can remember that as plain as today.

He said, sin will take you further than you want to go, it'll keep you longer than you want to stay, and it'll cost you more than you're willing to pay.

I can see it, I can hear it.

But he said, but this book, ha ha, it'll give you life and it'll give it more abundantly.

You just follow the book and you'll be successful.

That's what I was telling Trent, my nephew that's here now with us.

God so radically changed their life overnight, it's unreal.

Why?

That's what God does.

He takes us out of the muck in the mud and he puts our feet on a rock.

Puts a new song in our hearts.

Psalms 42.

Amen.

Do you have that new song?

Does he have all of you?

I want you to sing that again.

Does he have all of you?

That'll be for the invitation and an offering.

But now watch.

Watch.

Woo! I just tell what Spirit do, we do it.

Amen.

I don't have an outline here.

I mean I have an outline, but that doesn't.

Sometimes that doesn't bother.

I don't it doesn't matter.

But anyway.

But we see here wisdom.

Hey, hey, I I you remember Paul John, what Peter and John remember?

In Acts 4.13?

And they perceived that they were unlearned and uneducated men.

What does that mean?

It doesn't mean that they were not smart and intelligent.

It just meant that they were unlearned and uneducated in the world's ways and the world's view.

They were educated and anointed through the word of the living God and through the power of God.

And they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.

Now, students, that's what you want.

The people to be able to look at you and to be able to say, that group's been with Jesus.

When that starts happening, you won't have to worry about people getting up and taking a lap.

They'll be lapping.

Because when God shows up, he shows out.

Amen.

Man, that's good.

Amen.

1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 7.

1 Corinthians 2:7

Listen to what he says.

We learn that the wisdom of God is a mystery.

The information that is available, but it's unknown.

For instance, when you start studying the New Testament, when you get in your theology class, we realize that the church of Jesus Christ was a mystery.

We go back to the Old Testament.

The church of Jesus Christ was a mystery in the Old Testament, but it was revealed and illuminated in the New Testament, in the birth of the New Testament church.

Oh, I don't think it's up there, but God just gave me this verse.

Romans 11, 33, the knowledge and the ways and the judgments of God.

Hey, and the depth of his wisdom is a mystery.

It's past finding out.

So how do you get that depthness through the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God?

It's a mystery.

Which brings me to the last point: the ministry of spiritual illumination.

In order to understand the Spirit's ministry of spiritual illumination, we need to see how it works.

There's three dynamics about the ministry of illumination in the scriptures.

Number one, spiritual discernment.

When you and I have the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives, we have spiritual discernment.

What does that mean?

Here's an easy definition of spiritual discernment.

You know what's right and you know what's wrong.

Amen.

That's spiritual discernment.

Now, don't you wish that every time you knew what was right and you knew what was wrong, that you would take the path of what's right.

No amen?

But a lot of times we take, even though we know the path of what's right, we go to the path that's wrong.

Why is that?

Because we are walking in the flesh.

We doing, we are doing what we want to do and not what God wants us to do.

Did you know you're selfish?

Oh me.

I'm selfish.

Do you know I want my way?

Hello?

Hey, help me out here, folks.

Did you get up this morning and say, oh, Heavenly Father, I just want to be a servant to everyone I meet today.

Hello.

No.

You got up and say, hmm, what am I going to do today?

Where am I going to church?

Where am I eating?

Well, listen, when Jesus gets all of you, it won't be.

It'll be him, him, him, him, him, him.

Big difference.

Difference in the flesh.

Difference in the spirit.

You with me?

Big difference.

And it's very detectable.

Spiritual discernment.

Look at John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

I meant John 16, it's on there.

John 16, verse 12.

John 16:12

This is powerful.

Jesus, and it's such a powerful statement.

One of his last promises the Savior made to his disciples before his crucifixion concerned the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Here it is.

Powerful.

Beginning in John chapter 16, verse 12, listen to what he said.

John 16:12

Talking to the disciples right before he goes to the cross.

He says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them.

Now you know what he said?

You're not ready to handle it yet.

That's the excitement about the Holy Spirit being your teacher.

He knows when you're ready.

Amen?

Now let me help you.

He will not illuminate more truth to you until you are obedient to the truth that you already know to do.

Hello.

That's good, preacher.

That's good.

Don't forget that.

That's very important.

I promise.

But now notice what he said in verse 13.

How be it, he, when he, the Holy Spirit, which is called the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.

For he shall not speak of himself.

But now watch this.

Whosoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come.

He says, My purpose is to bring to you the truth and to show you the truth so that you can walk ye in it.

That's why I'm here.

And it's not about me, the Holy Spirit, it's about Jesus, the truth.

Jesus is the truth.

It's about him.

I want to reveal Christ to you so that Christ can live in you, the hope of glory, so that Christ can be in you.

That's it.

That's why he's here.

That's why he's in your heart right now.

It's to reveal to you who he is.

Listen to what he says.

Oh, this is so good.

In 1 Corinthians 2, 10.

Listen to what he says.

But God has revealed them through his spirit to us.

Now watch.

For the Spirit searches all things.

Now listen, yes, the deep things of God.

If you're going to know the deep things of God, I hear people all the time, oh, we we got, I want a Bible study and carry me into the deep things.

Huh?

If you got into deep things, you probably wouldn't know where you are.

Because you got to start with the milk and then grow to the meat.

You can't just jump into deep things.

You know what I've learned about deep things?

They're mysteries.

Hello.

I've been studying the book a long time, folks.

Spent 30 years studying the book.

Even got a doctorate in studying the book.

But the more, the deeper it gets, you know what, you know, let me just, boy, this is good.

You know what I've learned?

It's not what I don't know that I'm worried about.

It's what I know that I'm not doing that I'm worried about.

And that's why you're not gonna get too deep until you start doing what you know to do.

But when you get ready, he will take you into those deep truths.

But some will not know until we get to be with him.

Amen.

But it's that's what he says.

Look at what he says: the deep things of God.

If we want to know the deep things of God, the Spirit of God has to be involved.

He wants to give us discernment, he wants to give us direction, he wants to give us, hey, hey, determination to be more like Christ.

Bible study is finding out what the Bible says, finding out what it means, and then doing it.

That's spiritual discernment.

Studying the Bible, finding out what it means, and then once you find out what it means, do it.

That's pretty simple, isn't it?

Why is it so hard?

It's called the flesh.

That wars with the spirit every day that we have going on.

So, now let me show you three things about spiritual discernment, because if you get this one, you got it.

You're gonna be ready for an unbelievable growth in the Word of the Living God.

I mean, it's just gonna be like going to the state house.

Here it is.

First of all, the parameters of spiritual discernment.

Number one, under spiritual discernment, we have parameters.

First of all, we need to know that the parameters of spiritual discernment really are concentrated in the content of truth.

It's nothing but the truth.

That's what John 16, verse 13 tells us.

John 16:13

The truth is the Bible.

How does the Spirit of God teach us the Bible?

If we believe the Spirit is leading us in a certain direction, we then need to be able to go to the Word of God and see that direction.

Can I get an amen?

Thy word, you know this first, Psalms 119, verse 105.

Psalms 119:105

I know our church does.

Thy word is a lamp unto our feet and what?

A light to our path.

So when God gives you direction, it ought to be, you ought to be able to go to somewhere in the Bible.

Now, it may not be exactly chapter and verse, but there ought to be a principle from the word of God, or promise from the word of God, or a warning from the word of God that you know that's what God wants you to do.

Well, I just think I love you, but it doesn't matter what you think.

It's what God says.

Well, Pastor Danny, I just I know that's what the Bible says, but but but I know.

And you know why I know?

I feel it.

Oh, Lord help us.

If you're basing your spiritual walk on your feelings, we are all in trouble.

And if you're doing that, would you please come to church when your feelings are good?

If they're bad, would you stay home and take aspirin?

Hello, you okay?

You okay out there?

I mean, roller coaster Christianity.

That's what it is if you if you're that's carnal Christianity, that's really what it is.

You just live your life on your feelings.

You feel good?

Woohoo! Oh, oh, do you know Jesus?

Next day you're bound.

I'm dead.

I mean, it's up and down, up and down, up and down.

Man, I don't like roller coasters.

I get sick.

Don't write them anymore either.

Come on, poppy, write it.

I said, no, Nana will.

Nope, I ain't doing it.

Smarter than that.

When we talk about spiritual illumination, we're not talking about dreams, special messages, and words of knowledge.

What we're talking about is the truth.

You shall know to say it with me.

You shall know the truth and what?

Say it again.

You shall know the truth and what?

Amen.

John 8 32.

That's it.

You got it.

Good.

Notice a second thing.

By the way, let me help you right here.

You know, I had I really had this happen.

I had a couple say, Pastor Danny, I think the Lord's leading us to live together.

What do you think?

I was trying to be nice, not to say anything, because I was fixing a little.

Then they asked me, What do you think?

They shouldn't never ask that.

Because immediately I said, I love both of you, but the Lord's not letting you do that.

That's the devil.

I said, Because let me show you what God's word says.

A man and a wife shall leave their home.

They shall come together as one under God's direction and God's honoring.

And it's a picture, and I took it in Ephesians 5.

Christ, the man's to love his wife like Christ loves the church and gave himself, and the wife's to love her husband and submit and be together, and the husbands submit to the wife, and you're to be one together.

Everything that's hers is yours, and everything that's yours is hers.

That's God's way.

And then let me tell you what you're doing.

And then I took him, showing him the flesh, lust of the flesh, and what that involved.

1 Corinthians 6, flee fornication.

I said, You just you just want to live together in lust.

That's what it is.

That's what the Bible says.

So now that's not the Holy Spirit leading you, it's the other spirit.

Called satanic spirit.

Amen.

It's lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of light.

By the way, they're pretty organized.

Have you read Ephesians 6?

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the prince and the power of this era to take you out.

Isn't it amazing?

All the commercials, none of them are about homes anymore.

Godly homes.

As my brother was sharing his testimony about coming from home.

I came from a broken home too.

Alcohol destroyed my home.

So I've been there.

I do understand.

So we see that the Spirit comes to guide us into truth, not to create new truth.

Can I get an amen?

So don't tell me this is a new revelation.

There's nothing new under the sun.

Amen?

That's what the book says.

Proverbs 11.

Nothing new.

My granddaddy used to say if it's new, it's not true, and if it's true, it's not new.

Pretty good saying, isn't it?

And it's so true.

Notice the second thing, the process of spiritual discernment.

That's found in 1 John 2, 20 and 27.

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things, but the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you.

But as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

Now, this is a verse sometimes taken way out of context.

First of all, look at what the word anointing means.

Very important to understand that.

It's where we get our word charisma.

Charisma.

Okay?

And it literally means, here's what it means: it means unction.

That's another synonym.

It means to possess a knowledge of truth.

In other words, you and I are anointed by the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit is teaching us to open our hearts and our minds and our understanding to the truth that God is teaching us through His teacher, the Holy Spirit.

Can I get an amen?

It's opening the revelation to us.

That's an anointing.

Now it was used in another way: a special endowment.

In other words, a special endowment of power for a specific task.

And we see that throughout the Bible.

Moses, Joshua, Paul.

A special anointing for a special task.

And then the other way it was used is inaugural.

It was an inaugural ceremony.

The anointing, symbolic.

So we see the process.

It's God's anointing us through the.

Have you ever been reading the Word of God and all of a sudden it jumps out and you say, Why?

Whoa! Yes, that's good.

Or have you been reading the Word of God and you say, Oh no?

That's bad.

And I'm guilty.

Amen?

Been there?

Well, that's called the anointing of God's Spirit revealing to you your good or your bad.

So that you can change or so you can proceed.

Isn't that good?

That's the illumination of the Holy Spirit of the living God.

Then there's a third one: the power of spiritual discernment.

Look at John 14, 26.

Talks about the power of discernment.

Jesus makes an incredible statement to his disciples regarding the Holy Spirit role and helping them after he's gone.

Here's the key verse that he gives to them.

He said, Now I'm leaving, but here, here, don't, you gotta lock this in your heart.

You gotta write it down, gotta put a big star by it, memorize it because here's what I'm gonna do for you.

But the helper, the comforter, 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've said to you.

That's an amazing promise.

Amazing.

It would be nice if life presented decisions to us in neat little packages, wouldn't it?

With plenty of advanced notice.

Oh, this is gonna happen.

You got two weeks to get ready for it, Pastor Danny.

Sister Fluffyhead's not gonna nail you till two weeks from now.

Life's not that way, is it?

It's not.

You I mean, we've we've and and and uh this week.

I've heard we've got three people right now that's been diagnosed.

You remember Ricky, Geraldine, her husband Dave?

He's been diagnosed with a brain tumor that's cancerous, and they've called hospice in.

Now he wasn't ready for that.

But thank God I know Dave and I know Geraldine.

The power of the Holy Spirit of God's all in their lives.

And regardless of what happens, they're ready.

RFA last week.

Ready for anything.

For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

We know.

The power of spiritual discernment.

The Spirit's ministry of illumination and guidance is dependent on our having the truth of God in our hearts.

That's why we go to church.

That's why we go to Christian schools.

That's why we listen to tapes.

We listen to Christian radio.

We read Christian books.

Because listen to me, folks, oh boy, this is so good.

The more we have here and here, the more illumination we get from Him, and the more illumination, the more peace, the more power, the more protection, the more perseverance.

We have.

That's why you want to fill her up.

Don't let it get down to below a quarter of a tank, Ben.

Fill her up.

Amen.

I almost had to eat my words.

I almost gave out a guest the other day.

And all I could think about, oh Ben, he is gonna let I'll never live this down.

What's this?

So, the power of spiritual discernment, the process, and then the parameters.

And then the second thing, the second dimension is spiritual dependence.

Look at 2 Timothy 1.7.

Illumination, the power of the Holy Spirit gives us, not only does it give us spiritual discernment, it gives us spiritual dependence.

God's not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and a love and of a sound mind.

You know what?

We need to be praying for Granny back there.

Granny, I was just debating whether to say anything, but I feel like I need to, because I want everybody praying for you.

But I want you to know how you encouraged me the other day.

Rick and I visited, but Granny had a strict tumor in her lungs.

It's been growing.

Came back, it is cancerous.

They're gonna try to do some radiation to help stop it, but they tried to tell her that they don't know if it'll stop it very much at all.

She sat there and we talked for an hour.

And I just saw the peace of God on Granny.

Now it's not that she's not concerned and thoughts run through your mind, and Satan's, but let me tell you, when Satan starts trying to make you think the wrong thoughts, if you've got the Holy Spirit of God living in you and you are filled with the Spirit of God in you, when that starts happening, the Lord says, but remember, hey, I've told you I'm not gonna leave you helpless.

I'm here with you.

I'm gonna take care of you.

I'm gonna see you through this, regardless of what the end is.

And by the way, the end's not too bad.

Come on, you can get to be with me.

I'm still up for that.

Now, selfishly, we don't want any of our loved ones to die.

We don't want to die ourselves, but I got news for you.

For the love of the Lord and the Holy Spirit's living in here, you ain't gonna die anyway.

To be to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5 and 8.

I am the resurrection alive.

He that believeth in me don't even do it.

You ain't shall be living who's never liveth and believeth in him shall never die.

Believeth how this either that book's true or it's not, and if it's not true, let's all just go jump in the lake.

Hello?

You with me, church?

I believe that.

I had my little baby born dead in my arms, and my wife died in my arms.

I believe that.

And the only way that I went through that is through the power of the Holy Spirit of a living God that's real.

You got a choice.

You can get better and blame God, or you can get better and be a testimony for God.

It's your choice.

Bless God, I'm good.

How can you threaten me with heaven?

Hello.

Next time the doctor says I got bad news, you turn around and say, Oh, I got good news.

You may have bad news, I got good news.

Amen.

Spiritual dependence.

And then the last thing spiritual direction.

That's good.

Romans 8, 14, for as many as led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

One of the marks of a Christian is that we are led by God's Spirit.

How does the Spirit lead us?

Several things are important.

Number one, obviously, the Word of God is the central way He leads us.

Give you three things and I'm through.

The Word of God is the, I know this is not on there.

God gives me so much.

See, I have this outline done by Tuesday, and then I keep studying, and I get more and more and more.

I'm sorry.

No, I'm not apologizing.

Because I could preach another hour, but I'm hungry.

And I know the sounds are they're hungry too.

Now watch.

Obviously, the word of God is central.

It's the most objective element of guidance of the Spirit that the Spirit uses.

But in addition to the Word, there's a second thing, it's our conscience.

Put your conscience down.

Romans 9:1, listen to what it says.

Romans 9:1

I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying.

My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit.

Can I tell you something?

I am I am totally convinced after 35 years of serving, studying, and walking and dealing with every opposite.

Anyway, as a Christian, here it is.

You ready?

You know the moment you mess up and do something, wrong thought, wrong action, doesn't matter.

You know it.

I didn't mean to.

Yes, you did.

You chose to.

Hello?

Because see, you had an opportunity to not do it, or God's word would be a lie.

There hath no temptation.

You know it?

Quote it with me.

There has no temptation taking you, but such as, oh, I don't like this part, but such as is common to all.

Hello.

But God.

There has no temptation taking you, but it's common to all.

But God has set an exit sign to deliver you from all temptation if you're willing to choose to walk out that door instead of walking into the wrong door.

The Lord shall deliver the godly out of temptation.

1 Peter 2.

So, you know when you know that what you're not supposed to do?

Or you're sitting in a movie and something put, or you're listening to something, or you're watching something on TV, that little conscience.

Boop.

I gotta find my ducks.

I gotta, somebody drew me a two little ducks watching a TV set, and it said, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.

You try to watch something bad on TV with them little ducks watching.

Hello! That's what we're gonna do.

We're gonna get us some ducks and put that verse on there.

I'll set no wicked thing before my eyes, put it right in front of your TV or no, well excuse me, put it on our iPhones.

Amen.

That little duck.

That'd be a good screensaver, wouldn't it?

The little duck.

I set no wicked thing before my eyes.

Y'all laugh, it works.

Holy Spirit said, uh-huh, uh, uh-huh.

You go put a towel over the little duck.

I want you to watch what I'm about to watch.

Yeah, okay.

You think you can get it whether that can help yourself?

Then there's a third thing.

The word of God, our conscience, and then circumstances.

Proverbs 3, 5 and 6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him.

He'll direct your paths.

Mm-mm-mm.

See, when we ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds as we study the Word, we get spiritual direction.

When we say, God, illuminate our minds as we study, we get spiritual direction.

I wrote this down for me.

When we ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts, we get spiritual confidence to live our lives no matter what is going on.

And then when we ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate our paths, we get a sense of direction we would never have apart from him.

God's Holy Spirit wants to be the focal point of our lives as we study his word, as we try to discern what he wants us to do, and as we walk day by day as his creature in this world, here's what I'm telling you.

We need to know the Holy Spirit.

We need to trust in the Holy Spirit, and he will guide us, he will give us discernment, he will give us dependence, and he will give us direction.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day, and again, God bless you.