Conspiring with the Spirit Pt.1

Alrighty. So let's go to the teaching now.

Today and tomorrow's teaching is called Conspiring with the Spirit. Conspiring with the Holy Spirit. Conspiring with the Spirit.

And today we'll talk about conspiring with the Spirit in Heaven. Tomorrow we'll talk about how to conspire with the Spirit here on Earth.

So today we'll talk about conspiring with the Spirit in Heaven.

Yeah.

One way to define a revival is to define it as the overflow of the life of the Holy Spirit.

Overflow of the life of the Holy Spirit in you, then through you into the radius of your expanding influence.

That's one way to define a revival.

That a revival can be defined as the overflow of the life of the Holy Spirit, first in me and then through me into the radius of my influence.

I felt strongly that we should learn how to conspire with the Spirit of God.

And it operates on two levels. Conspire with Him in Heaven and conspire with Him on Earth.

And there's something sneaky about conspiring with the Holy Spirit. But it's a good sneaky.

It's like if you were planning something for the 17th of July and you weren't telling me, that would be a good sneaky.

Right? So you've got to look at it as something positive.

So I want to explore this and you'll be surprised. If you hear it correctly, it'll really help us.

And if you don't hear it correctly, it'll almost feel like we are saying things about the Holy Spirit that we shouldn't be saying.

So please hear it correctly. Let me just pray.

Father, what I believe you want us to know about the Holy Spirit is something that we might find hard to wrap our hearts and minds around.

Because we are so used to the traditional understanding of the Holy Spirit.

He's almost like the fourth tenor. Or in your case, the third tenor.

Where there's you, Father, and there's the Son. And it's almost like then there's the Holy Spirit.

He almost loses personhood.

Because we have such a traditional understanding of anything that has spirit attached to it that sometimes we don't understand the personhood of the Spirit of God.

Strangely enough, Holy Spirit, I'm coming to you and asking that you would help us understand you.

So that we can conspire with you for the things in heaven.

And then tomorrow we can talk about how to conspire with you for the things on earth.

So the reason I'm praying is so that you would open our understanding, open our hearts, open our eyes to grasp the few things that you want to tell us today.

Only you can make it happen where it settles inside, where it becomes practical and it's not just knowledge.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

So let me start with Romans 8 verse 11.

Romans 8:11

Romans chapter 8 verse 11. And it goes something like this. If I were to summarize it, it goes like this.

Romans 8:11

And this is why it is important that we begin to embrace the Holy Spirit in perhaps a way we have not yet or I haven't yet.

Romans 8 verse 11. And if you put all the different translations together, this is what it would say.

Romans 8:11

Since the alive and present Spirit, since the alive and present Spirit, since the alive and present Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, who raised Jesus from the dead,

now lives, moves and breathes in you, these are the things that should happen.

Since the alive and present Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead surely lives and moves and breathes in you.

One, I must experience life on God's terms.

I must experience life on God's terms.

Even, I must experience life on God's terms, even as I live in a body, even as I live in a body that experiences the limitations of the fall, experiences the limitations of the fall.

I think we should press into this. I'm so glad that, God willing, I have years left on Earth to kind of figure out all this, to learn to live it here on Earth before I die and go to Heaven.

I'm looking forward to what it would mean to experience life on God's terms. Jesus did this. He was in a limited body here on Earth.

No, don't turn the AC off. On. Just leave it off.

To experience life on God's terms, and that is to begin to live like Jesus in a physical body.

Sure, his body couldn't die, his body couldn't be diseased. He had a body that was not subject to the curse because he wasn't born through Adam's line.

But at the same time, what does it mean to experience life on God's terms, even though I live in a body that experiences the limitations of the fall?

What would it mean to think like Jesus, hear like Jesus, walk like Jesus, not take offense like Jesus?

We translated like Philip.

Cast out demons.

Be fully submitted to the Holy Spirit.

Be full of the Holy Spirit.

Heal the sick.

Cause withered hands to straighten out and be whole.

The lame to walk.

Helping the widow whose son died.

Helping my friends whose brother died.

What would it be to live on God's terms here on Earth?

What would it be to be an Enoch?

An Elisha, an Elijah, a Paul, a Peter.

What would it be to live an unprecedented life?

All because the alive and present resurrection Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead

is surely living, moving and breathing in me at this present moment.

I long to live an unprecedented life not for my sake, but for the sake of Tate, for the sake of Phoebe, for the sake of Sheldon, for the sake of Derek,

for the sake of those that are yet to come.

To completely change the way people see, taste, feel, understand Christ.

And this is something that God is asking this body to become, to step into, to exhibit.

Embrace it.

That's part of the revival that God wants to bring in us and then affect the globe.

Secondly, His being alive and present in me allows me to be aligned with the heart of the Father and the mind of the Son.

The alive and present Spirit of God who lives in this body that today has limitations of the fall imposed upon it,

that may be true, but I get to come into complete alignment, complete alignment.

There are moments in our lives, there are moments in my life where I'm in complete alignment with the heart of the Father and the mind of the Son.

They are fleeting moments perhaps, but at this age, after being a Christian for 30, 32 years,

yeah, there are moments when I'm completely aligned with the heart of the Father and the mind of Jesus Christ.

That should be expected of us, right?

And thirdly, His being, the Holy Spirit's being alive and present in me, now makes me, even though my body is going to die,

even though my body is going to die, even though my body is going to die.

Hey guys, only Christians can even frame a sentence like that, that even though my body is going to die,

because I ain't going to die, I've got eternal life.

Only Christians can frame a sentence like that, even though my body is going to die.

Even though my body is going to die, in this body, I am made as alive and active as Christ, as Christ.

This is an expectation I have when I'm tired, when I'm exhausted, when I've worked hard, when I'm spent physically, emotionally, spiritually.

This is an expectation that I have, that my mortal body can instantly be quickened by the Holy Spirit,

because it's one of His specialities, He begins to bring to great life and activity that which is spent.

And so even though this body is dying and I occupy this body presently, my body can be made alive and active as Christ.

This is a summation of Romans 8-11, if you draw it from different versions like the NLT, the Message, the NIV, the NIRV, the ESV, the TPT.

If you draw it all together, you would still get this.

So I'm not adding anything to it, I'm just taking different phrases from all these translations and putting them together for you.

Why are we talking about this? Because we want to conspire with the Holy Spirit, who is the one we are talking about right now.

Let's go back to what I said earlier. How do I live my life on God's terms?

How do I experience life on God's terms even though I live in a body that experiences the limitations of the fall? How do I do that?

How do I wrap my mind around the riches of God? Jesus wrapped His mind around the riches of God and by riches He didn't mean wealth.

He meant the riches of the splendor, the glory, the weight, the magnificence, the power, the laughter, the goodness of God.

Jesus wraps His head around that. How do I wrap my mind around the riches of God?

These are ways we live a life that experiences life on God's terms. How can I wrap my mind around the riches of God?

I made this statement a while ago, maybe on Wednesday or Thursday. What I have in my hand from God is not what I have in God.

What I have in my hand from God is not what I have in God.

We look at what God has given us and we are grateful for it, but we think to ourselves, this is what I have in my hand from God.

But what you have in your hand from God is really not what you have in God. Even if I were to take this object that I just picked up, the Bible.

What I have in my hand is from God, but this is not what I have in God. This is 66 books, a very limited version of an eternal, invisible, immortal, everlasting, infinite God.

The same with money, the same with anything you take. And the day we are able to grasp that will be the day that we will be unafraid in the area that we grasp it.

Selah. How do I plumb the depths of his wisdom? Living life on God's terms requires the ability to fathom his wisdom.

How do I plumb the depths of his wisdom? How do I wrap my mind around the riches of God?

Don't you need wisdom? Don't you need wisdom with your children? Don't you need wisdom at work? Don't you need wisdom with money?

Don't you need wisdom when you just speak to someone? Don't you need wisdom for simple decisions?

Don't you find that one of our greatest struggles, trying to get things right, do things correctly, lacking wisdom?

How do I plumb the depth of his wisdom? How do I wrap my mind around the riches of God? How do I participate in the wonder of his decisions?

How do I participate? How do I engage and then actually participate in the wonder of his decisions?

Some of the decisions that I've made with God are so wondrous that I don't even touch it in terms of wanting to take credit because I know it would be foolish.

It would be like saying, I ran a marathon. Not possible.

Why? I ran a half marathon. Not possible.

How do I participate in the wonder of his decisions? How do I search out his mysterious plans? How do I search out his mysterious plans?

To live life on God's terms is to search out his mysterious plans and then work with him on it.

To live life on God's terms. This is living life on God's terms.

You see why the church is unattractive, why Christianity is unattractive.

If we live a life that does not plumb the depth of his wisdom, if we live a life that doesn't wrap our minds around the riches of God,

if we live a life that does not know how to participate in decision making with him,

and if we live a life that does not search out his mysterious plans and then work with him on it,

then we cannot live life on God's terms.

Where am I getting all this from? This is from Romans 11.33, almost word for word from the passion translation.

These are not my questions.

One of the things we perhaps don't realize and we sometimes think,

Oh God brought me to this new level or God took me on this journey of faith or God showed me the way to the world.

We don't realize that.

We don't realize that.

We don't realize that.

We don't realize that.

We don't realize that.

We don't realize that.

We don't realize that.

We don monter first level or God took me on this journey of faith or God shared this wonderful secret with me.

We think, Okay, now I've got to wait another six months for this.

I'm saying to you that God is trying to talk you into something or the other every day.

God is trying to talk you into something or the other every day.

Man, with Saturday and Sunday now there's two teachings. I can hardly remember last week's teachings.

I don't know how I'm gonna catch up with this week's teachings.

And I'm thinking I'm really sorry about it, but I can't help it because he's always talking me into something or the other.

He's talking us into something or the other every day.

Every day he's talking us into something or the other.

It's like a really good friend, eh? Who's talking you into doing something or the other every day.

Hey, do you want to go biking today? No, thank you, Mae.

Hey, do you want to go do something else today?

It's this continuous thing that he talks you into.

So how do I do all this? The answer is, I'm not going to do it.

So how do I do all this? The answer is very simple.

God reveals all these things to me. God reveals all these things to me.

God reveals, engages, has me participate, discloses all these things to me through his.

I'm not even going to say through his. I'm going to say through the Holy Spirit or through the person of the Holy Spirit.

He is the Father Spirit. He is called the Spirit of Christ.

But today I'm going to refer to him as the person of the Holy Spirit, of the Holy Spirit,

simply because we have to, over today and tomorrow, see him as a separate person who we can conspire with in heaven and on earth.

God reveals these things to me by his Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2, 9-16. Let me just grab my phone.

1 Corinthians 2, 9-16. I read this verse many times when talking about hearing God.

1 Corinthians 2, 9-16, reading from the message.

That's why we have this scripture text. No one's ever seen or heard anything like this.

Never so much as imagined anything quite like it, what God has arranged for those who love him.

But you've seen and heard it because God, by his Spirit, has brought it all out into the open before you.

The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God and brings out what God planned all along.

Whoever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself, same with God,

except that he not only knows what he's thinking, but he lets us in on it.

God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he's giving us.

We don't have to rely on the world's guesses and opinions.

We didn't learn this by reading books or going to school. Hallelujah.

We learned it from God, who taught us person to person through Jesus,

and we are passing it on to you in the same first-hand, personal way.

The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit.

There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness.

Spirit can only be known by Spirit, God's Spirit, and our spirits in open communion.

Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing and can't be judged by unspiritual critics.

Isaiah's question, is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit? Anyone who knows what he's doing?

Has been answered. Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit. Brilliant.

Guys, the Holy Spirit alone knows what God is thinking.

The Holy Spirit alone, in the entire universe, there is only one who knows what God is thinking.

That's the Holy Spirit.

In the entire universe, there is only one who knows what the Father and the Son are thinking.

In the entire universe, there's only one who knows what the Father and the Son are thinking.

He alone knows what the Father and the Son are thinking.

And he searches it out for me. He searches it out for me and puts it into words.

He searches it out for me and puts it into words.

This is how the Bible that we presently read came to happen, came to pass.

In Hebrews 4.16, it says every word is inspired by the Holy Spirit. It didn't come through the musings of men.

But the thing is, we think that's it, no further.

Jesus didn't say that he would just interpret what Jesus said.

Jesus did say yes, that he will make clear what I have said.

But then Jesus goes one step further and he says, and he will also guide you into all truth.

Because at present, if I told you things, you wouldn't be able to bear it.

But he will guide you into all truth.

We see the Holy Spirit. Church sees the Holy Spirit.

Pastors see the Holy Spirit.

Bible colleges definitely see the Holy Spirit as just an interpreter of this.

So he is better than most Greek and Hebrew scholars that read it.

Really? That's all he is?

He alone knows what God is thinking. He searches it out for me.

He searches it out for me.

He searches it out for each of us.

He searches it out for us as a church.

He tailors it. He tailors it.

Conspire with him.

He's got this thing for, okay, Jacob needs to know this because at present he is a pastor of this church

and this is what God wants him to do, okay.

So let me search out things from God's mind for Jacob so that I can tell him.

And let me first search it out and then put it into words that Jacob will understand a certain way.

If I put it in Greek or Hebrew, he wouldn't have a clue because he didn't attend those classes.

So he paid for them.

Sorry.

So he's not just Jesus' interpreter but he's also Jesus' successor.

We don't see him like that.

I regret not seeing him like this earlier.

I regret not seeing him like this earlier.

He's not just Jesus' interpreter, interpreting what Jesus said, but he's Jesus' successor.

We'll talk about that more here.

Jesus' successor who will continue Jesus' revelations.

That he'll bring you into all truth.

And just like that, he's also Jesus' successor.

That he'll bring you into all truth.

And just like Jesus didn't speak on his own but only spoke what he heard and we hear Jesus saying that in John 5,

I only say what I hear my father saying.

Apart from my father I can do nothing, I only say what I hear my father saying.

And in John 16 the same thing is applied to the Spirit.

This is where the triune God is so beautiful in their relationality.

Where now it is the same thing that applies to the Holy Spirit.

Where just like Jesus didn't speak on his own but what he heard, the Holy Spirit speaks to me what he hears.

John 16 talks about it.

That the Holy Spirit will only say to you what he hears and he will take from what is mine and give it to you.

And then Jesus quickly says, I say that because all that belongs to the Father is mine.

That is why I say it.

There's such respect and relationship in the triune God.

Sometimes it's odd to say they respect each other because it makes it sound like we have three gods.

No, we have one god but they respect each other.

And they exalt each other.

At this present time in life the Father is pointing to the Son and the Holy Spirit is pointing to the Son.

Because he is a visible image of God.

By looking at him we understand who the Father is like.

As the Holy Spirit adores him and loves talking about him.

And the Father points towards him and has stepped back so that we may know what he looks like by looking at the Son.

And the Son meanwhile has taken center stage but it's only a matter of time before he points back to the Father.

And the Son and the Father are very protective about the Holy Spirit.

We'll briefly touch on that.

The thing is what the Holy Spirit speaks to me is what he hears.

And he hears whatever Jesus and the Father want to say to me, want to say to us.

He searches the depths of Jesus' mind for me.

He searches the depths of the Father's heart for me, for us.

Both individual and corporate.

Saying, hey Jacob I searched Jesus' mind.

This is what he has for you.

Conspire with the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is absolutely prophetic.

Jesus said of him in the famous John 16 chapter where he talks so much about the comforter or the paraclete or the advocate or the intercessor or the friend.

There's so many words or the helper.

He says of him that he will show you what is to come.

It is impossible for a church not to be prophetic.

It is shutting down a whole side of God.

It's absurd.

It's absurd to think that the Holy Spirit only has a couple of guys prophesy occasionally.

Now you can see why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14 that I wish that all of you would prophesy.

He is absolutely prophetic.

He predicts the things to come.

This is his department.

Here's a sentence I want us to think about because this is perhaps the crux of the Bible.

This is the crux of what I was praying for before we began this teaching.

The Holy Spirit is my advantage in heaven.

The Holy Spirit is my advantage in heaven.

The Holy Spirit is my advantage in heaven.

Has Jane left?

The Holy Spirit is my advantage in heaven.

As in even though he is part of the Godhead, he plays on my team.

So imagine that you are on an ice rink and suddenly some guys from the Maple Leafs turn up and they start playing against your team.

They are the taxi squad of the Maple Leafs, the extra players, but they are better than us.

So they start playing and then you think to yourself, man, what are we going to do because these guys are NHL level players and they have skills.

Ours is just a beer league team called Run Baby Run or something.

So you think to yourself, how are we going to go up against these Maple Leaf extras?

Then one of your teammates just goes and says, wait, and he comes back and he comes back with Crosby and Conor McDavid.

I hope you know your hockey. If you don't, we'll have to reconsider your membership.

So they come back with Crosby and Conor McDavid and now suddenly these are guys who are supposed to be brothers in the NHL,

but now that they are on your team, you have a distinct advantage.

That's a very poor example of what I'm trying to say, but here's the gist of it.

The Holy Spirit is my advantage in heaven in the sense that even though he is the third person in the Godhead,

he plays on my team, even though he is God, he conspires with me to win and he exposes what he knows of the Father and the Son to my advantage.

It's like having someone on the inside who is actually on your team.

This is the part where if you don't listen to this with ears that are trying to understand, you will think I'm being heretical and I'm not.

You don't know how much the Spirit of God dotes over me and over you.

We catch a glimpse of it in James 3 or 4 where it says the Spirit of God yearns over you jealously.

He wants you to win.

When the Father conceals things that I am trying to search out, the Holy Spirit comes and reveals them behind the Father's deliberately turned back.

It's like when mums know the kid wants to steal a cookie and it's wrong to steal a cookie and the mum turns around so you can steal the cookie.

It's literally like that.

Where you're trying to search out a matter, you're trying to find an answer.

And it is the glory of God to conceal it so that you press in.

And as you're pressing in the Holy Spirit who loves coming and exposing the knowledge of the Father and the Son to you,

while the Father's back is turned, he comes and tells you what the Father is up to and what the Son wants you to do.

Even though he is part of the God that he plays on your team, he conspires with you to win.

He helps you argue.

He helps you argue and figure things out.

In Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 3, if you read it from the NIRV,

Habakkuk 2:3

Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 3,

Habakkuk 2:3

Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 3,

Habakkuk 2:3

Oh, verse 1, I'm not too sure.

Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 1, reading from the NIRV,

Habakkuk 2:1

I will go up to the lookout tower.

I will station myself on the city wall.

I'll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me.

Then I'll try to figure out how to answer him.

It's that last part that the Holy Spirit gets involved.

Where he'll help you argue with God with regard to Sodom.

He will help you figure out how to answer God.

He'll help you become the Syrophoenician woman who knows how to retort.

Where Jesus says, you won't even get the crumbs off the table.

Conspire with him.

He's super wise.

He engages you in the games that the Father wants you to play.

Another cool thing that the Holy Spirit does,

I pray God that you take it to heart.

You know, you should consider the times of worship

that may be unusually difficult on live stream during times of COVID.

You should take heart and use these times

as times to train your ability and sense of worship.

Because if you can train yourself to worship with live stream,

imagine what's going to happen when we come together as a corporate body.

Imagine what can break loose, break through, what can open up, what we can see.

You can sit alone at home.

And my God, don't we do that with very good singers

where we listen to a CD or listen to something on your iPhone.

And what happens? You begin to worship.

The only difference is, I'm not Matt Redmond.

And Jane is not Tasha Cobbs or Carrie Jobbs or stuff like that.

And Emily is not Darlene Sheck.

We don't even dress like them.

Please, maybe if we dressed like them, we would sound like them.

The Holy Spirit shows me the majesty of God in worship

so that I'll move into the correct position before God's throne.

Please hear me.

The Holy Spirit during worship shows me glimpses of the majesty of God

so that I quickly position myself correctly before the throne

to catch who He wants to be, to catch what He wants me to do,

and to catch how He wants me to pray.

One of the things that can happen during worship,

and I plead that you try this tomorrow,

is that the Holy Spirit will begin to show you the majesty of God in worship,

and it will allow you to move into the correct position before His throne

to catch what He wants to do, who He wants to be, and how He wants you to pray.

And all these things that I'm saying are basically the role of the intercessor

or the advocate that Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be in Romans 8, 26 and 27.

He not only searches God's heart, in Romans 8 it says,

after He searches God's heart and conveys to me what the Father and Son are thinking,

He then searches my heart and conveys to God what I really want.

Now what I really want in my spirit is exactly what God wants,

because my spirit and His spirit have become one.

This kind of agreement you will not find on the earth.

Go read Romans 8, 26 and 27.

When you begin to conspire with the Spirit, you begin to agree with God,

and can two walk together except they be agreed,

but if they agree concerning anything, touching anything that God desires, wills,

then who can stop the goodness of God given that it comes with tremendous power.

Romans 8, 26 and 27.

Ah man, some of these messages you and I both have to go and listen to again.

Romans 8, 26 and 27.

In the same way the Holy Spirit helps us when we are weak.

We don't know what we should pray for, but the Spirit Himself prays for us.

He prays with groans too deep for words.

Now look at the next one.

God who looks into our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,

and the Spirit prays for God's people as God wants Him to pray.

Brilliant! As in on one hand the Holy Spirit searches the mind of Christ so that He can convey it to me,

and then He searches my heart and conveys to God that this is what Jacob desires.

Jacob and you will have come together because I have been working on it.

The Holy Spirit is my advantage in heaven.

He plays on my team.

He wants me to win.

He wants me to know the mind of Christ.

He wants me to know the heart of the Father.

When God tries to conceal something so that He can see me pressing in to get it,

the Holy Spirit quickly comes and reveals it to me in words that I understand

while the Father's back is turned deliberately.

The Holy Spirit helps me argue, helps me contend.

When Jesus says come and contend, the Holy Spirit helps me contend.

The Holy Spirit helps me figure out a response to God.

The Holy Spirit helps me pray correctly.

The Holy Spirit searches the mind of God and tells me how to pray.

And then He searches my mind knowing that I don't even have enough words to pray,

and if I prayed in tongues I wouldn't understand it anyways.

And He represents me.

He is my advocate.

He represents me.

He is my advocate.

He is my advocate here on earth.

He is my advocate in heaven.

He is my advocate from God to me.

He is my advocate from me to God.

He helps me during times of worship where He'll show me the majesty of God.

He'll show me the different facets of God.

And once I catch the facet of God that God is trying to reveal,

I now am able to move into position to see God the way He wants to be seen

so that I'll know what He wants to do

and so that I'll be able to pray the way He wants me to pray.

It's like finding the best seat in a big hall

because you know there's a particular magic trick or a performance

that you can get the full blast off only if you sit in a certain place.

And once you see it happening you understand the scene entirely.

Sit anywhere else, even in the best seats, and you will not get it.

I remember once God positioning me and some of my friends at the show in called Kavalia,

which is the horse show,

and he had me sit on a seat that I don't know why I picked.

I was trying to pick seats online and I felt pick these three seats and I picked those seats.

They weren't the most expensive seats.

They weren't the best seats in the house.

But I picked those three seats.

And those three seats had, I found out, two distinct advantages.

One, it gave you a full view when the horses would come running from both sides.

You could see them coming.

Any other place you can see them when they come in front.

Where we sat, you could see them coming from the sides.

And you could see the strength of these horses galloping right through.

You could have water splash on you as they came.

That was one advantage.

The second advantage was those seats where I sat, right behind me was a man.

And before the show began, I said hello to him.

And he turns around to me and says, I own this show.

And I turned to him and I said, yeah, right.

Why?

Because if he owned the show, surely he must be sitting in better seats than the seats that I booked.

And he said, no, really, I own this show.

The guy actually created the show.

He owned the show.

He used to be with Sir Gdi Sole.

And then he started this show.

Started chatting to him.

Prophecyed on him.

Wrote down the prophetic word.

Gave it to him.

He was so impacted that he now took us on a VIP tour of the horses of the performers.

That would have cost hundreds.

Was given free because of the prophetic word he received.

His son got in touch with me later.

Asking me more about the prophetic word.

Was able to tell him what Jesus could do.

Why?

Because you got the seat in the house that would bring to you a glimpse of what must happen.

Let's draw that into worship.

Worship if you actually engage into it with your spirit.

A hand, the eyes of your spirit open.

I plead with you, use this time.

I know you're at a disadvantage.

But use this time.

Take your feet off the sofa.

Put your feet down.

Kneel when you have to bow.

Bow when you have to.

Stop chewing chips.

And engage.

And you will in difficult times like this, catch marvelous glimpses of God.

And it will help you position yourself so that you know what he wants to do.

How he wants to come to you.

And how you need to pray.

This is the work of the spirit of God.

Take advantage of it.

This is great training time for us.

When it comes to these corporate things that we now have to do alone with God.

Don't lament.

It will pass.

But before it passes, we must learn the skills.

Advocate, intercessor.

This is what he does.

I have an advantage in heaven.

I was so thrilled when I found this out.

That's why I call it conspiring with the Holy Spirit.

I suddenly realized that knowing the things of heaven is no longer difficult.

I got a partner in there who is part of the Godhead.

It's like having someone on the inside.

Where you know what's going to happen before it happens.

Before the rest of the earth knows you know.

It is literally the Holy Spirit saying, gosh, now that Jacob knows, shall I hide from him what I'm about to do?

Shall I hide from him what the Father is about to do?

He's been this way right from the beginning.

He's been this way, not in the New Testament, he's been this way right from the beginning.

There was a point where, maybe I'm taking this out of context so don't hold on to this one very tightly.

But there was a point in Genesis 6 where God actually says, I'm not going to allow my spirit to struggle with man anymore.

I'm going to limit his years to 120.

As in the Holy Spirit has always been interested in the inadvantaging man even when man has been destructive and evil.

He's got a compassionate heart.

Because he's compassionate, because he's always trying to advantage man made in the image of God,

the Father and the Son are very protective of him.

To the point where the Son says, you can blaspheme me but don't blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

I believe the Holy Spirit.

I know you've heard this line before that you have a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Most people attribute it to Jesus.

I would like to say to you that I believe it is the Holy Spirit that's being spoken of in Proverbs 18, verse 34b where it says,

You have a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

It is the Holy Spirit because he sticks closer than a brother.

Jesus could only stick to one or two or twelve.

He wasn't omnipresent.

He was very finite in that sense.

And so he had to say in John 16, it is to your advantage that I go away.

That's what we are talking about.

We have an advantage in heaven and we have an advantage on earth.

It is to your advantage that I go away.

Because if I go away, then I can't send.

Sure, Solomon or whoever wrote Proverbs 18 may not have known it at that time.

But I would say to you that it is the Holy Spirit who is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

Which is why I can grieve him.

Only a friend can betray a friend.

Michael Card wrote that song.

The reason the Holy Spirit can be grieved is because he sticks closer than a brother.

You know the three things that grieve the Holy Spirit are not a list of sins that I want to put on the board.

The three things that grieve the Holy Spirit are stubbornness, as in resistance.

Self-will, as in I will not do what you are asking.

Self-will, as in I will not do what you are asking.

And then the last one is strangely enough, self-respect.

Where you will not humble yourself.

You might say, but shouldn't we have self-respect?

Yes, you should have self-respect.

But the kind of self-respect that Jesus had.

But it didn't matter that he was trampled.

It didn't matter that he was wrong.

It didn't matter that he was offended.

It didn't matter that he was falsely accused.

He didn't fight for his dignity or vindication.

How do I explain blaspheming against the Holy Spirit?

In the context of what Jesus said, it would be in terms of apostasy where you say things that aren't...

Well, look at what happened with Jesus.

He was performing signs and they said he was performing them by Beelzebub.

So that is one clear instance where what was attributed to the Holy Spirit was then attributed to the devil.

And now there are multiple explanations for the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, including rejecting Jesus Christ and therefore rejecting the Spirit.

But I would just say I just want, because he's a friend, to treat him in ways that won't wound him.

He's not easily wounded.

He's not some kind of a plant that you touch and it withers away.

My God, we've gotten so stuck with him as a dove that we don't see him as Lord Sabaoth.

Lord Sabaoth is someone who's a warrior who rubs his hand with irresistible glee at the sight of a fight.

That Holy Spirit is not going to wither away and turn into, oh, you let me down, Jacob.

Nope. It is very hard to let the Holy Spirit down.

But he can be grieved because he's a friend.

A loyal friend can be grieved, but a loyal friend is a loyal friend because he stays through the grief.

Don't resist his grace because when you resist his grace, you restrict his anointing.

Don't resist his grace because when you resist his grace, you restrict his anointing and it diminishes you.

You're the temple of the Holy Spirit.

You turn into a shabby motel.

Don't resist his grace because resisting his grace restricts the anointing and diminishes you.

So let me conclude then by asking that would you like to befriend the Holy Spirit?

You can't get more of him, but you can get more.

You can friend more even though you can't get more of him because all of him lives in you.

You can friend more of him.

Would you like to befriend the Holy Spirit?

And this is so scriptural.

If you read Paul's benedictions, at least in 2 Corinthians 13, I'm sure it was something that he used often.

What would he say? And we hear this in churches almost every Sunday.

Now let the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

as in the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit.

That's what is being said there.

Be with all of you.

I must understand that the Holy Spirit actually enjoys being with me

and that he likes seeing me and that this temple is not a prison for him.

There's not some kind of a temple where, ah shucks, Jesus washed him, now I'm stuck here.

No. This is something he enjoys.

He's happy to see me and he actually enjoys being with me.

And the more I begin to know him like this, the more he and I can team up.

There were times when my sister and I would team up on my dad

because it was the only way we could take advantage of him.

We learned early that united we stand, divided we don't get what we want.

And it's literally how this game is played where you team up with the Holy Spirit,

who is a person of the Godhead, but who plays on your team

and who advantages you in heaven, conspiring with you so that you may win

by exposing what he knows of the Father and the Son, searching out their mind,

revealing it to you with a full covert agreement of the Father and the Son.

Helping you argue, helping you figure things out so that you are in sync with him,

helping you come up with amazing retorts like the Syrophoenician woman.

This is the Holy Spirit that I want to know in a way that I haven't known.

This is why I'm glad that I'm alive.

I want to know this here on earth. In heaven everything will be known.

Would you miss out on the adventure of finding it out here?

Would you like this? Because I want people to say of me

that he is such great friends with the Holy Spirit.

The word paraclete means all those things, intercessor, advocate, helper, friend.

Let's just pray and maybe sing.

See him descending from heaven like a dove and a lighting on your fresh.

Actually guys, let it just be Sheldon because I don't know where I'm going.

I know that doesn't bother you anyways, but just to keep it on the low down

because I don't even know if he'll be singing.

Spirit of God, we want to be friends with you in a fresh new way.

Please help conspire with us to know how to get this done.

I want to be Jonathan to you, Holy Spirit.

We want to be Jonathan just like Jonathan was to David.

We want to be Jonathan to you.

We are Jonathan.

We are Jonathan.

Holy Spirit. We want to be Jonathan, just like Jonathan was to David. We want to be

Jonathan to you. I might have right to the throne because Saul is my father, but I put

that aside because I want you to be on the throne. Jonathan put everything aside so that

you, so that David could be on the throne. I want to be Jonathan to you.

There are no songs that say these things, Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, there's no song we can

sing that could capture this. I'm gonna pull out an old song, Holy Spirit, that's not even Christian.

I'm gonna sing the chorus to you. It's called, you're my, just find it guys, it's called,

the chorus is, you're my bread when I'm hungry. Yeah. Yeah. Okay guys, sing this. And as you sing

it, I pray God that the Holy Spirit would just fall on you afresh like he alighted on Jesus in

John 1.32, that he would descend from heaven like a dove. That would be one part of it. The second

part of it would be that you step into an intimate, waterfall-like cascading friendship

of the Holy Spirit. And that today will be the first day of our new friendship with the Spirit

God so that he can align us, our hearts to the Father and our minds to Jesus. That we take

advantage of the advantage we have in heaven. That we allow him to play on our team. This is

to the Father's delight and the Son's delight. We have an in in heaven, not just by the blood

of Christ. I wouldn't even say not just, but I would say we have an in by the blood of Christ

and through the Holy Spirit. That's too much of an echo. Yeah. Still.

You placed gold on my finger. I might change the words a little. You brought love like I never

know. You give life to your children, to your children. And to me a reason to go on. One more

time. You placed gold on my finger. You brought love like I never know. You give life to your

children. And to me an advantage to go on. Holy Spirit, cause you're my bread when I'm hungry.

You're my shelter in trouble wind. You're my anchor in life's ocean. But most of all,

you're my best friend. Cause you're my bread when I'm hungry. You're my shelter from trouble wind.

And you're my anchor in life's ocean. But most of all, you're my best friend. When I need hope,

and inspiration. You're always strong when I'm tired and weak. And I could serve this whole world over.

You'd still be everything that I need. And I could serve the whole world over. You'd still be everything that I need.

Cause you're my bread when I'm hungry. You're my shelter from trouble wind. You're my anchor in life's ocean.

But most of all, you're my best friend. One last time. Cause you're my bread when I'm hungry. And you're my shelter from trouble wind.

And you're my anchor in life's ocean. But most of all, you're my best friend. And you're my anchor in life's ocean.

But most of all, you're my best friend. You're my anchor in life's ocean. But most of all, you're my best friend.

Holy Spirit, you have already decided that I'm your best friend. Now I have to learn how to be your best friend.

So that we can partner together. So that God would be advantaged. Because the alive and present Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, now lives and moves and breathes in me.

Making alive and active my life in this body that is dying. Letting me experience life on God's terms even though I experience the limitations of a fallen world.

Aligning my heart with the Father's heart. And my mind with Christ's mind as I walk here on earth.

I signed this partnership today with the Holy Spirit. I sign it with all that I can muster in my heart. I want to learn this.

I want to write an extra line on my gravestone that he was great friends with the Holy Spirit.

I want that line too. But it must be seen before it can be written on my gravestone.

So let me live a little longer. Like really long so that they can write that. How about that Holy Spirit?

Looking forward to tomorrow. Conspiring with the Spirit here on earth.

Bless you guys.

Thank you.