Fire on The Altar (Sunday Service) - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (April 12, 2026) | Life Bible Church

Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We

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see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now,

enjoy this week's message. presence of the Lord

incredible in the water baptism tank, just watching.

The beauty is, you know, some people know more

of the story. Many of us know just the fact of

what it means to really decide to follow Jesus.

And it does. There's a cost. You know, I think

that's one of the great things that we can take

away this morning in the The joy of the Lord

that comes to watch people count the cost and

say, I'm going to follow Christ. Those that have

walked away and then come back, recognize what

they've missed. And to be able to say, God, remove

from me the trespasses, remove the time I hardened

my will, bring me back into the fellowship. Listen,

there's a cost to following Jesus. Those that

are following on screen and watching the internet,

There's a cost. It's not just about pray a prayer

and then have no faith and obedience to walk

with the Spirit of God. It's about choosing to

follow him. Jesus spent most in every gospel,

spent significant amount of time talking about

making sure you understand what it means to follow

the Lord, what it means to confess him before

men. what it means to take up your cross. And

you know what that is? You know what your cross

is? Your cross is your will. That's what it is.

Where God is willingly can cross your will. And

just like Jesus, pray, thy kingdom come, thy

will be done. And it's personal in me. As you

live inside of me. That's my cross. Am I willing.

To allow him to cross me. At every level. When

my will is not in alignment with him. Amen. Come

on turn to somebody and say. Come on follow him.

Come on follow him. It's worth. It's worth it.

It's worth it. It's worth it. Pastor Jenny is

going to stay. And just play for me a little

bit this morning. I want to. shift gears from

some of our multifaceted series that we've been

talking about, the Something More Church, and

I want to stay in the theme of what we dealt

with last night. I prayed about it all through

the night. I woke up at different times and came

this morning, met with the staff, prayed with

the staff and the team, and I just felt like

I want to stay in the theme. We had a special

fire on the altar service last night. Simply

that for us means what? Fire on the altar means

what? It's a place of sacrifice. It's a place

of commitment. It's a place of every time you

look in the scriptures, God did nothing without

bringing fire and that passion to ignite the

sacrifice. The New Testament talks about that

we... willingly present our bodies as a living

sacrifice, holy and acceptable. The fire comes

from his presence. Jesus said in Matthew 3 and

in Luke 3, he said, I have a baptism that I desire

to baptize with. It's a baptism of what? Fire.

So that's who he is. The Holy Spirit is And there's

many things. I think I counted 15. I won't go

through all 15 today. There's a few, but there's

many symbols that the Holy Spirit is used all

through the scripture. One of them being the

main one being oil and the other one being fire.

And then the third most popular is out of your

belly shall flow rivers of living water. That's

The imagery that Jesus uses, the oil of the spirit,

the fire of God always showing up. God's first

encounter with his people after he brought them

out of the house of bondage in Egypt, after he

put the blood and had them spread the blood of

the lamb on the doorpost, the next encounter

they had after a few wanderings and getting some

water is he would come down on the mountain with

fire. 50 days, 50 days from Egypt, he visited

the mountain with fire and he spoke to them.

Out of what the Bible says, the mountain looked

like a kiln. It was a furnace and fire and the

voice of the Lord spoke from the midst of the

fire. Moses encountered the one who did not burn

up as the holy living fire that called him into

ministry. We can go over and over and over. He

is the fire presence of the Lord. That's why

it says in Hebrews 12, our God is a consuming

fire. One of the key things that God always does

and his admonition to both the Old Testament

Levites and priests and represents for us, the

scripture is their responsibility was to what?

Always keep the fire going. In every priest and

every Levite, their assignment was to always

have a fire on the altar. Why? Because it's always

the place that represents what? The passion,

the motivation, and the place of sacrifice where

I encounter the Lord at every level. Never ever

should the hearth be cold. Never ever should

the place of encountering God. God get religiously

cold. It must have fresh wood. It must be stoked.

It must be maintained. And that's one of the

things that Jesus takes from the principle of

what he told all of his people that worked around

in and in his presence. He carries it all the

way over to the New Testament in the last day

church. And he says to this, I would that you

were either cold or you're hot. But to live a

life of lukewarmness, I will spew you out of

my mouth. Now, I didn't bring anything to spew

out on the front row today. Just so, you know,

because sometimes we have illustrations, so I

didn't decide not to do that. But the reality

is, what does, why would God say, I would spew

you out of my mouth? Now, we think of, especially

every parent in here has probably had an experience,

or maybe you've had an experience with your spouse.

I know Jenny has had plenty with me where all

of a sudden, coming back from nations, I get

food poison or a virus or something, and I don't

just spew quietly. She is amazing, quiet almost

in everything she does. I'll wake up in the morning.

I said, how's your night? Oh, terrible. I threw

up three times. I didn't even hear. If I throw

up, the neighbors call. My toes curl, hair pops

out in new places. I mean, it's just, you know,

I mean, there's something on the inside of why

is this forceful rejection? When Jesus said,

I will spew you out of my mouth, he didn't say

I'm spew you out of my stomach. He said, I spew

you out of my mouth. Why? Well, there's multiple

reasons of why that could be. One of it is tempered

water in that area and place isn't what you needed.

You either needed really cold water or you needed

hot water. But probably more than anything is

the mouth of God represents what? Now listen

to this. It's important. The mouth of God represents

where God speaks to you. Remember, Jesus said,

or John actually said of Jesus, in the beginning

was the word and the word was God and the word

was with God and the word came forth from God.

And the word became manifested in the flesh and

we held him, we touched him. Between Gospel of

John, that passage, and between 1 John, his little

book, the reality is he laid out who that word

is. The word came from the heart of the Father

and was the mouthpiece for everything that God

actually is. So when God speaks, when you begin

to look at that original understanding of Genesis,

and it says, and God said, it was thought, it

was determined, and the saying part was both

God and Christ the word. Christ the word formed

the world because he speaks the heart of the

father. Therefore, When the word himself says

to his own people, because you're lukewarm, because

you won't keep the fire on the altar, because

you won't stoke and let fire constantly burn,

I'll have to spew you out of my mouth. It was

a serious rebuke to the church. Why? Because

the word is where you hear. The word is what

brings you direction. The word is what he promises

to give you, to guide you and to keep you. And

when he says, I'll spew you out, he's saying,

I, if you don't change this in your life, you

don't know how you are. See, Jesus was dealing

with a Laodicean culture. They were wealthy.

They saw themselves as having everything that

they needed. There was nothing. And it's a little

bit like our culture today, not a little, a lot

like our culture today, especially in Western

culture. For the majority in this room, fact

is 80%, maybe 90 % of us in this room, it's probably

even higher than that. Compared to the rest of

the populations of the world, we are considered

the wealthiest of wealthy people. Now you would

say in here, We're working two jobs. We got house

payment, car payment. What are you talking about

wealthy? In our culture, many of us aren't. But

compared to the rest of the world, we live on

a scale and means that is beyond. They can't

even fathom having money to tip. That money that

we would tip would represent money that they

would just. be living to eat. That's where the

majority of the world is. And so when Jesus was

saying to the Laodiceans in that last day, seventh

church in the book of Revelation chapter three,

he goes, you see yourselves as having need of

nothing. You're rich. You think you see, you

think you know. You think there's nothing that

can be added to you. Why? Because they began

to see themselves as satisfied in everything

else and the gospel and the fire for Jesus alone

had just become one of other fires. One of other

pursuits. Seek first the kingdom of God and his

righteousness had waned. Jesus just became one

of the things that made my life secure, and so

there's other things that made it secure. That

was the condemnation of Laodicea. And Jesus'

word is saying, unless you repent. I've got to

what? I've got to remove you from my mouth. I've

got to remove you from the place of revelation.

I got to move you from the place of now words.

I've got to remove you from a place of my personal

guidance. Why? Because you don't want it because

it's lost. It's become lukewarm in everything

else. So the scripture was either be hot or cold.

Now, listen, cold is not a good thing. Jesus

was, as he always did, he commended the unjust

steward, not because Jesus liked unjustness or

unrighteousness, but he commended them for if

they were going to be unjust, they actually went

in on all unjust. And so Jesus was actually saying

to the church, if you're going to be worldly,

then understand living a life Straddling is never

something I'm going to accept. I'll not accept

it. I'll remove the straddle. And I'll force

you to make a decision. And here's what I'm going

to tell you. Either get cold as though you'd

never been experienced hot or stay hot. That's

how you have to follow me. Now that doesn't mean

that there aren't seasons that we go through.

By the way, welcome to the house of God. There

are seasons like where we need, but the principle

is, am I living bringing wood to the fire? Is

there fire on my altar? Is there fire in my heart?

Is there fire that actually burns for the things

of God? And if there isn't, just like Jesus said

to the Laodiceans, he says, you think you have

need of nothing, but I want to tell you how I

see you. I see you as pretty pathetic. He actually

uses the word wretched. You know why he would

use that word? Because wretched is connected

to spew. When your stomach wretches, what does

it do? You see, I see you as wretched. poor,

naked, blind. That was an indictment that they

were 180 degrees off from what they thought the

Lord thought of them. I don't know about you

church, but that is a scary thought that I could

be, I'm going to say this carefully. I could

be thinking Portland was South and Eugene is

North. There's a big, well, there's not a huge

difference between Portland and Eugene, but there's

some, right? And the reality is to think I'm

going to Eugene when I'm heading north, only

to be arrested halfway there and go, you are

completely going the wrong way in your thought

process. That's why Jesus said, come, buy from

me, salve, that I can anoint your eyes. Why?

Because you're blind. You haven't been seeing

where your error is. And one of the reasons you're

not seeing what your error is, is that you've

not stoked the fires of the passion of knowing

him, living for him, and allowing him to consume

you. You doing all right? Now, this fire on the

altar, why? Because fire on the altar represents

something that's a big deal in our culture. It

represents that I'm prepared to give myself away.

When there's no fire on the altar, it means I'm

not thinking about giving myself away. I'm not

thinking about... willing to actually let more

of me go. I'm actually thinking about getting

more for me. That's what the culture of this

world does. Everything is about what? We have

to fight that. It's about self. It's about more.

It's about consuming myself. And what happens

when I do the consuming and live for self and

think about self, I back away from that principle

of staying. I'm to be in a place to be pulled

on and to give away for the sake of Christ as

my first love is him. I think probably more than

anything, if I'm just to be honest, moms can

probably feel this the most. A godly mom has

multiple areas of pulls. The husband, the kids,

the house, I'm not saying that the husband doesn't

do anything. Let's just hope for the best in

my analogy here, okay? Okay, in all that's there,

she's pulled what? Multiple directions and feels

like many times, all I have been doing is at

the beck and call of everybody else. I'm seeing

some ladies going, yes, yes. He's finally getting

it, yes. And the pulling. Jesus is actually saying

it's not the natural pulling of things, but spiritually,

what is a mom known for? A nurturer, a giver

of life. Jesus wants every single person, every

single person to recognize that as he is, he's

longing for us to pull on him. And he's longing

for us to be willing to be pulled from. Because

that's the nature of who he is. The moment we

begin to insulate ourselves from that, we begin

to wane in the personal fires. And then it becomes,

we can take it or leave it. And then we're only

reminded about the important things when somebody

else reminds us. not from the fact that the Holy

Spirit has personally reminded us and our relationship

has been that close. We begin to develop excuses.

We begin to develop justifications. We then allow

hurts and we allow expectations and we begin

to judge and we begin to... create all sorts

of caveats, and before we know it, we're walking

around like one ice cube in the center of an

ice cube tray surrounded by coldness rather than

actually surrounded by a warmth of hotness that

comes through passion. Fire on the altar simply,

what we did last night, in fact, how many were

here last night? Let me see your hands. Okay,

maybe about 15, 20%. Okay, great. I wanna talk

this morning in the time that I have left. I

wanna talk this morning about the person of the

Holy Spirit because he is the one who puts the

fire on the altar. Jesus couldn't speak that

way. Now listen, I've spent a lifetime. I know

I'm only gonna be 57 years old this. This summer,

I know I'm still a pup compared to some of the

others here. I'm walking among those that are

ancient of days in the congregation. I get that.

But the reality is for 40 some odd years, the

book of Revelation has been my passion. I'm in

it every week no matter what because I find that

all of the 66 books have its close and its closings,

its fulfillments, because it's still an active

book that's being taken place even now. And the

only way Jesus could speak to the Laodicean church

the way he did was to know that he had sent the

Holy Spirit to be the form of God and the God

representative to keep people's lives, the church

personally and the individuals of that church,

the ecclesia and the members of the ecclesia

stoked with passion. So he had to come because

what happened? They, now stay with me, they shunned.

You see, if you have lost the fire, you've shunned

the representative of God called the fire, which

is the Holy Spirit. Let me say that again. If

you've lost the passion, fire for God and for

the love of Jesus, you've lost your connection

with the Holy Spirit. Doesn't mean the Holy Spirit

has left you. You've just lost your personal

relationship time because he's the one who is

fire. And so when we speak about the Holy Spirit,

we have to because of our westernized thinking

and because of how many of us were raised, we

focused on God the Father and we focused on Jesus

the Son, but we have not appropriately honored

the third person of the Trinity who has been

sent by the Father and the Son to actually bring

the witness of his spirit, the fire, and the

graces to grow and stay in fervent fellowship

with him. And we have brought our faith and tried

to boil it down into a intellectual Christianity.

And I need you to understand something. intellectual

Christianity by itself is not biblical. It's

not biblical. Never has been. If you can think

you're self -saved, you're not saved. Right?

That doesn't mean you don't need to learn. That

doesn't mean that there isn't an education process

of getting to know God and studying the scripture.

Of course, all of that's relevant. But if you

can rationalize and think yourself and your faith

in your salvation is no bigger than your mind,

you've got the wrong gospel. Because the gospel

starts with something that is so profound and

so bigger than you. And you need someone that

could bridge the gap that could never be bridged

by your own righteous works or by our own righteous

thinking or by our own form of morality. You

were in desperate need. I was in desperate need

of someone that was so much larger, so unattainable

that God would have to send one of himself down

and bridge the gap for us. And if that same awe

and that same reality doesn't stay in your life,

you've distanced yourself from how incredible

God really is. And that's where we start. That

was my pre -introduction. So now let's move to

the introduction. Lord, I'm asking, don't. I

don't want another series on top of another series

right now. Okay, help me stay focused. Okay,

so who is the Holy Spirit? He's incredible. And

first of all, we have to start with the fact

the Holy Spirit is, are you ready for this? He's

a person. The Father is a person. The son is

a person and the spirit of God is a person. Now,

when I say the spirit of God is in person, I'm

not talking about the spirit of God is in the

flesh. Jesus was the word made flesh. He was

wrapped in flesh and blood as the only begotten

son of God and the son of man. He was what we

would call, he was the God man. When I say the

Holy Spirit is a person, I'm not saying that

he has flesh. He doesn't have flesh. He's the

Spirit. That's why he's called Holy Spirit. He's

not called Holy Man. Right? He's Holy Spirit.

But it means that he has all the personal characteristics

of personhood. And the scripture lays out his

personal characteristics. He's supposed to be

treated as a person, not just a thing. See, that's

the first clue that we've actually moved from

not having fire on the altar is that we've treated

Holy Spirit as a thing, as an it. We've treated

him as a what? Kind of an influence. Or we've

treated him as what? Kind of like your Milwaukee

power tool. He's always on the charger ready

to go. That's not who the Holy Spirit is. Holy

Spirit has what? Well, number one, he's a spirit

sent from God to work through us and in us to

allow God's holy work. and God's holy graces

to come in and bring what? Fruit through our

dedication to God through what Jesus Christ has

done. If we were talking about a plant or a tree,

the Holy Spirit would represent the sap in the

tree. He is the force of growth and sanctification.

He brings about and illuminates the truth of

God's word. Holy Spirit, always is working to

deal with vessels. See, here's our problem. Many

times those that have displayed the Holy Spirit,

display the Holy Spirit as though it's a power

tool to work for them. And that's the problem

that the Holy Spirit can be maligned. Why? Because

there is an anointing, there are gifts, there

are graces. there are aspects that the Holy Spirit

flows through that are totally biblical. And

once you get a gift, the Bible says, once you've

received a spiritual gift from God, that gift

is irrevocable. So it says the grace and gifts

of God are irrevocable. That means if you've

been filled with his spirit and you have a spiritual

gift, That gift is irrevocable. It does not mean

that God rescinds all of his gifts the minute

you sin. Irrevocable means you can still have

that gift and warp it and use it for your own

benefit. Use it under your own control. And what

we see many people do is they use the Holy Spirit

like that DeWalter, that Milwaukee Power. tool

and they use that grace gift for them and they

see the Holy Spirit as a tool for them to use

in their ministry under their control. And it

couldn't be 180 degrees opposite. Yes, the Holy

Spirit works through man. Yes, the Holy Spirit

works through woman. Yes, the Holy Spirit moves

in gifts and graces, but the core of it is that

we are the We are the vessel that the Holy Spirit

uses, not us using the Spirit. We're vessels

that God uses to partner. God gives glory for

his work. Holy Spirit brings glory to God through

his work in clay vessels called us. Holy Spirit

is sent to bring us the work of sanctification.

Holy Spirit is sent to enable us to partner with

him to do the work, advancement, and demonstrations

of the Father and the Son's kingdom. Holy Spirit

advances the will of the Father as he is part

of the Trinity. Now listen to me. He's sent to

build the church. This is why... Having a relationship

with the Holy Spirit is so radically important

and that you actually know the Spirit in his

guiding and in his truth. Why? Because he's the

agent that's building. He's right now on the

earth building the body of Christ, the bride

of Christ, and he's setting people into families.

Say this carefully because there's going to be

some zingers. I'm warning you in advance. Any

person that would set them sideways and say,

I only want the Father and the Son, I only want

with that Spirit just a little Jesus in me, and

sets them aside as the stone set aside for not

being built in a spiritual house to bring spiritual

sacrifice, connected to a spiritual family, connected

to a spiritual community, serving God, glorifying

God, is actually saying, I don't want fellowship

with you, Holy Spirit. That is the Bible truth.

It's the Bible truth. Holy Spirit is sent to

bring boldness, courage, so that you can be a

witness, not just verbally, but in demonstration

of what the fruits of the Spirit look like. See,

it isn't just... I'll come over here because

I'm related and he has to forgive me. It isn't

just dealing with the demoniac, right? It isn't

just dealing with the demon vexed person. It's

not just dealing with the manifestation of healing.

It's dealing with what? Patience, gentleness,

kindness, self -control. Love. You see, the fruits

of the Spirit, that's part of the witness. Yes,

healing the sick is part of the witness. Casting

out devils is part of the witness. But so is

the fruit of the Spirit. Come on. And how does

this work? The trials, the testings come what?

To what? Allow the Spirit of God in you. to change

you, not just in how you see yourself, but in

how others see you. When you're squeezed, let

me just come over here. My favorite sitting on

the aisle person to pick on. When you come over

here, when I, now listen, if all that God did

all the time was just gently, you know, God,

God is a great masseuse. There are times that

he just, it's so, he just touches our life gently.

There's other times. Yeah. Right. Sorry. Come

on. I thought it was a little harder down. Okay.

We'll work on that. Those abs. Back off. I'm,

I'm, I am, I am dough boy for a reason. Hallelujah.

All right. Now the, the, the reality is. Sometimes

the squeeze, right? So when you said that, when

you kind of said it, when you went, ah, it's

okay, you can do that. No, work with me on that.

You want me to, I want you to, an expression

of what happens when somebody squeezes you. There

we go. When that squeeze happens, the question

is what comes out of him? If the squeeze is,

ah, and he sounds like the Tasmanian devil. Okay,

that is not the spirit of God. That's why he's

called the Tasmanian devil. But if the squeeze

happens, okay, Asa. I had to pick between two

godly kings, David and Asa. All right. When the

squeeze happens, what comes out of him is, oh

God, I love you. Thank you that you're with me

in this trial or something like that. Thank you

that it's been difficult in this season. People

are like, oh brother, suck up. You're right.

No. Something's happening on the inside that

the Holy Spirit... Now, I'm not saying that David

is a devil, okay? So just let me just clarify

that. What I am saying is the difference here

between the two illustrations is when the squeeze

isn't pleasant and the squeeze feels... And there's

a push. And there's a... What comes out of you?

That's what the Holy Spirit is for. And why there

must be a fire. Why? Because that fire is what

changes the natural response into a spiritual

response. Let me say that again. It changes the

natural response into a spiritual response. So

the Holy Spirit is the divine person of the Godhead.

As part of the Trinity, he is one with the Father

in all things. He's God's divine person on the

earth right now. Listen to how Paul closes. You're

doing so good. Thank you. See, she's making it

sound mellow. And I need that from time to time.

Hallelujah. 2 Corinthians 13, 14. He's closing

his letter to the Corinthian church. And he says

it this way. He says, may the grace of the Lord

Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship

of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Notice what

he's saying to the church. You need the grace

of Jesus. You need the love of the Father. But

you better have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Why? He's the one that brings the fire. He's

the one that brings the warmth. Without him,

what happens? Without him, we become less than

what God paid for. Now we all, listen, we all

get a measure. Let me just explain this. We all

get a measure of the Holy Spirit when we get

born again. It's not like you get some Jesus

-sized Mattel doll that comes into your life

and lives here. You know, you just get to dress

Jesus up in his Sabbath rabbi clothing or, you

know, okay. No, no, you get a measure of the

Holy Spirit. A measure comes to you, a witness.

It's what the Bible calls, you've been guaranteed

or entrust. The guarantee or the seal of God

comes. But that doesn't mean that you're actually

filled or full or that you actually are having

a relationship with him. It means that the love

of God, because you said yes to his son, actually

gave you a measure of his spirit to seal you

for the day of redemption. But there is more

that God wants in you and from you. And his desire

is that you would be what? It's all through the

scriptures. But one of the keys is the... is

Romans 8, that those who are of God become the

sons of God, meaning what? They grow, they move

from the place of being led by the law as a tutor

to a place of what? Being led as mature sons

and daughters by the Spirit of God. Those who

are led by the Spirit are the sons and daughters

of the Spirit, meaning what? You have to grow

past. The initial deposit. And how do you grow

past? It's not that you grow out of. You grow

into more of him. And you get filled with more

of him. That's the whole point. Now the reason.

People don't like to talk about the Holy Spirit.

Is what does it do? It removes. Your control.

Holy Spirit. actually, the more close you get

to him, actually is more concerned about what

God thinks than you think. Right? I know that

sounds kind of weird putting it that way, but

his whole job is, he's God. He's the agent of

God on the earth. He thinks more about... Who

God is because he is God. He's holy. He's pure.

He's righteous. He's true. Holy Spirit. Can I

say it this way? Holy Spirit never makes a bad

decision. Holy Spirit never gives wrong counsel.

Holy Spirit never asks you to do something that

will somehow violate who he is. Thank you so

much. Have I told you today how much I love you?

All right. Come on. Holy Spirit will always bring

righteousness, peace, joy, and holiness. Why?

That's who he is. What he's not concerned about

is how you feel about it. Right? Now, he loves

you. He cares about you. But in the process of

growing you, just like you had to do with your

parents for the most of us, if your parents never

trained you, taught you, shaped you, corrected

you, they were actually, the Bible says they

were actually in sin. It's a sin just to let

your children grow up unhinged, doing their own

will. And it's a shame. The Bible actually says

that. An unruly child is a shame to their parents.

That's a good word, preacher. Keep on. The whole

principle of having authority is understanding

that the authority is meant in love to shape

and direct. for success and for blessing. And

so that others would be enhanced by that life,

not just a life lived for self. Why would God

as not our parents do that for us? The whole

goal would be to let Christ be formed in you.

And if you resist him on that part of your life,

guess what he does? He doesn't do. What the education

system does today. We'll just pass you on. No.

He stays right there. And you stay right there.

And you stay right there in your grade level

in God until you're willing to say yes. That's

why you can see 50 and 60 year olds not advancing

in God where they could actually be giving more

of their life away, being more of a blessing

to people, allowing people to pull on them, being

connected, cheering on the next generation. Why?

Because they're still stuck. Now, Adam, I'm not

referencing you, but if the shoe fits, wear it.

Okay, okay. They're stuck in what's in it for

me. What's in it for me? How come don't I get

it? How come this? Everything is a negative thing.

So what happens? Holy Spirit has to stay right

here and keep coming around the mountain, coming

around the mountain. The nature of the Holy Spirit

is to move us out of the place of our control

and into the place of yielding to his Holy Spirit.

Now listen, I'm gonna say something that's really,

really important. Biblically speaking, I have

so many scriptures here in the next 23 pages.

We're not gonna get to them today. But I am gonna

introduce this topic and we'll just see where

we go. Jesus help me. I need you to understand

that what I'm gonna say here is absolutely I

have scriptures to back this up and I'll try

to read a couple. But the Holy Spirit. is a gift

to us equal to the gift Jesus is to us. Now let

me say that again. Because if you were raised

in any form of classical, super strict evangelical

background like I was, you could hear that statement,

but you would weigh it in the heart and not weigh

it equally. You go, yeah, I know. Holy Spirit

is God. Holy Spirit's co -equal with the Father,

co -equal with the Son. But you would do what?

You would heavily weight Jesus and you would

lightweight Holy Spirit. What God is trying to

do in the earth, in his church, to prepare them

for what's coming. You need to hear me on what

I'm saying here in just these last few moments

before we move into some ministry. What God is

doing on the earth, the church is not prepared

for what's coming. The church means what? You

and I. The majority of the church now, the church

in the world is way more prepared for what's

coming than the church in Western culture. God

in his mercy is trying to get Western culture

to begin to embrace the role of the Holy Spirit,

which means what? The very first thing in prepping

the church for what is coming and how they have

to live and be is that you have to be willing

to submit your control. to the feet of Jesus

and embrace the Holy Spirit because he is the

counselor. He is the guide. He is the one that

the Bible says is actually, he's going to actually

bring and lead you in and through. And if he

is not in the center of your GPS system, you're

going to end up living like Laodicea, completely

opposite of where God wants you to be. He's a

gift like Jesus was. So much so, so much so that

Jesus said this, right? He said, it is better

that I go away. For if I don't go away, the helper

will not come. Now, many translations, let me

just, I'm going to skip ahead here because I

want to speak on the personhood, but I don't

have time. I want to speak about what Jesus says

about The Holy Spirit. Praise God. John 16, 7.

Reading from the New Living Translation, you

can read it from any translation, it says the

same thing. But in fact, Jesus, this is Jesus'

direct words to the disciples. But in fact, It

is best for you. Would you say that out loud

with me? In fact, it is best for you. That is

hard for us to believe. Because our thinking

in Western culture is it would be better if Jesus

was here. If you're honest with yourselves, that's

been ingrained. Oh, if we could just live like

the days when Jesus was here. He actually says

it's best. For God to say it's better or best

is the same. Let me just use the rationale. Is

the same rationale as when God said in the garden,

it was not good that man be alone, even though

he called everything good and he created a what?

Do you understand the analogy? Everything that

Jesus is doing now with his bride is about what

he did in the garden with Adam. Do you understand

that it was not just only about the fellowship

in Adam having with all of creation? No, that

was not. It was good, but it wasn't the best.

The best was what? there would be a helpmate

suitable, made like him in every dimension to

share everything. That same concept is now taken

over in the New Testament. Now we understand

that divinity is not being made like us. We're

being formed and made like Christ, but the principle

of the advocate and the helper is the same mindset

that was in the garden. We're just, we're the

ones that are being made as the helper. He's

the one that we're being joined to. It's the

Holy Spirit that is now sent to actually make

us that helper. So the better word for him, even

though he's called Spirit of Truth in the scriptures,

the counselor, the comforter, the helper, the

best word that describes him according To our

English language is what? He is the advocate.

The advocate represents all of it. Comforter,

truth, counselor, helper, and attorney. How many

know when you never really want an attorney until

you need an attorney? Now, if you're an attorney

in the room, God bless you. We need saved attorneys.

Okay. But the reality is what? An attorney in

our spiritual world, a spiritual attorney is

absolutely necessary because he's the counsel

that navigates you through the what? The legalities

of how sin tries to trip us up. He brings counsel

on how to apply the blood of Jesus Christ. He

brings counsel on where root issues have actually

manifested and you keep tripping and opening

doors. And he teaches you how to apply the truth

of God's word, which is fullness of grace and

truth over the broken law. Holy Spirit is the

best representative you could ever have. And

even though he has all things, searches all things,

knows all things, is God, he does what? For his

primary job, and then I'm going to stop here.

His primary job is to what? To fill you with

God's love. Because everything he brings from

God is all the nature of who God is. His primary

job is to do what? Fill you. Fill you with truth,

fill you with hope, fill you with faith, but

fill you with love, fill you with power, fill

you with strength. Everything that the Holy Spirit

does out of all that he does. And there is a

Bible written about what the Holy Spirit does.

His main job is to fill you with love. I've got

to just read this. This was. This is why the

apostle Paul wrote this. We pray it now as a

prayer, but he was writing it and praying it

and releasing it as doctrine into the Ephesian

church that soon his young son Timothy in the

faith, it wasn't that young by the time Timothy

got to pastor, but still relatively young, that

he would have inside of him as the key. He says,

for this reason. I bow my knees, Ephesians 3,

14 through 19. I bow my knees before the Father,

in whom every family in heaven and earth is named,

that according to the riches of the Father's

glory, he may grant you to be what? Strengthened

with power through his Spirit. Why do I want

a relationship with the Holy Spirit? Because

in order to navigate dark seasons, dark times,

and things that are coming on the earth that

God said would happen as the end of the age begins

to break on us in even greater fashion, what

we need is holy power, not self -power. Because

that's the system of the Antichrist. Antichrist

is always about man's ability, man's mind, man's

invention, and man's answer. Holy Spirit is always

about submitting to God's mind, God's mind, God's

answer, God's power. What else? So that Christ

may dwell in your hearts through faith and that

you be rooted and grounded in love. In love.

And that you may have the strength to comprehend

with all the saints. The strength to comprehend

with all the saints. You're strengthened with

power. your inner being in your inner being.

Notice it says, through power in your inner being.

Notice that it wasn't, I'm gonna give you power

in your outer being. No, the inner being is what?

The fruit of the spirit where the life of Christ

is in you is the essence of that which is the

fire of God on the inside. That you may have

the strength to comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth, length, height, depth. And

to what? Know the love of God that surpasses

knowledge. How does the love of God surpass knowledge?

Why? Because the only way you get the love of

God is to have fellowship with his spirit that

bypasses knowledge. You're to know God in your

mind, but your love for him is to surpass your

knowledge. Why? That is the essence of biblical

Christianity. And that means what? There has

to be fire on the altar. Why? That you may be,

are you ready? Filled with all the fullness of

God. How do I get filled? The only way I get

filled is I welcome the one who is the filler.

Jesus is in heaven. Jesus, the Bible says, is

now operating. Please hear me. He's operating

under what? He's now living under the eternal

order of king and priest. Means he's operating.

What it means is king of Salem, king of peace.

That's what that means. and king of righteousness.

That's what Melchizedek means. That means he's

in the eternal office of righteousness. And what

does he do? The Bible tells us in the whole book

of Hebrews, it's a great book if you haven't

read it, the whole book says what? He now lives

to intercede for you and me. His whole point

before the father is to what? Intercede on the

throne of grace. Because of his blood and because

of his work that he's gone before, he now is

able to answer and bring grace to every situation

where sin abounds, his grace much more abounds.

What has he released? He's released the same.

type. The father has released the same type of

gift that Jesus was in bringing the blood of

Christ and the grace of Christ. Now the father

releases when it says, I will send you another

helper or an advocate. That word another in the

Greek means what? All together the same. You

can't separate. If it's another, it's just like,

okay, I'm looking at one egg and I'm looking

at another egg. It's the same. thing, only it's

another. I can't call that egg, this egg, and

I can't call this egg, that egg, but they are

the same egg. That's the Holy Spirit. So he says,

I go to what? I go to send you the promise of

the father. What's the promise of the father?

The gift of the another. That is the very essence

of God. meant to distribute God instead of just

having limited relationship with one man in the

flesh, the God man. I now have made myself available

to everyone and Holy Spirit's job is to fill

people. Fill them with what? Love. Every gift,

every grace, every truth. Every truth is what?

If it's from God, it's love. That's why to say,

I don't want the things that God has given as

a gift in the Holy Spirit is to say as a Christian,

I don't want that form of Christianity. And I

don't want God to be God. That's a big deal.

Because literally, You may not like the way somebody

operates in a grace or a gift, but if it's biblical,

it's actually rooted in love and comes from God.

And when Paul says, I pray that you be filled

with the love of fullness to the love of God,

he's actually saying, you've got to get acquainted

now with the one who's the filler. Because he

brings everything from the Father and he fills

you. He'll surround you. For those that are watching,

this is my daughter. So just FYI. Just don't

pick out random women. All right. So he fills

you. He surrounds you. Not only does he come

around you, he does what? He wants to pour into

you. There you go. The nature. I mean, he gets

so close, it's almost like he's wearing you.

Right? The reality is that's what the filler

does. The filler comes to bring every aspect

of God and to fill you with the fullness of who

you are. That means grace and gifts and power

and sanctification and truth and light and love

and forgiveness. Oh, it just goes on and on.

To fill you to the full. The only person in the

Godhead that can do that is the Holy Spirit.

Why? All the others could, but they have chosen

to send Holy Spirit as the representative. And

embracing the Holy Spirit is embracing Father

and Son. Loving the Holy Spirit is embracing

Father, loving the Father, loving the Son. Now

here's what we're going to do. We're going to

just tell the pastor to shut up. Not everybody

at once. All right, here we go. And we're going

to open the altars in just a little bit. There's

not going to be a formal close to this service.

Like last night, I want to give people time to

wait in the presence of God and to allow the

Holy Spirit This is why we say come to the altar.

Why? What does the altar represent? The reason

there's fire on the altar is the altar represents

exchange. You never come to an altar thinking

that you're going to go back different. You come

to an altar knowing that there's something that's

going to be exchanged. My life for his. And whatever

he asks. for me coming to that altar experience,

I know that what he gives me is gonna be better

than what I let go of. And so that's what we're

gonna do here in just a little bit. We're gonna

pray for people to be filled. We're gonna, listen,

because the Bible over and over, I got 10 pages

of scriptures that talk about how God fills at

every aspect. He fills. Some need strength. Some

need courage. Some need faith. Some need grace.

Some need power. Some need what? A identity of

filling them with who he is and who they are.

That whole principle, we're going to open this

altar and say, this is about the... A place of

exchange this morning. The fire on the altar

is burning. Jesus says, I've come to baptize

you. John baptized in water. I baptize in fire.

I go to the Father to send the promise of the

Father, which is what? The Holy Spirit, the one

who is wind, the one who is fire, and the one

who is the oil that anoints everything. You can't

have any of those unless blood is first shed.

Meaning in the Old Testament, You couldn't put

oil on anything until blood was on it. Same thing

is true in the New Testament. You can't move

forward in the things of God unless you're saved

by the blood of Jesus Christ. And then he meant

to have every part of you touched under the anointing

oil and presence of God. So as we begin to do

this, Tiffany will come up in a little bit. I'm

going to give you this reminder. She'll give

you a reminder in just a few minutes. Don't forget

your children. Relieve. Hear the cry of Egypt

coming up. Let your children go. Okay? Go get

them if you want to come back into the service.

If you can keep them with you and somewhat contained,

you can do that so that you can enter in and

do that. We're going to stay here for at least

another 40 minutes from what we have right now.

The band is going to worship. We're going to

worship. If you need to go, I understand that.

But I'm saying for those that want that, I'm

going to have... Our prayer teams come now, if

you can. Could you stand with me, congregation?

I want to pray for us. If I could have our prayer

teams, that means elders, pastors, altar workers,

come. Just begin to line the very front. Thank

you, Jesus. I want to pray for us, inviting.

Lord Jesus, we come now. Lord, we've talked about

you. We've worshiped you. Lord, we've honored

you. We're now honoring you as the baptizer of

the Holy Spirit. You're the one, Lord, that said

it's better, it's best that I go that I could

send the advocate. Right now, this morning, we

thank you for the advocate. We thank you for

the helper. We thank you for the counselor. We

thank you for the spirit of truth, the one who

guides, the one who shepherds. In Jesus' name.

I need some more altar workers. Come on. AJ,

get them around here. You guys know who they

are. Find them out. In Jesus' name, Lord, we

welcome your presence. We welcome your holy presence.

And we ask now, as we honor God and as we worship

you, Holy Spirit, we welcome you in our hearts.

Come. As we come to the altar, come and bring

your filling. Bring your anointing. Bring your

graces even now. In Jesus' name, Lord, that your

people would encounter you. They would encounter

the one who loves them and who's sending them

a gift from heaven. We love you, Jesus, and we

bless you this morning. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen and amen. Thank you for taking the time

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