Growing in God's Spirit - Ps Gus Urban

Welcome to Logan City Christian Church Podcast,

where we bring God's Word to you weekly. We pray

what you hear will bring clarity to your situation

and open doors in your life. Enjoy the message.

And last week we were in Isaiah chapter 40, and

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

we're not going to turn there because I'm just

going to quickly go over it. We focused on verse

31, and it talks about, well, I'll read it. It

says, When it says that they shall run and not

be weary, do you know there's a grace and an

anointing? to continue on when we should fail

and fall. There are always times in our life

that we will come to a point where our own sufficiency

is not enough. Can I take it one step further

that those who are called Those who are living

for God have no strength within themselves to

live the Christian life. Now think about that

for a second. We are saved. Born again. We are

made a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old

things have passed away. Behold, all things have

become new. We have been given the gift of the

Holy Spirit. Baptized in the Holy Spirit, speaking

in other tongues. And that there is a power that

resides in us because of the Holy Spirit. And

now we see that in Acts, that when Philip went

down to Samaria, that they saw the miracles that

were done. And they all received the gospel.

But then later on, Peter and John came down and

they were all baptized in the Holy Spirit later.

And so we go through this journey in life where

we get saved and we get baptized with the Holy

Spirit. And not only are we a new creation, we're

a creation that has this energy, a power. Heaven

is inside of me. But as the journey continues,

the devil is always going to put roadblocks and

obstacles in the way and we'll go good and then

something will happen. And there comes a point

in every believer's life where my wisdom and

my strength is not enough. See, Jesus says in

John chapter 15, he says, I am the true vine

John 15 · chapter mention

and you are the branches. And he goes on to say

that every branch that abides in me, I will abide

in him. He goes later on to say that if you abide

in me, you will bear much fruit. Hallelujah.

Now, if the words of Jesus are true, which they

are, I'm not saying they're not, they're true,

that it takes us as a branch, so to speak, to

line up with the words of Jesus. That it takes

me as a Christian, that I am following, the word

of the Lord, I'm getting before him, and that

if I do that, I am coming before God not to tick

a religious box, but I'm coming to God saying,

Lord, I'm nothing but an empty vessel which you

have sanctified and cleaned, and I'm here to

be filled with your anointing for this life that

I am now living. And boy, I tell you what, church,

if I've ever come to this realisation of what

I've just said, it's been probably the last month

more than ever that my cry at home and my cry

at the prayer meetings is, Lord, I need you so

much in my life. God, what you have for me to

do is far greater than what I could ever imagine.

What I can do, what I can think, what I need

doesn't come from my surroundings or my resources.

It comes from heaven. And so when we read in

Isaiah chapter 40, but those who wait on the

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

Lord, not just attend church. Church attendance

is great. I believe it's a must for every believer.

Not to those who listen to sermons every day

of the week. Not to those that are seeking out

prophecies every day. Not to those that... Those

who wait on the Lord. Church, we need to be in

close fellowship with God. Have to. There's no

other way. When we had that move of God a few

months ago, as amazing as that was, The following

two weeks after that, I felt lost. Because one,

I knew that it was nothing that we had ever done

here. It wasn't man -made, it wasn't manufactured,

it was a sovereign move of God. And because I

knew it was sovereign, I was like, Lord, what

do I do now? Nothing beats being in your presence

like that. God, the way that the body of Christ

over the years has established how to run a church

service, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But God, what my heart desires is just for you

to take over. And so I felt lost. I remember

one prayer meeting two weeks later, after when

the Holy Spirit moved, the cry in my heart was

like, Lord, what do we do? I need your instruction.

I need to hear your voice. And he said, I want

to search every room of your heart. Now those

that have been at the prayer meetings, they've

heard this before. I want to search every room

of your heart. Open every door and allow me to

go in. Every room that has a shut door because

of shame. That Lord, don't go there. How about

we just leave that? And the second thing was,

he says, everything that I've told you to do

and you've sort of put on the shelf, I want you

to start addressing. And when I received this

revelation, this instruction from the Lord, it

brought life into my soul. Because I knew. that

when the Holy Spirit speaks so clearly, that

good things will come if we obey. Now this morning,

if you're here or watching online, and you've

been sitting on the fence for quite some time,

now is a great time to go all in for the Lord.

He's up to something. He's up to something good.

That there is a praying people here in this church.

The Holy Spirit is stirring. And he wants everybody

to be a partaker in the blessing, in the power

and in the mighty works that the Holy Spirit

is going to do. So the Holy Spirit said, I want

to search every room of your heart. Don't leave

anything undone. If you have to write a list

of everything that you're facing and everything

that's wrong and everything that might be not

right in the sight of the Lord, write it down.

Lord, here's my list. I've opened every door

of my heart to you. And then come diligently.

Come faithfully before the Lord. That as it says

in Isaiah, but those who wait upon the Lord shall

renew their strength. That there is an ability

for us to do what we can't in the natural. That

as we wait on God, it's coming, Lord, I'm coming.

I don't have the ability, but I'm here because

you do. That all I am is just this empty vessel

waiting for your power, for your presence, for

your glory to be in my life. That as we wait

on the Lord, we're coming to him knowing that

God is faithful. And because God is faithful,

we can come to him with a heart of faith, knowing

and expecting, God, you're going to move on my

behalf. God, you will move. Church, there is

nothing better in this world than having the

presence and power of God in our lives. Let me

tell you, if you're here and you're distracted

by the world, there's nothing better that the

world can give us. Nothing comes close. Everything

is just pretty lights and a false facade and

behind it all is death and darkness. That's all

the world has to offer. But in Christ there is

everything. Hallelujah. Praise God. Now Galatians

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. That's a pretty long intro. Galatians

Galatians 5:16

5 verse 16 says, I say then walk in the spirit

and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusts against the spirit and the

spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary

to one another, so that you do not do the things

that you wish. Can I just say, how many times

do we do the things that we don't wish to do?

You know the answer to that is walk in the Spirit.

God, I've got such a busy day, but the most important

part of my day is being with you. Walking in

the Spirit. Because it says, walk in the Spirit

and we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

That every door that we open in our heart and

things that we may struggle with. That when we

start abiding in Christ, when we start coming

before God, when we start waiting on the Lord,

when we come to that point in our life that I

am insufficient, I really don't have anything,

but God, your spirit in me. Oh Lord, church,

if we can come to that point of surrender, boy,

will we see things change. Chains will fall off.

Things that we've struggled with for years get

dealt with. And there is such freedom. Praise

God. Verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are

evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness,

lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,

jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions,

dissensions, heresies, envy, murders. drunkenness,

revelries, and of the like, and there's a lot

more. Of which I told you beforehand, just as

I told you in times past, that those who practice

such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now let me just clarify something here. When

it says that those who practice it is those who

choose... To do it and think it's okay. That

there is the intent of the heart is behind their

sin. If that makes sense. Where there are people

that are struggling, there is the grace of God,

absolutely. Where you could be here and, Lord,

my mouth gets me into trouble every second of

the day, but God, I know it's wrong and I'm coming

to you, that there would be a day where my tongue

is bridled. Or, Lord, what I watch is just horrific,

but God, I'm coming to you and I'm not making

excuses for my sin. But Lord, as I wait on you,

I need help. God, there is no excuse and I'm

coming before you with accountability. That is

different to what the scripture here is saying.

Now, moving on, verse 22 says, but the fruit

of the spirit, the fruit of what? The spirit.

Now, in verse 19 and verse 22, Apostle Paul is

bringing out here a difference in two types of

evidence, I guess you could say, that might be

in a person's life. There is the evidence, or

as he says, fruit of the flesh, the lust of the

flesh. But then he goes later on to say in verse

22 that there is a total opposite evidence in

someone's life for those who are connected and

walking in the Spirit. And so... When we are

walking in the spirit, it's not because we said,

sorry, Lord, and then said, God, I'm never going

to sin again. That doesn't work. How many of

us have said that and failed the next day? There's

three honest people in the house of God this

morning. But I've been there once. I've been

there a thousand times. And it is not by saying

sorry and in our mind thinking I'm never going

to do it again. Because the scripture says the

total opposite. Apostle Paul is giving us a beautiful

key to walk in victory. He's saying it's not

in our strength, but it's in the Spirit. Church,

for those of us here this morning, for those

of us online, that get before God and God, I

wait on you. That is the key for someone to walk

in the Spirit. For that person that waits on

God and has the Word of God out and is searching

the Scriptures because it is bread, it is life

to my very being. Oh, God is doing something

good in that person. I can guarantee you. That

that person that seeks God. that puts God before

the busyness of life, that understands that in

him alone is all the goodness and the fullness

of joy, that is a person that is walking in the

Spirit. I can recount the amount of times where...

And I'll give you one example where I was, in

my truck driving days, I used to listen to YouTube

like every, like truck driving's boring, gee

whiz. So I listened to YouTube, right? You'd

play a... I'd play sermons off of my phone, come

through the truck speakers, and there would be

moments where listening to great men of God preach

the word. And there's such an anointing in what

they're saying. And you feel the presence of

God in the cab of the truck, and it's amazing.

But I never got before God myself. And the mistake

I made was I always relied on these men of God

and their sermons to sort of pick me up. And

that anointing that I would feel, that sort of,

it was like leaving off two minute noodles, so

to speak. When if I just got before the presence

of God, he had a three course meal waiting for

me. And so church, our success. The secret to

spiritual success is connecting with God ourselves.

See, everything that we do in laziness never

really produces anything. Tell me one thing that

laziness has produced that's good in our lives.

Nothing. Jesus says, go and make disciples of

all nations. A disciplined one. One that hears

the teachings of the Lord. and does them. See,

James says, but be doers of the word and not

hearers only. See, I sat in the presence of God

in that truck, but I was just a hearer. Never

put anything into practice. And so I never really

had any results in my life. But church, the moment

I started getting before the Lord and God, you

are so precious to my life. God, you are my all

in all. Without you, I have nothing. My life

changed. When I could consistently get before

the Lord, I started bearing the fruit of the

Spirit and not the evidence of the flesh. Matthew

Matthew 6:5

chapter 6, verse 5 and 6 says this. And I just

want to really encourage you. I feel like what's

going to separate the church of Jesus Christ

from other churches is a praying church. A church

that actually knows the voice of the Lord. And

we have prayer meetings every Tuesday from 6pm,

every Thursday morning 9am, and every Thursday

night from 6 .30pm. And that's great. Please,

can I encourage you to come because they're powerful.

We are in the presence of God every meeting.

We have broken through and it's just amazing.

But to add on top of that, if we are only praying

on a Tuesday or a Thursday, that's sort of not

what Jesus is after. As good as it is, and corporate

prayer is amazing, But Jesus says, but you, when

you pray, go into your room and when you have

shut your door, pray to your Father who is in

the secret place. And your Father who sees in

secret will reward you openly. Church, what Jesus

said in Matthew chapter 6 goes hand in hand with

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Isaiah, that those who wait upon the Lord, those

who come into the secret place where God is,

Where God is. I sort of wonder and think, God,

you've always been waiting for me in the secret

place. How many beautiful moments have I missed

in my life because I was too busy or too lazy

or too distracted? Me, Pastor Gus. How many beautiful

moments have I missed? See, in the secret place,

it's a place where we get to know God and we

get to receive from God. Can I say that again?

We get to know God and we get to receive. from

God. John 17 .3 says this is eternal life, that

they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus

Christ whom you sent. It's amazing to be a preacher

or a musician or an evangelist or all these things,

but it means nothing if we don't know God. Coming

to church and being with each other and enjoying

each other's company, encouraging each other

is amazing. But the whole reason we gather together

is because we should know God. That is our corporate

bond. That's what brings us together, the spirit

of God in me and the spirit of God in you. That

we know God, we fellowship with God throughout

the week when we come through these doors that

that corporate anointing is so strong. Because

we know God. Amen. All of my breakthroughs. Let

me just say this and if I can grab your attention

for one sec. All of my breakthroughs in my life

have been because I met with God. And I kept

meeting with God and I didn't give up on meeting

with God until I got my breakthrough. Every single

time. Every revival that took place on the face

of the earth, from the book of Acts right till

to the very last ones, is people sought God.

They met with God. Nothing else. They didn't

write books. They didn't get degrees. They didn't

go to six different Bible colleges. Now all those

things are good. They didn't open a bookstore.

They didn't buy every book in the bookstore and

watch every sermon that's on YouTube. They didn't

listen to every prophecy that's out there. These

people knew God. And church, we are at a point

in our life we need to know our God. We have

to. There is no option. If you're lacking here

this morning in your prayer life, And you know

you're not where you should be with God. By the

grace of God, can I encourage you? God loves

you. His plan for you is amazing. And it doesn't

matter what's happened in the past. Today is

a new day in Jesus Christ. Can I encourage you?

Seek God. Get excited for God. Get excited for

what He wants to do in your life. And if you

come before Him, get before the Lord, wait on

the Lord, then the freshness of God will fill

you. Every bit of dead weight will be gone. Hallelujah.

Last scripture, Hebrews 4, verse 14. I love this

Hebrews 4:14

part of Hebrews. It always encourages me. Hebrews

Hebrews 4:14

chapter 4, verse 14, 15 and 16 says this. Seeing

then that we have a high priest. Who has passed

through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let

us hold fast our confession. Who's our high priest?

Jesus is our high priest. Hallelujah. So hold

on to that. Because 15 and 16 make sense because

Jesus is our high priest. So because Jesus, the

Son of God, is our high priest, let us hold fast.

Our confession. For we do not have a high priest,

which is Jesus, who cannot sympathize with our

weaknesses. Right? So he understands what we

go through. Was in all points tempted as we are,

yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly

to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy

and find grace to help in our time of need. Now.

Jesus, our high priest, right, understands what

we go through in life. So one, that encourages

me. That our life can be up and down and up and

down and up and down when we're good and then

something bad happens and we're down and all

that and we go good for a while, then we might

sin and then we get back up and then we're going

again and we might think, God, what's the point?

Do you even believe in me anymore? But Jesus,

our high priest, understands. Hallelujah. I praise

God for that. He is understanding. Yet he passed

the test. Because he passed the test, verse 16

says, The throne of what? Grace. Does that mean

we deserve to be there? No. But because of grace,

we can. Amen. And so it says, therefore, let

us come boldly to the throne of grace that we

may obtain mercy. Boy, do we need mercy and find

grace to help in our time of need. Church, if

you are looking for a fresh start this morning,

come boldly to the throne of grace. Thank you

for joining us. We pray God's richest blessing

on your life. If you haven't already, make sure

to join us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

You can also find us at LoganCityChristianChurch

.com. See you next week.