Be Filled with the Holy Spirit | Darren Rouanzoin

You're listening to GARDEN CHURCH Podcast. We're in a series called Church on Fire, a journey through the book of Acts. This is the story of ordinary people filled with the spirit carrying the presence of Jesus into every corner of the world. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and in us today. Join us as we step into the call to be people set on fire for his mission.

Costa Mesa, hello. I haven't been here in Huntington. It's like you missed one week and you missed a month, and I'm so grateful I was with you at the nine. Huntington, I've been talking about you glory gossiping to Costa Mesa that you actually have your Bibles. Can we...

When we... Can we just show Costa Mesa? Can we pan and just show the percentage of Bibles in the room? Well done youth. Let's go.

All of you win right now. I see you. I see. Come on Owen. Hey, we're gonna go to Acts 19.

So if you have a Bible, go to Acts 19. Last service was fire and I don't know what... How else to say it. Like Fire. It was fire.

And now I have to preach again. And so I wanna ask the Lord to do something else in this service. So Lord Jesus, as we open the word, let there be more fire. May your Holy Spirit anoint the words, the hearts, the people in Costa Mesa and Huntington and the overflow outside. I pray a wellspring of life would flow up today and transformed lives would be the result of the power of God and the presence of God with us in Jesus name.

Amen. Okay. We're in a six week mini series that's part of a year plus long series in the book of acts. So I hope you like the word of God. If not, you're gonna hate this church because we are all about the word of God.

And I started this series acts 19 really looking at the conditions of revival. There are six aspects that I see in acts 19 that set the kind of precedent for revival context. What are the conditions? And we looked at the first and I went... I started at the end.

We looked at how the church confessed and burned their idols. That was week one. That the beginning of this move of God has something to do with a church choosing repentance. A church choosing to say, I'm no longer going to worship Jesus with all these other gods and deities. I burn my...

The bridge back to my idolatry on the fire, and I give my full devotion to God. That if you study church history, there is repentance in the heart of the people of God. I'm not talking about outsiders. I'm talking about everyone that shows up every single week, who puts some money in the tithe box, who shows up to the bible study with women, who has a house church. Those people confess that the scrolls that represent the idolatry, the thing that gives you meaning significance and purpose outside of Jesus.

The thing that you keep there just in case Jesus doesn't show up. A reminder that you don't fully trust Jesus with this part of your life. You're like, no, I'm all in. That's how the church begins to move. I'm already, this is my intro.

I'm already out of 10. I don't know what's going to happen now. And then Bill preached that we have to have a vision for discipleship. That a church is not a consumer commodity. It's not a gathering of crowds.

It is a formed people into the image of Christ and we choose to devote ourselves to Christ and follow our lives. And the Romans, they loved religion. They used religion to woo and pursue and push the masses into their propaganda machines and follow along in their empire. And the problem is Christianity looked nothing like the religions of the time that Rome was used to it. They actually stole the branding of Caesar and said, Jesus is Lord, which was first used for Caesar.

When you take the branding of Caesar and say Jesus is Lord, when you say that as a confession, you're saying Caesar is not. And it was a threat to the empire because they operated as more like a philosophy in the first century because philosophies changed the way you think, changed the way you behave, changed the way you use your money. The Romans gave their money to nobody and their bodies to everyone. But Christians gave their money to everyone and their bodies to nobody. That's discipleship.

The third is what you have to see is the church is always formed by the word of God. Every revival in history has pointed back to discovering the thing that the church was supposed to be. They rediscover the word. We see this in the Old Testament. We see Josiah discover the scriptures.

It's read out loud. It brings about a reformation. We see in the fifteen hundreds, a monk who's scheduled to preach on the Psalms in Romans has access to the word, sees the book of Romans and gets convicted and starts a reformation. His name was Martin Luther. We see that the preface that that Martin Luther wrote on the book of Romans is read in a bible study in London two hundred years later, and John Wesley's heart is strangely warmed by the introduction to the book of Romans.

We see that the word of God catalyzes movements if you live it. And now we get to the next section of scripture where we base our understanding of what are the conditions for revival. If you have your Bibles, we're Acts 19 verse one. Shall we read? While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.

There he found some disciples and asked them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? They answered, no. We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. So Paul asked, then what baptism did you receive? John's baptism they replied.

Paul said John John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him that is in Jesus. On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about 12 men in all.

The word of the Lord. The fourth condition that's needed for revival is the church is filled with the Holy Spirit. The church must be full of the presence of God. Now let's not forget where we are. We are in Ephesus.

Ephesus, remember geography is theology. Ephesus is the second largest city in the Roman Empire. It is the richest, wealthiest, most influential city in the Roman Empire at the time that Paul lived. It was the epicenter for Artemis worship. Artemis worship was the most famous worship outside of Caesar at the time.

She had missionaries that went around the world planting 33 temples of Artemis cult worship from, Spain to Syria. A million people would flood to that city filled with 200,000 people once a year for a festival where they worship this goddess, the goddess of sex and sexuality and prosperity and wealth and fertility. And there was this massive party. That is the environment that 12 people begin a move of God. That two years later becomes a riot.

So impactful that the economy shifts because of the church. And it begins with 12 religious men filled with the spirit. Do you have an imagination for what's possible? Do you have a revitalized imagination for what God can do with a few? Because that's what acts is all about.

This isn't just history. This is a theological mission. If you follow Jesus, this isn't what happened one time. This is a model for what God can do anytime. The hardest ground that Paul faces is this context.

And I want to show you what what Paul's does. So I I got to give you some good theology and then we're gonna come back to the text. Is that all right? I'm asking permission once again. I don't need it.

I'm gonna do it. I love you guys. I don't know why I'm doing that. Alex said, stop doing that. My wife, she's like, don't do it anymore.

I think there's something significant about the order. This is the beginning of the story. The beginning of the story is the people of God 12 are filled with the Holy Spirit. Then the mission. So before the lecture hall, before the the the riot and the bonfire, before extraordinary miracles, first the spirit then the mission.

And if you remember that happened in the beginning of the story. So if you have your bible go to acts chapter one. Let's go to the beginning of acts. We're gonna look at a couple of passages together. 11 I know you're with me.

You're with me. I can I can feel I can feel it's it's bubbling up in your hearts? Is it not? You feel it's not just me that feels on fire. There's something else going.

It's I know it's a 100 degrees out there, but in your heart. Jesus says in in verse four, he he he's been with his disciples. He's, Oh, this is so good. Oh, I feel the presence of God. Thank you, Lord.

You're gonna set people free today. Oh, I love being a church, a local church pastor. I know so many of your stories and I pray for you so frequently. I'm not saying that I prayed. I was on my knees contending for what God would do at nine eleven in Costa Mesa in Huntington Beach today that God would do something that would mark you as a person that's longing in your heart for things to be different.

And there's so many in this room that have this lie that is straight from Satan. Things will always be the way they've always been. That's a lie. Behold, I make all things new he says. And today is that day.

That those strongholds, those concepts, those ideas, those ancient roots that's been given to you from generations before you are going to end today through the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. He's going to minister like he hasn't ministered today. I believe that. Because I I can feel his presence welling up inside of me. And I was talking to Ramin.

It started in pre service. He's like, man, that was the whole thing. I'm like, no. It started when we got here. The presence of God moved way before and it started yesterday for me and it started earlier this week.

I'm believing God's gonna begin to do what he's been longing to do from our in our community. And it starts today for some of you. Acts one verse four. This is Jesus. He's raised from the dead.

He's with his disciples for forty days. He talks about the kingdom of God. Then one time he gathers and it says after a good meal, because you can't really do anything meaningful without a good meal. My Darren translation says after the rib eye steak, he said, do not leave Jerusalem. I'm just kidding.

Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered around him. They're like, hey, is this the time you're gonna restore the kingdom to Israel? Are you gonna set up a literal physical kingdom like the Old Testament promise?

He said it's not for you to know the times of the dates the father has set by his own authority. Don't worry about it is what he says. It's literally what it means. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. Hear this.

Jesus has been with his disciples for three and a half years. He conquers death. He defeats Satan on the cross. He's raised from the dead and they're like, let's go. And he says, wait.

Wait for the promise, the gift that my father promised who is the Holy Spirit. Oh, please hear me on this. The Holy Spirit is not an it. The Holy Spirit is not a force. And as much as I would like it to be a force that you can wield, you know, he's not.

He is the person of God. And according to scripture, he can speak. The spirit teaches. The spirit guides. The spirit loves.

The spirit can be grieved and the spirit can be lied to and the spirit can be obeyed. According to the scriptures, he is the third member of the Trinity. And the gift that Jesus longs for us to wait to receive is His presence with us. He says in John chapter 14 would you go to John 14 I'm going to geek out for a moment. I love this verse.

John 14 · chapter mention

John chapter 14 I'll wait for you to go there. Acts go backwards go left. If you get to Mark, you went too far. Turn right. Acts 14, we're gonna look at verse 15.

John 14 · chapter mention

Jesus is talking about what's gonna happen after he goes. And in a long dialogue, he's talking about various things, but he speaks to the Holy Spirit. And look at what he says. And this really spoke to me today. Verse 15 of chapter 14.

If you love me, keep my commands. How do I know that you love Jesus? Costa Mesa. I thought so. You got it.

You keep his commands. Okay. Pause. I'm so good at commands. I am.

I love rules. I am a Pharisee at heart. I do. I love discipline equals freedom. Jocko Willink you know David Goggins I'm like let's go.

All my pursuit guys out there you know you you I grew up needing order and structure and I'll just crush the plan. Here's what I realized with my life with Jesus. I try to practice patience. You know, I have two kids who are 12, almost 13 and nine and they guess what have a will of their own. I have a wife who's perfect.

I won't say anything else. In my life, I'm stubborn, broken, full of ego and sin and insecurity, regularly moved by the whims of whether or not I had a meal in the last two hours. And I'll tell you what I do. I go, okay, I'm gonna keep your command. So I'm gonna do really good at being kind.

Yeah. I'm gonna practice the heck out of love and I'm gonna learn to discipline myself with generosity and joy. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yes. I'm gonna...

If you love me, I'm gonna keep your commands. I'm gonna I'm gonna take the discipline, the the the fruit of the spirit and I'm just gonna put them on me like ornaments on a Christmas tree. And I'm gonna will myself to become the man I really wanna be. I wanna be patient. I want to naturally love people the way Jesus loves them when I don't feel like it.

But man, I love practicing it. But then Jesus says, if you love me, you'll keep my commands. But then he says, and I will ask the father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The spirit of truth. Oh.

Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

This is such good news. Have you been trying so hard to kick that habit? Anyone here try to stop being so impatient? Anyone want... Okay.

Am I... Why am I gonna be the only vulnerable? I feel very vulnerable right now. I'm like okay you come preach. I'm done.

I'm done. You're like no I'm perfectly patient especially on the 04:05 at 08:30. Especially when we're trying to get to school and we're late again, and you gave them 15 reminders about put your shoes on for the love. They don't even have laces. They're slip on.

Why? Why? You know you put shoes on when we go out of the house, Alex. No. I'm just kidding.

Oh. It's so hard. I'll ask my Father to give you another advocate. Now here's what's amazing. In the Greek there's two words for another.

There's another of a different kind And there's another of the same kind. As he talks about another, he's saying this like Him that Jesus will give you an advocate that's like Him and that word advocate is counselor, comforter, supporter, paracletos. It's it's a divine counselor. Now just can we just pause? I just want to pull this out.

We'll come back. I 've been thinking about that because man, I've I've seen a lot of counselors and I love therapy. I'm I'm not against it. I'm against the therapy culture that I see rampant in the church where we've replaced the role of the pastor in scripture with a therapist and what they say. So now the authority in my life is what my therapist said or what I feel versus what scripture says and what God wants to do.

He gives us a divine counselor. I go to a counselor and she says, tell me about your life. The divine counselor already knows. And some of the breakthrough that we need is not gonna come because we figured out all the trauma that's been causing the blockage. It's gonna come through the surrender to the Holy Spirit.

I believe that with all my heart. I'm I'm... We need therapy. We need to work through our trauma. We need good therapists, Christian therapists who are filled with Holy Spirit who do the work with God.

Yes and amen. And we need power from a divine advocate who knows the deepest wounds that trace your family history, who knows the trauma, who knows that spot in your brain that been chemically rewired because of the trauma and now it's an addiction and it's this habit and the spirit of God, the divine counselor wants to rewire through neuroplasticity your brain into Christ likeness. Is that good news for someone? It's good news for me because I'm just trying to change. And he says I'll give you the gift.

Another. The Holy Spirit. Oh. Is that good? Yeah.

Such good news. Now we get to the section of scripture where this group of pagan ex Artemis worshippers thousands of miles away from Jerusalem are now filled with that divine counselor which we'll get back to that. But what you have to understand is Luke is connecting the dots to the story of the Old Testament to now. He's writing with the Old Testament backdrop. And if you study the scriptures, realize that the story of creation begins in Genesis one verse one and by verse two, you see the Trinitarian God.

You see the Holy Spirit hovering over the watery chaos. Yes. Like a like a mama bird flapping her wings waiting for the created order to begin to happen and the word of God speaks in creation happens. And we see the divine presence of the Holy Spirit all throughout the Old Testament. See, Don't put this up yet.

I wanna test this church. I asked this question. I asked the 09:00 and they answered with like quick wisdom. And I was like, I've done my job. And they're like, it's on the screen.

I was like, no. Who's the first person to be filled with the holy spirit in the bible? No. Oh, this hurts. Wait.

Who? Bezalel. Bezalel. Who's... Let's go.

Are you, PK over here? That's what we got here. Is that bringing up trauma, Nathaniel? So sorry. So sorry.

I love you without the answer. This is the answer. Bezalel, the the the first person to be filled the holy spirit. According to scriptures in Exodus is the craftsman who designs the tabernacle. God anoints artists to fill beautiful spaces.

Is that good news? You didn't realize he wants to empower the creative construction that you have in your workplace. The spirit of God anoint 70 elders in Joshua and Gideon and Samson and Saul and David and all the prophets. But the difference with the old testament is the spirit of God came on like bursts of power like Popeye with spinach, if you ever watch Popeye. For specific people or certain people for certain tasks for certain, or specific seasons.

And and this is where, where there's there's this moment of power but not abiding presence Which is why the Psalmist when he sins with Bathsheba writes Psalm 51 and he says take not the Holy Spirit from me. He knew that this presence of God could lift and and if you know the ache of the old testament there's all sorts of like forecasting this this hope, this longing for one day the presence of God to be with his people. In fact, in in numbers 11, Moses says, I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them. That was his longing. That became a prayer.

And then we see the promises of the old testament. There's so many I can speak of. Jeremiah talks about God writing the law on our hearts and our minds and that we will no longer as the people of God needs somebody to teach us the law because we will naturally know God. In Ezekiel, he promises that God says I will put my spirit in you. In Joel chapter two, he says I will pour out my spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy.

So the Old Testament ends with this promise that that one day will come and there's four hundred and thirty years of silence. And then the one who comes like in the spirit of Elijah, John the Baptist, he begins as the forerunner promise for the coming Messiah. And listen, this is so important. When you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, when you read about John the Baptist, the one who's preparing for the Messiah, he says the Messiah's mission will be this. I baptize you with water.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. What is the description of Jesus's ministry before he begins one of baptism of the Holy Spirit? Why? Because Jesus is the baptizer. He is the baptizer and his ministry is one of immersing people, not with water, but the presence of God.

That story goes on and you see Jesus begin to minister in different places And there's this one specific place I just want to highlight in his ministry where he says it himself in the Gospel of John. He goes to the temple where they're celebrating the Festival of Tabernacles which is this, or yeah the Festival of Tabernacles where they in the Festival of Tabernacle one of the days they they pour out some water from the temple as a symbolic foreshadow for Ezekiel 47 that one day from the temple the river of life will flow into the nations. And it's at that moment that that Jesus stands up at that moment he says if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink and whoever believes in me streams of living water will flow from within them. Ezekiel's prophecy is fulfilled to those who become Christian and are filled with the Holy Spirit. You become a stream of living water so that wherever you go, Ezekiel's 47 vision is realized.

Because you are anointed with the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. Are you with me church? It says that he will baptize us with the Holy Spirit. That word baptize means to dip, to plunge, to sink, to soak, to overwhelm. That's good.

Yeah. Is that your Christian life? When you think about your Christian life, is it overwhelmed with the presence that you become a living river of life and every desire has been quenched by the presence of God? Or are you longing for something else? Have you been soaked and overwhelmed or the imagery is a piece of cloth dipping into some dye and as you pull out the cloth, the very nature of the cloth cloth is radically transformed.

That's what baptism in the Holy Spirit is. I just heard yesterday a pastor named Alex Sealy. I was at this conference. She was preaching and she said, she sees what God wants to do with us as this concept called, to pickle. I hate pickles, I never use this illustration.

But actually, it's the best illustration because before, it becomes a pickle, a cucumber is immersed in vinegar, and then it's radically transformed to the grossest thing on the planet. No. I get it. Get it. You don't put cucumbers on a burger but you put pickles if you're one of those people on your burger.

My kids love them. My wife loves them. It's an ongoing fight in my house about pickles. But have you been pickled by the Holy Spirit? Simon Ponson puts it this way.

When the Bible speaks of being filled with the Holy Spirit is saying that one is consumed, taken over, impregnated, saturated, complete and replete in the presence of God to be filled with the Holy Spirit leaves no room to be filled with anything else. How you doing church? You still trying to practice your way to patience? Or have you surrendered? Have you humbled yourself to finally get that you can't do it on your own?

That there is another advocate who is wanting and desiring for you to experience the longings that you have and the transformation that you hope for but it's not gonna come because you willed yourself there. It's gonna come through surrender. It's gonna be come through emptying yourself so that you can be filled. The problem isn't that you're not filled. The problem is you're already full of other things.

So Jesus comes to pickle you in the spirit of God. No slide for that. And he says, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. And then acts two, the Holy Spirit comes and Luke says that all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues and as the spirit enabled them at Acts two verse four. And Ezekiel, that's Ezekiel's promise being fulfilled.

That's Joel's prophecy being fulfilled. And then Peter stands up at the end of his sermon. He says, the promise got what promise? The promise that the father has about another kind of the coming of the holy spirit is for you and your children and all who are fall far away. So the spirit of God fills people in Jerusalem, and then we read in the book of acts this extension of the presence of God going places.

And next thing you know is it's in Samaria. The church is in Samaria, and the spirit of God falls on the Samaritans. They prophesy. They speak in tongues. Then it's in Caesarea with a bunch of Gentiles.

The spirit of God feels Cornelius and all these Gentiles. It keeps going out beyond the wildest imagination of a bunch of Jewish people in Jerusalem. The spirit of God is marking the new people of God. And then we get to Acts 19 and now a bunch of ex artifice worshipers are filled with the presence of God. Only they're not yet.

Paul shows up. He finds some disciples. Let's go back to this verse. And he's hanging out with them. And he says, after hanging out with this small group, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

Apparently, there are observable characteristics of a spirit filled life and Paul doesn't see it. I wonder if Paul came to our church. If he came to your house church would he ask you did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Do you have observable signs of the Spirit pickled life? The Spirit filled life.

Do you have the signs of that life? Now, throughout church history, people have tried to describe what are the markers of a spirit filled life. What what what's the evidence? Now, Luke will say when the spirit of God comes that they spoke in tongues and they prophesied and we've already done extensive work on this. This is a literary tool for the book of Acts where when the spirit of God comes, Luke uses tongues and prophecy not as badges of the spirit filled life but as a simple literary tool to say all the things of the spirit that community has it.

They're included. Let's keep going on mission. Because tongues and prophecy have to do with the extension of God's people and God's mission on earth. Okay. That's the marker he uses.

It's not the initial signs. And Pentecostals have debated this throughout history. What's the initial signs of the spirit life? Is it baptism once? Is it twice?

Is it three times? I'm gonna answer that question. Yes. And what what what Paul does is he sees that something's missing. I love the the characteristic that's used by William Seymour, the founder of the Pentecostal movement.

You heard of William Seymour? Nineteen o six, the spirit of God falls on Azusa Street and it becomes the largest Christian movement outside of Catholicism in history. And just a hundred and something years, a hundred and twenty years we've seen a move of God through the Pentecostal church around the world. And they were marked by lots of people coming to faith getting baptized, wild charismatic stories of tongues and prophecy and healing. But when asked over and over again, what are the signs of a spirit filled life?

He said, divine sacrificial love. I would add for me. How do I know someone's spirit filled? I just want to say these are my observations. There is radical assurance of salvation.

Radical assurance of salvation. They know that they're saved. There is a confidence in their belovedness. They know they are God's favorite. They wear the shirt.

God loves you but I'm his favorite. Because it says in Romans that it's by the spirit of God that we cry out Abba Father. That there is boldness in their Christian lifestyle and there's freedom. Now, I don't know how Paul discern this, but Paul discerns that something is off. And can I just say this?

When the disciples say we have not heard that there is a Holy Spirit. They're not saying we didn't know that there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit. That's not what's being spoken or taught here because there's no person who's been taught as John's disciple that there's no such thing as the holy spirit. John's primary message because they're John's disciples. John the Baptist was that the one coming after me, the Messiah will anoint you with the Holy Spirit.

Baptize you with the Holy Spirit. They're saying they didn't know the Messiah came and that the age of the spirit has come. That's what they're saying. We just didn't know. Right?

So that they didn't know that the one that John was prophesied, repent and prepare for has come. Because the reality is this. Every Jewish person knows that the the old testament is filled with the spirit. And and let me just say, how many of you are Christians? Well done.

Well done. How many of you are not yet Christian? Let me just see. Okay. I see your hand.

Seeing. Okay. I got you. What does Christian mean? Little Christ.

What's Christ mean? Anointed one. Oh, that's a Hebrew concept. Who? Anointed one.

Anointed by whom? The spirit. To be Christian is to be anointed by the spirit. Yeah? If you go trace that language back to Hebrew, the anointed one means the the one who is anointed by the Holy Spirit of God and little anointed ones is what we are called.

You are little anointed ones. Some of you. Some of you have not yet heard that there is a Holy Spirit. You've been willing yourself to do the Lord's commands without the gift from God himself, without the presence of God. Why?

Why? Because I I would suspect there's a quote about this. I think AW Tozer said if if, the Holy 95% of what we do as a church today in the American church wouldn't be noticed if the Holy Spirit didn't show up. I think we have a problem in the American church because we're practical cessationists. Cessationism is the idea that the spiritual gifts and the power of the spirit died out with the apostles and when the bible was canonized.

I don't believe in that doctrine. We are continuationists. We believe the holy spirit is alive and well. Yes and amen. That's what we're talking about here.

My point is most of us don't operate in the power of the Holy Spirit or the presence of the Holy Spirit because we've been discipled into it. We've been discipled. Our prayers are anemic. We don't pray like whatever we pray will be yes and amen by Jesus according to his word. Ask whatever you wish in my name and it will be done for you.

That's what he says. We haven't learned to pray his prayers. We haven't been discipled. Why? I have three reasons.

Number one, I think the church today has been discipled by secularism and materialism more than the scriptures. The reason we are operating in the power and flow of the Holy Spirit in our everyday ordinary life. Hear me on this. I'm not talking about warm fuzzies on a Sunday. I'm not talking about fog machines and power encounters on a Sunday.

I'm talking about a life drenched in the presence of God. So that when you go to the the coffee shop as a barista and you work at 4AM, the river of living water's flowing in that space. And I think the reason is you've been discipled by secularism and materialism. You believe in human strength and human wisdom and and you believe in the way that the church has been baptized into a secular vision. So we trust our strength.

We trust our strategy more than his presence, and so we accept the theology that fits our experience. We don't experience the miracles that's promised in the New Testament for the believers because we haven't seen transformation because we've willing ourselves to be patient. We haven't yet to surrender to the presence of God, and so our theology fits our experience. So we believe in materialism. We believe in the modern view of cessationism whether we know that or not.

And we've moved our church from the power of God extended to the world world to fun events. Meanwhile, if you look around right now and this is the this is a time where you can clearly see it. The world is spiritually hungry and the next generation they're turning to psychics. They're turning to tarot cards and mediums and witchcraft because they believe in the supernatural. Meanwhile, the church doesn't operate in the supernatural.

And we are the only institution on earth commissioned by the creator to set captives free. So they look for freedom in tarot cards, in astrology apps. They look for freedom from psychics. They're more fascinated by people who can commune with the dead than the one who raised the dead. That's not on anyone else.

That's on you. That's on me for not being discipled into the things of Jesus. We're gonna talk about this next week that the church must continue to do the Jesus stuff. Heal the sick, cast out demons, preach the kingdom. If you are a follower of Jesus, whether you're in eighth grade, seventh grade, fourth grade, whether you're 75, 88, it doesn't matter.

That is your new commission because it's the oldest commission to continue in the Jesus stuff. I think the first reason is we've been discipled by secularism and materialism. It's time to take back our ancient roots in the power of the Holy Spirit. Second is we've been discipled in consumer Christianity. Now I'm gonna hit on this really hard because I feel convicted by the Holy Spirit.

I've talked a lot about consumerism. I've talked a lot about cultural Christianity, comfort, safety, security, all these things for many years. And I realized I'm talking about in a way that is gentle and generous towards those things. But I now believe it's a false gospel. It is a first Timothy chapter four.

It is a doctrine of demons and we have been selling Jesus truth. That's partial truth. There's no comfortable Christianity in the scriptures. It is a death to self, a follow me to the cross, give your life because I've given my life, and it won't make things easier. But we've lowered the bar for what it means to follow Jesus and we just want you to come in here and support our programs.

That is a false gospel. I want you to come in here and learn to die well and get equipped here and be deployed as part of our missions movement. Wherever you go for your coffee shop, whatever job you have now you are part of the missionary movement of GARDEN CHURCH. Thank you for signing up. Only you've been convinced that you can just sit here and consume and like or unlike based on convenience.

What is that? It's a false gospel and you've been lied to and I won't let it be anything else other than a false gospel. So repent and believe the good news. I know that's super. The third reason, just move on.

And this is probably most of us who were too busy for the presence of God. And you know it. I mean, we're just we're in such a hurry. You have I was with a friend this week and he had to make a big important decision in regards to his house and I just as he was asking, I like, hey, why don't we wait on the Lord and hear his voice before we we give ideas? And I realized we just give ideas.

I I'm just speaking for us. I'm so quick to use my my better wisdom than everyone else's in a hurry. Versus could I slow down to say, Lord, what do you want to say? That's just in a random decision. But what about the rest of your life?

We don't wake up to read scripture. We already talked about that because we're going to bed too late because social media or watching our favorite show. You know, there's the seventh season and you just got to catch up or you're just you earned because you are you are such a hardworking mom that time to check out. And cultural culture has given you your me time but when was the last time you worship Jesus at night and brought all of the things that are of your kingdom under his alignment? Under his canopy of protection so that you can be prepared the next day to put on your Navy Seal combat gear and go into, you know, homeschooling your kids.

Wait, it's not funny. This is what Paul says. I want you to have this in your mind. This is somebody gave me this and it's changed my life. He's like, Darren, your life is putting on the full gear of a Navy SEAL.

Night vision goggles, tactical gear and you head out to the beach to play with your kids because everywhere you go is contested in the Kingdom of God. Are you geared up right now? For the kind of warfare that's going on? Oh you thought the marital issues you're having is just communication problems? You thought that by adding this new way of active listening it's gonna defeat Satan's work and schemes and devices that are coming at your marriage because he hates marriage because it's the one place that two people become one is a picture of God's oneness at God.

He hates marriage. He hates you parenting your kids in love. He hates you being single and full of purity and passion for Jesus. He hates you. And you think you're gonna go to the beach to play without your tactical gear on?

Come on church wake up. Too busy? No wonder you're not useful in the kingdom. You're part of their team. You you you're not even prepared to engage.

You're just advocating for the other team by believing the false gospel, by not showing up in the tactical gear, by not recognizing that you are the living river of life for this world. That where you go, his presence is with you. Acts nineteen two. We do not even know that there is a Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, they are filled with the Holy Spirit.

And it says at the end, they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about 12 men in all. About 12. How's that? He didn't say 10.

He didn't say six, seven. He didn't say 14. He said 12 which should pull you back to the 12 apostles. Yes. And then pull you further back to the 12 tribes of Israel.

So what is he saying? That the community, the whole community of God is now being extended thousands of miles away from Jerusalem in this pagan filled Artemis epicenter. God's moving amongst them and hear me on this. Ephesus is part of Asia Minor. It becomes the epicenter of Christianity for four hundred years.

The whole center of the Christian movement is for four hundred years anchored in Ephesus. The place that was the hardest place. Oh, hear me on this church. I'm gonna preach this. Where do you think God wants to move again?

All these people are moving to Idaho. Forget California. It's lost. Exactly. This contested space is exactly where God wants to move, where it's hardest, where the laws are against Christianity.

Of course, that's what God wants to do. He's always done that from the beginning of time. And Asia Minor becomes the epicenter. And I just need to say this and don't miss this because this is the last condition for revival. We'll get there in a couple weeks.

But we see that the last condition of revival that I'm gonna I'm gonna give you a glimpse of, a little trailer, is that John will write to the church in Ephesus a letter from Jesus and he'll say, you've done all these things but you've forsaken your the love you had at first. And the love they had at first. The origin story of this passionate ministry is one of being filled with the spirit. Disciples of Jesus meeting daily in the Hall Of Tyrannus that continue the ministry of Jesus that's formed by the word of God that does the Jesus stuff who give up their idols with fiery passionate love. But it begins with this dependency of an ancient prayer that Christians have prayed for thousands of years since.

Come Holy Spirit. What if acts 19 is a model for what God wants to do in your life? What if all the striving, all the energy, all the willing yourself to have self control. What if today that longing is met by the presence of Jesus? You wanna know what it's gonna take for you?

Humility. The problem with the consumer church is we don't humble ourselves enough to say I need you God. Now I just need you for my sin. I need you so that I can parent well. I need you so I can lead this moment well.

I... Would you come and do what only you can do? So I wanna invite you today to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul will write in his letter to Ephesians. This church to this church.

A church that's baptized in the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians chapter five, he gives this command. Can we put it? He says, do not get drunk off wine on wine which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Remember, this church was already filled with the Holy Spirit, but he'll pray in in Ephesians one. He'll say that you have been filled to the fullness and then he'll pray that you would be filled to the fullness of Christ. Then he says this command, do not get drunk off wine. Now hear me on this because this is so important. This is gonna lead us into response.

There's a contrast between the spirit filled life and a life marked by culture. What Paul's saying is culture fills you. Because to be Roman, be Greek was to go to houses, go to parties, go to events. They were called symposiums. Write that down.

Symposiums were drinking parties in the first century culture and you didn't have this concept of moderations. Christians invented that. Moderation was not a thing. You just drank as much alcohol as humanly possible. You would throw up, eat more, drink more because it was part of your culture.

That's what you did with wine and alcohol in the Roman context. Paul saying, now that you're a follower of Jesus, don't do that. Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit. In the in the Greek it's a perfect present participle meaning the translation is you're not just filled once. The translation is keep on being filled and it's to the church because we wake up every single day with an idol that fills us.

Don't be drunk off its Instagram. Don't be consumed with consumerism. Don't be obsessed with the political moment. Don't be obsessed with the new NPR, the new news cycle. Don't be obsessed with your image.

Don't be drunk off of your body and sexuality. Instead, be filled with Holy Spirit. Then the world will know what the anointed one looks like. Amen? Let's all stand together.

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