Today on the Evangelist Podcast, the Holy Spirit and Evangelism.
SPEAKER_00The Evangelists Podcast. Encouragement to speak life to a needy world. With Glenn Scrivener and Andy Brinkley.
SPEAKER_01This is the Evangelist Podcast, now with over 160 episodes, encouraging you in sharing your faith with your friends and family and even strangers. Helped along the way by Josh Williamson, Peter Mee, Jay Smith, Mike Reeves, Rico Tys, Ray Comfort Even.
SPEAKER_02Ray Comfort Evan.
SPEAKER_01I'm Andy Brinkley, Media Producer, and this is Glenn Scrivener, our evangelist and speak life director.
SPEAKER_02Hello, everybody. Good to see you. Good to see you. I wish we could. Yes. Ooh. Yeah. Maybe when we get to 200 or something or special. Can you do YouTube Live? Is that fairly straightforward? Uh I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We could do it. People could see inside the studio. It's actually quite nice in here. It's sort of uh it's a soundproof booth here in uh our offices in Eastbourne and uh yeah, it's nice and cool at the moment. It is nice and cool. It stays nice and cool through the winter though, that's the problem. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And uh but once it's warm, it's it's warm. So we're gonna talk about the Holy Spirit and evangelism because well it's Pentecost this this Sunday.
SPEAKER_02So uh we did uh Ascension last week, and then ten days after Ascension, what happens? It's the day of Pentecost. So today's the day to think about uh the Holy Spirit, and uh we're gonna think about who he is, what he does in our lives, and uh and how this helps our evangelism.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Uh since you mentioned last uh episode on the Ascension, we have a review. Oh, okay. A two-star review. Um from White House Chick says great words, just listen to the Ascension Day podcast. What a helpful reminder of how Christ's ascension changes everything. So thank you very much, White House Chick.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that sounds like at least a two and a half star review. Oh thank you, White House Chick.
SPEAKER_01If you'd like to leave a rating and review on iTunes, we'd be very happy if you could do that. It does help us to get seen by more people. Um you can do that simply by going to speaklife.org.uk slash iTunes, and uh we'll give you more web addresses at the end. So uh we're gonna talk about uh the Holy Spirit and evangelism. Um and we're talking about this because it's Pentecost on Sunday.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So Pentecost uh Pente uh means fifty. So what is it fifty days after? What what happened fifty days earlier? The Ascension. No, that's ten days. And so forty days before the ascension, what happened? Jesus died. Yes. And rose again. And rose again, and rose again. So, yeah, fascinatingly, Jesus dies at Passover. The third day after Passover is first fruits, which is interesting. So you go back into Leviticus and you look at the calendar, and it's just so amazing the way that the Old Testament calendar just maps on to the New Testament gospel events. So, you know, the first thing that happens is Passover, then on the third day after Passover you get firstfruits, and then fifty days after first fruits you get Pentecost, which is fascinating because you come through into the New Testament, and on Good Friday, Jesus dies, the Passover Lamb. On the third day after that, he rises from the dead as the first fruits of the new creation. And then fifty days after that, it's this festival of Pentecost or the feast of weeks. Um so really Pentecost is uh it's about the harvest that happens after first fruits. With first fruits, you're tasting the the the you know the the first examples of the crop and if you're you know if you're an apple you know farmer. An apple fruit does apples need farming? Is that what you would say? An apple I don't know. An apple dude. If you're an apple dude or dudet, um I think that's the official title for it. Vine dresser. A vine dresser, an apple dresser. I don't know. Write in. We need help, people. We clearly need help. So, but if you if you've got apples on a tree, I believe apples do come from trees. This much I know. Okay. Yes, we're on solid ground here. So you take the apple and you taste the first fruits, and if the first fruits are good, the crop's gonna be good. If the first fruits are bad, the crop's gonna be bad. Um, so Jesus rises up from the dead, and we've tasted the first fruits. We've seen how Jesus has sort of pioneered this resurrection life. He's gone down like a seed into the ground, he's risen up again, we've tasted the first fruits, the first fruits are very good, this risen life looks great, and then fifty days later, the whole harvest comes in. So that's why the people are back in Jerusalem in Acts chapter two. The last time they've been in Jerusalem was for Passover and the first fruits. So that weekend, that was, you know, less than two months earlier, they saw Jesus die, and some of them saw him rise again. Now those who saw him rise again, they are huddled together in that upper room, and the day of Pentecost comes, which is a day where you are expecting the fullness of the harvest to come in. And on this day, uh the Holy Spirit falls on the disciples in a in a um in a massive way, and they are able to speak in languages that everybody is able to hear, and Peter explains it to people, and when he explains it to people, using words, using the scriptures, um people come to see that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, they come to believe the gospel, and they themselves receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and 3,000 people come to faith on that day. They come to new life. Harvest, the harvest comes out, the harvest comes in, which is brilliant. And it's a brilliant reversal of what happened back in um the sort of the Pentecost of the Old Testament. So the Pentecost of the Old Testament, fifty days after the Israelites came out of Egypt, um, was the giving of the law, right? And so at the giving of the law, um well basically basically what you had was that the the the ten days after the Red Sea incident, Moses goes up on the mountain and all that happens, and then for the forty days while Moses is up on the mountain, the people are tested, the people fail, they are not good at living up to the law, and when Moses comes down the mountain on the fiftieth day, what happens?
SPEAKER_01He smashes the tablets.
SPEAKER_02Smashes the tablets and he draws the sword and he says, you know, who's going to execute the Lord's justice? Levites. The Levites come to his side, and on that day, how many people die?
SPEAKER_01Three thousand.
SPEAKER_02Three thousand. Boom! There it is. So actually, the old the Old Testament Pentecost, three thousand people die.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because it's the revelation of the law, and the law kills. The New Testament Pentecost, the gospel is revealed, and on that day, three thousand people come to life. Um, and this is the difference that Jesus makes, uh, bringing us into the new life of the Spirit. So, precisely when you you might expect, okay, so Jesus the first fruits, he rises from the dead, and so fifty days later, like everybody rises from the dead, you might expect like the end of the world after fifty days. Actually, what you get is the spirit, because the spirit brings us the life of the world to come, and on that day he brings that new life that he brought to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01What does the pen what does Pentecost teach us about the the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_02Well, it's interesting. If you if you go to um Acts seven Acts chapter two and and you see so here is the day of the Spirit. What is the Spirit associated with? Well, it's a day of preaching, which is interesting, especially as we think about the you know the Spirit and Evangelism. The day of Pentecost is a day of the Spirit, but it's also a day of preaching. And the two go hand in hand. You know, preaching is the word of the Spirit. And so, you know, nobody receives the Spirit on that day of Pentecost without hearing the preached word. So very much the Spirit is associated with the Word, especially the preached word. You see also in Acts chapter two that the Spirit is associated with the last days. So the first scripture that Peter brings up on the day of Pentecost is Joel chapter two, um, that speaks of in these last days the Lord will pour out his spirit on all flesh. So the spirit is very much bringing in the powers of the new age, bringing in the world of the life to come. So the spirit is associated with the last days. Um the spirit is also kind of the spirit is the triune life of God poured out to us. So um Peter says in uh in um Acts 2, verse 33 that uh Christ has been exalted to the right hand of the Father, and he was given the Holy Spirit, and then Jesus himself pours out the Holy Spirit on others. So really, what is the Spirit? The Spirit is He is the the life of God poured out. Um and then uh the day of Pentecost kind of ends with everybody saying, What must we do? Um, you know, in in response to this gospel preaching. And uh it's fascinating, you know, Peter says, you know, repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you'll be given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Which is astonishing, really, when you when you think Peter is actually accusing them of killing Jesus. He was like, The last time you were here in Jerusalem, you know what you did, right? You killed Jesus, you know, who is the Lord.
SPEAKER_01Interesting position on evangelism.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's right. Yeah, he well, he uses the law to convict and to kill. And they are cut to the heart, which is interesting. So gospel preaching includes the law, and it includes drawing your sword and thrusting people through, just like it did back in Exodus. So you still do thrust people through with the law, right? And the people are cut to the heart because they have killed God the Son, who has been exalted to the right hand of the Father. Oh my goodness, you've just you know you know that guy who you killed, right? He wasn't just a magistrate, he wasn't just king, he wasn't just Caesar, he was God, right? So what would you expect in response to killing God? What would you expect? Peter says, Actually, you can receive another gift the Holy Spirit. You know, it's it's this extraordinary grace, isn't it? You know, the father is basically saying, You know, you just killed my son. Here, have my spirit. It'd be it'd be like, you know, a judge who, you know, you're on trial and you know the judge says, You murdered my son. Here, have my daughter's hand in marriage. What? Like, how giving is our God? Well, this is life poured out. You know, not what we deserve, but what what God has within him is to pour himself out. And so the spirit is poured out precisely on Christ killers, precisely on the unworthy. So the Spirit is all these things. That's what Pentecost teaches us. The Spirit He comes through the Word, He's associated with the last days, he is the triune life of God poured out, and he's a gift given for the unworthy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, let's go a little bit deeper into the Holy Spirit um from uh you know who the rest of Scripture and I remember speaking to some Jehovah's Witnesses, and they were saying that the Holy Spirit is God's force, like electricity.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And just kind of that he isn't a person, but he's just this kind of force. Yeah. But uh he's not an it, is he?
SPEAKER_02He's not an it. No, I remember I I had a youth leader once who gave a talk on this subject, and he said, Now remember everybody, the Holy Spirit is not an it, it's a he. So he hadn't he hadn't quite thoroughly been converted to the person with a Jesus. He's not an it, it's a he. Um no, he's a he, right? So the Holy Spirit absolutely is a person who can be grieved. You know, we read about the grieving of the Holy Spirit in in um gosh, in in Isaiah 63, but also in the New Testament in Acts 5 and things like that. So the Spirit is a person, and the Spirit really is the life of God. So I've I've you know I've got some verses here that speak of the Spirit and life just going together. The spirit really is the life of God. So Job 33, verse 4, listen to this. The Spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life. So the spirit and breath, you might know, that's the the same word in both Greek and Hebrew. So both the language of the old and new testaments. Um the spirit is the breath, the life of God. Um John 6, Jesus says in verse 63, the Spirit gives life. Or Romans 8, verse 2, uh, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death, the Spirit who gives life. Or Romans 8, verse 10, if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And verse eleven, and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you. So the Spirit is very much the life of God. He is the life of God, and that life is personal, other centred, ecstatic pouring out. Um there's a lot in there, but but you know, so I think of Psalm forty-five, you know, here's this Psalm that is addressed to the most excellent of men, um, who is the champion bridegroom, who is himself God. So, you know, it's it's Christ, right? Psalm forty-five is addressed to Christ. And in verse 7 it says, You love righteousness and hate wickedness, therefore, God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. So here's a picture of God the Father anointing God the Son with the oil of joy. And and really, uh oil throughout the Bible is associated with the Holy Spirit. Really, who the Spirit is is the joyful life of God poured out, and especially poured out from the Father to the Son. So this this is who the Spirit is. He is the life of God who is personal, other centered. I I use the word ecstatic because um the word ecstatic literally means standing outside yourself. Um you stand outside, you know, when you say you're beside yourself, right? You're joyful, right? When I'm beside and the spirit is kind of the life of the Father poured out into the Son, he's beside himself by the Spirit. Um because he goes out from himself and pours himself out. So the spirit and joy go together, the spirit and life go together, the spirit and pouring out go together.
SPEAKER_01Well, what does the spirit do in the life of God?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, let's think it yeah, let's think about what he does in the life of God, and then what he does in the life of us. And what he does in the life of God is he is the joyful declarer of the Father's overflowing love. So you might remember, you know, there's the baptism, and in Matthew chapter three, the Spirit descends like a dove on Jesus, and as the Spirit is descending, the Father proclaims, You are my Son who I love, with you I am well pleased. This is what the Spirit is doing, always communicating the love of the Father for the Son. So he's the joyful declarer of the Father's overflowing love to the Son, and then by the Spirit the Son responds and declares his love back for the Father. So for instance, in Luke chapter ten, verse twenty-one, it says, uh at that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, says, I praise you, Father. So what's the Spirit doing in the life of the Son? He's filling the Son so that the Son declares back praise for his Father. So so he declares the love of the Father for the Son, he declares the love of the Son for the Father, and he gives life to the Son. Everything that Jesus does, especially when you read through Luke's gospel, everything Jesus does, he does in the power of the Spirit. And most supremely what the Spirit does in the life of the Son is raise him from the dead. So he gives life to Christ. So that's what the Spirit does in the life of God. He he's kind of declaring the love of the Father for the Son, the love of the Son for the Father, and he's giving life to the Son.
SPEAKER_01So what does the Spirit do in our life?
SPEAKER_02So yeah, so what's fan fascinating is that that's what the Spirit does in God's life. Now in our life, he does exactly the same thing. So it's just it's astonishing. Now we, in the words of 2 Peter 1, we participate in the divine nature. Goodness me, how is that possible? By the Spirit, okay. So what is the Spirit? The Spirit declares the love of the Father for the Son. Well, now, because we've been made children of God, he declares the Father's love for us. So Romans 5, verse 5, God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So the very love that the Father has for the Son, he now has for me. You know, and the Father now says, Glenn, you are my son who I love, with you I am well pleased, and that is the Spirit's declaration now in my life. And supremely the Father does that through the Spirit-breathed word. So why do I, you know, open my Bible in the morning to hear the Father declare his love for me again? And that's what the Spirit's doing in my life. But he also, he not only declares the Father's love for me, he now helps me declare my love back for the Father. So it's it's beautiful in the New Testament when you trace through the three Abba Fathers of the New Testament. The first Abba Father is Jesus by himself in Gethsemane, and there he is, and he's he's praying Abba Father as he pours out his life before God. He prays Abba Father. But then you go to Galatians chapter 4, verse 6, and it says, Now the Spirit of the Son has been given to us and he cries out, Abba Father. So the Spirit of the Son comes into our heart and he now prays Jesus' prayer within us. So the Spirit's now praying Abba Father, and then in Romans chapter 8, verse 15, we now pray Abba Father by the Spirit. So now we join in. So the Spirit has now helped us to respond to the Father's love in Jesus' name. So the Spirit declares the Father's love for me, and now the Spirit of the Son helps me declare my love for the Father. And the Spirit now gives me life. Just as he gave Christ life, even life from the dead, so he breathes life into me, and he comes into me to to sort of sweep me up into the Son's life before the Father. That's what the Spirit does in my life. Beautiful stuff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Through history we've got the Holy Spirit wrong, haven't we? Yeah. Several times. Yeah. Um and we we misunderstand the Trinity, don't we?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. And all all our problems with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit kind of come from our problems with the doctrine of the Trinity. And we'll we'll think more particularly about the Trinity next week, uh, because it's going to be Trinity Sunday after after Pentecost. But um but yeah, it's uh you know, so so those who know about you know Trinitarian heresies, you'll you'll know about Arianism and Malism and Tritheism. But let's let's let's make that more simple. Okay, so Arianism, like Jehovah's Witnesses, they say that the Spirit is a non-person. Right. A force, electricity, right? So Arianism is about the spirit is a non-person. Modalism is that the spirit is the same person as the Son and the Father, just the same person. So oneness Pentecostals today, they say that the there is only one person to God, and the and the spirit just is the Son wearing a different mask, sort of thing. Um so Arians say that the spirit is a non-person. Modalists say that the spirit is the same person as Jesus or or the Father. Tritheists say that this the spirit is a detached person, but free-floating, doing his own thing. So we get we get things wrong in all these ways. So to say that the spirit is a non-person is like what the Jehovah's Witnesses say, and yeah, we just call the spirit an it. So we j we just we d we just talk about the power of God. Um and maybe by seeking the spirit in our life, what we're really just after is a bit of power.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, w we wouldn't say that the Holy Spirit is the same person as Jesus, but as often what people think Christians believe.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it's the same God, but different persons. Yes.
SPEAKER_02And we'll get into this next week when we think about Trinity Sunday and and Trinity and Evangelism. Um but yeah, I I think some of the problem is that we tend to think we know what God's like, and we know what Jesus is like, and we don't know what the spirit's like, but actually we don't know what God the Father's like, and we don't know what the Spirit is like, unless we come to Jesus. So in a sense, we're not Jesus focused enough to be able to properly understand the Spirit. If we were Jesus focused enough, we would say, I don't know what the Father's like, but I look to Jesus. We'd also say, I don't know what the Spirit's like, but I look to Jesus. 'Cause he is this anointed one. You know, w who is he anointed with? He's anointed with the Holy Spirit. beyond measure. So really to see Jesus is to see the life of the Spirit lived out um in the world. So that so that we're not really we're not really talking about three separate gods, which is what you know we'll think about in a second. But we are focusing on Jesus to the point where when you see Jesus you have seen the Spirit at work in somebody and now when you see the Spirit at work in somebody you see Jesus. Right? Because he's gone to the Father and given the gift of his Spirit who is a person who personally brings us the presence and the peace of of of Jesus and brings us the person of Jesus in us. So so we can't go down the Aryan route of saying that the Spirit is just an it, just electricity. He's he's not a non-person. The modalists say that the Spirit is the same person as as the Son or the Father. But that's a that's a problem because if he's the same person, then I thought he was the spirit of the Son who helps me cry Father. But if it's all just one person, right, then you've lost the gospel. The Spirit has not brought me to the Son. He has his he has not united me to this distinct person called the Son and enabled me to cry out to this other distinct person called the Father. And the gospel completely breaks down if you're a modalist. If the Spirit is just the same person as the Son and the Father it doesn't work. But we mustn't mustn't also detach the spirits. So the Spirit is not a detached person. And I see this happening all the time when people say ah yes on the one hand we need to we need to be Jesus focused but on the other hand we need to go after the works of the spirits and that can be a kind of a tritheism as though there's this other power that's out there called the spirit that we need to tap into. Whereas we don't find the spirit's activity anywhere else but in the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah well I mean we we we did a podcast called A Flow not a balance. A flow not a balance. We were talking about the Trinity how there's a flow from the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, but it's not they're not sort of three equally balanced people.
SPEAKER_02Right, right and we don't have to balance things you know I've spent some time thinking about the Father I've spent time thinking about the Son I now need to spend some time thinking about the spirits. No there's a flow to the life of God from the Father through the Son by the Spirits so that as I look to the Son, the Spirit filled Son, that's where I'm going to enjoy the life of the spirits and I don't need to give equal airtime to the three. You know we're we're in an elect election series and every time a newsreader speaks about one party they're then got to go through the rigmarole of naming every other party on the on the on the ballot paper to give equal airtime to the three. That's not the way that we are Trinitarian. We don't give equal airtime to the Father and the Son and the spirits actually we find the Father in the Son we find the spirit in the Son. So as we are more Jesus focused then we will be more spiritual people. But the big danger is we kind of think of the spirit as this other power over here who who's getting up to all sorts of different stuff. And and it even it it even comes across when people say ah some people are more people of the word and some people are more people of the spirit right and I think that's trying to balance things as though you know we we need to kind of spend some time on on Jesus and some time on the spirit. No no no we need to spend all our time on the spirit filled word right um because you don't you don't discover the spirit you don't experience the spirit you don't enjoy the spirit anywhere else but in the Son of God so we can't be tritheists either. So we get the spirit wrong when we say that the spirit is a non-person we get the spirit wrong when we say that he's the same person as the Son of the Father we get the spirit wrong when we say he's a detached person. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay well we this is kind of a background and here's the punchline what does this mean for our evangelism today well I think I mean first of all just just for our Christianity um do we seek communion with the Spirit?
SPEAKER_02It's very interesting you know so the grace that we say to each other quite often at the end of a church service we'll say 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 which is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. And John Owen you know back in the 17th century wrote a great book on communion with God but it was communion with God according to the three persons. And he took the grace um as his kind of jumping off point. So um so the grace of Jesus Jesus is particularly associated with grace because he is the gift of the Father given to the world so the grace of Jesus do I know Jesus as this gracious one and the love of God do I know the Father as this fountain of of love and life and light and do I know the Spirit and have fellowship with the Spirit which is very challenging I think because I think so many people just assume that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is kind of the fellowship the Christians have that the Spirit empowers. You know so the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is like you you and me, you know, we we get on well together because the Spirit as this electricity helps us to right which is the the you know the Aryan thing to think. No, there is a particular fellowship with the spirit that we can have. Interesting. And what what does this mean? You know I I I'm always doing the Aryan thing and the depersonalizing of the spirit thing and I I I remember years ago I used to pray for the fruit of the spirit in my life. You know Galatians chapter five the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control I think that's the nine and um and but I'd always almost use this as this checklist and I'd say you know I pray for more love. Do I have I wasn't very loving last night was I and then oh need more love okay joy and I start praying for joy and have I been joyful enough? Probably haven't been joyful enough pray for more joy and and I've been pr I'd been praying for the fruit but not the spirit but the fruit is only the fruit of the spirit.
SPEAKER_01Like wanting the presence but not Santa.
SPEAKER_02Yeah exactly exactly well who wants Santa honestly yeah yeah it's yeah exactly I want the fruit of the spirit but I don't want the spirit and this never happens to me it's very difficult for God to speak to me because I'm Anglican but um I I was once I was I was in this I was in this um I was just praying through the fruit of the spirit and I kind of got this image of um the spirit kind of knocking at the door with a basket full of fruit and saying Glenn I've got some fruit for you and I was basically saying yeah just leave the fruit inside the door and I'll see you later spirit bye bye and that's what I'd kind of been doing. I basically wanted the fruit but not the spirit. But the fruit just organically grows out of fellowship with the Spirit communion with the Holy Spirit so do we pray to be filled by the Holy Spirit and to particularly know the life of God poured out in us to particularly know the spirit of adoption in us who cries out our Father do we know the particular joy that the Holy Spirit gives to us do we know these things particularly so just in all our lives do we do we seek to know the Holy Spirit as a distinct person um who brings us the presence of Jesus who brings us the love of the Father who brings us joy who brings us life you know um if we're going to be spirit filled evangelists then that's what we need to do. So so for every Christian we absolutely need to pray for the Spirit himself. And then what do we need in our evangelism particularly well here's here's where the rubber hits the road everything that we've just been saying to be a spirit filled evangelist means to be obsessed with the word the you know the spirit has authored a book you know and given it to us and we can we if we're going to be spirit filled people we must be word filled people and we must overflow with preaching. Pentecost makes preachers and the day of Pentecost was a day of preaching. Um it wasn't that the the the disciples simply waited for an experience of the Spirit and then just told other people to try and have that same experience. It was a day of preaching the word. So to be a spirit filled evangelist is to be obsessed by the word it is to be one who preaches who declares that word it is to be obsessed with Jesus because the spirit will not be found anywhere else but in Jesus. We are not tritheists the spirit is not this abstract detached force who is distinct from the gospel but we will come to Jesus in the gospel and that's where we will discover the spirit and really it's so instructive to to think about the ways that the Apostle Paul contrasts the way of the flesh and the way of the spirit so constantly in his letters he's like the Christian life is basically discerning between flesh and spirit really every issue of wisdom in your life everything that you are facing right now is about discerning the flesh from the spirit and the and the way of the flesh is always the way of climbing up by my own power and the way of the spirit is always the way of pouring myself out for others. That's that that's the that's the distinction that's the difference and so in all our evangelism we are constantly to be attentive to the way of the spirit to be led by the spirit to be keeping in step with the spirit and what he is always doing in our lives is bringing us the life of Jesus so that we do not climb up by our own power but we pour ourselves out and as we pour ourselves out we depend entirely on the spirit to raise us up just as the spirit raised Jesus from the dead he gives life to our mortal bodies so the way of spirit filled evangelism is the way of pouring ourselves out in Christ like service for the world pouring out words as we preach Jesus and depending on the spirit to constantly be giving us life from the dead so really it's it's it's about pouring ourselves out for others and depending on the poured out life of the Spirit in us and as we do that we experience life and we pray that our hearers will experience life and the Spirit will one day apply his resurrection life to all the world and on that day the deserts will bloom as as Isaiah thirty two says the Spirit will be poured out from on high and the desert will become a fertile field. So we pour ourselves out in this age of the last days and as we pour ourselves out and pour out the Word of Christ to others we depend constantly on the Spirit and the Spirit does his thing of giving life to those who believe the gospel giving life to us who are expending ourselves and one day he'll give life to the whole creation.
SPEAKER_01Yeah excellent well thanks that Glenn Pentecost on Sunday so really enjoy that and if you're listening to this after the fact then you're still in the age of Pentecost you're still in the age of Pentecost and you say next time is uh Trinity Sunday so the next episode we're going to be talking about the Trinity and go into a little bit more depth on that. Absolutely yeah so uh to make sure that you don't miss that for next time do subscribe to the Evangelist podcast you can do so at speaklife.org.uk slash tep you can sign up via email or find us on iTunes or Stitcher etc and uh make sure that you don't miss that very special episode next week. Very special coming at you the trendy also if you'd like to keep up a little bit more updated with Speak Life and particularly Glenn's calendar um do visit our website and sign up via email we'd love to keep you informed of what goes on here at Speak Life. We also produce a small booklet each quarter that includes some amazing things that God is doing around the world you can find it by going to our website speaklife.org.uk slash sld I think we're done here Glenn we are done so happy Pentacast everybody