SPEAKER_00: If you have your Bibles, I want you to open up with me to the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_00: You can go to Acts chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: As you are turning there, I want to tell you guys a quick story.
SPEAKER_00: This month is a wild month for our family in the best way possible.
SPEAKER_00: It is, as I've told you guys on a number of occasions, this is our anniversary.
SPEAKER_00: We just celebrated 29 years of marriage.
SPEAKER_00: Then we've got uh my wife's birthday, and then uh we have Mother's Day, uh, and then we have my daughter's birthday uh as well.
SPEAKER_00: Uh obviously Memorial Day weekend.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, can we give it up for all those soldiers too that went ahead and made an ultimate sacrifice for all of us?
SPEAKER_00: Man, honor every single one.
SPEAKER_00: So, but in our in our family, uh there's a lot of stuff going on.
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we got a lot of different birthday celebrations and things uh that are happening.
SPEAKER_00: So we went out to eat uh this um this past week.
SPEAKER_00: Uh one of Onika's many celebrations.
SPEAKER_00: We could not celebrate her enough.
SPEAKER_00: I want to do more celebrations.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, I want to make it birthday year, not just birthday month.
SPEAKER_00: She's at the Oak Cliff campus right now.
SPEAKER_00: Love you, honey.
SPEAKER_00: And uh so we are we're out to dinner and uh some food comes out, and the dessert that comes out is this thing called a uh baked Alaska or something.
SPEAKER_00: I don't really never really ordered it, um, but there's like this meringue on the outside, and how they do it at this particular restaurant is they bring it out and there's like a little container, like a measuring cup, basically, uh copper.
SPEAKER_00: It's really pretty, and there's some uh alcohol in it, and then they light the alcohol on fire, so now it's you know it's burning hot, it's blue, and then they begin to pour it on top of the dessert, and it's supposed to kind of like toast the meringue that's on the top.
SPEAKER_00: So we're seeing this happen, it's very Instagram worthy stuff.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can see it kind of falling down, it's hitting the dessert.
SPEAKER_00: And uh so the waiter does that, and then after he pours it, he and he pulls it back, and when he pulls it back, some of the fire uh drops.
SPEAKER_00: And it drops on my friend's lap.
SPEAKER_00: So, in the matter of 1.4 seconds, Dan and I are looking at each other, looking at his lap, and there's fire.
SPEAKER_00: The fire is literally dancing right there.
SPEAKER_00: It's not going out, it's just like it's fast, it's fast.
SPEAKER_00: We're like, what's good, what's going on here?
SPEAKER_00: And then Dan is like, you know, he puts it out.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he did it calm because he was like, I'm fine.
SPEAKER_00: And puts out the fire.
SPEAKER_00: The waiter was like, Oh, it's fine, don't worry, it'll it'll go out quick.
SPEAKER_00: We're like, bro, then can we pour fire on your lap and just be real chill about it?
SPEAKER_00: The manager comes over, the manager is like, you know, are you?
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry that happened, and and and he was fine.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but this is a no-brainer.
SPEAKER_00: If fire falls on you, we all know you put it out.
SPEAKER_00: You put it out.
SPEAKER_00: Now that makes total sense when we're talking in the natural.
SPEAKER_00: But when we're talking in the supernatural, you don't actually want to put the fire out.
SPEAKER_00: If you uh don't don't turn there because it might be too long for you to find it.
SPEAKER_00: Uh 1 Thessalonians uh chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: Uh if you can get there, sure.
SPEAKER_00: It's a really, really quick verse and it says this.
SPEAKER_00: It's really fast.
SPEAKER_00: It's at the end of 1 Thessalonians, and it says, Do not quench the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, come on, do not quench the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the word there for quench is extinguish, like you would have a fire extinguisher.
SPEAKER_00: Do do not don't put the spirit out.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit, you you want the spirit to keep on burning.
SPEAKER_00: You want the spirit to stay functioning and moving.
SPEAKER_00: You don't you don't want the fire to fall on you, then all of a sudden you put the fire out.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be a people that don't quench the spirit, want to be a people that release the work of the spirit in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Go with me to Acts again, chapter two, verse number one.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read this uh here.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you a picture of a people uh that when the spirit showed up in their lives, they did not put the spirit out.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter two, uh beginning in verse number one, it reads, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
SPEAKER_00: They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
SPEAKER_00: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
SPEAKER_00: Here are a group of people, about 120 people in Jerusalem that are waiting for the gift of the Spirit that Jesus promised.
SPEAKER_00: And as they are in this upper room, all of a sudden, out of the blue, the room just shifts, everything changes, it goes beyond goosebumps.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel writer Luke is trying to help us understand what they told me.
SPEAKER_00: It was like a violent rushing wind that came into the room.
SPEAKER_00: It looked like tongues of fire were coming down and beginning to sit on every one of them, and then every person wasn't able to speak in tongues.
SPEAKER_00: They were actually speaking a whole nother language, and as you continue to read in Acts chapter 2, there are people from all over the world who are present and they are hearing the marvelous works of God in their own language.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, that they did not quench the spirit in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: But said, Hey Spirit, flow, move, have your way.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when we're reading uh in Acts chapter 2, verse number 1, it says, When the day of Pentecost came, the day of Pentecost, uh, this is a this is a Jewish holiday, and it's connected with another holiday, the Passover.
SPEAKER_00: Um, the Passover happened about 50 days earlier.
SPEAKER_00: This is when Jesus died on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: He did not die around Passover, he died on Passover.
SPEAKER_00: It was a picture of the sacrificial lamb that was to be slain.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus became the lamb that took our place.
SPEAKER_00: The sin, the shame, the brokenness that all of us have experienced in this fallen world, Jesus became that Passover lamb.
SPEAKER_00: So now you've got Good Friday, you've got what we call Easter, the resurrection, and some 50 days later, there's this other celebration called Pentecost.
SPEAKER_00: 50th, Pentah, 50th uh is is Greek.
SPEAKER_00: In in Hebrew, it would translate to the feast of weeks.
SPEAKER_00: It's seven weeks after the Passover.
SPEAKER_00: Now, all of this is connected to the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Passover and Pentecost is connected with the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: In the Old Testament, uh, this is where um the children of Israel were in slavery, they're in bondage.
SPEAKER_00: And Moses comes in and says, Hey, let my people go.
SPEAKER_00: And when they come out, they come out after the Passover.
SPEAKER_00: Then 50 days later, they are at Mount Sinai.
SPEAKER_00: At Mount Sinai, this is when Moses is up on the mountain and is receiving the law.
SPEAKER_00: So now the Pentecost is a celebration of not just the first fruits, it's a celebration of the 50 days later when Moses received the law.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when Moses received the law in the Old Testament, he's up on the mountain on Mount Sinai.
SPEAKER_00: The people get weary and waiting, and they make a golden calf.
SPEAKER_00: They make this golden calf, they make this idol, and when they make the idol, they begin to worship at the idol.
SPEAKER_00: And God hears what is happening here, knows what's going on, and when the law comes down from Mount Sinai, 3,000 people ended up dying there at Mount Sinai.
SPEAKER_00: This is what happens at the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Now, fast forward to the New Testament and what we read in just Acts chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same celebration of Pentecost, and they remember that 3,000 people died on Pentecost.
SPEAKER_00: But now I want you to look at Acts chapter 2, verse number 37.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to see a divine reversal that is happening here.
SPEAKER_00: When the people, Acts chapter 2, verse number 37, when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what shall we do?
SPEAKER_00: Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: This the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.
SPEAKER_00: With many other words, he warned them and he pleaded with them Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number 41.
SPEAKER_00: Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
SPEAKER_00: When the law came down, death showed up.
SPEAKER_00: When the spirit comes down, life shows up.
SPEAKER_00: Because the spirit brings life.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the picture that we are getting from the New Testament of what it looks like to live this spirit empowered and filled life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as we are called to this life, there is a battle that we face.
SPEAKER_00: There's a struggle that we end up being in.
SPEAKER_00: And the struggle is not just like with good and evil.
SPEAKER_00: The New Testament will use the language of spirit and flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Spirit and flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Galatians chapter 5, verse number 16.
SPEAKER_00: You can look it up.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna put it on the screen for us as well.
SPEAKER_00: Galatians chapter 5, verse 16, it says, walk by the spirit, and you won't gratify the desires or the cravings, the yearnings of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Walk by the spirit and you won't satisfy the yearnings, the desires, the cravings of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: What's the flesh?
SPEAKER_00: The flesh is this fallen piece of us.
SPEAKER_00: This flesh is the part of us that has been broken and stained by sin, and its urges are not for godly things.
SPEAKER_00: It's for selfish things.
SPEAKER_00: Its urges are are not to honor but to dishonor.
SPEAKER_00: Its urges aren't to kind of put things together, it's really designed around self.
SPEAKER_00: The flesh would have a preoccupation with making sure it's satisfied, and it will put on the back burner God being satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: Can I borrow somebody's phone?
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully it's the iPhone.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, good, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Summer.
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't hold a Samsung.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, why would I?
SPEAKER_00: I'm joking, okay.
SPEAKER_00: I'm joking.
SPEAKER_00: I said that joke one time, somebody emailed me.
SPEAKER_00: They were like, well, you know, my phone, and I don't want to spend so much money on a phone.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_00: So I wrote back.
SPEAKER_00: I wrote back, mind your business.
SPEAKER_00: I brought back, leave the church.
SPEAKER_00: No, I didn't.
SPEAKER_00: I wanted to.
SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: Samsung and all.
SPEAKER_00: Uh with phones.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm joking, y'all.
SPEAKER_00: I want I want everybody to stay.
SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: Um, there was a day, there was a day in human society that you never saw a picture of yourself.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, at least it was rare.
SPEAKER_00: There was a day mirrors were not everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: Even portraits were rare and expensive.
SPEAKER_00: Matter of fact, there was a day, and some of us are old enough to remember this, you actually had to take a picture, and you had to then take that film and put it in that little bag.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody remember?
SPEAKER_00: Take it to CVS or Walgreens or Walmart or something, and then you left your film with them, and you came back days later.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, when Polaroids came out, we were like, oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00: You know, came out, and you're like, you're blowing on it?
SPEAKER_00: Trying to see the picture.
SPEAKER_00: I still remember taking film to the store and waiting for it to get developed before I could ever see the picture.
SPEAKER_00: And then you find out, oh my goodness, my cousin's finger was over the lens the entire time.
SPEAKER_00: Every single picture was ruined.
SPEAKER_00: That's not today.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a new day.
SPEAKER_00: The new day is a selfie day.
SPEAKER_00: It's where cameras change from being outward facing.
SPEAKER_00: Now cameras are inward facing.
SPEAKER_00: And this is normal to us.
SPEAKER_00: But for even in the 50s, this wouldn't have been normal.
SPEAKER_00: But now it makes sense for us to see ourselves not one time a day, not two times a day, not three, four.
SPEAKER_00: We can see ourselves hundreds of times a day.
SPEAKER_00: We have in our hand the ability to find out what we look like and what we sound like at any point in time in the day.
SPEAKER_00: And this is normal to us.
SPEAKER_00: This let's take a selfie.
SPEAKER_00: No, I don't like that angle.
SPEAKER_00: Let's do it again.
SPEAKER_00: And again, and again.
SPEAKER_00: It's like that song Another One.
SPEAKER_00: Another one is on the way.
SPEAKER_00: Anytime my wife says, Hey, want to take a picture?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, we're not taking a picture.
SPEAKER_00: I know we're not taking a picture.
SPEAKER_00: If I was doing it, it would be a picture.
SPEAKER_00: I'm glad, honey.
SPEAKER_00: I'm glad we're able to take a lot of pictures.
SPEAKER_00: And my wife will fight for it.
SPEAKER_00: She'll fight to get the best picture possible.
SPEAKER_00: She's like, Earl, why are you doing that with your face?
SPEAKER_00: This is my face, honey.
SPEAKER_00: This is my face.
SPEAKER_00: I I literally can't do anything but be have this face.
SPEAKER_00: This is all, yeah, but fix it.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for me.
SPEAKER_00: I uh but she's just trying to get the best shot.
SPEAKER_00: She's just trying to get the best shot, which I which I which I appreciate.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but the idea is everything now itself.
SPEAKER_00: Flesh.
SPEAKER_00: And we're called to not live by flesh and self.
SPEAKER_00: We're called to live by spirit.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So now what are we to do?
SPEAKER_00: What are we to do when we live in a world that is preoccupied with you?
SPEAKER_00: But the gospel is not a message that's all about you, it's a message that's all about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So now we find ourselves rubbing up against, we we're in a conflict, we're in a battle because the flesh says you better get vengeance, and the spirit says, walk in forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: The flesh says, make it about you, but the spirit says, make it about God.
SPEAKER_00: The flesh says that I gotta have my own way, and the spirit says, Not my will, God's will be done.
SPEAKER_00: And now we're at odds and we've got this wrestle.
SPEAKER_00: This is what's happening with so many of us, and we're losing the battle because many of us are saying, I actually don't really want God's way, I want my own way.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna talk about that for just a second.
SPEAKER_00: Go with me to John chapter 7.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John 7.
SPEAKER_00: Look at these words of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 7, verse number 38.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is speaking here and he says, Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, when Jesus is saying as Scripture has said, he's quoting, he's talking about the Old Testament, because the New Testament had not yet been put together.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever believes in me, Jesus says, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
SPEAKER_00: So if you believe in Jesus, there is access to rivers of living water flowing from you.
SPEAKER_00: Not just a trickle, rivers of living water flowing from within you.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number 39.
SPEAKER_00: Now he explains to us what Jesus was saying.
SPEAKER_00: By this he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
SPEAKER_00: Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
SPEAKER_00: So, for the follower of Jesus, there is a river that will flow from within.
SPEAKER_00: A river that will flow from within.
SPEAKER_00: Now we understand that this river that will flow from within is the spirit, the Holy Spirit flowing from within this believer to impact the world around him or her.
SPEAKER_00: Go with me now to Ezekiel.
SPEAKER_00: Because I wrestled with Jesus said that the scripture has said, and I was like, well, what scripture?
SPEAKER_00: Because I want to read the scripture.
SPEAKER_00: In Isaiah and other places.
SPEAKER_00: But I was reading through it and I came across this, and I felt like this could have been what Jesus was talking about.
SPEAKER_00: This scripture, Ezekiel chapter 47, verse number one.
SPEAKER_00: It says, The man brought the man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple.
SPEAKER_00: There's a word again toward the east.
SPEAKER_00: For the temple, there's a word again, faced east.
SPEAKER_00: The water was coming down from under the south side, south side of the temple, south of the altar.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me, verse number one.
SPEAKER_00: In verse number one, we see the word temple, I think, four different times.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe five.
SPEAKER_00: Temple, temple, temple, temple, temple, temple, temple.
SPEAKER_00: The water is flowing from the temple.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Out of your belly will flow rivers of living water.
SPEAKER_00: And so now I'm like, huh.
SPEAKER_00: If I go to First Corinthians chapter 3, verse 16, and I'll put it on the screen for you, we find out here who's the temple.
unknown: Us come on.
unknown: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we're piecing everything together here.
SPEAKER_00: We're piecing everything together.
SPEAKER_00: We're piecing it together that from the temple there's some water flowing.
SPEAKER_00: We find out that Jesus said, Out of your bellies will flow rivers of living water, and we find out that we now are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Now, how do you become the temple of the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_00: Great question.
SPEAKER_00: The way you become the temple of the Holy Spirit is to say, Jesus, I receive the free gift of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: It is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and that and that alone.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be a certain skin color, a certain gender, you do not have to have a certain height, you don't have to make a certain amount of money, you don't have to have a certain skill, you don't have to have a certain background.
SPEAKER_00: Your parents could have been married or your parents could be divorced.
SPEAKER_00: You might know who your parents are, you might not know who they are.
SPEAKER_00: But the second, by grace through faith in Jesus, you surrender your heart and your life to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit fills you in that moment.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to speak in tongues in order to have the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to do some strong dance in order to have the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to have goosebumps in order to have the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You just have to have to have faith in Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And when you do, the spirit not only draws you, but seals you and fills you in that moment.
SPEAKER_00: And this is for every one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Now we talked a couple weeks ago about that shirt at the uh at the thrift store that we buy, and we buy the shirt, but it's still dirty, and then the shirt has to be cleaned, and that's a great picture of us that we were bought by a with a price that that's sanctive, that's salvation, that's justification.
SPEAKER_00: And then when we come home and have to be washed, that's the process of sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: So even though it's the free gift of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: We are now partnering with God and surrendering to the work of the Spirit so we can become the men and women that He's called us to be.
SPEAKER_00: So what I see in my head is I see all of us getting the revelation, the understanding that you're not just some random person walking around that's trying to get in shape or has this business or is leading this company or trying to get this thing off the ground or going to school.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to see yourself as a temple of the Holy Spirit, and it's supposed to be a river that is flowing from you, and it's not supposed to just be a trickle, it's supposed to be a river that's flowing through you.
SPEAKER_00: But we have normalized the trickle in this version of Christianity, and I want to break that line and say there's another level of strength and anointing and power and glory that can flow from you when you and I begin to understand how God designed us to work.
SPEAKER_00: So go with me now to verse number two.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this.
SPEAKER_00: As the man, oh, he then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east.
SPEAKER_00: And the water was trickling, trickling from the south side.
SPEAKER_00: As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle deep.
SPEAKER_00: He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee deep.
SPEAKER_00: He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist.
SPEAKER_00: He measured off another thousand.
SPEAKER_00: But now it was a river that I could not cross because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in.
SPEAKER_00: A river that no one could cross.
SPEAKER_00: He asked me, Son of man, do you see this?
SPEAKER_00: Can you pass me a little measuring cup in there?
SPEAKER_00: Old school, thank you, sir.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So I got this little measuring cup.
SPEAKER_00: I went on a mission trip to India.
SPEAKER_00: This is decades ago now.
SPEAKER_00: That should be before I was married.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh I was in college and went on this mission trip to India, and what we're gonna be doing is just you know serving the beautiful people of uh that nation, and we were building homes and digging trenches and uh preaching the gospel, and it just it was it was a wonderful time, changed my life, transformed me in a powerful, powerful way.
SPEAKER_00: And uh so we are traveling from the States to India, and it is it was a long travel time.
SPEAKER_00: We had a matter of fact, had to sleep for eight hours in the airport in South India before we made our way up to Hyderabad.
SPEAKER_00: We get to Hyderabad, we are exhausted, and we end up in this compound that was kind of owned by this church, and we're we're there, and it's time now for the shower.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, man, I can't wait to get it clean, and I go and I we get to the shower and I open the door, and all I see is a little cup like this, and a little like bucket or bowl of water.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, God, this is for you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need a shower.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a man of God.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever tried to lather?
SPEAKER_00: And all you got is this.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm trying to get all lathered up, but I can't.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like when you go to a hotel and it's got that bad, you know, water pressure, you're like, oh my God.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
SPEAKER_00: Trying to get all the water on there's nothing.
SPEAKER_00: So I get back to uh the room and I'm like, all right, Lord, I'm in though, I'm in for two months.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be here, and I don't care that I gotta take a shower like that because God, I'm here for you.
SPEAKER_00: And then one of my teammates comes in, Teddy comes in, and Teddy walks in and he looks refreshed.
SPEAKER_00: He's like he's got his towel, he's got his hair, he's going like this.
SPEAKER_00: Uh he's a redhead uh too, so it looked like his body was all red too.
SPEAKER_00: He had like steam coming off of his body.
SPEAKER_00: It looked like he had a really hot shower, like a hot, hot shower.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, man, how did he do that with that little butt, that little measuring cup?
SPEAKER_00: What is going on here?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Teddy, what about your shower?
SPEAKER_00: He goes, Oh man, that was the best shower I've ever had after this travel.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what are you talking about, man?
SPEAKER_00: I had that little cup, and I was just trying to dump it on my head.
SPEAKER_00: He goes, bro, I don't know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: I was in the stall two down from you, and that water was flowing so good, so hot.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm thinking, this is a picture of a lot of us following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We are content this little bit, and we think this is all there is, Lord, I'll do it.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord's like, bruh, I got a shower, two stalls down, where I will flow out on you in a way that will drench you and fill you and impact you and change you and refresh you, and this is what we are being invited into.
SPEAKER_00: But we have normalized some version of Christianity that is so powerless and anemic and not dependent upon the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: We don't even want to ask God for miracles because we're like, what if it doesn't happen?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, There's rivers of living water that are designed to flow from within you, and this is not just for church.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking rivers of living water impacting every area of your life, and I'm gonna prove it to you.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this verse right here.
SPEAKER_00: Look at these verses.
SPEAKER_00: Go to verse number uh of six again.
SPEAKER_00: Son of man, do you see this?
SPEAKER_00: Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
SPEAKER_00: When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.
SPEAKER_00: He said to me, This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah where it enters the Dead Sea when it empties into the sea.
SPEAKER_00: The salty water there becomes fresh.
SPEAKER_00: Is there any place in your life that is salty water right now?
SPEAKER_00: I need you to know that you have access to the river of the living God flowing from within you.
SPEAKER_00: So this is not just for church, this is for your job, this is for your home, this is for your neighborhood, this is for your family, this is for your community.
SPEAKER_00: You're not supposed to have some little trickle, it's not supposed to be ankle deep or knee deep or waist deep.
SPEAKER_00: It's supposed to be a river that flows and it turns salty things fresh.
SPEAKER_00: Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows, there will be large numbers of fish because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh.
SPEAKER_00: So where the river flows, everything will live.
SPEAKER_00: Fishermen will stand along the shoreline.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, I didn't even know that was in there.
SPEAKER_00: From Engedi to Engel, there will be places for spreading nets.
SPEAKER_00: The fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.
SPEAKER_00: But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh.
SPEAKER_00: They will be left for salt.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12, fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both sides of the river.
SPEAKER_00: Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail.
SPEAKER_00: Every month they will bear fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.
SPEAKER_00: Their fruit will serve for food, and their leaves for healing.
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, yes, we are the temple, but we're not God.
SPEAKER_00: It's a spirit, the Holy Spirit flowing from within us that begins to nourish everything around us.
SPEAKER_00: But I love this imagery here that it starts off as a trickle and then it's ankle deep, and then it's knee deep, and then it's waist deep, and then it's a river that you have to swim in.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm wondering about your life and my life.
SPEAKER_00: Do an assessment.
SPEAKER_00: Would you say you're at the trickle level in your walk with God?
SPEAKER_00: Ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep.
SPEAKER_00: I can't judge where you're at, but I'm asking you if you had to assess where you are, you had to assess your level of surrender.
SPEAKER_00: Because how do you go from one level to another?
SPEAKER_00: How do you continue to progress?
SPEAKER_00: The reality is some of us are like, man, I'm just fine with ankle.
SPEAKER_00: Because at ankle depth I can control.
SPEAKER_00: At knee depth, I can control.
SPEAKER_00: At waist depth, I can control.
SPEAKER_00: But if it gets to a river that no one can cross, that means I'm no longer in control.
SPEAKER_00: And what I'm encouraging you is you will not experience the fullness of God's power in your life if you don't drive and strive and yearn and pray for the place where you are at the river where you cannot touch the bottom.
SPEAKER_00: You'll go to heaven, yes.
SPEAKER_00: You're saved, yes.
SPEAKER_00: But there will be some living things that won't turn to living things because they're still be salty, because you and I were not willing to say, God, let the river flow, let it come out of me, let the spirit be in me and through me, all that he wants to be in me and through me, and we will stifle what God is wanting to do in our generation.
SPEAKER_00: This is where God invites you to partner with him to make it on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I was studying this and read one of Spurgeon's sermons on this text, and and he and he talks about uh swimming in this river.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Don't just float in it, swim in it.
SPEAKER_00: In an arday and age, we might just want to float.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, God loves me.
SPEAKER_00: I love my worship songs.
SPEAKER_00: I'm happy, I'm good, I'm content, I'm fine.
SPEAKER_00: And we've lost the art of partnering with God and moving in the flow of the spirit so we can be all that God has called us to be.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you this, as your dependence and your surrender increase, the spirit's work in your life will also increase.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're trying to figure out how do I unlock this, it's not through like some certain behavior per se.
SPEAKER_00: It's the you and I going, Lord, I surrender.
SPEAKER_00: I just I'm done.
SPEAKER_00: I'm done trying to control my life.
SPEAKER_00: I'm done trying to be I'm done trying to be in charge.
SPEAKER_00: I'm done.
SPEAKER_00: I surrender my life to you.
SPEAKER_00: How do you start your day?
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a secret here.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you start your day just on your phone or just kind of figuring out what you look like and feel like, I just feel like let's make a tweak here.
SPEAKER_00: Let's start our days and say, God, today I surrender fresh and new.
SPEAKER_00: Let your spirit flow through me in a way that brings life to everybody around me today.
SPEAKER_00: So wherever I find myself, I'm not walking into that place in my own strength and power.
SPEAKER_00: I'm walking in, asking that the Holy Spirit would begin to water and feed and nourish everybody around me.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not just hating my coworkers.
SPEAKER_00: I'm asking for this salty water to turn fresh as the Spirit of God flows through me.
SPEAKER_00: Now there will be some places it's gonna stay a swamp.
SPEAKER_00: I like that that's in there.
SPEAKER_00: There'll be some places that it stays a marsh.
SPEAKER_00: That's true, but there's also some places where some things can grow because the spirit of the living God flows through you there.
SPEAKER_00: And right now, nothing's growing because the spirit has not been released to flow and work in that area.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're wondering why your hospital might feel the way it feels, or your co-workers might feel the way they feel, or your neighborhood might feel the way it feels, maybe it's because you and I are just floating and not swimming.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's because you and I are content with the trickle and the ankle and the knee and the waist, but we haven't been willing to say, God, I want in my marriage the type of marriage where the river of God is flowing through me, so that my wife and my kids or my husband begin to change because of something that has happened in me and something that's happening through me.
SPEAKER_00: This is an invitation to all of us to a new level of surrender, a Holy Spirit-empowered life, not some little measuring cup that's giving us a little sprinkle, but a refreshing oasis where the spirit is poured out, where the fire falls, and we're not trying to put it out.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, we say, God, light a fire within me, and let me be the man or woman you call me to be in my generation.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to bow your head for just a moment, family.
SPEAKER_00: I ask you to bow your head just so you can focus for just a second.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna give people an opportunity to respond to the salvation call.
SPEAKER_00: But first, I want to say, if you're under the sound of my voice and you're like, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I want a new level of surrender.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I want in my life.
SPEAKER_00: I want a new level of surrender to the Spirit because I want the Spirit flowing from within me.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to put your hands in a posture to receive, because I'm gonna pray over every single one of us right now.
SPEAKER_00: Because as I was working on this message, I was like, God, do this in me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want an ankle, I don't want a knee, I don't want a waist deep, I want to be in this river that no one can cross.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I want that I want your spirit flowing out of me in that way.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, you see your sons and daughters with their hands open and their hearts open, and they are saying, I don't want the trickle, I don't want the little measuring cup, I don't want just some normalized, weak version of Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: I want the real thing, I want the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to change and transform me from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, would you fill us up afresh and anew to be your sons and daughters and to be your hands and your feet in our generation?
SPEAKER_00: I ask for a fresh fire, I ask for new rivers, I ask for a flood, I ask for an outpouring, I ask for a breakthrough, I ask that we would not be content with ankle and knee and waist deep.
SPEAKER_00: I ask that we would desire to go to the place that you call us to go.
SPEAKER_00: So let the word of God and the scriptures come alive to us, Spirit of the living God, fill us up today and make us into the men and women you've called us to be.
SPEAKER_00: We say we surrender, we surrender in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: As your heads are bowed, if you've under the sound of my voice and you've never given your heart and your life to Christ, you've never made him number one, you've never made him the boss of your life, but you're saying you don't want to go your own way, you want to go his way.
SPEAKER_00: On the count of three, I want you to do something simple but bold.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to throw your hands in the air and say, Yes, that's me.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give my heart and my life to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: If that's you, again, you've never given your heart to Christ, or one point in time you didn't, you've slipped away.
SPEAKER_00: And today you want to rededicate your life to serving him.
SPEAKER_00: On the count of three, just throw your hand up, ready.
SPEAKER_00: One, two, three.
SPEAKER_00: Just lift your hand up, you're saying, Yep, that's me.
SPEAKER_00: This is beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: Friends of the balcony on the floor.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure we got friends online right now saying, Yeah, that's me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to go my own way.
SPEAKER_00: I want to go the way of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I want to turn from my own direction and go his direction.
SPEAKER_00: This is beautiful and powerful.
SPEAKER_00: We celebrate this moment right here for every person.
SPEAKER_00: Put your hand over your heart if you would not mind.
SPEAKER_00: And I want everyone to repeat this prayer out loud after me.
SPEAKER_00: Say, dear Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all my sins.
SPEAKER_00: I admit I've made mistakes.
SPEAKER_00: And today, I give you my heart, I give you my life, give me the power to live for you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen and amen.