The God With In

Have you ever felt like you don't have what it takes to face what's in front of you? The good news is that if you've put your faith in Jesus, you're not fighting alone. The Holy Spirit doesn't just come alongside you He lives within you.

In this message, Pastor Chip Dandridge explores what it means to have the Spirit of God living inside every believer. Discover how His presence gives you strength, guidance, truth, and the power to live the life God has called you to live.

Stop searching for what God has already placed within you.

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Thank you for listening, sharing, praying, and partnering with Harmony Vineyard Church as we help people experience God, find their people, and discover their purpose.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

We are a church that loves the Holy Spirit, which is a good thing. We value a relationship with the Holy Spirit because we know that without Him we really can't do anything. So I wanted to start with the question, and I wanted to start with the title first. The name of this message is The God Within. When I first said that, I was kind of like, well, are people gonna think I'm saying they're gods? No, I'm not saying that. If you think that you need to knock yourself down a couple pegs because you're not. But Kathleen, what I'm gonna get you to do is actually leave up my scripture this time, because I'm just kind of gonna be going from that. So thank you so much, though. Do you know the God within? It's a good question. Do you know the Holy Spirit? I know you know God. We say it all the time: Father, Father, our Father, and that's good. He is. Jesus. We say Jesus, Jesus all the time. We pray to Jesus. But do we actually know the Holy Spirit, who God said is the helper, who abides inside of us. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless. And if you continue to read, you'll find that it says something interesting. The Spirit of God, it's not up there, you should know it by heart. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters, the waters of chaos. We see that the Holy Spirit is not some new idea Jesus came up with at the last minute because he had to go back to heaven. We see that the Holy Spirit is not less powerful than God the Father or Jesus Christ. In fact, we see, as we sang earlier, you are Alpha and Omega. The Holy Spirit as well is Alpha and Omega. He is also the beginning and the end. Why? Because he's three in one. You see, Jesus is not more powerful than the Holy Spirit. In fact, everything Jesus did was through the power of the Holy Spirit, including his resurrection. So we have this God who not only took part in creating whatever existed before the universe, the God that, and we don't often think of this, the God that not only laid the foundations of the earth, but the God that laid the foundations of heaven. That God, the God, the Holy Spirit that the Bible says raised Jesus from the dead. Are you getting this? Raised him from the dead, brought order into the chaos of this earth, is the God within you. Are we living like that kind of God is in us? Have we got, have we tried to get to know the God that's within us? Not as magic tricks, so to speak. I love a physical healing. I love it. I believe in it. I promote it. I believe it's gonna happen this morning. Amen. I love a mental and emotional healing. I love, I've seen things that I can't even describe. I've seen rooms filled with glory and literal smoke from the present, I don't care if you think I'm crazy, with the presence of the Holy Spirit. I've seen, I've literally seen wounds heal up. I've seen, I love all of those things, but if we only look at the things, we miss the person. And we can't miss the person. Because the more you get to know him, the more you don't even have to focus on those things because those things become a natural outflow of knowing and walking with the person of the Spirit.

unknown 4:14

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

That's the God inside of you. Look at your neighbor and say, God's inside of you. So when we look at this scripture of Jesus talking, and we're going to break some of this down throughout the next few weeks, but it says this Jesus says, I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever. So the first thing we learn about the Holy Spirit is he's not coming to impose himself, he's not coming to knock you down, he's not coming to condemn you, he is coming to help you. He is coming to help you, and not only that, it says that he may abide with you forever. That means as alone as you may feel, you're never alone in life once you're a believer. I know because it's happened to me, there are days you get up and you say, I can't believe what's going on in my life. I can't believe the things I'm having to face. Is can anybody help me? Does anybody care? Can somebody come through? The answer is yes, and he's already in you. And it's the Holy Spirit. And if you cry out to him for help, he will answer. And it doesn't just have to be spiritual stuff. Many of you have seen the many times I've prayed and my car starts. I mean, I don't have a choice. There's things in life where you don't have a choice. The problem is most of us are well off enough to have a choice. Why would I pray? I'll take it to the mechanic. You think the mechanic knows more about mechanics than the great mechanic? Oh, I'm sick. I'm gonna go to the doctor. I'm not saying don't go to the doctor. But did you stop to pray about it first? We don't truly believe the God within us is all powerful. We use him like a vitamin supplement. Well, I'll do everything I need in the Holy Spirit. If you could help, that'd be great. That's not how it works. The devil wants you to believe you're isolated, the devil wants you to believe you're alone, the devil wants you to believe no one's coming to save you, no one's coming to help you, the devil wants you to believe you have to grind it out and you just have to do it, and it's gonna be that's not true. You have to rest in knowing that the God within us, the helper, the Holy Spirit, will help you through every trial and every issue that you will ever come against. And not only that, well, we'll get to that. I'm jumping at, I'm getting too excited. Number two, he is a person, not a force. I was doing discipleship the other day, I won't mention names, but they're in this room. No, I'm kidding, Jordan. And uh, we were talking about the Holy Spirit, and he said I said, What is the Holy Spirit? He it's okay if I call him out, he likes it. Um if you're my friend, you're going in a sermon. That's how it works that's how it works. And I said, tell me about the Holy Spirit, and he said, Well, it's da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I said, I want you to leave out, I said, wrong. No, I think I kept going wrong. And I'd say, say it again, and he'd say, and I'd say, wrong. And he's saying he said, wrong. I said, now leave out all those words, except for the first word. And he's like, it's how many times do we refer to the Holy Spirit as it? It's He. You don't refer to Jesus as it? You don't refer to the, and I'm not picking on Jordan. He's a newer Christian. And most of old, the older Christians still don't get this. They really don't. They think the father, the son, and the less successful brother, Holy Spirit. That's not that's not how the Trinity works, my friends. It's not how it works. But we'll say, what is the Holy Spirit? Most people would describe, oh, he's a force. He's an energy. It was sitting Star Wars. He's a force, he's an energy, he's a this, he's a that. No, he has a force, and he has an energy, and he has a power, but he is a person. He has a will, he has feelings, he has emotions. You can hurt the Holy Spirit. Did you know that? The Bible says you can grieve him. The Bible says you can lie to him. How do I know? Because Ananias and Sapphira, what do they do? They come and they say, Oh, we sold the land, here's the money, they kept some back for themselves. What does Peter say? You have lied to the Holy Spirit, and then they die. So don't do that. And that was New Testament. Sometimes we don't realize that. Sometimes we forget. God's still pretty serious in the New Testament. The Old Testament wasn't, you know, the work week and Jesus comes in for casual Friday. That's not how it goes. We've got to get to know the personality and the ways of the Holy Spirit. Guess what? The Holy Spirit's personality is not yours. If the Holy Spirit always sounds like you, walks like you, talks like you, only does the things you want to do, that's not the Holy Spirit. That's a different type of spirit. That's a selfish spirit. That's a prideful spirit. If you're, I'll never forget it. I was in a meeting one time, and somebody said, Well, what if your Holy Spirit says something different than your Holy Spirit? And then your Holy Spirit, there's one. And if we can't agree, either we're all missing it or we need to pray for the one who is. You see, the Holy Spirit has opinions. There's things the Holy Spirit doesn't like to watch on TV. There's things the Holy Spirit doesn't want you smoking. There's things the Holy Spirit doesn't want you drinking. And understand, this is why it's important. Because some people can do some things and other people can't. For example, there's some people the Holy Spirit don't want you eating ice cream. Why? Because you're gonna have the whole gallon. You know what I'm saying? There's some people the Holy Spirit doesn't want you to have a fast car. Why? Because you speed.

unknown 10:40

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

I'm letting it settle in. You see what I'm saying? The whole the Bible says all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. And if we don't listen to the Spirit and we try to follow strict rules without the Spirit, that becomes the law, and you can't keep the law. Because if you could, we wouldn't need Jesus Christ. So we understand the Spirit can be grieved. The Spirit speaks to us. A force and a feeling cannot speak. He speaks to our spirit, so it's a little different sometimes. But you have to start to learn, yes, the Spirit is inside of you, but the Spirit is not you. That's we can't always say, I want to do this, Holy Spirit, bless it. When was the last time you asked the Holy Spirit, what should we do? What should I do today? How should I serve today? Who should I minister to today? Let me ask you this. When was the last time the Holy Spirit told you not to get up in front of people? That's a good question for preachers. If the Holy Spirit tells you you always have to have the mic and no one can preach like you, and nobody can go, then guess what? That's not the Holy Spirit. If you're not being led into humility, then you're not being led by the Spirit of God. If you're always led, the Holy Spirit is not here to platform you in any area of your life. The Holy Spirit is not here for you to believe you are better than other people, that you are more gifted, that you are more talented, that somehow your prayer is the most powerful prayer. That is not the Spirit. Because I've seen the Spirit use a person that has just been saved who's still addicted to drugs and can pray heaven down because their heart has not yet been corrupted with religion. It's a he. He's an I'm saying it now. He's not an it. He is a he.

unknown 12:41

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Get to know him, and that's what we're gonna do. And I'm not trying to be harsh, but I also I don't, we can't sugarcoat everything all the time.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Come on.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

And I'm not gonna like I've ever done that. You know, like what are you talking about? Number three, he will abide with us forever. Wow. He will abide with us forever. Do you know what that means? The reason Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, because he was leaving. And what is Jesus' promise? I will not leave you as orphans. Many of us have lived a life where people that were supposed to be forever people turned out to be pretty temporary. People that were supposed to have your back turned into people that talked behind your back. People that used to elevate you now hate on you. Some of you have grown up in families where your parents left you, abandoned you. You've had friends abandon you, you've had everybody leave you. So, what better gift than knowing I am not a fair weather friend as the Holy Spirit? I am with you forever. King David didn't have this. See, in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit could only come upon people. He did not dwell inside of people. So we see David in Psalm 51. What is his prayer after all these things? He didn't say, Lord, don't take the kingdom, Lord, don't take my power, Lord, don't take my he says, Lord, please don't take your spirit from me. Because he didn't have the guarantee. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the seal and the guarantee of our salvation. If you believe in Jesus, you have received the Spirit inside of you. Yes, there is a time where the Spirit comes upon you and baptizes you and fire and empower, and you can walk in the ministry that is supernatural. And I believe everybody's called to that, but not everybody makes the choice to do that. But if you're a believer, you don't get a choice. The Holy Spirit comes. And not only does he come inside of you and live inside of you, he is sticking with you. There is nothing you can do to make the Holy Spirit leave you. I've heard people argue a couple times in my life, believe it or not, is it once saved, always saved? Or when you sin, are you not saved anymore? Or are you backslidted? What's going on? We always talk about that. Do you believe in Jesus? But an interesting thing about that is if a believer never renounces their faith but falls into sin, does the Holy Spirit leave them? No. Now, I can't speak for if you renounce your faith in God. I don't know what happens then. I can't pretend to. But I know that no matter what happens for the rest of your life, there is someone that's with you forever. When your spouse is gone, when you're lonely, when you don't know what to do, when everybody else has walked out, the Holy Spirit, He is there. He doesn't abandon, He doesn't lie. He's a Spirit of truth. That means if He says forever, he means forever. That means when you're 90 years old, the same Holy Spirit will be with you and He'll say, look at the things we've walked through. And there's still more to come. Because we live from glory to glory. There's not a point where God retires you from glory. It doesn't happen that way. We live from glory to glory until we reach heaven. And if you say, Well, Chip, my life hasn't been that way, that's because you're mistaking success with glory. You're mistaking platform with glory. You're mistaking finances with glory. No, glory to glory means we're moving with God to greater things each time. Sometimes moving with God is stepping back. It's not always stepping forward. Sometimes it's giving something up, it's not always gaining something. Pruning is glory. Because you can have a beautiful plant, but if it becomes overgrown and no one ever prunes it, that plant stops growing. I thank him for that. Amen. I thank him for the people and the things that he cut out of my life. As I alluded to a moment ago, he is the spirit of truth. You have inside of you the source of truth in a world full of lies. I don't. But the government that I watch is not in this world, but it's in this book. Because the Holy Spirit, He will tell you the things through discernment that you need to know. You do not need to base your life on what the news says. You do not need to base your life on what the preacher says. You need to base your life on what the Holy Spirit says. Because He is the source of all truth. If there are lies that are penetrating your life, if there are lies that you're living under, like many people do, they live under lies that they'll they live under a lie of you're not worth anything and they have low self-esteem. They live under a lie that things won't get better. They live under a lie that they're going to be just like their their family that they don't care for. You live under a lie that their family never loved. And they live under these lies, all while having the truth living right next door in their heart. How sad is it that so many people are taken out by lies, so many believers, yet they have the very spirit of truth within them. All because you won't come out of agreement with the lies. Because what we do is when the Holy Spirit speaks truth to us and says something like, That's not true, you are a good person. That's not true. You can be something, that's not true. There is someone who loves you. That's not. Instead of saying, Holy Spirit, I agree with you, we show them our butts. We say, but see, y'all don't know what I was gonna say. We say, but, Lord, but, but, but this, but that, but this, but the Holy Spirit doesn't base truth on circumstances. Circumstances don't determine truth, facts don't determine truth. The spirit of truth determines the truth. So you can show him your butts all you want, but until you say, Lord, I I I know it doesn't feel true what you're saying to me, but I believe it anyway. I agree with it anyway. Because it's not about feelings, it's about knowing. Sometimes you've got to let what you know outweigh what you feel. It's not always gonna feel great when the spirit corrects you. It's not always gonna feel true. But if he's saying it, it is true. And if he begins to accuse you of sin and all the things you've done wrong, then you say, wait a minute, there's only one accuser of the brethren, and it isn't the Spirit of God. It's Satan, the devil, the evil one, the enemy. Because just as much as the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth, Satan is the father of lies. The Bible says it's his native tongue, that everything he speaks is a lie. That's why he's a serpent in the Bible. Maybe I need to write a book called The Dove and the Serpent. Like the cross and the switchblade, no. But really, that's that's the two worlds we live between, the dove and the serpent. You either believe what the serpent says or you believe what the dove says. Look at the way a dove acts and look at the way a serpent acts. A serpent bites you and it poisons you and it strangles you and it forces itself upon you. And a dove just flutters in and lands on you. And just asks you, can you acknowledge me? Can you acknowledge I'm with you? Doves are they can be they are they can be frightened, they can they have emotions. They're watching you. But what does a serpent do? Its only goal is to kill. Some of us are living under the influence of the father of lies and not the spirit of truth. Some of you are living a lie every day. That's not good. Some of us live lies by ignoring the truth. Well, I'm not gonna name your stuff. Because that'd be rude. But you have the spirit of truth, and he never lies. And I promise you, if you tune into him, he will guide you, he will show you, he will tell you about you, he will tell you about God because the spirit searches the mind of God, the deep things of God, and he brings those things to us. What are you believing that's not from God? And what is it stopping in your life? Interesting little part of the scriptures that says the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. The world can't receive the Holy Spirit. Without salvation, you don't have the Holy Spirit. You hear people say we're all God's children. Well, that's not true, actually. God adopts us through salvation and then seals us through the Holy Spirit, and then we become heirs and co-heirs. We're all God's creation, we're all made in God's image, but we do not always carry the same rights as a child. I look at the kids in the preschool. They are all children, they are not all my children. You see what I'm saying? I have some authority, but ultimately I have no authority when it comes to their parents. Because their parents have legal rights over their children. You following me? Is it making sense? Therefore, the world can't receive the spirit because they're not saved. They're not children of God. They are astray, they are estranged, and until they are adopted into the family of God, they don't get the blessing of the Spirit. Well, Chip, that's not inclusive. Take that up with Jesus. I didn't write it. I didn't come up with this. This isn't something, this isn't just me being, ha ha, we're gonna leave them out. That's not how it works. The world doesn't know him, they don't know him, and I would venture to say they don't understand him. They don't understand what in the I don't get mad at your doctor when they tell you you're sick and you look back at them and say, But I'm healed by the blood of Jesus. What you're saying is correct, but they don't understand it. In fact, they'll look at it as foolishness. That's what the Bible says. The cross is foolishness to the world. Don't be upset when they don't understand it and don't take that as meaning, oh, well, maybe I'm doing something wrong. Maybe you're doing something right. Maybe you don't need to worry about something they can't even comprehend or understand. If someone came up to me right now and started talking to me about quantum physics, please don't, John Potter. I will my eyes would glaze over. And it's not that what he's saying isn't true necessarily. Necessarily. But I just can't comprehend it. I I shouldn't get mad about that. And that's how you've got to live life. You've got to go, you know what, I'm living this way, even if they don't understand it. Even if I look crazy to my family, even if I look crazy to my friends, even if I look crazy to my doctor, even if I look crazy to the bank, even if I look crazy to everybody, I know the truth, and just because you haven't received the spirit of truth doesn't negate that it's true. What we do is we say things that we believe the Holy Spirit says, and we use it to take the temperature. Should I say that around these people? Should I do that here? Should I do this? You don't do that. You walk in, you walk in the truth, and you walk in confidence because they don't see him and they don't know him, therefore they don't understand him. And then it goes on to say, but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

How well do you know him? That's how I want to how I want to land this plane. How well do you know the Holy Spirit? Not what have you read about him? Not how much scripture do you know about him? Not how many Holy Spirit conferences you've gone to. Do you know him the way you know a friend? Do you know him the way you know a family member? Are you walking hand in hand with the spirit, no matter what the world says? Because it says that you know him. But it says it as a statement of fact. What does that mean? Because our spirit is the part of us that is saved and we are saved. Therefore, we know him in the spirit. Our spirit bears witness, his spirit bears witness with our spirit. Amen.