Matlock | 26/07/26 | Who Is In Control? | Phil Hardy

Matlock 

Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/354059/episodes/19551177-matlock-26-07-26-who-is-in-control-phil-hardy.mp3

Phil reminded us that the Spiriit is in control, not the flesh. 

Transcript

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Welcome to the Church in the Peak podcast. We hope you enjoy this message. For more information, visit churchinthepeak.org or come and join us at 10 a.m. every Sunday. If you remember, for those of us who were at Catholic Festival, and uh Banning was saying we're kind of on the cusp of something happening in our nation where something's about to change. It's almost like the head of a baby's crowning, something's happening. And when you hear stories like that and those kind of statistics, it's just really encouraging. And even last week we had Paul Basson with us up in Buxton. Now, Paul's obviously been here a lot, a prophetic guy, and he was preaching on Peter being released from prison. And of course, the church were praying for Peter to be released from prison. And in the prison, while they're praying, the shuttles fall off him, and the prison gate door opens, and he walks out past the guards, and he goes to the house where they're praying and knocks on the door, and they go to the door, someone goes to the door to answer the door, doesn't let Peter in, goes back and says, Peter's at the door. It's almost like a bit of a shock that what they're praying for has actually happened, and Peter's there. And as at the end of that talk, Paul said, I just feel like you know God's saying is there's going to be a day when people are going to be knocking at your door looking for freedom. And as he prophesied it, three people walked in the building, two Ukrainian ladies, and came and asked for freedom. And in that time when Paul's prophesying, God answers the prayer. God demonstrates it and actually does it in that moment. I think we are on the customer. We might not be seeing growth like some of the other places I've seen. We may not be seeing people walking in here week by week, having had dreams. We might not be seeing lots of young men and women coming to faith right now. But let's hold on. Let's press in. Let's keep seeking. Let's go for God because something's going to happen. And I kind of been praying just recently, just in a sense of God, what's next for Church in the Peak? We've two sides. What's next? And I haven't had an answer. So I can't tell you anything. Because I haven't had an answer yet, but I'm still praying. I'm still asking, what's next for Church in the Peak? Where do we go next? What's the next thing? And I think if I was to say what I think I'd like to see or be considering is, well, maybe we fill this and this becomes a multi-service site where we people from Matlock are being saved and added in such numbers that perhaps we need two services. And maybe that's true for all our sites. Actually, the increase comes that we have to have more than one service on a Sunday to accommodate the growth. I don't want to be like that pastor that he turned referred to. I don't want us to be in that position where please don't send in more people because we don't we can't cope with it. It'd be great to have things in place already, wouldn't it? To cope with what God's doing and what God's about, to be ready and prepared. And that was Banning's kind of talk, and encouragement was be prepared, be ready. And so we need to be perhaps thinking and praying what is next, what does come next, and what does that look like, and how do we prepare for it? And how do we get things in place for that? But this is not a vision talk. Um, I'm just sharing a bit of feedback, really, more than anything. Um, but I was just praying this week. I had one of those weeks when I'm praying, God, what do you want me to speak on? What do you want me to speak on? And the heavens are silent. And I thought, am I only preaching because my name's in the rotor? Is that just the reason I've got to come up with something? And I've got to come up with something fast. Or God, have you got something you want to say to your church? And of course, the way God often works with me, it's not until the middle of the night that I get it. And that was Friday night. I got this kind of thought that dropped into my mind. I thought, well, what does where do you want me to go with this, God? So, if you've got a Bible, it'll come up on screen as well. If you open to Romans chapter 8, and I'm going to be obedient and I'm going to put my glasses on to read this. So I'm going to read verses 1 to 11. We know it well, we know this passage well. For those who've been Christians a long time, you will know this really well. But I feel God just wants to encourage our hearts. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own son into in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemns sin in the flesh, in order that the righteousness requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Who walk not according to the flesh. Who live sorry for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. For the for to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For in the mind for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If in fact the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of God does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. It's a great passage of scripture. And I've never done this one, it doesn't seem appropriate somehow, but to preach on the word if. Out of all that, the bit that God highlighted me was this word if. Because it all hinges around that. It all hinges around the if. If you'd like to put the first slide up. Not that one. Is that the first one? Oh, sorry. Yes. The word if. Yeah. Alright, sorry. The word if appears three times in this passage. You, however, are in the flesh, but not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if, in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you. That's what makes the difference of being in the flesh, of being in the spirit, is if God lives in us, if God dwells in us. But if Christ is in you, but if Christ, he himself in you, if the spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, it's that if, the three ifs, that if he dwells in you, things are different. Everything changes. The spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through the Spirit who dwells in you. God wants us to live a life and life to the full. He doesn't want us to be shortchanged. He doesn't want us to live in a sense of spiritual poverty. He wants us to live in the fullness of what He is in us. The life of the Spirit living in us. And I don't think there's a day like the day we're living in our nation where he wants a people who are full of the Spirit. Where he wants a people who are living in the fullness of the Spirit and living a life of the Spirit that people can see that, that we're open, we're hearing what the Spirit's saying, and we're expressing that in the sphere of influence that God's given us to bring others into a knowledge of Jesus Christ. It's great when this supernatural things happen, and there is in that story there's supernatural things happening. But actually, God still wants to use us. He could do it all by himself, easily do it all by himself. You know, we could turn up one Sunday morning and they're queuing down the road to get in the place because God's done something sovereign. But he chooses to use us, he chooses that the life of the spirit that he's put in us might be to the benefit of others, both in the church and out of the church. So it depends on if he dwells in us, and if we're allowing him to live out that life of the spirit through us. God wants us to full spirit. And if you put the next slide up, this is the kind of contrast. Negative state when we're not in Christ. Everything is negative. But when we're in Christ in us and we're in Christ, we're in this fresh realm of the spirit where life comes, where we can be open to the Holy Spirit, where he can speak to us. But the question sometimes, first question in this passage is if Jesus was raised from the dead. Because actually that's what really counts. Because if that same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lived in us will give us life. So we have to be fully, fully given to the truth that Jesus is alive. And he was raised from the dead. And there's other some people that say that he isn't. But he has been raised from the dead. We need to believe that with all our hearts. Because actually, it's that same spirit. We need to be convinced by that same spirit that Jesus is alive. He has been raised from the dead. The tomb is empty. He was seen by over 500 people after his resurrection. There's lots of evidence, and I haven't got time to go into the evidence, but there's lots of evidence that he has been raised from the dead. We need to choose to believe that Jesus died and rose again and has conquered sin and death, paid the price for our sin, and made a way for us to the Father. That we can be filled with the Spirit. And we can live a life of the Spirit, and we can live in the fullness of the Spirit. And here, Paul, writing to the Romans, had an encounter. He knew it because of an encounter with the Holy Spirit. On the road to Damascus, he had this amazing encounter where Jesus revealed himself. And it's great that those encounters still happen today. As it happened for you. And are we having that ongoing encounter with Jesus? Are we being filled? Are we having that recognizing Jesus again and again, knowing him, experiencing him time and time again? The Holy Spirit was never meant to be a one-off event being filled with the Holy Spirit. It's meant to be a daily ongoing being filled with the Holy Spirit. It's meant to be a life lived by the Spirit. It's meant to be a case of hearing him, knowing him, having fellowship with the Holy Spirit, hearing what he's saying, going where he's leading, doing what he's doing. Line up and agreeing with him and moving on. But then there's the if of our salvation, our conversion. Have you received the Spirit of God into your heart? If you have, you've got life. Does the Spirit of God lead your life? Do you look to Him? Do you rely on Him? Do you commune with Him? Do you know that you're a child of God? Are you living in the good of what it is to be a child of God? And have you begun to live out the character of God in your life? Because of the Spirit that dwells within you. And that means putting an end to sin. That means being radical with sin in our lives. That means living right before God. Because the Spirit of God prompts us from within of what is right. Are we engaging with Him, knowing? Being challenged by the Holy Spirit of what right things to do, right things to say, places to go, and how we live. In the flesh means that we're absent, an absence of the indwelling spirit. Person considered to be in the flesh is devoid of God's presence within them. Separate from Christ's internal presence. Christ not in, not living within, lack of resurrection power. Now we can we can still, even with Christ in us, we can choose not to live in the good of the resurrection power within us. But knowing him, he's been raised from the dead, and that same power, that power that gave life to Adam in the beginning, that same power that raised Jesus from the dead, now lives in us. We believe for our good. In the spirit is a person no longer defined as being in the flesh. The opposite. We're not in the flesh anymore, but now in the spirit, our daily motivations, perspective, actions are rooted in the Spirit of God when we're in the Spirit. When the Spirit of God lives in us rather than our human nature or in our flesh. Our daily life is marked by a continuous indwelling presence of God. Is that your experience? Is that my experience? Is it marked by that every single day? Our daily life is marked by the same life-giving power that raised Jesus from the dead. That we can do the things of the kingdom. And we can speak a word, we can pray for the sick, we can cast out demons, we can share the gospel, we can proclaim the kingdom of God is here. Is that the condition that we're living in? Is that the state that we're living in, that place of being filled, knowing the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit? God wants us to live in that place. God wants us to enjoy and live in. And the evidence of that, Paul goes on to in Romans. Um I'm gonna skip a slide here, I think, and go to slide four if you would, please. If we look back at the look the next verses down in Romans 8, and we go down to we're gonna kind of work backwards a bit here. Romans 8, verse 15. Can you cry out, Abba Father? Do you know he's your loving heavenly father? Is that the cry in your heart of Abba Father? Verses 4, or for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba Father. Do you know? Have you got that inner witness of the Holy Spirit? I'm a child of God, living as a child of God, knowing that within your inner being. You can learn, you can cry, and you can pray, and you can call him Father, Daddy God, my loving Heavenly Father. Verse 14. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. That's the evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is we're being led by the Spirit. We're being led by Him in every part of our life, every area of our life, no matter what it is, in our relationships, in our walk with God, in our family, in our workplace, wherever we are in the church, we're led by the Spirit of God because He lives within us as sons of God, knowing who we are, our identity as a child of God, He affirms it within us. We know it's true. And sometimes we we can like that, can't we? We can miss that, we can don't feel like we do quite belong sometimes. But God, I feel this morning wants to give some people reassurance that you are a child of God, you do belong and you can live in the good of that, security of that, peace of that, the joy of that, knowing Him. And in verse 13, Paul says, If you put to death the deeds of the body by the spirit, you will live. You attain the resurrection when faced with the temptation to do wrong, do you seek God's Spirit? For you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if you live by the spirit, you'll put to death the deeds of the body, and you will live. Life comes by dealing with sin. Life comes by being radical with sin. Life comes by following the things of the spirit and not things of the flesh. And not allowing the flesh to rule our lives. And I kind of entitled this talk, Who Controls You? Is it your sinful nature? Is it the flesh who's controlling? Is it the Spirit of God that lives within you? What are you living by? Who are you living by? What is it that controls your thinking, controls your behaviour, controls your actions, controls your conversation? Is it by the Spirit of God? Or is it our sinful nature? And I think I've told this story years ago, but I'll tell it again because it's a good story. I heard the story of a church, and they kind of did this, had this time of just a confessional, and people just confessing their things that they struggle with. Things that maybe their vulnerability or their weakness. And we all have them, let's be honest. We all have areas of life of vulnerability and weakness, and that's why we need God. Because if we didn't, we wouldn't need him, would we? And at the end of this time, there was one lady sat at the back, and she said, Well, my problem is actually, I'm I I really like gossip, and I'm I'm a gossiper, and I can't wait to get out of this building and tell everybody else what I've just heard. And that could be just one of those simple things, couldn't it? We we might not think much of it, but is the Holy Spirit challenging us in the areas of our life of things that we say, things that we do, the ways that we act and behave, that are not lining up with the life of the spirit within us. Are we those that are living by the spirit or are we living by the flesh? And it can be both at the same time, sadly. There could be areas of our life where we can say, God, you're not having that bit. That bit's mine. But you can have that, but I like this bit. This is my comfort zone. This is what I like. I like living in this place. This is my kind of go-to thing. Maybe, maybe there's something that you go to when you're under pressure, when things are difficult, when it's hard, life's hard and tough. Maybe something you go to, maybe it could be getting your comfort, not from God, but from comfort eating. Maybe it's something else, or you lose yourself in fantasy or reading books or playing fantasy games, maybe different things that you go to, areas of vulnerability in our lives that God wants to deal with and free us from, that we can live in the fullness of the life of the Spirit that is put within us. And if we were living like that as a church, what's possible? What could be possible if each and every one of us was living in the fullness of the Spirit, of God that lives within us? And every area of our life submitted and surrendered to the Spirit of God within us. What could happen? What could take place? How could God use us? How could God use you? What might he do through you? Paul said this in Ephesians 5: Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. It's not a command, but it is an instruction. It's an instruction to live a life in the spirit and not of the flesh. Not allowing the things of the flesh. Because actually, when we live by the flesh, we're robbed of the good of the things of the spirit. And we just basically rob ourselves of what God wants to do in and through us and the way He wants us to live until the end. So I guess I've got. A few questions at the end here as I kind of come to a close. Do you all know Jesus? I don't know in this room. I it's really nice to be back here, by the way, because I haven't been here for things for so long, and um been at Bookstone quite a lot trying to help get that through, and uh, I'm hoping to be here a lot more. Um, but God's doing some great things, and but it's really good to be here this morning and nice to see you all again. Hope that's mutual, but leave that to you. But what is it that you've set your mind on? What is it you've set your mind on? Because we can set our minds on things and we make no room for the spirit. I'm going this way, I'm doing this, this is where I'm going, this is what I'm doing. Or are you experiencing that same power that raised Jesus from the dead in your daily life? And we can so often and easily listen to other stuff, can't we? That's not of God. Finish with this quick story. When I first met Sally, and I really wanted to know I'd met the right one. And I was praying, and I went to a prayer meeting, and I'm praying, God, just speak to me, just speak to me. I need to hear you. And there was a prophetic word in this prayer meeting about said, the very Caleb said, the very thing you've got in your heart to do, don't do it. It's not right for you. So I'm thinking, is that telling me that's not something's not right then? And I got myself in a whole mess over that, thinking it's through, and is this you God? Can you confirm it? Because I don't want to get it wrong, I want to get it right, and all that kind of stuff. I later found out, thankfully, that it was actually a lady that was there who was being drawn away by the Jehovah's Witnesses into deception, and actually, and she because they were showing us such love and care and being there knocking on the door virtually every day, I think, it sounds a bit, but it would be so easy, wouldn't it? We can be so drawn away by things, and we can be allow ourselves to be drawn away by things that are not good for us and are not right for us, but let the Spirit of God lead and direct us. Let's stand together. I've got a few minutes left. Just gonna ask the Holy Spirit to come. This is his work. I'm just preaching what he's giving me to preach, but let's allow the Holy Spirit. If there's any area that's come to mind while I've been speaking that you know doesn't line up with the Spirit of God living within you, and you're not living in the fullness and the good of all that that means to have the same spirit living in you that raised Jesus from the dead. Maybe now the time to just do a bit of business with God, to bring it before him, allow him. This is him that does this. So, Holy Spirit, I just pray now, would you come? You that convicts of sin, you that convicts where we're not lining up, you that does that, and so Holy Spirit, I pray, would you come now and do your work? I pray, Holy Spirit, would you challenge hearts where things in lives are not lined up with you? Challenge my heart, Lord. I pray. Holy Spirit, would you come? Do you speak to us, Lord? We want to be a people who know what it is to live in the good of your life within us. Your spirit, spirit that brings life. Holy Spirit, would you come to us right now? I pray, Lord. I ask everyone who's helped us, Lord, to be honest with you and with ourselves. To bring anything before you that doesn't line up. Lord, we want to see your kingdom come and your glory. Lord, we want to see you fulfill all that you've promised. Lord, and I pray, Holy Spirit, help us to line up with you in every area of our life. I pray there'll be no area of our life, Lord, that we keep for ourselves. But Lord, we surrender to you. And we allow you to do your work and have your way within us, Lord. Come, Holy Spirit, I ask. Come and speak to us. If you don't know Jesus, and please come and see me afterwards. I want to help you if you want to know him and experience him and have a life of God and Spirit living in you. Calm, Holy Spirit, I pray. Convict of sin when you need to. Bring us into line with you and your goodness and your life within us. Holy Spirit, I pray. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I'm going to finish just by reading verse eleven again. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. Let's go and live a life full of the Spirit. Amen. Can you finish there? Bless you. Have a great week.