All In, All Flame | Tend The Flame - Pastor Scott Silcox

We challenge the way we talk about the Holy Spirit by reframing fire as God’s confirmation rather than our performance or a Sunday-only moment. We leave with a clear responsibility to tend the flame through surrender, purity, and steady daily obedience. 

• The Holy Spirit brings the fire while we bring the sacrifice 
• The meaning of all flame as being consumed by God’s presence 
• Leviticus 9 and why fire signals approval and confirmation 
• Recognising that not everything burning has God’s approval 
• Asking what interference crowds out the flame 
• Trimming the wick as a picture of removing buildup and neglect 
• Choosing consistency over intensity through daily maintenance 
• Refusing to chase the effects of fire without responsibility 
• Pentecost as a mobile altar and an internalised temple life 
• Purity as wholeheartedness and removing competitors for his affection 

Transcript

Welcome and The Fire Analogy

0:03

Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week. For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily. Now join us for a message from Pastor Scott Zilcox. This, if you could have seen me in my living room, it looks very similar to this. On my back patio, fired up, excited, no pun intended, but just excited about the idea that Holy Spirit came to ignite something in us. And I can tell you, just for those who are joining us online, I want to say that little movie clip from Castaway, just Tom Hanks so perfectly played out this amazing opportunity to just fight for fire. Amen? Fight for his life. He figures out how to do it. And it just began to stir this thought as I began to pray. I began to think like I felt like I was Tom Hanks on the edge of that beach yelling, I have created. And then I was corrected when the Lord said, You've not created anything. You didn't create anything. I bring the fire. What you get to do is bring the sacrifice. You have a role, but it's not fire maker. Your role is sacrifice. That's what I want to talk to you a little bit about today. Our role, our position, our job as it concerns the Holy Spirit, why it really matters. So all flame is obviously the message today. We'll jump off from where we were last week. You notice I've closed in Pentecost. You know, we had it separate last week. I've closed it in. But for those who weren't here last week, we talked about this progression of fire, how it shows up all throughout the Bible, from the garden all the way to Pentecost to where we are today, and everything in between, from the tabernacle, the temple, the prophets, Jesus through the ascension, all of it matters. And what we were trying to make a point for last week, and I will again this week, is that why are we constantly acting like somehow Pentecost was some separate event, some little one-off thing that wasn't really planned but had to happen. The truth is, this was always part of God's plan. It was just the next step, the next phase. And so whenever you're around somebody who wants to diminish who the Holy Spirit is supposed to be on the earth, because they don't really understand, I want you to take them to the Word. Remind them, hey, I just quick question. Isn't this what God intended? Right? Holy Spirit is to to is be given to us a measure of his likeness, and it sits upon the hearts of the believers today. We're gonna talk about that a little bit, but I think you have to start in one area where I plan to start today because I think it's absolutely fascinating. I think it's super interesting because there's some parts in the story that seem a little redundant, and maybe parts of the story where I've read over it really fast because I get bored, uh, or maybe I have ADHD, I'm sure. Uh that's probably the case. And I just want to move on. And sometimes I'll just skip over things, but in this case, I think it's interesting. If you have your Bibles, I want you to go to Leviticus chapter 9. As you're turning there, I want you to kind of get an idea of what all flame is.

What All Flame Means

3:33

How do we get to that phrase, all flame? I wrote this uh a while back when we first started doing this, and I found it in my notes, and so I thought I'd just bring it out so it makes some clarity because I've I've answered this question more times than not. People will ask me after service, what is all flame anyway? What is that? What is that? That seems really weird. It's not as weird as we're making it out to be or you're making it out to be. It's actually quite simple, and it does base from a story, real simple. It says, it comes from the book, The Desert Fathers, and it's this the phrase all frame, all flame, excuse me, comes from an ancient story about a monk who asked his spiritual father, I've prayed, fasted, and I've been faithful. What else can I do? And the elder lifted his hands, and the story, and the story says, his fingers appeared like flames of fire, and he replied, If you will, you can become all flame. That is our prayer for this year. Not that we would simply do more for God, but that we would become people completely consumed by his presence, his purpose, and his spirit all in, all flame. This is where it comes from. It originates from this interaction. And it's this idea that in the monastic life, those who were dedicating themselves, separating themselves, were hungry after the Lord, got to the place where they had done all that they thought they could do and felt like they had hit a wall. Anybody ever felt like that before? Anybody ever felt like you've been trying, you've been working, you've been disciplined, you've been doing, but it just feels like you're hitting a wall. These guys felt the same way. But that message is still true to us as it is or as it was back then. That is, there is a possibility for more. And our more is not more of your good deeds, it's not more of your good action, it's more of the Holy Spirit consuming more of who you are. It must take more. We often ask, this is you ever notice when we pray about the Holy Spirit, we always pray for more. Anybody old school out there? Anybody been around where we just pray for a we need more, or we want a fresh filling, or we want a new thing? God, we want more. Give us more, give us more. And the truth is that's a right prayer just in the wrong position. It's the right prayer just put on the wrong person. The more is on us, not on him. He's all consuming. He is who he is. He does not lack, he isn't the same today, yesterday, and forever. Come on, that he's he's described as a consuming fire. Come on, somebody, do you know your Bible today? And so if that's the case, then we don't. He can't be more than he already is. So if we're praying for more, who do you think that is to be attributed to? More of what? More of me has to relinquish to give him more control. I have to empty myself so that he can fill it. Amen? Okay.

Leviticus and Fire As Approval

6:39

Leviticus 9, 22 through 24. Fascinating passage of scripture because this is right after we've gotten all the instruction as to exactly what we're gonna do with the temple, with the priest, right? We have all of the structure that God has given Moses, who has brought it back to us, right? To the children of Israel, to say, hey, I've come with it. And when he comes, what does he find? What does Moses find when he comes off the mountain? Idolatry. He calls people wild and out. Right? Moses stayed one day too long with God. Right? He was just one day too long. How many know that if we're not careful, we can get real impatient with God's timing? And that is a side note. I'm not preaching that today, but I'm just saying somebody needs to hear it. Don't get impatient with what God is doing. Amen? Okay, so this is interesting, David. So he he he he gets there, he finds a bunch of chaos, but when he gets there, he's actually got instructions for what we're supposed to do next. He's got all the instructions, all the things that need to happen. And and there is uh uh uh Aaron and his entire sons, they are anointed to carry the priestly role. And I'm not gonna jump into that because Pastor Rusty's gonna be next week, and I actually know, tip off, a little tip, he's gonna be leaning into that. So I'm not gonna crawl over into his lane today. Uh maybe. Um, maybe. But the idea is that there's the instructions have already been had. So let's read this because I find this interesting. It says this, verse 22, it says, Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from the offering, uh, the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they had come out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. Now I want to just talk about this for just a second. And and this is not in my notes, but I feel this real strong right now, and I'm just gonna say it, okay? Um, good. I'm looking at some of y'all's faces got so serious all of a sudden. Just relax. Relax. Here's what's interesting. I just want to make this a point of notation here. Is that before Aaron gets an assignment on his life, he already operates in something that he knows is there, but it's wrong. It's interesting to me that God doesn't disqualify Aaron for what he does. He does eventually ask him to build an altar, he just built the wrong one. And instead, God redeems him fully and gives him and his family the opportunity to do it right. There are people in here that are constantly disqualifying themselves for what they're supposed to carry. Because you've carried it poorly for a season. And the Lord is inviting you back because He wants to redeem that. It isn't because you don't have the gift or the calling or the thing on your life. It's just that it's maybe misplaced or misused because it has some kind of agenda attached to it. God is trying to rid you of the agenda so he can get full capacity, full anointing out of your life. Can I just say that? I that ain't in my notes, but it just needed to be said today. I felt like the Lord was highlighting that today. So let's talk about this. Let's talk about this. Okay. Not everything, I'm gonna give you like three or four of these. So write them down, get them, get them in your heart. Not everything burning has God's approval. Come on, I'm talking about look at your life right now. Not everything, not everything, not everything burning has God's approval. I need you to understand something. Okay, does anyone find it interesting in Leviticus? I'm so it's all coming to me right now. I'm filled with Spirit of God. Okay, listen. Listen, did anybody notice something in Leviticus? If you've ever read Leviticus 9, you know that Leviticus 8 is like a whole setup of all the instructions. This is how you're gonna sacrifice, this is how we're gonna do it, this is exactly what needs to be done. God gives instructions to Moses for the people, not so that they could build a religion. He gave it to them so that he could be with the people. So the misunderstanding is that we took all of those systems and created a religion out of it. He was making a way for God to be with mankind. So when we go back to tabernacle and we go back to the instructions, it's specific so that God wants to be with us. He just can't if there isn't the right conditions. Come on, touch your neighbor, say the conditions matter. The conditions matter. If the conditions matter at the temple, then does anybody believe that the conditions matter today? See, we don't. No, we do not. The Bix City church does not believe that. If they did, they'd be operating in infinite power and authority in the earth. But they do not because we are not guarding the conditions necessary for him to move. That is what's happening. We want more, we want more, and he says, I need conditions. Now there's the New Testament grace, there's the blood of Jesus, but I'm gonna just tell you, when you don't even understand that, then the conditions can't be met. Okay. I'm jumping ahead, but I need you to get this with me. So what is it? God wasn't starting the sacrifice, he was accepting it. Now, what does that mean? Do anyone notice in the scripture is that can I just go back? Look, look right here. I I just read this with me and tell me that nobody else is even thinking about this or getting confused. It says, and fire came out from before the Lord, right? Now watch this. And consumed what? Huh? Hold on. Hold on. See, when we used to teach this, we used to teach this just like the fire of the Lord fell on the altar and it was consumed, right? But we skipped over the idea that it's burnt already. You you read it so fast, you just think, oh yes, the fire of God consumed it. But he's consuming something already on fire. I'm trying to get us to recognize something here. Not all things on fire. Come on, somebody, are gonna be accepted by the Lord. I'm gonna just tell you, there's times in our lives, there's things that work in our lives that we will say it's got fire on it, it's got life on it. But unless he consumes it, it is not accepted. Come on, man. I'm trying to, I want to see the church rise up in the full power that she's been given. But here we are, we're looking at a thing that says, This has already been set aflame. Can you imagine all the sacrifices, all the burnt offerings, all the things so that the children of Israel can have access to a God they didn't want to get to on the mountain, so they stayed back at camp. Moses, you go, we're not going. God makes provision through these, you know, certain setup, right? This this criteria. And so when he does that, now they have to sacrifice the goat. Sacrifice the, they have to sacrifice, come on, they have all of the sacrifices in place. It's on fire, and he still isn't there yet. I just think with I'm I'm I'm in my room just like completely asking the Lord, like, what has been what has been uh uh what has caught flame in me that you haven't approved of? Because if you're just doing the motions, then the truth is they already fulfilled the want or the need or the desire. They already fulfilled the disciplines. Do this and it will cover your sins. They already did it. He's still gotta consume it though. Oh I don't think you can hear it. Uh, it's okay. How about this? The fire is not action, it's confirmation. What God is doing, He doesn't, he He doesn't, it's not just He's gonna do this like an action piece to make everybody go ooh and ah. I think sometimes we think we're going to Holy Spirit service, we're gonna get in there and we just wanna ooh and ah and watch what he does. No, no, no. He, when he shows up on a man in a woman's life, when he shows up in a situation, it is not just for action. It's not for action alone. In fact, it's not action at all. It's actually for what? To confirm that what's happening in you is exactly what he sees, and he's putting life in it. Is this a question I want you to ask yourself? Number one, is what I'm doing being offered from a surrendered heart? Is what I'm doing being offered from a surrendered heart? Here's what you gotta ask yourself. When you turn around and serve, or when you turn and go to church and you're living your life, my question is, what's the motive of your heart? What he eventually burns up through the presence of God, right? He says, He will show up. It's accepted because you did it right. The conditions are right. I'm showing up. This is what he's doing in Leviticus. Now, now track with me. We'll get to the New Testament. All right, in just a second. But he shows up, but what is he doing? He is coming into agreement with a people who have finally surrendered their will. I want to see a church who's on fire for the Lord, who's on fire to reach the lost, who's on fire to be in the presence of God. But we will not be that church unless we can get a pure heart and a heart that is fully surrendered. It won't, it won't, it's we can pray and fast, but if if our motives are off, that will also be exposed. Aaron's motives were off, and the people's motives were off. And then just a few chapters later, all of a sudden there's a shift and a pivot. What is it? It's that they they they repented before the Lord, they turned their ways, and they surrendered their lives, their heart, their livelihood to the Lord again. Amen?

Less Interference More Room

18:11

Number two, most of us think we need more fire. What if we simply need less interference? What if what if it's just interference? Ben, what if that's it? What if what if you don't need more fire? You've been like, oh, there's there's there's some there's some some in in in this room and and and I'm probably in this camp where I'm I want more, I want fire, I want, I want, and when I say fire, uh I we anybody got old Pentecostal ideas in your head when you say that? Like when we said more fire back in the day, it meant like it meant like a sloppy church. Anybody remember sloppy church? Two people remember sloppy church. Okay. Well, welcome. All of you who live that quiet reserve life. We're talking about like Bobby Pin Church. Talking about when bobby pins just be all over the place. Huh? Well, the glory shook that bobby pin right out. Huh? You guys remember when we used to have like like under the front row was was like all the accoutrements that we needed to let the Holy Ghost loose. Like drop cloths and buckets. Earl. We had Earl all over the place. There was oil, there was oil on everything. You guys remember going? I remember going to a small church, you couldn't walk through the church without seeing where the intercessors have been. Right? You try to open the door, you can't get in that door, just just just slipping and a sliding and a slick, you have to open it with two hands, so much oil. You guys remember that? Over the doorpost? We used to take that stuff serious. Tell me you're a church kid without telling me you're a church kid, right? If you wake up and you have an oily cross on your forehead, can anybody? You all know about that? Parents slipping in the night, anoint you because they don't know. You've been up to something and we don't know what it is, but the blood of Jesus. Huh? Parents, you know what I'm talking about? Huh? You know how hard that is as a 14-year-old kid to show up at school with zits and a cross form on your forehead, acne just breaking out up here. Look in the mirror like, whoa? I think I'm sick. You know, it's like, no, you've been anointed. Anybody can relate to what I'm talking about today? Come on, some sometimes the answer isn't always more fire uh fire, sometimes it's just less obstruction. I want to ask you something today. What's in the way? What's in the way? What's crowding out the fire in your life? What's what's what's what's squeezing down in your life that's so important that the fire of God cannot can no longer illuminate what He wants to do in your life? Come on. This is a fair question. It's a one we ought to get comfortable with asking. Asking regularly. God, what are you doing? What are you doing in me? I know that we have some college students that are home for the summer. I'm just here to tell you, this is God's message for you right now. There's no accident we're in this series right now because I do believe this. You need this for where you're at. For the community that you're in, for the for the friendships that you're you're fostering right now, for the ones you shouldn't be fostering right now, you need to hear this. There is a place in Christ where you can save yourself. You understand what I mean? Save yourself? Save yourself from broken heart, from broken relationships. You can save yourself. Come on, a lot of heartache. There's a place, an invitation for you to live in Him. There's a purity that you can walk in that is extraordinary and out. I mean, just there's a place you can live in that. That's what I'm talking about today. That's what we're talking about. Holy Spirit can do this

Trim The Wick Of Life

23:03

for us. So I guess the question begs here is what was built up around the wick of your life? What is built up, excuse me, what has built up around the wick of your life? Reese is weird like this. Reese is like a man who likes the finer things. He's here. He's here. He likes the finer things. You couldn't tell it probably. But I just trust me. Trust me. He's got good taste. But just tell you something. Reese does something that, like I was talking about excess. He he he pays attention to details that are like really, really bizarre. They're very obscure. Because like even when we did the Advent series, you guys remember the Advent series? We had like candles up here. I don't know if you know this, but like at the end of the day, he has like this, he knows how to, what do they even call this? There's got to come up with a name for this, but there's like, it's like candle management. It's like he he knows how to care for the candle. Me, it's like it's a candle, you put one of those giant light sticks on it, click, click, click, click, boom, fire. We have a candle. And he's like, no, no, see, that that ain't the way it's gonna work. Right? First, you have to pre-light the candle. You have to pre-light the candle? That's right. It's a pre-light. Not sitting here watching him like, you have you have spent way too much time trying to figure this out. You pre-light the candle. You do that so uh that it actually strikes faster the next time. Also, after the whole day of service, he would come back and he would do something crazy. He would trim the wick. He had like a little tool. There's a tool. It looks like scissors, but not real scissors. They're like long, weird, bizarre type scissors that little snippet off the top. It's just like, are y'all serious? I mean, this is a thing. This cost how much did that cost you? It's $42 for that. Just a snip, take the little, little, little carbon off the end of it. Why? Because Reese understands something that we have to start understanding about our own personal life. Life will happen, the flame will burn, things will get consumed in your life in that process, but there is there is a carbon footprint behind you. There's stuff that builds up around the wick of your life, and if you don't know it, or you should know it, is that it doesn't mean it can't be lit, and it doesn't mean it won't burn, and it doesn't mean there won't be a flame, it just means it'll be dimmer than what it was supposed to be. It's not efficient, it doesn't burn at the right space, the time. These are all things I had no clue. I thought you just liked a candle. It's like, no, this is how you preserve the candle for the longest period. You get the most out of it. Which is why I asked the question what has been building up around the wick of your life? What are the things that keep him from illuminating more efficiently and brightly through your life? It's a fair question.

Consistency Beats Intense Moments

26:24

This is maybe more like a declaration. Choose consistency over intensity. When we're talking about the Holy Spirit, I want to see the body of Christ opt in for consistency, not intense worship services. I'm gonna talk about to you guys. Because they're angry with me. So I does Pastor Scott want intense services with the Holy Spirit and for him to do you think, does anyone think that I don't want that? If you do, stop. Stop making up stories about me. Stop thinking you know me that well, because you clearly do not. You want to know what I'm passionate about? You can ask the people I work with, you can ask my wife, you can ask my kids. You can check my family and see where my personal life is. I'm passionate about seeing him do great things in the church. I want to see him transform the world like he says he can and like he wants to do. And I want him to use the church like he said he was going to do, and I want to be a part of it. And I want him to blow through the back doors like I was when I was 16, 17 years old in a church, and I was standing right in the middle, and literally the back door is a blue open. Boom! Remember when they used to have like a little shotgun church? If you haven't ever been to a shotgun church, you don't know what I'm talking about, but it's like one center aisle right down the middle, right? Pews on either side. Holy Ghost is moving in the service, people are being prayed for, deliverance is happening, people are slain in the spirit. I'm the catcher that night. That's my role. Only because I didn't want to sing. I had two choices. You can sing or you can be a catcher. I was like, put me in. Come on, y'all don't know nothing about that. You're like, well, it's not God if you're catching. Come on, somebody. People, look, don't blame God for people who just throw themselves on the ground. No, this is fair. You're like, y'all shouldn't have catchers. Well, we do, so we don't get sued by the people who are throwing themselves on the ground. Man, what y'all talking about? Why know y'all think I'm nuts, but I'm just trying to tell you, like, like, don't blame Holy Spirit doing work in someone genuinely who's manufacturing something because they want the emotions. They want the effect of the fire. But I don't want to carry it. And all I'm trying to say is, I I want those things too. But can I tell you something? What the Bible will tell us more consistently is this, no pun intended, is really to be more consistent. Carry it consistently. I would rather see us as a church be more consistent in our secret place with the Lord than coming in here completely separate from him and desperate every single Sunday saying, You gotta do something today. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. You gotta go back to Leviticus 6 to understand this. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning, right? That's the instruction to the priest, right? Is that when the fire is there, your job is to make sure that it's continue to burn, which means you have to still fill the oil, trim the wicks, you have to pay attention to the details, you have to create an environment that continues to manifest or to keep the fire burning. Why does that matter? Because I don't want to be guilty of coming in every single week asking for a new fresh fire that I wasn't willing to tend during the week. I want to be able to carry this thing consistently. Not turn around and be like, oh, I don't know what happened this week. Can you fix it? Can you can you breathe on me again? Can I get one of them things, them little little uh tongues of fire things? Can I get another one of them? No, what he's saying is what I put in you is sufficient, and who you are is sufficient in me, and I'm gonna give you the grace to tend that, not just every seven days in a service, but daily. Come on, somebody, touch your neighbor and say, trim the wicks. Come on, get ready, trim the wicks, trim the wicks. You say, What does that look like? What does that look like? I'm talking about how the way you treat people, I'm talking about how you live your life. I'm talking about do you live with purpose? Do you walk with purpose with the Holy Spirit in your life? Yeah, I love people that claim Holy Spirit ain't I ain't even hearing him. Let me ask y'all, I'm gonna put you to the test, everybody. Now I need participation, so don't be that person. But we need participation. Have you ever been in a situation that you knew you weren't supposed to be in? You know, just take a second, go there, don't stay there, but go there for a second. Some of y'all stay there and revisit this afternoon. Don't do that. I'm talking about like just go there for a second. You remember, and you had that moment where you're like, I gotta get out of here. Make a better decision right here. Anyone can say, hey, I've had that before in my life. Now the rest of you lie. You're lying in church. We got an altar call for that later. But I'm just saying, every single person. What in the world did you think that was? That's not the fear of your mommy and daddy. What that is, is it's a prompting of the Holy Spirit to say to you, there's something better for you. I want to protect you from this, I want to guide you out of this thing, I want to move you into another situation. Come on, somebody. But we'll spend the rest of our life acting like it really isn't Him, so that now when He does speak, we don't know how to recognize His voice anymore. And so because we don't recognize His voice anymore, we turn around and blame all the people who failed us in the past. It's their fault you can't hear anymore. Uh somebody. Get free. The Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit wants to set you free. He wants to reintroduce himself to you today. To unlock your heart and your ears in your mind to hear what he's trying to say to you. Moments can rob you from the power of maintenance. Ah! Power of maintenance? That's right. I'm giving somebody some language today. You're gonna be able to use this. You're gonna be able to use this, right? Right, right. Because what we are constantly asking for is a revival service. We want a moment to transform what we're at. But but but Coach Epps can tell you, he'll find out in a couple of days when he gets the boys in the gym. He's about to find out. Who's been putting in the maintenance work? Huh? Who's been shooting? Who's been running? Or who's been sitting on the couch waiting for the moment? Who's just been sitting around waiting until they I'm seeing some of our guys up here. I'm talking to y'all. Yeah. This is your sermon. I'm talking to you. I'm talking about that lazy spirit. Talking about that thing that keeps you on the couch, and yet you want to get in the game. As soon as we have the, oh, I should be a starter. You ain't worked a minute on what you. We all saw your games this year. I'm an assistant coach from up here. Come on, somebody. We we we see this so clearly in like sports analogies and things. Or how about in your yard, sir? I mean, right now we're in a little, I won't even get into it because I don't know. I don't even know who's watching this right now. Hey everybody. Um almost said something about my neighbors, and I'm not doing that. Because uh we love our neighborhood, it's amazing. So here, but here's what here's what I am gonna talk about. I'm gonna talk about your neighbors. Because you know what I'm saying? Y'all talking about neighbors. Anybody got a neighbor where you just like you know it's summer and you dreading that it's summer because this is when the grass grows. And you know, you know, you already know. They're not cutting that grass. Can it, can it come on, somebody? You already know that person ain't gonna cut his grass. You that person gonna be that person, and he's gonna let the he's gonna bring all the house values down. That's what we say. That's when you're married. If you're not married, you don't know what I'm talking about. You don't marry, you don't have a house you know I'm talking about. But if you're married, you got a house you know, you looking around, like, don't be taking our house value down. Now you ain't moving or selling, but you concerned. You concerned. Lower the standard in this neighborhood. What were we doing? Get this man. Can we take a collection for a lawnmower for this man? Like, you get you get real generous when you think it's gonna hurt you or help you. Come on, somebody. Everybody got people like that where you've seen it, where they're they're negligent. But I'm gonna just tell you what, here's what we've come to realize maintenance is so it's key in the faith. It's the daily disciplines, it's the consistency of going to him. It is faithfully coming to the Father, it's faithfully coming to the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Amen? This is what he's asking of us.

Effects Versus Responsibility

36:37

Here's the question. Have I been chasing the effects of the fire and not the responsibility? Have I been guilty of chasing the feelings and not the deep desire to do the hard work when nobody else is around? What's the hard work? It's when you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you different from the plan that you make. That's hard work, it's obedience. It's like decisions that you guys made, I heard. Big ones. Big ones. God, we're trusting you in this area, we're doing this. And it seems radical, seems out of control, and then all of a sudden all the debts paid off, and all the things that you really wanted really happened for you, didn't they? But it took a radical step in a direction that doesn't seem comfortable. That's following the Holy Spirit. Right? And the truth is, he wants the debt off your life for sure. More importantly, he wants your obedience. He wants your heart. Your heart is what he's after. Because if he has your heart, then it doesn't matter what he says. Because you can trust it. Amen? That's what he's out to win. Well, the Holy Spirit is out to do to win your heart is so that you will trust him at your workplace, in your family, when it feels so difficult and so out of the ordinary, or he's looking for the daily submitted moments that he can get maximum glory out of your life. Where we're constantly looking for the one-off, the grand slam, the big deal. Time where I get my chance to preach, or my time where I get to sing my song, or they're gonna make me a leader of this, and they're gonna give me authority to do this, and I get to do, and everybody will see how gifted I am. Everybody wants that one-off swing, grand slam. But I'm gonna tell you something. The best players you can have are people who just get on bass. Boom. Boom. Boom. Go back and look at every single major league team that has ever been, and you can track it. It won't be home runs and grand slams that win people. What? They're not gonna win the World Series on one-offs. They're gonna win because they were consistent in the field. They were consistent behind the bag. Come on, somebody. No errors. Go back and look at it. That's that's the consistency. Those that are playing for the NBA championship, you're gonna find out it's those who understand their role, understand how to play at Wimby. And so I'm just that's just a side note. I mean, you're 7'8 or something, whatever you are, and he's shooting from half court. Like, eat up the paint, get more than five rebounds, and then you can have what you need to have. Anyway, that's a young man with all the gift and talent. Come on, and he's still gonna do something great. Are you tracking with me today? I know I'm using analogies that some of you could care less about, but I'm hoping you can get down to the heart of it. Holy Spirit is inviting us to this. Simply not to chase the effects. Because if you're like the children of Israel, you've already set everything aflame. You can feel the heat. It looks like approval. It feels like approval. Until it is or it isn't. And I'm so thankful for them that that day it was approved. Amen? Fast forward, what do we get in the old in the New Testament?

Pentecost Makes The Altar Mobile

40:24

It's actually the principles are very similar. But this is the fascinating part about what God does with the Holy Spirit for us. You know what he does? We get to the upper room, and all of a sudden, that fire that was standardized and stagnant in one place in Leviticus, meaning everyone had to come to this one location, he turns around and distributes, and now, all of a sudden, after Pentecost, the altar is mobile, the the the candle labra is is mobile. All of a sudden, all of those fixtures in the temple become internalized in us, and now we are moving. Now, I also find this interesting that from Pentecost we don't see a massive return back to the upper room. Does anybody ever just stop to think why they didn't just talk about the many nights they long to go back to the upper room? This sounds like around here, it sounds like verge talk around here. Oh, verge. It's amazing. Oh, we go there. It was so good. Lord ministered to us there, it was awesome. This was a youth camp we used to do years ago. And it was amazing. We had tons of kids and tons of lives changed. It was fantastic. And there's a natural desire to want to go back, or we can't understand the fire that was given to us and move forward. I can sit here and long for what was. Or I can take it and mobilize what is today, what's possible today. This is this is where the Pentecost, where they found themselves. It's we are now going to be mobile temples filled with the Spirit of God. Now God Himself is about to go with us wherever we go. Anybody want that? Amen. Alright, number four. I'm closing. I'm closing. Tell everyone you're closing, I'm closing. Online, I'm closing. Be prepared.

Fire Falls On Full Surrender

42:27

The fire falls on what is fully given. Fire falls on what is fully given. The fire falls on what is fully given. You ever ever like try to um I saw this happen with some kids uh recently in my neighborhood. But this is funny. They want to play a game. There's it's everyone's got a sword, all right? Some version of a sword. One child wants this sword, but because they're trying to be a good, you know, like host, they have to let in our house, we have to let the neighbors have the sword that I want our neighbors to have the best sword, or whatever toy we're playing with. I just want, like, we're gonna pres we're we're we're trying to teach our kids how to prefer others in every situation, not just at the church. So it's not just a value here, it's actually a value in a house. It's a value they gotta learn early. So now, hey, that goes well some days, and some days it's it's uh it's a work, it's a work in progress. But I watched this the other day where they're all like I want this sword, I want this sword, and and then I could just see my daughter holding on to the sword, and and she's looking at the person, the young lady that wants it, and she's looking at her stone cold in the eye, like holding that sword. And then she goes. To not give it. Now I love this. She goes to not give it. She's like there, and then she pulls it back. And on the pullback, she she checks for where I'm at. You know what I'm talking about? She's like, pull it back, and then she's just like, like, and I'm sitting there on the porch, like, oh, I'm watching this, and it's just like just want to get it was always in my heart. And that little girl grabbed that sword, and my my girl couldn't let it go. So they're just both holding it. Fire falls on what is fully given. If you are intent on holding on to all your identity and all of your troubles and all of your things, because those will become more comfortable for you to hold on to, because they become identity for you. They become a sense of purpose or a sense of complaining or justified complaining. Gives you the opportunity to say things that you can't normally say, but because you were hurt, you don't want to let it go because it brings too much joy to you in other ways. Brings you attention that you think you want, but it's the wrong type of attention, so you just hold it. Can I tell you? He can't consume what you won't let go of. That's good. Say that. He can't bring healing to areas you intend that you don't ever want to be healed in. The longer you hold on to it like that, the longer you say, God, I do want all of you. I want all of you, but I do want a little bit of me still. I want all of you, but I don't want you to change me. But I would like for you to change for me. If you'll just change for me, then we're in a great partnership. Because you still think this is some kind of like two-sided relationship. This is one-sided. He is God, and you are not. His invitation is to sacrifice. Come on, all of the all of the ones that were in the upper room had one message when they left the room, and that is we crucify ourselves daily with Christ. That is relinquishing control and surrender. It's surrender, not I, but you, Lord. Purity is not perfection. Purity is what? Wholeheartedness. For those of you that are sitting here saying, like, I don't, I, I, I want to have that pure uh uh flow where the Holy Spirit can go into my life, but I'm I'm just not pure. I'm not I'm I cannot have that. I'm not asking you to be what perfect. I'm asking you to have your heart completely in the process. God is only asking that you give your best foot forward. You don't think God knows your weaknesses? Come on. Your wife knows your weaknesses. Come on. Your mama knows your weaknesses, your daddy knows your weaknesses, your friends know your weaknesses, even though you think you got it hidden so good. Who knows you better than the one who created you? God sees you. And he doesn't ask for you to get to a level of perfection. What is he asking you to do? Get to a level where you'll be wholeheartedly in. Whatever it looks like, Lord, whatever you're pulling out of me, Lord, whatever you're transforming in me, whatever it's gonna cost, Lord, my hands are open. My hands are open. Amen. Last one, purity is removing all competitors of his affection. How do I do it? How do I become pure? How do I get to a place where I can host the presence of the Lord, the Holy Spirit on my life? This is it right here. I know we're I know we gotta go. Who's playing? Greg, come play. Play. Help these folks. Help them. Purity is removing all other what? Who is competing for his glory in your life? You want to take steps towards purity? Start silencing some of the things that are stealing his glory, his attention. Stealing your time with him. If there are things stealing your time with him, they've got to go. They're the wrong things. That may be hard for us, but it's it's true. Here in just a minute, I'm gonna have them play a song for us today. I've been listening to a lot. It's called pure. I'm gonna have them play it here in just a second. Before they do that, I want to pray over us today. And I want to explain to you what I hope that we do before we leave here today. This message today is simply to encourage us that we have a responsibility to tend the flame that Christ has given. The Holy Spirit has been given to you. What you do with it is the real question. What are you doing with the presence of God? Are you tending your life in such a way that it is radiating brilliant light through your life? I think it's best said like this. What if the greatest threat to the flame isn't opposition? What if it's neglect? Not rebellion. I'm not talking about the rebellion. Some of you might have said, oh, they're talking about the people who don't know. No, I'm not talking about rebellious people. I'm not even talking about unbelief. Talking about those who have just neglected what he's already done. Just allowing other things to crowd the fire. What's crowding the fire in you today? What's the Holy Spirit highlighting to your life saying, man, that's crowding out the flame? It's not rebellion. You love me and you love what I'm doing with you and for you, but but we still don't have the relationship we're supposed to have. What busy work is is crowding out the flame in your life? What unspoken desire in your life rules your thought? Is there something that you want so bad that you can't get because your job won't give you a raise? That it consumes your every thought, that you forfeit the time with him to develop intimacy with him because you're so busy working about some superficial external thing. But if you really knew who God was, and you knew he knew the desires of your heart, don't you think he will champion you? And in the right season, in the right time? What is he looking for? He's not looking for some super Christian, he's looking for a whole-hearted Christian. We want to move of God, and he wants to move, but he's also looking for devotion and a heart pure enough to land on. Can you hear that today? What if it's not opposition? I can hear it in the atmosphere. You don't understand what I'm going through. You don't understand all the things, you don't understand this. But I'm gonna ask you during this time to simply pray this prayer. I want you to pray and ask the Lord, God, maybe I've been looking for the opposition and maybe I should have been looking. What is my responsibility? What haven't I done? What am I missing? Holy Spirit, would you show me what that is so I can respond? That that's that's simple. I'm gonna pray over our online people, and then we're gonna play

Prayer Response and Closing

52:33

this song. Heavenly Father, we lift up everyone in this room, everyone watching us online today. God, we take time, not not with chaos, not with with with God, we don't have to pump anything up. We simply have to respond to you. You are present and you are here, and you desire to minister to every single one. God, I pray through the work of the Spirit, God, would you illuminate those areas of neglect? God, we do desire to be a people who are pure-hearted, who come to you. God, and we e we are so eager to be with you. Forgive us for being rushed and busy. And God, we take this time and we just say, to our flesh, come on, we say to our flesh, to be quiet, allow, allow the Lord to speak in this moment. Allow the Lord to transform your life. And it's real simple. We're gonna listen to this song, and then we're just gonna respond in worship. There's a course in it in the middle of this, and it just basically says this one line that I think says, here's my all, and I don't want it back. I bet you I've listened to this song a thousand times in the last few days. Just on repeat. And every single time it gets to that phrase, something illuminates in me. I feel like the longer I've sat with the Lord, and I really did, I mean, this is kind of wild, but I just sat with him. I didn't do a ton of study, I just literally just sat with him. I just made up my mind, I'm gonna sit with you until you change who I am. I'm gonna sit with you until you form something different. I'm just gonna sit here until you reveal the things that you want to reveal. Not what I want to do, not what I want to say. God, what do you want to do in our church? And I'm just gonna sit here until you start to form that in me. We hope and pray. This message was encouraging and impactful. Join us live on our website or Facebook on Sundays at 9 and 11 a.m. You can stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at the Rock Family. Have a Jesus filled with