Are You Experiencing the Holy Spirit?

0:00 I want to ask you a question and just forget that we're in church right now. This is just forget that I'm a pastor, forget you're sitting in a church. Just from one human being to another human being, just honestly, I want to ask you a question. Are you sure that there have been times in your life when you've experienced the hand of God? like something supernatural where you go there's no way that was coincidence you can't convince me that's coincidence I know that was God have you had experiences like that in your life See, I have. I feel like I do all the time.

0:51 It's a little awkward for me to be talking about this because you've got to understand, in school, I was taught not to ever preach about your experiences and not to emphasize experience. But when I read Scripture, I feel like that's so unbiblical. Biblically, we are supposed to experience, God. We are. In the Bible, when someone received the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit was in their life, no one had to tell them that the Holy Spirit was in their life. See, and that's not what I was taught growing up. Growing up in church, you know, I remember becoming a Christian, and I remember, you know, this evangelist preaching, you know, hellfire brimstone. I was like, ah, it saved me, you know, and I just, you know, I had to go for it, and I remember just this little old lady was counseling me. And I go, so that's it? And she goes, yeah. And I said, what happens when the Holy Spirit comes in you? And she goes, oh, nothing. She goes, you just need to know that He's there.

1:53 And I said, so no experience, nothing. You just intellectually know that He's there. And I don't see that in the Bible. I don't. I gotta show me where that is in the Bible, because even last week, I went to my concordance and I looked up every single verse on the Holy Spirit. And I just read through every verse in the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. And every verse, when it talks about the Holy Spirit, just talks about this change, this experience. Like, you know when the Spirit of God is in your life. I mean, you know there are things that happen that are just supernatural. And you go, okay, I know that is God. You don't have to tell me. I don't need someone to show me theologically that the Holy Spirit show me biblically and prove to me the Holy Spirit really is in my life. Man, I know he's in my life because of everything that I've experienced.

2:47 Man, in fact, you could take away all the proof. You could take away all of the head knowledge and everything else. And I believe in this book a lot because I studied the prophecy. And I go, man, that's gotta be from God. I look at the history of this book and everything else and the way it's changed my life. But take that away. Take away the head knowledge. and I would still believe in God because of everything that I've experienced. Man, when I pray, when I ask God for stuff, I don't know what it's like when you pray. I don't know if you get surprised that God actually answers you, but for me, I get surprised if it's been a few minutes. You know? And I mean, because there's just this pattern, there's this system, and when I pray to God, I see answers, I see results where I go, okay, that was clearly God. No one is going to tell me that that was just coincidence. It just happens.

3:39 It happens. It happens. And every time when there's a few days and I'm going, wait a second, I prayed for that. I'm not seeing a clear answer. That surprises me. See, my faith in God, so much of it is because of what I've experienced. Now, I recognize it's true that we can't base everything on feelings and experiences because we can be fooled. but to just downplay this whole idea of experience I think is anti-biblical. In fact, Paul here in Galatians 3 when he's talking to the Galatians and they're thinking about, many of them have left their faith. They've left this simple faith of just believing in God and experiencing the Holy Spirit and now they're being tested and tempted and many of them have turned over to this new system of law where they try to obey all these laws and all these rules and kind of earn their salvation by doing all of these things.

4:37 And Paul's going, why would you leave that? And he reminds them of their experience. He reminds them, he goes, don't you remember when you just accepted Jesus and all these things started happening? He goes, why would you leave that? He goes, you remember what you experienced. and in Galatians chapter 3 verse 1 it's like Paul I love the way he starts it because he's so baffled by this he's going why would anyone leave this Galatians 3 verse 1 he says you foolish Galatians that word foolish it means it means void of knowledge like you have no knowledge, like you're brain dead. He looks at these people and he goes, what are you, brain dead? And then his next statement's even better. He goes, who has bewitched you? He goes, did someone cast a spell on you? He goes, because this is kind of freaking me out. What's happening here?

5:39 Are you guys brain dead? Or did someone hypnotize you? Are you under some sort of spell? Are you in a trance here? He says, he goes, before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I'd like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing if it was really for nothing, does God give you his spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you heard? He's saying to these guys over and over again, he goes, are you really that dumb? He goes, think about it. Here you were, you believed. All you did was believe, right? He goes, you believed by faith. You believed in the cross of Jesus Christ.

6:35 And he goes, and what happened? The Spirit came into you, didn't he? The Spirit came into you, and you began to perform miracles. Crazy things started happening. And he goes, why did God give you his Spirit? He goes, was it because you observed the law so well? He goes, no, because you believed. And he goes, then why on earth, if God gave you his Spirit, and you experienced him and you know him, why on earth would you leave that and now go to this system of works and this system of law and go, well, I want to do this, this, this, this, this. And you've left this believing by faith and this trusting in faith that gave you the Holy Spirit and you're turning to this whole system of works.

7:24 It's hard though, isn't it? Isn't it hard to keep living by faith? You know how you can have faith one moment or one hour or one day and then a few days later you just you get a little scared of it even though God's come through over and over and over again and you've experienced his power you experience his spirit there's still that human tendency where we don't like faith we don't like it what it is is we don't like to have to depend on anyone else even God I want to I want to have control over everything I want to make sure that I have myself set up even if God doesn't come through, rather than just living in the moment and doing what God wants me to do right now and trusting that he's going to come through for me later as long as I'm faithful today. I don't want to keep having faith. It's hard. And so what these people did is even in their belief system, I mean, you think about it, aren't there times when it's difficult to have faith. And you want to even take your salvation into your own hands. And it sounds so noble to try to do a bunch of good works just in case we're wrong about the cross, you know?

8:35 Because think about it. What if we're wrong? What if the cross isn't enough? think about this seriously what if the cross is not enough what if God really did want us to work our way to heaven and do it through good works and then we're in this room going I thought the cross was enough I thought Jesus was going to be enough I thought that he died and saved me and everything else what if we're wrong see and that's what these Galatians start thinking. And so they start going to this works type system and trying to take things, take matters into their own hands. But Paul's saying, that's stupid. He goes, what are you, brain dead? What are you, what are you, under a trance, under a spell? Someone hypnotized you? He goes, think about it. If you've experienced the Holy Spirit, doesn't that show you that God's approval is on you? Doesn't it show you that just by believing God would put his very spirit into you? Isn't that enough for you? And so then he goes on, he goes, and if that's not enough, he goes, think about what the Bible says, because it's so important. I don't want to base everything on feelings and experience, but our feelings and experiences ought to be confirmed in Scripture.

9:53 And so Paul goes to the Scriptures, and he explains to them, look, your experience was very biblical. And he says in verse 6, sorry, I lost my place. In verse 6, he says, consider Abraham. He takes him to the Old Testament. Remember Abraham. Abraham was the father of the Jews. Abraham was, you know, every Jewish person respected Abraham so much. And what Paul said is consider Abraham. He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those who believe are children of Abraham. Okay, let's just look at Verse 6, consider Abraham. He believed God and it was credited to him. Now he starts quoting Old Testament passages. He says, what does the Scripture say? Scripture say that Abraham believed God. It doesn't say that Abraham observed the law and was doing everything right, so God says, okay, then you're righteous.

10:54 You know why? Because you've obeyed the law so well. No. What the Scripture says is the opposite of that. He says Abraham believed. It's because of his faith in God. And it says that God credited to him. See what it says there? Verse 6, he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Do you understand the word credited? Credited means to put into someone's account. It was just placed in there. That's like if I figured out I found your bank account number. and then tomorrow morning I go to the bank and I put $20,000 into your account. It's not going to happen, but let's just say that's the idea of crediting is you go to the bank the next day and you withdraw your 20 bucks or whatever. You look at the slip and go, what? Someone just put 20 grand into my account? Someone just put it in there. That's this word here, credited. See, and what the Bible says is, he says, look, this is all, this is the way it's always been ever since the Old Testament. Abraham, you know, Father Abraham, any sons? You know, he, Abraham, he believed. And by believing, just by believing, God credits to him, just puts into his account perfect righteousness. So in other words, God would look at Abraham and go, wow, he's holy.

12:23 I just put this holiness, he's holy in my eyes. But it wasn't anything that Abraham earned. It was something he believed in. So he's telling these Galatians, so why are you going to the system of works if Abraham was a believer and his belief is what got him there. It was his faith. and in verse 7 he says, understand then that those who believe are children of Abraham.

12:48 See, it was a very high mark. It was kind of a status symbol. This whole idea of I am a Jew. I am a child of Abraham, okay? But Jesus explains and Paul explains that just because you're born into a nationality doesn't mean anything. In Romans 9, Paul says just because you're in Israel or just because you're an Israelite doesn't make you true Israel. There's a true Israel. They're the true children of God. In the same way, it's real interesting because in John chapter 8, it's a good passage to read sometime. You know, now's a good time. It's time for everything. Let's just read this one. I haven't been doing this, but I like this passage. John 8. John 8 Let's look at verse, we'll start at verse 39.

13:51 In John 8, verse 39, these people are saying, Abraham is our father, they answered. And then Jesus says to them, if you were Abraham's children, said Jesus, then you would do the things that Abraham did. As it is, you're determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham didn't do such things. You are doing the things your own father does. And then they go, we're not illegitimate children, they protested. The only father we have is God himself. Okay, listen to this. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you'd love me. For I came from God, and now I am here. I've not come on my own, but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. That's pretty strong. I mean, Jesus did not mess around. He says, he goes, oh, you think you're, you're, that Abraham's your father. You think God's your father. No, you know who your dad is? The devil.

15:01 Wow. He goes, you know why? I can tell by your actions. I don't care what you say you are. I look at your actions and I go, no, your father must be the devil because you're acting just like him. And in the same way, he says, if Abraham truly was your father, it's more than this blood lineage. It's about the way you act, the way you live. And here in Galatians 3, he's saying, look, if you guys are true children of Abraham, true children of Abraham are not trying to observe the law and earn their righteousness. That's not what Abraham did. True children of Abraham would have faith in God and his provision just like Abraham did. He says, so you're not really being children of Abraham. And so when, I'll go back to Galatians 3, he explains, look, in verse 8, again, he's quoting Old Testament, showing that it's not just about experience. It's experience that's backed up by Scripture. Verse 8, the Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announce the gospel in advance to Abraham, all nations will be blessed through you.

16:13 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. He says, look, this is the way it's always been. In fact, he told Abraham, look, you're going to be a father to many nations. In fact, it's through your lineage that the whole world is going to be blessed. All nations are going to be blessed because of you. And he says, see, this was all told ahead of time, and the whole reason was out of his lineage would come Jesus, would come the Christ, would come the seed. And we're going to look at that a little bit later. The whole idea is he's saying, look, God has always ordained faith. He has never taught that you are going to earn your way into heaven. That's not the way Abraham lived his life, and it's not the way we live our life today. So why in the world would you go to this system of works and try to do it on your own?

17:09 And then the climax of it is in verse 10. He really goes at them here. Verse 10, he says, all who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written. Curse it is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of law.

17:33 Okay, if you don't like looking at your experience in the Holy Spirit and showing you that God had the favor on that, okay, and if you're not going to look at Abraham and go, okay, well, well, Abraham lived by faith, and so if I want to follow him, I want to be a person of faith. If that's not good enough for you, he goes, you need to understand something. If you are going to try to earn your way into heaven, then you are literally under a curse. see it's this is so hard for us to hear and i'm sure it was back then too people don't really change and when you read scripture don't you realize that people have been people all along they've thought the same way they've done the same things you know we think oh we've got this new way of thinking it's it's all been done okay back then there were people that said no i'm gonna be a good person. And if I do enough good, God is going to recognize that and let me into heaven.

18:29 It's always been that way. And that's why Paul had to 2,000 years ago remind them, look, if you're going to try to earn your way into heaven by doing good stuff, you're actually going to do the opposite and put yourself under a curse. He says, because ever since the beginning, again, he quotes scripture, that everyone who's relying on obeying the law, unless you obey it perfectly, you're going to be cursed. I mean, that's the way law works.

19:02 Once you break the law, guess what? There's a punishment. But officer, I haven't sped for 20 years. This is my first time, really. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. The moment you break it, you're going to be under a penalty, under a curse. And the Bible says, look, if that's what you rely on. Now, it doesn't mean that we take the laws and the Word of God and say, oh, they're all stupid. I don't need to worry about them. It's not talking about, you know, that it's not a good thing to try to obey God's law. What it says is all who rely. It's when you rely on it and believe that that's what's going to save you, he goes, then you're going to be under a curse. In fact, he says in the next verse, he says, clearly no one is justified before God by the law because the righteous will live by faith. He's saying no one, no human being, think about this. For those of you in this room that are thinking, no, I'm going to do this, do this, do this. What the Bible says is no one in history has pulled it off.

20:09 No one in history has pulled off being this good person to where I obey the law all of the time, obey all the laws of God, and you're going to be the first. That's what you're saying. It's a biblically I know the Bible says that God looks down and no one's been able to pull it off, but I'm really good.

20:30 He says no one's been able to do it. No one's been able to obey this law. and so those who rely on it and still try, he says, you're gonna be under the same curse that everyone else fell under, of this pride, this arrogance of I can do it, I don't need God, I can pull it off, I don't need his grace, I don't need to believe in him, I'm just gonna do it on my own. He goes, oh, you're gonna be under the curse everyone else was under. but then he says, verse 12, or verse 11 at the end, he says, the righteous will live by faith. What's going to cause us to be alive? It's faith. Verse 12, the law is not based on faith. On the contrary, the man who does these things will live by them. But verse 13 is key. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

21:30 See, then he says, Christ redeemed us. Okay, look. I've broken the law. I've broken God's law. I've broken the commandments. I've broken so many commandments so many times. And it's not from lack of trying. I want to be a good person. I've tried to be a good person. You know, growing up as a kid, you know, right from wrong somehow. And you just, you remember those times when you just do the wrong thing and you're just like, man, it's not like I want to. And you try to tell your kids why you do that. And I'm like, I don't know. I tried, you know. And we break the law. Now the Bible says, well, then you're under a curse. Then you need to be punished. punished not just from your parents you need to be punished by God not punished just by the government punished from God your creator because you rebelled against his law but then it says that Christ redeemed you guys you understand the word redeemed understand what that means redeemed it's it's it's like you know these these these water bottles you know how when you it has a thing that that says five cents, you know, the redemption value. You ever seen that on a bottle? Five cents redemption value. It's the idea of you're just going to throw this thing in the trash, right?

23:00 But someone goes, no, no, no, no. I'll take that. I want that. You're like, what are you going to give me. He goes, a nickel. Like, all right. It's this whole idea of he's redeeming something. I want that. And you understand the picture. This is such a beautiful, beautiful picture in scripture because it's this picture that I'm under a curse. I ought to be punished. and Jesus goes, I want him. I want her. Don't throw that away. Don't destroy him. Don't destroy her. I want him. I want her.

23:44 And I want him. I want her so bad that I'll pay the redemption value. You know what? I know he's supposed to be cursed. I want him so badly. I'll take his curse. Go ahead. Nail me to a tree. Nail me to that cross. Because the Bible says, you know what? If I hang on a tree, then that's a curse from God. And Jesus is saying, man, I wanted you so badly. I want you so badly. And you couldn't save yourself. You kept breaking the law. And you were just in for the wrath of God. You were going to be cursed by God. And yet I looked at you and I loved you. And I go, no, I want him. But I want her. So what do I got to do? What do I have to do to redeem that person? And what do I have to do to redeem Francis? Because I want to take him home. I love him. I want him. Okay, so that means I have to be cursed by the Father. I have to take the punishment.

24:39 And the Bible says that's what he does. He comes down because he wanted to redeem you. He says, no, don't destroy him. Don't destroy her. I want them. I want them. I want them. And the Bible says that he took that curse away by becoming a curse himself on that tree. You guys, no one's ever gonna love you like that. No one's ever gonna redeem you like that. And that's the God that we worship, and that's why we're in this room. It's because Jesus Christ redeemed us. He credited righteousness into our account. And if you're gonna walk away from a God that's gonna give you all of that and redeem you and go to a system where you think, well, I don't want any of that. I'm gonna do it myself. Paul's saying, you're insane.

25:29 You're insane. You know how good it was when you believed and you got the Holy Spirit and he changed your life and you experienced him. Why would you leave that for a system of works that has never worked for anyone, was not Abraham's pattern and was not your pattern until someone came and bewitched you, he says.

25:52 Hypnotized you into some crazy teaching. And he closes this section by saying, why Jesus redeemed us? Why did Jesus redeem you? Why did he go after you? Verse 14, he redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

26:19 Why was all of this taking place? all of this is for the benefit of us receiving the Spirit. See, that was always the promise, was that somehow God would dwell with me, I could have God. And you guys, it's all from faith. It's all just from believing. See, some of you in this room going, wow, are you serious? I could just be, I could just have righteousness. Like God will just look at me right now in an instant and say totally pure. That just in an instant, he would redeem me. He would take me, and I don't have to do this myself. And just for asking, he would put his very spirit inside of me. God would put his spirit inside of me and empower me to do all these things, and I would notice, and I would experience him and everything. He would just give that to me. Absolutely. In fact, the way Jesus puts it, in John chapter...

27:16 Oh, no. I went blank. Nope. The father asking for a fish. Is it Matthew 11? Luke 11. Thank you. It is Luke 11. See, I got 11. Luke 11, verse 11. 11.

27:49 Yes, thank you. Luke, verse 11. Chapter 11, verse 11. It says this. Which of you fathers? Okay, many of you guys are fathers in this room, right? Okay, we got dads in this room. Okay, he goes, which of you? Okay, you guys that are dads. Which of you fathers, if your son asks you for a fish, like he's hungry, hey, Dad, can I have some fish sticks? He says, if your son asks for a fish, which of you would give him a snake instead? Like your kid's hungry and he wants some fish and you find a poison, you find a cobra, and you go, no, die.

28:28 Like, it's just like this hyperbole. It's like this ridiculous, you would never do that, right? Okay. And then he says, or how about if your son asks you for an egg? You're going to give him a scorpion? You're just going to toss a scorpion in his face? Here, eat this. No, you wouldn't do that. And so then he says, verse 13, he goes, If you, if you then, though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

29:07 He goes, what do you think? He goes, you guys are evil human fathers. And if your kid asks you for, you know, something to eat, you're not going to kill him. He goes, what kind of father do you think I am? he goes and if you ask me for the holy spirit don't you think i'm going to give that to you because i'm a good father just for asking i'll give you the holy spirit just for asking i'll just credit to your account righteousness just for asking i'll redeem you see that's what this has always been about about this father in heaven where we're we're just shocked by His goodness, His grace, like, you're going to put righteousness into my account. You're going to redeem me and take the curse for me. And then, just for asking, you're going to put your spirit into me.

30:07 We ought to read that and go, where do I sign up? And many of us have, and we've experienced them, and it's changed our lives. The Holy Spirit, I just want to remind you in closing, I'm going to throw some verses on the screen. to remind you what the Holy Spirit does for you. Just in case someone told you, like someone told me, eh, he doesn't really do anything. Just know he's there. Oh, no, no, no. Here's what he does. These are just a few verses. Mark 13, 11. Whenever you're arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand. And then, you guys, this is referring to the Christians that were arrested for their faith. So don't say, oh, I'll break the law so I can experience the Holy Spirit. No, this is about back then when they were put on trial for believing in Jesus. When you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it's not you speaking about the Holy Spirit.

31:04 Is that cool? That there will actually be times in our life when you just open your mouth and words will come out that weren't from your brain, that they came from the Holy Spirit. Do you believe that? Do you believe that we have that ability? Like we're put in a precarious situation where God wants us to say something and you don't have to worry about it. You don't have to put together a speech. You just throw it out. You just say it. The Holy Spirit's gonna give you, has that ever happened to you? You feel like there've been those times? I feel like there's been times when you're talking to someone and they're in this situation and you don't even know how in the world. If someone put it on a test and you were supposed to write down what you would say in this situation, you'd have no clue. But suddenly the time comes and something comes out of your mouth. you walk away going, that was good. You know, like, wow, did you hear me? I'm like Dr. Phil. You know, I'm just, I just knew exactly what to say. That's a bad example. But that's a, you know, but those times when it's like, no, that was supernatural, man. I said things that just blew my own mind. I didn't know I knew that. Next verse, John 14, 26, but the counselor, of the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.

32:14 He will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I said to you. You know what the Holy Spirit does for you? He's actually gonna teach you things. He'll teach you all things, everything you need to know. In fact, there'll be times that he'll remind you of something that was taught to you already. Like you'll be in a situation and suddenly you'll remember a verse from when you were a little kid. You're going, wow, I can't believe that popped up right then. or you remember a sermon from seven or eight years ago that you thought you slept through and you just go, wow, at that moment it all came back. It was just right there. That's supernatural. It's the Holy Spirit. Next verse, Acts 1.8, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Do you believe that? Do you believe that the Holy Spirit would actually empower you to be a witness for him.

33:10 See, because we live in a day and age where anyone who hears typically in America with all the stats and everything else of how many people that hate Christianity, everything now and the reputation it has, and yet the Bible says, don't worry about that. I'll give you power. So you can look at the world and go, man, it would be impossible to lead someone in America to Christianity because it has such a bad name and everyone's bashing the Christians and everything else. And yet the Bible says, no, no, no. I'm going to give you power to be my witnesses. And I want you to experience this, where there are times when you'll explain to people what I explained to you about Christ redeeming you. See, some of you in this room, you didn't believe that coming in here.

33:49 You just looked at Christianity and you just want to throw it all away and say it's a bunch of garbage. And yet when I tell you that God loved you and redeemed you, and that he would actually just credit to you righteousness and give you his spirit, there's something about that that resonates with you there just is and that's because when I speak through the power of the Holy Spirit I'm empowered to be his witness and I believe that I believe there's power when I speak there's times I'm done speaking I'm going you know what that was just all God next verse for if you live according to the sinful nature you will die but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. See, by the Spirit you can put to death the misdeeds of your body. Do you believe that? Do you believe that when the Holy Spirit came into you, suddenly you had power to stop sinning?

34:46 Before you tried so many times, I'm gonna stop that, I'm gonna stop that, I'm gonna be a good husband, I'm gonna be a good father, I'm gonna stop this, I'm gonna stop those things, and you couldn't do it, working, working, working. Then the Spirit came into you, and then suddenly it's like, wow. through his power, I can actually walk away from these sins that I wrestled with so long. Hopefully you've experienced that. Next verse. Romans 8, 15, 16. You didn't receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we're God's children.

35:23 This one I can't explain. Okay, I know it's true, and I know that somehow inside every fiber of my being screams out that God is my Father. There's not this sense of, oh, I'm scared of God. What's He going to do to me? He's going to kill me. No, everything in me just screams out that I know, I know that God looks at me as His child. In fact, there's times when I've prayed and I've said to God, God, there's no way you treat everyone this good. There's no way. There's no way. I feel like I'm your only child. Like you listen to everything I pray for. And you're just there. You're there. And I know you're there. It's a spirit that, it's an experience where inside of you, you just know you're secure with God. You know you're loved by him. And it says that you're, by the spirit that's in us, we cry out, Abba, Father. And it's like God's very spirit testifies with our own spirit that we're really children of God.

36:23 I can't explain that for you. I can't feel that for you. It's just something you know because the Holy Spirit is in you. You know what? I know I'm a child of God. I know he loves me. And it's not because Francis told me. It's not because a Sunday school teacher told you. It's not because a little old lady told you. It's because, no, I just know. I just know. I can't even explain it. I am just absolutely sure that my spirit tells me that I'm a child of God. Next verse. Romans 15, 13, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. What does the Holy Spirit do? He makes you overflow with hope. Are you overflowing with hope today? Like you just know, even if you're going through a hard time, there's hope. You're never hopeless. You're never like, ah, everything's terrible, everything's, no, there's something inside of you that knows that it's gonna get better.

37:18 I'm gonna be okay. Yeah, I'm hurting, I'm crying, this is awful, but I'm overflowing with hope. Next verse. 1 Corinthians 12, 7. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. It's talking about how the Spirit manifests Himself and how everyone in this room is given a gift. Not just a little talent but a supernatural gift for the sake of the common good. That means as you desire to serve the church by the people you're sitting around that you have a supernatural ability to do so. Like you're not just another counselor. No, when you counsel someone, it changes their lives. When you encourage someone, it lifts up their whole day. When you teach, there's power. See, and I believe this when I preach. And that's why I go, you know what, I need to go. I need to go to the body of Christ and preach because I believe that something happens.

38:12 Like God's given me this gift. It's nothing about me. It's just sometimes it just happens and I walk off the stage going, wow. That's the whole reason why I live. See, that's the way God wants us to live, manifesting his gift. That's not unique with me. That's for each of us. To each one is given that. Hopefully you're experiencing that as you serve the body. And then last one. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There's so many other verses, but I want to get this across to you because these are things that should happen in your life if the Holy Spirit's in you. and sometimes maybe you didn't know because no one told you these things ought to happen, and so it's just lack of knowledge, and I just want to bring it to your attention. There's so much more that the Holy Spirit ought to be doing in our lives, but I want us to pray. I want us to pray for these things, ask for these things, and God says, look, if you ask me to be a person who's filled with love, joy, peace, patience, what am I going to do?

39:14 Make you this angry, bitter person? He goes, you as an earthly father would never do that He goes, I have control over everything You want to be a loving person? Ask me Ask me for that Ask me to make you loving You're filled with bitterness this morning And you want to get rid of that? You still hate people from your past? Ask me Ask my spirit to come into you And change that about you You addicted to something this morning? talk to me about it ask me God says ask me for that spirit that can put to death put to death the deeds of the flesh let's get that out of you I'm a good father I'll get that out of you I'm not going to make the opposite come true in your life do you believe these things you want to be a powerful witness ask