Hi. Welcome. Welcome to Valley Creek. We're so glad you're here with us. Wherever you are, whatever's going on in your life, we're glad you're here because God is good and God is good to you. And we've been in the season as a church of fueling the fire. You say, "What does that mean?" It means we're fueling, tending, stewarding the fire of God among us. The fire of God simply the presence, the power, and the purity of God. God is a consuming fire. He is an uncontrollable, uncontainable, all powerful, everlasting, mighty, glorious, beautiful, radiant fire. and He wants to consume, but He doesn't consume indiscriminately like a wildfire. No, He looks for things that are submitted and surrendered to Him that He might come and consume them. And so we as a people want to be submitted and surrendered to Jesus that we might be consumed by His fire and become people with radiant faces, burning hearts, and holy and powerful lives.

And it's a fascinating season as we've made this a priority and cried out to God and started asking God for this divine stirring that is happening among us. And if you pay attention and call attention and if you look around you a little bit, what you'll start to see is things like dreams we have been dreaming are actually starting to happen. And visions that we've seen for years are starting to come to fruition. And prayers that we've prayed for a really long time are starting to be answered. And breakthroughs that we've longed for are happening. And promises that we've held on to are being released. Hope that we have had is coming to pass. There is a move of God that is starting.

And I hope you see it. I hope you feel it. I hope you're aligning your life to it. You see, I spent all week just honestly just praying, just saying, "God, what, what are You doing? What do You want to say? What do You want us to even just do this weekend?" Like honestly, all week I wasn't even sure what God wanted to do this week. And as I prayed for you and prayed for our church and sought the Lord, the Lord took me to this story that I feel is very much a picture of what is happening in our community of faith right now. And it's the story of Gideon. Remember the story of Gideon? It's Old Testament obscure story kind of shoved in the book of Judges, but it's this fascinating little story. The Midianites, the enemies of God, are oppressing the Israelites, the people of God. And when we find Gideon, we find Gideon threshing wheat in a wine press. He's doing the wrong thing, the wrong way, with the wrong mindset. He's got a spirit of fear, a spirit of scarcity, and He's hiding out trying to take care of himself. And an angel shows up with this divine interruption in his life and says, "Greetings, mighty warrior. The Lord is with you.” “Mighty warrior? The Lord is with me?” “Yes. And I'm going to empower you to go and save God's people from their enemies. Now go with the strength that you have." And as they have this little conversation and this little wrestle, Gideon starts to have this discovery of his identity. He starts to become awakened to the presence of God. He starts realizing there's a whole lot more for his destiny than doing the wrong thing, in the wrong way, with the wrong mindset.

And so his first response is to then want to give an offering. And so he runs and he gets an offering and he takes it and he sets it on a rock. And the moment he submits and surrenders it to this rock, fire springs forth from the rock and consumes the offering. Gideon is moved by everything that is taking place. And God speaks to him and says, "The next thing, Gideon, I need you to do is I need you to go and tear down your father's Asherah pole and destroy your father's idols and altars to Baal." In other words, I need you to go deal with your father's gods. I need you to go deal with the foreign gods. I need you to go deal with the idols and the things that it should have never been in your life in the first place. I need you to go and destroy them. But Gideon is afraid. What is everyone going to think if he goes and gets rid of his father's god and and these foreign gods that are among them?

So he goes and he does it at night. And when they wake up the next morning, everybody is upset because these were their gods. But in that moment, Gideon doesn't care because it literally says the Holy Spirit comes upon Gideon and literally God clothes Himself with Gideon. It says, and God says, "Now it's time to go. Let's set the people free." But but Gideon's not sure he's really heard the Lord. So he says, "God, I I I think it's you, but I'm not really sure." So, so don't be mad at me, but let me let me just kind of test to make sure this was your voice. And so he puts out a fleece. You've ever heard that term, throw out a fleece. This is where it came from. And he puts out a fleece, and he says, "God, if it's really you, in the morning, let the the fleece be covered with dew, but all the ground be dry just so that I know it was you." Wakes up in the morning, the fleece is soaked, but all the ground is dry. Surely, it's got to be God. But Gideon says, "Just just maybe one more time, God, because I'm not really sure that was you. So, so maybe if we could reverse it tonight, like let the fleece be dry and the ground be covered in dew." He wakes up in the morning and sure enough, the fleece is dry, the ground is covered in dew. Surely it is the Lord. And God says, "Go." So he rallies this army, has 32,000 people and God says, "Hey Gideon, that's great, but it's too many people. In fact, if you go and win this battle with all of them, you're going to always think that you did this in your own strength. So why don't you tell everybody who's afraid they can go home?" 22,000 people go home. He's now left with 10,000. And God says, "It's still too many, Gideon. We got to cut this thing down." Gideon's like, "I, I, Lord, I don't know. like maybe we could do that fleece thing again cuz this ain't this ain't working for me.”

And the next thing you know, he's left with only 300 people. And here's the battle plan. 300 people are going to take a trumpet and they're going to go and they're going to surround the enemy's camp and they're going to blow the trumpet. They're going to take these clay pots that have a burning torch inside. And when they blow the trumpet, they're going to smash the clay pots and let the torches burn bright. These are men who have probably never blown a trumpet in their life. They are not worshippers, but they are handed a trumpet and they blow the trumpet and they let out their worship. They smash this clay pot. The burning torch is burning inside. It is now revealed. The entire enemy sees it, goes into this panic. The kingdom of God is released and an amazing victory takes place.

And I tell you that story because man, isn't that what's happening right now? The people of God have spent years being oppressed by the enemies of God. And so many of us have spent much of our life threshing wheat in a wine press. In other words, doing the wrong thing, the wrong way, with the wrong mindset. We've lived with a spirit of fear and a spirit of scarcity, trying to hold on and just take care of me, myself, and I. And then there's this divine interruption that shows up into our life. And God shows up to declare our identity. Greetings, mighty warrior. For years, if you've been a part of this church, you know God is trying to declare identity over your life. Mighty warrior, beloved son or daughter, righteousness of God, holy, victorious, free. The Lord is with you. We're awakening to the presence of God in our lives. Surely, He is in this place. Surely, He is in my life. Surely, He is with me in the valley of the shadow of death, whether I realize it or not. And then God is declaring destiny over our lives saying you're created for so much more than this fear and this orphan thinking. You're a hope carrier, an ambassador, a reconciler. I have sent you. Now go in the strength you have. And when you awaken to the three circles, the gospel, what's your response? To offer an offering. And when we take that offering and we surrender it to the Lord, we put it on the rock. What is the rock? It is Jesus. And whatever is submitted and surrendered to the rock is consumed with fire because He doesn't burn indiscriminately. He burns that which is submitted and surrendered to him.

And then over this past season, what have we been doing? We've been tearing down our father's gods. We've been tearing down the foreign gods that we've allowed into our life. And we're destroying the idols and the things that we've worshiped and the things that we've allowed to control us and consume us. And we've been a little afraid like what does my spouse or my family or my friends or my co-workers what are they going to think? So maybe we're doing it at night but it really doesn't matter cuz in obedience we're dealing with the generational curses and the things that should have never been allowed in our lives. And we're tearing them down in the name of Jesus and the Spirit is coming and He's filling us and He's clothing us and we're learning to discern the voice of God. Is that really You, God? Is it okay if I test this a little bit? God never rebukes Gideon for testing that it really was him. He's like, I want you to know this is me, so that's okay. We're learning to discern the voice of God. And then what's happening is is God is sifting His people. I, I've told you before in this last run that that we don't have the most amount of people we've ever had at this church right now, but we have the most amount of people who want more of God than we have ever had at one time.

And we're learning to then take our trumpet, our life of worship. Offer your lives as a living sacrifice. This is your act of worship. Worship to the Lord. And then we're taking our clay pots, our humanness. And we're allowing it to be broken in Jesus' name through confession and repentance and humility that the fire of God within may burn bright and the kingdom of heaven may be released in the world around us. That Valley Creek is what I believe is happening right now. That is what is happening in our community of faith. The question is: is that what is happening in your life? Are you awakening to this reality that maybe you're doing the wrong thing, in the wrong way, with the wrong mindset, hiding out with the spirit of fear? Are you letting God interrupt your life to declare your identity, awaken you to His presence, and give you a much bigger destiny? Are you willing to submit and surrender some things to Him that He might consume them to give you your next step to tear down your father's gods and to tear down the idols of your life? Are you trying to lean in and hear the voice of God? And are you willing to pick up your trumpet and become a worshiper in all moments of your life because He is worthy of your song and your heart and your life and your energy and your thoughts. And then are you willing to be broken before the Lord? Because that treasure is in the jar of clay, but it doesn't shine until it's broken and can burn bright in Jesus' name. That's what I think is happening. Do you feel it? Do you see it? Do you sense it?

You see, if you were here last week with us, we talked about the four baptisms. The four baptisms that we're in invited to undergo in Scripture as in our walk with God. Baptism just simply means to immerse, to dip, to submerge. And we just said that the first baptism is we're baptized into Christ. We're baptized into salvation. The Holy Spirit immerses us into Christ. This is your moment of salvation. You're now included in Christ. Everything that is true of Him is now true of you. You're dead to sin. You're alive to God in Christ. As He is, so you are. That's your moment of salvation. The Holy Spirit immerses you into the life of Christ. Then the second baptism is water baptism. This is the one we're most familiar with. “Therefore, go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you.” This is a baptism of identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We've been washed clean. We rise to a new life. We're a new creation, and we've decided to become disciples who live a life of repentance. Then the third baptism is the baptism into the Holy Spirit, the one we're probably the least familiar with. And if we are, for many of us, we're the most uncomfortable about because it's been manipulated or abused or our experiences with it in the past haven't been so great.

But did you know that in all four gospels and in the book of Acts, it talks about being baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire? There are very few things that are contained in more than one gospel. Very few that are in two. Hardly any that are in three. Almost nothing that's in, almost nothing that's in all four gospels and the Book of Acts, but this is. “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” We get to be immersed in the power and character of Jesus as a reality of our life – that is all the way through. You would think what would be in all four gospels and in the Book of Acts would be things like, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” No, that's in one. You would think, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." We would think that's be in all. No, that's in one. We would think, “I came to seek and save that which was lost,” would be in all of them. No, that's in one. You know, what's in all of them? “Be baptized in the Holy Spirit and in fire,” because it's important. And then the fourth baptism is baptism into love. When we hear the Father say, "This is my beloved son or daughter in whom I am well pleased." And when you're immersed into the father's love, you come up free. The deep insecurities and the orphan spirit of your heart gets set free in Jesus' name and you are free and fearless going forward.

And so we talked about all of those, but we spent most of our time talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And what we did is I tried to teach it all the way through and then just left it at the end by saying this. So here's the invitation. Tonight at all of our campuses, we're going to anoint people with oil and pray for people to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Okay? Six-hour notice you had. Okay? More than 1,500 people came across all of our campuses to be anointed with oil to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, normally I don't talk about numbers up here because really they don't really matter. I'm telling you that because I want to show you how God is moving. A six-hour notice. People were hungry for the things of God. And so, they came. 1,500 people anointed with oil prayed for the Holy Spirit. Young and old, rich and poor, the least and the greatest. People that have walked with God for decades. People that walked into our church for the first time that night. People came willingly and confessed and repented of their sin. People received new spiritual gifts. People had encounters with God that they had never had before. People heard God's voice in a way like they had never had heard before. Some people came and they didn't feel or experience anything, but they came with faith and humility to say, "I don't know. I just want more of God. God moved and He's moving.”

And there's two things that I want you to see in that that are profoundly important. One is you hear what you want to hear, you see what you want to see, and you receive what you want to receive. We work so stinking hard behind the scenes to communicate effectively to our church. We put together texts and social media and emails and websites and we spend hours and hours. How do we make sure people know about this? How do we make sure you know about Valley Creek 101? Do people know it's MVMNT Night? This I mean all the things. And yet one announcement, three minutes at the end of my message, 1,500 people could show up in six hours. I just, I just want to tell you this: what you want influences what you perceive. Whatever you truly want and hear influences what you perceive. You will hear what you want to hear and see what you want to see and receive what you want to receive. Jesus says, "Let He who has ears to hear and eyes to see and a heart to receive." Right? So, so it's just a good thought for you to think about in your own life. What am I constantly hearing? What am I constantly seeing? What am I constantly receiving? And what am I not hearing? What am I not seeing? What am I not receiving? And what does that tell me about what my heart actually wants? Cuz you will see and hear and receive what you actually want.

And the second thing I want to say to you is, is we can't make God move, but boy, we can align our life with Him when He does. Like when Jesus is serving bread and fish, eat. When Jesus is pouring new wine, drink. When Jesus is, is not speaking, wait. When Jesus is speaking, listen. When He's showing you new revelation, look. When He's giving out blessings, receive. When He's healing, step forward and say, "Me too." Like, like whatever He is doing, align your life with it. Don't analyze it. Don't try to understand it. Don't become logical or analytical. Well, if it's this and maybe I don't know and I need to think more about. No. Don't have good theology and no encounters. Have good theology that leads you to say, "I still don't get it, but I'm jumping in that river because it's flowing by because I don't want to miss what God is doing."

And so, for close to a year, we've been talking about this divine stirring and this insatiable hunger. And even if you don't have it, you can say, "But, but God, I can't deny that you're doing it. So, I'm going to eat even though I'm not hungry. And, and I'm going to move even though I'm I'm kind of tired. And and and I'm going to receive even though I'm kind of closed off and I'm going to listen even though I'm distracted. Don't miss it. The saddest thing in the gospels are the people who just stood there and didn't have eyes to see or ears to hear or a heart to receive Him right in front of them. And they didn't see it and they didn't hear it and they didn't receive it because they didn't want to. Not because He wasn't good, not because He wasn't revealing his. I mean, He is the image of the invisible God. I mean, He was literally there to show. What do you want? What do you want?

See, I love what Paul tells us, “That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” I told you last week, I don't even know how to explain this. “That you would be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.” The creator, the sustainer, the redeemer of all things, the consuming fire, the alpha and the omega, the eternal almighty, limitless God wants to fill you with the fullness of Himself. And how do I know when I'm full? I'm overflowing. You know something is full when it's overflowing. Until it's overflowing, there is still room or there is still space left for more to be filled. So you can get right up there to the top, but if there's still one sip left, you're not full. I know I'm full when it's overflowing down the sides. Like, do you remember being a kid and you would ask like your brother or sister or somebody to get you a drink to go fill it up for you and they come back and they bring you like this much in the thing? You would be angry because all of this is empty space and here's this little sip. Well, I think a lot of us think because we have a little bit of God in our cup, we're full and you wouldn't accept it for a Dr. Pepper. Why would we accept it for the Holy Spirit? Right? I mean, do you ever see people at the fountain drinks? Like they're like waiting for the fizz to go and now it's running over. It's all sticky. They bring it into your nicely clean car, put it in a cup holder. That's full. That's overflowing.

I know I'm full and overflowing when someone bumps into me, rubs me, knocks me, and what comes out of me is the life of Christ. That's how you know you're full of the Spirit. That the life of Christ comes out of you when it's bumped. And I was thinking about this and I was thinking about here's what's really interesting. When you have a cup and it's full and you bump it, what comes out of it? That which is on top. So if I think I'm full of God and when I'm bumped, what comes out of me is flesh, sin, or the world, it means that's what's on top. And God's buried somewhere way down in here. What spills out is what's on top. So when somebody bumped into you this morning, what came out? That's what's on top. I don't know about you, but I don't want any part of me to be on top. And I don't want there to be any room that hasn't been full by the Spirit of the Living God. In fact, this is why it says, "You are also included in Christ. When you heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, baptized into Christ, your moment of salvation, having believed, you are marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.” The moment you get saved, the Holy Spirit comes into your life as a deposit. But I'm not content with the deposit. I want the inheritance. I want to be filled and I want to be overflowing. I want to be indwelt and I want to be clothed.

I want to get in the kingdom, but I actually want to live in the kingdom. I don't want to just know about it. I actually want to experience it. And this is why it says in John, “For God gives the Spirit without limit.” You know how much of the Spirit you can have? As much as you want. Keep putting your life under that dispenser and let it flow until it's overflowing and keep giving it away because the more you give it away, the more He's willing to fill you up. And when we say Spirit-filled, what do we mean by that? We mean that you are walking in the character and the power of Jesus. It is an initial experience, but it is an ongoing lifestyle. The character of Jesus, which is the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. That is the character of Jesus. The fruit of the Spirit that will grow in your life when you're filled with him. But He also wants to give us power, which is the gifts of the Spirit. Gifts like leadership and administration and prophecy and tongues and healing and generosity and encouragement – gifts that God has given you to do His will and His work in the lives of the people around you to build up and strengthen the body, to heal the sick and raise the dead and cast out demons and do the things that only God can do through a willing and submitted vessel. The Holy Spirit is in me for my sake, but He is upon me for your sake. The Holy Spirit doesn't make me better than you. He makes me better for you. The Holy Spirit – holy, set apart, different, other, righteous, pure, spirit, divine, supernatural, life, kingdom. When the Holy Spirit has filled me to overflowing, I will have a radiant face, a burning heart, and a holy and powerful life in Jesus' name. Are you with me on this?

Do you remember the story of Noah's ark? Do you realize the story of Noah's ark contains all four baptisms? You say, "What?" Yeah. The world was wicked and rebelled against God and God was grieved. But He found Noah, a man who is righteous and had favor with God. And so He tells Noah, "Noah, build this wooden ark and I will rescue you and your family uh uh from from coming destruction." And so they build this wooden ark and his family gets in it. And then the flood comes and washes the world clean. And when the waters start to recede and the ark is sitting there out of the small little side window in the ark, Noah lets out a dove and the dove flies around, but it can't find anywhere to land, so it comes back. Seven days later, he lets the dove out that side window again. It goes out. Only this time, it comes back, bringing a little olive branch. Seven days later, he lets the dove out again. And this time, it doesn't come back because it found its resting place. And then they get out of the ark and what shows up in the sky? A rainbow declaring the goodness and the grace of God. See, do you see it? The wooden ark is the wooden cross. It is the baptism into salvation. We've been included in Christ. You will never be saved without taking a hold of the wooden cross. Get in the ark. Grab a hold of what God has done for you. The waters that came are the waters of baptism. washing everything, making it clean, allowing a new creation to be released. The Holy Spirit coming out of the side of the ark is a picture of the Holy Spirit coming and baptizing, immersing the people of God with His presence. And the rainbow in the sky is the baptism into love. It's like the Father's arms reaching down, grabbing you in His goodness and His grace. And what I want you to see is that the dove came out of the side of the wooden ark. When Jesus was hanging on the wooden cross and they put a spear into His side and water and blood flowed and He said, "Into your hands I commit my spirit." The dove was released for anyone and everyone who wants it. Out of the side of the wooden ark, out of the side of Jesus on the wooden cross, the Spirit of God was released.

The question is, does He have a place to land? Does He have a place to go? We talked about this last week. We want a visitation. God wants a habitation. Here's what I think. I think for a lot of us, we like the second version of the dove. We want the visitation. We give Him a little peace offering. Now on your way. I got a lot of things to do this week. So I go back home. Go back home. But God is looking for a place to dwell, a place to abide, a place to habitate. God isn't looking for a dinner party, a game night, a coffee, a hangout. No, He's looking to dwell. And when He moves in, everything changes, doesn't it? It it has to change because He's the Holy Spirit. So for Him to dwell in me means things are going to be different. So the question is is do I want him? See we think, we think this whole thing the Scriptures, the gospel, church, the narrative is all about us getting back to God. It's really about God coming to us. That's right. It it's it's not about us abiding with God.

It's about God's so longing to abide and dwell and habitate with you that He went to great lengths to make it possible. I mean, go all the way to the beginning. This is the Garden of Eden. All things are perfect. The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. You know why Eden was a paradise? Because that's where God dwelt. That's where He lived. That's where He abided. It was a habitation. God and man together in the perfection of creation. This is how it all starts in Genesis. And here's how it'll all end when God makes the garden city. Now, the dwelling of God is with men and He will live with them and they will be His people. And God Himself will be with them and be their God. When God makes all things new, the all things new is God abiding, habitating, dwelling, living amongst His people face to face for eternity. Okay. So then what's happening now? Well, what's happening now is the invitation. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, you are not your own because you are bought at a very high price. Therefore, honor God with your body. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? That you are meant to be the dwelling place of God on this earth. Have you ever been to an amazing vacation, amazing destination, amazing place, and you look out at these mountains and these oceans and these canyons and these forests? That's not where God dwells. He could dwell in Fiji. He could dwell in Denali. He could dwell in the Bahamas. He's chosen to dwell in you. He has decided that you would be His temple. What is a temple? A temple is a sacred space. It's a divine space. It's a space that is set apart for the presence of God and for people to come and meet with him. A temple is a place of wisdom and counsel. It's a place of supernatural and healings and signs and wonders. It's a place of inspiration and and and and uh a destiny being released. It's a place where people can find healing and hope and comfort and community. That's you. You're a divine sacred space, kind of a gateway in between two worlds, heaven and earth. You're living on earth as the people of heaven as this temple, this dwelling place where the Holy Spirit lives. Holy, set apart, other, righteous, pure, beautiful, glorious, Spirit, divine, supernatural, life, kingdom. That's who you are. When was the last time you thought of your body as a sacred place? We're talking about building a prayer center, a sacred space for the city. But, but do you know your body is the Prayer Center? Like you are the sacred space. That's just a building. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, a sacred space, and you are bought with a very high price. Jesus was beaten with rods. He was whipped until His flesh was ripped off. A crown of thorns was shoved on His head. He was nailed to the cross. He was mocked, spit, scorned, accused, separated from His Father. The sin of all history, of all mankind placed upon Him so that you could become the temple of the Holy Spirit. Maybe that should make me rethink about what I do with this body? Maybe that should make me rethink about what I think about? Maybe that should make me rethink what I allow in here? Maybe that should make me rethink about who I allow because this is a sacred space?

So here's the question. Are you a good host? Are you a good host? If God is not looking for someone to have a cup of coffee with, He's looking for someone to abide with. Are you a good host? Is making your life the dwelling place for God the priority? The thing you're seeking and pursuing and going after. I mean, have you ever been to a party or an event with a really good host? Oh my gosh, it's amazing. They rearrange everything in their house. They have thought months in advance about what kind of food and and how to clean everything up. They get rid of anything and everything that could be offensive or bothersome or just even not excellent for the people that they're hosting. They go all out with everything that we've got. So, here's my question. Is that what we do with this for the Holy Spirit? I will rearrange. I will get rid of. I will, I will adjust. I will find things that you love because I want to be the dwelling place.

The Holy Spirit is in every believer. But make no mistake about it, He does not dwell upon every believer. But because not every believer is interested in making a habitation for him. So either the dove flies around and goes back to the cross or sometimes we give Him the peace offering and send Him back on His way because we don't want to deal with the things that would have to be dealt with for Him to come more and more and dwell. Or we can build our lives in such a way that He comes and He never goes. And I become filled to overflowing. And so when you bump into me, what comes out of me is not me, it's him. I mean, we go to the next one. Here's our theme verse really for this whole thing. The fire on the altar must be kept burning. It must not go out. Every morning, the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously. It must not go out. Remember, this is the Old Testament priest. This is the temple. This is the altar. The fire of God. It was the fire and the presence of God lived at the altar made by human hands. And their job was to arrange and and add firewood every day to keep that fire burning to keep the presence of God there. Okay. Well, when Jesus came on the cross, remember He took the presence of God, the fire of God, and moved it from the altar at the temple built by human hands and He moved it to the altar of the temple of the human heart resurrected by the Spirit of God. So when we talk about adding fuel and rearranging and keeping the fire burning, it's not at a place anymore. It's in a person because the temple is no longer a building. It is now me. It is now you. And so when we get to the New Testament and it says, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire." You realize that's the exact same thing that the priests were told in Leviticus. Only now it's not on a on a on a bronze altar. No, now it's right here. Now it's right here. Do not put out the Spirit's fire. Do not quench it. Do not limit it. Do not grieve it. Do not become unaware of it.

I mean, here's a great question. If you had a candle or a fire in your hand of some kind and you had to walk through life and your job was to not let it go out, how would you live? Very carefully. Very aware. You would probably not move fast. Camera guy, get ready. Right. Because it would go out. You would be very slow and very measured. There's places you wouldn't go because you know that place would endanger the flame. There's people you wouldn't go around because you know those people would want to put it out. There are other people you would want to get around because they're trying to keep theirs going too and we can help each other. There are environments and atmospheres that you would make sure your life is constantly in because it has the right the right atmosphere for this thing to burn. So if that's true, how do we do that? I think it goes out honestly just because we're not aware of it. Just think we're not aware like we forget like that He's here and the whole thing.

And I think it goes out because we resist him. I think it goes out because we fill our lives with the things of this world. I think it goes out because because we live according to the pattern of the world because we live in sin and and act like it's okay because there's not a lot of the fear of the Lord. I mean, you go through whatever your thing is, but it's like don't put out the Spirit's fire. If you just saw your life as I have this candle or this torch or this fire in my hand and my job, my calling from God is do not let this go out. I am going to live so very differently than I live every day because this will be the main focus. Even when I'm showering, I'll be like because I'm becoming aware that I'm the dwelling place of God. I mean, the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. If we really don't want to put out the Spirit's fire, then we got to let Him rest on us.

We can't be in a hurry. We can't be busy. We got to walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. The Spirit of wisdom means we actually have to take His wisdom. His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. They're higher. So, am I willing to listen to His wisdom? The Spirit of understanding. Am I willing to let Him be my teacher and give me revelation? Show me things I do not know. The Spirit of counsel. Am I willing to let Him be my counselor, my guide, my comforter? Show me the way. Ask me the deep and probing questions. Help me find healing. Power. Am I willing to do it in His power, not in my own strength? Knowledge, not information, interactive relationship. Do I actually have a relationship with He who dwells inside of me in this temple and fear of the Lord? A reverence, wonder, respect, this sense of He is the Lord. He is the Lord and I am not. Are you with me on this?

Okay, track with me for just a few more minutes because this is that famous passage from a Galatians. Don't. It's. Take a breath. That's. I knew it. See, that's why I said just are you okay? I'm going to show you something. And then you weren't okay. You should have told me, "No, we're not okay." And then maybe I would have skipped this cuz I didn't want to, you know, now we're too far in. Now we got to go. So here's what Paul says. So I say, "Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh, they're super obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and His desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” You can live according to the flesh or the Spirit. You can be full of the flesh or the Spirit. You can be led by the flesh or the Spirit, but it can't be both. Why? Because to be full of the Spirit means I have to be empty of the flesh. So whatever my cup is full to, whatever is left over is almost always for most of us the flesh. I'm only filled to the Spirit to here. Why? Because I have this much flesh that is yet to be crucified. That is yet to be dealt with. And you say, "What is the flesh?" The flesh is simply your life without God. We think flesh is some demonic flesh. Flesh is simply your life without God. And your life without God, the best you can do is sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, so on and so. That's the best, that's your life without God. That's the best you can do. The fruit of the Spirit means love, joy, peace, all those things. They're only possible through the Spirit in my life. I was thinking about this this week and I realized that just about every moment of my life that I regret, just about every moment of my life that I really hurt people, just about every one of those moments that I wish I could get back were moments that I walked in the flesh, not in the Spirit. My life without God, the best I could do were things like that. And I hurt my wife, my children, my best friends. I wasn't a good leader. I wasn't a good pastor. Whatever we're because I was in the flesh. So if that's the best you can do in your own strength, that's pretty hard to be a good husband, if that's all you can produce, and it's pretty hard to be a good wife. It's pretty hard to be a good friend, to to be a good business owner. It's pretty hard to be a good student. It's pretty hard to have a good life. If flesh – your life without God, that's the best you can do. And and you can't inherit the kingdom. What is the kingdom? Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That's part of the verse we always leave off.

You realize the Holy Spirit isn't in the kingdom. The kingdom is in the Holy Spirit. God is not in heaven. Heaven is in God. Heaven is not a place somewhere that God lives. No, heaven is a reality in God's heart that He invites you into. Within Him is heaven. So if I am full of the flesh, I can't be full of the Spirit. And therefore, it is impossible for me to live in the kingdom. And it is impossible to live a Spirit-filled life until I have crucified the flesh. Until I am willing to say, I'm willing to die to the old me. I'm willing to die to my opinions, my rights, my pride, my agenda, all the things inside of me that scream when they are going to the cross. But let them scream because they are dying in Jesus' name cuz they got to go so that more of Him can come. I am becoming a dwelling place, which means this garbage must go. I am becoming a dwelling place, which means this mold must go. I am becoming a dwelling place which means all the things that are not of Him are no longer welcome in this place in this temple and He can rearrange it so that I don't send him away with a peace offering and let Him become the place where He rules and reigns.

See, here's what's fascinating for me. Go to Garrett. Next one. Here's what's fascinating. The resurrected Jesus on one occasion while He was eating with them gave them this command, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift.” The Holy Spirit filling your life. The dwelling place of God. It's a gift. Call it that language. It'll change your mindset. Don't call Him a thing, an it, a a a a power. No, He is a person and He is a gift in your life that the Father has given to you which you have heard me speak about for John baptized water. But in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Just see if you can get this. As we, as we wrap up, Jesus literally says to them, "Wait, you're not ready. You're not ready for all that I've called you to do. You're not ready till you're baptized in the Holy Spirit." This is the disciples. They personally heard the Sermon on the Mount. They walked up the Mount of Transfiguration and saw Jesus transfigured. They literally, they healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons as Jesus sent them out from town to town and village to village. They have just shared a meal with the resurrected Christ. They have put their hands in the nail holes in His hands and the spear hole in His side. And He says, "You're not ready until you're baptized with the Holy Spirit." Okay? So maybe you're not ready to be married until you're baptized in the Holy Spirit. And maybe you're not ready to start that business until you're baptized in the Holy Spirit. And maybe you're not ready for children until you're baptized in the Holy Spirit. And maybe you're not ready to go to college, let alone go off to college until you're baptized in the Holy Spirit. Maybe you're not ready for that big thing that you think you're entitled to until you're baptized in the Holy Spirit. Because if they weren't ready, what what makes us think going to church every 3 weeks makes us ready? Come on. Yeah. No, I I mean, I go to church a couple times in my life. I'm ready for this marriage. Let's go. Wait. You're not ready. You're not ready. And you say, "But I want to get married. I want to start this business.” Wait. You say for how long? Seek Him until you find him. We just want to find him. He wants us to seek him.

Wait until you've created your life as a dwelling place where He can come and abide and habitate with you. And so they they didn't run off. They didn't run off and start preaching the gospel. There's sick people everywhere. There's dying people everywhere. They didn't be like, "We're just going to go do it." No, He said, "Wait, we got to wait." So they waited. Not 10 minutes. Not 10 hours, 10 days. 10 days. Are are we even willing to wait sometimes 10

seconds on the Lord? Cuz He said, "Wait, like I He's not speaking right this second. So then wait, are we done?" No, wait. Oh Lord, we present ourselves to you. So look what they did. They all joined together constantly in prayer. Together. They came together and talked with God and with each other about this life and life in the kingdom and Jesus and what it was going to be like and crying out and seeking God. And when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

“Suddenly, a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” They prepared themselves. They positioned themselves. And they became great hosts. And they waited cuz He said wait and He's all we want. So if He says wait and He's what we want, then we're going to wait because we want to be a resting place of God. And I love that it says it came with a wind and a fire. What fuels fire? Oxygen in the wind.

So when we talk about fueling the fire, here's the ultimate irony. He is the consuming fire and He is the wind of heaven. Which all that means is you don't actually ever keep the fire going anyways. You just make space for it to burn. I don't actually have to keep the fire burning. I actually can't. I just have to make space for Him to fill, for Him to dwell and let His breath. You ever see it? Amen. I honestly I just think this is a word from the Lord right now for you. Every man in this room knows what it's like to try to build a fire for his family. An actual fire. The Father is trying to breathe on the coals of your soul the wind of heaven that you might burn bright in Jesus name and get out of threshing wheat in a wine press doing the wrong things, the wrong way, with the wrong mindset because you're a mighty warrior and the Lord is with you. Would you awaken to the fact that He wants to fill you with power and life and authority and goodness and grace and radiance, a radiant face, a burning heart, and a holy and powerful life in Jesus’ name? All available to anyone and everyone who just says, "I want to be the dwelling place of God. I don't even know what it means. I don't even know how to find it. I don't even know." Great. just just wait and don't wait passively like did it happen yet? No, waiting means I'm seeking the Lord with everything I've got until He speaks, until He moves, until He breathes, until He releases in Jesus’ name.

So you close your eyes with me. Can you just receive whatever whatever God wants you to receive today? Would you just for a moment have eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to receive that which He wants to give you. Maybe it's not even what you want, but boy, it is what He wants. And He is stirring and He is calling and He is drawing. He's brought you to this moment. He's brought you to this place because He wants to fill you with himself. And it starts with simple confession and repentance. Jesus, I confess and repent. Of all the places in my life where I live according to the flesh, where I do life in my own strength, my own way without you, I repent. I turn away from that and step into the kingdom and live in the kingdom. And then we say, Holy Spirit, come and fill us Aresh. Come and fill us as an initial experience but also as an ongoing lifestyle. Holy Spirit, we make space for you in our hearts. We make space for you in our minds. We make space for you in this temple of the Holy Spirit. We make space for you in this church. We say, "Come and dwell. Come and abide. Come and habitate. Come and live here. Come rearrange. Come get rid of anything that is not of you and bring everything that is of heaven. Come bring a violent wind into our lives and tongues of fire to rest upon us because we have opened ourselves to the Spirit of the living God.”

The only thing I know to say right now is I think we're in a multi-week experience of the Holy Spirit trying to interrupt your life. So, will you let him? Will you let him? Will you spend this week again every day? Holy Spirit, fill me afresh. Jesus, help me wait for the gift the Father promised. Father, would you give me the gift that you offer in the Holy Spirit? Let's keep seeking him. Let's keep calling out to him. Let's keep crying out to him. Today is a great day to come to the front and confess and pray, be anointed, be ministered to, release some things. Today is a great day to pray for someone that you know. Today is a great day to cry out to the Lord to say we must I must become a dwelling place for God. So, Holy Spirit, would you come and do only that which you can do and awaken us to you in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.