Welcome And Series Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast, brought to you by a Fresh Wind Church. Each week our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined as always with Pastor Tim. And we are in week 14 of our uh sermon series Signs and Glory, where we've been walking through the uh the Gospel of John each week. And buddy, I had a lot to lot to cover. Um I told the church, I was like, man, I think my manuscript here. And you and I mean we we write sermons so different. Tim is much more of a bullet point guy. He's gonna get the big points on there. And you know, if he's got an illustration or you know, story, he'll throw it in there. Me, I write it down word for word for the most part. Uh and I'll add lib on there, but I was like, I'm up to 5,000 words. So I was almost 2,000 words over my normal sermon.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

So what that means is if you uh need someone to speak tomorrow, you don't go to Ryan. He won't have it written by then.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

I need some time. Yeah. I I like to think through exactly how I'm gonna say things. And you know, problem is you end up getting you know kind of stuck in your notes sometimes that way because you're like, ooh, I really like how I wrote that thing. I think I'm so brilliant sometimes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

But uh it's a good thing because you know, the way I do it, speaking through an outline, I could say anything.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Pros and cons to both methods, definitely. Um I had to I told someone, I'm like, man, you actually got us out of here at a decent time with all those words in there. And I was like, I couldn't deviate, man. I was like, here's my script, I'm sticking to it. I can't leave because I knew, man, if I if I got off on a tangent anywhere, I'm like, we're toast.

Reading John As One Conversation

SPEAKER_02 2:02

I'm done. No one's getting out of here. Um, but man, chapter 13 and 14 of John, there's just there's so much in there.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

And there's probably six to seven sermons right in that in that those two chapters. I kind of like the way we're doing it though, because it gives you a bigger overview, um, being back and looking down, you're having to take in the context, they're in the upper room, all this is taking place at once, so it all goes together. Right. And when you're you're breaking down, you know, two or three verses out of that, you don't feel how it all connects. But when you're looking um topside down and you're saying these two chapters are all happening in the same room, it's all this is all together, and it helps us form the life of Jesus a little bit better.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Well, we've already talked about on the podcast, you know, that guy who put the chapters and verse numbers in scripture. And sometimes, I mean, I think overall he did a pretty good job. Pretty good job. But there's times, you know, chapter 14, he put it there, but what you're saying is right, this is all one conversation, one dinner. Right. It's all happening the same exact night, and you get to chapter 14, and your brain can go, no, this is a different story, this is a different time. No, this is continuation. I mean, it just flows right on through. And so, yeah, you're getting a little bit more of a holistic look at it. Sometimes it's like, oh golly, I want to get down here and and talk about what all's going on in this moment because there is just I mean, there was so much, you know, praying in Jesus' name. Ask me anything, and I'll I'm like, okay, well, we got to dig into that. And so I did a little bit to try to like, okay, here's it's not what we think it means sometimes, but it's like we can't we can't sit here forever and talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

And those are big doctrinal issues. Uh, but it's good to get the overview um and get the flow and then realize that we got to hang on every word of Jesus. And it's uh I think it's a privilege to do that. But at the same time, we need to tie it all together. That poor guy riding on that donkey, putting the chapters in. Um, I appreciate him because you couldn't find anything in your Bible if it wasn't for him. Yeah, imagine everything finding the difference.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

What page is that on? Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

So um I I thank the Lord for him, but as um as a modern Christian Bible reader, you need to understand that sometimes uh the chapter break is not the break in the story. They they still go together, and you gotta pay attention to that.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

We have you know all this uh all this uh stuff right here in the chapter.

Jesus Loves And Washes Judas

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Man, I I I was trying to get your mic muted and he Tim coughed, sneezed, and knocked his mic down all. But uh all this stuff right here in this chapter, and you know, some of it as I started, I'm like, oh, I got all this stuff outlined uh or uh highlighted in my Bible. You know, having loved his own who were with them in the world, he loved them to the end. And just the love that Jesus has uh for his disciples. And I, you know, I said in the sermon, everything that comes after this is fueled by that love, even how he interacts with Judas. I mean, and it that I and I've I've always known Judas was in the upper room. It was likely Jesus got his, you know, washed Judas's feet too. But then sitting with the weight of like as Jesus is knelt there in front of Judas, scrubbing the dirt off of his feet, he knows what's coming that night. He knows Judas is walking out of this room to betray him, and he does it anyways, you know, and in a way that nobody has any clue what's going on. You know, nobody said, Well, how come he's doing it so different? How come he's scrubbing so aggressively over there? You know, like he he did it and nobody nobody was the wiser, you know. He he did it, and I just mean that love of Jesus for for his people, his disciples, all the way to the end. And then, you know, it's hard for us to kind of picture because you know, they didn't have tables and chairs kind of the way that we do now, at least not in that upper room. They think that, well, there's a name for the kind of table that they sat. I think it was more like you-shaped, but you reclined at the table. So you sat on the floor and you would lean back uh generally onto your left arm and so that you could eat with your right hand. And that's why when it says John was leaning in, well, it's because he was leaning on his left arm, his head would have been right towards Jesus, and so he was able to look back and say, Hey, who are you talking about? But then for Jesus to dip the bread and hand it to Judas, he had to be close. And so this not only did he wash Judas's feet, but he put Judas right beside him, you know, and hands him that bread. And I just made it the weight of all of that studying this week was and it was heavy.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Do you think Judas was uh all in when he was called?

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

You know, or do you think Jesus said, I gotta find someone to portray me? Uh you're it. You're it.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

You know, good question, other than there's some things that Judas, I think there's some verses throughout scripture that kind of leans like he was I think there's a verse that talks about him stealing from the money bag or something one time. Well, John said he did. Okay, John. So we've we've actually covered that then. Um and so I think he was never, it doesn't seem like he was ever all in, you know, and maybe he he liked the benefit of following Jesus, the notoriety of of being around this guy who's drawing all these crowds and feeding all these people. Um but I mean, even here, scripture tells us um scripture had to be fulfilled. So that, you know, guy I dip this bread in and give it to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

I disagree. I think he was all in in the beginning. I think he was all in and then temptation got the best of him. Here, Judas, you hold the money. Or uh some bread guy somewhere said, Oh, this for Jesus, I'll charge you half price. And he pocketed the other half of the money and and never told him he got it. You know, just a simple temptation like that. It started hardening his heart and uh and whatever kind of gifts and donations that went through there he probably started saying, you know, just to justify himself, we don't need this much money. It's you know, I can use this for this, get my bills paid. Uh my wife is she needs some stuff, and and then pretty soon it becomes habit. Yeah. I just take a little little off the top.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Well, that's how it starts for so many of us, man. Those little things, you know. Nobody nobody's gonna see this. This doesn't hurt anybody. Um you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

And I don't even when he betrayed Jesus, um they all knew that because Thomas said it over and over again, they're gonna kill us. But um I don't think he believed it. He convinced himself that he that they wouldn't kill him. You know, Jesus is too powerful, nobody's gonna do that. So I can get I can get thirty silver and then Jesus go in there and and whip everybody up and you know, become king and it'll all be good. That's an interesting take. I don't know if he he didn't even realize till Jesus starts getting whipped and carrying the cross that this was gonna end up that way. And uh he goes back and he throws the thirty pieces of silver. I always, you know I don't pity him because he got what he deserved, but I can definitely see how you could get into that situation. Oh, I've been stealing for so long, I don't know any difference. I can earn some money here, and then we can force Jesus to get in there and mix it up with these Romans and take over and and uh and then when it doesn't go that way, then suddenly he's like, what have I done? Right. So I don't know if that's if that's the way it went or if in his heart of hearts he's like, they want to kill him. You know, he they could possibly kill him if I betray him like that. But he did it. He did it.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Yeah, either way, he did it. Interesting whether he was all in or not at the beginning, you know, led him all the way to this place, and regardless, man, in in our Christian life, so much of it does. It starts with those little things. Those little things I capitulate here, I give in here, I sneak this little thing here, I cheat a little bit over there, and all of a sudden you're in a place where you're like, My gosh, how did I get here? I never thought it would end up here. And that's it's almost seems like that's where Judas ends up when he comes and throws the money back at him. I didn't expect it to co go this way. Right. What have I done?

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Right. If it was a if he didn't have some kind of regret, he wouldn't have gave the money back. Right. So this is uh an interesting topic to jump in on.

Small Compromises That Harden Hearts

SPEAKER_01 12:14

But uh so I I always wonder that. And Christians look at this danger. This is dangerous. It's not all the bluster like Peter, I'm gonna die with you, I'm gonna and then ends up denying them three times. Um sometimes it's not just your pride that gets you in trouble, sometimes it's the actual sin that you that easily beset you. And uh that can that can lead you into a terrible place. And yeah, that's what we tell kids all the time, you know. Um we call it gateway drugs, and you know, if you do this, this could happen. Um all these all these different things we try to encourage our kids. Don't even try it because you don't know what's gonna happen. And how many times have someone here lately tried fentanyl for the first time and died? You know? Um so we have a we have uh smorgish boards of illustrations in our own lives to to look at what uh Judas did and say, that can happen to me.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

Or that kid striking matches standing in a puddle of gas, you know? Yeah, one of those times it ignites. Yeah, it ignites, and you're thinking, well, I've you know I've gone through half a box, I've been okay. Yeah, keep going and and you'll find out. It's um and it's so challenging um reading through that passage, like I said, and this idea that you know Judas walked out into the night, and man, I I love how John writes, you know. Yeah, it because it all this means so much more when he says those things. He's not who cares if it's night, other than he's telling you there's there's a transition that just took place here, you know. It was night, and he he walked away from from all of this this friendship with Jesus. I mean, he was right next to the king, and he he walks out into the night. And I told the church on Sunday, man, you can be that close. And you know, you got someone like Peter who's I'll die for you. I mean, everybody knows Peter's a Jesus guy. I think everyone thought Judas was too, but uh it doesn't he doesn't have that kind of loud personality, but man, he he knew how to play the part. Yep. Even when he walks out, I mean John just asked him, who who's gonna betray you? And he says, the guy I give this bread to hands it to Judas. Judas gets up and leaves, and everybody goes, Oh, he must have to go buy something for the festival, or maybe he's giving some money to the poor. It never crosses their mind. Judas is the one, yeah. And it's like, how did you not see it? And so he has he man, he's he's figured it out. I know how to to put on the mask, to play the part, and I just think there's so much danger. And I preached this sermon, not this whole sermon, but a section of this sermon years ago uh at open door Christian schools for one of their high school chapels. And I did I did do the same, and it was night illustration where I turned the lights off. That's the first time I did that, and I thought it worked good in that room. I don't know if it works so good in our room on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

I thought I'd get our lights just don't go off and then come back on. They're like, Do you really want me to go off?

SPEAKER_02 15:46

I'm making a decision here. Yeah, we're still waiting for uh you know someone who loves lighting to come in here and say, I'd like to fix this for you. But Joey and I we we man, we rehearsed the whole thing because I was like, I want them to get this thing. And Teresa goes, Why were the lights flickering on and off? I'm like, the contrast, Theresa. There was contrast. So if you didn't get it, I guess you'll have to go back, listen to the sermon again, and you'll see. When the lights

Close To Church Yet Not Surrendered

SPEAKER_02 16:12

are on, he's with Jesus. When they're off, he's going out. That was the contrast we were aiming for there. But the whole point is, man, Judas was this close. He was sitting right beside Jesus on the night he was getting ready to be betrayed, that close. And he walks out into the night to betray his friend. I'm like, when I told the the students at open door when I preached it, I was like, here of all places it that that risk is even higher. Because most of you are growing up in a Christian home. Most of you attend church weekly. You go to a Christian school, you're around Jesus stuff all the time. And you can be that close and still not be a follower. As a pastor, one of my greatest fears is people who come to our church and think, I'm all in, I'm I'm set with Jesus and stand before him one day, and Jesus is gonna say, Depart from me, I don't know who you are. Like it's it's more than just I go to the I go to church. I you have to come to that place where you bend a knee and Jesus becomes savior and lord of your life. And I I don't know if Judas ever did that. Um it's an interesting debate. You know, where was he at in that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Yeah. I think we do a good job here at A Fresh Win trying to bring people back to that all the time. Um we were talking one day where um I worry about when someone's dying, they asked me to come in and pray with them and and um they said, Yeah, I you know, I I was saved when I was young and and I said, Well, let's pray it again. And they say, I don't have to. I prayed it once and you know, I know I'm a Christian and um something in me that bothers me. You know why has that time and date become so important to you uh that you wouldn't do it right here, right now? I mean there's no harm in confessing Jesus as your savior and Lord every day, every ten minutes.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

Probably I'll tell you on Sundays when you're preaching and you get to that response time, I'm not raising my hand to accept the Lord again, but I use it every week when when I'm the one sitting in the blue chair to say, Man, now's as good a time as ever, Lord. I confess. If there's anything in my life, I confess that to you. I want you to be king. And so I'm doing that at least twice a month. Right. You know, did it the past three weeks because I had three weeks off, which was a nice little reprieve. Um, but that was three weeks of Lord. I man, I'm I if there's anything here between between me and you, I I want to confess that. And I use that opportunity to do just that. Why would you not want to?

SPEAKER_01 19:20

You know, yeah, that's it, and I think it's I think it's important. There's pride involved there. I'm not saying everybody who react uh reacts that way is uh uh not truly saved. Lord, I would never say that about anything. Um But uh it does bother me that they're stuck in this idea of what um their salvation is. It's a continual um I confess you as the Lord of my life. It's continuous. And uh I I like people to live that way free uh with the Holy Spirit instead of you know basing your life on or your your eternal life on something that happened a long time ago instead of basing it on what happened yesterday with you and the Holy

The Holy Spirit Beyond Hype

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Spirit. And that's what you talked about most yesterday was uh the Holy Spirit. And uh it's interesting how Christians relate to the Holy Spirit now. Some people are afraid of the Holy Spirit, some people think uh that feelings are the Holy Spirit. Uh we had a great song set yesterday. I loved it. It was great. We started out with uh praise, and we started out with uh those two songs in the middle. Um The Grateful Song that Joey sang, and then Teresa sang the uh I I see it as an anthem, Christian anthem, what the Lord has done. And um and you feel man, I feel the presence of God, I'm excited, and and uh this must be the Holy Spirit thing. Um and then there's churches around where people are singing, count your many blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. Hey, we want people to come back next week, yeah. And you think and you think, well, the Holy Spirit's not there. Well, you're wrong. You're wrong. The Holy Spirit's everywhere, and especially in the lives of believers. That's right. And uh one of the reason we chur we use the church the way we use it is because during the week there's nothing holy about this place until a Christian shows up and then the Spirit of God is here. And uh and people have different views on that, um, mostly because of vampires. But you know, that that's that's holy ground and you know it's safe there and and uh well the holy ground is the ground you're standing on christian because you have the holy spirit and we need to we need to realize that he's active in our life but he's not active in the way that you think he is he's not the one making you cry all the time when something's soft and tender uh he's not the one that um is um uh keeping you from uh losing your temper that's you you get to make that decision the what what he's doing is saying hey do you really want to lose your temper at this and you say yes or you say no you're right and um but he is he is always leading us guiding us and I think when we get to heaven and we realize how much involved he is has been in our Christian life that um we're gonna we're gonna be surprised Francis Chan wrote that book oh that was years ago now called I think it was called the Forgotten God and I think in our American church culture we there's been a lot of emphasis on God a lot of emphasis on Jesus but the Holy Spirit seems a little bit more ambiguous you know and I think there's been this apprehension to talk about it because it's like oh what does he do?

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Uh I grew up in a you know Pentecostal denomination where Teresa did too uh spirit was all we talked about you know it was every Sunday that's what we were looking for if you got goosebumps spirit's in the room you know uh it was it was great and you didn't have the Holy Spirit unless unless you spoke in tongues that's that's what we were taught and it creates almost this kind of two class Christianity thing where I mean you're saved and going heaven you just aren't filled with the spirit you know and then you speak in tongues and oh now now you're filled with the Holy Spirit and it's like yeah but he's a jerk and this lady's so sweet what is going on here and man I as I just studied started studying scripture uh really as a teenager I was like man and and I grew up in a a great denomination that does a lot of great things and has impacted a lot of people so this isn't this isn't any real slight to them other than I think they're they got this doctrine wrong and do I think that means they're not going to heaven no absolutely not I think the I think most of them are going to be up there with us I just think their emphasis is wrong you know right but they emphasize it to the point that they're like hey would you like to be the pastor here and I'm like you you can't hire me because we disagree on this one point right and that's that's where they're at but man it it put me on this mission like man okay so who is the Holy Spirit what does he do? And I know you know you said Teresa came from a more Pentecostal background like I did a lot of my family attends Freshwind now so they still have that same sort of bend. My mammal she she still says Ryan when are you gonna you know pastor a full gospel church which means to her when are you guys gonna start you know all speaking in tongues and I'm like mammal I have nothing wrong with speaking in tongues. I I want as many people that the Lord wants to speak in tongues. I want them to do it. And I also want as many people as the Lord gives the gift of healing and encouragement and teaching and all those I want them to have that gift too and I want them to use it.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

We just have this idea that's like man if you don't have that there's something not here and right and I think we get centered on um the gifts that are you know what did you call it the spectacle you know healing um I just you know I want to pray for someone and they'll be healed. You know it's interesting that when Paul talks about the gift of healing he uses the plural of healing. It's not healing it's healing z so that could be um healing somebody's heart healing someone emotionally mentally um as well as physically so um we we should we should pray for all the gifts that the Lord will give us and he is not stingy you know uh when you take a spiritual gifts test on the um on the internet you know it'll say one or two of these things you'll have one or two of these gifts and you'll you know you'll lean mostly in that direction that's not really been my experience when I need to be organized and structured he gave it to me to get this church started and then um but I that wasn't that wasn't my gift and I'm Lord I I need that gift now I'll give you Ryan instead let him do all that stuff and um so that's the way the church is supposed to be we're supposed to fit together like hand in glove and uh so we we think about the the Holy Spirit as this supernatural um thing that's kind of outside of our experience and we don't know exactly what he's doing but what he's doing is uh guiding us and leading us every day um in the best way that we'll respond not just uh you know I'm whispering to you you know that that small still voice that Elijah heard in the cave and you know I'm not in the tornado I'm not in the wind I'm not in the storm and all this kind of stuff um we get the that picture of that because we don't have a lot of picture of the Holy Spirit but I guarantee you he talks to you when you'll listen he talks to you the way that you'll hear them and I he wears a lot of different

Learning To Hear His Prompts

SPEAKER_01 28:45

hats. If you respond to preachers he'll preach at you if you respond to counselors he'll counsel you if you respond to your coach he'll coach you if you uh respond to cheerleaders he'll cheer you on and uh so he's always he's always speaking to us and leading us and guiding us the problem is that we don't talk to him and I think uh I've used my dad in an example all the time he was praying all the time and he was praying as Romans tells us Ephesians tells us he prayed in the spirit and he would start out Lord I don't know what to pray about this situation but you do pray for me and the Holy Spirit prays for you and um it's important that we speak to him by name he is Yahweh he is Jesus and he is the spirit and we should talk to him I know a lot of my background is we worship the word not the gifts and uh so um sometimes you can worship the word you can worship the gifts and Jesus not in there anywhere so um we we got this idea that you shouldn't be praying to the Holy Spirit you should be praying to uh to the Father in Jesus' name because that's how we're taught and I'll I'll give it I'll give you that that's how Jesus taught it that's what the way we should do it but we need to recognize that um we've been sealed with the Holy Spirit he lives inside us uh Jesus said um in this uh chapter 14 you taught it that I am in the Father and the father is me in me and I am in you and you are in me and I know there's so many I am in things there that it's you need to realize that you're in the Spirit and you need to pray in the Spirit more and acknowledge the fact that he's here today every time you listen to the scripture even if you're mowing the lawn you should say Holy Spirit if there's anything in you in this reading today that I need right now point it out to me. Holy Spirit where do you want me to park in this parking lot? You know what line do you want me to check out on you know where is where do you want me in every situation you know every time I go into the hospital there's always um there's always something going on that um is not the reason I'm there and I end up praying with people all over the place but the problem is that's happened to me so often that I expect it. So when I get into the hospital I'm looking and I'm listening but that doesn't happen when I'm at Home Depot I'm like I gotta get this thing everybody get out of my way you know my knees hurt I got to get to the truck you know but the Holy Spirit's like well I got some things I want you to do at Home Depot too. And uh so we need to learn um well if you go to Home Depot with Jeremiah he'll have a prayer line going down the aisle.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

We have a um we have this idea that there's um spiritual time and then there's um secular time and Jesus never said that there was a spiritual life it's just life and life living with the king is is different and we need to learn to live that life and it it's you got to get taught uh the Holy Spirit teaches you those things and uh but the best way you can do it is is just ask the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit show me Holy Spirit teach me Holy Spirit wake me up if I'm not paying attention and he will said that he will never leave us right he's gonna send us another counselor depending on the translation that might say advocate uh comforter the truth is he's all those things and man we we live a short sighted Christian life to not include him in in our everyday life man he said he's right here I'm sending him to you for this purpose and he's me he's me ask yeah what should I do here and and then listen and when he when he begins to prompt you you need to respond to it absolutely how do you know what those prompts sound like Jesus said my sheep know my voice how do you know his voice you got to be in his word and you start to to realize oh this is what this is what he sounds like when he speaks and then you line everything up with scripture the Holy Spirit's never going to tell you to do something that goes against God's word man I've had people say I just don't and I'm like whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa hold on wait a minute we got a verse right here says you're not supposed to do that yeah but it you know the spirit's just telling me no he's not you you're convincing yourself or something else is telling you but it's not the Holy Spirit scripture says try the spirits make sure they're of God right you got to be careful because there's a counterfeit out there trying to prompt you to do the wrong thing too but when you learn to hear his voice um we have to become aware of his promptings the spirit speaks and sometimes through scripture sometimes through a quiet impression uh it can be circumstances and and uh maybe other believers but you personally have to develop the habit of pausing in your day and ask is the spirit saying something to me right now we gotta we gotta lean in to that so you're saying well how does that work well a long time ago um a lady I know uh had a little boy and um this this guy um who's a friend of the family wanted to invite him over for ice cream or whatever he was getting a couple of kids and she got creeped out about it. Now this is someone she had known since they were a little kid and um she said what should I do?

SPEAKER_02 35:22

I said say no She's well I don't want to embarrass him and the family you know we're all connected and this big and I said how do you know that's not the Holy Spirit telling you to say no just say no and ladies and men if something's happening and someone asks your permission for your children to do something and something wells up in you and say hey look out listen because it's probably the Holy Spirit probably the Holy Spirit and um he wants to be involved in your life he wants to warn you when it's time to warn you and if we don't learn to hear him we'll miss some warnings that we'll wish we would listen to the more you miss them right and kind of blow right past him the easier that becomes and he'll speak he'll prompt and it's like eventually it's like oh was it just someone just say something something just and man we'll miss it so fast because we're we're hardened to that we need to become aware of of his promptings and man like like I said earlier we would live a short sighted Christian life if if we don't involve him he wants to be a part of your life man.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

And

Confession Repentance And Fruitful Living

SPEAKER_01 36:46

the best way to learn not to hear him is not to have a confessional time. Ephesians 430 says don't grieve the Holy Spirit how do we grieve the Holy Spirit we grieve him by getting involved in something that we know is wrong it's against the scripture um it's against the Holy Spirit probably told you not to do it but you did it anyways and we've grieved him and now we have to confess we we've got to go back to him and say you're right I'm wrong I'm gonna turn around and go the right way see confession and repentance are not the same thing. Confession is God I'm wrong you're right um I want to give this up and and make my life right repentance is not doing it anymore. That's uh that's what Paul said you know uh repentance bears fruit.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

Right he yelled at those guys you know live a life that shows you're repentant and uh so uh we need to confess these things to keep the channel open so that we don't get hardened to the voice of the Holy Spirit you should have a daily confessional I don't care if it's on your way to work or wherever it is you need to ask the Lord what have I done to grieve you and what kind of restitution do I need to make and you're thinking oh man well yeah old man listen if you're gonna be all in there's gonna be some things that we do on a daily basis that he's not he's not happy with and he's gonna ask you not to do that anymore and uh so yeah confess those things and and repent and I don't care how long or how many times or whatever we got to keep confessing those things uh especially if you wanna if you want to hear him you can't grieve him right right one of the things that scripture talks about that the spirit does right is Isaiah's these this fruit of the spirit that he wants to grow in each of our lives and the way you've always described it is when one grows they all grow you know it's not fruits right plural of the spirit it's just fruit of the spirit right love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness self-control when when one of those things begins to grow they all start to grow when my love and joy start to grow my patience starts to grow i'll be if I love people then I'll be more patient with people right and so as my kindness begins to grow well then goodness begins to grow in my life too the Holy Spirit wants to do this and when we stay confessed when we listen to his promptings these are the the natural byproduct of the things that begins to grow in our life and we we've said this in sermons we've said it on the podcast too many Christians we go through life and and we don't look that much different than the rest of the world man we're we're anxious we're angry we're bitter you know we're all these things and jaded you know and we live in a a tough culture you know sometimes where it's cutthroat out there sometimes everybody's out to get their own and they'll climb all over you to to get one step up on the the corporate letter whatever man the Holy Spirit wants there to be joy in your life he wants there to be self-control gentleness in your life and if you take a look and say man I'm I've I don't see a lot of that in my life you might need to start paying attention to his prompting slow down a little bit oh Lord I I feel that anger rising up in me I I feel things getting out of control. It's not your spirit yeah and and listen to him and say what what do I need to do here? Like you said Holy Spirit's going to give you the choice you can juice to say no I'm going for it just go crazy. But if you'll stop and listen and say man what what am I supposed to do what you'll find is as you start saying yes to him and that was these this fruit of the spirit begins to grow in your life and you can live a life that's joyful that has peace that that's marked by faithfulness and kindness. And people are going to look around say man despite everything else going on in that guy or that girl's life man they're they're the same they're steady and man I think that's attractive to the watching world.

Power To Witness And Endure

SPEAKER_01 41:29

Yeah it is well it brings us to the one point uh that everybody argues about and and that is what is this power?

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Acts uh chapter one verse eight says you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you and you will be my witnesses what does that mean what do you think we know the the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of us right this is the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you is the power source of every faithful Christian life your witness to your neighbors your obedience to the commands that you can't keep on your own endurance and trials that's supposed to produce faith you know uh your love for difficult people we try to do so much of the Christian life live so much of our Christian life in our own strength we find out man it's in our weakness that he is strong we have to to lean back into his power and there's so many times in my life that I thought man I can't I can't I'm never gonna get through this or how can I make it through this and he's gotten me through every time he's faithful even when we're faithless he's faithful and it's his spirit that gives us everything we need in those moments to to do and be the people that he's calling us to be the Holy Spirit gives us the power to do the will of God we need to understand everything you just said is the will of God for Christians.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

You have the power to forgive in the Holy Spirit you have the power to be hurt and not grow bitter because you have the Holy Spirit the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that was the will of God for him to rise from the dead and uh however you see it the scripture tells of this that Jesus raised himself from the dead and the scripture tells us that the Father raised him from the dead and the scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit raised him from the dead they're all one three different persons they are Yahweh incarnate we we need to understand that when we're talking about the power of the Holy Spirit it's not a lesser God that lives in us It is Jesus. And I get tickled when I hear this Jesus is my co-pilot and all that kind of stuff. It's like I don't want Jesus to be my co-pilot. I want him to be the pilot. I want him to be the pilot, the co-pilot, and the navigator, and the stewardess. Like I said, I'm just going to go sit back and I want to set back in, set back in coach.

SPEAKER_02 44:23

Not even looking for a first class ticket, right?

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Just let him handle it. And the Holy Spirit is Jesus. I need to use this name sometimes because when we say the Holy Spirit, it doesn't punch us or land as well as I would like it to land. Jesus wants to live your life with you and through you. He wants to be part of your decisions. He wants to be uh part of your joy, your peace, your excitement for your grandkids, your um excitement when your kids uh graduate and they get a good job and they're doing well and they buy a new car and they bring it over to show it off. He wants to be excited with you. He wants to come to church with you. He wants to uh teach the kids with you. He wants you to uh he wants to sing with you while you're praising his name. Uh he wants to live life with you.

unknown 45:23

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 45:24

Let him.

unknown 45:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:26

And that's how we engage the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_02 45:29

It's not reserved to some special gift or feeling that you get. Or a special time. He is available. Jesus said, I'm gonna send another just like me. Another of the same kind, is what he was saying. I'm sending you my my spirit. I'm gonna come, I'm gonna live in you. And I'll never leave you. You'll never be alone. I'm gonna take away on Sunday I said your orphan status. Right. You're not gonna be fatherless. You won't be a Ben. I'm gonna be right there. And when you're weak, I'm gonna be strong. And when you don't know what to say, I'm gonna give you the words to say. And when you're not sure what to do, my spirit's gonna prompt you and how to how to live a life that is pleasing to me. I'm gonna teach you and reveal to you the deep things of God as you study my word. That's what he's here for, that's what he's doing in every Christian's life. And and if we can challenge you with anything as we wrap this up, it would be man, don't ignore him. Don't let him

Cooperate With The Spirit Today

SPEAKER_02 46:31

be the forgotten God that Francis Chan was writing about.

SPEAKER_01 46:33

It's not about discipline, it's not about willingness, it's about cooperation.

unknown 46:40

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

Are you gonna cooperate with what God wants you to do and how he wants to grow your life? And when you say, let's do this together, then you get to. You know, it's not like, okay, okay, coach, I'm going in. No, he's like, I got first base, you take second base. That's that's how that's how he's playing this life game with you. He's playing with you. And uh so let's let's let's lean into that. Let's cooperate. Lord, where do you want me? Hey, before you do all that, that lady over there is hurting. You can tell, but look at her. She's got her head down, she's having a hard time. Um just go over there and pray for her. Touch her, put my name on her so I can bless her. Um that's uh that's who we're supposed to be. And if you'll listen, if you listen and cooperate, you'll be that person. You really will. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 47:43

Pray for us. Father, we thank you that you have not left us alone, that you have sent another counselor, an advocate, a comforter, an encourager to be with us and to live in us forever. Father, we thank you for your spirit. And Lord, don't let us miss uh the significance of what you've done for every believer. If if anyone has called and on you as Savior and Lord of their life, you have filled them and sealed them with your spirit. Lord, teach us to lean on Him, to trust in His power uh working in our life. And Father, I pray that as we do that, we would accomplish your will for each of us as we work to grow and expand your kingdom until you return again in Jesus' name.

unknown 48:33

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 48:33

Amen and amen.

How To Reach Us And Support

SPEAKER_00 48:35

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at a freshwind.org. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering new resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.