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841. Bible Study: Receiving the Holy Spirit is necessary to be in God's Kingdom · Faith by annm2705

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  This is a follow up to Ezekiel chapter 18.
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  An additional information, I want to pray first before I
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  start speaking because I really truly want the Holy Spirit to
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  inspire what I say as I go through this podcast because I
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  would just feel it's so important for every single one
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  of us. And it was so confusing at the
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  beginning of my journey and faith that if it was confusing
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  to me, it's probably confusing to other people.
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  And I really hope to make this clear because it is very
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  significant and important honestly to our salvation.
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  So dear Lord, please if I have a thought that you do not agree
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  with, please stop me in saying whatever it would be.
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  Please let the Holy Spirit give me words to only speak what you
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  want me to communicate. I do not want to say my own
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  things. I want thoughts in my head from
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  you God. I don't want anything of my own.
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  I just want to relay what is important from you to other
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  people for their benefit, for our benefit, that we all
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  comprehend what you have written in Your Word.
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  I ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
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  So as I read Ezekiel 1718, there was there was some talk about a
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  father and a son and righteousness and everyone dying
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  for their own sins. And so I thought it was, it was
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  kind of it was good to actually talk about what is righteous.
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  What does that mean? And just, I don't know if you
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  agree with this or not, but I just searched it.
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  This is Google, which brings about, you know, the results
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  that you get from various websites.
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  But biblically, righteousness means being in right standing
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  with God. I agree with that, reflecting
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  his character through moral purity, integrity, and obedience
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  to his divine standards. See, I think that gets left out
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  of, or maybe people say, OK, I understand that's righteousness,
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  but if God wants us to be righteous, that means God wants
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  us to be obedient to his divine standards involving a life of
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  justice, holiness, and virtue achieved not by human effort.
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  So that's an excellent summary. It's not by our own doing, but
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  through faith in Jesus Christ who fulfills God's law for
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  believers. And I think, let's see, it's a
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  deep desire for God and his ways leading to right actions and a
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  transformed life ultimately coming from God's grace.
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  So this is, I think this is a great definition of it because
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  it does talk about grace and that's the only way what you
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  know, it's God's loving mercy, forgiveness, and that comes to
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  us. But there is, there is, there
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  are people who seem to think that obedience doesn't matter
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  once grace is applied. And if you read the Bible, it
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  doesn't say that. And that's where I think that
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  we, we get really hung up on these things.
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  And I think it does involve searching Scripture diligently
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  to discover grace and, and obedience because I don't think
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  they're separate from one another.
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  I think because of grace, we become obedient.
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  If we are not obedient, we may not be under the grace of God.
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  That's that's ultimately what I'm concluding from what I've
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  read in Scripture. Now, Scripture is the one that
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  clarifies all of this. So that was just a Google
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  search. Now let's get into the
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  Scripture. I've heard Christians say all
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  you have to do is believe and you will be saved.
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  But think about this in James chapter 2 verse 19 it says he
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  says you believe there is one God good.
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  Even the demons believe that and shudder.
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  So think about that. Are the demons going to be
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  saved? People keep saying, oh, just
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  believe, believe in the name of Jesus and you're saved.
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  Well, I don't know that like, I don't believe the demons are
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  going to be saved. It it says, you know, they're
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  going to be cast into the burning lake of sulfur.
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  And so if we we need to really pay attention to what James
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  says, and James has a lot of clarification on how we live
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  life and how it shows our faith the way we live our life.
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  So if we don't have a transformed life, we may not
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  have the Holy Spirit. If there was no before and after
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  in a difference, we may not have the Holy Spirit.
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  And I will also get into the the, the actually, I may as well
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  just talk about that right now. This is from Scripture also.
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  When a person has the Holy Spirit, there is what the Bible
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  refers to as fruit. There is something that people
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  see. There are actions that come out
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  of a person who has the Holy Spirit and you can find that in
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  Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 through 23.
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  And there are basically 9 different things that come from
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  the Holy Spirit #1 is love, 2 is joy, 3 is peace, 4 is fair
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  forbearance or patience, 5 is kindness, 6 is goodness, 7 is
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  faithfulness, 8 is gentleness, 9 is self-control.
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  So that is a really good evaluator of our own selves.
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  If we have those things in front of us and, and say, are we doing
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  all of these things? Where do we need to focus more
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  on? But these are things that the
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  Holy Spirit enables us. The Holy Spirit gives us power
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  to be this way. It's not by our own flesh, but
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  we need to receive the Holy Spirit before the Holy Spirit
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  can start working in us because God gave us free will.
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  We can't just, you know, try to do this on our own.
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  We need to receive the Holy Spirit from Jesus.
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  Jesus said the Holy Spirit, he will ask the Father and then
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  give the Holy Spirit to whomever he wants.
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  That's another reason why I think Jesus said he was the way,
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  the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except
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  through him. He's kind of the gatekeeper, the
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  gatekeeper of the Holy Spirit. And so that's why Jesus, you
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  can't get around Jesus at all. I mean Jesus, He, he, he gives
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  us the Holy Spirit. He also, most importantly for
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  all of us, is he died on the cross for our sins.
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  He became the substitute sacrifice.
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  If you go back to the Old Testament, you find out that in
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  order for someone not to die, a substitute life had to be taken.
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  That was the sacrifice. God was not pleased with
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  sacrifices. He didn't want them, but he gave
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  them as a remedy to keep people from dying immediately, I guess,
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  spiritually and eternally being separated from him.
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  And then eventually, you know, there were no people that really
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  were could be perfect, which God knew and saw and and so he had
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  to send his own son who was perfect, who was blameless, who
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  was greater. It was and is greater than all
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  of us and who took on a human form so that he could sacrifice
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  his life. He came knowing that was his
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  purpose. He foreknew everything that was
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  going to happen. In fact, He even asked the
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  Father if there's another way that you can do this, let it be,
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  but if not your will. Before He was, before He was
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  crucified on the cross. So He knew what ahead of time
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  what He was going to have to do for mankind, to save mankind.
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  And He willingly did that for all of us.
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  That's why we are so grateful to Jesus, because there would be no
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  way none of us could ever. We're not righteous like Jesus.
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  The Holy Spirit begins to change us when we allow the Holy Spirit
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  to start working in our lives, when we welcome the Holy Spirit,
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  when we turn away from our sin, when we say we don't want that
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  anymore, we want a new life. The Holy Spirit will start
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  working in our life. The Holy Spirit, when a Holy
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  Spirit comes, when the Holy Spirit comes to a person, there
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  are gifts that the Holy Spirit gives and that is found in First
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  Corinthians chapter 12. And he decides who or what gift
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  he's going to give to each person.
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  And sometimes he gives multiple gifts and sometimes he gives one
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  gift. And it just, he decides it's up
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  to the Holy Spirit what he gives a person.
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  And whatever he gives a person is not for their own benefit.
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  It's very powerful, but it's not for our benefit.
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  It's for the benefit of others. It's it's it it says in verse
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  seven of first Corinthians 12, it says now to each one the
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  manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good.
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  So this is for others, for the common good of of people.
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  It's not for a person to profit on, but there are also nine
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  different gifts that the Holy Spirit.
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  When I first was learning all of this and reading the Bible, I
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  was like, wait a second, what's the difference between fruit and
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  gifts? Fruit is our outward action and,
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  and these are also the gifts are also outward actions, but they
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  are gifts, things that we couldn't have done on our own
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  but are only done through the power of God and God gives us
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  that power through the Holy Spirit.
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  So these are the 9 gifts that the Holy Spirit gives.
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  Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers,
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  prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues and
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  interpretation of tongues. And those are all different
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  gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us.
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  So there there is more than just believing or the definition of
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  believing is very different. Is is more expanded than just
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  like I believe God exists because I can say that from my
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  past, I'll, I grew up, I grew up Catholic and I always, I don't
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  ever remember a time where I didn't believe.
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  I always believed. I believed the father, son and
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  Holy Spirit. I believed knew of them and, and
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  I always believed, but my life wasn't changed.
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  I did know right and right from wrong because I was taught the
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  10 commandments and but the way that I was, I don't know.
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  I don't know if it was my own rebellious ways or if it was
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  taught to me that way, but there was.
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  I do believe we have an obligation for ongoing
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  confession to God, directly to God, that we do need to repent,
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  though I don't know if the repentance is is so much taught
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  or if I was taught that I went to confession to a priest and
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  then I was told to say prayers as a result of whatever I had
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  done as the way to for my sins to be forgiven.
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  But that's not what I see identified in the Bible.
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  I see that we should have a, a changed, a changed life.
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  If we're going to God, asking him to forgive us for something
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  we have done, if we truly want forgiveness, then we have to be
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  in agreement with God that we need to stop that.
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  It's not like, OK, I, you know, I sin during the week.
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  So now I'm going to go to confession and I'm going to get
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  rid of that sin and then I'm going to do it again.
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  That is not repentance. And that's what either I just
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  didn't understand what I was being taught.
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  But that's that's what I understood that I was being
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  taught. And so I'm not, I'm just saying
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  this is my own experience. This is how this is what
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  happened to me. And this is, you know, where I
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  was in my faith. So I didn't quite understand
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  what repentance was. It just seemed to me like you
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  can just go and ask for forgiveness.
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  And God's so merciful. He always forgives and God is
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  merciful, but he knows our thoughts, He knows our hearts,
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  He knows our motivation, He knows everything about us.
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  And we're not going to fool him if we are going there, just
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  saying, well, I'm just going to ask for forgiveness and be
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  cleared and then go back again with the same thing.
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  That is not repentance. And so I would guess, you know,
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  I was foolish and didn't understand what that was.
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  But until I read the Bible, maybe.
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  And you know, until you get older and you actually start
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  paying attention to the words you read or hear.
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  So then the next thing that well, about the Spirit, it's the
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  holy I say it a lot and I don't it's I should say he because the
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  Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing.
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  And that is something that I'm working on right now.
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  So if I say that that's something I'm working on right
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  now. But the Holy Spirit, it's the,
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  well, the Holy Spirit gives us all of these gifts.
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  So it's one spirit that gives us all of these.
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  It's the same spirit. And I was, I guess I had done a
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  search through the Bible about the same Spirit.
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  So about the gifts of the Spirit.
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  So that's where you can find that there was something else
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  that was that came to mind when I was searching and it's being
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  one in spirit. So this verse, this combination
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  of verses, in the NIV version at least, it occurs 81 times in 22
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  verses, including two exact phrases.
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  So I'm using the blueletterbible.org to search
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  phrases just that came to mind. I started studying the NIV
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  version when I first read the Bible and I don't believe that's
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  the most accurate one. I think the best thing if you're
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  getting into Scripture is actually to look at multiple
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  versions of the Bible because you will see some differences in
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  translation and you can actually learn from those.
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  And I think even better than that is to go deeper into the
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  original Hebrew for Old Testament and Greek for New
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  Testament to get a deeper understanding.
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  And there are some minor details that you will discover when you
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  start switching between versions and using Hebrew and Greek, the
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  actual original words. But blueletterbible.org is a
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  great tool for that. OK, so one in spirit, this is
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  this is really interesting because what I was actually
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  searching for was something that Jesus said, a prayer that Jesus
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  said and I let's see, yes, this is it.
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  So that's why I searched one in spirit because I was trying to
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  find it and I remembered like my recollection comes from the
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  version of the Bible that I started reading.
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  So it is kind of important to stick with one version of the
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  Bible if you want things to come to your mind because you will
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  remember it in whatever Bible you read and then you'll be able
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  to find it later. So what I was looking for was
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  Jesus prays for all believers. So I think this is really
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  important for us. It's in John chapter 17 and it
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  starts with verse 20. So I'm going to read this.
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  The only way that we learn anything is from reading the
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  actual words of God through as documented in the scripture.
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  So my prayer is not for them alone.
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  This is Jesus praying to the Father.
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  My prayer is not for them. These are believers alone.
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  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their
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  message. So he's talking about his, his
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  disciples and that he's praying also for those who believe in
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  him through the message of the disciples, because that's how
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  the gospel was spread. It was, you know, by mouth
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  originally. And then when it was written
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  down, then all of us benefit from it.
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  So this is how the the good news, the gospel is spread
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  through the Bibles that we have. So let me go back to what Jesus
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  was saying. So my prayer is not for them
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  alone. I pray also for those who will
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  believe in me through their message that all of them may be
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  1. Isn't that interesting?
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  That all of them may be one Father, just as you are in me
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  and I am in you, may they also be in US, so that the world may
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  believe that you have sent me. So that's something like, how is
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  the Father and the Son and the Son and the Father, and how are
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  they won by the Holy Spirit? Because God is Spirit, and those
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  who worship God must be one in spirit.
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  Must worship in spirit. Also I I do have that verse
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  called up so I'll get to that at some point, but I have the
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  actual my phrasing isn't great, but the concept hopefully comes
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  through. But it's it's so much better to
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  have it word for word because sometimes we don't pick up every
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  single word that from a paraphrase.
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  And it can be really important. And so we really need to go to
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  the word of God. Our paraphrasing may help us get
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  there, but we need the word of God to make sure that we're not
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  missing a keyword within a verse.
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  So then Jesus says, I have given them the glory that you gave me,
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  that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me, so
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  that they may be brought to complete unity.
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  The world will know that you sent me and have loved them even
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  as you have loved me. And then he says, Father, I want
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  those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see
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  my glory, the glory you have given me, because you loved me
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  before the creation of the world.
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  Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know
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  you and they know that you have sent me.
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  I have made you known to them and will continue to make you
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  known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and
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  that I myself may be in them. So this is I think that's just
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  so John chapter 17. I mean, read that, meditate on
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  it, pray about it to God if it's unclear.
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  But when we realize that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are
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  one, they are one in spirit and that is how they are one.
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  There are three persons in one spirit.
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  They are separate from one another, but they are one in
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  spirit. And and we see that from Jesus
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  praying to the Father. He's the Son of God.
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  We see Jesus saying he receives the Spirit from the Father and
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  gives the Spirit to whomever he chooses.
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  That's also in Scripture. And then when Jesus, he says
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  it's, it's good for him. He tells his disciples, it's
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  good for me to go away because then the Advocate, the Holy
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  Spirit will come to them. So when He goes away, that is
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  when He is glorified. And scripture, I'll get to that
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  scripture too. It also says that He didn't give
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  the Holy Spirit when He was there because He had not yet
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  been glorified. So when He ascended back into
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  heaven is when He was glorified and then He was able to send the
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  Holy Spirit. That's the way I understand it.
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  That's from scripture. And like I said, I will get to
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  that scripture, but I think it's, it's very important to for
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  us to understand. Now in the Old Testament, it
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  talks about being one in spirit. It also talks about being one in
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  spirit when you get married to someone.
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  But in the Old Testament, this was interesting because this is
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  after David had finished talking with Saul.
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  Jonathan became one in spirit with David and he loved him as
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  himself. And I think that's really
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  interesting because it sounds to me like the Spirit of God was in
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  David and the Spirit of God was in Jonathan.
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  They became one in spirit and he loved him as much as himself.
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  That God is love. So if you're going to love
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  someone that is through God, that that happens.
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  And love is not the same thing that we think of in the world,
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  like on for Valentine's Day and these like love or lust
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  feelings. I mean, that's not the same.
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  That's what the world has started.
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  That's what the world defines love as.
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  In the world, love is a feeling, but in truth, love is, is a
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  choice. We can choose to love or not
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  love, and love is. Well, there's a whole section in
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  Corinthians, I forgot where that was, but it says love is kind,
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  patient, and it goes on with a lot of characteristics of love.
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  But that is the definition of love and or maybe not the
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  definition, but the characteristics.
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  So we recently had a Bible study where we went through the
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  definition of to define love. And this is probably a better
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  summary. Like those are all the outward
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  things that come from being loving, but love is actually a
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  selfless service given to others for their good, as God defines
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  good are in accordance with God's will.
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  Something like that. So so it's definitely selfless
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  and God has shown that to us. It says there's no greater love
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  than to lay one's life down for another.
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  And that's what Jesus did for us.
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  So that's self sacrificing and it's for the benefit of others
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  and not just how others think like the oh this is good for me,
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  so I need you to do this for me because it's good.
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  It might not be good according to God.
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  So that's important too, is that it's for good, as God defines
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  good, but it's definitely not something that appeases us.
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  But in the world, the definition of love is, well, I love
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  somebody because they make me feel good or, you know, like I
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  desire them or something. It's like a feeling.
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  Love is not a feeling. It's a choice that somebody
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  makes. You choose to love or you choose
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  not to love. And and so again, things get
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  distorted and wherever there's confusion, it's kind of the
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  enemy. And the love, the true meaning
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  of love is distorted in our world and we don't understand
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  it. We think of it the way we see it
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  portrayed in movies and Hallmark movies or whatever.
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  But that's not what true love. If the Bible is truth and it is,
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  then that is not what love is. And that's kind of an awakening
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  for people who have never read the Bible when you start
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  studying actually what love is. So getting back to the of the
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  Holy Spirit, here's the other thing in in Philippians 2
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  chapter 2, verse 2, then make my joy complete by being like
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  minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one
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  mind. So if the Holy Spirit is in one
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  person and it's in another person, there is going to be
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  that love. Sometimes when you see St.
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  preachers out there saying to people who are sinners when
• 27:57
  we're all sinners, but somebody who is like blatantly against
• 28:01
  God and the street preacher says, I love you and you're
• 28:04
  like, well, how can somebody love somebody?
• 28:06
  That's what the Holy Spirit within a person will do.
• 28:10
  You will have compassion on another person and realize they
• 28:14
  are lost, like we were once lost until we received the Holy
• 28:19
  Spirit, Like there was a lot of confusion going on in our lives
• 28:23
  until we received the Holy Spirit.
• 28:26
  So you, when you have the Holy Spirit residing in you, you
• 28:31
  know, like we talked about the different, you'll have gifts,
• 28:33
  you'll have an outward way of acting with not acting, being
• 28:38
  with other people, the fruit of the Spirit.
• 28:41
  So those are good observations of whether or not the spirit is,
• 28:45
  if the spirits in you, you're going to know.
• 28:47
  But some people, I think, think they have the spirit, but yet
• 28:50
  none of their outward actions show that or they can fake it
• 28:55
  and only God knows the truth about that.
• 28:58
  But I do see people, I mean, you can even get into like the, the
• 29:02
  prophecy people, there's some of them, but you know, they, they
• 29:05
  go out and they try and make a lot of money off of it and they
• 29:09
  can fake things and they get very dramatic and, and
• 29:15
  certainly, you know, God knows who really does and who doesn't.
• 29:18
  It's not something strange, but if the Holy Spirit is in a
• 29:22
  person, there is going they are going to be a changed person and
• 29:26
  people around them will notice a difference.
• 29:29
  It's not going to be it's not a fake act.
• 29:32
  It's something that is really true.
• 29:35
  So let's see. I want to read about the one is
• 29:42
  spirit. I guess there were just those,
• 29:43
  like there were just a couple verses that talked about that.
• 29:47
  But I know like when a man leaves his, a man or a woman
• 29:51
  leaves her family, I don't know. They become, it's about marriage
• 29:54
  and it's about them becoming one in spirit.
• 29:56
  They unite with one another and they become one in spirit.
• 30:00
  That's why it's so important for to be equally yoked because when
• 30:06
  you become married to someone, you share in that spirit.
• 30:10
  So if someone does not have the Holy Spirit then and you are
• 30:15
  taking and you say, I don't know either way.
• 30:18
  I mean, like if the other person has the Holy Spirit and you
• 30:21
  don't, then you're uniting. I mean, you would probably maybe
• 30:25
  benefit that, but would you grieve the Holy Spirit in that
• 30:29
  sense? I mean, there's going to be
• 30:30
  conflict because you're going to have different spiritual forces
• 30:34
  between the two people. And, and so it's so important
• 30:40
  for both people to have the Holy Spirit before they come together
• 30:45
  in a marriage because they will become one in spirit.
• 30:50
  And if you have an evil spirit or an unsaved spirit coming
• 30:57
  together with someone who's saved, do you think they're
• 30:59
  going to cohabitate very well? Probably not.
• 31:04
  So that's, you know, something to consider when you are
• 31:09
  considering relationships. So I like I said, there were so
• 31:14
  many of these verses, 81 different verses.
• 31:16
  So I think I'm going to move on to the next thing that I had
• 31:19
  searched, which was this is about like the Holy Spirit and
• 31:25
  this Simon the sorcerer who he was looking to have the Holy
• 31:30
  Spirit just so that he could probably make money from the
• 31:35
  power of the Holy Spirit because that he was called Simon the
• 31:39
  sorcerer. So he did these like he was
• 31:42
  tapping into the evil realm and receiving power by the evil
• 31:46
  realm, but he actually got baptized.
• 31:49
  And I think this is pretty interesting.
• 31:51
  It's in Acts chapter 8 and I don't know where I should start
• 31:59
  here. OK, I will start with Acts
• 32:05
  chapter 8, verse four. And this is talking about Philip
• 32:09
  preaches in Samaria, which is the modern day West Bank area.
• 32:14
  OK, it says, but the believers who were scattered preached the
• 32:19
  good news about Jesus wherever they went.
• 32:22
  Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the
• 32:27
  people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently to
• 32:31
  Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the
• 32:35
  miraculous signs he did. Many evil spirits were cast out
• 32:42
  screaming as they left their victims, and many who had been
• 32:48
  paralyzed or lame were healed. OK, so right here we are seeing
• 32:53
  that Philip has certain gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• 32:59
  He can distinguish between spirits because he's casting
• 33:02
  them out. He has miraculous powers because
• 33:06
  he's he's healing paralyzed or lame people.
• 33:10
  And this is Philip, one of the disciples.
• 33:13
  This is after he received the Holy Spirit.
• 33:15
  So you can see that the Holy Spirit is power.
• 33:18
  The Holy Spirit has given him gifts.
• 33:21
  Now in Acts chapter 8 verse 8, it says so there was great joy
• 33:27
  in that city. A man named Simon had been a
• 33:31
  sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria
• 33:37
  and claiming to be someone great.
• 33:40
  Everyone from the least to the greatest often spoke of him as
• 33:44
  quote, the great one, the power of God.
• 33:47
  So look, here he is, he's deceiving.
• 33:51
  They're seeing that this guy has power and they think it's from
• 33:55
  God, but it isn't. And you'll find out later that
• 33:58
  this power that he was using is not.
• 34:01
  So when people say that evil can't influence us, evil can
• 34:05
  give power. I think there's a lot of that
• 34:07
  going on in in Hollywood, in the music world.
• 34:11
  When you start, the more you start recognizing ancient Pagan
• 34:17
  rituals and the gods that they worshipped, you start seeing
• 34:21
  that modern day people are doing that same thing from a long time
• 34:26
  ago. And when you, like I said, when
• 34:29
  you start studying it otherwise you don't really see it and you
• 34:32
  just think, oh, that's just, you know, art or something like it's
• 34:37
  just an artistic expression of something.
• 34:40
  That's the way I used to think about it was that I didn't think
• 34:43
  anything of that. Like I'd hear all these people
• 34:45
  and I'd think, oh, that's like conspiracy talk.
• 34:48
  But no, when you start studying it and you start seeing some of
• 34:51
  these people may have read into powerful positions or have
• 34:56
  certain abilities because they are in the occult, they are
• 35:01
  messing with evil spirits, spirits.
• 35:04
  I mean, they're, it's true and the Bible talks about it.
• 35:07
  So here's this guy, Simon, he's a sorcerer.
• 35:10
  They think he's getting his power from God, but he's not.
• 35:13
  He's getting it from something else.
• 35:17
  There are, there are beings, there are spirits other there
• 35:20
  like God. You know, the Holy Spirit is
• 35:22
  from God, but there are other spirits.
• 35:24
  We see that in the Old Testament where God says he needs somebody
• 35:29
  to entice a certain person and a spirit stepped forward and said,
• 35:34
  I will do that. I will be the deceiving spirit.
• 35:37
  They're still under the control of God.
• 35:39
  God allows them and and people would say, well, why does God
• 35:43
  allow evil stuff? Because of free will.
• 35:46
  So God gives us free will. He doesn't force us to choose
• 35:51
  good. He suggests that we choose good.
• 35:55
  He hopes that we choose good, but he gives us a choice.
• 35:58
  You can choose good or evil. And some people choose evil
• 36:03
  because it's because it's easier.
• 36:04
  They don't. If you choose evil, you don't
• 36:07
  have to change your sinful ways. In fact, you can become more and
• 36:10
  more sinful, but what it doesn't tell you is that when Jesus
• 36:16
  returns that you're going to be judged for that and you're going
• 36:20
  to have eternity where you're going to suffer because of that
• 36:25
  choice. So it's very short sighted to
• 36:30
  get take everything you can get right now and trade it.
• 36:36
  You know, it's like there is a verse in Scripture that talks
• 36:39
  about that, about having everything in the world but
• 36:43
  forfeiting your soul. You don't want your soul to be
• 36:47
  in eternity being tormented because of the choice that you
• 36:52
  made. And God gives us that choice.
• 36:55
  You can either be on his team or you can be on his enemies.
• 37:00
  He's not going to force you, and the enemy is going to deceive
• 37:03
  you with lots of things, pleasure, money, power, wealth,
• 37:09
  all sorts of things. The things that people desire,
• 37:12
  the enemy will put there to take them away from God, to take
• 37:17
  their focus from God. And as we see here, Simon was a
• 37:21
  sorcerer. He was interacting with the evil
• 37:23
  realm and he had power. And the people were deceived.
• 37:27
  They thought he had the power of God.
• 37:30
  In verse 11, it says they listened closely to him because
• 37:34
  for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.
• 37:39
  So just because somebody can do magic doesn't mean they are of
• 37:44
  God. But now the people believed
• 37:48
  Philip's message of good news concerning the Kingdom of God
• 37:54
  and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women
• 38:00
  were baptized. Then Simon himself believed and
• 38:06
  was baptized. So here's the sorcerer.
• 38:09
  But you know what? It doesn't say he did.
• 38:11
  It doesn't say he repented. It says he believed and was
• 38:16
  baptized, so repentance is left out.
• 38:20
  That's another thing that scares me about some churches today.
• 38:23
  They don't focus on repentance. Repentance is changing from your
• 38:26
  ways. So was Simon committed to I'm
• 38:31
  going to stop my evil sorcery and be baptized and follow
• 38:35
  Jesus? Was that his commitment in his
• 38:37
  baptism so people can be baptized?
• 38:40
  And we are seeing a whole bunch of baptisms, which is awesome on
• 38:45
  social media. I'll see like 10s of thousands
• 38:47
  of people doing it. And I hope to God that these
• 38:51
  people are sincere in their baptism and that they are, you
• 38:55
  know, committing to Christ. But there are people just like
• 39:00
  this shows who can still be baptized but not make Jesus Lord
• 39:05
  over their life like that repentance or the obedience to
• 39:09
  God is not there. They're just saying I believe
• 39:13
  and they can go through the motions of being baptized just
• 39:15
  like demons believe and shudder. So demons believe.
• 39:21
  Now the baptism doesn't do anything.
• 39:25
  It's a symbolic act that a symbolic event.
• 39:30
  If you want to say I hate using the word ACT because I'm not
• 39:33
  saying it's somebody's pretending, but it's, it's a,
• 39:37
  it's symbolic of what the intention is on the inside of
• 39:42
  turning towards God. That's what it should be of
• 39:45
  repentance, of changing from the ways.
• 39:49
  That's what John the Baptist did.
• 39:50
  His baptism was a baptism of repentance.
• 39:55
  And then Jesus's baptism was of the Holy Spirit.
• 39:59
  So Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit.
• 40:02
  In fact, when Jesus came up to John as he was baptizing, he
• 40:06
  said John basically said that, you know, like he who comes.
• 40:11
  After me will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
• 40:15
  So John knew that of Jesus. OK, so Simon himself believed
• 40:21
  and was baptized. He began following Philip
• 40:24
  wherever he went, and he was amazed by the great, by the
• 40:29
  signs and great miracles Philip had performed.
• 40:32
  When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria
• 40:36
  had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there.
• 40:41
  That's kind of interesting. So Philip was going around and
• 40:44
  then they were like, oh, these people received, they accepted
• 40:48
  God's message, so let's send Peter and John.
• 40:51
  So this is interesting. The next thing, what it says, as
• 40:54
  soon as they arrived, as soon as Peter and John arrived, they
• 40:58
  prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.
• 41:03
  So they didn't get the whole these people didn't get the Holy
• 41:07
  Spirit when they were baptized. Peter and John are praying for
• 41:12
  them to receive it, the Holy Spirit.
• 41:16
  And then it says in verse 16, the Holy Spirit had not yet come
• 41:20
  upon any of them for they had only been baptized in the name
• 41:26
  of the Lord Jesus. Isn't that interesting?
• 41:31
  So I've also heard, here's something else that I've heard
• 41:35
  that they, that people, you know, there's a couple places in
• 41:43
  Scripture where it says, in fact, Jesus says to baptize
• 41:46
  people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• 41:50
  And then there are some denominations that I've heard
• 41:52
  some preachers who say that they need to be baptized in the name
• 41:56
  of the Lord Jesus. And that's it.
• 41:58
  And so right here, I'm really wondering about that because it
• 42:04
  says that they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord
• 42:07
  Jesus. But Jesus said he, he told
• 42:10
  everybody to repent, but he also said to be baptized in the name
• 42:13
  of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• 42:16
  So these people had only been baptized in the name of the Lord
• 42:21
  Jesus and the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them.
• 42:25
  Very interesting. Then Peter and John laid their
• 42:28
  hands upon these believers and they received the Holy Spirit.
• 42:33
  So Peter and John already had the Holy Spirit.
• 42:36
  They were praying to God, or you know I just as they prayed.
• 42:41
  So maybe they prayed to Jesus and asked Jesus to send the Holy
• 42:45
  Spirit. But whatever however they, they
• 42:48
  prayed and they laid their hands upon these believers and they
• 42:53
  received the Holy Spirit. Verse 18 says when Simon saw
• 42:58
  that the Spirit was given, when the apostle laid their hands on
• 43:03
  people, he offered them money to buy this power.
• 43:09
  So there must have been something that was visually
• 43:16
  evident about these people receiving the Holy Spirit
• 43:20
  because he saw that there was power in it.
• 43:23
  Because if you laid somebody's, you know, if they just laid on
• 43:27
  their hand, there was no, no difference.
• 43:28
  He wouldn't have seen power. But apparently he saw that there
• 43:33
  was something that happened in these people when Peter and John
• 43:37
  laid their hands on them. And so he was like, he wanted to
• 43:41
  buy it. Like he's, he's ready to make
• 43:43
  some money off of this. Like he had been making money
• 43:45
  off of his sorcery probably. Then he says in verse 19, let me
• 43:50
  have this power too. He exclaimed.
• 43:53
  So that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the
• 43:55
  Holy Spirit. But Peter replied, may your
• 43:59
  money be destroyed with you for thinking God's gift can be
• 44:06
  bought. So all the money in the world,
• 44:10
  we can't buy the Holy Spirit. This is a gift from God.
• 44:16
  It's not by our it's, it's nothing.
• 44:20
  We can do anything for that We can buy it.
• 44:24
  It does seem to come from a repentant heart, because Simon
• 44:31
  didn't have a repentant heart. He didn't change from his ways.
• 44:34
  He was just trying to make more money off the Holy Spirit.
• 44:37
  He had already had these other evil spirit powers, but now he's
• 44:42
  trying to figure out how do I get this Holy Spirit?
• 44:46
  He was baptized. The Holy Spirit didn't come on
• 44:49
  him, did he? And because his heart wasn't
• 44:53
  right with God. So actually this is the next
• 44:56
  verse. I, I didn't even know that.
• 44:58
  But you can have no part in this for your heart is not right with
• 45:04
  God. So in order for us to receive
• 45:07
  the Holy Spirit, we can see that our heart has to be right with
• 45:10
  God. We have to make God our Lord and
• 45:14
  be willing to be obedient to him.
• 45:17
  We need to, you know, be at peace with the Holy Spirit.
• 45:20
  We can't be, you know, saying I don't want you, Holy Spirit,
• 45:24
  because I don't want my life to change.
• 45:25
  I want to keep on doing my sin. That's resisting the Holy
• 45:29
  Spirit. The other way of doing it is, is
• 45:32
  like God, send your Holy Spirit into me.
• 45:34
  Help me change these evil ways that I've I've been doing.
• 45:38
  I don't want to be this person anymore.
• 45:40
  I want to be the person that you made me to be that you intended
• 45:44
  me to be. You know, let your will be done
• 45:47
  in my life. There's there's a difference
• 45:49
  there. So in verse 22, they say to him,
• 45:53
  repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord.
• 45:59
  Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts.
• 46:02
  Look it OK, so Simon wasn't doing wicked things right there,
• 46:06
  but he had thoughts in his head. And just like Jesus said at the
• 46:12
  when he gave his sermon on the mount and and talked about sins
• 46:16
  and just like, you know, you know, speaking bad about someone
• 46:21
  was the same as murder. Like we can murder with our
• 46:24
  words about a person or damage someone's reputation with our
• 46:28
  words. And it it's so much sin is so
• 46:31
  much deeper or basic than than we think.
• 46:38
  If we say we don't have sin, it says we're a liar because we do
• 46:41
  because we might think something evil about someone, but maybe
• 46:46
  not speak it. But God knows what's in our
• 46:48
  thoughts and even that thought is a sin.
• 46:52
  And that's what something that's that's what the Holy Spirit can
• 46:55
  start cleaning up in our life. If we allow the Holy Spirit into
• 46:59
  our life, if we ask Jesus for the Holy Spirit in our life to
• 47:03
  do that verse 23 it says for I can see that you are full of
• 47:08
  bitter jealousy and you are held captive by sin.
• 47:14
  So Simon didn't let go of his jealousy.
• 47:16
  He was probably jealous of the disciples that were doing these
• 47:19
  things that he couldn't do and he was he was still in slavery
• 47:24
  to sin. He still was being controlled by
• 47:27
  the evil. He had not rejected that evil.
• 47:31
  He probably needed to be had something cast out of him.
• 47:34
  Honestly, I mean, in reading this.
• 47:36
  But so then he says pray to the Lord for me, Simon exclaimed.
• 47:41
  That these terrible things you've said won't happen to me.
• 47:47
  I don't know what they said would happen to them, but just I
• 47:51
  don't know. After testifying and preaching
• 47:54
  the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to
• 47:57
  Jerusalem and they stopped in many Samaritan villages along
• 48:01
  the way to preach the good news. So there's another story too
• 48:06
  that I should continue reading because Philip is really this is
• 48:11
  another very interesting encounter with the Holy Spirit.
• 48:16
  So I think this is another good one to read and continue in
• 48:19
  verse 26. As for Philip, an Angel of the
• 48:23
  Lord said to him, go South Down the desert Rd. that runs from
• 48:30
  Jerusalem to Gaza. So he started out, and he met
• 48:34
  the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under
• 48:39
  the Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia.
• 48:43
  The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now
• 48:48
  returning. Seated in his carriage.
• 48:51
  He was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
• 48:57
  The Holy Spirit said to Philip, go over and walk alongside,
• 49:02
  along beside the carriage. Philip ran over and heard the
• 49:06
  man reading from the prophet Isaiah.
• 49:09
  Philip. Acts asked, do you understand
• 49:12
  what you are reading? The man replied, how can I
• 49:16
  unless someone instructs me? And he urged Philip to come up
• 49:21
  into the carriage and sit with him.
• 49:24
  The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this quote.
• 49:28
  He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is
• 49:34
  silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
• 49:39
  He was a He was humiliated and received no justice.
• 49:44
  Who can speak of his descendants, for his life was
• 49:48
  taken from the earth? The eunuch asked Philip.
• 49:53
  Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?
• 49:58
  So beginning with the same Scripture, Philip told him the
• 50:03
  good news about Jesus. So of course that was what
• 50:07
  Isaiah the prophet was talking about was Jesus because he was,
• 50:11
  he was like a sheep. He's the Lamb of God.
• 50:13
  He's described in the Book of Revelation as the Lamb of God.
• 50:16
  He was led to the slaughter. He was led to the cross and was
• 50:19
  killed on the cross. When his accusers accused him,
• 50:23
  he remained silent. And it says as the lamb is
• 50:25
  silent before the shearers, before the people who are going
• 50:28
  to kill, you know, well, not kill him, but take off his coat.
• 50:31
  He didn't open his mouth. That's what Jesus did.
• 50:34
  He was humiliated, he was stripped of his clothes.
• 50:37
  Jesus was he received no justice because he was killed for
• 50:41
  nothing that was wrong and says who can speak of his descendants
• 50:45
  for his life was taken from the earth.
• 50:47
  So Isaiah, he was back in I think 600 or 500 BC.
• 50:52
  I think it was like 671 BC. So he is foretelling about
• 50:57
  Jesus's crucifixion and and this eunuch is reading it.
• 51:02
  So Philip explains it to him and tells Philip.
• 51:05
  And of course Philip had walked and talked with Jesus.
• 51:09
  He knew the one that Philip was reading about as soon So as they
• 51:15
  rode along, they came to some water and the eunuch said, look,
• 51:20
  there's some water, why can't I be baptized?
• 51:24
  He ordered his carriage to stop and they went down in the water
• 51:28
  and Philip baptized him. When they came out of the water,
• 51:32
  the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away.
• 51:36
  The eunuch never saw him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
• 51:42
  Well, it sounds like the Holy Spirit did come to the eunuch,
• 51:47
  because you know, he has joy. He's rejoicing on the way.
• 51:52
  So anyway, meanwhile Philip found himself farther NN at the
• 51:57
  town of Asotus. He preached the good news there
• 52:01
  and in every town along the the way until he came to Caesarea.
• 52:05
  So these are just some very interesting ways that that God
• 52:14
  works within people. There is there's something else
• 52:18
  that when I searched, I think this in Acts 10 about Cornelius
• 52:23
  and Peter. This is a really, this whole
• 52:26
  chapter is really good because this is about how God speaks to
• 52:30
  somebody in a vision. He speaks to two different
• 52:34
  people in a vision, makes their paths cross, tells them about
• 52:39
  one another, and then the whole purpose is so that they are
• 52:44
  saved. And so this is let's I guess I
• 52:50
  could just shorten shorten it to if you want to read it, it's
• 52:54
  Acts chapter 10. So Peter, Peter is the one who
• 53:00
  sees this vision about unclean. And Cornelius is the Gentile who
• 53:07
  is considered by Peter unclean. So he's not a Jew.
• 53:11
  And Cornelius, though it says he's a righteous guy.
• 53:14
  I'm going to start there. In Acts 22, the men replied, we
• 53:18
  have come from Cornelius the centurion.
• 53:23
  He is a righteous and God fearing man.
• 53:28
  So he's not a Jew, but he's righteous.
• 53:30
  At the beginning of this podcast we talked about what does
• 53:33
  righteous mean? You know, it's he's obedient to
• 53:35
  God. So does this, and when Jesus
• 53:39
  came, he came for the sinners, not for the righteous.
• 53:43
  But here is a righteous man, He's God fearing.
• 53:48
  Peter is being taught something here.
• 53:50
  So he is a righteous and God fearing man.
• 53:52
  Cornelius, who is respected by all Jewish people.
• 53:57
  A holy Angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he
• 54:04
  could hear what you have to say. Then Peter invited the men into
• 54:09
  the house to be his guest. The next day Peter started out
• 54:13
  with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.
• 54:18
  The following day he arrived in Caesarea.
• 54:20
  Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his
• 54:24
  relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house,
• 54:27
  Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence, but Peter
• 54:33
  made him get up. Stand up, he said.
• 54:35
  I am only a man myself. While talking with him, Peter
• 54:40
  went inside and found a large gathering of people.
• 54:44
  He said to them, You are well aware that it is.
• 54:48
  It is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a
• 54:54
  Gentile. So that's the legal part, you
• 54:57
  know that Peter is referring to. But God has shown me that I
• 55:02
  should not call anyone impure or unclean.
• 55:07
  This is a turning point for Peter here.
• 55:10
  So when I was sent for. So when I was sent for, I came
• 55:15
  without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?
• 55:20
  Now look at what Cornelius responds.
• 55:22
  Like how God was working with Cornelius.
• 55:25
  Cornelius answered. Three days ago I was in my house
• 55:30
  praying at this hour. At 3:00 in the afternoon,
• 55:34
  suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and
• 55:38
  said, Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your
• 55:43
  gifts to the poor. Think about this like God, if in
• 55:48
  Ezekiel 17 or 18, whatever we just read that chapter, God was
• 55:53
  talking about, you know, giving to the needy and taking care of
• 55:56
  the poor. So here's someone he, he, I
• 55:59
  guess he believes in God, but he didn't know about Jesus at this
• 56:03
  point. And, and it's interesting that
• 56:07
  he was praying in his house at 3:00 in the afternoon.
• 56:11
  That's the time that Jesus was that Jesus died on the cross
• 56:14
  apparently too. I just find that you interesting
• 56:18
  that that is when this man in shining clothes stood before
• 56:22
  Cornelius and, and told him that God heard your prayer.
• 56:27
  And it it also tells us in Scripture that God hears the
• 56:30
  prayers of the righteous and those the people that went to
• 56:33
  find Peter told Peter that Cornelius is righteous.
• 56:38
  So apparently this is supported because God heard the prayer of
• 56:43
  the righteous man Cornelius. So he said God has heard your
• 56:48
  prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.
• 56:51
  Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter.
• 56:55
  So now Cornelius is knowing things from this man in shining
• 57:00
  clothes that he would never have known.
• 57:03
  Would he have known that that Peter's name was Simon before he
• 57:07
  became an apostle or a disciple of Jesus?
• 57:11
  And did you know, how would he know?
• 57:13
  He is a guest in the home of Simon the Tanner who lives by
• 57:17
  the sea. So God's giving clear, you know,
• 57:21
  through his messenger is giving clear information to Cornelius,
• 57:27
  a righteous man who was praying at 3:00 in the afternoon,
• 57:31
  telling him things he could have never known.
• 57:34
  And then he acted in faith and sent for this Peter man, but he
• 57:39
  didn't really know. He's like, tell us, you know,
• 57:41
  what are you going to tell us? Because I I was told to seek you
• 57:46
  so then he says so I sent the Cornelius is saying so I sent
• 57:50
  for you immediately and it was good of you to come.
• 57:54
  Now we are all here in the presence of God, to listen to
• 57:59
  everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.
• 58:03
  Then Peter began to speak. I now realize how true it is
• 58:09
  that God does not show favoritism, but accepts from
• 58:14
  every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right.
• 58:20
  So this is a little bit above and beyond believing, right?
• 58:26
  This is one who fears God and the Bible tells us the fear of
• 58:31
  God is the beginning of wisdom and he does what is right.
• 58:37
  He's a righteous man. So God hears the prayers of the
• 58:40
  righteous. This is now God is going to do
• 58:44
  something more for this righteous man.
• 58:47
  So verse 36, you know the message God sent to the people
• 58:51
  of Israel announcing the good news of peace through Jesus
• 58:56
  Christ who is Lord of all. You know what has happened
• 59:02
  through the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the
• 59:06
  baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
• 59:13
  with the Holy Spirit and power and now and, and how he went
• 59:21
  around doing good and healing all who were under the power of
• 59:28
  the devil. Isn't that interesting?
• 59:32
  Healing all who were under the power of the devil?
• 59:37
  Could we learn something from that?
• 59:41
  Healing all who were under the power of the devil.
• 59:45
  Does the devil not have power over people?
• 59:48
  Do people need to be healed from the power of the devil?
• 59:54
  The devil is evil. The devil does bad things to
• 59:57
  people. The The devil puts people into
• 1:00:00
  bondage, but Christ frees them from the bondage.
• 1:00:07
  So I want to read that again, verse 38, how God anointed Jesus
• 1:00:11
  of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power and how he went around
• 1:00:17
  doing good and healing all who were under the power of the
• 1:00:21
  devil because God was with him. So another thing that we should
• 1:00:26
  pay attention to is anointing of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:00:31
  I think this relates to the parable of the 10 virgins in the
• 1:00:36
  book of Matthew. I think it might be chapter 25,
• 1:00:40
  and there the anointing is the oil.
• 1:00:45
  Anointing is oil. And I think that whole story of
• 1:00:48
  that parable is about the Holy Spirit.
• 1:00:52
  So virgins implies that they were prepared, I guess, perhaps,
• 1:00:59
  maybe righteous, but did they have the Holy Spirit?
• 1:01:04
  They didn't. Some of them didn't.
• 1:01:05
  Half of them didn't have the Holy Spirit.
• 1:01:07
  And that's what concerns me about people who call themselves
• 1:01:10
  Christians today. I mean, really think about the
• 1:01:12
  10 virgins parable. It's basically telling us that
• 1:01:16
  half the people probably who call themselves Christians don't
• 1:01:21
  truly have the anointing of the Holy Spirit on them.
• 1:01:24
  They don't have the power of the Holy Spirit, maybe because they
• 1:01:27
  haven't been taught, they haven't asked that.
• 1:01:30
  Maybe they haven't repented. They call themselves a
• 1:01:32
  Christian, but they don't live in obedience to Christ.
• 1:01:37
  And and then, you know, you get churches that, you know,
• 1:01:42
  downplay obedience and, and I that's very concerning to me.
• 1:01:48
  And it's honestly I get, I get very aggravated with them
• 1:01:53
  because I think they are leading people to hell or eternal
• 1:01:58
  separation from God in doing that.
• 1:02:01
  And I think it is so unfair that they represent something of
• 1:02:06
  Christ, but yet they are from their lack of knowledge, their
• 1:02:13
  cowardice, are not willing to tell people about the Holy
• 1:02:18
  Spirit and about repentance and about the Kingdom of God.
• 1:02:24
  It's they, they have all these other things that they tell
• 1:02:28
  people about, which are good things, but they aren't helping
• 1:02:34
  people come to the Kingdom of God.
• 1:02:37
  And, and Jesus, you know, said that the the harvest is
• 1:02:40
  plentiful, but the workers are few.
• 1:02:43
  Why? Because they're probably, you
• 1:02:46
  know, have different motivations than bringing people into the
• 1:02:51
  Kingdom of God. But what does God want?
• 1:02:54
  God wants, he wants a harvest. He wants people in his Kingdom.
• 1:03:00
  So all these people who are, you know, really great at making
• 1:03:05
  people feel good, are they really doing God's work?
• 1:03:10
  So verse 39 says we are witnesses of everything he did
• 1:03:16
  in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
• 1:03:19
  This is about Jesus. They killed him by hanging him
• 1:03:22
  on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day
• 1:03:26
  and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the
• 1:03:29
  people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen by us,
• 1:03:34
  who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
• 1:03:39
  That's pretty substantial. Jesus was eating and drinking.
• 1:03:42
  I mean, that gives us, you know, a lot of people think about, you
• 1:03:45
  know, after they die on earth, you know, their life ends on
• 1:03:49
  earth and they die that, you know, it's just going to be like
• 1:03:53
  some spirit in heaven. You know, people don't think
• 1:03:55
  about this, but Jesus tells us differently than that we are
• 1:03:59
  going to be living. We're going to be eating and
• 1:04:02
  drinking and celebrating and doing things.
• 1:04:07
  I mean, it is like, it's, it's like this life on Earth, but
• 1:04:13
  without all the bad things. So wouldn't everyone who has
• 1:04:19
  heard about that want that? If you could take your life, but
• 1:04:23
  take away everything negative, everything bad and continue to
• 1:04:28
  live and enjoy and have adventures and do you know, be
• 1:04:33
  close to God and in person be able to talk to God directly.
• 1:04:40
  I mean, wouldn't you prefer that?
• 1:04:44
  Wouldn't you desire that? It's just that I think people
• 1:04:48
  don't, that isn't communicated to people.
• 1:04:51
  So they don't really seek it and and then they can think that
• 1:04:56
  they get distorted thoughts in their head about God and about
• 1:05:01
  Jesus. So verse 42, it says he
• 1:05:04
  commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is
• 1:05:10
  the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the
• 1:05:15
  dead. All the prophets testify about
• 1:05:18
  him, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of
• 1:05:24
  sins through his name. Jesus is the way, the truth and
• 1:05:29
  the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him.
• 1:05:33
  So we can't, we can't do anything.
• 1:05:36
  We can't be in God's, we can't be in God's presence.
• 1:05:40
  We, you know, we can't go around Jesus.
• 1:05:43
  So any religion that does not acknowledge that Jesus died on
• 1:05:47
  the cross and was raised for the dead, it's not going to help
• 1:05:51
  you. It's going to destroy you.
• 1:05:55
  So the only religion that teaches you about Jesus is
• 1:06:00
  Christianity. It's a story of Christ and it's
• 1:06:05
  been witnessed by hundreds of people.
• 1:06:08
  There is even archaeology that supports it.
• 1:06:11
  There's all these different ways of showing us this is true.
• 1:06:15
  Plus we have the word of God and we have eyewitnesses that you
• 1:06:21
  know, it just there's so much evidence that this is true and
• 1:06:25
  it's not a fable, it's not a myth, it's real.
• 1:06:30
  And this is the way, Jesus is the way.
• 1:06:35
  So it says. Then in verse 44, while Peter
• 1:06:39
  was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on.
• 1:06:44
  All who heard the message, their hearts were probably ready to
• 1:06:48
  receive the Holy Spirit. It says verse 45.
• 1:06:53
  The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were
• 1:06:57
  astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out
• 1:07:03
  even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues
• 1:07:08
  and praising God. Then Peter said surely no one
• 1:07:12
  can stand in the way of their being baptized with water.
• 1:07:16
  They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.
• 1:07:21
  So Peter saw evidence as well as the other circumcised believers
• 1:07:26
  that were with him. The Jewish people saw that these
• 1:07:28
  people who were Gentiles had a gift of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:07:33
  That gift was speaking in tongues.
• 1:07:35
  Now there's 9 total gifts and they had the one gift.
• 1:07:39
  So there's there's nine other possible things that could be
• 1:07:46
  that could be shown that they had the Holy Spirit, that could
• 1:07:49
  be gifts from the Holy Spirit. But this is also interesting
• 1:07:52
  that they wanted to be baptized, but they received the Holy
• 1:08:00
  Spirit first. So the Holy Spirit, I've seen in
• 1:08:06
  the Bible that it comes either before, after, or during a
• 1:08:13
  baptism. So the baptism doesn't
• 1:08:17
  necessarily have that connection to receiving the Holy Spirit.
• 1:08:21
  It's it's separate. Receiving the Holy Spirit is
• 1:08:24
  separate from that. So he ordered that they be
• 1:08:29
  baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, I guess because they
• 1:08:33
  already had the Holy Spirit, then they asked Peter to stay
• 1:08:37
  with him for a few days. So I think these are things that
• 1:08:40
  just, you know, that are important for us to know and to
• 1:08:45
  have these, these accounts in our, in our minds so that we
• 1:08:53
  know more about the Holy Spirit. And if we have the Holy Spirit,
• 1:08:58
  great. This, you know, affirms that we
• 1:09:00
  have the Holy Spirit when we read through these things.
• 1:09:02
  Or this might say, I don't know if I have the Holy Spirit.
• 1:09:07
  And then it would be important for us to get with someone who
• 1:09:11
  has the Spirit and who shows the evidence like we just talked
• 1:09:17
  about at the very beginning. And well, first of all, I would,
• 1:09:21
  I would pray to God directly. That's what I would do first is
• 1:09:24
  pray to pray to God in the name of Jesus to receive the Holy
• 1:09:28
  Spirit. Ask him for this.
• 1:09:30
  He will know your heart. He will know your repentant
• 1:09:33
  heart. And Jesus will give the Holy
• 1:09:36
  Spirit to whomever he gives. And if you don't start seeing a
• 1:09:40
  change or something, then I would go to someone who you can
• 1:09:45
  confirm that they have the Holy Spirit by checking Galatians
• 1:09:48
  chapter 5 or First Corinthians chapter 12.
• 1:09:53
  And then ask them, you know what more needs to be done.
• 1:09:57
  Maybe it's a laying on of hands, a transfer of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:10:01
  I don't know how that works. I'm just reading what it says in
• 1:10:05
  the Bible that you know, Simon the sorcerer saw that the
• 1:10:09
  receiving of the Holy Spirit happened at the laying on of
• 1:10:12
  hands of people who had the Holy Spirit that transferred the Holy
• 1:10:15
  Spirit. However, God sent the Spirit to
• 1:10:20
  the disciples. There wasn't apparently any
• 1:10:24
  laying of hands at the first time the Holy Spirit came to
• 1:10:29
  them at Pentecost. So that just happened there.
• 1:10:34
  And then also with these believers, it didn't say that
• 1:10:37
  they laid their hands on them. So it doesn't seem like that's
• 1:10:43
  necessary. It seems like God does it
• 1:10:46
  however He chooses to do it. And so then there was something
• 1:10:51
  in Romans chapter 8, verse 23 that I wanted to read and it
• 1:10:58
  says not only so, but we ourselves who have the first
• 1:11:04
  fruits of the Spirit. So I guess Paul is here saying
• 1:11:10
  that they have the first fruits of the Spirit, like Pentecost
• 1:11:16
  had happened and the Holy Spirit had come.
• 1:11:19
  But it says grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to
• 1:11:27
  sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
• 1:11:31
  So we have the Holy Spirit when we receive the Holy Spirit, we
• 1:11:35
  have the Holy Spirit in us. But that doesn't, there's one
• 1:11:38
  more thing that's going to happen and that happens when
• 1:11:42
  Jesus returns, the redemption of our bodies.
• 1:11:45
  The dead will rise. They will come out of the grave
• 1:11:48
  and the the living who are present when Jesus returns, they
• 1:11:53
  will be changed instantly. The redemption their bodies will
• 1:11:57
  be redeemed too. So we will have physical bodies
• 1:12:01
  in God's Kingdom and I think that's important for people to
• 1:12:05
  know. Jesus told his disciples to that
• 1:12:10
  they were supposed to wait for the Holy Spirit.
• 1:12:15
  And so I was, I was looking for where that I was to wait for the
• 1:12:27
  someone. I guess there were some things
• 1:12:31
  that I found when I searched about waiting because I remember
• 1:12:35
  that Jesus was telling his disciples that it was good for
• 1:12:39
  them that he was going to go away, but that they should wait
• 1:12:45
  until the advocate came to help them.
• 1:12:47
  And I was searching for that verse.
• 1:12:49
  So I searched wait, but I didn't necessarily find it.
• 1:12:53
  But I did find some other verses that I think are important to
• 1:12:58
  read and I wish I would have checked them, but I didn't.
• 1:13:00
  So one of the things was in First Thessalonians chapter one
• 1:13:07
  verse 10, it says, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he
• 1:13:14
  raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the coming
• 1:13:19
  wrath. So and believers will be rescued
• 1:13:24
  from the coming wrath. I think that was something that
• 1:13:27
  was important to remember. Then Titus 2 verse 13 says while
• 1:13:31
  we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of
• 1:13:36
  our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
• 1:13:41
  And it also says keep yourself in Jude chapter one, verse 21.
• 1:13:47
  Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our
• 1:13:53
  Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
• 1:13:59
  So those are some truths that are shared.
• 1:14:04
  So then I did look up advocates and there are six times the
• 1:14:11
  there are 6 times in the NIV version that it talks about the
• 1:14:14
  advocate. So I think I'll just go ahead
• 1:14:16
  and read each one of them since there's only six of them.
• 1:14:20
  Now. This is interesting Job.
• 1:14:22
  I just, I thought it was John at first, but Job 16 verse 19, even
• 1:14:27
  now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is on high.
• 1:14:32
  That's interesting there. But John 1416 and I will ask the
• 1:14:40
  Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and
• 1:14:45
  be with you forever. This is Jesus talking to his
• 1:14:49
  disciples about the Holy Spirit. So when I was saying that Jesus
• 1:14:54
  asked the Father for the Holy Spirit and then gives it to his
• 1:14:57
  followers. That's this verse John 14 verse
• 1:15:00
  16. Then it continues later and
• 1:15:04
  says, but the Advocate comma, the Holy Spirit whom the Father
• 1:15:10
  will send in my name, so in the name of Jesus, will teach you
• 1:15:15
  all things and will remind you of everything I have said to
• 1:15:20
  you. So that's sometimes when I, you
• 1:15:23
  know, want the Holy Spirit to remind me of things because
• 1:15:25
  that's what the Holy Spirit does.
• 1:15:29
  He reminds us of things that we've read about the Scripture,
• 1:15:32
  the word of God, and he sometimes speaks for us as well.
• 1:15:37
  And then in John chapter 15, verse 26, it says when the
• 1:15:41
  advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father.
• 1:15:46
  So this is multiple times where Jesus says the Spirit comes from
• 1:15:51
  the Father, the Holy Spirit comes from the Father, the
• 1:15:54
  Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father.
• 1:15:58
  He will testify about me. So that's another point of about
• 1:16:03
  someone who has the Holy Spirit. If they deny Jesus as the Son of
• 1:16:09
  God, then they do not have the Holy Spirit because it says in
• 1:16:17
  John chapter 15 verse 2626, He will testify about me.
• 1:16:22
  This is Jesus talking the Spirit of truth who goes out from the
• 1:16:27
  Father. He will testify about me then in
• 1:16:31
  John chapter 16 verse 7. But very truly I tell you, it is
• 1:16:36
  good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the advocate
• 1:16:42
  will not come to you. But if I go, I will send them to
• 1:16:47
  you. That that's an interesting verse
• 1:16:50
  to me because Jesus says unless I go away, the advocate will not
• 1:16:56
  come to you. I don't really understand that.
• 1:16:59
  However, later on when it talks about Jesus being he didn't send
• 1:17:06
  the Holy Spirit because he had not been glorified yet.
• 1:17:08
  That might be the reason why, but I just thought that was very
• 1:17:12
  interesting. Something to ponder or pray
• 1:17:15
  about. And then in first John chapter 2
• 1:17:18
  verse one, my children, I write this to you so that you will not
• 1:17:22
  sin, but if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the
• 1:17:28
  Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 So as Jesus
• 1:17:33
  referred, he said, you know, in John chapter 14 verse 16, he
• 1:17:38
  said, I will ask the Father and he will give you another
• 1:17:41
  advocate to help you and be with you forever.
• 1:17:44
  So we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit as advocates.
• 1:17:50
  So if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
• 1:17:56
  Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 So that is more like accidental sin
• 1:18:04
  or something that, you know, is kind of out of the ordinary that
• 1:18:10
  we wouldn't normally do or we wouldn't want to do.
• 1:18:13
  But because of our fleshly nature, because we're not
• 1:18:17
  perfect, we slip up like on a one time deal and mess up.
• 1:18:23
  That's what this is talking about it.
• 1:18:24
  But he's saying, you know, I, my dear children, I write to I
• 1:18:28
  write this to you so that you will not sin because it's we're
• 1:18:34
  not supposed to stay in sin. But if we do, we have an
• 1:18:39
  advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one.
• 1:18:42
  God's going to know our intent. Did we willfully go to sin or
• 1:18:46
  were we like under some kind of like, I don't know what you
• 1:18:50
  know, it's I'm not God. I can't say what he would say,
• 1:18:54
  but like, are we are under some kind of duress or pressure or
• 1:18:57
  something where as soon as we do it, we're we just regret it.
• 1:19:02
  Kind of like Peter when he was somewhat boasting in his flesh
• 1:19:08
  saying, Oh Lord, I would never deny you, you know, and he was
• 1:19:12
  going to like try to kill the soldiers that were going to
• 1:19:15
  arrest Jesus to crucify him. And Jesus said, get behind me,
• 1:19:19
  Satan. When Peter stood up like that.
• 1:19:22
  And then he told Peter, he goes, you're going to deny me three
• 1:19:25
  times before our the rooster will crow three times and you
• 1:19:28
  will have denied me three times or something to that effect.
• 1:19:31
  But there was a rooster crowing and, and Peter denying him three
• 1:19:34
  times, which did happen. And then when Peter heard it, he
• 1:19:38
  realized that Jesus foretold that.
• 1:19:41
  And in all of his flesh he had, he was just not going to do
• 1:19:45
  that. He was going to be strong for
• 1:19:47
  God. He was not going to deny Jesus.
• 1:19:51
  And then when it came upon him, fear came over him and he was
• 1:19:56
  weak and, and just, you know. And then he did what he said he
• 1:20:01
  would never do, like he was so strong and so confident.
• 1:20:05
  But Jesus also tells us that our flesh is weak, but his spirit is
• 1:20:10
  strong. So in those weak moments we need
• 1:20:13
  to rely on the Holy Spirit. I guess Peter did not have the
• 1:20:17
  Holy Spirit at that point because this is before Jesus was
• 1:20:20
  crucified. So he hadn't given the Holy
• 1:20:22
  Spirit. So Peter was working in his
• 1:20:26
  flesh. I mean, his relationship with
• 1:20:28
  Jesus was later restored when Jesus was making the fish on the
• 1:20:33
  bank when they were out on the Sea of Galilee fishing and then
• 1:20:38
  came back and had a conversation with Jesus and ate with him.
• 1:20:42
  But that just that just shows how we can think that we are so
• 1:20:48
  strong, but we're not. We can't rely on our own
• 1:20:52
  strength. We have to rely on the Spirit of
• 1:20:54
  God. The one thing that I think about
• 1:20:57
  is that when if we can just pause for a moment and in a
• 1:21:02
  moment of weakness and just pause and then pray, dear Lord,
• 1:21:07
  please let the Holy Spirit empower me to do your will.
• 1:21:14
  You know, sometimes in the heat of something we may not do that,
• 1:21:17
  but if we can teach ourselves to do that, things would go a lot
• 1:21:21
  better. We can, we can overcome these
• 1:21:24
  things because the Spirit of the Lord will help us overcome sin.
• 1:21:28
  That's what a lot of people. That's another thing that
• 1:21:31
  churches don't preach the Spirit of God.
• 1:21:35
  I mean, the Spirit of God is so powerful, it the Spirit of God
• 1:21:40
  will help us to overcome. That's anyway.
• 1:21:48
  So then there I did look up glorified, which comes up like
• 1:21:52
  17 times and 16 verses in the NIV and what I was reading about
• 1:21:58
  it, here's what it said. It was John Chapter 7 verse 39.
• 1:22:03
  By this he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in him were
• 1:22:07
  later to receive. Up to that time, the Spirit had
• 1:22:12
  not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
• 1:22:18
  So he's, you know, when Jesus was present with them until he
• 1:22:24
  had gone away, remember, and they, we were just looking at
• 1:22:27
  that like he said, it'll be good for me to go away because that's
• 1:22:30
  when he's glorified. Then he could send the Spirit.
• 1:22:33
  But at this point the Spirit was not given to all of his
• 1:22:40
  disciples. And that's in John Chapter 7,
• 1:22:43
  verse 39. So then another verse that we
• 1:22:49
  should, I mean that the Gospel of John has so much spiritual
• 1:22:53
  information in it. It's so important.
• 1:22:56
  In John chapter 4 verse 24, it's Jesus says God is spirit and his
• 1:23:03
  worshippers must worship in the spirit and in truth.
• 1:23:10
  So Jesus is saying that, you know, we need the Spirit.
• 1:23:15
  And if you think about like all sins can be forgiven, the only
• 1:23:19
  sin that cannot be forgiven is blasphemy of the Spirit, the
• 1:23:25
  rejection of God's Spirit, the mocking of God's Spirit.
• 1:23:32
  If we reject God's Spirit, there's no forget.
• 1:23:35
  God lets us have our choice and so everything that has, that
• 1:23:41
  we've been, that we've done can be forgiven and we can receive
• 1:23:46
  the Holy Spirit. We just have to go in repentance
• 1:23:49
  to God and work through, you know, work out your own
• 1:23:52
  salvation in prayer and repentance with God.
• 1:23:57
  It may not happen overnight and our struggles with sin may not
• 1:24:02
  be may not go away immediately. For most people, it doesn't.
• 1:24:05
  Some people testify that is they just like immediately stopped
• 1:24:10
  doing something and they say it's the power of the Holy
• 1:24:13
  Spirit that had that had done that with them.
• 1:24:15
  I don't I, I believe that, but others don't have that happen.
• 1:24:22
  It's more of a gradual thing and and I don't know, again, the
• 1:24:27
  Spirit decides, the Holy Spirit decides what he will give to
• 1:24:31
  each person. So I'm sure he works with people
• 1:24:35
  differently about righteous. This is this is where I just
• 1:24:45
  think that a lot of people, gosh, the whole, the whole thing
• 1:24:51
  is about grace. I get, I think grace is just
• 1:24:57
  abused by some churches. Some speak it truthfully and
• 1:25:01
  then others don't. Everybody is.
• 1:25:04
  So they love to hear about grace because it's a free gift, which
• 1:25:09
  is true and it's given to people who don't deserve it, which is
• 1:25:14
  true. Now it enables us to receive
• 1:25:19
  salvation, forgiveness. Now here's the part that people
• 1:25:25
  seem to forget and strength for living righteously.
• 1:25:33
  Grace gives us strength for living righteously.
• 1:25:38
  Everybody seems to know in the Christian churches about grace,
• 1:25:44
  and everybody loves grace. But the one thing that they
• 1:25:46
  don't seem to acknowledge very regularly is the power and
• 1:25:54
  enablement from grace. Beyond just forgiveness, grace
• 1:25:59
  provides the power and strength. This is actual grace to overcome
• 1:26:06
  sin, live holy lives, and do good works enabling believers to
• 1:26:13
  fulfill God's calling. I just wish that people would
• 1:26:21
  recognize this because so often people start saying, oh, you're
• 1:26:28
  being legalistic when you do this and there's no, you know,
• 1:26:33
  I. What I don't want people to do
• 1:26:36
  is deny the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:26:39
  That's essentially it. The Holy Spirit does things we
• 1:26:43
  could never do on our own and Jesus is the the way, the truth,
• 1:26:49
  the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
• 1:26:53
  The only way we have the opportunity is what I always say
• 1:27:00
  to be in God's Kingdom is because of Jesus's death on the
• 1:27:04
  cross, His sacrifice. It says without in Hebrews.
• 1:27:08
  I forgot what verse it was, but it says without the shedding of
• 1:27:11
  blood there is no forgiveness of sins or something to that effect
• 1:27:16
  or the shedding of blood is done by atonement is given by the
• 1:27:22
  shedding of blood. Now I'm I'm not quoting the
• 1:27:26
  scriptures correctly. I know it's in Hebrews.
• 1:27:29
  Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
• 1:27:33
  So that is Jesus. Jesus did that.
• 1:27:36
  We could not get forgiveness if it hadn't been for Jesus.
• 1:27:41
  So it is not taking away. It's not saying that our works
• 1:27:45
  get us into heaven or make us have salvation.
• 1:27:50
  No, none of that is true. Only through Jesus, but Jesus
• 1:27:57
  himself. When he was talking to Nicodemus
• 1:28:01
  in John chapter 3, he didn't say Nicodemus, I'm going to take
• 1:28:06
  care of it all and you don't have to worry about anything.
• 1:28:09
  My grace is the best thing for you.
• 1:28:12
  No, Jesus said that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, you
• 1:28:16
  need to be born again, born of the Spirit.
• 1:28:20
  John who baptized with the baptism of repentance, which I
• 1:28:24
  don't know if people realize that what they're doing when
• 1:28:27
  they do baptism is a public sign of repentance.
• 1:28:31
  But he, John said that John the Baptist said that Jesus would
• 1:28:37
  baptize with the Holy Spirit. So even at the very beginning
• 1:28:42
  when the baptism started occurring, there was this, I've
• 1:28:46
  got 1 baptism, but there's another one.
• 1:28:48
  And then when we read through the, the believers in Samaria
• 1:28:52
  who were baptized, but they hadn't received the Holy Spirit.
• 1:28:56
  So there's a couple different things that happen and and it's
• 1:29:01
  all through Jesus. Like we don't get the Holy
• 1:29:03
  Spirit if we circumvent Jesus, if we sit deny Jesus died on the
• 1:29:08
  cross. If we deny that he was raised
• 1:29:10
  from the dead, there is no way to get the Holy Spirit.
• 1:29:15
  So every single way is through Jesus.
• 1:29:19
  There is one way, one way to live in eternity with God and to
• 1:29:25
  have a relationship with God and to be cleansed of our sins.
• 1:29:31
  It's through Jesus and Jesus he, he's done everything for us, but
• 1:29:38
  the thing that we have to do is our response to Him.
• 1:29:41
  God calls us, but we have to respond to that call because
• 1:29:46
  God's not going to force us. So we either accept that call
• 1:29:51
  and agree that we want to live righteously and let the Holy
• 1:29:57
  Spirit start working in our life, or we reject and say,
• 1:30:00
  Nope, I don't, I don't want that.
• 1:30:03
  And that's what we will get. God will give us what we want,
• 1:30:07
  what we choose. And that's why I feel so
• 1:30:10
  strongly about talking about the Holy Spirit, because it is.
• 1:30:16
  It is important to salvation, as you can see from here.
• 1:30:21
  If you don't believe me, search it out, pray about it and do
• 1:30:27
  everything you can because this is like the greatest decision in
• 1:30:30
  your life that you will ever make.
• 1:30:32
  And if you want to stay in the word, we learn our faith grows
• 1:30:37
  by being in the word. And that's why I try to to be in
• 1:30:40
  the word every day and my faith has grown.
• 1:30:44
  That's, that's exactly what has happened to me.
• 1:30:47
  It wasn't through going to church or doing any other thing.
• 1:30:50
  It was from reading the word of God and praying, prayer and
• 1:30:54
  reading the word. And every day take some time
• 1:30:57
  away from everyone else to just communicate to God and ask him
• 1:31:02
  to show you things and, and he will do it.
• 1:31:05
  He wants to be known. Miracles happen because God
• 1:31:08
  wants to be known. So if we ask for him if we're
• 1:31:12
  truly seeking him, he will make himself known.
• 1:31:15
  If you want to do the same as I am and trying to stay in the
• 1:31:19
  words so your faith grows and that you have more strength and
• 1:31:22
  learning more every day There's always new revelations it seems
• 1:31:26
  when we read the Bible, then subscribe to this podcast.
• 1:31:30
  If this was beneficial for you, please share this with other
• 1:31:34
  people because I want people to know the truth.
• 1:31:39
  I want people to be in God's Kingdom.
• 1:31:43
  I want people to, like I said, know the know the truth and not
• 1:31:47
  be not be confused by people who don't always give the, the big
• 1:31:57
  the full picture. They might give part of the
• 1:32:00
  picture and hook people, but I want people to truly be in God's
• 1:32:05
  Kingdom. I want people to truly know
• 1:32:08
  Jesus, to be able to communicate with God, have God communicate
• 1:32:13
  back, be able to do the powerful things of the Spirit, to have
• 1:32:17
  the gifts of the Spirit. I mean, God has given us so
• 1:32:22
  much. It's just all it is, is a
• 1:32:25
  decision from us and a willingness for us on our behalf
• 1:32:33
  to be obedient to God's will and surrender our will to his.
• 1:32:38
  Say, OK, God, I'm going to do what you want me to do, not
• 1:32:41
  necessarily what I want to do. If we have a willingness for
• 1:32:44
  this, then there is only a promise of something so
• 1:32:50
  absolutely incredible in our future.