Latest / Karl and Crew / Understanding the function of the Holy Spirit with Dr. Sam Storms

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Understanding the function of the Holy Spirit with Dr. Sam Storms · Karl and Crew

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  S6: Coming up. The beat goes on. Doctor Sam Storms joining us.
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  S6: Straight ahead.
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  S1: Get your info from a source you can trust. It's
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  S1: Ask the Experts week with Carl and crew.
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  S6: Well, we're a bit gobsmacked, as we were just saying
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  S6: about what God has already doing this week. And we're
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  S6: just in Tuesday here. Ali.
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  S4: Yeah, we've got a full week, a full lineup of
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  S4: different experts and topics. Ask the experts is what we've
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  S4: called it, and it's back by popular demand right now.
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  S4: Doctor Sam Storms, joining us, founder and president of Enjoying
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  S4: God Ministries, serves on the Council of the Gospel Coalition.
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  S4: We're going to be talking primarily this hour about the
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  S4: work of the Holy Spirit.
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  S6: Yeah. And what a church looks like when it comes
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  S6: alive in that. All right, Sam, let's just buckle up
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  S6: and go for it here. Uh, look, we've discussed this before,
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  S6: but it's worth going there again. We've got we had
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  S6: in the 70s and 80s kind of these polarization between, uh,
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  S6: churches that focus on the Holy Spirit and those that didn't.
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  S6: And then there's been, praise be to God, a coming together.
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  S6: There's been a convergence of those. What kept us separate
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  S6: and what is the high ridge that's going to bring
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  S6: the Holy Spirit to the forefront for all that he is?
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  S6: It's not a it. He's here listening right now and
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  S6: guiding our conversation. Sam.
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  S7: Yes he is. And I think you're right. We have seen,
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  S7: I think, in the last 20 or 30 years, really
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  S7: beginning in the early 90s, just a reformation in the
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  S7: way the church thinks about the Holy Spirit. I think
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  S7: part of the reason for that is that we've dealt
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  S7: with the reasons why he was neglected for so long,
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  S7: for example, about how we refer to the spirit. We
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  S7: call him the third person of the Trinity. We think, oh, well,
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  S7: he's only third. He's less important than the first and
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  S7: the second. And the fact of the matter is, the
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  S7: Bible nowhere calls the Holy Spirit the third person. They
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  S7: are all co-equal in dignity and deity and power. And
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  S7: then I think also, one of the obstacles we face
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  S7: for so long was the word ghost. You know, even
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  S7: in the doxology that we still sing, it's father, son
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  S7: and Holy Ghost. And people say, I don't know if
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  S7: I want a relationship with a ghost like Casper the
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  S7: Friendly Ghost.
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  S6: Right.
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  S7: It's kind of a eerie, weird sound to refer to
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  S7: God as a ghost. And then I think also churches
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  S7: for a long time made the mistake of thinking that
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  S7: the only thing the Holy Spirit does is glorify Jesus. Now, undoubtedly,
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  S7: that is probably the primary thing he does, but it's
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  S7: not the only thing. He's got so many other roles
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  S7: and tasks and makes his presence known all through Scripture.
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  S7: And I think also the struggle we've had in the
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  S7: past was that father and son? Those words mean something
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  S7: to us because we've all had a father. And many
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  S7: of us are sons or have had sons. And we
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  S7: can relate personally to a father or son. But how
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  S7: do you how do you relate personally to a spirit,
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  S7: you know? How do you hug a spirit? You know,
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  S7: it's like the spirit is there, but it's kind of
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  S7: hard to get our minds around the idea that he
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  S7: is a living, feeling, acting, willing person. And then I
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  S7: think also for so long, I think there was fear
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  S7: surrounding the work of the spirit. A lot of unknowns like,
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  S7: what if we really want the spirit to show up?
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  S7: What's he going to do? Is he going to embarrass me?
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  S7: Is he going to do things that are contrary to
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  S7: the traditions that we've developed in our church? So I
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  S7: think all those factors play into why the Spirit of
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  S7: God has been neglected as long as he has, but
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  S7: no more. That's for certain. He is definitely much more
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  S7: at the center of our thinking, as he should be.
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  S4: Doctor Sam storms our guest this morning. You know, you
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  S4: mentioned a couple different things, and I want to revisit
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  S4: a few of them when we talk about our language
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  S4: around the Holy Spirit. That has contributed to some of
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  S4: the confusion. How do we speak about the Holy Spirit
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  S4: in ways that are truly biblical? I'll give you an example.
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  S4: When people talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit,
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  S4: I'll be honest. I grew up in a church where
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  S4: when I heard that someone was filled with the Holy
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  S4: Spirit in my mind, I pictured usually was an older
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  S4: church lady, and she would begin to get very demonstrative
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  S4: in her expressions and ushers would come around her and
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  S4: they would rapidly fan her with those little paper fans
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  S4: with the handles. And this. And that's what I thought
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  S4: in my mind. Okay. They're being, they're they're filled with
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  S4: the Holy Spirit. And that's what that looks like. And
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  S4: that was my understanding. And I know I'm not alone
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  S4: in that. How do we have a biblical understanding?
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  S7: Sure. And again, you just articulated one of the reasons
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  S7: why the spirit has been neglected, because that's the image
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  S7: that people have in their minds. That's what they think
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  S7: the spirit is going to do to a person if
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  S7: they get filled. Uh, being filled with the spirit really
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  S7: has to do with two things power and ethics. In
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  S7: other words, start with ethics. We are filled with the
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  S7: spirit to live in consistent conformity with what we read
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  S7: in Scripture. Conform to the image of Jesus. That's what
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  S7: he does in our lives. And then also power. Uh,
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  S7: there's power for witness, power for exercise of gifts. Uh,
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  S7: in fact, all through the book of acts. It's interesting
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  S7: you read that Paul and Peter specifically, and even Steven
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  S7: as well, having been filled with the spirit, they then
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  S7: spoke prophetic words or they performed a miraculous healing. So
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  S7: I think we have to get away from the idea
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  S7: that the spirit is there just to make us act
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  S7: weirdly and do stupid things, or it's going to require
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  S7: the deacons to come and fan us back into normality. Yeah,
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  S7: it's the spirit has has come to glorify Jesus. To
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  S7: empower us to walk in conformity with his will and
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  S7: to give us the strength to do things that in
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  S7: our own finite humanity, we could never pull off. I mean,
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  S7: that's what the Spirit of God does. But I also
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  S7: think a lot of it has to do with how
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  S7: we describe him, how we refer to him. And Carl,
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  S7: you mentioned at the beginning this so many times people
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  S7: call the spirit and it. I have a new book
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  S7: coming out on the Holy Spirit at the end of
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  S7: this year, and I have a whole chapter on is
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  S7: the Holy Spirit a person or a power or both?
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  S7: And I deal with this issue of why? Why do
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  S7: people refer to it? When we talk about Jesus and
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  S7: the father we saw, we say he well, everything that
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  S7: is true of a person, everything that is true of
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  S7: the father and the son in terms of their personhood,
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  S7: is also said to be true of the spirit. So
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  S7: a lot of us, we just have to shift our
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  S7: language around a little bit.
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  S6: Yeah. Doctor Sam storms our guest right now. And you
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  S6: might be saying already, oh, Nelly, where do I get
• 8:44
  S6: some content? This guy is really got some solid content.
• 8:47
  S6: Just text the word storm to 800 555 78, 98.
• 8:53
  S6: One word storm to 800 555 7898. Coming up, Sam,
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  S6: one of the most astounding promises is in Galatians 513.
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  S6: I'll read it. And then when we get back, I
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  S6: want you to respond to it. But I say, walk
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  S6: by the spirit capital S Holy Spirit, and you will
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  S6: not gratify the desires of the flesh. That is one
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  S6: of the most loaded promises in Scripture. Sam storms response
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  S6: to it straight ahead.
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  S1: You've got questions. They've got answers. It's Ask the Experts
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  S1: week with Carl and crew.
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  S6: It's Carl and crew. Here it is. Ask the Expert
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  S6: week and we have got him in here today. In
• 9:36
  S6: this hour. Doctor Sam Storms, we're talking the power of
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  S6: the Holy Spirit. and Sam, I'm astounded by this promise
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  S6: that Paul writes to the Galatian church. This one almost
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  S6: takes my breath away if you take it at face value.
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  S6: And this is what he writes. But I say, walk
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  S6: by the spirit in you will not gratify the desires
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  S6: of the flesh. My goodness, Sam, that's epic, is it not,
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  S6: my friend?
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  S7: It is. It is indeed. And again, I hope people
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  S7: understand what Paul means when he uses the word walk.
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  S7: He uses it all through his letters, and it basically
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  S7: means to live. Our walk is our daily life. And
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  S7: he's saying here, we need to consciously be dependent upon
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  S7: the spirit every moment of every day. Aware of his presence,
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  S7: faithful to respond to his promptings. Uh, you know, the
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  S7: very next verse is the one that really is baffling,
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  S7: where he goes on to say that the desires of
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  S7: the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of
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  S7: the spirit are against the flesh. So there's a battle
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  S7: raging within us. Yeah. And and the pulse point here
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  S7: is you can win that battle if you walk by
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  S7: the spirit. That is, if you conduct yourself, your language,
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  S7: your thoughts, your prayer life, your, your imagination, your dreams,
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  S7: everything that you do, you do it with a sense
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  S7: of the Spirit's leading and basically saying, you know, when
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  S7: you're in a challenging situation, Lord, I feel the promptings
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  S7: of my flesh. I feel the desires to go in
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  S7: the opposite direction that you're telling me, give me the power,
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  S7: strengthen me, show me the reasons why I need to
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  S7: respond to the Spirit's prompting and walk in tandem with him.
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  S7: And it's kind of like, uh, you know, you think
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  S7: of an individual walking in front of you, and this
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  S7: is your mentor, this is your leader. And every step
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  S7: that this person takes, you take as well. You follow
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  S7: in his footprints, follow the leading of the spirit. Follow
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  S7: the convicting work of the spirit. Follow the empowering work
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  S7: of the spirit. It's like, you know, you're sitting at
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  S7: a coffee shop and you just suddenly look over and
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  S7: there's this person sitting by themselves, and you feel this
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  S7: overwhelming urge. They don't know Jesus. I'm. Lord, give me
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  S7: an open door to go share the gospel with this person. Well,
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  S7: that's what the spirit does. And walking by the spirit
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  S7: in that particular case means obeying, saying, okay, I may
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  S7: get rejected. They may spit in my face, they may
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  S7: laugh me out of the room, but I'm going to
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  S7: walk with the spirit. I'm going to obey his promptings.
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  S4: Doctor Sam storms our guest this morning. Let's go back
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  S4: to that coffee shop scenario. A question that many people
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  S4: have is how do I know if that's the Holy
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  S4: Spirit prompting me? Or if it's just my thoughts like,
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  S4: this is something I, you know, one of my kids
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  S4: wrestles with a lot of, I don't know if this
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  S4: is the Holy Spirit prompting me to do this, or
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  S4: if it's just me thinking that would be a nice
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  S4: thing to do, and then they really get kind of
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  S4: stressed out about it.
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  S7: Yeah, well, here's the interesting thing about this. I don't
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  S7: want people to worry about whether or not that's the
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  S7: spirit or just me. In other words, it oftentimes we
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  S7: learn the voice of the spirit just through trial and error.
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  S7: You come to a point as you grow up in Christ,
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  S7: that you begin to discern the quality of his voice,
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  S7: the quality, the intensity of his prompting. And, um, it
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  S7: just comes, you know, it's I would say, you know,
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  S7: to people who struggle with this, how do I know
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  S7: the difference? And I would say, don't worry about it,
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  S7: don't worry about it. Just go ahead. And as long
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  S7: as what you feel prompted to do is biblical, it's
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  S7: not sinful. Go ahead and step out in faith and
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  S7: you'll discover whether or not that was the spirit or you.
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  S7: And if it was you, that's okay. You just learned
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  S7: how to discern his voice from yours. If it was
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  S7: the spirit, he'll empower you in that moment to do
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  S7: what you need to do. So I think the thing
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  S7: I would caution people about is don't be paralyzed by uncertainty.
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  S7: God knows that we are fallen and we're frail, broken people,
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  S7: and that we sometimes blame him for things that we're
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  S7: responsible for. He's not mad at us. He's going to
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  S7: he's not going to withdraw from us. So don't worry
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  S7: about missing it. Don't worry about not having psychological certainty.
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  S7: Just go ahead and and follow the promptings that you
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  S7: feel in your heart. And even if it wasn't the spirit, say, Lord,
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  S7: if this isn't you, make use of my time and
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  S7: my encounter with this person for some other purpose. Yeah.
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  S7: So people need to dial it down a little bit
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  S7: and they think, well, if I don't have psychological certainty
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  S7: that it's the spirit, I should keep my mouth shut. No.
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  S7: Psychological certainty is very rare in our lives. That's why
• 14:06
  S7: faith oftentimes is spelled risk. Risk. You're taking a risk.
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  S7: God will back you up. He will always back you up.
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  S6: You know, Sam, a couple thoughts on that. One is
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  S6: we died and our life is now hidden with Christ
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  S6: in God. I think some of the uncertainty we have
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  S6: is we don't understand the regenerative power of new birth.
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  S6: Quick comment on that.
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  S7: Well, absolutely. In fact, that's the beginning of our relationship
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  S7: with the spirit. In fact, I was preaching my last
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  S7: sermon here in Oklahoma City, and I was talking about
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  S7: sharing the gospel. And I said, folks, I said, you
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  S7: sharing the gospel with somebody, explaining the cross of Christ,
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  S7: talking about the nature of sin and what faith and
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  S7: repentance are is not enough. You have to cry out
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  S7: and pray that the Spirit of God would sovereignly regenerate
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  S7: their hearts, cause them to be born again, and born anew,
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  S7: born from above. However you like to describe it for us,
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  S7: just to communicate information, that's essential, obviously. But if the
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  S7: Spirit of God doesn't enlighten, it doesn't renew their hearts,
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  S7: soften their hearts to see the beauty of Christ in
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  S7: the the only true answer which is the gospel, our
• 15:15
  S7: words are going to fall flat. I'm not saying evangelism
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  S7: isn't important, I'm saying it's absolutely necessary. But there are
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  S7: two parts. There's the proclamation of the gospel, and there's
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  S7: the prayer that the Spirit of God would open their
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  S7: eyes and soften their hearts to see the need that
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  S7: they have for Jesus, and the sufficiency of what he's
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  S7: done for them.
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  S6: Amen. Sam storms, our guest, coming up here in a moment.
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  S6: I want to go after this. Keeping in step with
• 15:41
  S6: the spirit, Paul goes on to say that he's he
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  S6: bookends that chapter, by the way, with walk in the spirit.
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  S6: And he says, if you live in the spirit, keep
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  S6: in step with the spirit. And here's the thing for me, Sam,
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  S6: this has revolutionized my life in the last decade. I
• 15:55
  S6: have now what I used to call from my good
• 15:59
  S6: Swedish Baptist Covenant. Kind of, you know what I'm saying?
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  S6: Bible church upbringing. We had code words for this. We
• 16:06
  S6: didn't know what we were saying. Things like I feel prompted,
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  S6: I felt led to, um, you know, those were our
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  S6: code words. Now I'm going hold it a second. Stop
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  S6: the bus. I'm hearing from the Spirit of God way
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  S6: more than I ever imagined. Are we hearing from the spirit?
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  S6: How do we stay open to that? And what confirms
• 16:28
  S6: that we're in step with the spirit. More straight ahead
• 16:32
  S6: with Doctor Sam Storms.
• 16:34
  S1: When you don't know who's better to ask than an expert.
• 16:38
  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 16:40
  S6: It's Carl and crew. Here it is. Ask the expert week.
• 16:44
  S6: Are we hearing from the spirit? And what confirms that
• 16:47
  S6: we're in step with the spirit? More straight ahead with
• 16:51
  S6: Doctor Sam Storms.
• 16:54
  S1: Breaking chains and running free. You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 16:58
  S6: It is Ask the Experts week. And boy, this is
• 17:02
  S6: peel paint time, guys, right down to the bare wood.
• 17:05
  S6: We're getting after it here. Doctor Sam storms our guest.
• 17:08
  S6: And by the way, Tech Storm. Whenever you can get
• 17:13
  S6: linked in. There's a new book coming out from Sam
• 17:16
  S6: at year end on the Holy Spirit. You're going to
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  S6: get a heads up when you get subscribed in. And
• 17:23
  S6: I mean, there's no paywall, but there's a way for
• 17:25
  S6: you to grab content that is going to be transformative.
• 17:29
  S6: Sam storms is one of the great revolutionaries when it
• 17:33
  S6: comes to understanding the role of the Holy Spirit. Without getting,
• 17:37
  S6: as Ali was advertising earlier, having fans waved over you
• 17:41
  S6: because you got the wolf hoofs or whatever's going on
• 17:44
  S6: and the Holy Spirit came over you. So, Sam, uh,
• 17:48
  S6: I'm a recovering. How do I say this? I'm a
• 17:52
  S6: recovering man that was raised with an understanding of the
• 17:56
  S6: father and the son, but very little of the Holy Spirit.
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  S6: And God's done a great work in this. And now
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  S6: I am hearing. And I hesitate to say this because
• 18:08
  S6: I don't even want it abused. But I hear the
• 18:11
  S6: Spirit's voice talk to me frequently. Frequently. Sam, I haven't
• 18:18
  S6: lost my mind, have I, Sam?
• 18:21
  S7: No, you haven't, you haven't. You know, if I could
• 18:24
  S7: go back to Galatians five and to answer your question,
• 18:27
  S7: I was just looking at it again and all the
• 18:29
  S7: various ways in which Paul describes how we respond to
• 18:32
  S7: the spirit. He says, walk by the spirit. Down in
• 18:35
  S7: verse 18 he says, be led by the spirit. Down
• 18:40
  S7: in verse 25, live by the spirit. Also keep in
• 18:43
  S7: step with the spirit. You think Paul's trying to make
• 18:45
  S7: a point? And I think all of these are synonymous
• 18:48
  S7: images designed to tell us the spirit is actively involved,
• 18:53
  S7: actively leading you. It doesn't mean that you have to
• 18:56
  S7: get up in the morning and say, Holy Spirit, which
• 18:57
  S7: pair of socks should I put on? I don't think
• 18:59
  S7: God really gives much of a hoot about that. But
• 19:03
  S7: when you find yourself out in community, or you find
• 19:06
  S7: yourself being tempted to watch something on the internet, you shouldn't.
• 19:09
  S7: That's when you cry out to the spirit. You know,
• 19:12
  S7: crucify this, this desire of the flesh. Lead me in
• 19:15
  S7: the way of the Lord Jesus, that I would honor
• 19:18
  S7: him with my life and my thoughts and my my words.
• 19:22
  S7: So again, we have to walk through life every day
• 19:25
  S7: in this conscious dependence. I mean, I don't know how
• 19:28
  S7: else Paul could say it. Walk be led. Keep in step.
• 19:32
  S7: Live by the spirit. It's like every moment of every
• 19:36
  S7: day we are trusting. And again, we don't have to
• 19:39
  S7: say it out loud. But we're saying, Lord, let every
• 19:42
  S7: step that I take, every decision I make. Let every
• 19:45
  S7: word that I utter. Let every relationship that I encounter
• 19:48
  S7: be one that is empowered by the spirit and consistent
• 19:52
  S7: with the holiness of the Holy Spirit.
• 19:55
  S6: Sam, I want to even go deeper on this, because
• 19:57
  S6: in John 14 Jesus said, speaking of the Holy Spirit,
• 20:02
  S6: these things I have spoken to you while I'm still
• 20:04
  S6: with you, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
• 20:06
  S6: father will send in my name, he will teach you
• 20:08
  S6: all things and bring to your remembrance all that I've
• 20:11
  S6: said to you. And my team sitting here. So I'm
• 20:13
  S6: going to be very self-effacing and be honest about this.
• 20:17
  S6: The Holy Spirit speaks to me primarily around those primary
• 20:21
  S6: relationships that are around me. How to talk with my team.
• 20:24
  S6: How to honor them. How to give honor, where honors do,
• 20:27
  S6: how to cheer for them. How to not be a
• 20:29
  S6: pain in the neck to them, uh, with my wife.
• 20:32
  S6: How to love her as Christ loved the church. I
• 20:35
  S6: find the Holy Spirit speaking to me in meetings with
• 20:38
  S6: our church staff that we've got an amazing staff that
• 20:42
  S6: I lead. I find it that practical and it's real
• 20:46
  S6: time promptings in meetings. Sam, that's the beauty. I don't
• 20:51
  S6: want our people to miss out on that. Sam. How
• 20:54
  S6: do we live there?
• 20:56
  S7: Well, I think the first thing is we have to
• 20:58
  S7: immerse ourselves in Scripture instead of being reactionary, because we've
• 21:03
  S7: seen somebody do goofy things in the name of Jesus,
• 21:06
  S7: some alleged internet prophet. And we think, my goodness, if
• 21:10
  S7: that if that's what following the prompting of the spirit
• 21:12
  S7: is like, I don't want to go anywhere near it, right?
• 21:14
  S7: And we need to keep our minds on Scripture. For example,
• 21:18
  S7: let me just take you to another text if I
• 21:20
  S7: mention Romans chapter eight. To most Christians. And I said,
• 21:24
  S7: what is the most distinguishing feature about Romans eight? They'd
• 21:27
  S7: probably say, oh, the sovereignty of God, the grace of
• 21:30
  S7: God in saving us. Well, that may be true, but
• 21:33
  S7: do you know that there are more references to the
• 21:35
  S7: Holy Spirit in Romans eight than in any other passage
• 21:38
  S7: in the entire Bible? Everything that Paul talks about here,
• 21:43
  S7: he talks about living according to the spirit, setting our
• 21:47
  S7: minds on the things of the spirit. He talks about.
• 21:50
  S7: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Therefore walk.
• 21:52
  S7: Don't walk in the flesh, but in the spirit, because
• 21:55
  S7: the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if you
• 21:57
  S7: don't have the Spirit of Christ, you don't belong to him.
• 21:59
  S7: And over and over again, if the Spirit of him
• 22:02
  S7: who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then
• 22:04
  S7: he who raised Jesus will give life to your mortal bodies.
• 22:07
  S7: Over and over again he says again, if you live
• 22:11
  S7: according to the flesh, you will die. But if by
• 22:12
  S7: the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
• 22:14
  S7: you will live. So all of that, I think, accounts
• 22:18
  S7: for what you're feeling when you talk about how you
• 22:21
  S7: relate to your staff and your family and to others.
• 22:24
  S7: It is this continual, constant awareness that the Spirit of
• 22:28
  S7: God lives in me. I mean, just stopping. We haven't
• 22:31
  S7: talked about it yet. Think about that for a moment.
• 22:34
  S7: The omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Holy Spirit actually lives inside of us.
• 22:41
  S7: That is absolutely mind blowing to me that we are
• 22:45
  S7: called the temple of the Holy Spirit. If he's that
• 22:48
  S7: near and dear and present in our lives leading us,
• 22:52
  S7: prompting us, then yes, every decision you make, every word
• 22:55
  S7: that comes out of your mouth needs to be bathed
• 22:58
  S7: in the Spirit's presence and power. So yeah, I think
• 23:01
  S7: if we could just live more consciously in this moment
• 23:04
  S7: by moment dependence instead of fear, instead of saying, oh,
• 23:08
  S7: I'm afraid what might happen if I do that? Will
• 23:10
  S7: I act goofy and bring reproach on the name of
• 23:12
  S7: Christ like that guy I saw on TV last week.
• 23:15
  S7: Don't let fear dominate your life. Let faith that the
• 23:19
  S7: Spirit of God is present to lead you and to
• 23:21
  S7: help you.
• 23:22
  S6: Okay, quick note so I've always prescribed we do this
• 23:25
  S6: a lot around here. John 14, John 16, Romans eight,
• 23:30
  S6: and I and I've said, I think Corinthians. Yeah, it
• 23:33
  S6: speaks to the spirit, but it's mainly corrective. These chapters
• 23:37
  S6: are instructive and illuminating. And, you know, it just dawned
• 23:41
  S6: on me, you you mentioned Romans eight. My mind immediately
• 23:44
  S6: went to there's therefore now no condemnation for those who
• 23:47
  S6: are in Christ Jesus. But if we read on, we
• 23:50
  S6: realize it's the spirit that gives the unction to even
• 23:53
  S6: live in that truth. Sam quick comment.
• 23:55
  S7: Yeah, absolutely. I love that verse, but we gotta read
• 23:57
  S7: the second verse for the law of the Spirit of
• 24:00
  S7: life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the
• 24:02
  S7: law of sin and death. And then you read on further.
• 24:05
  S7: The spirit helps us in our weakness. We don't know
• 24:07
  S7: how to pray. Well, that's all right. Don't. Don't fret,
• 24:10
  S7: because the spirit prays within us with groanings too deep
• 24:14
  S7: for words. So all through this we are told that
• 24:17
  S7: the Spirit of God is present. He wants to. He
• 24:20
  S7: wants to bring our minds into conformity with Christ. Our
• 24:23
  S7: lives shape us in his image. There are so many
• 24:27
  S7: so-called role models in our world, and not one of
• 24:30
  S7: them is worth an ounce of devotion compared to the
• 24:34
  S7: role model of Jesus. And the spirit is there to say, look,
• 24:37
  S7: here's how I want you to live. Here's how I
• 24:39
  S7: want you to behave. Look like Jesus. That's just a
• 24:43
  S7: stunning thought. In fact, in Ephesians four, you know, Paul
• 24:46
  S7: talks about being renewed in the spirit of our minds.
• 24:50
  S7: That's the Holy Spirit, so that we will walk according
• 24:53
  S7: to God. I thought, wait a minute, Paul. You're not
• 24:58
  S7: saying that I am God. Of course not. But you're
• 25:00
  S7: saying that the spirit of my mind renews me, that
• 25:04
  S7: I might live in such a way? He calls it
• 25:06
  S7: righteousness and holiness, according to or after the likeness of God.
• 25:12
  S7: I mean that again. It just takes your breath away
• 25:14
  S7: when you think the spirit is in me to help
• 25:17
  S7: me live a life so that I will show forth
• 25:20
  S7: the very attributes that God Himself has. Again, that's one
• 25:24
  S7: of those breathtaking texts that you just kind of have
• 25:27
  S7: to live in for a while for it to sink in.
• 25:29
  S4: Doctor Sam storms our guest right now. Coming up. Wow. Yeah,
• 25:33
  S4: this is a lot to digest. This is really good.
• 25:35
  S4: You know, when we think about the work of the
• 25:37
  S4: Holy Spirit convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment,
• 25:41
  S4: why do unbelievers still have the ability to feel bad
• 25:45
  S4: about something that they've done? We've call it their conscience.
• 25:48
  S4: Somebody can have a guilty conscience. Is that the work
• 25:52
  S4: of the Holy Spirit, or is the conscience something entirely different?
• 25:56
  S4: Let's ask that one coming up.
• 25:58
  S1: Get in the know with life's biggest questions. It's Ask
• 26:02
  S1: the Experts week with Carl and crew.
• 26:04
  S4: Doctor Sam Storms, our guest expert on Ask the Expert
• 26:07
  S4: week talking all things Holy Spirit. You know, even unbelievers
• 26:11
  S4: have the ability to feel bad, or at least an
• 26:15
  S4: awareness that they have done something wrong. Is that the
• 26:19
  S4: work of the Holy Spirit?
• 26:21
  S7: Yes it is. Paul talks about the conscience in Romans two,
• 26:26
  S7: either excusing us or condemning us, but we must remember
• 26:30
  S7: that the conscience is subject to the prompting of the spirit.
• 26:34
  S7: It's what theologians call common grace. In other words, there
• 26:37
  S7: is a gracious operation of the spirit in the world,
• 26:41
  S7: in the lives of unbelievers that falls short of salvation.
• 26:45
  S7: It doesn't mean that they're saved. Basically, in order to
• 26:48
  S7: preserve order in our world, restrains the the sinful proclivities
• 26:53
  S7: of unbelievers, keeps them at bay. They're never as wicked
• 26:57
  S7: as they possibly could be, and we're grateful for that.
• 27:00
  S7: And so I think, yes, the conscience is a part
• 27:02
  S7: of what the image of God is in each of us.
• 27:04
  S7: It's that capacity in us to be made aware of,
• 27:08
  S7: right or wrong. And so I think ultimately it is
• 27:12
  S7: the spirit doing that doesn't mean that that person is
• 27:14
  S7: born again, doesn't mean that they're justified by faith in Jesus.
• 27:17
  S7: It does mean that the Spirit of God is quickening
• 27:20
  S7: their hearts to realize that's not right. This is wrong.
• 27:25
  S7: This is the way I should go. Now, that doesn't
• 27:27
  S7: necessarily lead to salvation. Sometimes it might, but it doesn't necessarily.
• 27:32
  S7: The special redeeming grace of the Holy Spirit is when
• 27:35
  S7: he causes us to be born again. So, yes, all
• 27:38
  S7: the good that we see in our world. And let's stop.
• 27:40
  S7: I mean, let's be honest, we see a lot of
• 27:43
  S7: non-believers who do a lot of good. There are good
• 27:47
  S7: people in the world who don't know Jesus. And we say,
• 27:49
  S7: how do they do that? And the answer is, the
• 27:52
  S7: Spirit of God is graciously enabling them to do productive,
• 27:57
  S7: fruitful things that make for a life that is peaceful
• 28:00
  S7: and orderly. But that doesn't mean that they're saved. So
• 28:04
  S7: for that, we need the saving, redemptive work of the spirit.
• 28:06
  S7: So long. Circular answer to your question. Yes, I think
• 28:11
  S7: the conscience is active even in non-believers. Now, let's be honest.
• 28:15
  S7: Some unbelievers, they have so seared their conscience, they have
• 28:20
  S7: so violated it repeatedly that God gives them over to
• 28:24
  S7: their wicked ways. Makes sense, and they no longer feel
• 28:28
  S7: any conviction for sin. That's when it gets dangerous. But
• 28:31
  S7: we thank the spirit that he's restraining the sin of
• 28:34
  S7: unbelievers and even of Christians. You remember in Genesis, I
• 28:37
  S7: think it's Genesis 20 when Abraham lied about his wife Sarah,
• 28:41
  S7: and Abimelech, the king was going to take her into
• 28:43
  S7: his bed.
• 28:44
  S6: Yes.
• 28:45
  S7: And it says, you prevented me from sinning. God did that.
• 28:50
  S7: Abimelech wasn't a believer. God kept his heart from sinning
• 28:53
  S7: by taking Abraham's wife. So the range of the Spirit's
• 28:57
  S7: work is just almost incomprehensible. It's so vast. And unfortunately,
• 29:02
  S7: we have neglected it far too long.
• 29:04
  S6: Okay. Sam storms, doctor Sam storms our guest, and some
• 29:07
  S6: of you are like, where'd this guy come from? Well,
• 29:10
  S6: he was born with a mama. And then he got
• 29:13
  S6: filled with the Holy Spirit. And so he's got something
• 29:15
  S6: to say. And if you want to hear more, all
• 29:18
  S6: you got to do is text the word storm to
• 29:21
  S6: 800 555, 78, 98. Just text the word storm to
• 29:27
  S6: 800 555 7898. Okay, let's bring this thing home. Sam.
• 29:33
  S6: The church alive. I have been a part of too
• 29:36
  S6: many awakenings. I saw it with a singles ministry in
• 29:39
  S6: little Rock with Robert Louis. And then I saw a
• 29:41
  S6: church that I was had the privilege of leading. Exploding growth,
• 29:47
  S6: exploding growth. New member classes of 350. And I can
• 29:50
  S6: tell you right now, Sam, I can claim none of it.
• 29:53
  S6: It was the power of prayer. How central and why
• 29:57
  S6: is it that churches that fall to their faces and pray.
• 30:02
  S6: Watch the Spirit of God move.
• 30:05
  S7: Well, primarily because when they do that, they are confessing
• 30:08
  S7: their absolute dependence upon God. They're saying, we can't do this.
• 30:13
  S7: We could build a big church. We could have 350
• 30:15
  S7: people in a class. We could have thousands sitting in
• 30:17
  S7: the pews. But if it's not done in the power
• 30:20
  S7: of the spirit, it ultimately is useless. It does nothing
• 30:23
  S7: to magnify Jesus. So that's why all through the New Testament,
• 30:27
  S7: you read the authors talking about praying in the spirit.
• 30:30
  S7: Paul does it, Jude does it, and Jude verse 20,
• 30:34
  S7: I think it is that is praying when the spirit
• 30:36
  S7: prompts you, being led in your words by what the
• 30:39
  S7: spirit brings to mind. Uh, when you feel like you
• 30:42
  S7: just can't go any further and you're out of energy,
• 30:44
  S7: the spirit energizes you and strengthens you. So praying in
• 30:48
  S7: the spirit is so central. And again, when God sees
• 30:52
  S7: his people bowing the knee, crying out because they know
• 30:56
  S7: they can't accomplish it in their own flesh. He's honored.
• 31:00
  S7: He's praised. He is magnified as the one who alone
• 31:04
  S7: can do what we need to be done. So again,
• 31:06
  S7: I think prayer is the ultimate way of confessing our inabilities,
• 31:11
  S7: our weaknesses, and our absolute, unqualified dependence upon the power
• 31:17
  S7: of the Holy Spirit to accomplish anything of value, not
• 31:19
  S7: just value in this life, but things that will carry
• 31:22
  S7: on into eternity.
• 31:23
  S6: And the cool byproduct, Sam, is when we see that happen,
• 31:27
  S6: we claim we don't want to touch that. And that's
• 31:30
  S6: a powerful gift itself, isn't it?
• 31:33
  S7: Oh, yeah. Because because when you when you want to
• 31:36
  S7: control the spirit, the spirit does not respond well to that. Now,
• 31:42
  S7: it is true we can grieve the Holy Spirit. Ephesians
• 31:45
  S7: four uh, Hebrews ten says that people insult the Holy Spirit.
• 31:49
  S7: By the way, you can't insult a principle. You only
• 31:52
  S7: insult a person. And then in first Thessalonians five he said,
• 31:56
  S7: you can quench the spirit when you resist and despise
• 31:59
  S7: his work through the gift of prophecy. So yeah, we
• 32:02
  S7: need to be careful in how we respond to the
• 32:05
  S7: spirit because he is a person. And, um, you know,
• 32:08
  S7: people have a hard time understanding how humans in their
• 32:11
  S7: sin can grieve the spirit. But let's face it, that's
• 32:14
  S7: what the Bible says. And we need to be careful
• 32:17
  S7: about that. Constantly honoring the Spirit's leading and prompting, again,
• 32:22
  S7: trusting that he will do whatever is best to magnify
• 32:25
  S7: and glorify Jesus.
• 32:27
  S4: Doctor Sam storms our guest this morning. We are going
• 32:30
  S4: to be here in this next hour moving into our share.
• 32:34
  S4: Jump start our where, as you know, Doctor Sam is
• 32:37
  S4: listener supported. Station. Speak to as you from your vantage
• 32:41
  S4: point as a contributor. The power of Christian radio and
• 32:45
  S4: the value of getting behind it.
• 32:47
  S7: Absolutely. I'm always happy to do this, and a lot
• 32:50
  S7: of it comes not only because of the excellence of
• 32:53
  S7: what you and others provide. But because of the. I
• 32:58
  S7: hate to say this, but basically the biblical illiteracy and
• 33:01
  S7: ignorance of so many Christians and I know that sounds
• 33:05
  S7: nasty and mean. I don't mean it that way. I'm
• 33:07
  S7: simply calling people to the reality that if you're going
• 33:10
  S7: to grow up in Christ, you have to be immersed
• 33:14
  S7: in the word. And that's what programs like this do.
• 33:17
  S7: They provide solid teaching. Uh, they provide good theology. They
• 33:22
  S7: provide encouragement and strength. And, uh, people can trust the
• 33:27
  S7: programs like this. And the body of Christ needs this instruction,
• 33:31
  S7: this input, this encouragement that Christian radio provides. And I
• 33:36
  S7: would I perish the thought that we would have to
• 33:38
  S7: go without it. I just thank you all for what
• 33:40
  S7: you do.
• 33:40
  S6: Thank you. Sam. Sam storms and again, grab a link
• 33:44
  S6: text storm to 800 555 7898. Storm to 800 555 7898.