The Holy Spirit Promise (Part 12)

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The Holy Spirit Promise

(Part 12)

Good morning and Welcome to Jesus Church – Here and Online

We are pretty close to the end of our series on the Holy Spirit

• Last 2 weeks Pastor Rick & Kyle did an amazing job
  • Such a blessing to have a team of people who love you
  • Who love God and are excited to study and teach about Jesus
• 2 or 3 more weeks here in this series
  • Next series we will do will be on freedom in Christ
  • Freedom is something we have to continually fight for
  • B/C it is far too easy to enslave ourselves to our ways/mindsets

Jn 8:36 – “Therefore if the son makes you free, you are free indeed.”

• Based on a book series I read about 10 years ago on freedom
  • Which was based on Jack Hayford’s teachings on freedom
  • Important that you are here for that series
• Satan will try and keep you from hearing that series
  • Satan doesn’t want you to figure you he’s been lying to you
  • Jesus calls the Devil a thief…
  • Bible says when a thief is caught… he has to restore

Prov. 6:31 – Has to restore what he has stolen 7 fold

• I for one am sick of seeing people have the enemy steal from them
  • He steals joy… hope… marriages… relationships
  • Its time we call him out and get him out of our lives AMEN!?!

Where we left off 2 weeks ago… Fruit of the Spirit

And it is fruit… not fruits

• What does that mean: When you have fruits – its different types
  • So an apple, orange, pineapple, banana
  • When its fruit… its many of the same kind
• Which means you can’t have your pet fruit… ignore the rest
  • You don’t get to just stand on the mountain of self-control
  • And ignore the mountain of love… joy… peace
  • If the Holy Spirit is healthy in your life
    • You will experience all of the fruit of the Spirit in your life
• And if you struggle with a couple fruit not producing
  • That just means you need to figure out why… its unhealthy
  • And heal whatever is holding back that fruit from your life
  • Because it wants to grow… just needs the freedom to

Today if you have your Bibles – Turn to Luke Chapter 7

• Context is Jesus has just arrived at a city called Nain
  • A ton of people are with him
  • Many of his disciples are there as well
• He shows up at a funeral and raises a young man from the dead
  • So he’s already done a ton of miracles – epic teaching marathon
  • So he’s already got people excited… but now its another level
• This Pharisee named Simon is there… impressed by Jesus for sure
  • Asks Jesus to come eat at his house
  • Jesus doesn’t play favorites – Eats with sinners and pharisees too

This morning I want to look at the Holy Spirit & Worship

• Now first we need to understand the fullness of what worship is
  • Obviously what we just did is a form of worship
  • And that’s usually our go to when we think about worship
  • But as the saying goes: Worship isn’t singing, it’s a lifestyle

Mark Hall (Lead singer of casting crowns)

Worship is so much more than the songs I sing. Instead, worship is in the heart that lifts the song. If you think about it, worship began when I woke up this morning. My life purpose is to give God glory through everything I do. If my life does not worship Him, my songs don’t either.”

Billy Graham

The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.

Saint Augustine

Don’t let your life give evidence against your tongue. Worship with your voice… worship also with your conduct.

• Powerful words: But the way God usually defines things is thru story
  • The reason: Stories can speak in ways definitions can’t
  • Because each of us are a living, breathing, story in progress
  • Just look at how the New Testament begins – Story of Jesus
    • Followed up by the letters that teach out of that story
• So that’s what we are gonna do as well
  • Read a story that will speak to us about what worship is
  • Then talk through the implications with the rest of the Bible

[PRAY]

Luke 7:36-50

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner (polite Jewish speak for prostitute), when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. (super expensive stuff), and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 

• Luke is really setting up this story… because this is uncomfortable
  • Surrounded by a culture of male dominance
  • Women were viewed a little higher than property
• And this woman barges into the room… pours this oil on Jesus’ feet
  • This was super scandalous
  • Many women (unmarried) wouldn’t even show their face
  • Let alone let down their hair and rub a mans feet with it
• So she is weeping
  • Pours this very expensive oil (All know where money came from)
  • They all know what she does for a living
  • Every cultural alarm is going off in the room

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

And Jesus answered and said to him, 

• This is crazy… Jesus answers his brain

“Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

• And so Jesus starts to teach in what… story

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii (1.5 years wage), and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon

• Now catch that… Jesus is looking at the woman but speaks to Simon
  • Jesus is so good at taking advantage of situations
  • He is teaching both of them at the same time in different ways

 “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet (customary), but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. (Jesus is literally changing this woman’s life right now) You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in (also pretty gross). You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

Then He said to her, (first of 2 things he says to her) “Your sins are forgiven.” And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” (which is totally true… and happening) Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

• Peace (Shalom) isn’t what today’s peace means
  • Today’s peace: Absence of conflict, its security, lack of issues
    • Shalom… not the absence of conflict at all
    • Shalom… Presence of a fully engaged fulfilled life of Joy
    • It’s the rule & reign of Holy Spirit in/through your life

If u relate to the woman of the story… message is beautiful & simple

• There is grace for you… Jesus knows exactly where you are
  • And there is love
  • Regardless of what you’ve come from (he knows & you know)
• Your life may be a wreck: Some happened to you… some b/c of you
  • There is grace for you because Jesus is in the room
    • And you come to him – not caring about opinions/thoughts
    • What you need is right there on the other side of the room
    • Surrounded by a ton of reasons not to even enter the room
  • But your trust in Jesus is more than your past hurt/experience
    • That is the kind of faith that saves
• And the Holy Spirits role in that moment
  • When you see Jesus is right there available to you
  • The Holy Spirit exposes you to the full love of Jesus
  • You respond by the spirit and receive salvation

TAG: So if you identify w/ the woman in the story… there is grace for you

But… then there is Simon – who many (me) relate to

I remember going to camp as a kid… bring up a guy with testimony

• I was an atheist… gang member… thief… demon worshiper
  • One night God saved as my car flew off a cliff
  • Now I have 25 orphanages in Cambodia
• I would see that and think shoot I need a testimony
  • I had friends who used that to try & get me to do bad things
  • Knew I was gonna be a pastor… you need this testimony
• And through that its easy to create this twisted view of grace
  • Where I have to be far from God to experience full grace of God
    • Then you read a verse like in this story
    • “Whoever has been forgiven little, loves little”
    • Saved at 4 years old… worst things was watching Elvira once

What I didn’t realize & do now… everything in my life was grace of God

• The grace of God to the woman – She knows she’s lost & needs Jesus
  • The tragedy of the man in the story is he thinks he’s fine
  • But his righteousness… and the woman’s are the same to God
  • And the grace of God is in this mans house and he is missing it
    • In fact he is actually despising grace when it shows up
• Here is the interesting part… they both saw Jesus in the story
  • Remember… Simon saw Jesus raise a boy from the dead
  • That act got Simon to invite Jesus to his house
    • Yet the act of grace – gets Jesus rejected
    • Why… we want to be the judge of how far grace can go
• Simon loses sight of who’s presence he is in
  • Because he thinks he already has what the woman needs
  • Yet we need the grace of God each and every day of our lives

Why are there 2 radically different reactions to Jesus

And it isn’t because one sinned more so can love more

• Its never about some type of levels of sin in their lives
  • So what’s the connection for her – disconnect for the him
  • I think its in how we measure our need for grace
• B/C we ask this question… how much grace do I need right now
  • And we answer that question in two different ways
  • One is very unhealthy and the other is very healthy

The first way is we measure against other people

• First: We find people who we consider worse than us
  • Compare and you’ll come up with temporary encouragement
  • But then you end up becoming a complete narcissist
  • You become very good at lying to yourself – putting others down
• Second: We measure against people we see as better than us
  • Feels a bit better because we get to throw a pity party
  • End up distancing from followers of Jesus who you feel are better
  • And you’ll make yourself bitter… jealous… critical
    • Its just an inverted form of narcissism

Here is the way we should measure our need for grace

• Compare yourself to God… do what this woman did
  • She passes all the religious elite in the house
  • As if there might as well be no one else in the room
• And when she gets to Jesus and compares herself to him
  • She sees that she is entirely unworthy
  • So I will give you everything… perfume/tears/hair

• And how does any of this have to do with worship
  • This woman gave everything… even safety to serve at Jesus feet

Rom. 12:1

Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, (view means you have to see it) to offer yourselves holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.

And what happens when you are the sinner and get to Jesus

• You look around & realize that everyone is actually the same as you
  • And so now you don’t care about comparisons anymore
  • Because you are fixed worshiping Jesus
• And then when you’re fixed on Jesus in faith
  • Holy Spirit does his thing – Brings you to the Father (Eph 1)
  • You become adopted, given an inheritance, chosen
  • And the entire process is sealed by the Holy Spirit
    • All comes by worshiping Jesus…
• When you can finally stop comparing to others
  • His glory starts to shine through you and make you whole again
  • Only happens when you look to the one you can’t compare to
  • And learn not to take your eyes off him

So this is true worship… there’s a picture of false & true worship

• The story becomes our definition
  • I love when the Bible does that – Just unfolds the story
  • Its just the story of the gospel revealing itself to us
• So with that story in the back of your mind… what is true worship
  • If you are the woman… you know exactly where you stand
    • Lost and desperate and you know it
    • And you long to worship and Jesus’ feet
  • But many of us are like the pharisee
    • We’re the prostitute as well (just don’t know it)
    • Lost & desperate… we use comparison to worship ourselves
• B/C humans were made to worship – So you will worship something
  • It just depends on what you’re desperate for

So what is worship and how does the Spirit work in it

1^st what worship is not…

• Worship is not what shows up on your apple music store
  • Worship is not a sing-a-long at your Bible study
  • Worship is not a performance
  • Worship is not an emotional buzz (emotion good)
    • But my emotions have nothing to do with truth of worship
    • Emotions have nothing to do with the power of worship
• When Jesus worshiped the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane
  • Father let this cup pass from me… sweating great drops like blood
  • Fully in anguish – But not my will, your will be done
    • Was that powerful worship… yes it was
    • How did Jesus feel? Miserable/lonely/horrible
• And yes emotions are a gift and we need joy, gladness, excitement
  • But that’s not what makes our worship powerful
  • When we say I like the worship at “that” church
    • What we mean is we like the music at that church
  • And that’s great… but the music is just a vehicle
    • And its not about the vehicle… regardless of the size
    • It can be a prius or 747 airbus
  • Worship is when we all get in & go somewhere together with God
    • And that’s when the really power shows itself
    • And say ok… lets go somewhere – That is powerful
• Problem: When our culture speaks of worship
  • As product to be consumed by the church
  • Rather than a heart posture that consumes the church
  • We are missing the point and the power

So what is worship… and how does that look

Gary Basheers

Worship is a response, both personal and corporate to the revelation of the Lord. Both who he is and what he has done and continues to do.

• Look at these key words: Response & Revelation
  • So a revelation of who God is comes
  • And our response is the answer

1st: Worship is a possition of Adoration/Proclamation of God & his works

• In a few minutes we’re gonna take communion… which is what

1 Cor. 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

• • This is worship… we see it in Acts 2 as well

Acts 2:11

… we hear them speaking in our own tongues, declaring the wonderful works of God.

• So Holy Spirit comes… fills everyone who’s there in “one accord”
  • Back to the theory that worship is the vehicle
  • And they engage in what the Bible defines as worship
    • Adoration and Proclamation

2^nd: Worship is serving him by living out his character to him & the world

• What we do on a Sunday morning… life group… Thursday night
  • These are all gatherings (don’t even like the word service)
  • Because what comes out of these times is service
• The gathering is now… so we can scatter & that’s the worship service
  • And we take that for granted

Ps. 15:1-5 (NLT)

Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right. (ok… that’s intense) speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the LORD, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.

• So this is the requirement list for who can be with God… bummer
  • Initial reaction is who on Earth can do all that
  • Like this is the sermon on the mount Old Testament style
  • So according to this list – I am totally unfit for presence of God
• And this shows how to role of the Holy Spirit is so amazing

Heb. 9:13-14

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. ¹⁴ Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

This is the Holy Spirits role in worship

• We get to be in and worship through service with and for God
  • Through the act of the Holy Spirit
  • Which is what… to make the Blood of Christ work for you
  • So you can come to God with a clean consensus
• Without the Holy Spirit we would still be stuck in sinful deeds
  • Greek: Holy Spirit purges you of dead works to serve living God
  • Who was doing dead works… or false worship
  • It was the Pharisee – The one who thought he had his own power

3^rd: Participation in the divine life and mission

• This is where things get more into the spiritual realm
  • What does it mean to participate in the divine life & mission
  • It really goes beyond these first two
• Because this one brings it so close to home
  • Because you and him are in full unity with God
  • This is what we are invited to enjoy as his family
• When Jesus says… who are my mother and my brothers (family)
  • What does Jesus say: Those who do the will of my Father
  • Family with God is more than just singing in his presence

When we participate in the will of the Father…

• A whole new family dynamic is defined
  • And its more than singing to a God up there
  • And its more than serving and helping people out there
• As worshipers of the One True God
  • We’re invited into a supernatural unity with the Father/Son/Spirit
  • And this becomes the divine life… our life engaged with the divine
  • This is what makes our worship 3D
• Takes God from “Somewhere out there” to “Right in my very life”
  • Its what Jesus prays in John 17

Jn 17:20-23

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, (Jesus literally prays for us… for Jesus Church)  that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one  I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

• Why – Union and Mission (we in Him and He is us)
  • Union is to be one with God
  • Mission is so the world will know that God sent Jesus
• So the union fuels the mission and the mission leads to more union
  • This is what it means to participate in the divine life
  • Its to bring real life application to the act of worship

CS Lewis

In commanding us to worship him, God is commanding us to enjoy him.

PRAY