Are We a Spirit-Led Church?

As you can see, the title of the sermon is, Is This Church Led by the Spirit? Is this church led by the Spirit of God? That is a question that I've asked as the title of the sermon. Because according to this book, this book, God's Word, this church is to be led by the Holy Spirit. So what it says many times, the church of God is to be led by the Holy Spirit. Also, we, or one, must be led by the Spirit of God to truly be in the church of God. Let that lay out there just a little bit. Mary and I are one. When we became married, we became one physically. But we are also one because of the same spirit. So it's not only a physical thing, it should be a spiritual thing. That's why marrying someone of the same faith is very important. It was important to God, and it's important also to His followers. But this also makes the case that Mary, myself, Humberto, Ampe, Dwight, Chris, Eleanor, are also to be one by God's Holy Spirit. One not only privately but collectively. If we're led by the Spirit. God's Spirit must be active. It must flow. It must flow in our lives individually, and it must flow to unite us together as the body of Christ. And if the Holy Spirit does not flow, there will be chaos. There will be chaos in your life, my life, also in the church, in the body of Christ. Two flashback sermons. If you'll go with me to Proverbs 23, verse 17. Gave a sermon a few weeks ago here about fear and reverence of God. I just want to touch on that because it is very important as we think about being led by the Holy Spirit. And in Proverbs 23, verse 17 in the New King James Version, it says, Do not let your heart envy sinners. Don't look at the world and go, wow! Look at the world and go, hmm, that might be nice. Or, you know, nothing really happens to them. So he says, Do not let your heart envy sinners, but in the fear of the Lord, continue all day long. Not a phrase we would typically, continue all day long. In what? Fear and reverence, that we talked about. And that also relates to us that it's showing that it's a 24-7 thing. As I also talked about a few months ago, 1 Thessalonians 5, it actually says to pray constantly. Pray constantly. Pray without ceasing, as one translation says. So why is that so important? Because in that same chapter, he says to do these things, and then he says, Don't quench the Spirit. Quench. In this triangle, my immediate boss, besides my wife, for the church here in Fort Lauderdale, he is an international director, so he's not my boss internationally, but he is my boss here for the Fort Lauderdale, and he calls, and I answer to him. His name is Ken Martin. He's actually a Macon, Georgia. He's been over 50 years in the church. He's been a pastor a very long time, a very wise man, but he made the statement to us South Eastern Conference, and if you get nothing else or you write nothing else down, I would like you to write this down. I will quote him, and he said, Many in the church have the Spirit, but they're not led by the Spirit. Many in the church have the Spirit, but they are not led by the Spirit, which helps to answer a lot of questions why people have issues and problems. Why we have people that come and go. Why we have people that are on fire, but then they quench the Spirit. Because led by the Spirit are three powerful words.

But really, when you think about it, LED, is a big three-letter word. Because typically, we are led down one path or another. We are led to do this. We are led to live our lives in a certain way. We are influenced by many things in this world. We are influenced by our families. Those young kids in the very back, they are led and influenced by their parents. And they will be to a certain point. But they will come to that point where they will not always look at their parents and be led by their parents. And they have to make decisions. I'd like you to go with me to Romans 8. Most of you probably thought of this verse. Romans 8, verse 14. Very powerful statement here. Romans 8 and verse 14 says in the New King James, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, these are the children of God, as many as are the sons of God, as many as are led.

Are you being led? Am I being led by the Spirit? How can you tell that you are being led? Has that ever entered your mind? And then if you feel like perhaps you have not been led, by the Spirit, can you change? Can I change it and begin to be led by God's most powerful form of Himself? The very essence of Him, that He allows us to have so that we can become like our Father. Now, if you're not physically fit, or if you've let yourself go, as many as others have, we can go to a fitness center and we can say, I'm going to start working out. I'm going to drop some of these LBs. We belong to UFIT. My wife and I just live a little ways down the road from us, and we try to get up and work out. And we belong for, what, a year and a half? Two years now? May come as a shock to many of you. That was a joke. But I found it interesting because we were gone, and we've been tied up and busy and things. And so I try to go three times a week, but I hadn't been in a week because we traveled, and we can have. And I noticed around the 1st of January, man, our fitness center was busy. And we get up and typically go anywhere between 5 and 5.30 in the morning, just so we can get it done. And we have so much to do. And that's not always easy, waking up at 4.45 or 5 o'clock, and then heading there, and Mary's shaking her head. Yes, she couldn't get up this week. But I noticed, man, there was a lot of people, because they had that thought of New Year's resolution. And then people would buy them, of course, a membership, and they would go. Well, so I hadn't been in 10 days or so, till I got back Tuesday morning. We got back late Monday night, and I actually got up then Tuesday, and went to the gym, and I got there at exactly 5 o'clock when it opened. And Mary was needing her Zs. When I went in there, I worked out for about an hour and 15 minutes. I didn't have to look for any machine. They were all there. I can elliptical. You know, when I went over to bench, or to do my weights, to work on the upper body, they were all just laying there. So I looked, and I'm thinking, wait a minute, it's January 31st. Where is everybody? What happened? They're not led by the same spirit that made them get up and go, and think, I'm going to lose this. And it's amazing. It's not even a third of the people as I went two other times this week. And same thing. So they were not led by what was in them to lose this weight or whatever, because, wow, it's like the place was abandoned. Which just made me realize, as they say, if you want to start something to be a part of your life, it needs to be a habit for at least three weeks, even a month. And then that becomes part of your routine. So I see most of the people in there, it hadn't become a routine. They were done. How about us? What is our routine? Do we have a spiritual routine? Do we have a way to work out? Spiritual? You know, it's so interesting, as I think about the metaphor, the symbol that the Bible uses for the Holy Spirit, and that is water. So many times, you see, Jesus Christ actually talked to a Samaritan woman and said, you drink of this water, you'll never thirst again. Talking about the Holy Spirit.

But what about it? Water? Spirit? Most of you may have a yard. I know Bruce does, and it is. Various people have fruit trees. We have various things in the yard. I know Winsome had some. And... But if you give your plant or tree just enough water to survive, what kind of fruit will it bear? Very small, minimal, right? If you... If you feed it just enough water for an average time, what happens when the real heat gets here? When the pressure is turned up on it, like it is on us sometimes? Do you really feel like that fruit or that plant will actually prosper? What about us? How much are we fed and led by the Holy Spirit? Jesus Christ talked about on the Sermon on the Mount, where He actually said, Bless are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be what? Fed. Bless are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be fed. Fed what? Fed by the Spirit.

Do we bear fruit? And then what kind of fruit? Because I guarantee you, when it comes to your spiritual life, and even your physical, you bear fruit. May not always be good fruit, may be bad fruit. But you're going to bear fruit. That's something we have to look at. And it's interesting because in the New Living Translation in John 3 and verse 34, it actually says that Jesus Christ was given the Holy Spirit without measure or limit. But He's the only one that it says that about. Because we're giving the Holy Spirit in measure of how we can handle it, how we use it. But I like how the New Living Translation said it, that Christ was given the Holy Spirit without measure, without limit, and so different than us. How we are led by the Holy Spirit is important, very important. Very important to us in this room today. The church is actually referred to in the New Testament in Greek by the word ekklesia. Ekklesia means what? Yes. And that word actually means called out ones. Called out ones. Called out of what? The world. Called out of the world. We're not out today, this very minute, going down to Publix to get all of our stuff for that big game tomorrow. We're in here worshiping God in a holy assembly when there are a thousand and one things to do in Miami-Fort Lauderdale, right? People come here, they come here to vacation, and they're thinking, why would you be in there when you can be out there, joined? Well, most of us live here all the time. We can get sun when we want. But I want to look at how and why we are led by the Holy Spirit. How and why. In the short time I have left, I don't have a long sermon today, as a matter of fact, I'll look at it. But many thousands and thousands of people that I have actually known or known of have been frustrated in the churches of God because they are not led by the Holy Spirit. Very frustrated. And they wonder later what happened. Many MPs of the Order of Melchizedek priesthood have been frustrated. And they didn't know why. But all of a sudden, this passion, just like these people working out at the first of the month that you fit, the desire was quenched. And I so have met people when you have too of the way of life that God has called us into and out of the world. Frustrated. But yet, it's just like those people, and there were a couple that I remember at the first of the month, they were new, working out, man, were they over there with the weight. You could hear, they were looking in those mirrors.

They're not there.

Spiritually. Most of you have probably seen that too. Oh, the Bible. Oh, yes. Oh, excited about this. Huh? I stay up late. Oh, I got up early.

So, that is exactly what I want to talk about and finish up today with. And so, we are going to look at how, and why. How and why we are led by the Holy Spirit.

So, what is a way in which you know you are led by the Holy Spirit? All of you, think about that for a 20 seconds in your brain. How do you know you are being led? Is there something that you know? Absolutely? Okay.

First thing in the morning, we all get up. We all wake up, hopefully. Not. You're not here. First thing in the morning, what is the first thought that goes through your mind? It's very hard. Various thoughts, right? We're usually laying in bed when we wake up. Hopefully, it's not like most of the world where you say, thank God it's Friday, oh God, it's Monday. Like, oof. Hopefully, we do not dread getting up in the morning. I've had times when I did, and we all have issues and problems that we deal with, and that's understandable. But is the very first thing that we think of in the morning, why we are in our beds? Is it God? Do we thank Him for another day? Because He can take it away. I had a guy in our complex that I've gotten to know over the last four or five years. He supposedly died of a massive heart attack. Seventy-something years old.

None of us know. Are we thankful? And if we are, do we think of God? When we wake up in the morning? Do we speak to Him as the first thing? Because that doesn't come natural. I'm a morning person. We have morning people and night people. I think most of you who are night people understand what a morning person is. All right? I'm a morning person. I feel usually great when I get up.

In the morning, feel like, Ah, yes! By the evening, I'm winding down. I don't have it. I'm a morning person. I'm married a night person. In the morning, she is not feeling good. Now, she can stay up till two in the morning and do stuff. Not ideal. Maybe that's why we never had kids. I'm a morning. She's a night. We never got together at noon.

Guess maybe. But I bring that up because what is the first thought that enters your mind every day? When you hopefully understand that God controls you, even when you don't feel good. Many of you in here have had days you don't feel good. Do you still thank Him for giving you another day? And what about the last thing on your bed at night? Now, I gave a message here and actually showed you that the average person in America, it takes seven minutes from the time that you hit the bed till when you're asleep.

That's average. What are you doing with your seven minutes? I have Bibles. I have also books by the side of my bed. I'll read a little bit when I first go. But what is that last thought as you're just about? Is it Him? So if the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, how do you think that makes Him feel? Right? And then, how about the middle of the day?

Well, breakfast, I always thank Him for the food. Lunch, thank Him for the food, even if it's just a short. Okay, I ask for your blessing on His food. Dinner, and then occasionally during the day. What kind of message is that sending to God? That you actually recognize Him and thank Him and think of Him all through the day. So when you need the Holy Spirit, you think He's not going to say they need it.

Give it to them. He's going to feed you. Bless those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Because it all starts with the first commandment, the first and most powerful. Jesus Christ even said it, right? All your heart, your soul, your mind, your being. Maybe you who are parents, or maybe you who are grandparents, you recognize it when a child or a grandchild thinks of you and gives you a call or sends you something.

It's like, wow! What do you think God thinks? When His children, He called you and He says, they remember Me. I am there. If you're led, you'll be fed. Do we want to be fed? Do we want to be led by God's Holy Spirit?

So I want to look at just a few points here as we go of how and why. How and why. And the first why. Why? Why be led by the Holy Spirit? Why? Well, I'd like you to go back with Romans 8 with me. Romans 8, just down from where we were about being led by the Spirit, Romans 8, and I'll read from the New King James Version, verse 16.

It says, the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the what? The children of God. It bears witness. How does it do that? Okay. Why are we led? Because it bears witness with our human spirit because everyone that's alive has a human spirit. But it bears witness that spirit rules over our other human nature spirit. If we're being led by it. Because you may think, well, I really don't need to do this.

I would make a lot of those decisions. So it says, the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together. Mm. Bears witness. Why? It bears witness that God abides in us.

That's why. People can see that we're, we are a little different. But if they want to know the truth, we will tell them the truth. We don't just make up stuff as we go. We don't just lie for the sake of lying. We don't just live any way we want to live, but we live by certain rules, statutes, commandments, and laws. Who leads? You are God. Because you can have your own decision. You may decide, I want to do this, even though you know there's something in here that says, you don't need to go there. Or that little voice in the back of your head that says, I want to do this. And many times I have had that happen, and I still do what I want to do, and then a month or two later go, why didn't I just? Listen.

Of course, we know in Galatians 5.22, it actually lists the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, joy. Yeah. And those are the fruits. That's the fruits that become evident in our life when we are led by the Spirit. We don't have all of them all the time, but we do have some that just we've been gifted with, and others, not so much. And we have to work on that. But above Galatians 5, verse 18-21, it gives the fruits of the flesh.

The fruits of the Spirit of man, which usually is all about ourselves. Okay. Someone gave me as a gift a week or two ago, when it got this cheesecake. I like a good cheese, and this is a good cheesecake, supposedly. And I like cheesecake, and he gave it to me for something I did, or I don't remember, Mary, was something I did. It was my birthday. Okay. Just a neighbor. He came up, and I'm always helping him if he needs something. He's an older man, so I just try to help if he even eats it. So he brought me this cheesecake. I wanted that cheesecake. I wanted to eat that cheesecake. Now, it's not real big. It's like this, but it's real heavy, so it's obviously a good one. I haven't had a piece of that cheesecake yet. I wanted it, and if Mary had probably been gone, I probably would have torn into that cheesecake. And if it was really good, I would eat half it in one city. That's chuck. That's the flesh. But realistically, looking at it, I wouldn't say, I need a small piece. Because how much longer am I going to have to go in the gym to work that off? And I want to be healthy. Mary brought that cheesecake today for the potluck.

And in reality, that's the best idea. It really is. Yes. Now, I hope there will be just a little piece or crumb that I can eat, but it's best that I don't. But that's the flesh in the spirit. That that knows my body is a temple, and that that says, I want a big temple, but I don't need a big temple. Okay? I'm not the only one in here, I'm sure. But there, we're dealing with the flesh and the spirit. And in many ways, that's just a little bitty example of how we're led. But I want to have the fruits to be abundant, and I want those fruits to be big, not little scrawny fruits in my life. So we're talking about why. Well, how about how? How? Okay? The first how. Let's go to 1 Corinthians. You know one of my favorite verses. I've mentioned it many times, but we're not going there. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 10. Let's talk about how. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 10. You know verse 9, I had not seen nor heard nor is there the, you know, the whole thing that I have brought out many times, one of my favorite scriptures. But I want to go to 10, because 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 10 says, But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. So how do we know we're led by the Spirit? How does that help us? Well, it says here that God gives us in depth out of this world understanding of not only him, but of this word. 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 10. Because it says, I have not seen nor heard nor has entered the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. But, you see, he said, you can't even dream it. You can't even think about all the things that I have planned for you. It's never even in your mind how great it is, which is such a powerful statement that he says you can't. But then he goes down in 10 and says, but God has revealed them to us through his Spirit. See, we can truly grasp 1 Corinthians 2.9 because of his Holy Spirit. Because we see just how big God is, how powerful he is, how all-knowing, how all-everything he is. So through his Spirit, we begin to understand, man, nothing! We're unlimited, our inheritance.

But it starts with us being into the Word. Right? How are you going to understand God unless you read the inspired Word of God? And it's how this Spirit is empowered, how this Spirit is stirred up. Remember to stir up the Spirit. Another Scripture, right? Well, that means, obviously, if he says, stir up the Spirit, something's lying dormant. Something that needs to be stirred up. So we have an obligation. How? Let's do another how. How? Like you turn with me to John 6. Gospel of John, John 6, in one verse. How are we led by the Spirit? John 6, in verse 63. It is the Spirit which gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life. How do we feed this temple? How do we stir up that Spirit that is within us with the Word of God? He says these words are Spirit. They connect. They make everything just like, oh, now I get it. Wow. And maybe you've even gone before, like I have before, and said, and I'm so tired, I'm just worn out today, you know, it seems like issue after issue, problem after problem. I've got to get my study in. And you're just like, okay, then I'm going to turn. I'm just going to open the Bible. I'm going to turn. I'm just going to read. Okay, God, I'm getting my time in. Can't hold that against you. I can get my time in. So I just opened up in it's 2 Samuel 2 and verse 14. So I'm just going to read that 14th chapter. And in the middle of it, I began to become so enthralled with what I'm reading. I began, and next thing you know, it's 14 and 15 and 16, and I'm beginning to see things. Man, I've read this before, but wow! How? How we are led. Understanding scriptures. And then when you understand the scriptures, you understand that when you think about it, you understand the plan of God. You know why man was created. Where did that come from? Not only this, everybody has this. It comes from the Spirit. The future. We don't worry what Donald Trump is not or not going to do. He's a peon to God. God's going to make things exactly how he wants. I don't care. He's going to be done God's way. However he leads, he guides it or allows it to happen. Is God going to go? Boy, I wonder if him and Christ are having that conversation today. What do you think? Do you think Belichick and Brady are going to pull it off? Do you think the Patriots are going to win or Atlanta? Do you think they're worried about that?

All this stuff is so small. To God. God's biggest thing is his people and our relationship with him. That's it. That's the big story. You may think, well, I'm just this little house on the street. No, you're the big house on the street because God's Spirit dwells there in you. That's what's big. See, we are all on the same boat. And some people call that boat Earth.

But here's the thing. We know this Earth, that boat, we could peel off Earth and it would have on it Titanic. That's the kind of boat we're on. It is. We know what's going to happen. We know the future. But like if you were on the Titanic, do you think you would worry? Most people would. But we should not because we know what's going to happen. God has a lifeboat for us because we're his. And he says, no fear. No fear. Please don't fear. I want to give you another how. How? How are we led? Like you go over to Philippians 2.

Go over to Philippians 2. How are we led? Philippians 2, verse 13, says, For it is God who works with you. Is that what it says? What's it say? In you. It is God who works in you, both to will and to do for his good pleasure.

Not ours. I remember being really dumb when I was 19, 20, playing in a basketball tournament. And we won the first game. And so if we won the second, we went on to a tournament. And I remember going outside because they were both playing the same day, going outside and praying to God that we would win that game. And I pray, oh, I was firm in prayer and you let me have this. Let me, you know, if it comes down to the last shot, let me take it. I want to win this game. And, you know, we didn't win the game.

And maybe in young, dumb and stupid thought, God didn't want us to win. Years later, I go, God didn't care. God did not care. That's so small on this game today. But at my age, I thought it was like everything. How many lessons we learn? But it says, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. God transmits power for us to be led. It is God in us. That's how He leads us. He transmits that power. And we have to recognize that it is His power, not ours. It is His will, not ours. And Jesus Christ laid that example so well for each and every one of us. Not my will. But the problem is, we don't always want to be led or we don't always turn on the switch. Because we have our own will and our own agenda, don't we? It reminds me of the story of the guy in the 1950s who cut wood for a living and he had his axe and his cross saw and he went in and told this guy, and I said, man, you could make a lot of money and get a lot more stuff done if you bought one of these chainsaws. You can cut five times the amount of wood. He goes, you sure? Yeah, I guarantee you. So he sold it to him. He came back the next day. He said, this thing is not any good at all. Sorry, I couldn't cut as much wood as I had the other. He said, you're kidding me. He said, something's wrong with it. The guy said, well, let me see it. Flip switch on, pulls that, and the guy goes, what's that noise? Why is that thing going round and round? He never turned it on. He never turned the chainsaw on. And God looks at us sometimes and says, you never turn it on. Ready? You want this? Turn it on. Use it. I've got all this power for you to use. Turn it on and tell me when you need it and when you need more.

Why? Why? Why do we really want to be led by the Spirit? Because it's not always, we're going to be led down sometimes. Wow, I wish I didn't go this way. But why? Because it sharpens our sense of awareness of Satan. It sharpens our awareness, our sense of awareness of Satan. See, even Jesus Christ realized that, didn't he? When he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness.

He realized what Satan was doing and the Holy Spirit will help us. Uh-uh, you know, it'll tell us, whoo, this is not good. This is bad. This is evil. And what also picks up way before that, a sense of negativity. Because most of the time, there's negative thoughts and actions. Even when dealing with people, that we sometimes pick up and go, yeah, I really don't want to really get this negative vibe. And I don't really want to do business with these people. Maybe I don't even want to hang around these people. There's something really not there. So are you led? Because we only have one more left.

But do you really realize that you're led by the Holy Spirit? And that is God's rope. God's rope. Do we recognize it?

Most of us don't want to be tied to anything, right? I'm not going to be tied down to that. Well, no, I don't want to have to do that. Ampe, will you come up here for a second? Ampe's going to join me, and she said she never was an actress, but she's about to take on the role of her life. She's going to pretend to be God. That's a big choose to fill, isn't it? She's God. Okay, and I'm just me. I want God to take a hold of this. Okay, and what happens to most of us with God, we want to do this. We don't really, you know, we're kind of our own way, right? We're kind of like... And then it's just like, okay, I'll do this. But maybe I'll get as much slack as I can, because I still need to make those decisions, right? And next thing you know, I'm kind of leaning out here. When, if this is symbolically the Holy Spirit, this is how God is leading. And sometimes He wants me to go this way, and I'm wanting to go this way. So what does He want? Does He want me to have a hold of this? Uh-uh. He wants me to be led by this. He wants me to say, you guide me, you lead me. And when I get too far, it stops. It stops, right? Right? This is what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit. And when Ampere God walks that way, guess what? Walk that way. Yes. I'm going to go, right? Right? If I'm led. Brethren, do we really want to be led? Thank you, Ampere God. Do we want to be led? That is the question. One more, why? And then we're going to wrap this up. I'd like you to go to John 14, verse 26. John 14, verse 26. New King James. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name, it will teach you all things. And do what? And bring to your remembrance all the things that I have said to you.

Why should we be led by the Holy Spirit? It stimulates our memory. It gives us recall of what God wants us to do. But it isn't done solely by Him. Recall what? Recall what this says. How can you recall what this says if you never read it? That's what it comes from. And it's stimulated. You know, if you're up north, and you have a... thankfully we don't have to have that here. Mary's father's house, he has a wood-burning stove, and it heats the house. But you kind of have to have that fire if it gets too low. You have to feed that fire to keep it going. What are we talking about? The Spirit stirring it up. We have to feed it, because sometimes it gets a little low because we're out here in the world. We have to feed that fire. Jack London, a famous writer, wrote a book in 1908 or 1902, one of the two, that I read when I was a kid called... a short story called To Build a Fire. It was a story of being in Alaska, and it was a story of a man who was so cold, it was 75 degrees below zero. Anybody read To Build a Fire? No? Lemon? I guess I'm the only one. But it told the short story of this man that had... he knew he had to build the fire. And he thought about that all day and wanted to make sure, because if he didn't build the fire, he would die. And it was so important, and you begin to build up in your mind, that if he didn't get this fire bill, he would never molass the night.

He got the fire, just started, and he was feeding it. And he warmed up the air above the tree that he built it under. And the snow fell off the branch and put out the fire. And he was like, how am I going to get it? The story ends with him shivering. He's going to die, because he didn't get the fire built. Brethren, are we going to let our bodies die, both physically and spiritually, because we do not stir up the fire? We do not stir up the spirit that is within us? Very, very important. You refuel your car. Why? Because you're not going anywhere unless you have fuel. Unless you're powered by something. We are to be powered by the Holy Spirit. There's a how and a why. We need it. I just gave you a few. Hope you will think of others. Back in Tennessee, growing up, we had an old tractor, his 1950s model. And there was always something, it was always creating problems. So forth. But we used it. But occasionally, what would happen? You'd get a flat tire or something way out in a field. And when that happened, you couldn't, you had to let it sit there until you could get it fixed. And it set out. And sometimes you couldn't get to it for a while. You know what was amazing? Is that when it would sit out for a week or two, you would go back and get something fixed, put a new battery in it or whatever, and then you'd try to start it. And you'd be there working on it, and then you'd press and everything. It's like, what's wrong now? And you'd go up to the top, and you would turn and look in there. Because it had set out in the weather, the gasoline had evaporated. There wasn't any fuel.

Because it was stagnant. Brethren, we must not be stagnant. We must allow God to lead us with His Holy Spirit, feed that Holy Spirit, be led and be fed by more of the Holy Spirit. We have a wonderful opportunity to be led and to be fed by the most powerful thing that exists besides God and the Son, His Holy Spirit. We will flourish as a church as long as you, me, everyone here, is led by the Holy Spirit.