God’s Spirit in Us

Some of you may recall that I've been giving a series, not too many, a couple of sermons, on going on to perfection. So today, I'm going to continue, actually finish that series, going on to perfection. This is part three, God's Spirit in you. You'll recall that we talked about before that if we claim that our doctrines come from the Bible, we should be able to go to some scriptures and point out our doctrines. And actually, in fact, we can do that. There is one particular scripture that gives our core doctrines the starting point. Now, it's not all of our doctrines. It's just the core, the foundation, the strength of the doctrine. And we do pull it straight out of the Bible. Hebrews 6 will all go there by way of reminder. Hebrews 6 will read verses 1-3. It says, therefore, leaving the discussions of the elementary principles of Christ, the elementary principles of Christ. We're going to leave those now, and we're going to go beyond the elementary principles of Christ. The fundamental doctrines, which is going to list in a minute, but what are we to do with the fundamental doctrines of the church? The very next statement, Paul explains what we're supposed to do, what our response is to doctrine. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection. And that word perfection doesn't mean perfectionist. It means mature. It means grown up completely. Now, I realize it's warm in here. In fact, I'm going to unbutton my jacket. And we have just had lunch.

And I'm not really feeling the pressure to be all that interesting today.

So the onus is on you.

Okay, I'll try. I'll try to be interesting. We'll make it a team effort. So let us go on to perfection. Let us go on to be completely grown up, completely like Jesus Christ. Not laying again the foundation, and here are the fundamental doctrines of the church, of repentance from dead works, of faith towards God, the doctrine of baptism, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do, and this we will do, what will we do? Leave the elementary principles of Christ. We will go beyond the elementary principles of Christ and go on to perfection if God permits, is what he says. This we will do if God permits.

Let me go back and summarize the very first sermon that we had. We only covered a few things. We talked about what the word conversion meant. It meant change. And in context of the church, change should become exactly like Jesus Christ. It's a growth process. From the time you're baptized and you receive the Holy Spirit until you breathe your last breath, you are in a growth process of going on to perfection. And that process of change is called conversion. Now, you cannot be converted unless you commit to the living God your life. To live a Godly life, as Jesus said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. Which means Christianity, conversion, is not about lip service. It's not about coming to church every week. So much more than that. And then we talked about in the first sermon that the converted mind, the converted mind, the mind with God's Spirit, is truthful and seeks the truth.

The converted mind recognizes that the church is the ground and the pillar of truth. The converted mind does not deceive others and is careful not to be deceived. We also talked about the fact that the converted mind seeks the truth in a group and not alone. And we walked through all the scriptures that showed that. That those people with special knowledge that can't have that knowledge understood by the group should not consider that knowledge all that special. But if you can collaborate with fellow believers, you might be on to something. Then we talked about the fact that God supplied the ministry to teach the truth according to God's Word. And there was an onus on the body, the membership, to know whether or not the minister was speaking the truth. And there's a huge responsibility on the ministry to make sure they speak the truth. The converted mind seeks the truth. God will only accept a person to eternal life who accepts the truth.

You know, Jesus said in John 17, 17, sanctify them by your truth. The word sanctify means set apart as special. How are you special? What makes you special? You were born of a woman just like everybody else. You breathe air just like everybody else. You have to eat food and drink water to stay alive. What makes you special?

The truth. Sanctify them by truth, Jesus said. And this was on the night before he was crucified. You know that his emotions were intense when he said these words. And he said, sanctify them by truth. Your word is truth. Which means that if we reject any part of God's word, we've rejected the truth. You can't be selective. You can't even take 90% of what God says and disagree with 10. You've still disagreed with God. The converted mind does not do that.

It's all or nothing. Some things are gray and some things are black and white.

Listening to the minister, that's gray. The minister might throw a mistake or two in there every once in a while. You need to be on your toes. Compare that. The minister might say, this word means this. You all have smartphones now. You can tap that word and see if your dictionary agrees. Maybe not. Ask me how I know I've done that.

Somebody's making a point. One of my sermonette speakers is making a point. And he says, this word means this. I tap the word. Guess what? It doesn't mean that. Now I have a conversation.

That's gray! The word of God? That's not gray. That is black and white. You either accept the truth or you don't. And at any point, if you reject the smallest bit of truth, you have disagreed with God. You have told God that you know more than Him. And I tell you, brethren, that is not the Holy Spirit working in you. That is the carnal mind that is enmity, in other words, hostile to God.

And then in the second sermon, we talked about the difference between being called and being chosen. And there's a huge chasm of a difference between called and chosen. And yet, in our modern society, we use those words almost interchangeably. You will hear people say, oh, that is my calling. This is my calling. My calling from God is to do this. Not understanding the biblical definition of what Jesus meant, because He's the one who said many are called if you were chosen. He's the one who introduced the idea of a calling and those who are chosen. And so we talked about the fact that... Or we asked the question, we talked about the question, how do you begin the conversion process in the second sermon? How do you start becoming converted? And remember, that was a trick question. The answer was, you don't. God does. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 16 and verse 18, I will build my church. We don't build His church. We don't all of a sudden go, hmm, I see the truth. I'm going to go be a brick in the temple of God. I'm going to go build His church. We don't do that. It doesn't work that way. The term called and chosen comes from Jesus Himself in Matthew 22 and verse 14. I just called it, I just quoted it, when He said, Many are called, but few are chosen. And we needed to know the difference between those two. And I'm leading up to the point today, so stay with me. I mean, unless you need a nap. I will understand. I really will. But we talked about the fact that the word called simply means invited. Like you were invited to dinner at somebody's house. You don't just show up to somebody's house and say, hey, is dinner ready?

You know, if you don't believe me, there's a neighborhood right behind this church building. And just go knock on somebody's door and ask them if dinner's ready. And see if they don't call the police on you. Because you weren't invited.

Many are called, He said. Many are invited, but few are chosen. According to Strongs, the word chosen means selected. It's that simple. God invites many people, but then of those people He invites, He only selects a few. Well, is that partiality? No, not at all. There's a reason He only selects a few, because there's a requirement on our part. And there's only a few people who are willing to meet that requirement. God would absolutely take everybody He invited. He invites them so that they will accept the calling. Hey, you want to come over for dinner? Sure! Never show up.

Very few actually show up to the table.

The key Scripture that defined the difference between called and chosen is in 2 Thessalonians. Let's go there by way of reminder. This is the key Scripture for Sermon 2. 2 Thessalonians 2, starting in verse 13.

The Apostle Paul writes, But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord. Because from the beginning chose you for salvation. How were you chosen for salvation? He didn't use that word on accident.

God, from the beginning, chose you for salvation through the sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. When He has given you His Holy Spirit, then you were chosen. Prior to that, you're simply invited.

You're called. How are you called? Verse 14. To which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, a lot of people, Google, Sabbath-keeping church, how do they land on the United Church of God? They read something that's relevant to them.

And if they are invited, something will click, and they will say, That sounds like the church. I'm going to go check it out. What a lot of people don't realize is that God was involved in that process. They were invited. Jesus said, No man comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him, invites Him. You don't just show up.

But to be chosen, you must receive God's Holy Spirit. So, today, we're going to finish this series with our response to God's calling. Is there anything that we have to do in order to go on to perfection?

Why would I give this sermon to a group of people who are mostly baptized and know the answer to this question already? There's good reason for this sermon. Good reason. If you're not baptized, there's good reason for this sermon.

Is there anything that we should be doing in order to go on to perfection?

If being chosen means having God's Spirit in us, what are we supposed to do on our part before God considers us chosen?

What will God do in return for us through His Spirit once we do the things that God considers us to be chosen? Is there anything that God requires of you before He will choose you? The answer is yes, and I ask everybody who is listening today to consider this message. Even if you're baptized, I actually have considered it. The answer is yes, and in short, I will give you the prerequisites, and they're not new and they're not earth-shaking, but they are critical. And especially for those who grew up in the church or have been in the church most or all of their life, I ask you to listen to this message very carefully.

Here's the answer to what we're supposed to do before God will choose us. And if we don't do these three things, I guarantee you, because we're going to read the Scriptures in just a moment, He will not choose you. Just coming to church is not enough. These three things have to be in place, and they actually have to be in place all of your life, for you to be chosen. They are, number one, believe.

Believe. Sounds simple enough. Number two, repent. Okay? So far, so good. Number three, be baptized, which is surrender your life to Him. It doesn't mean go under the water. Oh, it literally means go under the water.

But if all you did was go under the water, then you did not surrender your life to Him, and you were not chosen. All three of those things are required. Notice again the first Scripture that we read. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. That's the repentance part. Faith towards God. That's the belief part. And the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands. And that's what we're going to cover in today's sermon. Let's look at each of the three elements that's required for us before God will consider us chosen. We're just going to go through them quickly. We've had sermons on these. We've had series of sermons on these. Now we're going to weave them all together in one package. The core doctrine, the fundamentals that lead us to go on to perfection. Not perfectionism, but absolute maturity. The first one is belief. Or in the Bible, it's called faith. Our Elder, Mr. Ken Thompson, just recently gave a series, I believe, of sermons on this. Is that not right? Yes. So let's briefly go back and look at faith. Is it a requirement? Before you're chosen? Now realize, if you're chosen by the Holy Spirit, this requirement is required of you on your own without help from God, except that he opens your mind to it. But with your carnal mind only, not having the Holy Spirit, this is required. It's required of you. Hebrews 11, verse 6. But without faith, it is impossible to please him. Can you be chosen by God and not please him? I'm sure somebody would argue that somewhere. The answer is no. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. If you do not please God, you are not chosen. May I suggest that to you today? This is the starting point of Christianity. But what is that? The conversion process begins with belief, a trust that God exists and he will keep his promise of redemption to eternal life. For those who diligently seek him. Mark 16, verse 15. The Gospel of Mark 16, starting in verse 15.

He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. And then notice, he who believes and is baptized. Prior to being baptized and prior to making that commitment to God, you must first believe. It's a prerequisite. It's a requirement beforehand.

But he who does not believe is condemned.

Faith begins the process and walks you through the entire process all of your life. If at any point in your life you no longer believe you are condemned, belief never goes away. Faith starts the process and stays with you your entire life. It is our responsibility to God to believe him that he is, that he exists, he's really there, and he really will reward you with what he promised, eternal life. Those two things, you must be sure.

How sure? I mean, before you're baptized, right? How sure are you supposed to be?

Do you remember the Ethiopian jailer and Philip? Right? Do you remember that story in Acts 8? Let's go there. The Ethiopian jailer is reading the scroll of Isaiah in his chariot. The Holy Spirit tells Philip to catch up with him, have a conversation with him, and he's reading a passage that's about Jesus Christ. And Philip says, do you understand what you're reading? He says, how can I without a teacher? And so Philip starts to explain Jesus Christ to him, and then he needs to repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. We'll pick it up in Acts 8, verse 36. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuchs said, see, here's some water. What hinders me from being baptized? And then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart. How much was that jailer, that officer of the Ethiopian court, supposed to believe before he had God's Holy Spirit?

With everything he had. All in. How much are we supposed to believe? All in. Holding nothing back. Yeah, I halfway believe, and I halfway don't. I kind of believe in creation and evolution, and I kind of mix it together. I believe in creation on Saturday, and I believe in evolution the rest of the week.

However you put it, that's unacceptable. That's not chosen. If that's you.

Go back to Mark 16, 15 and 16. If you believe with all your heart, you may, Philip said. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

And he was baptized. So before you are chosen, and you can go on to perfection, you have to believe. And at any point in your life, if you don't believe, you are condemned. Because Jesus Christ said an absolute statement, a blanket statement in Mark 16. Anyone who doesn't believe is condemned.

So that's the first part, the first requirement before you're chosen. Keep that in mind as we go through this sermon. The second requirement of you. Before God will consider you chosen, before you can go on to perfection, before you can be converted and grow up to become like God, you must repent.

There is a great definition of repentance in Proverbs. Proverbs 28 and verse 13. It's also one in Hosea we'll read in just a minute. Proverbs 28. Hosea actually shows us how. But in Proverbs 28 it shows us what it is.

Proverbs 28, 13, He who covers his sins will not prosper. You know, if you try to excuse every single thing you do, you will not profit. You will not go on to perfection.

But then it says, but whoever, and notice there's two parts to this, not just one, whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

The confession is the verbally saying, I'm sorry. There's an I'm sorry part to repentance. But there's also a forsaking, an action part to repentance. And both are required in order for there to be repentance. You can't have one without the other. If you just stop sinning, but you're really not sorry, you're just outwardly complying, but there is no change of heart.

And the opposite is also true. If you just say, I'm sorry, but you never quit sinning, well, that's just lip service, too. That's also outward and not of the heart. It has to be both. You can't give lip service to God. It has to be real repentance. I ask you, if you're baptized, think back to when you were baptized. Think back.

Did you really believe? Did you really repent? These are not suggestions. Oh, God will let it slide if you didn't. Throw your head back and suck your teeth. No big deal. Uh-uh. Requirement. If you don't believe, you will be condemned. Wow.

Let's go to Matthew 3, verse 8.

Jesus Christ really plows into the Pharisees here about repentance. And it's a good lesson for us, for you and me. Matthew 3, verse 8. It says, therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance. There's got to be some evidence. God wants to see proof, not lip service. It actually has to be real.

And do not think to yourselves, we have Abraham as our Father, for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And of course, God is able to do anything. He can do that. What's the modern equivalent of that today?

Growing up in the church is the modern equivalent of that very argument. But I've been in the church all my life. I've kept the Sabbath all my life. I didn't get to play sports on Friday night. I'm Abraham's son, by analogy.

That's not enough! That won't walk into the kingdom. It won't. You have a personal responsibility, and it's only between you and God. It's only between you and God.

To believe and repent and be baptized. And a lot of times it's difficult, if we've grown up in the church, to actually see that we need to repent. It's hard to see.

If you struggle with that, ask God to show you, to gently show you. And you know what? He will. He will gently show you that you need to change. That you actually...

It's not just what you've done that needs to change. Because what you do comes from your heart. Your actions and your thoughts come from you. And it's actually you that needs help, that needs God's Holy Spirit. You need to be chosen. And in order to do that, you have to repent, not just of what you've done, but of what you are.

And I don't mean your personality. You don't have to change who you are. You have to change... You know, in Jeremiah, chapter 79, the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked who can know it. That word, desperately wicked, means ill or sick. It's like you have an infection inside. And that infection is getting worse and worse. And that infection is called selfishness and hostility.

Don't tell me what to do. I want it my way. That's the human heart. And you have to say to God, I want you to fix that. That's what repentance looks like. I see there's an infection, and that infection is me. And I want you to fix that. And He doesn't want you to change your habits and your likes and your dislikes, the food you like to eat, unless it's unclean, but not the style of food.

Some like Chinese, some like Italian, some like Krispy Kreme. Okay, maybe not Krispy Kreme.

Just once in a while.

We lost Dr. Meredith recently. He was the leader of another branch of the Church of God. He was one of my favorite teachers at college. And a lot of people misunderstood him because he was really energetic as a teacher.

He talked about health one time through the whole student body. The faculty were there, everybody was there, all in the same huge gymnasium.

And he lost his wife to cancer. He knew the dangers of sugar, and he knew most of our consumption of sugar came through sodas. You know, those fizzy little carbonated sugary drinks with high fructose corn syrup. It's been proven to alter DNA and cause cancer. So he was railing, and he picked one particular brand, the most popular brand of soda out there. Comes in a red can, has a neat little cursive logo. We all know the one.

And he was railing on it, saying, Never drink this! This is horrible for you! On and on and on he was going, the student body was just shaking. You couldn't find that particular drink on the campus anywhere the student store. It was gone that day. The vending machines, it was emptied out of stock.

I mean, it was like, if you drink that particular drink, you are sinning against God.

And he came up to me in the hallway, he had really thick glasses. So he has to come close to you and stare at you like that. He said, Rod, do people think it's a sin to drink Coke? I said, yeah, pretty much they do. Yes, sir. He said, I didn't mean that. He didn't mean you couldn't go out to a restaurant and let your kids have a soda. He meant, don't drink it all the time, because it'll kill you. Take care of your health, is what he meant. And so, when I make comments like that too, realize, maybe overstate it a bit.

So I'm not going to pick on Krispy Kreme. I happen to love Krispy Kreme. I just don't recommend we make a diet out of donuts.

But repentance, repentance is a two-fold process. You're saying you're sorry, you're expressing it from the heart, and you're doing something about it. And God will help you along the way. You're not going to be perfect, but you have to repent.

Let's continue on. He says, for verse 10, now, we are still in Matthew 3, now verse 10, And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. There's a warning to those people who were children of Abraham, people who grew up in the church. And here is the warning from your captain of salvation, Jesus Christ. He says, the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And that statement was not made by accident. He does mean this is a requirement or you will be condemned.

Let's look at a great example of how to repent to God. We find it in the book of Hosea. We don't read from Hosea very often. But there's a great example of repentance in Hosea, where God instructs Israel to repent. And here's what he says to do. Hosea 14, verse 1. Hosea 14, verse 1, he says, O Israel, and you can put your name there, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Turn back. It's a call to come back. They're called. They're invited.

2. Take words with you and return to the Lord. It's twofold. It's bring words and start walking. Those are the two parts of repentance. Verbal, you gotta say it, and then action, you gotta do it. 3. Say to him, Listen to the prayer of repentance. 4. Take away all iniquity. Forgive me! Like King David said in Psalm 51, but we always go to Psalm 51. So I wanted to read something. Prayers of repentance are in most of the prophecies. I wanted to read something we hadn't read very often. 5. Take away all iniquity. Receive us graciously. We don't deserve it. I know I don't deserve it, but I really want to come back. 6. For we will offer sacrifices of our lips. 7. I will talk to you from now on. I will stop ignoring you. That's what that means. And that's what we do as human beings, isn't it? We get in trouble. We ask for God to help us out of trouble. We start having some good times. Who's God? I'm too busy for God. Life is good. We roll along happy as Larry, until all of a sudden we hit the brick wall and we pray to God again. In this prayer of repentance, he says, For we will offer sacrifices of our lips. We will talk to you again. And we will have conversation with you. A Syria shall not save us, and we will not ride on horses. We will not look to our friends, science, anything else that supports our life anymore. I am only looking to you. That's what that means. Nor will we say any more to the work of our hands, you are our gods. I will not make my work, my car, my house, my playtime, my vacations more important than you ever again. And notice how the repentant heart acknowledges that God is worthy, and the repenter is not. For in you the fatherless finds mercy. I will heal, and then God responds. This is beautiful because a lot of times we think, well, I want to repent, I know I should repent, and I know I don't deserve it, so will God forgive me? I mean, I know He forgives other people, but those people who are all baptized and converted, they don't know what I did. No. No, God will forgive. Notice God's reply. Notice how certain God's reply is. Verse 4, God's reply. I will heal their backsliding. Those bad habits that you promise you won't do again, but you do anyway. If you come to God in that attitude, He promises He's going to heal you. He's going to take you. He's not just going to take you, He's going to heal you. This is an awesome prayer of repentance. I love this section of the Bible. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned away from Him, and I will be like the dew to Israel. And that means, what is dew? Due to the ground, it waters the plants so the plants can produce. He shall grow like a lily and lengthen His roots like Lebanon. That was back when Lebanon had cedar trees that were beautiful. So the first two requirements are absolutely required before we get to the third. And the third is to be baptized.

Mmm. Coffee. On the Feast of Pentecost, Peter and the other apostles received God's Holy Spirit while they were in a room. And then they went out and they preached, well, they went out together, but Peter preached a sermon on the day of Pentecost. And we're going to read part of that sermon right now. And we're going to talk about being baptized. Let's go there, Acts 2, verse 37.

Acts 2, verse 37. Now, when they had heard this, Peter started telling them about how they just killed their own Messiah. And he convicted them of this. And it says in verse 37, when they heard that, now when they had heard this, they were cut to the heart. They were convicted. They knew Peter was telling the truth. They knew all the prophecies of the Messiah. Jesus Christ filled every one of them. It is statistically impossible for someone to randomly fulfill all of the things that Jesus Christ fulfilled that were predicted hundreds or even more than a thousand years before he was born. The first prophecy, Proto-Evangelicum, was back in Genesis chapter 3, pre-flood. He fulfilled half of that prophecy in his first coming. So they were cut to the heart. They knew Peter was telling them the truth about Jesus Christ. And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. And notice what it says, you shall receive the Holy Spirit. Not you might, but you shall. Notice that both prerequisites before baptism are there before they get baptized. First, they believed they were cut to the heart. And Peter told them that they needed to repent. This is consistent throughout the New Testament and the Old Testament, by the way. And then they were to be baptized. And that's how they would be chosen. And that's how they could go on to perfection. And without that, without that side of it, I don't care how hard you try. I don't care how disciplined and organized a person you are. You cannot go on to perfection without God's intervention. Him choosing you. And He only chooses you this way. Dropping down to verse 41, it says, Then those who gladly received His word were baptized. Fulfilling Jesus' words, many are called, few are chosen. I don't know how big the crowd was that day. And a lot of people were baptized, as we will see. But, wow! Not everybody just came up and got baptized? No! Even after hearing that, not everybody came up and was baptized. Isn't that amazing? They were all invited. They all heard Peter's sermon. And there was actually quite a large baptism that day. But they didn't all come. Only those who gladly received the word came. And that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. And on this day, Pentecost, the church began. And then dropping down to chapter 3, verse 19, it's a new setting now. Peter had just healed a man who was lame. And he was now talking to a hostile crowd. And in Acts chapter, and probably an interested crowd with some hostile parties mixed in, is more likely the case. And then, in Acts chapter 3, verse 19, he tells them again, Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Again, keeping with that theme that there is a prerequisite on our part before God chooses us. So that the time of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, God does not give his Spirit to those people who do not believe in him with their whole heart, repent and surrender their life completely to him. It doesn't happen!

So I sometimes have this conversation with people who grew up in the church.

And they talk about how or why they got baptized.

And we start talking about how did you get baptized? And they give the incorrect reasons. And this happened a lot when I was in college. A lot when I was in Ambassador College. God's college. Right? And people were getting baptized all around me. Oh, I'm getting baptized. Oh, let's get you a present. And it was this attention thing. You know, oh, so-and-so is getting baptized. Oh, good for them.

And I thought, why are you doing that for show? So I probably foolishly, I wouldn't get baptized. It couldn't be for show. I knew it had to be for real. I actually delayed my baptism. And I did it privately. I went up to one minister on campus a year later. I was already considering baptism, but I waited. Because it was such the thing to do was to get baptized. You know? They did it for their friends. Their friends did it. Or they did it because, you know, they were of a certain age.

Well, I've come to this age, and now I need to be baptized. What? Age has nothing to do with it. Believe, repent, then be baptized. It's simple. Believe, repent, be baptized. Oh, but you have to be a certain age. When you reach a certain age, you get baptized. No! Believe, repent, be baptized. Now, if you're a child, we don't baptize children in the church. You don't have context to know that you're going to believe. Although, when I was a kid, I believed.

It was my God. It was my church. When I was three and four years old. And I would have to go to school with this note from my mommy, saying, let me out of the Christmas pageant. When you're having the Christmas assembly at school, and everybody's in the gym singing Christmas songs, I had to go to the library.

A lot of you probably had to go through that. But you had to have a note from mommy to do that. Otherwise, it was required. I didn't want a note from my mother. Why did I need a note from mom? Who's my God?

It's my church. I told you I don't believe in Christmas. I'm going to the library. No, not good enough. But to me, I did believe. But I didn't have the context to know who I was, to know that I needed to repent.

I knew that God was right. I just didn't quite yet know I was wrong. And that's important. That has to be added in. So we don't baptize children. But once you become an adult, you might think to yourself, I'm of a certain age, it's time to get baptized. It's time to get baptized when you believe and you repent.

Some people get baptized because it's commanded. God said to do it, I believe it, I'm going to do it. It's a commanded thing to do. They are compliant people. They like rules, they like structure, so they comply with the structure. But they skip the believe and repent part. Guess what? They're not chosen. I'm trying to paint a picture here. Christianity is about going on to perfection. These are the elementary principles of Jesus Christ. And I have conversations with people, and we don't get the elementary principles sometimes. You can't just go through the motions. It has to be real.

It has to be real. There was a guy who wanted to just go through the motions, wanted to cut to the front of the line. His name was Simon the Sorcerer. Remember him?

Let's go look at Simon's story, Acts 8. Acts 8, verse 17. Simon didn't want to go through the whole rigmarole of believe and repent. He just wanted power. So in Acts 8, verse 17, Simon, who is this well-respected sorcerer in his community, notices somebody outshining him. These upstart apostles come into his town and start laying hands on people, and they receive the power of God's Spirit. Oh, I've got to get me some of that, he says.

And so in Acts 8, verse 17, then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. That's why we do the laying on of hands, because God commanded it. It's God's ceremony. So let me ask you a question. Do you think, because you received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, do you think that God's Spirit comes through the elder, through his fingertips, into your brain? No. It does not. It's a ceremony.

It's a symbol. It's commanded by God, and we do it that way, because God told us to do it that way. The apostles gave us the example that they did it that way. But the Holy Spirit comes directly from God. And the elder is not involved. Some people have been baptized by elders who later left the church and stopped believing in God. Good chance they weren't even converted. Does that mean you're not converted? Not at all. Not at all. It doesn't mean that. They've baptized people. They perform weddings. And then all of a sudden they do something horrific, and you find out, this person wasn't a church member at all.

He performed my wedding. Blessed my children after the feast baptized me. We've got to go get married again. No, you don't. You do not. Because all of that comes from God. The elder laying his hands on you is a symbol that you are now not alone. You are part of a family. And in that family there are older brothers, elders, who welcome you in.

But it is a relationship between you and God directly. So we see here in Acts 8 and verse 17 that the apostles laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. But it doesn't say they received it from Peter or Philip. The Holy Spirit comes from God. And I don't have time to go there, but if you have questions, see me later. And I'll show that to you in the Bible.

In verse 18, when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money! I'm going to bypass all this prerequisite stuff, believe and repent. Just give me the power.

Verse 19, saying, Give me this power also that anyone whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, Your money perished with you. I love Peter. Peter's like John Wayne. He's like, faces off with the guy. Your money perished with you because you thought that it was a gift. I'm sorry, that you thought the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter. For your heart, your heart, your heart is not right.

This has to be from the heart. It's not outward compliance. It's not going through the motions. You can't do it just because you grew up in the church. Your heart has to be in it. Because your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of your wickedness and pray to God. I like this statement. Peter gives him a little jab. If perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. I'm not even sure God's going to forgive you for that. Peter really zinged him. He was ticked. And why was Peter so upset with him? Because you don't play with salvation. It's a big deal.

So real belief, real repentance, and complete surrendering to God through baptism, then you receive God's Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. That's your part. What does God do in return? What happens when you receive the Holy Spirit, when you are chosen?

Here is our key scripture today, 2 Timothy 1 and verse 7. I'm going to read this from the NIV, because it's our key scripture and they word it very well. There are three things we're going to focus on today. It's not that the Holy Spirit can only do three things. But we're going to focus on these three things, because we're focusing on going on to perfection. Brethren, we are here to grow into the kingdom of God. And if we're not doing that, we are wasting our time on this earth.

At the time the Bible was written, the closest resemblance to the invisible power of God to act on anything in the universe was a man's breath. So you can feel it, but you can't see it. You blow on your hand, you can feel it, but you can't see it. So that was analogous to God's Spirit.

So the word for air or breath also served for the word spirit in both Hebrew and Greek. The word ruach in Hebrew, or numa in Greek. Interestingly enough, also the word inspiration means God-breathed.

Here's our key scripture about the power of God's Spirit. What does it do for us? 2 Timothy 1, verse 7, NIV, For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, being timid, fearful, awkward. It's not a timid spirit, but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. What does God do for us in return when we believe and repent and are baptized? He gives us His Spirit. What exactly does that look like in everyday life? What does it do for you from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed? And actually while you sleep?

Let's talk about those three attributes of God's Holy Spirit. It's a spirit of power and a spirit of love and a spirit of self-discipline. So let's talk about power. Is it the spirit of the Jedi from Star Wars?

Can I reach back in the refrigerator in that kitchen with God's Holy Spirit and bring some food up here to me right now? No! That's not what it does. Can God do that? Yes. Would God do that? No. I'm fat. He would not. That's not what the power is for. It's not for self-consumption. It's not so you can walk around and say, The Lord rebuked you. Boom! Fire comes down from heaven. Well, that's power. That's not the kind of power that God's interested in giving you. Now, He has that kind of power. What is He going to give you? What does God's Spirit do for us that powers us? Oh, this is great. This is exactly what we need. Philippians 2.

Philippians 2 and 12.

Philippians 2.12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation. That's another way of saying, Go on to perfection. Grow up. Okay? With fear and trembling, take it seriously, in other words. For it is God, and notice what God does for us, who works in you.

Does that mean you don't have to work? No. No, no, no. You've got to put all of your effort in it, but you can't get where you need to go. You don't have enough power. He works in you to do two things, to will and to do His good pleasure. Both to have the motivation to even want to do it. You might want to jot down in your notes, Jeremiah 17.9, which we've already quoted, and Romans 8 and verse 7. Jeremiah 17.9 and Romans 8 and verse 7 describe a heart that is against God. We don't want to be told what to do.

We don't want God in our life. Oh, we want salvation. We just want it our way. We're selfish by nature. And God gives you the power to overcome that. Don't worry, we're going to get way more detailed than this. This is an overview. We're going to dive in to specifically what the converted mind looks like in just a minute. And I want us to take a look in a mirror and say, Is this me? Because if it's not you, there's a couple of things we need to do to make sure it becomes us.

Because there's a bright future out there for those people who resemble what we're going through right now. So God gives you the power to will and to do His good pleasure. Which means you don't have it on your own. And that's why you cannot overcome the habits that you do over and over and over again.

That's why. Because you don't have the power. And I'm not saying you're not converted. I'll get there. You'll understand in just a minute. But God's Spirit is a spirit of power. And it's not a spirit for you to move objects or burn people to the ground. It's a spirit that gives you the ability, the power to overcome. And without it, you don't have the ability to overcome your own selfishness.

Okay, most of us know that. That's not news. Let's go to Spirit of Love. 1 John 4. Not the Gospel of John, but 1 John near the back of the book. 1 John 4, verse 12. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us. How? Through a spirit. Remember the creation account? The Spirit of God hovered on the water. Although God was not actually there, He was there through His Spirit.

How does God abide in us? How is He here? Through His Spirit. A Spirit of power, but also a Spirit of love. If we love one another, God abides in us. And His love has been perfected in us. We are to go on to maturity, perfection. What does that look like? What does the converted mind look and feel like? This is very clear. Very, very clear. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit.

It's a Spirit of love. It's a Spirit that changes us from being self-thinking to other thinking. What does that mean? It means when you walk into a room of people, you will change from being one who judges everybody else based on what you need, to one who doesn't judge anybody, and you look out for what they need. You are not easily offended anymore. And you become harder and harder to be offended as time goes by.

And those feelings get out of your way. And it gives you the ability, then, to look at what other people need and take care of them. It is a Spirit of love, a Spirit of outgoing concern. It's like you take your brain's gear out of reverse, because human beings are born in reverse. We're born selfish, and you put it in the drive. That's what God's Holy Spirit does. It helps you to focus on other people's needs and take care of them. But it is also a Spirit of self-control.

Now, let's go back to the Gospel of John for this one, the Spirit of self-control. We'll start in the Gospel of John, and then we'll move to Romans. John 16. John 16, verse 7. Jesus, again, is at the Pass overnight, the night just before He's to be crucified. He's at dinner, and He's talking to His disciples for the last time before they see the reality of what He is about to do.

Up until this point, they don't know what's about to happen. He's trying to explain it to them. They are about to be blown away emotionally. They're going to be rocked to their core. And He's sitting at dinner with them, trying to warn them about what's to happen. And the neat thing is, is even though they were rocked to the core, later they remembered this dinner, and they wrote it down for us. John 16, verse 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.

God's Holy Spirit is like an onboard assistant, way more advanced than Siri or Google. It is a character assistant. But if I depart, I will send Him to you. Now let's go to Romans 8, verse 26. Romans 8, verse 26. Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weakness. You know your weakness. I know my weakness. That's our weakness! That's those bad habits I was talking about. And there is an inner voice. It's not audible. People that say they hear voices, I worry about them. Maybe they do. It's not that God can't talk to you. He can and has in times past.

That's not what the Spirit does. The Spirit is inside you. It is not audible. But God does give you a voice that says, Don't do that. You're about to do it again. Don't do that. And we have to choose whether or not we listen to that voice, don't we? We have to choose. Do I listen or do I not listen? That voice actually works with people in the church. But it is in people who are chosen. And it helps you to overcome. Some people get discouraged and think, I will never overcome my bad habits.

Actually, you will. When you have God's Holy Spirit, you will overcome those bad habits. It helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray as we ought. But the Spirit Himself, and if we would read the King James, it's properly translated itself, makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. When you hear God's voice telling you, Hey, you, knock it off. Pray to God. Remember, it's a spirit of power. And ask God to give you the power to stop.

He will! You'll stop doing whatever it was you were going to do, and then you will go, wow! I actually didn't do that this time. It does work. But along with the Spirit comes some responsibility. We have responsibility to go on to perfection. What does that look like when you have God's Spirit? How does a converted mind behave? I'm going to read Titus chapter 3 from the New American Standard version.

It speaks plainly and describes a converted mind. This is what conversion looks like. And by comparison, a carnal mind is the exact opposite. And Titus chapter 3 describes both. It's a great passage to look at what conversion actually looks like. So hold a mirror up. Don't look at your spouse, who you know so well. This is only for you. This is between you and God. What does conversion look like? Paul writes to Titus. Remind them to be subject to rulers. Subject to authorities. To be obedient.

Oh, that is almost a bad word. To be ready for every good deed. That means that even when the authority, like the government official, like the police officer, he pulls you over and he writes you a ticket. But he was wrong. You did come to a complete stop. He said you rolled through the intersection. You didn't cross the double yellow line three times. But he said you did. And he's writing you a ticket. Are you ready for every good deed? Or do you get in that officer's face? What does conversion look like? What does the carnal mind look like? The carnal mind yells at the officer. The converted mind does not revile back when reviled, but turns the other cheek.

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient. To be ready for every good deed. To malign no one. To be uncontentious. Unwilling to fight. Well, that just sounds weak to the carnal mind. To the carnal mind. That's weakness. To the converted mind, it is strength. It's self-control. Unwilling to be contentious. Gentle. Showing every consideration. Not for itself, but for all men. No, no, no, no.

Only the people that treat you right know all men. What does conversion look like? The converted mind is a cooperative mind. When people are converted, they actually get along. And then in verse 3, Paul describes the carnal mind. For also, we also once were foolish ourselves. Disobedient. Deceived. Didn't love the truth. Wasn't sanctified by truth. Truth wasn't really such a big deal. Enslaved by various lusts and pleasures. Do you know what those are in plain terms? Our bad habits. Enslaved by them. That's what the carnal mind is. Disobedient, dishonest, and enslaved by bad habits. Spending our life in malice and envy. Always jealous of somebody else.

Instead of seeing how great it is to have the salvation of God. I mean, what else matters? The carnal mind is never satisfied. So, the converted mind is a cooperative mind. The carnal mind is a contentious mind. It's a fighting mind. It's a hostile mind. You can see that in little babies. You tell baby it's time to take a nap. No! You tell baby it's time to eat the peas. Mmm! You tell babies, stop making noise in church. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! The carnal mind is hostile. Spending our life in malice and envy. Hateful, hating one another.

But, but, back to conversion. When the kindness of God, our Savior, and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us. Not through the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness. We didn't earn it. You didn't do anything to deserve the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and neither did I.

We didn't deserve it. That's what He meant by that. But according to His mercy, it was undeserved, but He gave it anyway. By the washing of the regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, which He poured out upon us richly.

When we are cooperative with God, He just pours His Spirit into us. Through Jesus Christ, our Savior, and that being justified by His grace, we didn't earn it. It's unmerited. We might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Running over a bit, so we're going to close now. So what do you do? Do you remember Stephen, the deacon? He was recorded as giving one sermon, and then they killed him.

Stephen is talking to a group of Pharisees who grew up with the knowledge of God. And this is a great analogy for us in the church. It's not enough to have the knowledge of God. It's not enough. Notice Stephen's sermon, Acts 7, verse 51. He launches into the hostile carnal mind. And Stephen doesn't pull punches here. He gives them both barrels. Acts 7, verse 51. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. But they were circumcised. And by analogy, some of us are baptized. But we're not circumcised of the heart. Or we've let the fire go out. And it's just little embers covered over with ash.

You stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit. Yes, they did. They did not accept God's Spirit. They were enmity against God. The carnal mind. Romans 8, 7. Yes, they did. Even the Pharisees resisted God's Holy Spirit. How much more us in the Church who squabble and fight and have contentions and don't feel guilty if you're having a contention with somebody? We all do. Nobody's perfect. Remember, we're going on to perfection. We're not perfect. I'm just showing you so that you can look at you and I can look at me at what conversion looks like.

It doesn't mean that if you get into a fight with your wife or your husband, you're not converted. That is not what I'm saying at all. But there comes a point when if your life is defined by conflict, if your life is defined by bad habits, that always giving in to everything you desire, you've got one of two problems. You either aren't even converted. You're just in the Church, as Stephen is talking to these people here. Or you have let God's Holy Spirit, you have ignored it and neglected it, and you have not gone on to perfection.

The fire is going out. What defines you? What defines you? Reading on. You've always resisted the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. And what do they do? Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?

So God's messenger gives them the message. What do they do? Kill the messenger. That's the carnal mind. They killed those who foretold the coming of the just one, of whom you now have become betrayers and murderers. Now, someone that God's Spirit is working with would have heard that and been cut to the heart. What is the carnal mind here? And what does the carnal mind do when the carnal mind is told it's wrong?

Well, what do these people do when they resist the Holy Spirit? Verse 53. Who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it? You hear it, but you don't do it. That is not conversion. You are either unconverted or you're letting the Spirit go out. The unconverted Pharisees were who Stephen was talking to, and he said that they did not keep the law. But you know what they did? Keep the Sabbath, they didn't eat pork, they wore all the right clothing that was required to be worn, they tithed of mint and cumin. What were they neglecting?

The weightier matters of the law. That's what they were breaking, and that's what the carnal mind just loves to keep the form of religion, but not let it get to the heart. What if you look at yourself and you feel that you are not converted or you're not chosen? You've heard this sermon and you go, you know what? I don't think I'm converted. A lot of people do that when you hear a sermon like this. I asked Mr. Roy Holiday about that one time. And he told me, Rod, most people don't need to get baptized again.

It's just not the reality. When they were baptized, they really did repent. They really did believe. They knew what repentance was, they knew what they were doing, and they did it. And they just need to kindle the spirit up again. Most people don't need to get rebaptized. He said it's rare, but it does happen that people will get baptized, and it's not for real. And in that situation, they're actually in the church, but they're only called.

They're not chosen. How sad is that? They don't have the spirit of power and love and self-control. And it's not fair to them. They're hurting themselves. So what do you do? You look at yourself and you say, well, I knew what repentance was, and I agreed I needed to repent. So I did. Okay. And I did believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and I accepted the sacrifice.

Okay. Then why can't I overcome my bad habits? Why can't I stop arguing constantly? Why can't I fill in the blank? Whatever hostile thing it is that your mind does against God, why can't I do that? Here's where the rubber meets the road. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 6.

Paul writes to Timothy and says, Therefore I remind you... Now he's talking to an evangelist, Timothy. How much more you and me? How much more you and me who, you know, you go to work or you're busy throughout the week. I remind you, stir up the gift of God. And that word stir up is like stirring a fire that's going out. What is the gift of God? What is the gift of God? We read that earlier. It is His Spirit. Stir up the Spirit inside you. If you don't actively grow, it will go out. And it's just like when you wake up in the morning and the fire has burned out, and you hold your hand over, all you can see is ash.

But you hold your hand over and you can feel some heat. You know there's still some coals down there. So you stir them back up to the surface, and you blow on them, and you put some fuel back on them, and the fire gets going again. That's what you need to do. You need to start obeying God again. You need to start becoming cooperative again, like when you were first baptized. You need to remember what you felt when you said to Jesus Christ, My life is yours!

I give my life completely to you. Show me what to do. And you're just ready to cooperate with God. That's what a converted mind looks like. And somewhere along the way, we either get hurt or beat up, or Satan pulls us off track, and we stop obeying God. And when that happens, the fire nearly goes out.

Brethren, we're the firstfruits. What do you have to do? Start obeying again. Repent, believe, recommit your life to God. Just take from today and move forward. That's exactly what you need to do. And if you think that when you were baptized that you were not converted, you had no idea what the prerequisites were, everybody else was doing it, so you just did it too. Come talk to me, we'll talk. There's a solution for that too. It's called believe and repent and be baptized. Because when you did it before, you actually didn't do it. You just went swimming. There's no second baptism. There's no such thing as being rebaptized. There is such a thing as being baptized for real. And that's what you actually need to do. But for most of us, that's not the reality. For most of us, what we need to do when we get in those doldrums is cooperate with God again. Get it back. Rekindle it. Stir it up. And then we will be called firstfruits. And we have an awesome future. There's all these people who are sick in our congregations and other congregations, people who are dying all around the world, and we get these prayer requests, and we can start thinking gloom and doom. No, it's not gloom and doom. It is bright! There is a future, and that future is phenomenal. Remember the prophecy in Joel that's also quoted in the New Testament? Joel 2, verse 28. Joel 2, verse 28.

It shall come to pass, Joel 2, verse 28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. One day mankind will be resurrected, and they will actually be given what you have today. If you have believed and really repented and truly committed your life to God through baptism, and you received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, you will be there to help how many? All flesh. To come into the Kingdom of God. There will be some who fail. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There will be some from among us, most likely. That's a pity, but there will. But there will be in the future, too, I'm sure, when God pours His Spirit out on all flesh, and people then reject it. But my hunch is, that'll be very few in comparison. And what Jesus Christ says, that many are called and few are chosen, now will flip in the future. Where all will be called, and it is my hope, and it's actually my belief, it's my opinion, that most in the future will be chosen. That is not the reality today. The reality in the Church today is, many are called and few are chosen. And you need to make sure that your relationship with God, between you and God, is solid.

I will pour out my Spirit in all flesh. Your sons, your daughters, shall prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. And also my maidservants, and on my menservants, and on my maidservants, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

Brethren, we are to go on to perfection. We're not to stay in the elementary principles of Jesus Christ, which is believe and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit.

But we're actually to grow beyond that. And you can't do that unless you are actually chosen. And even after you're chosen, if you neglect your personal relationship with God, the Spirit will dwindle inside you. But brethren, all you've got to do is cooperate with God, and He will bring you back every single time. And then this statement will be true of you. Revelation 21, verse 7. Revelation 21, verse 7, He who overcomes will inherit all things. And I will be his God, and he will be my Son. And that word son is in the Greek language when it was written, so it's gender specific. They have to pick a gender. It actually means child. And he or she will be my child. All we have to do is overcome, to grow up, to go on to perfection. And on this day, the day of Pentecost, we stop and we reflect on God's Holy Spirit. What does it do inside us? What do we have to do continually in order for it to keep growing, burning like a fire inside us? What does it look like to be converted? It's a cooperative mind. It's not an argumentative mind. It's not a hostile mind. It's not a lusting mind. It's a cooperating mind. A loving mind. A mind with power and love and self-discipline. None of us are perfect. None of us are going to walk away from this Pentecost today going, You know what? I'm going to strut the Holy Spirit and I am going to be that man in Titus chapter 3. None of us are going to do that perfectly. This is a process that we grow through. But as we go towards the end of our life through this conversion process, if we overcome, you and I will inherit all things, and we will be the sons and daughters of God.