What's More Important Than This?

47:22Amen. Thanks, team. Appreciate you guys as always. Thank you so much. Go to Acts chapter 2, guys. It should be on the screen. But I love hearing those pages turn. This last week, I was at UTD, as always, and had a conversation with a guy there. I think he was a freshman. He was eating by himself, and I walked up to him, and I said, hey, what did you have for lunch? And we just struck up conversation. And I asked him if he needed prayer for anything. And the first thing that he said was, I would love for you to pray that God would have more of a, be a more priority in my life. And I was like, wow, okay. You know, tell me about that. And growing up, he moved around a lot. He had some history in the church, but I don't really know why, but he moved around a lot. So the faith in God and Jesus all kind of took a back seat in his life. And now he's trying to go to school at UTD, get a degree, find a career, all these things. And the first thing that he said when I asked if he needed prayer was that God would take more of a front seat in his life. And I was like, wow, okay, do you have a few minutes? And he's like, yeah, I don't have class until 2. It was like 1.15 at the time. And I said, okay, let's sit down. So we sat down, and I asked him, hey, if you could imagine God's face, like his facial expression when he thinks about you, what's on his face? He was like, hmm, I don't know. I was like, what do you think God thinks about you? Like, really, what does he think about you? He was like, I don't know, maybe that he's relieved that I haven't totally run away from him? I was like, yeah, sure. We talked for a little bit.

49:10And I was like, I know how God thinks about you. I know that he loves you more than anything. Do you mind if I share the gospel with you? Do you know what the gospel is? He was like, no, I don't know what the gospel is. I was like, can I share? He was like, yeah. And so I took a gospel card, which are available here, out there, in the lobby. There's a stack of them. I'm telling you. Are they the perfect way of presenting the gospel? No. Are they a way? Yes, they are a way. Chris Seidman always said this. He said when people would talk to him and complain about evangelism with him, he would be like, I like my way of doing evangelism over your way of not doing evangelism. And he's always joking around about that. I think it's really great, really funny. And so these cards, there may not be the best way of really presenting the whole counsel of God in a moment, but it starts the conversation and it's scripture. And so I handed him the scripture. I said, read the first one. It says sin for the wages of sin or all fall short of the glory of God. We walked through the whole thing. And there were probably four or five times where the light bulb just went off. And you could see it where he was like, I mean, like Jesus died when I was a sinner, not after I cleaned myself up. I was like, and he just kept having these light bulbs. I said, read the scripture. What do you think about that? And then he was like getting there all on his own. I didn't have to do anything. No, I mean, I, you know, I did. I talked to him, but he was doing the whole thing. Here's my point. We got to a point at the end where I said, what would stop you from giving your life to Jesus right now? And he's, he literally sat there in silence, maybe like a full 60 seconds and was really trying to figure out the answer to that question, which I so appreciate. And he was like, it's a really big decision. It's like a, I told him it was a complete relinquishing of everything in his life to the Lord. It's a surrender.

51:01Everything in your life is submitted to King Jesus. And he was like, it's a big deal. And I'm not sure, I'm not sure I can do it. And I said, you know what? Here's what's going to happen. Number one, you're not guaranteed tomorrow. I don't want to force you, but I need you to know. The day of salvation is today. And also, you're going to leave here and get really busy. Classes, homework, he has two jobs. All this stuff is going to happen. And you're going to forget about this conversation. I'm not speaking ill. I'm saying this is what I've seen happen hundreds, if not thousands of times at this point. Where someone seems interested in a moment. And they leave. And they don't ever think about it ever again. As far as I'm concerned, right? I don't know. Seeds planted. Sure, maybe. I just know what happens. If Satan's going to come in and try to pluck that seed right now. And why wouldn't you give your life to the Lord, like right now? And he was like, yeah, I mean, I get what you're saying. And he said this phrase that has stuck with me all week. He said, what's more important than this? He's like, yeah, I got two jobs. I got school. I got family. All these things. But what's more important than Jesus? Making him the Lord of my life. And he did not do it in that moment. He didn't say the prayer, commit his life in that moment. I got his number. Hopefully he'll text me back. You guys can pray for him. There was other moments at UTD. I know Chloe had an awesome few moments. Jacob was with us as well. I had some cool moments. When you think about the role of the Holy Spirit in someone's life, one of the primary things the Holy Spirit will do, he will put that phrase on your heart. What's more important than this?

52:48Where truly in your heart, like by faith, you are able to say, what's more important than my relationship with Jesus? What's more important than Jesus Christ and me surrendering all of life to him right now? Most of us, I mean, all of us in here are Christians, have been Christians for a while. We still need to make that decision daily. But one of the things we're looking at today is Acts chapter 2, which is like the moment, right? It's the moment. We've been leading up to this. We spent four or five weeks on Acts chapter 1, and we're finally getting to one of the biggest moments, if not the biggest moment in all of church history. Some would call it the birth of the church, that the church did not exist prior to this moment in Acts chapter 2. And it's this amazing moment where they get filled with power from on high, and they speak in tongues, and 3,000 people come to know Jesus in a moment, get baptized, and the church is born in this miraculous way. And there's so many things I could preach on from this chapter. I was reading it thinking like, oh my word, what do I even pick? How do I preach this? And I decided that my goal is to make sure all y'all are speaking in tongues by the end of the sermon. Just kidding. But some of y'all were like, whoop. That's not my goal. Although that would be awesome. Like Paul, I wish you spoke in tongues more than me. That's what he said. Something stuck out to me on the latter half of the chapter. And I want to hone in on it because I think the phrase, what's more important than this? And if you fill in this, just Jesus. What's more important than Jesus? That, that's the context of this chapter. Yes, there's manifestations of the Spirit. There's amazing power. The birth of the church.

54:27But I want us to see Acts chapter 2 in the context of human history. Where does this fit in human history from eternity past, creation, all the way to final judgment and eternity future? Where does the baptism of the Holy Spirit fit? So, here's where we've been the last several weeks. Jesus has promised them to fill them with power so they can be witnesses to his resurrection from Jerusalem, Judea, to the ends of the earth. And he calls it the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's what John the Baptist promised would happen. Jesus says, wait in 10 days. He didn't say that. But he says, wait until the promise of my Father comes upon you. And when the Spirit comes upon you will receive power to be witnesses to the resurrected Christ. The baptism of the Spirit is unto being a witness. It's not about getting caught up in the clouds, but being rooted on earth with true power from heaven to usher heaven into earth today where you live, work, and play. That's what the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it's power to witness. And this is what he's promising them. And then on Acts chapter 2, it's the day of Pentecost. It's finally the day. They don't know it's the day until it happens, but it's the day. And the day of Pentecost, here's what you need to know about Pentecost. It was the most well-attended festival on the Jewish calendar. Men from 20 miles out, up to 20 miles away from Jerusalem were required to come and worship in Jerusalem. What ended up happening is that Jews, men, specifically men, from all over the known world came to Jerusalem for Pentecost. It was the feast of first fruits. What they were doing is they were bringing the first fruits of their harvest to the Lord in Jerusalem. It also was a day you celebrated the giving of the law in Mount Sinai.

56:09We read about in Exodus chapter 19. So it's first fruits. It's also the giving of the law. And it's this amazing festival. Can you pull up the picture? Terry put up a picture. I want you to see this. This is from, okay, I'm going to point from here, but you guys can see it up there. That star is where Jerusalem is, and all of these other places are where the men came from to be in Jerusalem. This is the known world. They don't know anything exists over here. Like this is the nations, the 15 nations represented all coming to Jerusalem. So when 3,000 get saved in Acts chapter 2, it's not just 3,000 that are there in Jerusalem. I mean, it is packed. You can't even walk. It is so jam-packed full of people. And it's on that day God the Father decides to send the Holy Spirit to baptize his people with power so that these 15 nations can know Jesus and who he is and what he's done. So what happens is the Holy Spirit comes from heaven, and there's a sound like a mighty rushing wind that fills the entire house. There's a fire that comes from heaven. It says, tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. So little, I don't know, flames came and rested on someone's, their head, and then they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they immediately started to speak in tongues. They spoke in languages that they didn't previously know. It wasn't just a prayer language for them to enjoy between them and God, which is what Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 14. This is a, they're all of a sudden speaking these languages of these nations that are present. It's like all of a sudden I'm able to speak Chinese, and I've never studied it. I don't know how to speak it, but I'm supernaturally enabled to speak Chinese, Mandarin, because someone in the, whatever, in the group needs to know the gospel in their language, and they don't speak English.

58:02It's, it's a, it's a powerful testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit, and also the mighty deeds of God, which is what they preach. In verse 11 it says they preach the mighty works of God in tongues that they did not know. So that's the context. And at the very end they're like, yo, these guys are drunk. They're drunk. And the first words out of the first person who speaks the first sermon, post-resurrection, are, we're not drunk. How funny is that? It's like the opening line of the first sermon, post-resurrection, is, we're not drunk, which tells you that there's something happening in that group that is lacking inhibition, and has the same look as someone who's inebriated. This is what's happening. They wouldn't think that, if I spoke in Chinese right now, you wouldn't be like, oh, Josh is drunk. You would think he's the smartest guy I've ever known in my life, right? Yeah, they're not thinking, well, those guys are smart. They're like, these are Galileans, they must be drunk, but they're speaking in another language. Here's what's happening. They're supernaturally enabled to speak in a different language, but it's happening in such a way that there's no inhibitions, and it seems like they may be, quote, drunk, but they're not. They're just filled with the Spirit, and the power of God's flowing through them in such a way their bodies are losing their ability to control everything about their faculties. And that's why they're accusing them of being drunk. So then we get to Acts 2, verse 14. Let's go there. That's what we're going to read. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it's only the third hour of the day.

59:46That's 9 a. M. So he's starting his sermon saying, guys, listen up, listen up. It's 9 in the morning. We're not drunk. But then he puts it in context. He doesn't just put it in context in terms of, yeah, this was prophesied. This is what's happening. So let me read it and explain it a little bit. Then we're going to jump into the book of Joel. When's the last time you read the book of Joel? Jana, when's the last time you read Joel? It's been a minute, right? I dove into it this last week. I was like, man, Joel's crazy. But there's a reason Peter is pointing out Joel in this passage. So he says in verse 16, But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. And your young men shall see visions. And your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants. In those days I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So in the book of Joel, Peter is saying, it says in the last days, and I'll talk about last days here in a second, God declares, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Here's why all flesh is important. Because in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come and anoint specific individuals for specific tasks at specific times. It was kind of like a dive bomber in a way.

1:01:26He would come and anoint and he would empower for a time and then he would leave. And he would come back and he would do it for somebody else. It was a prophet, priest, or king most of the time. Sometimes it wasn't. But the Holy Spirit was not distributed amongst all of God's people. If you remember Moses, they had a prayer meeting and God touches and anoints all the elders with some of the spirit that was on Moses so that they can help him lead the people. There were two that weren't there that got touched even though they weren't at the meeting. And they were empowered by the spirit and began prophesying. And they're like, yo, those two guys weren't at the meeting, but they got touched by the spirit. What's up with that? And Moses says, oh, would that all of God's people prophesy? So in the Old Testament, the implication is not all of God's people were filled inside with the Holy Spirit. But in the last days, in the age of the church, the spirit, the same spirit that empowered King David, Samson, to rip down the house on the Gentiles, that same spirit is now poured out on all flesh. Not just the leaders, not just the kings, not just the prophets, not just, in fact, it takes the ordinary people and makes them prophets. It's amazing. It's a total shift in how God has been distributing the Holy Spirit. And that's something on the other side of Jesus' death and resurrection and ascension. Notice he says, your sons and your daughters and your young men and old men. There is no, there's no, what am I trying to say? He does not hold back pouring out his spirit on any age or gender. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, if you're old or you're young.

1:03:02And he even goes far as to say, on my male servants and female servants, it doesn't matter where you are on a socioeconomic status, that you now are part of the all flesh that the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon. So it's a complete shift. Notice he says prophecy, visions, and dreams. He doesn't say tongues. So what's going on there? Well, I personally think that when they're speaking in tongues, that's an umbrella term in this way, for yeah, they're speaking in new languages, but what are they speaking? The mighty works of God. Well, what does that mean? I believe that in another language, they begin to prophesy. I believe there's words of knowledge that are coming out. I believe that there's words about people's dreams. I believe that there's people seeing pictures and they're declaring what they're seeing out loud in these languages and they're hearing it. So this is not just like, I'm speaking in Mandarin one-on-one to somebody about the Lord. This is like, I'm so filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit. I'm speaking in another language, prophecies, dreams, and visions. This is a miraculous outpouring. It's like all of it at once, that Joel 2 is being fulfilled. Then he goes on in verse 19, it says, I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. So this is actually a future element to the prophecy of Joel. This is not happening in this moment. This is what's going to happen after the Spirit is poured out on the last days. What will come is that there's going to be wonders in the heavens above, signs on the earth below, blood, fire, vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

1:04:40And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So now he's talking about a future day to come after the last days. And there's going to be signs and wonders and there's going to be just this great and magnificent day of the Lord. Now let's go to Joel really quick. Okay. You can turn there if you want. There'll be a couple of scriptures I have for the screen. I want to just, it's only three chapters long. It's really not that long, but it can be a little complicated because we don't know much about Joel. We know his name means Yahweh is God, I believe, which is a great name. We don't really know when he wrote, but he probably wrote to the southern kingdom of Judah. If you remember, the kingdom of Israel was split, northern kingdom, southern kingdom. He was speaking probably to the southern kingdom. And here's kind of the outline. He starts off in Joel chapter one and he's speaking about a plague that ran through Judah. It was a plague of locusts. That it was actually a day of the Lord. So the major theme in Joel is the day of the Lord. If anybody asks you, what's Joel about? You say the day of the Lord. Okay. I'm going to help you be Bible nerds. Anybody comes up to you because they probably will ask you about Joel. And when they do, and they say, what's that about? You say the day of the Lord. It's about the day of the Lord. There's a past day of the Lord. There's a future day of the Lord. And then there's an eschatological day of the Lord. Big word meaning that the end times is coming one day, another day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is a day of judgment. That God comes and judges wickedness. The first one in the book of Joel is locusts. God sends locusts on the people of Israel and specifically the southern kingdom.

1:06:16And what happens is the locusts eat all the grain, wine, and oil. So they don't have anything to eat, nothing to drink. They can't cook. They really don't have anything. It lays waste to the entire southern kingdom. And this is due to their sin. The next day of the Lord is a future day where God's going to send an army that looks like ants because there's so many of them. And they're going to come and they lay waste to every single hill, person, place, thing that they come to. They lay waste to it. But there's this moment in Joel chapter 2 where God says, if you, or Joel says through God says through Joel, if you turn and repent, who knows, maybe God will relent from this disaster. He's slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Maybe, just maybe, if you turn and repent, stop going the direction you're going, if you stop right now and you turn back to the Lord, maybe God will relent. And the good news of Joel is that he relents. He actually turns from sending this army, though they deserve it, they turn from their heart, in their heart, back to the Lord. Of abundance. And this is where in Joel 2, it says, then the Lord, this is how he responds to those who repent. Let this, like hear this, hear this message. Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The Lord answered and said to his people, behold, I am sending to you grain, wine and oil. Oh, and you will be satisfied. You know who that's about? You don't even know, but you know, we talk about it's about Jesus. And you will be satisfied and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

1:07:50How does God respond to their repentance? He relents. He turns from the punishment that should have been theirs and what does he do instead? He gives them grain, wine and oil. He restores what the locust had stolen. The locust, you can think, is sin. What does sin do to you? In the same way, the locusts destroy all of life. Sin will destroy your life. Had a conversation with somebody this last week who's going through a bunch of stuff with a relationship and all this and she was trying to figure out what's going on, like how do we get here and I just, in loving way, was able to say like, this is what happens when you invite sin into your life. When you sin, it invites all sorts of chaos and confusion and you have no idea the next step to take, but here's the step to take. Repent and pursue holiness. When you invite sin, it does what locusts do. They see it, they eat it. They completely destroy all of life. This is what happens when sin and the solution is to repent and we repent and what happens, we become satisfied with fresh grain, wine, and oil. What do you use, what is grain used for to make bread? This is about the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. The message of Joel is not about what happened to the Israelites ultimately, it's about the person and work of Jesus who would come. That those who repent and turn from their evil, wicked ways are satisfied with true food and true drink, that is the presence of Jesus himself, and then they're given fresh oil, which speaks of the presence of the Holy Spirit, to continue walking in the way that God wants you to walk in.

1:09:23But that's not the end. So what happens after this Joel 2 passage is the next passage that Peter quotes. So what happens after the fresh bread and wine and oil is sent is a new day and age in which the Spirit of God comes and anoints all of God's people. And that's the last days. In the book of Joel, he says, and afterward, but Peter translates that as the last days. The last days is a period in human history that precedes final judgment, that we are currently in the last days. The last days is not when the apostles were alive and the apostles died and now we're not in the last days anymore. We currently reside in the last days. That's what Joel is saying, that there's a Spirit that's going to be poured out in the last days. But there's something else that happens after the last days, and it's final judgment, a day of the Lord that's coming in which God will gather all people, living and dead, all who have died, all who are still alive. He will gather them, resurrect the dead, and say, all right, now we're going to go into judgment. And this is what he talks about. This is the language he uses in Joel chapter 3. I think I have that one. I hope I have that one. Okay, good. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened and the stars withdraw. They're shining. Like, this is the day of the Lord, like a physical, actual day that's coming. When stars won't shine anymore, the moon won't be bright anymore. The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake.

1:10:57But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold of the people of Israel. This is the day of the Lord that's coming, a day where all the things that we look at that shine become dark. And the Lord roars from his judgment seat in Zion. And he decides, in that moment, who's worthy of eternal life with him forever and who's gonna be damned for the rest of their eternity. This is eternal, what we're talking about. The last days. This is why this is important. And this is why the coming of the Spirit has so many implications other than you get power to do some cool stuff. You get power to do some cool stuff because we now live in the last days, which means this. The next phase in human history is final judgment. We live in a period of time in which any moment, any moment, that trumpet will sound and the Lord Jesus Christ will return in the same way he went. And the Spirit coming on us in power is witnessing to this reality. It's almost like it's a big sign that says, Jesus is coming soon. And this is great news and terrifying news because the day of the Lord is great and magnificent. And not just great and magnificent because we get to frolic in the fields and all happy with Jesus. It's great and magnificent because he's gonna come back and finally do away with all wickedness.

1:12:30And this day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, Jesus says. No one knows the time. No one knows the day. Remember, they asked Jesus, is it at this time you're gonna restore the kingdom to Israel? And he says, it's not for you to know that. I just want you to know you're gonna be filled with power to be my witness. Jesus and the Father have intentionally not told anyone. Jesus doesn't even know, apparently. The Father has not told anyone when Jesus is coming back. We do know some hints as to why he hasn't come back yet. All nations haven't heard the gospel. He's patient. He doesn't want anyone to perish. There's reasons why he hasn't come back, but nobody knows the time or the hour. What struck me this week, what really like hit me in my heart this week was like the next phase in all of human history is final judgment. You know, one of the things the Holy Spirit will do when he comes upon you is puts everything in perspective. He gives you an eternal perspective. He helps you see your life in light of eternity. There's so much more going on and what we're headed for is so much better and so much more terrifying than we could ever know or imagine. And the Holy Spirit coming upon us in power reminds us that gosh, we are living an eternal life. That eternity hangs in the balance. This is a matter of life and death. Last week, I talked about receiving true food and true drink from the presence of Jesus, learning to receive the Lord, not just understand him, but to truly believe and receive the presence of the Lord.

1:14:07You know why that matters? Because there's coming a day where those who do not receive him will be a part in the lake of fire forever. That's sobering. And receiving the Lord is a matter of eternity. He says, work for food that endures to eternal life. It's true food for me now that really satisfies my heart, but what it does is it puts me in a position to be ready for when that day comes. I felt faith in my heart this week. Like so sober and so like, am I ready? Like what if he came? Like what if he came tomorrow? What if he came tonight? This should sober us. It shouldn't create fear in terms of like, oh no, where am I going to be? Because I'll tell you right now, if you sit here right now and you're like, I'm not sure what side I'm going to be on with the day of the Lord. I want you to talk to me after this service. Like do not leave before you talk to me because you can be sure and secure in your relationship with Jesus today and know where you're going. But we shouldn't have a fear of where are we going? We should have a sobriety about I don't want to be found sleeping. How many of Jesus' teachings talk about this? In all the synoptic gospels, there's the parable of the virgins with the oil, right?

1:15:42There's five that have oil ready and prepared and five that don't have oil. And when the bridegroom comes, the five without oil, they leave to go get oil and they're too late and they're not welcomed into the marriage supper of the lamb. They fell asleep. One of the biggest threats to being ready for the day of the Lord is sleepiness. Sleepiness. Sleepiness. Now you're like, okay, what do you mean? How do you fall asleep? There are two words that came to mind when it comes to how do I fall asleep? And before I, it's sin and sorrow. I'll tell you that. Sin and sorrow. But I want to actually read something from Mark that I'll put this a little bit more in perspective. It's not going to be on the screen. This is fresh off the press. Mark 13. When we went through the book of Mark, we touched on this. Mark 13, 32. I don't know if that's right. Yeah, here we go. Okay. But concerning that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard. Keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.

1:17:18And what I say to you, I say to all, stay awake. I don't know about you, I do not want to be caught sleeping. I want to stay awake, spiritually. One of the things the Holy Spirit does when he comes upon you in power and touches you in a way that you're like, you'll never be the same, is he wakes you up. I've had so many, so many, I don't want to be dramatic, several. I've had several, I've had several people I've talked to and prayed for that they would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I'm always like, I want to see something happen. Like I want to see tangibly someone get touched by the Lord because it encourages me and it encourages them. And it's like, whoa, God really did that. And so when nothing happens, like something could have happened, but you don't feel anything. You're like, wow, did something happen? So all I have to say, it's just a personal thing. I like to see something happen. And so when I, I've prayed for several people and one of the things I target whenever I pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the gift of tongues. Not because I think you have to speak in tongues to be baptized. I'm not that Pentecostal. I am Pentecostal though, which I realized a couple weeks ago. I was like, well, I think I'm Pentecostal. But I'm not the Pentecostal on the side of you have to speak in tongues in order to know that you're saved and know you're baptized. I don't believe that. I do find it helpful in a moment of ministry and prayer to have that as a target. Just so you can know like we're going in this direction and almost every time someone who I've prayed for who's spoken in tongues, it's connected to some other thing in their life.

1:18:51It's connected to a discipleship matter. A fear that they have, a theology they've been taught that's holding them back or holding the Spirit back from really moving in and through them. And here's what's so interesting. Almost every single one of those times, one of the things they describe is how they feel after they get it is awake. And I don't ever expect that. I'm praying for somebody in my office and he was, this was a couple years ago at this point maybe, and he started to speak in tongues for the first time and he was really going for it. He's like, I know I need this is kind of weird, but I know I need this. And so he started to pray in the Spirit. And he did that for a few minutes and then stopped and I was like, how are you feeling? He's like, I feel awake right now. Like he was seeing things for the first time. I prayed for another guy at a restaurant at a Schlotzsky's, which you have to speak in tongues to say the name of the restaurant. So it's a great place to go and pray for the baptism of the Spirit. Just say Schlotzsky's over and over and over again and you'll get there real quick. And we were praying and he started to speak in tongues and all of a sudden he jolted up like he had been asleep. He jolted up and he was like alert, like he hadn't been. And all of a sudden he came to his senses and he was like, what's happening in that moment? One of the things the Holy Spirit comes to help us do is apply Jesus' teachings to stay awake. It's so easy to fall asleep. There's two things that I think can make us fall asleep very quickly. It's sin and sorrow. Habitual sin will put you to sleep.

1:20:26It numbs you. Habitual sin is there because there's something inside that's deeply wounded that needs healing. And you're trying to heal yourself through band-aids that never satisfy. They never help. They only numb you in the same way pain meds numb you. You take pain meds for a certain amount of time and you want to get off of them as soon as possible because you're not all there and you just feel like you can't even focus. And that's what happens when we try to numb ourselves through habitual sin. These wounds that we have inside of us we lash out whether it's pornography or greed or jealousy or whatever it might be. There's these things we do habitually that all it's trying to do is put a band-aid on a deep gash you have in your spirit. What you need to do is receive true healing which comes through repentance and faith in the gospel of Jesus to receive his body and blood again for you. When you do that it's not just like oh I'm forgiven I'll go to heaven when I die. What happens you get touched by the Holy Spirit and he wakes you up. In moments of repentance there's such a sobriety because it feels like you've been drunk and now you're not and you're sober because the Spirit of God has healed something in me that I could never have healed myself. So if you find yourself not awake to the presence of the Spirit not excited when you wake up in the morning no matter what's going on in your life I'm not talking about your life is perfect and everything is going exactly as you planned. Regardless there should be a waking up and a sobriety and alertness to who I am who God is where do I fit in human history and what's coming closely is the day of judgment I better get busy with the people in my life that don't know the Lord.

1:22:00That should be the norm regardless of circumstance. It's not a fake oh everything's fine it's like this thing in my life is very hard but I have this deep abiding joy that comes from feasting on the Lord and repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Habitual sin will put you to sleep real quick. The solution is to repent turn to the Lord feast on his body and his blood and wake up by the power of the Holy Spirit. The second thing is sorrow. I think sorrow can put you to sleep really fast understandably so. Remember the story of Gethsemane when Jesus goes to pray right before he's betrayed and he goes to the mount or he goes to the garden he goes to Olive Garden and he needs to pray and he gets alone and he goes a stone throw away from Peter, James, and John. He falls down on his face he just begins to pray and he's weeping and he's crying out to his father take this cup for me and he comes back and he finds his disciples sleeping and it says that he found them sleeping from sorrow. That what put them to sleep was not that it was late at night. What put them to sleep was that they were deeply sad. They were finally understanding the suffering that Jesus was going to have to go through. They were grieving. Before the event actually took place faith had rooted in them that wow Jesus is really going to go through that and because of the sorrow in their hearts they fell asleep.

1:23:33It's one of those things that Jesus he doesn't come and say he does rebuke them in one way but he's asking for companions at that time. He's like could you not stay awake and pray with me? Like this is my hour of suffering and you fell asleep. But Jesus comes near to those who have fallen asleep from sorrow and he speaks tenderly to them he ministers to them and he slowly brings their heart back to life because he shows them I'm the resurrection and the life. I know you're sorrowful for now but joy comes in the morning and that's only possible because Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. He's the hope not circumstance. Everything's going to be okay not because your life is going to go as planned but because Jesus is the resurrection and the life and has conquered the grave by his body and his blood. So sorrow is not something we just set aside so we can pretend everything's okay. It's something we hand to the one who was rejected who is a man of sorrows Isaiah 53 tells us. He's the only one that knows what to do with our sorrow. We bring it to him and he takes it and he just he ministers to it and he identifies with it and you know the word compassion means to suffer with? If you're struggling with sorrow he comes near and suffers with you. He doesn't just say hey wake up come on let's figure it out there's work to do. He says give me your sorrow let me suffer with you. He comes to Mary and what does he do with Mary after Lazarus dies? He weeps with her. He calls her actually.

1:25:08This was so I was reading this today. I was reading this today that when Jesus comes to Martha has this rational argument like I know it's going to be okay he's going to come back or he's going to come back to life and Jesus is like I am the resurrection and the life. And then Martha goes to Mary and says the teacher's here and he's calling for you. Why do you think Jesus was calling for Mary? Because he wanted to suffer with her. He didn't want to fix her problem or reassure her even that I'm about to raise him from the dead it's okay. He wanted to suffer with her. This is his heart. It's not just the ministry he has. It's in his heart to suffer with those who are sorrowful. He draws near to them because he's a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He draws near not to fix but to suffer with. That's what compassion means. Man if you have kids you know this to be true that if one of your kids is suffering like you just want to go near them. Like the other kids are great I love them that's fine but this one's suffering and you're just heart you just want to be close you want to cling you want to hug you want to kiss you want to make sure they're okay. This is the father's heart this is Jesus' heart for those that are suffering with sorrow. He sees and his heart actually leaps with compassion and mercy to draw near. Like mercy is not just something Jesus has it's who he is. He says I am gentle and lowly at heart. He's accessible in the place of sorrow. That's where he's found the most clear the most clearly he is found in the place of sorrow.

1:26:40And when you interact with the presence of Jesus in the place of sorrow he uses his precious Holy Spirit just to minister to you to bring your heart back to life over maybe weeks months or years even of sorrow and sadness and not knowing why that thing happened or why that person did that thing to you or whatever it might be and Jesus slowly but surely in his grace and mercy resuscitates your heart and brings it back to life so you can get into a place where you're awake again you're sober you're alert to the things of God and the fact that he's coming again this is why the Holy Spirit is called our counselor our comforter Jesus uses the presence of the Spirit to comfort us to counsel us to be our advocate and we're living in the last days there are plenty of opportunities to send and plenty of reasons to be sorrowful personal and I would say corporate but personally on a micro level there's reasons to be full of sin and sorrow and then on a macro level there are reasons to be full of sin and sorrow and the answer to those is the Holy Spirit the wonderful counselor the advocate the comforter the one who comes alongside in time of need do you know that's what paraclete means?

1:28:12When Jesus said I'll send another helper he's saying allos parakletos another of the same kind which means it's someone who comes beside the person in need that's the role of the Holy Spirit to come alongside you when you say help who is the help that Jesus sends? It's his beautiful precious Holy Spirit so the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit isn't only just for speaking in tongues and prophecy and visions and I would say that's one of the primary reasons in Acts chapter 2 so I don't want to move too far away from the context of Acts 2 but I felt on my heart to say that the reason we fall asleep is sin and sorrow and Jesus his answer to both of those is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit if many of us have been afraid to lean into the Spirit of God and to really give ourselves over to his presence his person what he might do it's because we're afraid that is he going to make me say something that's weird am I going to fall down and are you going to make my dignity kind of fall out of me like are you going to shake the dignity out of me am I going to fall down say something you know like I think sometimes we get afraid but we forget that his name is comforter his name is advocate counselor one who comes alongside to help in a time of need it's beautiful and he's not just a counselor who lets you talk it out he's actually someone who gives you grace is the enabling power to take another step even when you feel like you're going to fall it's that empowering presence of God himself the Holy Spirit to help you take another step when life is not what you thought it would be why does this matter because guys we are in the last days I want us so badly to understand the weight and gravity of the fact that the next phase in human history is final judgment it's the day of the Lord when Jesus Christ is not going to come as a lamb he's going to come as a lion he's going to come as a warrior on a white horse with a robe dipped in blood fire in his eyes a sword at his hip a tattoo on his thigh no one knows but himself white hair the ancient of day is going to come like a thief in the night the trumpet's going to sound the sky's going to rip open Jesus Christ is going to come and he's going to judge the living and the dead and we have been given the Holy Spirit to stay free from sin to have a place to give our sorrow to so we can stay awake but also he's given us the Holy Spirit so that Jesus is our obsession in the last days where Jesus is not just an add-on to our lives to make us feel a little better about what we did yesterday but that the only desire in our hearts is the person and presence of Jesus of Nazareth these two verses go with me again to Acts chapter 2 I'll close here in Acts chapter 2 at the end of or at the beginning of his sermon at the end of Joel it says and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved what's the name of the Lord what's the name of the Lord oh this lit me up last week when I read it men of Israel he says hear these words Jesus of Nazareth who's the name of the Lord we call on to be saved Jesus of Nazareth it's the first words in his sermon after he tells him this is the context of the spirit the last days and guess what it's all about Jesus I told my son Bo today I was like you know the Holy Spirit's role is to put a spotlight on Jesus and he was like you mean like if you can't find him like you put a flashlight on the ground like you know there's dark stuff that falls in the night and it's like dark against dark and you need a flashlight to see it I was like not where I was going but yeah that's what the Holy Spirit does he helps you find Jesus and that's what he did with these 3,000 here in this time the Holy Spirit filled this man Peter who just 50 days ago could not admit to a girl at a fire that he knew Jesus now he's standing up in a crowd where there's 3,000 and some of them were even there 50 days ago yelling crucify him crucify him and Peter stands up full of the power of the Holy Spirit and what does he do Jesus of Nazareth what's his sermon Jesus of Nazareth what's his main topic Jesus of Nazareth who do you think was burning in his heart that moment he was saying those words Jesus of Nazareth a man attested to you by God with mighty works and deeds he goes on and he says that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men God raised him up loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it wow that's good news Jesus of Nazareth a man he came in the flesh and he went in the grave and God raised him up why because death couldn't handle him death thought they swallowed the son of God and what happened was the son of God swallowed death he vanquished death he in the words of Irenaeus he exhausted death threw everything it could at Jesus and ran out and Jesus said are you done and he rose back from the dead conquering death forever and in the last days you've been empowered by the Holy Spirit to make Jesus of Nazareth the obsession of your heart the main topic of your life the only message that comes out of your mouth Jesus of Nazareth there is no other message that's what the Spirit does in the last days and if anybody calls upon the name of Jesus of Nazareth they will be saved I pray and hope that you and me that we are stirred in our spirits that we would be awake to the things of God to the mission of Jesus and that he would be the main obsession of your heart I say obsession on purpose I want I want Jesus to be the obsession of my heart where like I wake up thinking about him I go to sleep thinking about him and all throughout the day all I'm thinking about is the person the man I'm obsessed with Jesus Christ of Nazareth but sometimes we just need to be waking up we just need a fresh touch from the Holy Spirit maybe you're full of sin sorrow maybe you've had other topics that you've been caring a lot about maybe it's not sin maybe it's just these hobbies these habits these things that you really like to do but maybe you're realizing right now that I've actually given too much to that it's like maybe an idol in my life and I just think that the Holy Spirit is here to put a spotlight on Jesus for those that are trying to find him that they would find him but also for those who maybe have other topics would find that the main topic is Jesus of Nazareth and so I'm gonna pray I'm gonna ask the Holy Spirit to do that for us to search us and to know us to see if there's any way in us that's not consistent with the life that the presence of the Holy Spirit will want us to live in and then we're gonna receive the Lord together in a minute and so Holy Spirit you know everything you know everyone in this room you know every thought that they've had the moment we've sat down you know every feeling in their heart you know all the sorrow you know all the sorrow Holy Spirit you know all the sorrow in the room Lord you also know all the sin and your heart your heart goes out to those in sin in the same way it goes out to those in sorrow it's like you need me receive me receive me receive me he doesn't look at those in sin and think oh my word you better clean yourself up it's while we were yet sinners Christ died for us his heart goes out to you Holy Spirit would you just stir even right now in our hearts in our stomachs would you just stir up just a fresh faith in the presence of the Spirit in the last days you change our appetites Lord convict us of sin tell us that you're a safe place a safe place to put our sorrow just let the Holy Spirit search you let them search you just avail yourself Holy Spirit is so good we need his presence Lord I pray that you would convict us if any of us have seen the ministry of the Holy Spirit as auxiliary or secondary forgive us for not giving the Holy Spirit the honor that he deserves Holy Spirit we want to honor you we want to be people who honor you as the Lord the giver of life none of what Jesus accomplished becomes ours if it's not for the ministry of the Holy Spirit I pray you would awaken us Holy Spirit awaken us Lord Jesus you're the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit baptize us again Lord I pray for words and languages to come out right now in the name of Jesus that words would come to mind that we don't even know what they mean but we know they're a distinct word I just encourage you to release it if that's happening to you just release that word out loud don't hide it in don't be afraid it's the baptism of the Spirit he's ministering to you releasing tongues is actually a ministry of the Holy Spirit he's trying to help you he's the helper he's trying to help you let it well up within him Lord maybe you feel a bubbling up in your spirit starting in your stomach and you feel like it's just coming up to your chest and into your throat can be that can be the Lord trying to release the gift of tongues in you right now just let it happen let him minister to you oh we have fresh grain wine and oil today guys there's fresh grain wine and oil for you today and so Father I pray right now for these elements in the name of Jesus I ask that you would fill them with your divine presence in life that as we partake it would be a true union with you and as we partake of the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit we're partaking of the anointed one the one who was anointed by God to deliver all those who are captive so Father thank you for the life of your son Jesus thank you for breaking your body and through your stripes we are healed and thank you for your blood that we are cleansed and purified and that death has been conquered Paul says in 1 Corinthians that when we take the bread and the wine we're proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes again this is a victorious meal we are declaring victory over the lives the areas of our lives that seem lost that seem broken that seem dead we're proclaiming there is victory in Jesus this is not just a meal about me being personally cleansed from sin it's a meal declaring Jesus has won Jesus is alive and he will come again to judge the living and the dead and to usher in his people into eternal life forever and ever