What We Believe - The Holy Spirit

Wow, what a privileged opportunity to be back, to be back at this great, great local church that has such a strong global impact. And tonight, before we get into the teaching, just continuing the conversation of what we believe, I want to give a shout out to Pastor Greg from the Little Rock campus, Pastor Patrick from Jonesboro, Pastor Jason, Pastor Jay from Metro. Can you give it up for these guys? Wow, thank you guys for what I'm doing. Thank you for being here. Thank you for advancing the mission.

And I know online tonight, others of the campuses, Pastor Ronnie and the Villages, and Pastor John, Pastor Joel and Brittany are watching. And Pastor Parker, of course, navigating the online campus. So thank you so much for being such a model, life-giving, spirit-empowered, evangelical church, not just to this part of the state, but really to the world.

Well, it's a privilege tonight to join with my friend, Rod, and to talk a little bit, just to continue the conversation about what we believe. You know, you've heard it said that it really doesn't matter what you believe, so long as you're just sincere in your beliefs. Well, you know, that's not really true, because the idea of something just being sincere doesn't necessarily make it true, good, or beneficial for you. Back, a lot of times, it can be destructive. You can sincerely believe two plus two equals five, but it's obviously wrong. So, what you believe is important.

You see, what you believe will fuel and inform your outlook on life, your decision-making, your priorities, your choices, your lifestyle. What you believe has consequences, both good and bad. What you believe is like a door. It literally has the potential to bring realities into your life or to shut the potential of those realities out. That's probably why Jesus said, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; but he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life." And so, what you believe really does matter.

And tonight, I want to talk to you a little bit about a belief in the Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit. Hopefully, when you came in tonight, you have a teaching outline that you can follow along, as well as perhaps take note of some scriptures that will be on the screen. Now, as a kid growing up in a charismatic, spirit-filled church, I saw a lot of things done in the name of the Holy Spirit that were quite interesting. Fact, they're still happening today.

This past December, I heard about a pastor in Houston that was preaching, and in his message, he made reference to Santa Claus and how culture has sold out to Santa Claus. And at the end of the message, a lady stood up, and she gave this sort of a, well, I don't even call it prophetic, but it was in the disguise of a prophetic utterance. And she said, "Thus saith the Lord, thus saith the Lord, lay off Santa Claus. He's a good man doing a really good work." You know, I know some people refer to the Holy Spirit as a ghost. Some even call him "it." I don't know. But I can tell you, I've seen a lot more things that are positive. I've had a lot of impact in my life from the person of the Holy Spirit. So, it's a great topic when we talk about what we believe to consider the work, the person of the Holy Spirit.

Now, to get us started, let's come up with, here's a few thoughts, just random thoughts to kind of initiate this teaching. It's my personal opinion that the Holy Spirit doesn't get the appropriate amount of time or the accurate amount of attention that he needs in a church. And when you think about it, we get God the Father because everybody has a father. We get God the Son, he became flesh and dwelt among us. But the Holy Spirit, he doesn't always get the kind of teaching because some people can't comprehend him. But that's okay. Neither did the early Christians.

Consider this verse in Acts chapter 19. The Bible says, "When Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus on the coast, where he found several believers. And they asked, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' He asked them. 'No,' they replied, 'we didn't even understand. We haven't even heard there is a Holy Spirit.'"

Secondly, I would submit to you that the Holy Spirit is best understood when he's experienced. When he says it, it's never simply sufficient just to describe the Holy Spirit. You need to experience the Holy Spirit. It's kind of like being a grandparent. Any grandparents in the house? You know, initially, when Pastor Rod and I said on some committees together, and I actually work with and alongside your former pastor, Pastor Alton Garrison. And so work on it, that grandparenting stage where we swapped pictures and told stories. And it was amazing how uninterested Rod was before. And now he enjoys topping our stories. I mean, this little girl can walk on water, she can catch BBs with her mouth. I mean, it's amazing. Like grandparenting, the Holy Spirit really is best understood when you experience him, not just explain him.

So tonight, I want to talk about what it means to have an active relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit. Consider this verse from Romans chapter 8, verse 9. Paul says, "But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit, if you have the Spirit of God living in you. And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all." There's a good definition for us tonight in our teaching on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, and our relationship with him is a vital part of Christian living.

On the screen, can we read this together? Let's read it in unison together: "The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, and our relationship with him is a vital part of Christian living." Here are a few thoughts about an active relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Number one, the Holy Spirit protects you from yourself and the wrong thinking that the enemy tries to trick you with. The Holy Spirit protects you from you. Paul writes in Romans chapter 8. This is a powerful verse. He says, "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, watch this: the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death." For those two words, "no condemnation," are incredible. They're free. You see, too many people live with things that condemn them. They live with guilt, they live with regret, they live with the "I wish I would have." A lot of people live with this mindset that they're not worthy enough to get involved in doing ministry. That is wrongful thinking, and the Holy Spirit can protect you from that kind of thinking.

Notice what Paul said in verse 5 of Romans chapter 8: "Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, think about things that please the Spirit." I'm telling you, friends, the Holy Spirit keeps us from getting tripped up by the things that God forgave us of. He keeps us from getting tripped up by the things that we've already been forgiven. You see, it's one thing to know you've been forgiven and to be set free. It's another thing to walk in and have an understanding of the freedom. And that's the power of being spirit-filled. That's the power of an active relationship with the Holy Spirit. He protects you from thinking those kinds of thoughts.

Oh, look, there's an enemy of our soul. There's an enemy that doesn't like us being in right relationship with Christ. The person of the Holy Spirit, that will do everything possible for you to keep you from living in that freedom. He likes you to live with condemnation. He likes you to live with guilt. He likes you to live with thinking, "I'm not worthy to get involved, volunteer." He likes you to have that mindset. His name is Satan. And I don't want to give him a lot of attention tonight, but I think some of us need to understand Satan analogy 101. Let me remind you a few things of what the enemy does.

Number one, he tries to undermine the credibility of God, and he's been doing that ever since the Garden of Eden. Secondly, he tries hard to make it hard to live a Christian life. Thirdly, the enemy of our soul will try to confuse us with false teachings. Fourth, the enemy, watch this, tries to cause division in the body of Christ. And can I tell you, one of the most popular tools that the enemy is using to try to bring division in the body of Christ is politics today. And we need to not let politics be used by the enemy to bring division in the body of Christ. Fifth, he tries to get you to trust in yourself more than God.

So, when Paul said in Ephesians 8, "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion, stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for believers everywhere." One of the reasons why Paul encourages us to pray in the Spirit is because he recognizes that you and I can't defeat Satan in our own strength. We need a power outside of ourselves, and that's what the Holy Spirit does. He gives us that power. So, he protects us from us.

Second thing that the Holy Spirit does in having an active relationship with him is that he gives us a sense of contentment for where we're at in life, even if it's not ideal. The Holy Spirit gives us a sense of contentment about where we are in life, even if we're at, it's not ideal. Again, let's go back to the scripture, Romans chapter 8, verse 6. "So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. Now watch this: but letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace." For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's law and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature cannot ever please God.

I'm telling you, friends, one of the benefits of having an active relationship with the Holy Spirit is you live with a sense of contentment about where you're at. And so, here's what I've discovered when it comes to this contentment that the Holy Spirit brings. Number one, he helps you accept what you cannot control. Did any of you know people that get all upset by things that they can't control? Jesus said, "He will bring me glory by telling you whatever receives from me, all that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me." The takeaway truth on that is this, church: God can do absolutely anything, but we can't. He can do absolutely anything. And so, when you can't control something, you need to be reminded yourself. And this is what the Holy Spirit does. When you can't control something, the Holy Spirit will remind you that God is in control, and he likes being in control.

I suspect I discovered the power of taking over a situation last December as it related to my five-year-old grandson, Jackson. Jackson, any grandparents in the house again? I mean, haven't you discovered grandkids really are God's reward for not killing your own? We have five, five grandkids that are the age of six and under, and we are just enjoying this incredible season of grandparenting. Well, Jackson, the oldest grandson, five years old. His mom, my oldest daughter, decided on December 22nd, December 22nd, that she was going to change his, she felt like he needed to have a little bit of better attention span and some help with the attention span and wanted us to support this decision. So, on December 22nd, Jackson's mom, my daughter, decided to put him on a vegan, gluten-free diet. I really thought I trained her better than that. Come on, homemade peanut butter fudge or avocados in a blender? What would you rather have?

Now, the other thing I've discovered about grandkids is how at an early age they learn how to control this device right here. So, Jackson knows how to take his mom's phone and FaceTime me, and that happens periodically, and we have a lot of fun. But on December 22nd, I saw a call come in from my daughter's phone. I FaceTime call. I'm pretty confident it's Jackson. So I hit send. And normally, the call goes something like, "Papa, Papa." He takes the phone from his mom, and he goes into the bedroom and he shows me all the dinosaurs that are lined up there. And then he kind of shows me Spider-Man pajamas and those type of things. So I was anticipating this jovial interchange with Jackson.

But on December 27th, when his mom, my daughter, changed his diet, I got this call. When I hit send, on the other end, there was Jackson's face full of hurt and anxiety. And he looked at me and said, "Papa, Papa, what you gotta rescue me? Rescue me, Papa." I knew exactly what that meant. That poor boy was being starved. So I jumped in my truck, I ran over and got him. I picked him up. I bypassed the back seat car seat, I put him right in the front, strapped him in. We went to Sonic drive-through, got some loaded cheesy fries and a strawberry. Does that boy needed somebody who was going to be in control? Life was back to normal. You see, part of the job of the Holy Spirit is he helps you accept what you can't control. And too many people get wigged out by things they can't control. That's why we need the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, who makes known to us that which is known by the Father. The second thing the Holy Spirit does in bringing us the sense of contentment about where we're at, even if it's not ideal, is that he helps us to be able to trust God's judgment. Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you." Let me remind you of something you already know. There is no such thing as problem-free living on this side of eternity. We live in a fallen world, we live in a broken world. We all have our own faults. And if we're not careful, we somehow think that once we accept Christ, once we're full of the Holy Spirit, that we're never going to have problems. Baloney. We are going to have problems. But at some point, you have to trust, and you have to allow the Holy Spirit to help you develop this confident trust in a God who cares for us.

The third way the Holy Spirit brings a sense of contentment about where we're at, even if it's not ideal, is that the Holy Spirit helps you surrender to God's control. You see, one of the reasons why some people don't live with contentment that comes from the Holy Spirit, now catch this, they're actually fighting against God. They're fighting against God. And I would submit to all of us in this room tonight, your arms are too short to box with God. Do you remember the name Muhammad Ali? As one of the greatest boxers of all time, world champion boxer, used to be known as going around saying, "I'm the greatest, I'm the greatest, the greatest." Several years back, you'll probably recall that tragic scene when the Olympics were in Atlanta. And Ali, Muhammad Ali, was chosen to light the torch. He climbed the stairs, he had that torch in his hand, but he also had that Parkinson's shake that was so evident and so reverberating that he could barely light the torch because of the shaking that was in his body due to Parkinson's disease. Few days later, in an interview, he said these words, and I quote: "God gave me that moment so that I could remember I'm not the greatest, but He is." And I would submit to us tonight, friends, that part of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, when we really surrender ourselves to Him, is he helps us allow God to have total control in our lives.

So, the Holy Spirit protects us from us. The Holy Spirit brings a sense of contentment wherever we're at, even if the circumstances aren't ideal. And thirdly, I would submit to you tonight that the Holy Spirit brings intimate fellowship with God like you've never experienced before. The Holy Spirit brings intimate fellowship with God like you've never experienced before. Let me, let me kind of walk this out. God, God made himself known to us in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We'd always comprehend that. But for our children that are in the audience tonight, let me, let me help you with that. To my mom, I'm a son. To my wife, I'm a husband. To my girls, I'm their dad. And the same person, but I'm a son, I'm a husband, and I'm a dad. So God chose to make himself known to us in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And he made himself in those three persons so that we could have fellowship with him.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:4, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Say, "What's the word fellowship mean?" Simple terms, it means intimate friendship. That's probably why the Message translation puts it this way: "The amazing grace of the Master Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." And so, First Assembly, and all of our campuses, and those watching online, can I just remind you, the Holy Spirit simply wants friendship. He wants friendship with you. He wants fellowship with you. He's a catalyst for helping us understand that God is not some distant deity out there in outer space that we can't connect with. But it's the Holy Spirit that brings the personal dynamic in our relationship. It brings the intimate relationship with us. And that's always been God's desire. You see about it, even in Genesis chapter 1, the Bible says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and the earth was empty, and darkness covered the deep waters." Now watch this: "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." What was the Spirit doing while it was hovering over the waters? It was, he was looking for someone, a friendship with. He was looking for someone to have intimate fellowship. And God has always been at work, involved in a relationship with you and I. It's evident in creation, it was evident on the cross, and it's evident in the fact that he's prepared a place for us in eternity. When we die, it's not lights out. The Bible says, "In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll receive you unto myself, and that's where where I'm at, there you will be also." You see, even when you're not aware of it, God's making plans and to want to have a relationship with you, even we are not aware of it.

I suspect I understood this a few months ago. If those of you who travel or perhaps find yourself in an airport every now and then, you know the constant delays and that. And if you travel a lot, you, you, you have various statuses and there's various perks that come with that status. I was in on Delta Airlines and I was flying into Atlanta to make a connection, the Atlanta would then come on into Springfield. And I just knew, I just knew we were late from where I started. We're gonna be late getting into Atlanta. I'd missed that connection that came into Springfield. And I was just, "Oh, I can't believe it. Oh, this is there." Aha. So when it landed and I had cell service, I flipped my phone on. I was just getting ready to call Delta to say, "Hey, what can you do?" And pretty soon, my phone rang. It was an 800 number. And I answered the phone and on the other end of the phone, they said, "Is this Reverend Clay?" I said, "Yes, it is." "This is the Delta Platinum Desk. We want you to know we've recognized there's been an interruption in your travel plans, and we are already working on making arrangements for you." That's pretty cool. Even when I wasn't aware, they were aware and already making arrangements.

Church, fellowship with the Holy Spirit involves us sharing our lives in communion with him. It's all about us opening the deepest parts of our personality to him and to his Spirit, our thoughts, our motives, our attitudes, our fears, our passions. It's all seeking his counsel. And so, when the Holy Spirit, catch this, takes residence in your life, God assumes parental responsibility. And even when you're not aware of it, he's working on your behalf. That is so cool. That when the Holy Spirit takes residency in your life, God takes parental responsibility.

So, my plea and appeal tonight is this: Don't just let the Holy Spirit in. Let him take residence. Because when he takes residence, God takes parental responsibility. And I picked this one up a few months ago. When I'm in town on Sundays, we attend New Life Assembly there on the south side of Springfield. It's where my youngest daughter and her two grand, two grandkids, her two children go. And Mason is my two-year-old grandson. I love Mason. He's got the red hair, he's got the full of energy. And so generally, I have the privilege of after the service going and picking him up from the kids' area. And it's always fun. Mason, "Pop!" Hey, pick him up. And just kind of a fun time to go pick up your grandkid.

Well, I was in church and a pastor was speaking. He brought his message to a close and he started to pray. And I sneaked out, snuck out, I should say, and I started walking down to the nursery. And I was all pumped. And as I got to the room, the door was open, but it's a little half door. There, Mason turned and looked up. Our eyes connect. I said, "Mason, Pop!" He dropped his Legos and he ran to the door. And just about the time I got to the half, that half door to reach down, one of the nursery workers, Miss Attila the Hun, stood right there. It just came right in there. And she said, "Excuse me, can I help you?" "Yeah, that's my grandson. I'm here to pick him." She says, "Do you have his identification number?" I thought, "Woman, I am the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God." And she was looking at me like, "I don't care if you're LeBron James, I want to know, do you have his number?" So I walked back into the sanctuary, got that little tag that had a 7942 on his back so I could get Mason. Kudos to that nursery worker who did not for all who work in children's ministry. Let me know she was doing her job. But when you invite the Holy Spirit, not just in, but to take residency, God the Father takes parental responsibility for you, and he'll not let anybody hijack you or take you out of a nursery prematurely. Ah.

So, what do we believe? Well, we believe that the third person of the Godhead is the Holy Spirit, and our relationship with him is vital to Christian living. We also believe that there is an experience, an experience called the baptism in the Holy Spirit, that provides so much benefit and blessing to our life. In fact, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is really just sort of the start of a wonderful, lifelong relationship with the Holy Spirit. But let's be honest tonight, a lot of people get hung up on tongues. In fact, have you ever been asked, "Hey, do I have to speak in tongues to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?" Well, I want to just put a pause right there and say, that's kind of the wrong question. I would rephrase that and say, "I get to speak in tongues as a benefit of being baptized in the Holy Spirit." Let me help you out with that.

You see, first of all, speaking in tongues is biblical. Very biblical. Joel said in Joel chapter 2, verse 28, "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days." Peter actually used this Old Testament verse to explain to all of the onlookers after the Day of Pentecost experience, and he was saying, "Look, this is a biblical experience. You hear people up there praying, praying in their prayer language. This is biblical." And he used this verse to justify that action. Jesus, Jesus himself both promised and commanded. And he told his disciples, "Wait before you go out and try to change the world, until you receive power from on high." The early church, man, the early church experienced it. Incredible. In fact, this whole, this whole Spirit baptism is a global phenomenon. Did you know that over 640 million spirit-filled Christians live on planet Earth? One-fourth of Christians worldwide are spirit-filled. That's pretty cool. So, what I'm saying is, it's biblical. If Jesus promised it, if the early church experienced it, and if it's a global phenomenon today, I want that. I'm in. I want everything that God has for my life.

Secondly, I would encourage you that as it relates to speaking in tongues, it's beneficial. It really is. It gives you courage to live out your faith. It gives you a boldness and a wish in witnessing. But for me, what's most important about speaking in a prayer language is this: it gives me communication access to God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:2, "For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit."

You say, "Well, duh, Clay. If this is so biblical, if it's so beneficial, if Jesus commanded it, if the early church experienced it, it's a global phenomenon, then what keeps people from seeking the infilling of the Holy Spirit?" You could probably come up with your own list, but for tonight, here's my understanding, or here's my list of why some people just would rather not seek this wonderful biblical gift.

Number one, they've seen a lot of unhealthy modeling, both in individuals and in churches. You think about it, if our claim is to be spirit-filled, but we don't model a spirit-filled life, then there's almost always an immediate negative response to being spirit-filled. And furthermore, if a church jumps, whoops, and walks and talks about walking straight and has a lot of high energy RPMs, but they do nothing about the world that they live in and transforming that work, then that's a mixed message. Spirit-filled Christians should be the most transformational Christians on the planet. So it means nothing to be able to say, "Hey, I've got this prayer language," but then go out and do nothing to impact your world for Jesus. So, there's been unhealthy modeling.

Secondly, there's been some inaccurate teaching. I mean, some people have taught that tongues are of the devil. Some people have taught that tongues have ceased with the New Testament, they're not for today. Some people have kind of taught that, well, you know, it's kind of like leather seats when buying a car, it's just an extra, it's not an essential. Well, I would submit, if Christ and Paul and a lot of the New Testament, have an Old Testament prophet by the name of Joel, if they made such a big deal about it, I think it's more than just an extra. And Jesus commanded it, and Paul encouraged it, and the early disciples wanted to make sure all the early Christians heard about this and had a chance to receive that. I'm in. I want everything that God has for my life.

There's another reason why some people just kind of hold this experience at arm's length. It's what I would call insufficient motivation. They just sort of view maybe having a prayer language is that's nice, but not necessary. So I guess I would ask this question: Why tongues? Why did God choose a spirit-inspired speech? Why did he choose speaking in tongues as sort of the evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit? And here's what I have to tell you, I don't know. I really don't. I do know this, that the tongue, according to scripture, is one of the most unruly members of our body. And out of our tongue can pour either life or death. So, here's a thought: Maybe God wanted to use the most unruly member of our body to be used as an instrument of worship, evidenced by the fact that we've been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Because of the tongue, which is the most unruly member of our body, is in complete surrender and control to the lordship of Christ, then that's a pretty clear evidence that He's taking residence in your life.

So, you know, Brad, if maybe he wants to come and the team to the stage, I'll just get real personal with you tonight and answer this question: Why do I speak in tongues? Why do I practice when I have prayer time, both praying with my understanding and praying with a speech that's inspired by the Spirit? And I'll just share with you why I value my spirit-inspired prayer life.

Number one, I want everything that God has for me. If it's biblical, if it's beneficial, if Jesus promised it and commanded it, if Paul talked about the value of that, I want it.

Secondly, I would submit to you, I need a power outside of myself to protect me from myself. And Jesus said in Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." For me, the reason I pray and my spirit-inspired speech is I need to be spiritually recharged quite often. And he's spiritually recharged. And check out this verse from the book of Jude, verse 20: "But you, dear friends, must build each other up in the most holy faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit."

Can I tell you, there are times in my life, there are circumstances I go through when I don't know how to pray. But when I begin to pray, and I begin to pray in this language that I'm comfortable with, that I've experienced in my spiritual journey, there is a dimension of releasing some of that anxiety to the Lord, like I don't have when I'm just praying and understanding.

Fifth, why do I speak in tongues? Because I enjoy worshiping God in this dimension. It's awesome. Fat. Can I ask you, how many of you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues? Can I see your hand? How many of you enjoy worshiping God in that dimension? Listen to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14: "Well then, what shall we do? I will pray in the Spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I'll sing in the Spirit, and I'll also sing in words I understand." What Paul is saying here is, you know what? There's a dimension of praying in the Spirit that it's, it's different than praying and understanding. And Paul said, "I want you to do both. How much you have both? I want you to use the native language that God has given you to say praise and to give thanks to the Lord, but I also want you to have a spirit-inspired speech that God has promised for every believer."

So tonight, what we believe. We believe that the Holy Spirit is not "it." He's a person. He protects us from ourselves. He brings us a sense of contentment even when our circumstances aren't content. And the Holy Spirit, when we experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit, gives us a prayer language. It gives us direct access to God in worship. And it's for our benefit. It's not for a badge of honor. It's not to have pride. It's not for some us spiritual superiority. It's just a part of the spiritual journey. It's something that God has for all of us.

So tonight, for those of you who have a prayer language, in a few moments, I'm gonna ask you just to begin to pray in that language the Lord has given you and enjoy that dimension of worshiping God. And also tonight, if you've never had the privilege of speaking in tongues, according to scripture, not according to what other people say, according to scripture, if you've never felt the Holy Spirit come over you to a point that it's just, you're overwhelmed by the love of God, and and your language, English or Spanish, it's just, it's, it's limiting, and you want to break down tonight, God wants to baptize you in the Holy Spirit. There's nothing weird about it. There is nothing spooky about it. It's just an opportunity to surrender yourself to the Lord and allowing him to take the most unruly member of our body and use it as an instrument of praise to him.

So tonight, as a part of what we believe, we're gonna give an opportunity for those of you who've never experienced this beautiful, biblical opportunity of praying in the Spirit, a chance to do that. Hey, I want to pray, and then I'll give some instructions. Thanks, God, for your word. Thanks for this entire series of being able to really have a good biblical understanding of what we believe. I do thank you, God, that you're trying. I thank you that you're God the Father. I thank you that you are God the Son. And I thank you that you're God the Spirit. And help us as we understand that third person of the Trinity, not to be afraid, not to be wigged out, not to let other people's weird stuff about it keep us from understanding the beauty of an active relationship with the person who lives inside of us, that gives God the Father parental responsibility for our lives. So tonight, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, would you accomplish some really cool things in these altars? In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

I'd like you to stand together with me, please. And here's what we're gonna do. In a few moments, Brad's just gonna lead us in a worship. And I'd like to fill this place with worship, just singing to the Lord, loving on the Lord, saying things like, "I love you, God." But tonight, if you're here and you'd say, "You know, Don Clay, I've never had the privilege of breaking out of just being able to worship in English. I've never had the privilege of being able to use a heavenly language that's spirit-inspired and to worship God in some of the dimensions you've talked about." Then we want this altar call to be for you. I don't want you to wig out, because here's what's gonna happen. Nobody's gonna touch you. Nobody's gonna blow on ya. And nobody's gonna throw water on you. All right?

So, how we want to do it is just, if you're here and you'd say, "You know what? I get it. It's biblical. I think it's beneficial. In fact, I've kind of tried to seek it sometimes, but I haven't." Then tonight's for you. When we begin to sing, if you would love to be baptized in the Spirit, all I'm asking you to do is come and just stand. There will be several. And you're just gonna stand at the altar, and we're gonna sing, and we're gonna worship. And at some point, I'll go like this. Brad, we'll bring the music down. And I'm gonna pray a prayer. And when I pray a prayer, the end part of my prayer will go something like this: "So, Lord, tonight, would you baptize my friends with the Holy Spirit and give them courage to pray in a language you're going to inspire them?" And when you hear me say that, say, "Amen." I just kind of want you to stop speaking in English and begin to pray what the Lord is putting in your mind. In fact, when I pray that prayer and say, "Amen," I want the entire audience just to begin to pray in their spirit-inspired speech. And we're going to take a few moments before we dismiss tonight and just turn this entire auditorium into a prayer of praying in our language.

Again, can I see how many of you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit? You know it's real. You know it's beneficial. You know that it works. So, if you haven't, take a look around, friends. Not everybody here has drunk the Kool-Aid, okay? This is really biblical. So it doesn't have to be weird. I don't know what your preconceived idea of it is, but here's what I do know: it really does protect me from me. I can beat myself up sometimes. I can get really intimidated. I just had a major career change in my life and followed someone whose IQ and his intellect at leadership is far beyond mine. And stepping into that, and there are several times, if I let myself, I'll get intimidated and wigged out. And I just have to pause. "Holy Spirit, I need your help." And I'll just pray in the Spirit. There are times that I'm, I don't feel content. I am worried about the grandkids and those girls in our few. If I let myself, I can worry myself into this anxiety. I got to back off and say, "I'm gonna pray and understanding. I'm gonna pray in the Spirit." So I'm telling you, from a personal standpoint, this thing is really real, and it's meaningful to me. It's not about showing off. It's not about standing up and saying, "Lay off Santa." It's all about having direct access to God. So tonight, it could be your night to receive the Holy Spirit.

Father, in the next few minutes, not a prolonged time, and definitely not a manipulated time, we desire for your canopy of your Holy Spirit to fill this auditorium. And I pray from children to senior saints alike who desire this wonderful gift that you promised us, that we would have on this side of eternity, in life before you came and received us on ourselves. We want it. So tonight, would you accomplish your purposes by baptizing people in the Holy Spirit? In Jesus name. If you desire to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, I want you to come as Brad starts to sing right now. Just just stand. Just come and stand. Yeah, a lot of people.

[Music]

It's cool. Very cool. Whoosh. So right now, why don't we just join in the song and kind of just worship for a couple minutes? Go ahead. Come on. Nobody's gonna touch you. No, I promise you. They do rock. I promise you. I'm not. This is a no-touch altar time tonight. Huge hallelujah. The worship you. Yes, Lord. Yeah. Thanks. I worship you. Worship. Yes. Working in hallelujah. The waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God. Come on. If you're comfortable, just lift your hand to begin to worship the Lord. Hallelujah. We make miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God. That is [Music] you. [Music] [Music] [Music] This is so cool. And I am so excited about what God wants to allow you to experience in the next couple moments. I promise you, it's nothing weird. There's nothing. But here's what I will tell you, there's gonna be a fear element. You're gonna be worshiping the Lord. You're gonna hear me pray that prayer, and in the name of Jesus, baptize my. And you're gonna want to just start and from here to here, you'll try to talk yourself out of it. Oh, what am I? Don't do that. Don't talk yourself out of it. What the Lord will put in your mind in terms of a syllable, a speech, and just be anything. Now, here, I also want you to understand something. I got baptized in the Holy Spirit as a junior higher. So I have felt comfortable praying in the Spirit since I was in junior high. So, you know, it feels a little, it feels comfortable for me. Take that with someone who's brand new praying in the language. It's, it's, it's not as comfortable. So don't listen for anybody else. You just focus on Jesus, because tonight, the issue is concentrating on Jesus. The issue is a tongue. This is just kind of the byproduct of focusing on the waymaker, the miracle worker. And so don't get hung up. Don't even, in fact, when we start to worship, you don't even think tongues. You don't even think Jesus. You just think, "God, I want everything you have for me." But there will come a point that you just sort of feel, "Man, I want to tell you a little bit more, God, that I love you." And at that point, talk. So talk yourself out of a fear that will go from here to it. Secondly, you gotta talk. It's not thinking. Holy's tongue, it's speaking. So at some point, you got to get comfortable saying, "Lord, I love you." Hey, God, I bless. Doesn't have to be loud. Doesn't have to have a lot of footage of. But, but you got to be exercised praising the Lord with your voice and with your vocal cords. So we're gonna sing this one more time, then I'm gonna pray a prayer. And hey, first, isn't this kind of cool up here? What, what if, what if God baptized every single person up here? How cool would that be? And for those of you who are watching online, you can, you can experience this right there in your home. So this prayer is for you as well. I want you just to begin to worship the Lord. I want you to thank the Lord. But when you hear my prayer that talks about, "And now, God, baptize your people," and those, I want you to do the very same thing. I just want you to stop speaking in English and begin praying in the Spirit. Church, this is where you come into play. When you hear me pray that prayer and I say, "Amen," all across this auditorium, I just want to lift up a, a shout and a, a prayer of praise in our spirit-inspired speech. Amen. One more time, and then I'm gonna pray, and we're gonna believe you're gonna get baptized. A promise keeper in the dark, my [Music] [Music] miracle [Music] [Music] No, Father, tonight, we thank you that you have a good, you are a good God, the giver of every good and every perfect gift. And the gift of the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of having a spirit-inspired prayer language, is biblical. It's for our benefit, and we want that. So tonight, in the name of Jesus, I pray you would baptize everybody up front and rebaptize all of us, this congregation, in the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Come on, all over this place, just begin to worship the Lord in your prayer life. The love of Son. Hallelujah. With your voice, with your mouth. Sinclair, the greatness. LaMarca. Hallelujah. [Music] Come on, don't let fear take over. Keep going. Keep going. Just talk yourself out of not speaking, and just go ahead, speak. Just go ahead and get exercised this language that God's putting in your mind right now. We declare, dear Lord, with this [Music] wait. [Music] [Music] [Music] So I promise you, this wasn't gonna be a touch altar call or a manipulative. And you know, we serve a pretty creative guy. Some people have been filled with the Spirit in the privacy of their room. Some have been filled at a camp or a retreat or in a big stadium. And so it doesn't matter where. But we're gonna do one more time of that kind of intensity. And again, I don't want you, don't, don't, don't seek a language. Seek Jesus. He's the one that gives that. But don't seek that. And then after that, we're gonna be done. We're gonna be done. And if you were filled, cool. That's awesome. If you weren't, don't you dare walk out of here feeling discouraged, because think about it, 15 minutes of intense seeking. Gee, nobody ever goes wrong doing that. I think what you need to do is reflect on some of the scriptures, think about the thoughts, push past some of the misconceived ideas you might have about this experience, and say, "God, help me to come to you just like a little child in total surrender to you." So we're gonna do the same thing. We're gonna just sing the chorus. I'm gonna say, "Father, in Jesus' name, fill this place with your Spirit. Amen." When I say, "Amen," all over the place, I want us just to worship the Lord in a prayer language. And the goal is just to get you in that kind of a discipline of saying, "Okay, I'm going to take that step from English into a spirit-inspired speech and trust the Lord for." Hallelujah. We make very good. This key, light in the darkness, my God. [Music] [Music] [Music] Miracle. [Music] [Music] You. The miracle. [Music] And. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] We made miracle. [Music] [Music] Not. [Music] [Music] You are here, moving in our midst. I worship you. I worship you. You are here in this place. I worship you. I worship you. You hear. You. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] In the dark. We come on. I promise. In the darkness, my God. [Music] [Music] You. You are here, touching every heart, and you're turning lives around. I worship. I worship. You are here, living every heart. I worship you. I worship you. I call you waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God. That is who you are. [Music] We made miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God. Lord, we thank you for for meeting us here. We want everything that you have for us. I pray, Lord, that you would let the an experience become a lifestyle where we walk with you and walk with your Spirit, where your Spirit protects us from ourselves, and where your Spirit works in us and through us to reach out to our world. Lord, we want to share. We want to share what the love and the hope that you put in our hearts. Holy Spirit, we ask for your help as we do that. In the name of Jesus. [Music]