Is the Holy Spirit Upon You? — Shane Idleman

The Holy Spirit Upon You

If you have your Bibles, you can turn to Acts chapter 8. The title of the message is, is the Holy Spirit upon you? And you might say, Shane, we're talking a lot about the Holy Spirit this last few months, and we are because we're in the book of Acts.

And it really shouldn't be called the Acts of the Apostles. What should it be called? The Acts of the Holy Spirit. And it's the Holy Spirit moving in the church. And I believe this topic, apart from salvation, hear me, hear me loud and clearly.

Apart from salvation, this is the most important topic we can talk about. Because once you're saved, wonderful, but do you have the Holy Spirit in your life? Is the Holy Spirit upon you? So here's the question I'm gonna throw out there.

And I wanna throw this out to people who have been coming to church a long time. You've probably been coming to church longer than I have. And you've maybe well more, I'm sorry, well-versed in the Bible a lot more than I am.

And you know theology. But let me throw out this question. Is there fire in your life? Is there fire in your life? What I mean by that, is there godly passion? Is there zeal? Now, not just for his word, but for others.

Are rivers of living water flowing out of you? Are you spiritually alive? Because we're talking about a living, vibrant word. The word of God is living, it's vibrant, it changes everything. So if these areas are missing, if you don't like this topic, if you're getting a little uncomfortable, it's because you need to hear this topic.

Is the Holy Spirit upon you? So turn to Acts chapter eight, verse 14. Acts chapter eight, verse 14. Now let me throw another question out while we're reading. We're gonna talk about the Samaritans. Are these Samaritans believers?

Are these Samaritans believers before the Holy Spirit falls upon them? Interesting. Are they believers or are they not yet believers until the Holy Spirit falls upon them? So let's read. Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

Now this is like us saying, the apostles here in Palmdale, when they heard that Santa Clarita received the word of God, they sent apostles to them. That's about the distance from where they're going to Samaria.

So they heard that Samaria had received the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down to Samaria, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Is that interesting?

For as yet, he had not fallen upon them. So these people received the word of God, but the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when the apostles laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit.

Now isn't this interesting? These Samaritans received the word of God. What, I mean, that leads us to believe, right, that they probably were believers, but the Holy Spirit had not fallen upon them. So again, that question, has the Holy Spirit fallen upon you?

The Holy Spirit Within and Upon the Believer

That might be a good reminder that I spoke about a few months ago. When the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit, there's three prepositions that the Bible often uses. Para, para, cletus, that's where we get the word paraclete.

There's high schools named after that. It means the Holy Spirit is coming alongside, much like a helper, coming alongside of you. And then the Holy Spirit, en, another preposition in the Greek language is the Holy Spirit is in you.

But when the Holy Spirit is in you, you can quench and grieve the Spirit of God to where you feel like you're dead spiritually, even though he is in you. You've quenched and grieved the Spirit of God.

Now, the powerful preposition, the one I like the best is epi, E-P-I. It means the Holy Spirit has come upon you and overwhelmed you, so springs of living water are flowing out. That's where most people are missing it.

Now, theologically, there's different divides. You talk to Jack Hayford, you talk to John MacArthur, you're gonna get a different twist on this. You talk to Norman Geisler or Wayne Grudem, systematic theology, and those who write theology books, you're gonna get different things.

You can even look at Matthew Henry. He wrote in the 1600s a very good commentary written, actually, I believe it was, yeah, 1600s. George Whitefield would actually carry that commentary in the Bible with him when he would go preaching.

Matthew Henry said that these people are converts. John MacArthur says this is a transitional period within the Book of Acts, where the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen, so it's transitional. So what is going on here, Shane?

Well, I'm glad you asked. But first, let's clarify for some new people, and I know, I've actually heard, we have people coming that aren't really well-versed in the Bible, so when I say certain things, they're not sure what I'm talking about.

On this issue of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is, it's part of the triune, they call it the triune nature of God, the trinity. It's what sets Christianity apart from a lot of other religions as well.

We believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One, yet operating in three distinct persons. Now that's about as far as I go, because if you start to get a little out there and explaining it, you run the risk of misrepresenting the trinity, the triune nature of God.

The Holy Spirit is what is given to a believer. He indwells the believer. So now you have the character of God, the nature of God, the heart of God. And the more you submit to that work, the more you'll be filled with this nature of God.

When you don't submit to that work, and when besetting sin comes in, wrong attitudes, bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, jealousy, all these things that just come in, if we don't harness them and get rid of them, you will quench the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and be ineffective for God.

I mean, I would say the vast majority of believers do not lead people to the Lord. They don't talk about Jesus very much. They don't mention, maybe employees, I've known employees that would work together for months, and they wouldn't even know that each other were Christians in the construction field.

They would work together. How is that possible? It's possible because it's not upon them. The Holy Spirit is not upon them. So that's who the Holy Spirit is. It's a person, it's not a force. It's not like Star Wars or God's force.

That's why he can be quenched and grieved. So were these Samaritans believers? Were these Samaritans believers? If so, why did they receive the Holy Spirit later? Well, if we go back and we look at verse six, the Samaritans that we read last week, they gave heed to the word of God.

They were filled with joy, and they were even baptized. So that would lead us to believe that they were believers, that they were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what happens, though. There is no set pattern in the Book of Acts.

Laying on of hands, they're filled with the Spirit. Baptized, they're filled with the Spirit. They believe they're filled with the Spirit. There's no set pattern. The Book of Acts is the Holy Spirit, like the wind, moving wherever he wants, and he's gonna do whatever he wants, however he wants.

And this is interesting. This is why often you'll see some fundamentalist-type churches, they'll say this about the Book of Acts, that they actually don't use the Book of Acts for doctrine. And I understand what they're saying because it doesn't like the Pauline Epistles or the Book of Romans or Ephesians, where theologically, doctrine is laid out systematically, and you know what the church should do, what the church shouldn't do.

So I see what they're saying, but I've often noticed it's often those groups who are afraid of the Holy Spirit who say this. Oh, look at the Holy Spirit doing all that stuff. We don't use the Book of Acts for doctrine.

We don't wanna touch that book. We just, that's what happened now, but let's, no, but it confirms experiences. It confirms what God still does in the church. So if the Holy Spirit comes upon me and I'm broken before God and I just wanna worship and I love his word and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are in my heart and I'm reaching out to heaven, I'm drawing closer to God, and I see that written in the Book of Acts as the early church experiencing the same thing, that validates my experience.

And I believe it was D. Martin Lloyd-Jones who said, if you want a commentary, he's a good commentator, died, I think, in the 1980s, but he said we never interpret Scripture in light of our feelings or experiences, but we do interpret our experiences in the light of Scripture.

So if what I experience lines up with Scripture, I don't have a problem with that. And that's why the Holy Spirit is an interesting topic in many churches. In one church, they won't talk about it. It's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Word, not the Holy Spirit.

They don't wanna talk about that because look at all this weird stuff, speaking in tongues, prophesying, what is this? Come on, guys, it's just, no, no, none of that. And then this side, right, is the circus environment where it's just odd, it's God, anything goes.

You just can quack like a duck and act like a monkey and do whatever you want in the name of the Holy Spirit, and just tons of things happening. The Holy Spirit, brother, and all this weird stuff that's not biblical.

But you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The Holy Spirit is powerful. If I could go to each one of you, I would shake you and say, are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Is he upon you? Well, Shane, how do you know?

How do you know? How are you treating others? Are you witnessing? Is the Christ the center of your life? Do you love worship or is it boring? Is church monotony or is it fulfilling? Come on, guys, this isn't rocket science.

We know, is the Holy Spirit upon us or is he not? And I think that's what's happening here, so let's talk about it. Let's break this down, verse 14. For you Bible students who wanna break down the scriptures, we are going to do that right now.

Now, when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God. So, received the word of God, dekomai, dekomai. It means they welcomed in the Greek. And the reason I'm bringing up the Greek here is because the two words received are actually different in the Greek language when he uses the word receive later.

So, these disciples, these apostles, they heard that Samaria welcomed the word of God, okay? But I can welcome a visitor at my door and not open the door. Hi, good to see you. You gonna open the door?

No, I'm welcoming you. It's funny, this morning, 2 a .m., woke up, I'm like, that sounds like a trash truck. Something's just, that's a loud noise, beep, beep, you know? So, I look out and there's fire trucks up my street, you know, and paramedics.

So, I look out, so I couldn't really see what house they were at, and I couldn't go back to sleep. That was the problem. But I was gonna welcome, you know, I'm welcoming. Do they need some help there?

But had I not went out there and investigated and asked, I was only welcoming. So, I think that's what we're seeing here. It's to receive something in a welcoming way. So, the Samaritans received the word of God in a receptive way.

Then verse 15, who, when they had come down, prayed for them, the apostles prayed for the Samaritans, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Now, this word receive is lambano. So, it's an interesting topic on the Greek language.

In Hebrew, they're very poetic in different things. But like for the word love, I love TV, I love my wife. We use the same word. Where the Greek language would have agape and phileo and different types of love to be more specific.

So, if you look at that, lambano means to take with the hand in order to use. So, they welcomed the Holy Spirit, they welcomed the word of God, but it wasn't until the Holy Spirit was upon them that they were able to use that, like taking hold of the Holy Spirit.

Experiencing the Filling of the Holy Spirit

Here's the key, receiving the Spirit is experiential. Now, that might be controversial for some people, but it shouldn't be. When you receive, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, there is, it's experiential.

You go to a good movie, you experience something. You see your baby being born, you experience something. Your team won the Super Bowl. You, people get more excited about that than being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Have you realized that? So, it's experiential. Now, not all the time. Some people, there's just a deep sense of God's abiding love. Other people, like I remember D .L. Moody, he had to go into a room, shut himself up for a few hours because the Spirit of God was pouring on him this tremendous amount of love that he felt he was gonna burst open.

Charles Finney, I can take you to Whitfield, Adrian Rogers, A .W. Tozer, all these people we read about, they were filled mightily with the Spirit of God, and it was experiential. They experienced something.

You can't experience God and not feel it. Isn't it, we like to judge people, they're so emotional when they worship. I mean, if God is touching your heart, you might be more apt to do something experiential, thank you, Lord, than sitting there bored to death because you haven't experienced God.

That's why I feel that many people are not truly worshiping God. Because they're not experiencing Him. If you're truly experiencing God, you're crying, Abba, Father. Here's what happens, 15, 20 shake their head yes, and the rest say, He's upsetting me now.

But remember, the only reason I upset is to convict. And when you're convicted, hopefully you'll go to God and say, I want that, I need that, I see my need now. See, that's the point of conviction. You see, when I'm convicted about how I treated somebody, I go and I reconcile it.

When I'm convicted about a certain lifestyle thing, I'm gonna deal with it. That's the beauty of conviction. I like what John Piper said. If you wanna listen to some solid Bible teachers, he's well versed in theology and also open to the power of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

He said, the ones mentioned throughout the book of Acts that experience God are either speaking in tongues or prophesying, they're freely praising the great things of God. There's boldness and there's power and witness and there's obedience to God.

They experience God through the Holy Spirit, they're different. There's something different about them. So, what's going on here? Let me clarify, this is the item in prayer phrase now, okay? And this is probably one of my top subjects that I really enjoy.

I read a lot of books on the Holy Spirit. I've got a pile about this high on both sides of the debate on the gifts of the Spirit, the power of the Spirit, the unction of the Spirit, the anointing of the Spirit.

What does this mean? Because that's what literally changed my life. The only reason I'm here preaching today is because of the power of the Holy Spirit. The only reason I get up and I want to seek God is the power of the Holy Spirit.

The only reason I lead people or bold with people about Christ is because the Holy Spirit, not Shane Idleman. So, that's why I love this topic. There's so many people, too, trying to do the Word of God in their flesh when all they have to do is submit to the work of the Spirit.

And he will lead, he will direct. So, here's my thoughts. With these Samaritans, we can all agree, I'm assuming, that something was clearly lacking, right? Something was clearly lacking. They received the Word of God, but they had not received the Holy Spirit.

So, a few things could be going on here. They were either challenged by the apostles in their walk, so they were challenged. You know, the apostles said, listen, you've got to submit to the work of the Spirit, or they were ignorant to the things of God.

We don't know there's a, what are you talking about, Paul? They're either ignorant or they're being challenged. And now, here's how it normally plays out, talking to now, fast forward 2 ,000 years. Here's how it normally plays out.

People say, on this topic of the Holy Spirit, Shane, I'm open, but I'm very cautious. I like the idea, but I have no intention of fully surrendering my life. It makes sense, but I'm not sure it's for me.

If you say all those things, then you will not have the power of the Holy Spirit resting upon your life, because He only fills an empty vessel. To the degree you surrender, is to the degree you'll be filled.

Surrender this much, you'll be filled that much. Surrender everything, perfectly? No, I have not mastered that, but I'm gonna die trying. To the degree you surrender, is to the degree you're filled. So maybe they challenged them on this area.

Maybe they challenged the Samaritans. Or, here's another idea, they were just ignorant. What are you talking about? Yes, we want that, absolutely, and they received it. Interesting cross-reference, Acts 19, which we'll get to later.

While the apostles were in Corinth, Paul, passing through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. Check this out, and finding some disciples, say they're believers, wouldn't you? I mean, they're not gonna use that term disciples if they're not, he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

I wonder if that's a question for some of you. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Received in this type of way that we talked about. So they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.

And he said to them, into what then were you baptized? So they said, into John's baptism. So they were baptized into John the Baptist, his baptism, which was a baptism of repentance. They were disciples, they believed, but they had not received the Holy Spirit.

How is that possible? But they said, we didn't even know there was something there. The triune nature of God, we didn't know about this. And it was interesting, 15 years ago, I forgot all about this until recently.

15 years ago, I was in a Bible study. I taught briefly on this passage. And I had a pastor's son say to me, I would probably say the same thing about the Holy Spirit. Because he was dad, the church was so afraid to talk about this, he didn't know there was anything more.

Fast forward 15 years, he's not in a good spot right now. But he would say, I didn't even know there's more. Now, my mind starts working, because if a person repents and believes they're filled with the Spirit, what else do you need to know?

I mean, it's a work of God, and sometimes that happens. But sometimes, there's more for a person, and that's why, maybe I should have backed up. There's three different belief systems in here. One is, which I wouldn't agree with, when it comes to this spiritual power, this Holy Spirit upon you, whatever you want to term that is, they believe that it's a second work of grace after conversion.

So months from now, years from now, sometime from now, you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and you'll receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and these different things. It's a second work of grace.

And men who I read, they've died now, passed on, I don't want to use names, because I'm not sure, but I think like Wesley, maybe, along those lines, would say it's a second work of grace. But then there's the other side that says, no, you have all the Holy Spirit, that's it, you're good, you repented, you believe, you're baptized, you're good, man, don't worry about it.

But you know where I like to hang out? Right in the middle, it's the question, you have all the Holy Spirit, but does he have all of you? That's why there's different views, because there's people who've been Christians, Oswald Chambers, I know some of this was repetitive from months ago, but I want to bring to the new people.

Oswald Chambers taught at a theological seminary, was depressed and just miserable. He's teaching in a seminary. He was about ready to write my utmost for my highest, the best devotional of all time. I think his wife actually wrote it after his death and put his works together.

But D .O. Moody was a pastor, dead, dying. Adoniah Judson, Hudson Taylor, missionaries, no passion, no zeal. They were all believers. But there came a point in their life where God broke them to such a degree, they said, God, I need all of you.

It's not about me and my agenda and my ministry and my name, it's about you. God, fill me with your spirit, and boy, did he ever. So I don't think they had to wait this time, okay, a couple years from now, I'm gonna receive this endowment of power.

It was right there, it was ready, it was available, but they had to submit and surrender their life. Because you can be well taught in Bible doctrine, but lack the power of the Spirit. You can lack the power of the Spirit.

Well, Shane, how do I know? Where's your heart for others? The love of Christ, love and peace and gentleness and compassion. Is it overflowing your life? I mean, this is very easy to compile and see where we're at with God.

One translation on this said, did you take God into your mind only or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside of you? That's a good analogy. Did the Holy Spirit, is he truly ruling and reigning in your life?

What happened? They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit came upon them. Here's what happened. Remember we left off back at Acts 19. He said, what were you baptized into? In John's baptism.

Okay, here's what happened after that. They were baptized, what we're gonna do next Sunday, in the name of the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and they prophesied.

Now, many churches will say, and the Holy Spirit came upon them. Don't talk about that other stuff. But there's, when you experience God when he fills you with his Spirit. Or the second thing which could be going on here with the Samaritans is God waited until the leaders were there to validate the gospel.

Because the leaders came to Samaria, they laid their hands on the Samaritans, laying on of hands, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Something happened. So that's where you get that doctrine, kind of off a little bit here, of some churches laying on of hands for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And let me clarify in terms there real quick. The baptism of the Holy Spirit when it's mentioned in the Bible is when we are baptized into the body of Christ. So I don't really use that term when it comes to subsequent feelings, fillings of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit filled Peter. The Holy Spirit filled Paul. The Holy Spirit filled Mike and Jane and Chris and Bob and Shane. It's this filling of the Holy Spirit. And when I'm filled, sometimes come Tuesday I'm drained and I'm dead and there's nothing of the Holy Spirit in me.

He's way down here by my feet. I need that fresh time with the Holy Spirit. Actually, I'll just share this with you. I have a big post-it note in my office now that I'm gonna work on sermons sometimes now later in the day.

I feel rushed in the morning. Gotta read the Word, gotta pray, gotta get in the sermon. And I'm going back to two, three hours just in the Word, just in prayer, just in worship. And that can come later.

Because see, I have to. I'm leaky vessel, remember? D .O. Moody, we're leaky vessels. We have to sit underneath that fountain. So when I talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit, that's it. Some people are filled with the Holy Spirit.

And then there's a quenching and grieving. Then they're filled with the Holy Spirit again for a certain task and then they're quenching and grieving. And I don't know how it works. I mean, there's been times where I've spoke somewhere and it's just lunch and it's a heavy lunch and I forgot not to eat because I like to preach on an empty stomach.

And it's just kind of, oh, I'm just tired. It's lunchtime and I gotta speak. And I'd rather go to the dentist. But then I get up there and look to the Word and I can't, just something just comes up, this filling of the Holy Spirit where this boring, dead, dry turns to this abundant life and I preach the gospel.

Where did that come from? And shame being filled with the Holy Spirit. That's why the Bible talks about different fillings. It's subsequent feelings. I hope I'm saying that right, right? You know, not like, oh, I feel sad, not that.

Where you're filled up like a gas tank. So that's the difference on that terminology. But a lot of the Pentecostal churches say, brother, you just need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. What they're really saying is you look like you drank prune juice, you're miserable, you need the fruit and the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, you need that mighty anointing, that mighty unction.

I think it was R .A. Torrey who said, I'd rather miss the theological definition of what this is and have the power of the Spirit than miss the power and get the theological term just right. Now, we love theology, but I want the power of the Holy Spirit.

If I can't quite explain it, you can call it unction, power, anointing, filling with the Spirit, but do you have it? That's the question, do you have it? Because for many years, I didn't. Church was an afterthought, not a priority.

God was a consideration, not a priority. Jesus was something I looked to now and then, not the center of my life. The difference is being filled with the Spirit. Here's what we do know. The more you seek, the more you find.

Three Reasons the Holy Spirit May Not Be Upon You

The more you die to self, the more Christ will be alive in you, and the emptier you are, the more filled you will be. Three reasons why he may not be upon you. You ready to get some soul-searching application going?

Three reasons why the Holy Spirit may not be upon you. Number one, I didn't know that there is more. I didn't know that there is more. This is a genuine concern. This person says, I want this, I want this.

And I talk to people, even in this church, maybe young adults that are coming in. I didn't know there was that. I mean, I have God, I love God, but I don't really have that power. I'm lacking that power.

I don't know, I didn't know the Holy Spirit could be part of a powerful thing in my life. I didn't know that, I want that. And when you want that, you will receive that. You receive it by faith, and you submit your life to God.

Now the second person, you think you don't need more of God. Nobody's in the 9 a .m., right? But the 11 a .m., this is gonna apply to. This applies to more people than you think. You think you don't need more of God.

This person says, I'm good. I will talk to people, and I know they need the Holy Spirit. I know they need the power of the Holy Spirit. Oh yeah, you can quote the Bible, I don't care. Do you have the power of the Holy Spirit?

I'll talk to them, I know they don't. And I'll talk to them about this subject. Oh man, no, I'm good. Back in 1974, I went forward in the Billy Graham Crusade, and I've got all the spirit I'll ever need.

Why don't you ever talk about Christ? Why are you angry, mean, judgmental, and bitter? Why do you quote Scripture as if it's a knife, and not a loving text to help people? You need this. No, I'm good, brother, I'm good.

No, you're not good. You know what that's called? Spiritual pride. It's called spiritual pride. And I've had that. Even now it hurts a little bit. Listeners, right, they'll email and they'll say, man, over the last two years, your sermons are really anointed now.

I'm like, well, what was that, what was three years ago? What are you talking about? You know, it's like, oh, it's like. Now, I started fasting three years ago, but also I found that it, like a personal goal, that was the best sermon I've ever heard.

I'm like, no, wasn't, my goodness, what happened? But it hit them right where they needed it. Another person hears it on this, the law, legality, oh, that's a, oh, that's a bad, but it's the Holy Spirit's hitting them where they need to be hitted.

Or hitted, is that a word? Where they need to be hit. See, videos, I could edit that out, but live stream is, dude, they're gonna see, they got the full enchilada. I told God, I don't care, I'm gonna let loose with this thing, and whoever it hurts, it's gonna hurt a little bit.

Amen, don't clap on that one. So, so do you not think you need more of God? Do you not think you're good? No, you're not good. I'm not good. I'm not good. When the final worship comes up, I wanna be next door, I wanna be petitioning God, God, break my heart, draw me closer to you.

I wanna be so on fire for God that I don't snap at my children, that I don't get upset. God, please draw me closer to you, and if the pulpit needs it, sure does the pew. If you think you have all of God, I have a wake-up call for you.

You don't have all of God that you need because it's an ever, it's a life-consuming passion. Till the day you're buried six feet under, that should be the passion of your heart is to have more of God.

You can know the Bible but lack power. Did you know that? You can know the Bible but lack power, know the Scriptures but be unloving and arrogant. Shane, do you have a Scripture to support that? I have the entire New Testament to support that.

Jesus preached against the Pharisees, the religious leaders. Now, granted, they weren't believers. Okay, you got me there. But they had the letter of the law, they had the Bible. Jesus said, you search throughout the Scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life.

And I've seen people, they're well-versed in the Bible, but they're as dead as a doornail. They're just, nothing is there, no power of the Spirit is there. Or the third person, you don't want more of God.

This person says, I don't want this, I don't want this. And this I probably see more than anything. Right now, there's at least two dozen people telling me they're gonna come to church. And I still don't see them.

Last night, I'll be there. What, times again? Why, because schooner's called, or a wrong relationship, or pornography called. And they're caught in this carnality. They're caught in this, I don't want to give this up.

But see, there's something in them that wants it. Is that interesting? Few of these people are unbelievers. And they know that, there's something drawing me, but I can't, I can't, I can't give up everything.

So this person, you don't want more of God. And I didn't think this was true. I thought, who in the world is not gonna want more of God? But you'd be very surprised. You'd be very surprised when you talk to people because, well, I kind of like the way things are.

I like my marijuana bong. I just like, I like to get drunk sometimes. I like, man, I got a trip lined up to Vegas, and we've got this going on, and I like this. Shane, you're telling me I gotta get rid of this?

See, you missed the whole problem. The problem is you love the wrong things. When you have the love of God in your heart, you don't love those things. So I can't relate because I don't love those things.

All I see is I'm losing my job as a pastor. I'm gonna be hungover. I'm gonna lose my family. I'm gonna lose my money. That's what I see. And my heart doesn't want those things. It says I want more of God.

So I think you got your wrong focus. It's called idolatry. R .A. Torrey said, the gratification of the flesh and the fullness of the spirit do not go hand in hand. What he means there is you cannot live continually gratifying the flesh and also have the fullness of the spirit.

Because when you gratify the flesh, and it's all about loving the things of the world, the Holy Spirit is quenched and grieved to such a degree that you don't have that passion for God anymore. And that's why you enjoy these things, because those things are dominating.

Isn't it interesting about the flesh? You take one bite of that chocolate cake, you want, oh, I'm good, mm-mm. I'm stopping by Claim Jumper and getting that six-inch-high chocolate cake, right? Or the best Mexican food you've ever tasted, and they're giving you one little, here you go, that's all you can have.

No, no, no, I'm devouring that plate. That's how the flesh is. The more you feed it, the more it wants. And the more it wants, the more you give it. The more you give it, you quench and grieve the spirit.

But conversely, the more you feed on the things of God, the more you want the things of God. So it really boils down to, I think it was Billy Graham who said this 30, 40 years ago about a young man who had this battle in his mind.

He went to this pastor, and he said, Pastor, I have this battle in my mind, the evil dog and the good dog. He said, the evil dog keeps winning. And the pastor said, then you need to starve that dog to death.

Isn't that true? What we feed prevails. What you feed prevails. That's why you see people who are hooked on different things, it started with the little compromises. So if you're that person, I don't want this, I love my carnality, you're miserable in your carnality and you know it.

This is a miserable life. But we're hooked, we're in bondage. It has a stronghold on us, hence the word stronghold. So you've gotta break free of that and be filled with the spirit of God. I don't know if this is interesting.

Renouncing Worldliness and Pursuing God First

I wrote down three people here I wanna talk to. This is why you might be prohibiting the spirit's work in your life. For young adults, to follow Christ, you must unfollow others. Facebook, you making the connection here?