If You Knew...

Wonder if we would just take a moment and realize the beauty, the beauty, the strength that the goodness of God has been in each and every one of our lives. I know that we can sing that song and we can move on to the next thing and we can get to the preaching. I I understand that. But I think we would do a disservice to that reality that all my life, every second, every moment, through the ups and the downs, through the parts that made sense and the parts that were confusing, God has been faithful in all of it.

And let me just say something to somebody wondering today if he will be faithful. God will be faithful to you in your current circumstance and your current predicament and your current problem. God will be faithful to you. You may not feel like singing this song right now that God has always been faithful as you're walking through some things, but I promise you, you just keep looking to him and all of a sudden you're going to be like, "Oh my goodness, all my life, God, you have been faithful.

Even in this moment, God, you have been faithful. Thank you, Jesus, for your goodness and your faithfulness and your presence and your strength that has never left me. Thank you for it, God. Thank you for it, God. Thank you, Jesus. What a testimony the Christian has that throughout our entire lives, we get to say that our God, the God of all of heaven and earth, has been faithful to you and to me. How amazing a testimony that is. And I am thankful that I share it with you today.

God is faithful. I want to say at the outset that I love this church. Trying to look y'all in the eye real quick if it's not awkward. I'm not talking about the building. I'm thankful for the building. I am. I'm talking about you. I'm thankful for this church. That's okay. You can show appreciation. Let let me just express something. I have watched this church serve faithfully in seasons of abundance and maybe seasons where I know some of the stories families are not living in abundance and you have chosen to remain faithful to the Lord.

And I want to celebrate you and I want to express I know God is thankful. He he honors you. I want to express my thankfulness as a human being. Thank you to this church. I love this church. I honor you. I'm thankful for this church. I don't want to spend my Sundays anywhere else but with the people of God at this church. I am so thankful for you all. I'm thankful for you. Amen. Now that I've got that off my chest. I had to say that real quick.

Is that all right? That all right. I want to I want to read one passage of scripture and I I just want to lay my cards on the table at the very beginning. Okay. I want to let you know where I'm going at the start so you don't have to wonder. Today I want to talk about the Holy Ghost. And maybe you're wondering what is the Holy Ghost or maybe you got some ideas about what the Holy Ghost is and and and a really good Bible study will help that.

Okay? And I and I hope today will help that in a little bit. But what I mean by that is I want to talk about the abundance, the spiritual abundance that God wants every believer to experience through the inddwelling presence of God. that God wants to fill your life so fully with his presence that there will be this natural abundance that not only fills your life but begins to overflow out of your life and spill into the lives of others. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?

I feel like some of us have gotten used to living on empty or just enough. I'm tired of that. I believe God offers a life of abundance and it is through his spirit. It is through the Holy Ghost. And so today, I want to tackle that subject. Is that all right? Did anybody walk in and you don't have abundance, but you want it? Y, my kids have been sick. They've been waking up eight times every four minutes. All right. But here's the cool thing about that.

My body might be tired, but there's a power on the inside of me. There's a presence on the inside of me that wakes me up and keeps me going and keeps joy alive in my life. Even when I'm not sleeping, even when I'm going through hard times, I I've got something deep down on the inside of me that the world didn't give me, that I didn't cultivate on my own, it came from the throne room of heaven. It's called the Holy Ghost, and it will wake some of us up today.

It'll take us from not enough to more than enough in just a moment. If you're just brave enough to receive it today, amen. In John chapter 4, we encounter Jesus at a well. speaking to a Samaritan woman and they're having a conversation about the Messiah and about various things. But Jesus interrupts the conversation in verse 10 and he says this to the Samaritan woman. He says, "If you knew the gift of God, if you knew, if you really understood, I if you saw clearly enough, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, "Give me a drink."

You would have asked him. But it doesn't stop there. It says, "And he would have given you living water." he would have given you living or moving abundant rushing water. So today from that verse and from Jesus's opening line to this woman, I'm going to preach to this congregation, those watching online, if you knew, I feel the Holy Ghost even right now trying to convince somebody. Oh, if you knew, oh, if you knew the gift of God, oh, if you knew what God had on offer today for everybody in this room, if you knew the kind of abundance God wanted to pour into your life, you would simply ask and God would pour into your life living water.

So, I preach to you today, if you knew, would you pray with me here at the outset that God would have his way? Jesus, God, we love you and we thank you for your word. We thank you for the encouragement and the clarity that it brings. I pray that you would help me to speak it well. I pray you give me clarity of thought and speech and boldness of spirit. And I pray that you ready every heart, including mine, to receive the instruction and encouragement and invitation of the word of God today, Lord.

I pray that you have your way. I pray that we would connect with you. I pray that your kingdom would be built. I I pray your will would be done and I pray that your spirit would be poured out into every life that would ask for it. I pray for the first time, but I also pray that it would be rekindled and restarted in every life for another time. If they would ask for it today, God, I pray you would do it in the name of Jesus.

In the name of Jesus. And everybody said, "Amen." You may be seated in the name of the Lord. So, everybody knows what weekend it is, right? Everybody aware some of y'all said, "Yep." Like you had too much fun last night and you're tired. You're like, "Yeah." Yeah. Well, let's just I'm going to be honest for a second. Every Independence Day weekend, Fourth of July weekend, if it falls in a certain way, preachers are tempted. I promise you, they are tempted to preach about freedom. It's just too good of an opportunity, right?

It's freedom day. We're going to preach about freedom. And I've done it. There's nothing wrong with that. It sometimes it sounds like this. I'm thankful for the freedom we have in America, but the freedom we have in Christ is even greater. And that's true, isn't it? That's true. That's a that's a good themed message to preach on a holiday weekend. That's that's wonderful. I'm I'm thankful for the freedoms that we enjoy in this nation. And I am more thankful for the freedom I enjoy in Jesus.

But today, my goal is not simply to preach a message that we all expect. And we thank God for our Christian blessings and then we go home and nothing happened. There's no move of God and nothing changed. No, I I I believe that I'm here on mission. I I believe that God is trying to extend an invitation to everyone in this room to experience the fullness of what he has to offer us today. That's what I'm here to do. And as I was studying for this and preparing, I realized something really funny.

Have you noticed that at least in the American church, we normally theme services, not just Fourth of July, but other ones around holidays on on Februaries back in the back youth, what do we normally do? Some of you like, I'm not here. Somebody said it relationship series cuz it's around what? Valentine's Day. It just makes sense, right? So, we like to do this. It's just kind of something that happens. And our minds are already on that theme. So, it makes it an easy connecting point. That's why we do it.

But what I realize is that Americans in the 21st century aren't the only ones that do that. And I'm not even talking about other countries that do that. I'm sure they do. But did you know Jesus did it? that Jesus would preach theme messages on national holidays to get people's attention. John 7 is one of those occurrences. It's the feast of tabernacles that are going on. And I want to explain this feast before I read a passage. On this day, the Jewish people were celebrating. And there was a pool of Silomme located somewhere near the temple.

And they would all get a bunch of buckets and they'd go down to the pool of Saleom and they'd scoop up some water from the pool of Salem and they'd walk it back up to the temple and they would pour it out before the Lord and they'd splash it against the temple wall and they would do this just day at just hour after hour and there'd be water everywhere. And as they were doing this, they were trying to symbolically celebrate two things. One, they were trying to remember the fact that even when they were in the wilderness, God provided for them.

God even provided water from a rock for them in the wilderness. So they were celebrating that if if you pour enough water on the ground and it's on a hill, it starts to flow down. It starts to look like what? Maybe a small creek or a river. At least everything's wet. And so you got all this water symbolism. And so they're trying to remember that, but they're also trying to celebrate in anticipation that they had that God one day would break in again and rescue and heal and restore and work miracles and wonders among them and free them and deliver them.

God was going to do that again. And they would actually sing songs from scripture as they were pouring water everywhere. They they would sing word for word from Isaiah 12:3 where it says, "Therefore, with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." This is a promise that the prophet made to the people that one day you will draw with joy from the waters of salvation. And so they go to the pool of Saleom. They get the water and they're singing it and they're throwing it against the temple and it's a great celebration.

And as they're singing that, they're also reciting Zechariah 14 8-9 where it says, "And in that day," what day? The day that the Lord would move and work. It shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, half of them toward the western sea. In both summer and winter it shall occur. There'll be living waters all the time abundantly. Verse 9 says, "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day it shall be the Lord is one and his name is one."

Living waters were meant to flow and they were trying to enact that with this national celebration. They remembered Ezekiel chapter 47 where the prophet has a vision and he tells of this water that starts to flow from the temple from the presence of God and what starts off as a little trickle turns into a raging river and wherever that river went it healed everything that it touched. Even the Dead Sea, the prophet says, will swarm with fish and life because of this living water flowing from God himself.

And generation after generation, people after people, they would sing these songs. They would celebrate this national holiday. They would pray for its fulfillment. They would wait for God to show up and pour out this living water that was meant to symbolize the salvation of God. And then in the middle of all of this watery mess, in the middle of all this watery holiday celebration, Jesus stands up on the last day of the celebration and he says, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink."

And the middle of the slip and slide pouring through the streets of Jerusalem, Jesus stands up and HE SAYS, "DOES ANYBODY WANT WATER? Because if you do, come to me and drink. Now, I think each of us know what it's like to be thirsty. I'm thirsty right now. I've been to Six Flags in July and I burn in point4 seconds in winter with overcast. I dehydrate very quickly. I'm like a sponge out of the ocean. You take me out of water, hard as a rock, just dried immediately.

I get thirsty quick. Anybody know what it's like to be physically thirsty? You ever been thirsty before? Something where all you want is a cold glass of water? Mountain Dew won't do it. Sprite won't do it. You need water. Maybe I need to preach on health. You need water. You've been thirsty physically. Yeah. But really what I think Jesus is after here is that we also know what it's like to be spiritually thirsty. I think we all have that experience. We thirst for a little bit more peace in our life.

Who wouldn't like a little bit more peace? We thirst for a little bit more purpose in our life. We want our life to have more value, more meaning, more purpose. We we thirst for a little bit more freedom or maybe more belonging or more joy, more hope. Maybe maybe we thirst for victory over our own sin. That our mistakes, we can't seem to overcome them. We can't seem to change our lives. We can't seem to fix what's wrong with us. And and so we're thirsty for change.

But none seems to come. And and life really has a way of leaving us thirsty, doesn't it? Jobs and careers and and and family and obligation and just the hardship and all of the corruption and brokenness in the world. It leaves us thirsty and longing for more. And what's crazy is that the world that leaves us thirsty also tries to offer us a solution to our own thirst that it caused it. It offers us things, shallow wells that we try to draw on. We and we convince ourselves when we believe them.

Here's what happens. I'll just speak for myself. When I burn out, oh, another vacation. That's what will fix it. When I get lonely, I just need more connection with friends. That's what's going to fix it. When I get discouraged, I just need another hobby. I I need to work on my creativity. I I need to be inspired. and and that's what's going to fix this dryness that I feel in my spirit when I when I get hurt and life dries up. I just need to do things that that protect my peace.

I need to practice some some isolation to keep myself safe. And and none of these things on their own are necessarily wrong. I I'm not saying vacations are bad. I'm not saying hobbies are bad. I'm I'm not saying that friends are bad or protecting your peace and being wise and relationships are bad. But if I'm being honest, if if if I'm just going to lay my cards on the table, what happens is I often treat these things like coping mechanisms, like shallow wells trying to satisfy a thirst that they were never designed to satisfy.

And eventually, if I do it long enough, if I allow my spiritual thirst to be filled with these shallow wells, I develop a habit that every time life runs dry, I run back to another broken well. Instead of the one who promised me living water, instead of the one who promised me a life of spiritual abundance, I turn to that hobby. I turn to that show. I I turn to that friend. Eventually, I'm thirsty all over again. And I've GOT TO GO BACK AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.

AND I'M STANDING HERE ASKING MYSELF, WHY DO I SETTLE FOR THAT WHEN JESUS PROMISED ME living water? WHEN JESUS PROMISED ME ABUNDANCE, WHEN JESUS PROMISED ME JOY, UNSPEAKABLE, AND FULL OF GLORY? WHY DO I SETTLE FOR LESS WHEN GOD IS OFFERING ME MORE? The prophet Jeremiah saw this centuries earlier and he called it out in Jeremiah 2. He says, "For my people, they've committed two evils. They have forsaken me. The fountain of living waters and huned themselves sistns or wells, broken wells that can hold no water.

Is it just me? Has has anybody else discovered this yet? We You ever heard the phrase me time?" Who's ever heard that? Who's used it? I just need a little bit more me time. Y'all, has anybody discovered yet that there is not enough me time in the world to fill the thirst deep down inside of our soul? I'm so sick of hearing about me time. We need some Jesus time. We need some God time. I CAN SIT WITH MYSELF ALL DAY, BUT empty can't feel empty.

EMPTY CAN'T FEEL VOID. BROKEN CAN'T HEAL BROKEN. MISERABLE CAN'T HEAL MISERABLE. ONLY GOD, ONLY THE SOURCE OF LIVING WATER CAN FEEL EMPTY. ONLY THE SOURCE OF LIVING WATER CAN FILL THAT VOID DEEP DOWN ON THE INSIDE OF YOU. I'M TIRED of settling FOR ME TIME. I NEED SOME GOD TIME. I'M TIRED OF SETTLING FOR EMPTY. I'M READY TO SETTLE FOR SOME LIVING WATER IN MY LIFE. OH, there's not enough me time. It never really fix what's wrong. I I know that we've experienced it. I've experienced it.

that the vacation ends, the hobbies they get old, the distractions they fade, and the thirsts return again and again. And the reason that is the case is because the Bible makes it clear that God has always been and will always be the answer to humanity's deepest thirsty soul. Only in God can that thirst be satisfied today. And so when Jesus stood up that day, water all around him and HE SAYS, "IS ANYBODY THIRSTY?" Everybody in the crowd that day and everybody in this room TODAY CAN SAY, "YES, JESUS, WE'RE THIRSTY.

YES, WE'VE EXPERIENCED DRYNESS. YES, WE'RE FEELING WEARY. YES, WE'RE FEELING EXHAUSTED. YES, WE WANT SOME WATER IN OUR LIFE. YES, WE'RE EMPTY. WE NEED IT, JESUS. YES, WE'RE THIRSTY. But instead of pointing them to the temple or to any of the other stuff that I just talked about, Jesus says plainly, "Well, if you're thirsty, if your life is dry, why don't you come to me and drink? Why don't you come to me and satisfy that thirst in your life?" I want you to notice something. Jesus, he doesn't promise just a temporary satiating of our thirst.

He doesn't say, "I'm just like all those other wells that you got to come to me time and time again. Eventually, it's going to run dry and you got to revisit." No. Notice what he says in the next verse in verse 38 after he says, "Come to me if you're thirsty," he says, "He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Jesus isn't promising just enough to survive. He isn't promising a trip to the well that will last for just a moment for us to return again.

He is promising rivers. He is promising moving running water. He is promising overflow. He is promising abundance. He is promising what he talks about in John 10:10 when he says, "The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and destroy, but I have come." Jesus has showed up on the scene that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Not just life, not just surviving, not just enough to get by, but life and more abundant life and overflowing life. This is the same living water that Jesus was offering to the Samaritan woman.

Every day she would return to that same physical well time and time again to reather water for her physical needs. Just like we return spiritually to those wells hoping that they'll satisfy our soul. And Jesus meets her and he longs for her to understand. You can hear it in his words. You can hear it in his voice when he finally looks at her after she has gone to that well time and time again and he simply says, "Oh, if you knew THE GIFT OF GOD. OH, IF YOU KNEW WHAT WAS ON OFFER.

OH, IF YOU KNEW WHAT GOD WANTS to pour out IN YOUR LIFE. OH, IF YOU KNEW WHAT WAS AVAILABLE, and I pray that somehow I pray that somehow we discover today what God is actually offering to us. God does not intend for us to live empty ABC. Come on. I'm so sick and tired of this. Somebody just pause for A SECOND. GOD DOES not intend for Come on, Brother John. God does not intend for us to live empty. He doesn't intend for us to live half-filled lives.

He doesn't intend for us to live lives that are just enough OR JUST SCRAPING BY TO WHERE LIKE, MAN, I REALLY need a break. I don't have ENOUGH ENERGY. I I I'M JUST TIRED ALL THE TIME. I'M JUST EXHAUSTED ALL THE TIME. LET me preach to somebody. THAT IS NOT HOW GOD WANTS YOU TO LIVE TODAY. And if I've got TO RUN THE AISLES TO SHOW SOMEBODY IT'S TRUE, I WILL. WE'RE NOT HERE TO LIVE HALF-HAZARDLY. WE'RE NOT HERE TO LIVE HALF FULL. WE'RE HERE TO LIVE ON SPIRITUAL ABUNDANCE.

I REBUKE EXHAUSTION IN THE NAME OF JESUS. YES, WE'VE GOT TO REST WELL. YES, WE'VE GOT TO HAVE GOOD HABITS. YES, WE'VE GOT TO BE HEALTHY. BUT MOST OF ALL, WE NEED THE ABUNDANT LIVING WATER FLOWING IN OUR LIFE. AND I'VE GOT GOOD NEWS TODAY. IF YOU WANT IT, YOU JUST GOT TO ASK HIM FOR IT. IF YOU KNEW THE GIFT OF GOD, YOU WOULD HAVE ASKED HIM FOR A DRINK AND HE WOULD HAVE GIVEN YOU LIVING WATER. I pray to God somebody understands what's on offer.

I pray to God I can convince SOMEBODY TODAY THAT GOD IS INVITING US INTO ABUNDANCE. GOD IS INVITING US INTO OVERFLOW. I need to be clear. I need to be clear whenever I'm talking about when Jesus is talking about how we experience this abundant life in God. Scripture tells us specifically what Jesus means when he mentions living water. It's not just a symbol that can mean anything. It has a very specific meaning. John explains it in the very next verse. Jesus says, "If you're thirsty, come to me.

If you do, rivers of living water will flow from you." In verse 39 says this, "But this he spoke concerning the This he spoke concerning the what's that abundant living water? It's the It's the spirit. This he spoke concerning the spirit whom those believing in him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Just to interpret that, it means Jesus had not yet been crucified and risen and resurrected. The spirit hadn't been poured out yet. But there was coming a day when that living water, that spirit of God is going to be poured out.

I need I need you to hear me. Living water, it's not merely a feeling. It isn't positive thinking, and I'm for positive thinking. I I'm for feeling good. It It isn't inspiration. The abundant life Jesus was speaking of. It It isn't found in more possessions. Is it isn't found in temporal excitements. It isn't found in shallow wells. The abundant life is God himself and all his glorious abundance living on the inside of us. What I'm talking about today, what Jesus was talking about that day when he's speaking of living waters.

It is the Holy Ghost. It is the spirit of God poured into human lives. It is as Colossians 1:27 says, Christ in you, the hope of glory, the hope of glory. And John tells us that that living water, that spirit of God, it would be made available after Jesus's passion was complete. I want you to notice a little detail later in the Gospel of John, John chapter 19, as John recounts Christ's death on the cross, it says in verse 34, but one of the soldiers pierced his side, meaning Jesus's side with a spear, and immediately and immediately blood and water.

John's the only one that really records it this way. I think he's trying to make a point about what Jesus's death made available. He's pierced in a side and immediately both blood and water came out. What is John trying to say? What's scripture trying to say? It's trying to tell us that what became available at Calvary was a river of God's spirit. It was a living water that burst forth out of that hill that day and it has been flowing ever since. It is flowing in this room today.

It can flow in your life today. In fact, that's exactly how Peter, not me, one of Jesus's closest disciples, preached it on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. After Peter preaches Jesus, including his death and glorification, the people asked him that day how they could take hold of what God was offering. And Peter says this in Acts 2:38, "You need to repent. You need to turn from your own way of living, your own ideas of what is good and right and beautiful, and you need to turn toward God and say, "God, whatever you say goes, I'm going to follow you with my entire heart.

I'm going to give you everything." Then he goes on, he says, "You need to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins down in water in full immersion in the name of Jesus as you take his name onto your life." And then I love this and he says, "And you shall." It's just what John said. Those who believed on Jesus would receive the spirit. And here Peter says, if you're following God, you've repented, you're you're you're pursuing baptism in the name of Jesus, you take his name on it, and it says, you shall you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But it doesn't stop there. Just in case someone in the room has tuned out and said, "Well, this isn't for me, or I don't necessarily see it that way, or maybe I I haven't earned it, whatever." I I want to point you to the very next verse where Peter goes on. He says, "For this promise." What promise? The promise that you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For that promise it is to you. It's to those that day, but it's also to your children and to all who are far off.

As many as the Lord our God shall call. And I'm telling you today, he is calling for everyone to receive the Holy Ghost. Whether it be the first time or getting stirred up in the Holy Ghost another time. That promise, that Holy Ghost, it is still for you. It is still active. It is still alive and well. That river is still flowing today. Somebody hear me? The Holy Ghost, it does save you, but it doesn't merely save you. It doesn't merely make sure that you're going to heaven and the rest of your life just has to be miserable.

You know, I just can I Bishop, can I be honest? I don't like miserable saved people. I'm just going to be I know too many people that have walked through hell and still have the joy of the Lord for you to sit here and tell me you didn't get Starbucks and so your service is ruined. I know too many people that are walking in the abundance that God has promised them for you to convince me because you had a bad week that the joy of the Lord isn't real.

That the abundance God wants to pour out on your life isn't real. I I I've come too far in God. I I've experienced too much of his goodness. I I've experienced too much of his faithfulness for you to tell me that the Holy Ghost is just my ticket to heaven. No, the Holy Ghost is more than that. The Holy Ghost is my ticket to purpose. It is my ticket to fullness. It is my ticket to joy. Come on. Joy is mine by birthright. Peace is mine by birthright.

I was born into this thing. Let me say IT AGAIN. I WAS BORN again into this thing. IT BELONGS TO ME. NOT BECAUSE I CAN CULTIVATE IT, BUT BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF GOD STIRS IT UP IN EVERY LIFE THAT CALLS ON HIM. OH, YOU BETTER BELIEVE I'M PUSHING THIS RIGHT NOW. YOU CAN LIVE IN ABUNDANCE. YOU CAN HAVE JOY. YOU CAN WAKE UP EVERY MORNING AND SAY, "MY LIFE HAS MEANING. MY LIFE HAS PURPOSE. MY LIFE HAS HOPE. MY LIFE HAS FULLNESS TO IT." WHY? BECAUSE THE HOLY GHOST.

Come on. The Holy Ghost transforms how we live. I'm gonna prove it to you. Romans 14:17. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 1:7. FOR GOD HAS NOT GIVEN us a spirit of fear, but he has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Romans 8:15-16. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the SPIRIT OF ADOPTION BY WHOM WE CRY OUT, "ABA, FATHER." We belong to him. AND THE SPIRIT HIMSELF BEARS WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT that we ARE NOT SPIRITUAL ORPHANS, NOT LEFT ALONE IN THIS DYING COSMIC WORLD. NO, WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 2 CORINTHIANS 3:17, FOR THE LORD IS THE SPIRIT, AND WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS LIBERTY. EPHESIANS 3:16, THAT HE WOULD GRANT YOU ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY TO BE STRENGTHENED WITH MIGHT THROUGH HIS SPIRIT.

OH, SOMETHING'S on offer today. And I'm here to convince us, something's on offer. Because here's what happens. If I if you really knew, if you really understood, I if you would really find out one day, you you if you really got a hold of what Jesus is offering to us right here, right now, IT WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING. YOU WOULD STOP SETTLING FOR FEAR. You You would stop settling FOR BONDAGE. YOU YOU WOULD STOP SETTLING FOR EMPTY RELIGION. AND YOU would discover liberty. YOU WOULD DISCOVER BELONGING.

YOU WOULD DISCOVER POWER. YOU WOULD DISCOVER A LOVE AND A peace and a joy and a HOPE THAT THE WORLD CANNOT EXPLAIN. YOU WOULD EXPERIENCE ABUNDANT LIFE. NOT BECAUSE LIFE ALL OF A SUDDEN GOT EASIER, BUT BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THAT LIVING water on the inside of you. Oh, it would change everything. You better believe I'm passionate about this. Oh, the spirit of God changed everything in my life. And I'm convinced it's not a one-off. God doesn't do it for some and not for others.

God has it for everybody. And it grieves me that there are people who have lived their entire lives never realizing what was available to them. You know, sometimes the difference between changing and not changing is simply knowing what resources are available. You ever figure that out, Bruce? The difference between you fixing those struts all those years ago was whether or not you thought you had money in the bank to do it. What if I told somebody spiritually speaking, you got all the money in the bank?

You got it all. You've got abundance. Or you check your spiritual bank account if you've got the Holy Ghost. I promise you, it just says whatever you need, it's here. I promise you, that's what it says today. And I'm grieved that some of us, even some of us that have walked with God, are not taking full advantage of what God is offering through his spirit. I've got two invitations today. Music, you can get ready. I'm I'm coming to a close quickly. Let me talk to you if you've never received the Holy Ghost.

I'm not here to target you. This church isn't here to target you. We're not here to make you feel uncomfortable. We're not here to judge you. None of that. But what we are here to do is simply offer in abundance that if you would ever truly find out, if you would experience it, it would change everything. I hope everybody's hearing me right now. If you respond today and the Lord fills you with his spirit, you're going to walk out of here and you're going to say, "Oh my goodness, I didn't even know that this was available.

I didn't know I could feel this good. I didn't know I could have this kind of joy. Bishop, I didn't know I could have this kind of peace. I didn't know I could have this kind of fullness. I didn't know I could have this kind of life. But all of a sudden, the spirit of God gets involved in abundance. We've gotten used to live used to living in spiritual poverty. Oh, not anymore. Not anymore. God promises us abundance. So, if you need the Holy Ghost, it's simple.

I've already read it, but Acts 2 tells us you just need to repent. God, I'm not doing it my way. I'm doing it your way. If you haven't been baptized and that's the step you need to take today, we've got water. We got people that will baptize you in the name of Jesus. You'll take on his name and you'll be made new under the power of the name of Jesus. Jesus says if you knew the gift, you'd ask and you'd receive. The next step is God, I want the Holy Ghost.

Would you fill me with your spirit today? You don't have to beg him. You don't have to convince him. He wants to pour it in your life. Pour it out in your life today. And just to re reiterate, verse 39 says it's for you. If you're wondering, it's for you. Maybe you've taken steps toward God. Maybe you've repented. Maybe you've even walked with him. Maybe you've served God in ministry before, but you don't have the Holy Ghost. I I'm not here to doubt your love for God.

I'm not here to doubt your experience with God. I I'm not here to doubt your sincerity. I'm simply going to ask you the same question that the Apostle Paul asked some believers in your situation in Acts 19 when he says in verse two, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Yeah, you may have believed. You may have turned to God. You may have had a form of baptism. That's good. But did you get the Holy Ghost? Did you get the power of God living on the inside of you?

And and after finding out that they had it, Paul didn't disparrage them. He simply encouraged them, "Take the next step. It says this in verse 5. It says, "When they heard this, they were convinced by Paul. They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied it was for them that day and it is for you today." For those that have received the Holy Ghost, I have an invitation for you as well.

Maybe you've lost that luster. You've lost that passion. You've lost that abundant feeling that is associated with the spirit of God. Maybe you once had it, but somewhere along the way it faded. I read to you 2 Timothy 1:6-7. Apostle Paul tells a young man named Timothy. He says, "Therefore I remind you." We need reminding sometimes, saints. Therefore, I remind you to stir up. That word there means to rekindle or fan a fire into flame again. Maybe it's just a little burning coal. Maybe you just got a little flicker of flame, but fan that thing back into a blaze.

He says, "Stir up. fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. And what is that gift of God? Well, we've already read it, but verse seven says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but he has given us his spirit, and it's a spirit of power." If you've got the Holy Ghost today, but it's died out. It's waned a bit. I remind you, the Apostle Paul fan in flame. Why don't you try to reach back into those memories of God's presence in your life and allow them to rekindle something, y'all?

I I remember being seven years old. We're at the old building, Bishop, that place of legend, 13th and Gravo. I remember the youth choir had sung and I I just felt something. I'm seven. I couldn't explain it. I remember feeling God drawing me. I I just felt like there was a fullness calling to me. And I remember seven years old, I just lifted my hands and I I just I think I began to sing the youth choir song. I didn't even have words really. I just knew I wanted whatever was calling me.

And all of a sudden, I I began to speak in another language. And just to be honest, I got lost. I couldn't tell you how long I was there. I couldn't tell you how long the experience lasted. All I could tell you is in that moment, I felt I felt the fullness. All of a sudden, at seven years old, I became convinced God has a plan for my life. I am not an accident. I am not meaningless. God has purpose for me, and I've got everything I I need on the inside of me now to fulfill that purpose.

And I'm going to tell you something. You can ask my wife. I say it often. I just don't struggle with believing my life has purpose. I just don't struggle with that. Not because I've got a rockolid mind. Ask my wife. There are other places I fail. But here, here, I believe that I've just got purpose. Why? Because the spirit of God has taken up resonance in my life. And his spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am a son of God. Would you all stand with me as respectful as we can in the presence of the Lord?

Jesus looked at the woman that day in John chapter 4 and he said, "If you knew the gift of God, if you knew, and I wonder if he is saying the same thing." I know he is, but I wonder if he's saying the same thing to you in this room today. Oh, if you knew, I can't even explain it to you. It's experiential. But if you knew the peace that is available, if you knew the freedom that you could experience in a moment, if you knew the joy that was found at this altar, if if you knew the power that is available, if you knew the love, if if you knew the life that was available to you through the Holy Ghost, you wouldn't keep going back to those same broken wells, you would do everything that you could to respond today.

You you wouldn't hesitate. You would come to Jesus. You would say, "God, I don't have that abundance, but would you fill my life with it?" May maybe you're the ones with the Holy Ghost. You say, "God, I've got your spirit, but I haven't felt the passion and the strength of it in a long time. I I just I need to experience that again, Jesus." And and I hear Jesus saying today that if anyone thirsts, if anyone thirsts, why don't you come and take a drink from him today?

He didn't say, "Come if you've got everything together." He didn't say, "Show up if you've never failed." He didn't say, "Show up if you're perfect. come and drink if you've got the intellect for it. If you got the capacity for it, he simply said, "If you're thirsty, if you're thirsty, come." I believe that the Lord is offering abundance today. And I hope I have done something in the way of convincing you. And now, here's the moment of decision. I'm going to open these altars in just a second.

Not going to beg you. I'm not going to try to trick you into come. I'm not trying to hype you up enough to get you to come down here, but here's what I believe. I believe if you'll come to Jesus today, say, "Jesus, I'm thirsty. Would you fill me?" And you passionately seek after him, you're going to encounter an abundance that you have never encountered before. And he will fill your life. So, here's what I want to do. I don't want to embarrass anybody, but I'm just going to begin to pray.

And if it's your desire to come down and be filled by Jesus today and to encounter the spirit of God in ways you have not before, as I begin to pray, I invite you, why don't you find a place here at the altar? Maybe you want to go to the wings of this building. Whatever you need to do, but please don't let this moment pass you by. Oh, if you knew, if you knew what was on offer, if you knew what was available, if you knew what this moment could be, some of you are one prayer away from change.

Some of you are one prayer away from deliverance. Some of you are one request away in the presence of the master from complete revival and restoration of your life or restoration of your marriage or your family or even of your body. God could heal you today. God, I pray over this body. I pray over everybody that's under the sound of my voice. Lord, I pray that as they come today that they would respond and that you would respond to their thirst. that you would respond to them asking, God for the abundance that you have promised them.

I pray that you would pour out living water. I pray that you would pour out your spirit, God. I I pray you would pour it out like you did on the day of Pentecost. I I pray that it would fill this room and there would be those that begin to speak in another language uh like they never have before. And they would begin to feel the strength of your spirit, God. Oh, I pray that you'd begin to rekindle some old flames. Rekindle some old passion and lives and hearts of saints, God.

Oh, MAYBE IT WASN'T THEIR FAULT THAT IT WAINED, but today today can be restored, God. Pour it out, Jesus. Pour it out, Jesus. Pour it out, Jesus. It's good. ABC, if you're not praying for yourself, why don't you help somebody else seek the Lord right now? Pray for them. God fill them. God fill them with abundance. God fill them with living water. God fill them with joy overflowing. Fill them with hope overflowing. Strengthen them in their inner self, God. Yes. Let it be. Let it be.

Is anyone thirsty today? Is anyone in need of a drink today? God can fill you. God can fill you. God, my savior, the one who will never fail. He would never, perfect salvation. All is at rest. I know the author of tomorrow has ordered my This is my story. This is my song. Praising my ris king and savior all the day. I trust in God my savior. The one who will never I trust in God, my savior, the one who will never he trust in God my Take your one who will never he will never trust in God my savior.

The one who will never fail. He will never fail. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trusted him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord and heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord.

And he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord. And he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord. And he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust in God. I say you're the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God. My savior of the one who will never I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered.

That's why I trusted. That's why I trusted. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answer. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I saw the Lord anywhere, any answer. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust in God, my savior. You will never fail.

He will never fail. I trust in God. My savior, the one who will never fail. We will never fail. I trust in God. My savior, the one who will never again. He will never. I saw the Lord and heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and heard and he answered. That's why I trusted. That's why I trusted. I sought the Lord and heard any answer. I sought the Lord and heard any answer. I sought the Lord and heard and he answer.

That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. eyes on the Lord and he heard and he answered. I saw the Lord and he heard and he answer the Lord and heard and he answer. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust in God. My savior. The one who will never. He will never. I trust in God my savior who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God my savior. The one who will I trust in God. My savior who will never he will never.

I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered that's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord and heard the answer. I sought the Lord and heard and answer.

I sought the Lord and heard and he answered. So lift your hands and begin to worship as we sing this. I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why you're praying. You continue to pray. I hope somebody today has been encouraged as to how badly God wants to fill your life to the full. God doesn't fill people halfway. If the Apostle Paul sitting in prison with sewage under his feet in Philippians can say, "Rejoice in the Lord always."

And again I say, "Rejoice." That tells me he was either crazy or he had something on the inside of him that no matter what he was going through, he had an assurance that God was with him and doing something. That can be you today. No matter where you're at, this promise is good for you. That you can feel the abundance of a life filled with the spirit of God. Maybe you heard today's sermon and you've got some questions about the Holy Ghost and what that is and what the Bible teaches about how you receive the Holy Ghost and you'd like answers.

You can come and see me. Come talk to me. We'll set you up with a Bible study. We'll talk shortly. You can I believe Bishop would love to talk to you. We've got some people we can set you up and we'll have a conversation because one, the Holy Ghost is real. It's real because the word says it's real and we can show you in the word that it's real. But two, we want you to have understanding so you can receive it into your life. So if you got questions, please come and see us.

We want to make that available to you. We want to make sure everybody has an opportunity to receive the spirit of God into their life. Everybody said amen to that.