Spirit, Not Self - Louie Giglio

Well, what a collection recommended for you. And I'm so excited about where God's gonna take us today, but I'm also a little bit happy about where we've come since last Sunday. I predicted maybe that the talk last week because the title of it was, It's Not About You, that it might be the lowest viewed talk of the year. Obviously, that was a little tongue in cheek, but that talk so far, this last week has defied the odds and it's actually not the lowest viewed talk in the history of Passion City or in the collection or in this year. And I think it's because that message, even though it's hard for us to onboard at first, it's a message that brings us life. And God is wanting to underscore that to you and me today. It's not about you, but he wants to make no mistake about this. God is for you. So to say it's not about you doesn't mean God doesn't love you. To say it's not about you doesn't mean that God hasn't chosen you. To say it's not about you doesn't mean to say that God didn't pursue you and value you and have a purpose and a destiny for you. To say that it's not about you is not saying that God is not for you.

He is so for you and he's so for me today that he's recommending to us the very best that there is. We're all living, this collection is about this idea, this reality that we're living in an algorithm world. We're watching our screens more than we're listening to messages like this today. We're watching our screens honestly more than we're reading our Bibles. We're watching our screens more than we're in prayer with Almighty God, meditating on his word, thinking about him and worship with him. In the closet as we prayed about with the door closed, we're on our screens way more, most of us, than we're being discipled by Jesus. And so what God is wanting to do is to break into an algorithm world and say, let me recommend some things for you. Let me recommend based on who I know I made you to be what is best for you. So maybe you might like God is saying it when he really knows it's what you're really going to need the most. And he's been recommending to us over these few weeks some amazing transformational life changing things. And today it's no less. Jesus today is stepping into the equation. Remember, he's the one who said in the Sermon on the Mount, you've heard it said, but I say to you. The world may have said this to you,

but this is what I'm saying to you. The algorithm may be trying to convince you of this path, but this is the path that I'm inviting you onto. And today he's inviting us onto an amazing, amazing, beautiful, fulfilling, life-changing path. It's really to understand today that each of us are faced with two choices. See, last week in saying it's not about you was really just saying that Jesus invitation is, if you want to follow me, then you got to deny yourself and take up your cross every day and follow me. If you want to be my disciple, then deny self. And what did he mean by that? That the self in us, it's always calling for us to be at the center, for us to be front and center, for us to get our way, for us to do what we want to do, for us to satisfy the desires of our flesh. And that's a path that every one of us can choose today, the path of self. But Jesus is inviting us to a different path today. And that is the path of the spirit. Leaving the path of self and joining God on the path of the spirit. That's the gift that he's offering us today. And today it's gonna feel a little bit more like a Bible study. We're gonna look at several passages of scripture all through the New Testament.

They're gonna highlight one huge idea. And that idea is that Jesus is recommending for you. And he's recommending for me today. Are you ready for it? Jesus is recommending the Holy Spirit. Amen? Jesus, who is central in the story of God. He's the creator of the universe. God, the Father, God the Spirit, God the Son created the world, but they did it through the agency of Jesus. The Holy Spirit. as we're gonna see today, is all about glorifying Jesus. Jesus was a means by which God could put away our sin and offer us forgiveness and eternal life. And at the end of the day, it is the name of Jesus that is magnified in eternity. But that Jesus, who is central, is recommending to you today the Holy Spirit. He wants you to know that God is a community, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he's wanting you to know that the best thing you can do in this life is to partner with the Spirit of the living God, to abandon the pathway of self, and to join God on the pathway of the Holy Spirit. That's what he's saying in the Gospels. If you have your scripture, look at John chapter 14. And now Jesus is preparing his followers. My time on earth is coming to a close.

I didn't come here to dwell forever. I came here to fulfill a mission, and that mission is now at hand. But I want you to understand, there's more to come. And so John 14, verse 15, Jesus is saying, if you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and to be with you forever. And who is that? He identifies this another advocate. He says the Spirit of Truth, capital S, Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. The world cannot know him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he lives with you. Now this is the most important part of this passage today. And that's not all, he will be in you. Jesus is saying, the Father's gonna give you another advocate. Now that word advocate's gonna appear several times in these next verses as we're looking through the Gospel of John. But let's just drop down and finish this text. I don't wanna come back to a big idea. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the advocate, there he is again, the Holy Spirit, now we're getting clarification on this Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things,

and will remind you of everything I have said to you. So there's an unbroken connection I don't want us to miss today between Jesus and the Spirit of God. They are linked together not only as community of God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but their missions within that community are linked together. And the Spirit ultimately is gonna refresh our minds continually to the truth and the words and the person of Jesus Christ. But the main thing, and it's a simple thing, that I want you to not miss in these earlier verses that we read are the pronouns. I'll ask the Father, verse 16, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The Spirit of truth. Now look at this next phrase. The world cannot accept who? The world cannot accept who? Him. The world cannot accept him. Not it, but him. And it's important before we take one more step today that we all get on board with the idea that the Holy Spirit is a person, a personality, a him, not an it, not a thing. We don't pray, God, send your Spirit and let it move among us today.

No, we say, Holy Spirit, come, and you move among us today. Now that might sound elementary to some of the people in the gathering today, but I just need us all to understand that we're all not at stage 100 in our understanding theology, A. And B, there are people sitting in our gatherings today who are investigating Christianity. There are people in this gathering right now who are coming from a Hindu background. They're asking questions about, is Jesus real? There are people coming from all faiths, from all over the world, from no faith, and they're walking into our house today going, what is this all about? So therefore, I just wanna make sure we back up and bring everybody on the journey today. The Holy Spirit of God is a person. God, God is Father, God is Son Jesus Christ, and God is Holy Spirit. They are all God, in one God, each of them God. And Jesus is helping us see now that the Holy Spirit is a person, a Him, someone that we can have a relationship with. If you speed up a bit in John's Gospel to John chapter 16, we see this again. But very truly, I tell you, it is for your good that I'm going away. Unless I go away, the advocate, can we just say that together? The advocate, the advocate is what he's calling him, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. So Jesus Christ, think about this, God in human flesh, raises the dead, heals the sick, allows the blind to see, touches the leper, changes the world, walks on water, gives his life for the sins of the world on a cross, is raised out of the tomb by the power of Almighty God, is saying to you to me today, if I go, it's

even better for you than if I stay. Now how can this be so? That if God in human flesh is no longer among us in human flesh, that it could be even better for us than with him here. He's saying it is because of the role of the advocate. And if we go back to chapter 14, what we saw was, is that he's not only gonna live with you, but he's going to be in you. Jesus is walking among the villages, he's living among the people, he's on the Sea of Galilee one day and on the hillside the next day, but he's not both. But now he's saying, while I have been with you, the Spirit of the Living God, the advocate that the Father is going to send, the Holy Spirit, he's going to actually not just be with you in life, he's gonna live in you in life. And this is the miracle that makes it even greater that it is that he stay, that Jesus go. He says, but very truly I tell you, we read again in verse 7, it is for your good that I'm going away. Unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, by the way, the Holy Spirit, he's gonna prove the world to be wrong about sin. In other words, he's gonna convict the world about sin. Your translation may say that he's coming to convict the world, not to condemn the world, because that's already happening. We're already under the wrath of God. But he is gonna come and convict us of the sin in our life. He's also gonna prove to the world righteousness, or convict us of righteousness. What does that mean? It means the Holy Spirit is gonna remind us who we are in Christ. He's gonna show us clearly where we need to repent, and he's gonna remind us clearly who we are in Christ, the standing that we now have in Christ. And he's gonna prove to the world, or your translation may say, convict the world about the coming judgment of God. About sin, because people do not believe in me, Jesus is saying. About righteousness, because I'm going to the Father, where you can see me no longer. And about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. He says, I have so much more to say to you, more than you can bear now. But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. So the Holy Spirit has got many functions. He gives many gifts. But at the forefront, Jesus is saying, he wants to lead people to truth. He wants to lead you out of an

algorithmic world, which could be a little bit cloudy and confusing on the issues. And he wants to lead you into not just some of the truth, but guide you into all of the truth. He won't speak on his own. He will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. He will glorify me. So we're getting all this functionality of God the Holy Spirit. He's not coming to say, wow, all attention on the Holy Spirit. All eyes on the Holy Spirit. Everything about the Holy Spirit. He's coming to say the Holy Spirit wants to get all eyes on Jesus. All the attention on Jesus. Wants to make everything about Jesus. Because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you. Jesus is recommending the Holy Spirit. The advocate. Why does he call him multiple times in these promises the advocate? Well you may know but that Greek word means paraclete. And paraclete is basically just two words combined together to come alongside and to advocate for. But in saying paraclete to come alongside and to advocate for we're not saying that the Holy Spirit is about a position with us. Oh here he is right by my side. Holy Spirit he is always by my side. That's not what paraclete is implying here. It's implying not that he is positionally near you but that he is functionally in you. And what does he do? The advocate means four things. It means number one to intercede for. To defend or to plead your case. In fact in the New Testament time in a Roman context the word paraclete would mean you're going to trial. You're standing judgment. Accusations are coming and a paraclete comes and intercedes for you and pleads your case. So before Almighty God today the Holy Spirit is advocating for you. Against all the condemnation that the enemy wants to pour on your life the Holy Spirit is advocating for you today. Against any lie any curse that's coming against you today the Holy Spirit is there to say you have an advocate. You have an intercessor. You have someone to stand and defend you against all attack in everything that stands against the Word of God. Secondly advocate means helper. One who

supplies what you lack and stands ready to aid. Wow that means in any moment in life that I realize I don't have it. I can't do it. I'm unsure. I'm a little bit shaky right now. I have from God sent by Jesus an advocate named the Holy Spirit whose functionality as the paraclete of God is to help me when I can't help my self. He's standing ready to be at my aid. The third meaning of advocate is comforter. Comforter. The one who brings are you ready for it? Who brings peace in every situation. The one who in every circumstance is able to bring the peace of God. Jesus is saying now if I'm here I can just speak to the wind and the waves and I can either calm the storm or I can bring you through the storm. But when this Spirit of the Living God Holy Spirit comes living in you the paraclete of God in every situation in every moment in every place at every time he will be able to be peace in you in the storm. And then the fourth meaning of advocate man are we glad we're getting an advocate amen. And the fourth meaning of advocate is that he is a counselor. Another word used here an advisor. That at every fork in the road I'm not just standing there going I don't know. I'm standing there going what do you think? At every major turn I'm not just left to my own wisdom I'm like Holy Spirit help me know what would Jesus say? What would Jesus think? What has Jesus said? What would Jesus do in this moment? He's there to guide us into truth and to give us wise direction. Anybody need an advocate? Anybody happy that you have an advocate? And its cousins are working overtime to get you one. I was reading about Elon's Optimus. If you don't know, that's one of the major projects that Tesla is working on right now. In fact, the automated car that many of you drove to Passion City Church gatherings today, its primary function is to gain the knowledge necessary to create robotics that will help us in assisted living called Optimus. And it's even predicted at some point in the future

there could be more Optimus. I'll show you a picture of one, but you kind of know what it looks like in your life. It's a robot. And the prediction is that in the future that there could be more Optimuses than human beings on planet Earth. And I ask because I'm in a little bit in this collection wanting to ask the machine to tell us things more than just humans telling us what the machine thinks. So I just asked the machine, I said, what and how is Optimus going to help me? The goal of Elon Musk's Optimus, chat GP told me this in five seconds or less, also called the Tesla bot, is to create a general purpose humanoid robot that can perform tasks that are repetitive, dangerous, or physically demanding, allowing people to spend less time on routine work. According to Elon Musk and Tesla, long-term vision includes working in factories by handling repetitive manufacturing and logistics tasks. Secondly, helping at home with chores such as carrying groceries, cleaning, folding laundry, and preparing simple meals. Number three, assisting the elderly or people with disabilities by providing physical help with everyday activities. Number four, performing dangerous jobs in environments that may be unsafe for humans.

And then lastly, eventually, becoming an affordable personal assistant that many households and businesses can own. Tesla's building Optimus using much of the same AI cameras and computer vision technology developed for its self-driving vehicles. So the car, according to Tesla, that they're thrilled for you to be driving is a stepping stone to an Optimus that could live in your home and do many wonderful things to assist you. The idea is that instead of driving a car through the world, the AI learns to navigate and manipulate the world using a humanoid body. An advocate. Not as good of an advocate as we've already got. But even the machine understands we could send you a helper. We could send you someone who could step in to various situations, various circumstances, various tasks, various moments of life, and assist you. Optimus, what a great, positive-sounding name is coming. And to that, I'm like, okay, I'm really not for or against Optimus at this point. I'm just happy that I already have sent from above, from the highest intelligence that there is in the universe, God, the Holy Spirit, an advocate, who is already on the scene and already through Christ living in me

to do what I cannot do on my own. The Holy Spirit. Is what Jesus, who Jesus, is recommending to you and me. In fact, when Jesus was resurrected, he came and appeared to his people. And this is what he said to them. And Jesus said, peace be with you. Now we know that peace is coming from the advocate. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. So that's another message for another day. But there's a mission. This is what we're all involved in. It's a mission. We're invited into a grand story. But then listen to his last words at this gathering after the resurrection. And with that, Jesus breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. And that's ultimately the hinge point of today. It's God coming into your world, into your algorithmic world and saying to you, receive the Holy Spirit. Receive the Holy Spirit. Yes, we understand the breadth of our salvation that once we put our faith in Jesus, we're gonna receive the Holy Spirit. Christ and been brought from death to life in him, But we're not gonna receive the Holy Spirit that the Spirit of God lives in us through Christ. We're now indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God.

But there's an actualization of that, an activation of that that comes when we say, I want you, Holy Spirit. I welcome you into my life. I am opening my mind, my heart, my spirit, and everything I am to you. I want to receive you into my life. Now, they never knew about receiving the Holy Spirit. As Paul went and preached, he would preach the gospel, and then he would preach, receive the Holy Spirit. They're like, who is the Holy Spirit? He would explain the Holy Spirit. But we're living in another age and another time. Some of you may not know who the Holy Spirit is. Some of you may have heard of him through your upbringing of faith. Some of you may be slightly acquainted, but today, please hear, he's the advocate of God, the power of God, he is God, here to help us live out the Christian life. And God is saying to you today, receive the Holy Spirit. Open your life and welcome him in. In. To make that decision means to cancel the path of self and to invite the path of the Holy Spirit. And that potentially is why so many people are sitting in churches, not living and experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, because they realize that living in spirit power meant abandoning self power. It meant embracing, it's not about me.

It's not about what I can do. It's not about me managing life. It's not about me making all the choices and decisions and deciding which option I think is best and amplifying the viewpoint that I think is right. It's about axing the path of self and joining willfully the pathway of the Spirit, which is full surrender, full surrender to the control of God's Spirit in my life. Paul amplified this for us in Romans chapter eight. He says, you, however, he's talking to people who are born again, and he's wanting them to understand the change that's happened. He said, you, however, are not in the realm of the flesh. You could add self there, but he's really just talking about this operational system that is in us, in our flesh, because of the fallen nature of man, this desire to do it my way, to get what I want, to make all my decisions, to be in charge, be in control, feed my flesh whatever it wants. He says, you're not in the realm of the flesh. Now, you are flesh, there's the conflict, and he talks about the conflict, but you're not in the realm of the flesh. You've changed location spiritually. You are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. In other words, it's possible, Paul is saying,

to sit in a church gathering and to think that you are a Christian, but to not have experienced a born-again conversion of life whereby Jesus became Lord and the Spirit filled your life. It's possible to have the name and not the power. We read about that last week. These people had a form, remember he wrote to Timothy, of godliness, but they denied the power. What were they denying? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's unction and control in their lives. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body, your flesh still, is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. In other words, your body is on a collision course with a grave, but your spirit is on a collision course with the righteousness of God and with God himself. And if the Spirit of him, wow, you might just wanna put a little star in your text by this if it's not already there, a little check mark or two in the margin and maybe get your highlighter out if you haven't already. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he, Holy Spirit, who raised Christ from the dead. dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you." Now we don't want to break this all up too neatly here. This is God Almighty raising Jesus from the dead, but raising Jesus from the dead connected to the power of the Holy Spirit. And what God is saying today, can we please just take a moment and breathe this in, He's

saying the same power that raised Christ lives in you. In other words we didn't use a thousand percent TNT for the explosion that brought Christ to life, but we're only passing out firecrackers to everybody else. He's saying no, the same power, the same dynamo that raised Jesus lives in you. That's why Jesus is so excited to say, I'm going away, but the advocate's coming and when he comes, you're going to get dynamite power inside of you. Same power, exact power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you and will give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you. Therefore brothers and sisters, we have an obligation now, in other words we're not free agents to do whatever we want because Christ saved us and gave us his life, but it is not to the flesh to live according to it, in other words it is not my way, for if you live according to the flesh, my way, you'll die. But if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live for those who are led by the spirit of God, who are the children of God. In other words the Holy Spirit, once he becomes your advocate, the one who intercedes for you and defends you, the one who comforts you in every situation, the one who guides you and the one who helps you, once the Holy Spirit is on the scene, he is going to continually remind you that you are a child of God. Your refrain in life is going to be, I'm a child of God, I'm a daughter of God, I'm a son of God, the world didn't remind me of that, the algorithm didn't remind me of that, my parents didn't even remind me of that, but the Holy Spirit, my advocate, he is constantly reminding me, you're a child of God, you are grafted in to a relationship with the God of the universe. And when that happens, I'm telling you, life changes. Paul expands on this and it could be a whole other message for another day and I don't have a tremendous amount of time to dive down into it today, but this is what we need. We need Holy Spirit transformation, Holy Spirit filling that brings Holy Spirit fruit. We do not need a message today that says, man, I want the Holy Spirit, I need the Holy Spirit, I welcome the Holy Spirit, I want to receive the Holy Spirit, I want to live in the Holy Spirit.

What we need today is a message that says, if you follow me around, you will know that I am walking by the Spirit because the fruit of that Spirit will be evident in my life. A friend of mine sent me an article that I want to dig down into in the weeks to come. It appeared on social media just a few days ago. This is a new LifeWay research study, Gen Z, Z church goers attend worship services more often than any other generation, averaging 6.2 services a month. This is something we've celebrated already in the last year. They're also the most likely to participate in small groups and among the most likely to serve, share their faith, memorize scripture and invite friends to church. Yet researchers found a surprising disconnect. Now can I just pause here and say, I am not an expert on Gen Z, okay? So footnote, this is not coming from me. This is not somebody standing up here going, I understand Generation Z and I know all about the way they think and act and all their trends and tendencies and habits. I'm just reading to you what this survey says today and see if we can all find it helpful, not just Gen Z. More than half of Gen Z church goers, 52% of them said that when they have to choose between their own way and God's way, they usually choose their own. Nearly half of them, 43%, said reading the Bible hasn't made a significant difference in the way they live. Now just jump down to the next paragraph. My biggest concern for Gen Z is not that they are disconnected from church, and this is by the person who's directing next-gen ministries at Lifeway. Our research shows that Gen Z is deeply involved. The greater concern is that they're not being deeply formed. Researchers say the findings point to a discipleship challenge, not an attendance problem. Young Christians are showing up. The question now is whether faith is shaping everyday life as much as it is filling church calendars. I think that's a word. I think that's a word. I don't think that's a word for Gen Z. I think that's a word. I think it's a word for me. I think it's a word for our Christian culture that we're living in. I think it's a word for anybody who says, I believe in God the Father, I believe in

God the Son, I believe in the Holy Spirit, three in one. I receive the Holy Spirit. I love the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. A generation that says, yes, we want the Holy Spirit, but a generation that if they had to choose, do you want to make this decision on the path of you or on the path of the Spirit of God, on the path of what you want to do or what the Holy Spirit wants to do, on the path of worldliness or holiness, what choice do you make? Half the people are saying, I'm still choosing this path. And I think Jesus is saying today, I want to recommend something to you. I want to recommend a full surrender to the Holy Spirit of God so that the Holy Spirit of God can fully express His richness in you. This is the way He said it when He wrote it to the Corinthians, I mean to the Galatians, chapter 5, verse 16. So I say, you've heard it said, but I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, that path, contrary to this path, and the Spirit contrary to the flesh. They're in conflict with one another. In other words, if you're trying to sort of work your way out with, you know, two skis on, eventually it's going to be a problem. You've got to make a decision. You're gonna be faced down in the lake. They're in conflict with each other so that you're not able to do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition. That's what we're talking about. Dissensions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Why? Because they're just proving that they do not have that seal of the Holy Spirit, that they are the children of God, but the fruit of the Spirit. Wow. Nine amazing needs that we all have and want. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh, the self, with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step

with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. It's a picture that we're all going to be a sponge. No one gets out of being a sponge. We're created to serve God. If we don't serve God, we're going to serve something else. We're created to be filled by the Holy Spirit. If we're not filled by the Holy Spirit, we're going to be filled by a different spirit. We're created for the fullness and the freedom that comes in totaling surrendering to God, but if we don't totally and fully and completely surrender to God, we're going to totally and fully and completely surrender to something less than God. We do not have a choice of neutrality. There is no Switzerland in the Christian faith. And you can see it by the way we live. The person who's committed to the flesh and immerses themselves in their thinking, their attitudes, their behavior, the people they hang out with, the things they consume, the algorithm that has sucked them in, and they've just lived in the flesh. When life comes, they squeeze out the flesh. It's not a mystery. And you can talk your way around it all day long, but everybody who's around you is just watching what's happening. And they're saying, oh man, that's what happens when you live according to the flesh. The flesh is what comes out of you when you live. And God is saying, those who walk by the Spirit, they live by the Spirit. Those who have surrendered their lives, opened their lives, welcomed in the full control of God, the Spirit of God into their hearts, they're immersed in the ways of God, in the things of God, in the teaching of God, in the power of God, in the thoughts of God, in the attitudes of God. And when they're out there pressed into life, it's not like, my word, how did you do that? How did you do that? Wow, that's so beautiful. It's like, I didn't really do that. I just did this. I just immersed my life in the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. And when life comes, the fruit of that Holy Spirit is what comes out of me. You can talk all day about who you think you are. And I can talk all day about who I think I am. But when life comes and you don't even have time to think about it, what comes out of you? I would say that 99% of the people in this room want love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to come out of their lives. How? Jesus said, I'm recommending the Holy Spirit. And he's saying to us today, just simply here, nothing weird about

it. He's just saying to anyone here, receive the Holy Spirit. Yes, you will have to say no to the path of self, but there will be so much life for you on the path of the Spirit of God.