The Secrets to Daily Following the Holy Spirit

Jesus came so lost people could be saved. This church is not a cruise ship where we lay by the pool. This is a battleship and for 23 years we've been on mission for Jesus. For 23 years we've been worshipping Jesus, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching lost people, baptizing people, helping people know God and grow in God, discover a purpose and make a difference. We've been on the mission of Jesus. For one reason, to see more changed lives. Welcome to People's Church everyone. Hey, we invite you to stand to your feet. Let's worship the Lord today. Let's celebrate the joy that He's given us. Come on, will you stand to your feet. Put those hands together. Let's let the joy of the Lord be our strength. I believe that you are more than enough, more than enough for me. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my charade. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my charade. Sing, oh my soul, oh my soul. Bless His name, all that is within me say. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my charade. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. So let it rise up like a river. Overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no limit. Overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it rise up like a river. Overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no limit. Overflowing Holy Spirit. Sing, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I got the joy, I got the joy, I got the joy. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my charade. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my charade. Sing, oh my soul, oh my soul. Bless His name, all that is within me say.

Oh my soul, bless His name. All that is within me say. Oh my soul, bless His name. All that is within me say. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my charade. Thank you God. Yes. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. We thank you for the joy that we have, God. Yes. Days may be darkest, but your light is greater You light our way, God, You light our way When evil is rising, You're rising higher With power to save, with power to save You keep hope alive, You keep hope alive From the beginning to the end, Your Word never fails You keep hope alive, because You are alive Jesus, You are alive Death had a stronghold, but Your light was stronger Rose from the grave, rose up from the grave When evil is rising, You're rising higher With power to save, with power to save You keep hope alive, You keep hope alive From the beginning to the end, Your Word never fails You keep hope alive, because You are alive Jesus, You are alive There's hope in the morning, hope in the evening Hope because You're living, hope because You're breathing There's hope in the breaking, hope in the sorrow Hope for this moment, my hope for tomorrow There's hope in the morning, hope in the evening Hope because You're living, hope because You're breathing There's hope in the breaking, hope in the sorrow Hope for this moment, my hope for tomorrow You keep hope alive, You keep hope alive From the beginning to the end, Your Word never fails You keep hope alive, because You are alive Jesus, You are alive You keep hope alive, You keep hope alive From the beginning to the end, Your Word never fails You keep hope alive, because You are alive Jesus, You are alive You keep hope alive, You keep hope alive From the beginning to the end, Your Word never fails You keep hope alive, because You are alive Jesus, You are alive I'd like to invite our prayer team to come forward at this time. We are a church that believes in the power of prayer.

If you need prayer, no matter how big or how small the need is, man, we'd love to pray for you. So as we sing this next song, you can step forward. Let's believe God for a miracle in your life. You called me out of darkness You silenced every lie And no other voice will define me I belong to You, I belong to You And by Your blood I've been adopted I've taken on Your name And I need to be reminded That I belong to You, I belong to You You know the enemy can't hide ♪ Can't take what I have and change who I am ♪ ♪ I belong to you, you know the enemy can't ♪ ♪ Take what I have and change who I am ♪ ♪ I belong to you, I belong to you ♪ ♪ I belong to you, and by your blood I've been adopted ♪ ♪ I'm taking on your name, and I need to be reminded ♪ ♪ I belong to you, I belong to you, oh ♪ ♪ I belong to you, you know the enemy can't ♪ ♪ Take what I have and change who I am ♪ ♪ I belong to you, you know the enemy can't ♪ ♪ Take what I have and change who I am ♪ ♪ I belong to you, I belong to you, yeah ♪ How many of you are grateful that you belong to Jesus? That no weapon formed against you can't prosper? That greater is he that's in you than he who's in the world. Come on, let's sing this out. ♪ Greater are you who's in me than he who's in the world ♪ ♪ The words that you have spoken are stronger than the curse ♪

♪ Greater are you who's in me than he who's in the world ♪ ♪ The words that you have spoken are stronger than the curse ♪ ♪ Greater are you who's in me than he who's in the world ♪ ♪ The words that you have spoken are stronger than the curse ♪ ♪ Greater are you who's in me than he who's in the world ♪ ♪ The words that you have spoken are stronger than the curse ♪ ♪ Greater are you who's in me than he who's in the world ♪ ♪ Than the curse ♪ ♪ You know the enemy can't take what I have ♪ ♪ And change who I am, I belong to you ♪ ♪ You know the enemy can't take what I have ♪ ♪ And change who I am, I belong to you ♪ ♪ You know the enemy can't take what I have ♪ ♪ And change who I am, I belong to you ♪ ♪ You know the enemy can't take what I have ♪ ♪ You know the enemy can't take what I have ♪ ♪ And change who I am, I belong to you ♪ ♪ I belong to you ♪ Oh, we belong to you, Jesus. We belong to you. We belong to you. You are the creator of all things. We bless your name today, God. A thousand generations falling down in worship and sing the song of ages to the land. And all who've gone before us and all who will believe will sing the song of ages to the land. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all.

All thrones and dominions, all powers and positions. Your name stands above them all in the angels' pride. Holy all creation pride. Holy, you are lifted high Holy, holy forever If you've been forgiven And if you've been redeemed Sing the song forever to the Lamb And if you walk in freedom And if you bear His name Sing the song forever to the Lamb We'll sing the song forever and amen And the angels cry Holy, all creation cries Holy, you are lifted high Holy, holy forever Hear people sing Holy, to the King of kings Holy, you will always be Holy, holy forever Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all Above all thrones and dominions All powers and positions Your name stands above them all Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all Above all thrones and dominions

All powers and positions Your name stands above them all Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all Above all thrones and dominions All powers and positions Your name stands above them all And the angels cry Holy, all creation cries Holy, you are lifted high Holy, holy forever Hear people sing Holy, to the King of kings Holy, you will always be Holy, holy forever You will always be Holy, holy forever You will always be Holy, holy forever Oh we worship you Jesus All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Saviour of the world right after this. The Bible says, if you magnify Him, He draws all men to Him. There's power in magnifying God. There's something about turning your attention up to heaven so that for a second, you don't have to worry about your week, you don't have to worry about the job, you don't have to

worry about the bills. I'm telling you, God will provide. He's bigger than your problem. He's bigger than your circumstance. He's bigger than the dreams that you have. But what you have to do is lock in, and for just a moment, I wonder if you could just forget everything that's gone on this week and just turn your attention on God. So all around this room and online, come on, will you just lift your hands all across this place? Close your eyes. Give yourself a little bit of privacy, because somebody is going to sing right now and lift up the name of Jesus. And when you lift up the name of Jesus, let me tell you, He will work it all out for your good. He has perfect plans. Come on, will you just lift your hands and let's sing this out one time? Come on, sing, all hail King Jesus. All hail King Jesus. All hail King Jesus. He'll heal your heart. All hail King Jesus. All hail the Lord, now lift Him in the air. All hail King Jesus. All hail. All hail the Savior. Come on, lift your voices. All hail King Jesus. Come on, we give you glory. All hail the Lord, now lift Him in the air. All hail King Jesus.

All hail the Savior. All hail, all hail, all hail. All hail King Jesus. Come on, we give you glory. All hail the Lord, now lift Him in the air. All hail King Jesus. All hail the Savior of the world. Amen, amen. Father, we worship you. We praise the name of Jesus. God, we come before you right now and we pray that you would touch every single heart and every single life in this room. God, would you meet every single need that is represented here, Father. We thank you, God, that you're a God that's greater than anything we could ever face. We love you and we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Come on, let's worship God one more time. Well, People's Church, we are a friendly church. And before you're seated, if you would greet two to three people around you, take the next 30 seconds and welcome somebody to People's Church. Welcome to People's Church, whether you're joining us online or in the building. We are family. My name's Josh, and I'm an associate pastor here at the Oklahoma City campus. We want to say a big welcome to all of our first-time guests. Will you help me welcome them today? Well, Church, last service during our 10 a.m. service, we congratulated and celebrated our graduates during our reception. But we want to take some time during this service to recognize and celebrate our graduates. If you would go ahead and stand to your feet, we want to celebrate you, we want to recognize you today. Go ahead, stand to your feet all

across this room. Come on, people's church. Let's celebrate our graduates. Congratulations. Way to go. Well done to our graduates. And if you can remain standing and we are just so proud of you and we are just so proud of everything that you have accomplished and we are excited for what God is going to continue to do in and through your life. The Bible says this in Joshua 1.9. It says, have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Let's pray over our graduates today. Father, we ask that you would bless every single graduate today as they step into this next phase of their life. Father, would you lead them,

guide them, provide for them, protect them. Father, we know as they do your will and your way, you are going to bless them with every good thing. Father, I pray that they would be strong and courageous, that they would confidently step into everything that you are leading and guiding them to do. We thank you, Jesus, and we pray this in the name of Jesus, amen. Come on, let's celebrate our graduates one more time. People's Church, yesterday was our annual serve day. I love serve day. I just want to say thank you to every single one of you across all of our campuses who served and show the love of Jesus to our community, to those who need hope and who need help. By beautifying and cleaning our school campuses and providing meals to the homeless, providing clothes to women and children who are struggling and serving at Hope is Alive and OK City

Center and our Dream Center, providing hygiene and personal products to those who are in need and helping teachers clear out classrooms and so much more. People's Church, thank you for serving. Come on, let's celebrate our graduates one more time. Thank you for serving. Come on, let's celebrate those who served and just appreciate your heart. Thank you for serving and just are so grateful for your heart of generosity. We cannot do what we do without your heart of generosity. Your heart to serve and to give faithfully helps us to continue to see more and more lives change. People's Church, thank you for serving. Life's changed. People's Church, thank you for your generosity. Father, we thank you so much for every single person who served during serve day.

Father God, we ask that you would bless them for their heart of generosity to be used by you to impact our community. Father, I pray that everything that we gave yesterday, Father, that you would use it to spread your love, your grace, your goodness in our community. Thank you for using us. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Hello, people's Church. How you doing? Everybody doing good? You're looking good. You're looking good. It's good to see you today. Seriously, I just really believe that success starts on Sundays in God's house. Lifting up the name of Jesus. Hearing the word of God. Your week is going to be better because you started it off in God's house.

Let me say a big thank you to everyone who served yesterday. Thank you for your heart for the community. Thank you for being in the hands and feet of Jesus. I know you already heard it. But I want you to hear it from me. It means so much that you would go out and sow seeds of kindness and love and the love of God. And there will be a harvest that's going to be reaped because of your service in our community. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And next Sunday is Campus Pastor Takeover. I want you to be here in full force because Pastor Rob, our campus pastor here in all the locations, your campus pastor, will be wrapping up our series Saved but Struggling with a powerful message next Sunday. I want you to shout down Pastor Rob. I want you to get behind him. I want you to say amen. It's gonna be a powerful, powerful word that he's gonna preach to us next Sunday. Well, we've honored our graduates today and I want to say that Pastor Rob wanted to be here, our campus pastor, because he loves being here for graduation Sunday, but he had a wedding. He had to be at in Wisconsin, so he's not here to celebrate with our graduates, but

we're so proud of you. I actually have a college graduate right now, myself, and so can we one more time thank God for the graduates? I know we've celebrated you already. Come on, one more time. Celebrate these graduates. Way to go. Way to go. Way to go. Well, are you ready for the preaching of God's Word today? Come on here. Are you ready for the preaching of God's Word today? All right, help the pastor out today. Well, I want to speak to you from this title today, the secrets to daily following the Holy Spirit. Let's look at the key verse for our entire series. It's in First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 23. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse 24 is very key for today. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. God is the one who sanctifies us. You play a role in your sanctification, but you cannot sanctify yourself. You can only be sanctified through the power of the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about it today. Titus chapter 3 and verse 5. He saved us not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. We experience new birth, salvation, regeneration, born again. We experience new birth and also new life, sanctification, growing spiritually. We experience both through the power of the Holy Spirit. Galatians chapter 3, verse 3. Are you so foolish after beginning by means of the Spirit? Are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? The apostle Paul was writing to believers in Galatia who had received salvation by grace through faith in Christ. They began their spiritual journey depending on the Holy Spirit, but then false teachers crept in, and they told them that they needed to follow the law to be right with God. So they shifted from depending on the Spirit to depending on their own effort. And Paul was addressing the dangerous mistakes of starting with the Spirit for salvation, but then trying to grow our faith by our own self-effort and self-reliance. Church, you cannot grow spiritually by depending on your flesh. You can't trust God for salvation and then start trusting yourself for transformation. It'll never work because

you cannot sanctify yourself. You must depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. So what I want to do today is I want to give you six steps to being spirit-led instead of flesh-led. Your flesh wants to lead you, but I want to teach you how to be spirit-led instead of flesh-led. And today, we're going to study Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through 14. If you have a copy of God's Word with you today, I encourage you to get your paper Bible. I love to see them paper Bibles. Break one out on me today. If you don't have a paper Bible, go ahead and use your phone and get the verses pulled up on your phone. Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through 4. This portion of Scripture, excuse me, 1 through 14, right here, Paul teaches us how to live spirit-led lives. And let's begin with the key verse for today's teaching. Romans chapter 8, we're going to jump to that last verse, verse 14. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. God's plan is for us to live spirit-led lives instead of flesh-led lives. And Romans chapter 8 tells us how to live... Spirit-led lives. Here it goes. Being led by the Spirit starts from freedom, not condemnation. Romans chapter eight, let's pick up in that very first verse, verse one. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The word therefore is pointing back to what Paul just said in Romans chapter seven. In Romans chapter seven, he describes the struggle we have with our soul and our flesh. I taught this to you a few weeks ago. He said, I want to do good, but I don't do it. I do what I hate. He's describing the war that every believer has

on the inside of them to follow the Spirit instead of following their flesh. And then in chapter number seven, he begins teaching us the powerful truth of how to live by the Spirit instead of by the flesh. And he begins by saying, don't live in condemnation. When Paul says no condemnation, he means because we're in Christ, we have been declared not guilty. Our sins have been forgiven. Today, you may be struggling with sin, but you're not sentenced to eternal death. No condemnation is about your position, not your performance. You're in Christ, so your sins have been forgiven. So you need to stop living under condemnation over your past sins. Condemnation will keep you stuck in the cycle of sin, but depending on the grace of God will move your life forward. You live by the Spirit and fight the flesh from acceptance, not for acceptance. You don't fight to earn God's love, you fight because you already have it. You're not fighting for approval, you're fighting from approval. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation, but there is transformation. There's no condemnation in Christ, but there is change in Christ.

Grace removes the penalty, but it does not remove the process. You are free from guilt, but you are not free from growth. The Holy Spirit doesn't shame you, but he does shape you. And being led by your flesh means you're living in constant shame, guilt, and condemnation. You're not being led by the Spirit if you're constantly living under condemnation. People who are led by the Spirit, they know they are loved and accepted by Jesus. And it begins, no condemnation. Number two, being led by the Spirit is about surrendering more, not striving more. To overcome the flesh, to overcome your soul, you don't need more effort, you need more surrender. Surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit is key to living with victory over your soul and your flesh. Let's pick up reading in Romans chapter number eight and verse number three. He says, for God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Paul teaches us that the law sets the standard but the law cannot empower it.

In Romans chapter seven, verse 12, Paul points out that the law itself, it's holy, it's righteous and good, but it only defines what is right. The law cannot empower us to do right. And Paul is teaching us that we cannot produce a righteous life by depending on the law or by depending on our flesh. We must depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. We must live by the Spirit because holiness is not an outside job. Holiness is an inside job. You cannot produce a righteous life on your own. You can't produce it through the law. You can't produce it through your flesh. Listen, trying harder, beating yourself up, obsessing over rules won't produce righteousness. Righteousness, you must surrender to the Holy Spirit to produce a righteous life. Second Corinthians chapter three, verse 18. And we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, catch this, from one degree of glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. This is such a powerful verse. We are being transformed from one degree of glory to another by the Spirit. This means there are different levels of surrender, one degree to the next degree. You see the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead

lives inside of you right now as a Christian. This means you already have power inside of you. You already have help inside of you. You're not lacking power, you just need to learn to surrender to it, one glory to the next. You don't need more strength, you need more surrender. When I was in high school and we woke up Oklahoma, my first vehicle was a Nissan Datsun maroon pickup truck with speakers in the back. Your boy was basing up to that school every day. Boom, boom, boom, boom, can't tell me nothing. Boom, boom, boom, boom. I was driving that Nissan Datsun pickup truck back in the day, it was a stick shift. Some of y'all don't know nothing about no stick shift, you automatic people. This was a stick shift, man. And sometimes my Nissan Datsun pickup truck wouldn't start. So what I would do is I would pop the clutch, come on, holler at me if you know what I'm talking about. Oh yeah, my stick shift people. So what I would do is I would get in my truck and I would push my truck. And when I got my truck moving, I'd jump inside of it. Put it in, put that, I'd pop that shift, move that shift, kaboom, turn the engine, bop, brrrr. Boy, I was gone, hey, gone. My only challenge was when I had to push that bad boy uphill, it took all my strength, all my effort. I mean, I was a football player,

I was working out all the time back then. And I would be pushing with all my effort and I could not sometimes get that truck to move up that hill so I could never pop the clutch and get it started. And this is what it's like when you're living by the flesh. You're trying to push your life uphill. You're using all your strength, you're using all your effort to live for God. Oh, I gotta live for God, I gotta serve God. Oh, I gotta live holy, I gotta do this. No, no, no, no. What you need to do is pop the clutch and get the Holy Spirit's engine working in your life. You pop the clutch by surrendering more and more to the Holy Spirit's power that's already on the inside of you. Victory is not self-empowered, it's spirit-empowered. You need to surrender more to the Holy Spirit. Number three, being led by the Spirit involves renewing your mind. Notice this in that next verse, Romans chapter eight, verse five, he says, for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. And I taught you a couple of weeks ago

that you must renew your mind to change your life. But here's the massive key that I knew I had to get to today. The only way to renew your mind is by surrendering to the power of the Holy Spirit. When you live according to the Holy Spirit, you set your mind on the things of the spirit. Ephesians chapter four, verse 23. Instead, let the spirit, that's the key, because we can get into the flesh like the church in Galatia. We can easily try to slip into the flesh to try to get transformation, to try to sanctify ourselves. No, no, let the spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. When you surrender to the Holy Spirit, the spirit takes the word of God and renews your thoughts, renews your attitudes. The Holy Spirit also gives you the desire to read the word of God. He gives you the desire to come to church, to hear the preaching of God's word so that your mind can be renewed. The Holy Spirit gives you the power. To feed on the truth of the word of God. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to take thoughts captive. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to reject the lies of the enemy. To renew your thinking daily. You don't need more strength.

You need more surrender. Pop the clutch and start just depending and surrendering on the power of the Holy Spirit. Number 4 is this, being led by the spirit involves crucifying your flesh. He says in Romans 8, that next verse, verse 7, for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. For it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. If you live by your flesh, you cannot please God. Following the flesh will always drag you away from the Lord. So being led by the spirit is learning to surrender more and more and more to the Holy Spirit. So that you can have the power to crucify the flesh. Surrendering more to the Holy Spirit. So you have the power to resist the devil and say no to those fleshly desires. He says this in Galatians 5, verse 16... How do I overcome these fleshly desires? Walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to say no to those fleshly desires. And in life, no matter how old you get, you will always experience different types of fleshly desires. But you can surrender to the Holy Spirit. And when you surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit, he gives you the power to say no to the sin. Romans 8, verse 13...

You will die. But if by the spirit, by the spirit, by the spirit, by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to put to death the evil deeds of the body. What I'm teaching you today is you don't need more strength. You need more surrender. Pop the clutch. And surrender more to the work of the Holy Spirit. And let his engine give you the power you need to live a holy life. Number 5 is this, being led by the spirit requires learning to follow the spirit's leading. Let's dive deep right here. You got to learn to follow the spirit's leading. Let's look at this next verse. I want to read several verses to you. Romans 8, verse 9... 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. And Paul is getting at the heart of the gospel and the Holy Spirit. When you give your life to Jesus, at that moment the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. If you don't have the Holy Spirit because you have not given your life to Jesus and you are not a Christian. The moment you become a Christian, the spirit lives inside of you. If you are not a Christian, Christ is in you.

Then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the spirit, if you are a Christian, the spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have no obligation. If we are a Christian, we do have an obligation. But it's not to the flesh. We have no obligation any longer to the flesh. No, our obligation is to live according to the spirit. According to the spirit. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Here it goes, the key verse. Those who are led by the spirit are the children of God. When we are led by the spirit, we obey God and experience life. The key is we have to keep surrendering to the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5, chapter 5, verse 25. If we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit. I love that out of the ESV version. When we live by the spirit, we keep in step with the spirit. Here's what I want you to learn today. Every single day, you and I must keep in step with the spirit. We must keep surrendering every day to the spirit. This is not a one-time deal. It's not a once a week. It's not just, well, in January prayer and fasting.

I'm going to surrender. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Holy Spirit gives us the power we need to live a holy life when we surrender to the Holy Spirit every single day. And the key is we must daily be led by the Spirit. Let me teach you some keys on how to follow the Spirit's leading every single day. The way you get victory over your soul, over your flesh is learning to follow the Spirit's leading every single day. How do I do that, pastor? You follow the Spirit by learning his voice. John 10, verse 27, Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. You cannot follow the Spirit if you don't hear or recognize his voice. You must know the Spirit's voice to follow him. And you learn the Holy Spirit's voice through relationship. The more time you spend with God, the more familiar you become to the Holy Spirit's voice. Closeness creates clarity. Time with God sharpens your sensitivity to his voice. That means spending time every day praying. Praising God. Listening for the voice of God. Reading God's word. Staying in God's word every day. Helps you discern the voice of God. The more you know God's word, the more you will be able to discern God's voice. Because the Holy Spirit will never ever lead you to do

something that goes against God's word. I'm going to say that again. The Holy Spirit will never lead you to do something that goes against God's word. How many of you had somebody tell you, boy, the Lord led me. He didn't lead you to do that. Not that. That was not the Lord. He won't tell you to do something that goes against his word. John 16, verse 13, when the spirit of truth comes and he's here, he's living in us as Christians. He will guide you into all truth. The Holy Spirit will always lead and guide you into truth. So knowing the truth of God's word helps you to be able to be in tune with the Holy Spirit's voice. Relationship builds recognition. Relationship builds recognition. Just like in a large crowd of people. I know my wife's voice. I know her life. I recognize her voice. It can be in a large crowd in a room. That's my girl right there. I hear her. That's my woman. I know that laugh right there. Because I spend so much time with her. I know her. Her voice, her laugh.

Recognition builds recognition. You follow the spirit's leading by paying attention to his promptings. The Holy Spirit usually doesn't shout at us. That's why some of you are having a hard time hearing. Lord, speak. Shout at me. No, no. God rarely shouts. He nudges. He prompts. He leads. He doesn't force you. He leads you. That's why you have to keep in step with the spirit. Because the Holy Spirit leads you. The more time you spend with God, the more you can discern his promptings, his nudges, his leading, his whispers. Let me give you some examples of the spirit's prompting, his leading in the scripture. Here's one. The Holy Spirit, his voice will correct you. It's part of his promptings, his leading. Acts 10... And told him to stop calling certain foods unclean that God made clean. He said, boy, stop calling pig feet and chitlins unclean. Glory to God. Rebuke him, Lord. Get on him, Lord.

Tell him. That's a whole other sermon, amen. That's a whole other sermon. He was teaching Paul this. The gospel wasn't just for the Jewish people. It was also for the Gentiles. And as you get to know the Holy Spirit, he will correct you. If you don't ever feel the correcting of the Holy Spirit, it's because you don't know his voice. When you get to know the voice of the Holy Spirit, he'll say, don't you say that. Don't you do that. Don't you think that. Hey, the Holy Spirit's voice will correct you. will restrain you. Notice this in Acts 16 verse 6 and 7, and they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. They heard the Holy Spirit's restraining voice saying, don't you speak, don't you go. If you're going to be led by the Holy Spirit, you have to get to know him so you recognize his restraining voice. Because sometimes the Holy Spirit will speak to you, he'll whisper to you, he'll lead you. It'll be a restraining voice that says, don't you speak, don't you go there. And it's not necessarily always about sin. Sometimes it's about God knowing more than you know, and he wants to protect you. Sometimes his restraining voice is because he wants his purpose and his will to be accomplished. So he says, don't go, don't don't do that. You gotta know his restraining voice. The Holy Spirit will direct you on where to go. Notice this in Acts chapter 8 and verse 29, and the Spirit said to Philip, go over and join this chariot. Acts 10 verse 19 and 20 says, and while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, behold,

three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them. As you get to know the Holy Spirit's voice, he will give you specific direction and even specific timing. Get up and go now to this place. Get up and go now to that person. Spirit-led people know the voice of God. The Holy Spirit will direct you not only on where to go, but the Holy Spirit's voice will direct you on a decision. Notice this in Acts 13 verse 2, while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. The Spirit will give you direction on decisions. He will give you directions even on specific assignments and specific callings. And sometimes the Holy Spirit won't give you specific direction. What he will do is give you his peace. He'll lead you with his peace. Notice this in Acts chapter 15 verse 28, for it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. They said, hey, this doesn't violate God's word. This is not sin. We've been praying. We've been trying to figure out what God's will is, and it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us. We just sense a peace about this from the Lord because God leads through his peace. It just seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us. The Holy Spirit's voice will speak to us about the future. Notice this in Acts chapter 20 verse 23, except the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. There are times the Holy Spirit's voice will speak to us about something in our future, but you must know his voice to hear it. Number six, this last point is so key. This is so key if you're going to be led of the Spirit. You follow the Spirit's leading by obeying the Spirit. Hearing the voice of God is not the same as obeying the voice of God. You are not led by the Holy Spirit if you don't obey the Spirit's voice. I meet people like that. They think, well, I heard from God. But if you don't do what the Lord told you to do, you're not Spirit-led and you actually injure your relationship with the Holy Spirit when you disobey him.

Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed with for the day of redemption. Did you realize that you can grieve the Holy Spirit of God? I mean, you cannot be led by the Spirit if you keep grieving the Holy Spirit because you keep disobeying what he says, you keep disobeying his nudgings. I mean, you're disobeying God with your words, your thoughts, and your actions. It's hard to be led by the Spirit when you're grieving the Spirit. First Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 19, do not quench the Spirit. When you ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit... It hinders your relationship with the Spirit. You quench the Spirit. Just like when you do something that hurts your spouse, hurts your boyfriend, hurts your girlfriend. You do something that hurts your children, or your friends, or your boss. It can hinder your relationship. And disobedience hurts your relationship with the Holy Spirit. And Hebrew says this, chapter 3, verse 7 and 8. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear His voice, Today, if you hear His voice, you hear His whispers, you sense His promptings, His nudges, His leading. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. Did you realize, when you ignore the Spirit, your heart gets hardened? If you consistently ignore the Holy Spirit, your heart gets harder and harder and harder, and you can actually get to a place where you no longer recognize His voice. And you cannot follow a voice that you don't recognize. And when you don't follow the Holy Spirit's voice, that means you're following your voice. You're not being led by the Spirit, you're being led by the

flesh. And what you have to do is make up your mind, I'm going to obey what the Spirit speaks. I'm going to obey His voice. I'm going to obey His promptings. I'm going to obey His nudges. I'm going to obey His direction. Because the only way to live in victory is to be led by the Spirit. We don't need more strength. We need more surrender. Pop the clutch. Depend on the Holy Spirit's power. Father, thanks for your word today. Thanks for speaking to us. Lord, I pray right now that we'd be people that are led by the Spirit of God. Holy Spirit, touch us and fill us. Work in us right now. Come on, would you open your hearts to God right now? Come on, let the Holy Spirit work. We just say, God, we just surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit. Come on, let Him speak to you. Let Him minister to you. Lord, we just say, God, speak to us. We want to follow your leading. We want to follow your nudges, your whispers. We want to obey what you say. So God, we just open our hearts up right now and say we surrender fresh and anew to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Have your way in us. In Jesus' name, as eyes are still closed and heads are bowed, I'm talking to some people today that you're following your flesh. You don't have the Holy Spirit inside of you. You're doing whatever your flesh wants to do. And today's your day to give your life to Jesus Christ. Quit following your flesh. Quit living in sin and give your life to Jesus today. Today's your day. There are some of you that you used to follow Jesus. You used to follow the Holy Spirit and His Word, but you've allowed your flesh to get back in control and you've been ignoring the Holy Spirit. You're ignoring His nudging. You're ignoring His promptings. You're ignoring His whispers. And today is your day to get right with the Lord and rededicate your life back to Jesus. If that's you, you want to give your life to Jesus or you want to rededicate your life back to the Lord, you're going to quit following your flesh and you want to

follow the Lord. As I count to three, would you shoot your hand high in the air? And I'm going to lead you in a prayer to say yes to God. One, two, three. Just lift it high right now. That's it. See your hand there. See your hand there. See your hand there. Others today. See your hand there. So awesome. See your hands there. See several hands there. Others today. Just lift it high. See your hand there. Others today. I'm going to ask hands that are raised all over this building to pray with me. Confess it with your mouth. Believe it in your heart and God's going to wash away your sins. Pray with me now, Heavenly Father. I turn from my sin and I turn my life over to Jesus Christ. I confess that Jesus is my Lord and my Savior and I will follow Him and the leading of the Holy Spirit the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen. Come on, somebody give God praise. Come on, you can do better than that. Give God some praise. Just remain seated. We're going to close in just a moment. Come on and give God some great praise today. Everyone would remain seated. Now next Sunday is our Campus Pastor Takeover. Our very own Campus Pastor Rob Champion will be wrapping up the series. You don't want to miss it. It's going to be powerful. I hope you make plans to be here next Sunday and if you're new here to St. Paul's Church, we just want to say welcome. You are amongst some of the kindest, nicest people in all of Oklahoma City. We want to encourage you. Give us a year of your life. Attend church regularly. Jump into growth track. Attend a small group and watch what God does in and through your family. Hey, we say this every single Sunday. We say that we're family. Come on, will you stand to your feet? Will you say it with me? We're what? We're family.

Have a great Sunday. We'll see you next week. ♪ Your name is the highest ♪ ♪ Your name is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name stands above all ♪