Spirit of Truth | Week 3 | Re-Engage Series

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ~ John 16:12-14 NKJV

Error clouds our ability to hear God’s voice.

⁶ We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. ~ 1 John 4:6 NKJV

Error outside the church causes men and women to worship other things.

Common false religious worship in modern culture

• Intellectualism
  • Human reason
  • Academic credentials
  • Philosophical systems
• Personal fulfillment
  • Self help
  • Self glorification
• Success
  • Career
  • Title
  • Achievements
• Materialism,
  • Money
  • Possessions
  • Comfort
• Entertainment
  • Pleasure
  • Escapism
    • Partying
    • Addictions
• Physical appearance
  • Image
  • Body
  • My appearance

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ~ Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ~ Matthew 6:33 NKJV

Seek First In Priority

• First thing on your schedule in the morning
• First one you turn to for advice
• First one you include in all of your activities

Seek First in Focus

• You run all of your choices through His filter the word and the counselor Holy Spirit
• His word and spirit truly direct your interactions with the world around
• God Consciousness

Error in the church keeps us from

• Hearing God’s Voice
• Understanding His word
• Discerning His presence
• Engaging in prayer
• Engaging in worship
• Operating in the gifts of the Spirit
• Fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives

Manifestation of a strongman error

²⁸ But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. ~ Matthew 12:28-29 NKJV

• Legalism
  • Belief that is base primarily on rules and formulas
  • Very little consideration of experiencing God’s presence
  • Based upon human efforts to be more like God
  • Driven by this idea : God is pleased with me if I preform well enough.
• Experientialism
  • Belief
    • Based primarily on ones personal experience
    • Very little consideration for the Biblical perspective
    • Give little to no effort to align their life with the Word of God
    • Driven by the idea : The way that I live has nothing to do with my relationship with God
  • Kundalini – chakras, opening your third eye
    • Physical sensations
    • Heat
    • Vibrations
    • Emotional release
    • Visions
    • Altered states of consciousness
• Emotionally ridged
  • Your walk is void of peace and joy
  • Emotionally shut down
  • Your walk
    • Performance based
    • Rules based
    • Difficultly experiencing the Holy Spirit
    • Difficulty engaging in worship
• Division
  • Resists spiritual authority
  • Friendships
    • If you do not believe like I do then we can’t be friends
  • Pushes me to make the unsaved in my life conform to my values
• Condemnation : the expression of strong disapproval
  • Inwardly : you are unworthy of God’s love or his approval
  • Outwardly : we look at others and say they are not worthy of God’s love or mercy.
  • Pushes: Shame others believing
• Judgmental
  • Inwardly : magnifies my shortcomings in order to make me feel not good enough.
  • Outwardly : I highlight others flaws with out an understanding of the full picture.
  • Others: I point out their sin and shortcomings to show them where they are not good enough
• Confusion
  • Spiritual hinderance to
    • Reading the Bible
    • Praying
    • Worshipping
    • Listening to or understanding the preached word
  • Twisting of the word
    • Use the word to control others
    • Use the word to intimidate others
  • The taught word: I don’t have to line up
  • Perverted grace: I can keep sinning willfully and God is ok with it
• Argumentative
  • Thieves on debate
    • Focus on winning the argument no matter what it does to the relationship
    • Goal is winning not understanding
  • Actions
    • Resists correction
    • Other viewpoints are a threat
    • Regularly challenges authority and teachings
  • Person who has it
    • Avoid dealing with my brokenness by arguing theology
    • Quick to speak
    • Slow to listen
    • Dismisses others mid sentence
  • If we don’t believe alike we can’t be friends
•  Idolatry
  • Consumed with image
    • What others think
    • Chase status and title
    • Keep up with those around me
    • I buy things I don’t need to impress others
  • ²⁶ So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. ²⁷ And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸ So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. ~ 1 Kings 18:26-28 NKJV
  • Good with religious activity with no heart transformation
    • Thrive in a performance-based environment
    • Worship, prayer, and study are out of duty and not a pleasure
    • Do for God but I don’t know Him
  • Self sacrifice
    • Work hard to create an image of what others think I should be
    • Work hard to get others to conform to the life of sacrifice I have chosen
    • Believe a large amount of religious activity gets their God to do something
      • Stir him up
      • Pray enough
      • Fast enough
      • Sacrifice enough
      • Worship enough

Words of Knowledge

• We believe the Lord wants to heal someone with a pinched nerve in their neck that is causing headaches.
• We believe there is someone here today that has stepped on something and injured their foot, but the injury is not healing. We believe the Lord wants to heal that today.
• We believe the Lord wants to heal someone of a painful heel spur.
• We believe the Lord wants to heal someone suffering with stomach ulcers.