Don’t Quench the Holy Spirit

So let's turn to Acts. Again, we're encouraging you to bring your Bibles, bring a highlighter. I'd have your young adults, your teenagers, I mean, bring in their Bible, have a highlighter, and God will speak to you through His Word.

I mean, there's some passages I've read dozens of times, and then that one time, wow, this is for me today. This is for me today. It's unbelievable.

And God will use Scripture because the Word of God is living. And powerful, sharper than any double-edged sword. It pierces, it divides, it discerns our thoughts with the thoughts of God.

So bring your Bibles. Wednesdays, I'm in Psalms verse by verse. And also in here, we're in Acts.

So Acts 4.32. You can move ahead to 4.32 a little bit. Now the multitude of those who believed were one heart and one soul. So all of the believers came together.

And here goes a rabbit trail. I've noticed this. I've noticed this over the years, and I've talked about it, but you know, it fits again.

When I first came to the Lord, I remember that time. Many of you do too. And there wasn't much that could divide you unless you got around a divisive person.

We were all like, we're coming to church, we're praying. Let's pray that God's going to heal you. Let's pray for worship.

Let's pray. And we're all of one accord. But then somebody creeps in, oh, the gifts of the Spirit aren't for today anymore.

We shouldn't be doing this. And that's emotional worship. Worship's too emotional.

And all this division comes in the body. Remember, the Holy Spirit is never divided. This has always helped me over the years.

So if I'm divided with somebody, or you are, the Holy Spirit's not. Somebody's wrong. And if you say it's not me, pride, be careful, be careful.

Paul actually says, we'll get into it in the future, that there must be division among you in the church. What? Because it will prove to the body who is right and who is wrong. In other words, when there's division, there's going to be light and darkness, right and wrong, truth and error.

There's attitudes getting away. Anybody ever let their pride get in the way? So the majority of church quarrels, where do they come from? Not the Holy Spirit. The Bible actually talks about it.

From the lusts of the flesh. The pride. Where do wars and quarrels come from? You think it was a James? What we're lusting and wanting more and more knowledge and to be esteemed and be recognized and to come across smart.

To want to debate theology. I learned years ago, I don't want to answer questions on social media anymore. Because nine times out of ten, they don't want to know my answer.

What is it? It's a basic question. Great gen. Pastor, I have a question.

Oh, okay, here's my answer. Oh, no, no. Oh, oh, I see.

You just want to argue. Yeah. So now I say call the church if you have questions.

And I'll talk to you. Guess who doesn't call the church ever? None of these heresy hunters. Because they know one-on-one on the phone, this is not going to happen.

They're going to, you know, we all have this little thing gets going a little too much. The mouth saying too much, maybe not handling something correctly. Do you know what drama does not come from the Holy Spirit? When there's drama in a church, it's attitudes.

Well, I'm not going to take that. Well, they better acknowledge me. I've got a teaching gift.

Why aren't I doing this? Why aren't I up on the worship stage? Oh, but you heard, didn't you hear? Did you hear? You didn't hear? I saw Pastor Shane run a red light. What's the point of that? I haven't. It's been a long time.

Full stops. Now that's tough, especially coming down that hill. You're in a hurry.

Nobody's coming. But they were of one heart and one soul. I told you I can't get away from the first sentence.

But that's just really, it's really resonating with me lately that God's unity is so important. Could it be that we're not experiencing that incredible revival we pray about because of too much disunity? Could it be that maybe God is not working as profoundly in your life because of a divided heart? And we all struggle with it. If you're human, you have a pride issue at some point.

Even those who think they're humble, they take pride in their humility. It's never ending. But just throwing it out there, if you're argumentative and you're always looking for that little thing, unteachable, eager to dispute, you might want to check yourself with God, pray, and say, Lord, give me that humble, broken heart.

We're supposed to actually overlook differences on the non-essentials. It's the non-essentials that divide us. And I've shared this before.

We went through a terrible church split, three weeks. We're at this church for three weeks. Three weeks.

And it's just like most difficult thing I've witnessed. I know it wasn't really hard for us because we're new, but to see and witness an entire church, probably this size, right down the middle. And I've said it before.

I don't think they would care if I said it. Calvary Chapel. Mike Morris, he's actually a friend of mine.

He's retired. I want him to come preach at some point and tell us, share about your life. And he came in, I think, at that time or after the split, actually.

And it's like, I mean, just the meetings where they would like yell. Like, did cuss words come out? Like, we're in a church. What is going on, Lord? And here we are, a new church.

Been here three weeks. Man, it was terrible. And all the rumors.

It's like, this is unbelievable. Unbelievable. What caused this dreaded church split? The flesh, right? But what topic? The gifts of the Holy Spirit are no longer available today.

Chuck Smith taught it and believed it. This other church was being influenced by the John MacArthur Study Bible. And I had talks with both sides.

Unbelievable. And so that's sometimes why I get passionate about these topics. And I do find it ironic, why was the side so hell bent against the gifts being for today so divisive? Because when you begin to quench the Holy Spirit in that area, you begin to quench Him in all areas.

The same group who says that, because I get on these tweets with X and these guys that are sensationists, and it's like, man, they're just... But it's not just the gifts. They also, I don't know if they ever have an all-night prayer meeting? A worship night for three hours? Are you kidding me? That's too emotional. Fasting, prayer, revival, seeking God? No, sir.

Suit and tie, King James only? Theology, theology, theology. Did you lift your hands? Whoever lift their hands today, next Sunday, don't you dare. Don't you dare.

Guys, you think I'm joking, but I know churches, I'm not going to say them, where the ushers have to go and tell people. You think the Holy Spirit's happy with that? Now, to their credit, there's some weird stuff on YouTube. It's like, and I've said it before, I have lots of questions and concerns about the Bethel's and the Stephen Furnick's and the weirdness and the tunnel fires and the angel feathers.

It's like, don't even... Wow. But don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Just because Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons misinterpret the Bible doesn't mean I'm going to throw the Bible out.

So just because you have people misinterpreting the work of the Holy Spirit, especially if you've ever experienced the gifts of the Holy Spirit, then you can never go back. You can never... Well, but you read, but Paul did that. Paul told us how to act to it.

So that doesn't happen anymore. Do you have a chapter and verse for me? Of course not. And so I've seen, and often that side is very divisive because when you're quenching and grieving the Spirit, you're also quenching and grieving the fruit of the Spirit.

So you will have less love, gentleness, kindness, self-control. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know this is going to upset people. Not here, but later.

Hopefully, maybe the editing won't work and YouTube won't be able to release this, but it's true. The people that I know, let me be careful before I say it, 99.9% of the people I know who are loving, gracious, right, you've got the fruit of the Spirit, what I guess they would call Spirit-filled believers, all of them believe in the active, continual work of the Spirit. I don't know.

I just, again, personally, I'm not saying they're not out there. Personally, those who are against the deeper works of the Spirit, against the gifts, man, they're like, dude, you're a little hard. You've got some abrasiveness there.

Yeah, but I have theology. Yeah, calm down. So do I, and actually, the theology says the Holy Spirit still moves in the miraculous.

I mean, you actually have a harder job proving He doesn't than I do He does. So who's questioning, who's got their issue with theology now? And so the only reason I say that, is it going to change the critics? No, but I'm trying to meet the people caught in the middle who this destructive doctrine is hurting the relationship with the Lord. So pass the first sentence, okay? You guys ready? But if we can't get past that, now one heart, one soul, they're united.

And I probably won't say any of that at the second service, so maybe somebody needs to hear that. Also, I don't know what service we'll choose for YouTube, so maybe it won't go out, but it's important. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own.

So nothing that I possess is my own. Well, there you go, it's socialism. Communism, the Bible's teaching it.

No, it's not anything but. All they're saying is God owns this. I'm the steward.

And they had all things in common, and with great power. Power always goes with unity. Power, and again, love big services, but the times I've seen the most power of the Holy Spirit have often been in smaller settings.

Correct? Those who want to be there. The prayer meeting, the worship night, those, I mean, it's like I'm coming from hell or high water. You get that group together that's united, and the power seems to flow more freely.

Not weird power, but you know, power to break, power to encourage, power to rebuild, power to maybe heal, maybe set somebody free, because God is moving. And with great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Remember, grace falls on an obedient heart.

And I would love to fully exhaust this Scripture, but it says God, and I believe he's talking to believers, God resists the proud. Is God fighting you today? Man, this sermon's got so many rabbit holes. I just feel strongly.

Are you fighting against God? Is God fighting you? You feel like God's resisting me. God resists the proud. And let me tell you, let me tell you, as God is my witness, he doesn't give up.

Have you noticed that? Man, Shane, you've been resisting me all year. You know what? You got it. And I'm tired.

Oh, God's tired. You won, Shane. No, what does he try to do? He tries to get me down.

The older I get, the harder it is to get up. Grace falls upon an obedient heart. God resists the proud.

If you feel God is resisting you, if you feel hard this morning, but he gives grace to the humble, humble yourself. Even on that topic, let's say, I went to earlier, even on the topic of the gift, you could pray, Lord, I don't know what Shane's saying is true, but I trust you. You show me.

You show me, God. You show me. I'm humbling myself to hear from you.

But if we're prideful and we're resisting the work of the Holy Spirit, isn't it funny? Jesus said, I believe it was Jesus or no, actually it might have been Peter, Paul in the book of Acts, we'll get to. He called them out. He said, why are you always resisting the Holy Spirit? Resisting the Holy Spirit.

That tells me you can allow. But Shane, you'll get misled if you just, you know, you just opened all the stuff. And no, no.

The Word is our grounding. The Word is the foundation. Stop worrying too much.

You're not going to get misled if you're spirit led, spirit filled and buried in God's Word and allowing His standard, His guidelines, His principles to guide you. That's the foundation. Yes, you'll get carried away if you're open to, I heard a voice.

I felt a prompting. I felt this. I had a dream.

I had a dream. Don't go off those alone. The Word is what guides us and directs us.

It is, I mean, it is ironic. You can't get out of the first couple of chapters of the gospel. God gave Joseph a dream.

God gave Joseph a dream. God gave the three wise men a dream. God gave this person a dream.

God, it's like, but He doesn't do that anymore because we have His Word. Well, sometimes I need a little help. I can't just turn to John 12 for my question.

All principles are here. All truth. But sometimes I need a little help with the Holy Spirit.

Would you help me here? I need a little confirmation. I know the Bible says step out in faith, but I don't know if this is presumption or faith. I don't know if I'm moving too quick or if it's faith.

I have Scripture telling you all about faith, but I don't trust Me. Have you ever done that? Weeks will go by, and then He's clear as day. Clear as day.

In some supernatural way, He shows you, yes, that's the direction. Without that, and sometimes He doesn't say anything. It's just stepping out in faith.

And so, but we don't want to limit God. Great spiritual power equals great boldness. We have to remember that.

We want the power of the Holy Spirit. If you want it for yourself, if you want it for yourself, you're not going to receive this great outflowing of the Holy Spirit into your heart because that is for self-exaltation. And actually, I'm going to come back to this in a minute.

Let's go to the next screen because I think I just added this verse too, and it just fit with where I was going. The Holy Spirit is in you for you to save you, but He's upon you for others. And if I misspoke, elders will bring it up at the next meeting.

I'm open. I'm teachable. Think about it.

Is the Holy Spirit upon me for me? Oh, this feels great. Worship. I can just worship.

Can I come here tonight by myself? I don't want anybody here. It's just all about me, coming upon me. And man, I just, I just, oh, I just, the Holy Spirit is upon me.

That's great. Oh, and, and no, He's upon me or upon you to bless others. The Holy Spirit came upon them and they did ministry.

He came upon them and they did this miracle. It's never upon the person. Maybe He came upon you for a powerful prayer life, but you're probably going to be interceding.

And the key, what's so important about this verse is it's about Jesus, correct? Written 700 years or so before Jesus, but Isaiah quoted it. And what's interesting is the same thing, not to the degree of Jesus, not to, I mean, I'm not even comparing, but what I'm saying is the same principle can be applied to a Spirit-filled believer. The Spirit of the Lord of God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.

So when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you're, you're, you're preaching to the poor. You can heal the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty of the captives and the opening of the prison doors to those who are bound. That's why the Holy Spirit comes upon believers to preach and to be able to have discernment.

Now let's go back to the other screen. Cause this was so important. Great spiritual power equals great boldness.

Look at these two martyrs in the early church. Polycarp said your fire burned. He's, I believe he's talking to one of the, the, the, the leaders of, of, was he in Rome? I'm not sure.

One of the, the Caesars. But he said, your fire burns for an hour and goes out. But the fire of the coming judgment is eternal.

Before he got burned, he could have been to the papacy even. Well, no, the early first century, that would have been that. I'll figure out for the second service.

Listen, you can kill us, but you cannot do us any real harm. Justin Martyr. Do you, do you realize that early believers were, were killed for their faith? Man, we have a, we'd throw a fit if there's something said negative about us on social media.

Why? Because the more spiritual power they had because of the, they emptied themselves, the greater boldness they had. And then Acts 4, 32, 36 continues. So what, what we just read, the multitude who believed they were of one accord, great, doing great miracles, nor was there anyone among them who lacked.

Wow. Now again, it's an early church setting, right? It's smaller meetings, house churches and different things. They would meet at the temple probably together, and then they would break up into smaller groups.

So there was not anyone who lacked for all who were possessors of land or houses sold them. And they brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and they laid them at the apostle's feet and they distributed each as anyone had need. So we see in the early church, and this happens, maybe you've experienced before.

And I tell people, you don't just go sell everything and go live in a tent out in the Mojave desert off the grid, unless you want to. What it is though, it's an attitude of Lord, this is yours. And they did, they helped, the early church felt compelled.

God led them. Hey, I'm going to sell this land. I'm going to give this up.

And, and we've got people in need and we're going to help meet all those needs by distributing the, what they need evenly. And just to throw a little political statement in there. This is why things like welfare entitlement, all that doesn't work because all this was designed to be at the grassroots level where you could, you could properly, you know, diagnose or whatever, who was genuine, who was fake.

And now the whole system has been corrupt. And not that some of that's not a bad thing. We, I believe we need to help those in need.

And the church probably couldn't step up to this many million Americans and things like that, but that's what it was never intended to be used like that. They understood who the true owner is. They understood that the true, did you know the true owner of your possessions is God? I threw a by the way in there.

By the way, there's much, a lot less stress too. When you're not trying to hold on. There goes the stock market.

My gold is dropping. My silver's dropping. Oh, my cryptocurrency.

Oh my goodness. What's going on? My retirement. Is social security going to be there? And if it's all about worrying about wealth, life is very, very stressful.

And I also believe we don't make wise decisions when they're made out of fear and not waiting on God. And it really helps if you, if you change your thinking. I mean, it's, I know it's hard, but okay, Lord, my possessions are actually, you are allowing me to be a steward of what you've given us.

And this is where you really see where the rubber meets the road. Because nothing gauges your heart more than your manna. Money.

Correct? That's what really, oh, it's a pin drop. Maybe that just means I need to stay on that point longer. But that's really shows what we're trusting in as well.

And this is what you need to know about the topic of tithing is, it's hard for people to believe, but God doesn't need the money. I know. And some of the wealthiest places, of course, Rome there in it's the Vatican, Mormon Catholic, Mormon churches.

I mean, their portfolios way in the, probably in the billions. And because they make people do it, it's about that. But in Christianity, God loves a cheerful giver.

We don't teach you have to tithe 10%. That's where the word tithe comes from. Because New Testament seems to teach that God loves a cheerful giver.

It's funny though, every time I talk about, even if I mentioned the word tithe, people get upset. That's not in the New Testament. And 10 times out of 10, it's always the person who is not a giver.

It's called conviction. Conviction. So you have to remember that it's not, God doesn't need it.

And we knew from the get go, we've never, we don't pass the plate. We don't, you guys know, that's why many of you come and you appreciate that. And not that churches that do that are wrong.

It's just preference. But it's not about that. It's about, Lord, what do you want to do with the finances? What you, God loves a cheerful giver.

And people probably every six months are at the Q and A at the, at the you guys need to sign up for the next one. We haven't announced a date yet. It's called the meet and greet.

So I get to answer all your questions for a year and a hour and a half, not a year and a half. And that one comes up. But how, how do you, how, if you don't ask people, how do you, how, how do you pay the bills? God loves a cheerful giver.

And so what happens is, Hey, how can I give? Where's your, where I want to get, God loves it. There's got to be a little bit of, you know, give and take there. You've got to, you've got to want to do it.

And they understood that God was a true owner of their possessions. And again, a reminder, this is not promoting socialism or communism. How many of you have heard these verses used for that over the years? Um, and what will happen is, uh, well, I don't know.

I already did a teaching on this months ago, but communism is more governmental. Socialism is more grassroots. Basically what it is, is, um, in simple terms, no matter how hard you work or, you know, your, your financial state or whatever, we've got to take from you and you to give to them.

And then we got to, we got to make it equal across the board. And the word communism actually comes from communal. It's a, where they would come together and they just give everything, throw it into the pot.

Lots of problems with that. The hard workers say, you know what? Forget this. The Bible says, if you don't work, you don't eat.

And also it's not a biblical concept because we're supposed to, from our heart, help those in need. When the government forces your hand and takes from you, number one, I don't know what they're going to do with my money. Number two, that's not, that's not how it works because now not only will you demotivate the hard workers that the Bible says, if you work, you'll eat.

If you work more, you get this. God will reward you with more. It's based on a principle.

Not only that will happen, the other group becomes entitled. Have you ever heard the entitlement word from cradle to grave entitlements, expecting certain things. And then that's one of my concerns actually for our nation is there's so much entitlement and it's dumbing down the biblical principle of working.

So how it works, it's not socialism. It's not forced. If it's forced, it's not biblical.

It has to come from a cheerful heart and God often will prompt people. People just, they'll want to help out and it's such a pure, honest system that way as well. So these scriptures do not promote socialism or, I think AOC even quoted this once with one of her tirades on socialism.

And the reason though they do that too is because many of these people who promote it are very wealthy. So I have a, I have a hunch. They're convicted that they're not helping and they don't want to help.

They don't want to lose their money. So let's have the government do it. So I don't feel bad and I can sleep.

That's why a lot of people let's, that's why a certain political party is all about giving money. They don't give it. They don't give it.

They want the government though to give it. So not only do they get your vote, they can sleep well at night. It's so backwards.

It's so reversed. Make sure you're getting your news from the Bible. Not Fox news.

I blast them too. Not CNN, but the Bible. What is it? Sometimes I want to scream at the, at the computer.

Do you ever feel that way? It's like the, the Bible is clear. The Bible's clear. It's, it's clear on, on borders.

Oh, it's clear on abortion. It's kind of clear when it says men should not wear women's clothing. It's very, it's crystal clear on same sex attraction.

But what I love about the Bible is it helps the struggler, but it rebukes the sinner. And that's where people get confused is they don't want to repent of their sins. So they're, they're always fighting against God.

Again, continuing. Is that hoses? Yeah, I just realized that. Well, let's just call him Barnabas.

Barnabas. His name is actually translates son of encouragement. He must've been a great encouragement to people, which actually a lot of the deacons I just mentioned are great encouragers by the way, and our elder board.

So this person, check this out. He was a Levite, which is pretty unheard of because remember the Levitical priesthood would minister in the temple. They were buddies with the Pharisees.

So this guy's going to be in a world of hurt, but for the right cause. So he was a Levite. He, he sold his land and he brought the money and he laid it at the apostle's feet.

Now remember a Levite was again, part of technically part of the religious system that Jesus was rebuking. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the religious leaders, the Levitical priesthood. He was baptized, which probably made him forfeit his financial support because he was being supported by the temple tax.

Isn't that interesting? This guy was sold out for Jesus. And I've already mentioned this to you, tithing is not actually about money. It's about our heart, isn't it? God doesn't need our money.

Now here's where it gets interesting. Most of us, and I've been there, remember me and my wife, we stopped tithing. I think it was only for two months because I was too convicted.

But when the, it's like man, we're in a financial difficulty right here. Lord, I'm going to have to hold this back because you, I don't think you can handle this one. And that's why a lot of times don't we, we hold back because we're, we're in a pinch or we're in a crunch.

Now sometimes there's wisdom there. I remember I was going to a Hope Chapel actually, and there was electrician there and he was giving like a lot of money. He's a friend of mine.

And the pastor even talked to him, said, listen, your family's suffering. You're having a hard time putting groceries. You know, I think it was like $1,200 or something a month.

And he said that, that I'm just telling you as your pastor, I was the pastor. You don't need to do that. God wants you to provide for your family first.

Now, if he would have said, well, I trust in Lord, I believe that's God wants me to do then fine. But I think also some people can get caught up in the, I have to do this. I have to be 10%.

I have to, but again, you're, that's why, that's why I think a cheerful giver is so important because 10% to some people, nothing. 10% to many is a lot. And so God loves a cheerful giver.

I would encourage you though. And I'm going to tell you, you guys right here, a flaw of mine, Phil, of course is anybody else? I know it's a flaw. I'm working on it.

Pray for me. Larry, you ready for this one? I've actually, elders have even told me that this is an area I have to work on. Got everyone's attention now, no more looking at your phones.

Shane, I know what you're trying to do, but you actually need to help people more in this area. You don't talk about giving enough because I'm too, I'm worried about unbelievers or PR. Here we go again.

Have you ever heard of the church and money? Here comes the plate. We're going to, we need another thousand for the orphanage. We need this.

Come on guys. I got, you can do it. I know there's 10 in here.

They have a hundred dollars each. You can put it in the plate. Come on.

Praise Jesus. Your breakthroughs right around the corner. See, time and harvest.

If you give a thousand today, Oh, I feel that sea coming. I can do it. That's not right though.

So that's, that's something I have to work on teaching it more because talk about an important biblical principle, man, if you hold back from God in the area of finances, just as a personal testimony, he will hold back from you because your talents and what he's given you. And you're, if we're stingy, like, man, here you go. I mean, but we're not trusting God.

I mean, if we think about how, how, how does electricity get paid here? Do you know to run our transmitter in rich Chris, Southern California, Edison charges us almost 3000 a month is right. I complain every couple of months and they're like, I'm sorry, it's not us. I'm like, can we put solar up? No.

Oh, can we? Oh. And then we have to pay rent because we believe God opened the radio station as well. So when you know, God does something, you have to trust that he's going to, to pay the bills.

And as many people came through on the fire sprinklers, man, I got a personal confession. I'm transparent message today. I went home very depressed and like, I cannot believe this.

When we got the, when we got the quotes for fixing the fire sprinklers, like talk about ruining your day. I'm thinking 10, 15, 20 grand. I mean, it's by the parts I can help.

I mean, the lowest bid was 110,000. What? The first one was it, I think came in was two quarter million from LA. I'm like, we don't have to, we're not remodeling the sanctuary.

We're replacing. And so I was like, I was like, this is, there's no way how, and then we're having this leak. And then we got some 3000 and we have this leak.

And the next we get like, but at this rate, Lord, what are you teaching? What's going on here? Trust me, not for that much money. And the little stuff, we paid it off in six weeks. Once you announce it, but also I wasn't going to announce it.

And, and I felt people say, you know, we, we have to at least let the congregation know again, remember, cause I'm always, you know, George Mueller approach, trusting God on the finances. And yeah. And you remember that fireman who passed away, left us 40,000, another family gave 30,000 and people just came to the, to the, because God loves a cheerful giver.

And so trusting him is so important in the best way he will trust off your bill. Trust often is through finances. Cause that's where it hurts.

That's where it hits. That's where you find out something. I encourage you to find out sooner versus later.

What you want is not always what you need. We're trying to hold on to all this stuff. No, get, get, you don't need the motorcycle.

You don't need the trailer. You don't need the second home in Malibu. You don't need this.

You don't need this. You can sell this. You can sell this.

You can sell. I remember we had to start weaning on, I mean, my 24 hour fitness gave me this incredible dumbbell rack set that you see in a gym when I left. Oh, this never, no, no, no, no, no, Lord, please.

And I fought it for like a year. Finally, I think the prison out on 60th got it, but you have to get right. God's testing.

He's, he's like, Shane, you don't need this stuff. And so giving is so important. And that's where I do need to bring it up more.

But even today, I kind of cringe like, Oh, somebody's new. I wonder what they're going to think. Think their church is in a financial state.

We're not, but I'm just telling you money is incredible servant, but it's a terrible master. And it is mastering the heart of many people. Just pray to God about that.

What would he want you to do?