Shane Idleman emphasizes the significance of Pentecost, marking the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the church, which coincided with the Jewish celebration of the early harvest. He explains that while the disciples were initially enthusiastic, they lacked the power of the Holy Spirit until they waited for it as instructed by Jesus. Idleman contrasts the 'sound of the Spirit' with unwanted noise, highlighting how the Holy Spirit's presence can be dismissed by those unappreciative of its power. He urges believers to seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit, emphasizing that true empowerment comes from surrendering to God and living in unity with one another. The sermon concludes with a call to both believers and non-believers to seek a deeper relationship with God and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.

What the church has celebrated on this day for 2,000 years is a day called the day of Pentecost. And why this is so important is seven weeks, it's interesting, the Bible has some interesting, when you start to look at numbers like 7 or 40, there's some interesting parallels that I won't get into today, but seven weeks after Jesus rose from the dead, the Holy Spirit actually fell upon the church. They had to wait, they had to wait for the Holy Spirit. And that's what we're talking about this morning. The title is the sound of the Spirit, the sound of the Holy Spirit. And what it was, it was a celebration in the Old Testament of the beginning of an early harvest. So you would, as a farmer, you would have abundant fruit coming in, or wheat, and they would take this harvest, this first fruits, I guess you could say, of the harvest coming in, and they would take it and they would remember the day of Pentecost. This is a Jewish celebration of an early harvest. And it's ironic that the Holy Spirit falls upon the church and the harvest of souls begins to happen on the day of Pentecost. That was, I don't think it was a mistake, I don't think God said, wow, that's interesting. It happened on the same day that they used to celebrate in the Old Testament. God is a God of order and a mathematician beyond any mathematician we know. The sequencing of numbers and the timing of events, that would be an interesting sermon in itself. I don't know if you ever listened to Chuck Missler. He would give me headaches talking about the math and the numeric. It's like, wow, this guy's got a brain this size because of all the math issues there. But you know what sound is, the sound of the spirit. What is sound? It's to convey a specific impression when it's heard. So I make a sound, ah, you know what that means, or the worship. You have people up here playing worship. They know how to play worship. It's a wonderful sound. But I found out something interesting studying. Do you know what noise is? It's unwanted sound. So if I were to hop on the piano right now and sing Amazing Grace, that would be noise. It would be unwanted sound. And we're seeing in our nation, of course, in the world, but when you talk about the Holy Spirit, it's an unwanted, he's an unwanted sound to many people. Don't talk to me about the deeper things of God. Don't talk to me about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Don't get too carried away with the Holy Spirit. It's an offensive noise to those who are not appreciative of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit. And now here's something interesting. The disciples, I'm assuming we're believers, correct? You know, Jesus breathed on them, said, receive the Holy Spirit. And they saw him raised from the dead. They're excited. Can you believe? Can you believe? Or can you imagine living there and seeing that the Holy, Jesus was raised by the Holy Spirit and they see Jesus, they spend time with Jesus. And so there's tremendous excitement. They're very excited, but they have no power. They are very enthusiastic. They're very eager and they are anticipating great things, but there's no power. That's why Jesus said, wait, wait until you receive power, until you receive the Holy Spirit and sound. We're going to read here in a minute. Often proceeds the power of the Holy Spirit. It signals, it alerts that there's something is happening. And, and when the Holy Spirit came upon this group of people, the sound preceded the power of the spirit. And ironically, I was just reading about the Yale revival. There was a mighty revival at Yale university. I think they need one again. Amen. All universities need a mighty move of God's spirit. But in 1802 and I highlight it said it was said as if the wind of the Holy Spirit came upon our campus. There, there's a, there's a, there's a rushing of when there's a sound there that you can't really describe. It's like the wind, it goes where it wants and you cannot contain it. You cannot predict it. There's a sound, there's a rushing of the Holy Spirit. When God is moving in a powerful way, when the power of spirit of the spirit moves, it is undeniable. And what happens when it goes in to us, when the power of the Holy Spirit, when God's spirit comes in us, it must go out from us. There's a witness with burning passion. So where am I picking this up from? Well, I'm glad you asked. Acts one, Acts chapter one, verse four. If you have your Bibles, you can turn to Acts chapter one, verse four. And Luke records for us and being assembled together with them, not unlike we are today and being assembled together with them. So Jesus was with them. He commanded them and he said, do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the father. Wait for the promise of the father, which he said, you have heard from me for John truly baptized you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now. So I've talked about this before. I'm not going to really go into a lot of detail. Many of you have heard me talk about, but for those who are new, maybe you haven't heard me talk about this. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a controversial topic. Primarily it's controversial for those who have not received the power of God's spirit. That's why it's controversial. They don't have what the Bible is talking about. They don't have that power. They don't have that love of, of, of, of just of worshiping God and fill with God's spirit. They don't have the fruit of the spirit. So they think it's controversial. Now I'm going to sum it up real quick here. I believe the Bible talks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit is when believers believe and they are baptized into the body of Christ. That's what the Bible says. They're baptized. They are overwhelmed. They are immersed into the body of Christ. So when you become a believer, you are baptized with the Holy Spirit into the body of Jesus Christ. However, the Bible also talks about subsequent feelings, not, not your feelings hurt, but feelings, feelings with F I L L I N G S. There's subsequent fillings of the Holy Spirit and Peter preached and Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and the disciples were waiting on God even in other chapters and they, they prayed for boldness and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit and Jesus came out of the wilderness filled with the Holy Spirit. So we see, here's where I'm, here's the point I'm getting at. After a person is converted and they are believer, oftentimes, oftentimes if they are still living a carnal life, if they are still not fully surrendering to God, if they're still hanging onto the world, they will be quenching and grieving the spirit and they do not know about the fullness of God's spirit. And what I mean by that is once a person, I can take you to dozens and dozens of Christians who've come before us, uh, from people you might recognize Adrian Rogers, uh, A. W. Tozer, Oswald Chambers, and my utmost for his highest, a great book, a devotional book. All of these men and many women received this mighty baptism is what many people refer to this filling of the Holy Spirit years after conversion. So they think, wow, this must be something that happens later and it doesn't necessarily have to. That's why I often say you have all the Holy Spirit that you will ever need, but does he have all of you? You have all of the promise, but does the promise have all of you? And so that's why in my life, 20 years ago or so, when I finally surrendered to God, I believe I was saved, but I was still living in that world. You know, I didn't like, I'm not going to talk about Jesus too much. You know, real men drink beer and lift weights and beat up people. That's what I, that's what real men do. And so I'm not this Jesus guy. I like to out of, get out of heaven or how to get out of hell card. You know, I don't want to, I don't want to get too serious, but when I finally surrendered everything and was filled mildly with the Holy Spirit and the Bible comes alive and, and you start loving the things of God, there's a difference. There is a distinction. There are people who are filled powerfully with God's spirit and there are people who are not. And often the people who are not, are not going to like you very much because you're convicting them. You're so excited about Jesus and they're not. What's wrong with you? And so, but this is, this is what I would call a transitionary period because Jesus said, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So these are believers. They're waiting for the promise of the father, which I'll get to in a minute. So they're in this upper room. I'm sure they're going back and forth. There may be working and there may be going out and get food and you know, they're using the restroom and you know, they're, people think sometimes they're just locked in a room fasting for 10 days. They didn't move. I don't find that, but there were an upper room waiting on God and they are believers. And so the Holy Spirit came upon them that the promise is from the father. Now, this is why this is different today. Today we receive the Holy Spirit at conversion. So if a person is saved, we wouldn't tell them, okay, now go home and wait for 10 days and here's what the Bible says and acts and, and you're going to receive the, the Holy Spirit in 10 days from now. This was a transitionary period. The Holy Spirit had not fallen yet upon the church. The promise has not been given until the day of Pentecost. But now as believers, we believe and we receive the Holy Spirit, but so many people are quenching and grieving the spirit of God by the way they live or don't live, that they don't know of the power of God. They don't, they don't, they haven't received this, this dunamis, this, the word we get dynamite actually comes from dunamis power, the power of the Holy Spirit. So wait for the promise. Jesus said, wait for the promise. What is he talking about? Well, in John 16, seven, Jesus said this, it is good for me to go away. Can you imagine if you're with Jesus for three years and he said, it's good for me to go away. How many of you would be going? No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not letting go. But he said, if I don't go, then the father's not going to send the helper, the paraclete, the paraclete. He's not going to send the helper, the advocate, unless I go, I go to my father. And as a result, the promises, my father's going to send you the Holy Spirit. So wait for that promise. Early church is what he said. Wait for that. Now, what's some practical application? Well, I love Isaiah 49, 23, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for me. I think some of you might need to hear that this morning. Wait for God or wait on God. Wait for his timing. Don't rush ahead. And waiting isn't just, you know, I've said this before. It's not just sitting at home stopping by Krispy Kreme, watching Netflix. It's not just sitting at home eating. Okay, well, God, come on. Waiting is like a waiter or waitress. You're serving, you're pursuing God. Actually, a real good analogy is those who pursue God will find him. Those who pursue God will renew their strength for they shall not be ashamed. Those who pursue God and they wait for him. See, it's pursuing God no matter if you see results right away. Actually, I have found that the reward comes after the pursuing. Sometimes we don't see the results. God, I don't feel it, but I'm going to pursue you regardless. And then verse six. Therefore, when they had come together, when the disciples had come together, they asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Basically, they're saying, God, when is this over? When are we out of here? Anybody? Can you relate? So they're saying when we're under roaming captivity, we are as Christians, we are going to be marginalized. We're going to be criticized. We're going to be put in jail for our faith. When are you going to restore this kingdom to your kingdom? When are we out of here? When are we done with this? And Jesus said, that's not up to you. What you need to do is wait until you receive power. See, God isn't concerned with us getting out of here and getting out of the difficulty. He's he's concerned with will you be a witness? Will you be a witness for me and do business until I return? And we have, especially California, the numbers are alarming. I don't even, I was shocked at how many people are moving daily. Something like 500 people a day are moving. Now, come on. You've all thought about it. Don't, don't, don't, don't get, don't get spiritual on me right now. I haven't though. So I'm the only spiritual one here, right? So my train of thought. Oh, right. So, and why? Let me get out of here. Let me get out of here. And there's something about protecting your family, isn't there? There's something about protecting and wanting. So there's, there's this innate ability, this innate instinct in us to want to protect and that's good. But we can't always be focused on Lord, when are you getting me out of here? When is this over? We need to say, Lord, I need your power to get through this storm now. And you need to raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. You need to show them how to get through the storm. God forbid we teach our kids how to run and not fight. Teach our family members how to, to, to stay grounded in the storm. So Jesus said, it's not for you to know when this is happening, which the father has put in his own authority, but you shall, but you shall receive power, dunamis power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. So I'm just going to be a little convicting this morning. How many of you can truly say that the Holy Spirit has come upon you? And a quick, quick study on the Greek language here. I've mentioned this before and I've taught in the Holy Spirit, but there's three prepositions. A preposition is showing what something is doing, correct? I didn't graduate high college, so don't hold me to that, but I think I'm close here. But the Holy Spirit comes alongside you and they, the Bible would use that, the preposition para, P-A-R-A, paraclete, the high school they're named, that I graduated from. Don't, don't hold me to their doctrine. I just went there as a kid, but, boy, I got a lot of side, side trails here. Sorry, rabbit trail. So the Holy Spirit comes alongside of a person, para, alongside of you. And then the Holy Spirit is in you, E-N, as a believer, he's in you. But then here's an interesting word. This word upon is epi, E-P-I. It's a, it's an overflowing, outpouring, outworking of the Holy Spirit in the life of a person. So is it, is it possible if the Holy Spirit can be in a person, but not on a person? Yes, according to the Bible, it is very clear and watching how people live, it is very clear that the Holy Spirit is not residing in empowering many people. They've got the Holy Spirit, but they have quenched the Holy Spirit by their lifestyle, by the addictions they don't want to give up, by the sin they don't want to give up, by their critical hearts and arrogant hearts and bitterness and just, you name it, they hold on to the sin and that quenches and grieves the Holy Spirit saying, I want to empower you. I want to lift you up to the highest mountain. I want you to pray for the sick and people to be healed. I want you to deliver people. I want you to cast out demons, but you have so quenched and grieved the Spirit of God that you have not the power of God. It's biblical, thoroughly biblical that many people can have the Spirit in them. They usually, it usually goes like this. I know I need to read the Bible more. I know I need to witness. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, but, and they have this, this love of the world. He who loves the world does not have the love of the Father in him. And I would say the majority of the church, the majority of the church in America does not have this dunamis power. Take a quick test. When is the last time you witnessed to somebody? Passionately you're excited to do it. That's the Holy Spirit. If we, if we don't want to do that, what's wrong? What's wrong in our hearts? It's because the Holy Spirit has not been thoroughly, what I say, unplugged. It's just empowered by the Holy Spirit. Somebody once asked, I didn't put this in my notes, so I might not have written it down or remembered it right. But someone once asked Leonard Ravenhill, if you ever want to read a book and get convicted, just read any of his books, by the way. They asked him, Mr. Ravenhill, do you ever preach to the dead? You know, like trying to raise people. He said, no, I preach to the dead in the church. Meaning spiritually dead. And the only reason that he would say that or why I would talk like this is to, to spark that hunger. You think I come up here saying, I can't wait to tell people off. No, I come up here, God, I want them to have your power. I want them to experience your power. Let me tell you, I had Jesus, I was saved, I believe going to heaven, but I was living like hell. I was miserable. I didn't like the Bible. I don't want to, but I knew there was something. Here's how you can tell. I remember I would go out and party and I would be convicted the next day. Lord, I don't want to keep doing that. My friends would say, how can we do that again? See, there's a difference. There's a heart there. And, and, and finally, again, when God got my heart and the Bible becomes, becomes alive, you can, I tell my mom, I'd say, look, is this in the Bible? Did you know that? Yes, Jane, it's been there all the time. I don't remember any of this. Did you look at this? And it's coming alive. It's feeding you. I turned off all my country music. Sorry, guys. And I put on, I put on all the worship and now it's feeding my soul instead of wanting me to grab a six-pack and go sit on a train. And it's, it's just, I'm starting to be encouraged by God's word and it's just struggling. And I want to just witness and tell people about Jesus. And do you know what God has done? And, and where does that come from? The empowerment of the Holy Spirit. And I was lacking that because I was living a carnal lifestyle. I was, I was not on fire for God. I did not want to surrender to God. And the enemy will whisper those things, I'm sure in your ear right now, that you don't want to get that fanatical. You don't want to get that carried away. You love your pornography or your alcohol or your whatever it is or your lifestyle or your, you name it. Critical, I mean, critical hearts and arrogant hearts cannot receive the power of the Spirit. Because the power of the Holy Spirit can only flow through a humble vessel. A humble, teachable. The Bible says God will lead. He will, He will lead those who are humble. He will fill those who are empty, empty of yourself. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall watch TV all day. Oh no, I'm sorry. You shall play golf and relax all month. You shall be witnessed. Now, none of those things are bad. Don't get, don't email me. You shall, you, you shall, it just cracks me up because people say, you, you said I can't watch TV in your sermon. That's legalistic. I didn't say that. If that's what you got from it, you're convicted. See, there's a big difference there. And you shall be witnesses to me. What does that mean? You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and all throughout the world. So there is interesting local missions. We're to be, we're to be, we're to be difference makers here locally. And then even outside of our local sphere. And then even outside of California and even outside the United States. There's a, there's a, there's a witnessing throughout the entire world that if you're not witnessing it to some degree and concerned about those around you and praying for those and trying to get them in church or get them into the kingdom, I would, I would submit to you, you might be quenching and grieving the spirit of God because it has to come out. If the Holy Spirit, if a person's bubbling over at the Holy Spirit, they're going to be doing the things that the Holy Spirit draws them into doing. And it's not things loving the world. So it's an interesting point of application that applies to us in some degree, but not like the new Testament believers at this time, if I were to tell you, wait for the power of the Holy Spirit, we rarely, we don't have to wait for anything. It's available. The power of the Holy Spirit is available to the degree you submit is that is to the degree you will be filled with that power. And I, I guarantee you, I could be more filled with the spirit. How can you say that? Because you think, you think, I think I'm completely full that I'd see the sinful. See, the closer you get to God, the more sinful you actually see you are. That's another good test. I remember my twenties. I thought I was, man, I'm the nicest guy. I'm a pretty good guy. I'm so good. And now I look back going, Oh my Lord. Oh God, help me. And I see now you see how, how, how depraved man really is motives, ulterior motives, lusts and passions and ungodly things. And, and the more we submit to the work of the Holy Spirit, the more you will be filled. So I know there's kids listening as well. This morning, I want to encourage you. If you want, you want more of God, tell your parents, let us pray with you. I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I want to, and with the filling of the Holy Spirit often comes another controversy, right? The gifts of the Holy Spirit isn't interesting. The people who don't like the gifts of Holy Spirit, often those who aren't filled with the spirit, huh? Put two and two together. They think because here's what happens. People have been coming to church for 20 years or 30 years. And they're saying, you're telling me because I don't have the filling of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of Holy Spirit. I'm not a Christian. I never said that. I said, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. If there's not a, there's not an excitement about witnessing. There's not a passion for God. The Holy Spirit's gifts are on those who receive the Holy Spirit or operating in the power of the Holy Spirit. The gifts are available for us today. You actually have a harder time trying to prove they're not available than I do trying to prove that they are available. You have to get scissors out and cut out these scriptures. And Paul didn't mean this in the historical context of this. And the Greek really doesn't say that. And the early church, this, and the history says this. And what does the Bible say? The Bible says, I will give you diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit, not weirdness, gifts, not bizarre things, gifts of the Holy Spirit. I thank God for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So we do learn something here. Dunamis, that word dynamite, power, receive power from God. And I should clarify though, this isn't, you're going to leave here with some Superman strength. This is actually, the definition is power inside of a believer by applying God's ability. See, what the power of the Spirit is really God's Spirit working through you as an individual. It's not in this own strength and I'm this great witnesser and I'm going to go out in the power of the Spirit. It's God's Spirit working through you. So the boldness that comes out, right, is God's work. That's why I often say, if you could hear just Shane Eilman up here, you'd hear Joel Steen. Go, come on guys, just go, encourage, just be, you know, and just, just, just, just nice and gentle all the time, because I'm too worried about opinions. I'm too worried about stepping on toes. And so I just want to be liked. I want to make sure when you leave, make sure, fill out a survey. Did you like what he had to say? And loved by everyone. That's cowardness. But when you're filled with the Spirit of God, there's a struggle that goes on. You don't know the struggle that preachers go through all week. It's like, oh Lord, if I say that, oh my goodness, I'm going to just upset some people. But God says, that's okay. We need to upset sometimes. You don't think Jesus upset anyone? He, that's what actually, that's what got him killed. He preached with boldness. He preached with authority. He called sin out. He called the hypocrites out. And in love, he did that. And we can still do that today. So it's God's ability working through you. And you're going to need that more than ever before. You see the spirit of this age. It's against God. Governmental authorities, many of them are against God. Mainstream media is against God. It seems like everyone is against God. But God's ability through a believer is stronger. That's why the Bible says greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. And then it goes right into Acts 2. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing of a mighty wind. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire. And one set upon each of them. So in other words, the Holy Spirit comes into this place. There's this sound and they see, it appears that there's this fire. And it's interesting, the Holy Spirit, God speaks to people through the wind. Elisha, he wasn't in the wind. He wasn't in the fire. But God often uses wind and fire and different things to show his power to communicate with people. There's a burning bush. God's communicating. So the fire is not something we need to be afraid of unless you're an unbeliever and there's judgment coming. But often fire is a sign of God's refining us and the power. How else would you describe the power of God? God's power is like a butterfly. God's power is like a ladybug, a gentle breeze. No, the strongest language you can get is God is a consuming fire. If you've ever seen a raging fire, there's nothing you can do. It's a consuming, all the beasts of the forest are running, all the get out. It's a consuming fire. It's the greatest word they could ever use for God's awesomeness and his power is a consuming fire. So this fire was upon them. It looked like cloven tongues. What that means is separated and something was going on, something that was unmistakably God and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they begin to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. Now I've talked about this for an hour before. Anybody interested, you can put in just tongues on our website and I talk about this whole teaching for an hour, but apparently these people receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and they're able to speak in a language that they themselves did not know. And I find it ironic that people go, but Shane, come on, that seems weird. I mean, how could that even happen? Well, how did God hang Jupiter and hang Saturn and create the universe? I think that's a little harder to grasp than him giving a person the ability to speak in an unknown language. What is the point of that? The people all around the city in Jerusalem, they said, what is that? They're speaking in our language, the great things of God, they're praising God. So it's a form of worship and it comes out, they're praising God. Did everyone get excited about that? No, there were the mockers and there's still the mockers today. Trust me, I get emails. There is still the mockers today. They mock and they said, these people are drunk. And Peter said, oh no, it's too early for that. This is what the prophet Joel spoke of that God said in the last days, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will pour out my spirit on your sons and your daughters. They will prophesy and old men have visions and young men dream dreams. And on my men servants and on my maid servants, I will pour out my spirit in those days. Don't worry, it's just cough. I didn't throw a joke. Right now I'm walking. I can't even cough. I can't even sneeze. This is ridiculous. My Lord, right? You know, you're the same way. You feel I'm just, and I don't know if you're a hugger. So just let me know. I don't know the mass things crack me up because I walk into Vons. I forget. I don't walk around thinking of these things. So, so many times just, you know, you hug people. Oh, I forgot COVID, you know? And so there has to be a lot more grace. That was a rabbit trail. So back to the sermon, they were with one accord. I'm not going to go on much longer. So don't worry, kiddos. I know sometimes it gets hard, but just stay with me. So one accord, one accord, how important is that? If there's no unity, you will not see the working of the Holy spirit. I'm just telling you straight up in a church, our church too, without unity, we won't. And I, I, I truly believe that this is probably one of the biggest things in inhibiting more of the Holy spirit, even in our church. Fortunately, we have a lot of solid believers and people who love each other, which is good, but there's a little Pharisee inside all of us or just me. Oh, he's there. He likes to, I just squish him as every chance I get that little Pharisee, that little judgmental spirit, that little, you know, there, there's this, this, the word in the Greek, uh, it's a long Hamathamatan. Try to say that three times, but it means the same passion and one accord. I actually looking it up. Look, it's interesting. Homer, you know, that Homer, he wrote the Iliad like in 600 BC or something. He actually used this word and talked about, it talked about one accord and that's where the Greek language picked it up. But it means having the same desire, hold on, going the same direction concerned about the direction of God's spirit other than your own personal needs. So they were all in one accord. They all wanted to want a more of God. They put gossip behind them. They put the non-essentials and they loved each other and they were in one accord. The Holy spirit says, ah, I can visit that type of people. And I say this a lot and I truly mean it. I don't want 3000 people coming in just to come in and gossiping this big, but I want 300 people fill with the spirit of God united. You can do, you can do a thousand times more in the kingdom of God with united force than you can with the divided majority. So many ask God for the fullness of the spirit. Oh God, I want the fullness of the spirit, but they are not of one accord. And what happens, what needs to happen is deep repentance has to take place. And I'll just call it out this morning. If there's, if there's a critical spirit, if there's arrogance and there's anger, jealousy, bitterness, and we're shooting our brothers and sisters and not really helping them and loving them and supporting them, building them up, you will not have the fullness of the spirit. And I struggle with this often just like anyone else. Boy, you should have seen the stuff I want to post on Facebook. Morgan wouldn't let me, you know, it just comes. I mean, I'm just getting so mad at what's going on when you know what's really going on. If you know what I mean, right? I mean, just, Oh, uh, you know, and I felt in somebody actually, um, spoke into my life, didn't know what we were going through and just, and just encouraged me, stop listening to all the different voices. So you can stop and hear God's voice and just, and when that went, soon as that began to happen, here comes the unity. So the enemy often uses all these different things to divide, divide, divide races, divide churches. So here's the key, a heart of prayer, a heart of prayer focuses on unity. There's no unconfessed sin. There's full abandonment to God. And let me just encourage you. I know people have talked to me before and say, Shane, when you talk about this, you make it seem so impossible. You know, it's just, it's just such a high standard. I want to encourage you. That's not what I'm saying. When you surrender to God and that's actually a very, not a hard thing to do at the heart for the flesh to do it, but it's not like I got to jump up here and follow all these rules. No, it's actually saying, God, I can't follow these rules. I can't, I don't want to get legalistic. I'm trying to be performance based. I'm carnal. I'm caught in this sin. God, please. I'm a sinner. And without your saving grace, without your changing power, I can't do anything. I want everything he's talking about, Lord, but I can't do it on my own. Would you will me to will? Would you help me? Would you? And see, it's that broken and humble heart that God says, ah, I see, I hear them, that I can fall upon that person. And what I mean by that is the Holy Spirit is already maybe in you, but the full, the full, the full dunamis power, the full, the full power of the Holy Spirit is only made evident when you begin to surrender areas of your life that are quenching and grieving him. Isn't it interesting that Paul talks about, do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. See, it's a choice. It is, it is a choice. So the more we're controlled, what happens when you come on? Don't play church now. You know what happens when you have too much. You start to talk different. You start to walk different. You start to compromise. You start to do things you would never normally do the wrong spirit. And so he says, don't do that. Be filled with God's spirit. And so there is a choice often that we have to make. We have to repent to that lifestyle and thank God that God doesn't hold us to perfection. If he, he, he holds us to direction, what direction are you going? And when you fall, you get back up and you fight again. You don't just stay down there in that spot of defeat. I like what John Gill said. I don't know if you know who John Gill is. If you're looking for a good commentary, John Gill, you can find him online. He actually preached, I believe is a hundred years before Charles Spurgeon in the same pulpit. So that would have been 1700s. And he was a commentator. Boy, these guys could, they didn't have distractions. They could just sit and meditate on God's word. And he said this, through this baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, that's the language they used to use back then. The Holy Ghost was not, it became the Holy Spirit in some of our recent translations. And this baptism of the Holy Spirit was a controversial term. The bottom line is, do you have it? Do you have the filling of the spirit? Is there a, is there an unction of fire? He said through this baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, the apostles became more knowing and had greater understanding of the mysteries of the gospel. And they were more qualified to preach to people of all the nations and all the languages. I also love what Leonard Ravenhill said. I'm going to read the rest here in a minute. I just thought of this. He said to preachers, he was talking to preachers. He said, get unctioned by the Holy Spirit or get out of the pulpit. And that, and that just, that upset, that upset some people. But that is true. That is true. A pastor should no more come and preach without the unction of the Holy Spirit than a physician to do surgery to, on a person who doesn't, he doesn't know what he's doing. It's the same qualifications, the unction, the power. That's the only way you can comfort the single mom in the balcony, barely holding on and convict the prideful, arrogant man in the front row. That's the only way through the Holy Spirit, like a scalpel to go and encourage, but also convict, to build up, but also shape the thoughts and the hearts and minds of our young adults through, through the word of God. Only the Holy Spirit can do that through his word. And John Gill went on to say, the Holy Spirit is compared to fire because it is purity. It is light. It is heat as well as his consuming nature. So I want to just leave you with a final thought. Ask for the promise, ask for the power this morning. And I don't mean ask for the promise as if you're waiting on something, but ask like the Bible says, pray that you have the Holy Spirit, pray that God will give you the Holy Spirit. And that's an interesting text because Jesus says, ask and you shall receive. If a father being evil, you know, by nature gives good gifts to his children, how much more will the Holy, will the father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? Now it's interesting because he's writing to believers. So they already have the Holy Spirit, but also remember this is before the transitionary period where they hadn't, they hadn't received yet the promise of the father. Now I know it's getting confusing. Hold on. I'm even confused up here. But the promise is this, that God will give those more of the Holy Spirit that ask. God will answer that prayer. Those who ask, Lord, I want more of your power, your promise. Did you know God gave us a promise, the promise of the father. I will give them the Holy Spirit that believe. They will receive the Holy Spirit. There's a promise there. So this could apply to two people. Either you don't know God, you truly don't know God. You've been going through the motions. You've been just playing church. Well, Shane, how do I know? Probably because you don't like what I'm saying right now. That's a good indication. The good indication that there might be something wrong in your heart. You have to ask yourself, do I even know you, God? Do I have this promise? And ask for the power. God, I need the power. Man, I just want to talk to you for a second. How are you going to lead your families in these dire times without the power of the Spirit? We can't. Women, how are you going to get through? Do you think things are going to get a lot better? I hate to leave you with some bad news, but things might not get back to normal for a while, if at all. Are we prepared for that? I would love to tell you our economy is going to be back where it was in February in no time. The 2 million people who just piled for unemployment last week or two, add that to the 40 million still who are jobless. Add that to 9 million who have not paid their rent. That's 10% of the housing market owners. And you look, and you see our economy is holding just, I don't, it's like a straw man. Something is holding that there. Stimulus checks, the reason people aren't going back to work is because they're making more on unemployment. How is this going to unfold? Are the riots just going to go away? Is those wanting to destroy America just going to be quiet? No, you're engaging in spiritual warfare. You're engaging in spiritual warfare. And this is the time where believers must be filled with the Spirit of God. But what's encouraging is I'd rather be a believer filled with the Spirit of God in hard times than a carnal Christian living in good times. There's no comparison. So pray that this morning, even driving home or do business with God and say, God, I want that Holy Spirit fire. He will baptize you with fire. You need God's presence. God's presence. Let me, I wrote this down yesterday. God's presence is my greatest weapon. God's presence pushes back the darkness. God's present breaks every chain. God's presence set the captives free. God's presence eliminates sin. God's presence lifts up those who are depressed. God's presence quenches fear. It overcomes anxiety. It kills pride. Even demons must flee. Evil must take flight. Darkness is overcome. When the presence of God comes into a building, when the presence of God comes into a person, there is nothing the demonic realm can do to you. Do you realize that? Greater is he that's in you. But see, there's a big difference between clapping it out and living it. Oh, don't let me get convicting. So that was my call to believers this morning. Ask God to baptize you in that fire that Jesus talked about. There's nothing, there's nothing to worry about with fire in the good sense. If a person's an unbeliever, God's fire is not good. But if a person is a believer and you say, God, I want more of your fire, your power, your anointing, your unction, whatever you want to call it. You want more of God. Amen. We need to be desperate for more of God. And also the final call to those who don't know who God is. Hear the call of salvation. Hear the call of salvation. Turn your life completely over to him. The Bible is clear. It says, if you repent and believe, repent and believe, you'll receive the Holy Spirit and you'll be saved.