Why Talk About the Holy Spirit? | John 14:16-26

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? It's good to see you. It is a powerful thing for God's people to come together to pray and fast. In case you don't know, we are in the midst of 21 days of prayer and fasting that we just kicked off on Thursday. Was anyone here on Thursday night for our night of prayer and worship? It was incredible. Such a joy for the people of God to gather together.

There were a couple thousand of you on Thursday night, and then Friday morning there were a couple hundred people gathering in the Chapel at 6:00 a.m. to pray. We'll be back at it tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. in the Chapel. If you have not jumped in with us, this is your invitation. You can text the word pray to 40585 and jump in with what God is doing here at Watermark.

My name is Timothy Ateek. I'm one of the pastors here. If this is your first time ever with us, thanks for joining us. Here's what I want to do. I want to invite everyone to pray right now. We're about to step into the Word of God. We believe that when we open this book God is going to say something to us, so we just want to prepare ourselves to hear from God. So, if you will, take a moment and pray. Just ask God to lead you to his truth by the power of his Spirit today. Then pray for me and pray that God would speak through me to you today.

Lord, this is your time, this is your church, these are your people, and this is your Word. So, God, I pray that we wouldn't be casual or asleep as we read it. God, wake us up and open our ears that we might hear from you. Speak to our hearts today. In Jesus' name, amen.

As I was preparing for this message, I thought about different stages my relationship with Kathryn has gone through. Kat and I were introduced to each other at a Barnes & Noble in College Station. That began the acquaintance stage, which lasted for a few years. For a few years, we knew more of who each other was… We knew more of one another than we actually knew one another.

I would say I had incorrect impressions of who Kathryn was as a person. My impression of her was that she was someone who was too cool for school and would probably never be into someone like this. I was like, "I know the type of guy she would date, and it isn't this." If you've met her, you know that's not true, because she married this. You might look and be like, "Yeah, I don't…" You look at her, you look at me, and you're like, "How did that guy get that girl?" I'm a poster child for that organization, and I'm fine with it.

But that was my impression of her for a few years. Then we moved from that phase to the dating phase, which I would call the infatuation stage. We saw each other about once a week for a period of time, and each week was just about creating an experience. It was all about feelings. Like, "How does this feel? Am I feeling like this is going well? You know what? I feel very into Kathryn. Is she feeling into me?" It was all about feelings.

Then we got married, and now I would say we are in, what I would call, the deep relationship stage. We've been together now for 17-1/2 years, and we don't just know of each other; we know each other extremely well. We've lived every day of the last 17-1/2 years together. There are times where we feel more distant. There are times where I can hurt her, I can sin against her, but for the most part, we love experiencing life together.

I might be speaking for Kathryn right now, but she doesn't have a microphone, so I'm just going to say for us we deeply love life together. The reason I share that with you is because today we're starting a series on the Holy Spirit. When I think about the people in this room and the variety of people who are in this room… It's good for you to do a diagnostic check and evaluate which stage of the relationship you are in with the Holy Spirit.

Maybe you're here and you're in the acquaintance phase. Maybe you know of the Spirit, and you know some things about the Spirit, but what we're going to find out through the course of this series is you actually have some wrong information and some wrong impressions of the Holy Spirit. You're going to get to know the Spirit a lot better over the next several weeks.

Some of you guys are in the infatuation stage with the Spirit where it's all about experiences and feelings. Each week that you come into this place or each week that you get with God, you're looking for feeling. You're looking for emotion. You're looking for experience. You're in the infatuation stage. Then some of you are in the deep relationship stage where you have cultivated a relationship with the triune God, and it has led to very meaningful intimacy with the Holy Spirit. You know him, and he knows you, and you enjoy life in the Spirit.

That's where we want to go. We want every person in this room, everyone who calls this place home, to move from the acquaintance stage to the deep relationship stage. Some of you don't have a relationship with God at all, which means you don't have a relationship with the Holy Spirit at all. My hope is that would change as well. But we are talking about the Holy Spirit.

This series is meant to be a deep dive into the person of the Holy Spirit. The goal is that every person here would come to a deep understanding and a full experience with the Holy Spirit. So, it's important for us to spend a good amount of time talking about this person in the Trinity. Why should we talk about the Holy Spirit? Well, let me rattle off a few reasons that we will unpack over the coming weeks, and then we'll get to the real reason we're talking about the Spirit today. A few reasons we should most absolutely talk about the Spirit…

First, the Spirit is God. That's important. The Spirit is God, but Francis Chan refers to the Spirit as the forgotten God. We need to change that. Another reason we need to talk about the Spirit is because we wouldn't be saved apart from the work of the Spirit. Another reason we should talk about the Spirit is we have clear instructions to obey related to the Spirit. The Scriptures call us to be filled with the Spirit, to walk by the Spirit, and to be led by the Spirit. It's going to be hard for us to do what Scripture instructs us to do if we don't have real understanding regarding the Spirit.

Another reason we need to talk about the Spirit is because issues regarding the Spirit divide. What's interesting is that when you look in the Scriptures, the Spirit of God unifies God's people, but the Spirit is actually something that divides God's people now. Some of y'all heard we're doing a Holy Spirit series and got nervous, because you were like, "Oh my gosh. Is Watermark going charismatic? Because if they are, I'm out."

Others of you heard we're doing a series on the Spirit and got really excited, because you were like, "I hope we're going charismatic, because if we're not, I'm out." I'm like, "Okay. That's going to be fun." That is telling. It's telling that we need greater understanding of the Spirit together. So, we're going to talk about the Spirit in hopes of all moving toward a deep, meaningful intimacy with the triune God through a deep connection with the Holy Spirit.

The reason I want to talk about the Spirit today, though, is because of what Jesus says about the Spirit in John, chapter 16. I want you to picture this. We're going to be looking at different verses Jesus speaks about the Spirit in chapters 14-16 of the book of John. This is all one long conversation Jesus has with his disciples. Some people refer to it as the Upper Room Discourse. This is one long conversation Jesus has with his friends just hours, at most, before he is arrested on the night before he is then crucified.

He has already had his last supper. Judas has already left to go and betray him. Jesus is trying to prepare his friends for his departure. He's trying to get them acquainted with the reality that he's about to leave them. They don't fully grasp it, but he's trying to comfort them. In trying to comfort them about his departure, listen to what he says. This is fascinating if you really stop to process it.

Here's what he says in John 16:7: "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." Jesus needs to comfort his friends, and how does he comfort them? He says, "Look. It's actually a really good thing that I'm leaving you. You should actually be thrilled that I'm leaving, because if I leave, I'm actually going to send a helper." He's referring to the Holy Spirit. Just imagine what he's saying. Jesus actually says, "It is to your advantage that I leave."

He's saying, "It's far better than you and me staying and hanging out face-to-face. It's way better than you just traveling around with me and observing me perform miracles. It's even better than that." That's not just a word for his disciples on that night; that's a word for us here. I don't know about you, but I've definitely had the thought of, "You know what? If I only had been alive when Jesus was alive…" Have you ever had that thought? Like, "Faith would have been so much easier if I could have just been there when Jesus was doing what he was doing."

Jesus would look at you and say, "Wrong," because you actually are living in the time Jesus would refer to as an advantage. It's an advantage. If that's the case, if Jesus would look at this time, 2024, as an advantage, why? Because we have the Holy Spirit. Here's what that means for us here at Watermark Community Church. It means it's not okay for us to feel pretty confident and clear when it comes to God the Father and God the Son but fuzzy or fearful when it comes to the Spirit. That's not okay.

It's a huge miss if when we talk about the Spirit all we do is speak as a reaction to the charismatic movement and only talk about who the Spirit isn't and what the Spirit doesn't do. That would be a massive miss, because we're living in the age of the advantage. Jesus would say that 2024 is better than AD 34, not because we've progressed or have greater technology; it is because he has asked the Father and the Father has sent the Spirit to us. So we need to take a step in our relationship with the Spirit.

Here's what I want to do today. I just want to let Jesus reintroduce us to the Holy Spirit. I want to invite you to act like you're meeting the Spirit of God for the first time. As the series progresses, hopefully you're going to progress from the acquaintance stage to the deep relationship stage. Today I want to unpack five things Jesus tells us about the Spirit. I'll go ahead and give you the five right now.

First, we're going to see the Holy Spirit is a gift from God. Secondly, the Holy Spirit is God's promised and permanent presence with us. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit distinguishes us from the rest of the world. Fourthly, the Holy Spirit is essential to us having, understanding, and applying the Bible. Finally, the Holy Spirit is essential to intimacy with God. That's where we're going today. We're just allowing Jesus to reintroduce us to the Holy Spirit. Again, all of the verses we look at today are from one long conversation Jesus has with his friends just hours before he is arrested and then crucified.

1. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God. Listen to what Jesus says back in John 14:16. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…" Next week we're going to unpack more how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit work together, but for today, all I want you to see at first from this verse is Jesus says he will ask the Father to send the Spirit and the Father gives the Holy Spirit to his people. It's a gift. He gives it as a gift.

So, if the Spirit of God is a gift, we need to make sure it isn't an unwrapped gift still sitting under the tree. I'll illustrate it a different way. A while back, I discovered a check someone had written to me that had never been deposited because it had gotten mixed up with some papers. The amount on the check was a very meaningful amount. Then I looked and saw the expiration date of when the check needed to be deposited by had already passed.

When I realized there was a check in my possession of a meaningful amount that the expiration date had long past, I felt irresponsible, and I felt frustration because of what we would be missing out on. I tell you that just to say what I want to guard against in this series is us being irresponsible with the gift of the Holy Spirit. I want to guard us from missing out on just how valuable the Spirit of God's presence is in our lives. So, that's where we have to start. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God.

2. The Holy Spirit is God's promised and permanent presence with us. Look again at what Jesus says. We're camping out on verse 16 right now. He says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…" In the book of John, Jesus consistently refers to the Spirit with the Greek word parakletos. This Greek word has caused translators all sorts of trouble, because there is no one word in the English language that fully encapsulates all that parakletos means in the Greek.

Depending on what translation of the Bible you're reading from, your text might say Jesus will ask the Father and will give you another Helper or Counselor or Advocate or Comforter or Friend. It's because translators at some point have had to just pull the trigger, knowing the word they have chosen doesn't fully capture what Jesus is intending.

What you do need to hold on to, though, is the fact that this Greek word carries the idea of one being called alongside another for the purpose of encouraging, exhorting, correcting, or speaking on one's behalf. Let me say that one more time. This Greek word, parakletos, carries the idea of one being called alongside another.

Any runners in the room? Anyone run? You're like, "Well, I don't know. Maybe. Sort of. Loosely classified as running. I ran one time. I guess I'm a runner." If you really are a runner… Some of you guys have done half-marathons. Some of you have done marathons. Some of y'all have done ultramarathons. You're crazy.

Anyway, wherever you are on that running spectrum, pop quiz. Is it easier to run very long distances by yourself or with other people? With other people. Yes. That's just the way it goes. When you're running over long periods of time, it's really nice to have at least one other person who is pushing you or encouraging you, speaking truth to you, and talking sense into you when you're thinking you can't make it.

Just yesterday, I was flipping through the channels, and the Olympic trials were on for the marathon. I was a runner in my former life, so it's still intriguing to me to watch people literally just run on TV. I'm fascinated by it. If you saw it, which I would imagine most of you didn't, the two guys who came in first and second in the men's Olympic trials in the marathon… These were two guys who were actually runners together at BYU, so they knew each other.

In the interview after the race, the guy who won said, "I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish the last two miles." Those were his exact words. He was like, "But then [this other guy]…" His former teammate, his friend. "…just told me to stay on his hip." I don't know how it works out that that guy actually ended up winning. That feels unfair.

The point is he had someone come alongside him to encourage him, to sharpen him, to challenge him, to correct him, to speak truth into him. The reality is Scripture refers to the Christian life as a race. When we talk about having someone to run the race with, we often think of community. Community is so important. The Christian life is so difficult in isolation, but even more valuable than community is the Holy Spirit, the one who has been called alongside us to run this race with us, to encourage us, challenge us, and speak truth to us.

Here's the good news. If you look back at the verse, Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…" Jesus tells us the Spirit of God will be… He is promising permanent presence in our lives. You have to hear this verse not in 2024 but when Jesus is saying it to his friends right before he's about to be arrested.

This would have been earth-shattering for them, because their understanding of the Holy Spirit was that the Holy Spirit was a rare gift for select few people and almost always temporary. The only thing the Spirit of God truly filled was the temple. Now Jesus is saying, "No, no, no. The Spirit of God isn't just going to be for a special few on rare occasions and for temporary moments." It's permanent, and it's for everyone who has a real relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you have come to a place where you have realized that you're a sinner in need of a Savior and that Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life, died a sufficient death, and then rose from the dead victoriously, demonstrating that his payment for our sin was satisfactory for all those who would put their trust in Jesus Christ, then the Spirit of God lives in you and will be in you forever. That's incredible news.

Let me just ask you. If the Spirit of the living God actually lives in you right now and is committed to running through the race of life with you to be with you, encourage you, correct you, and speak truth to you, do you have any real awareness of the Spirit's presence in your life? Do you have any sensitivity to what he's doing in your life and how he's encouraging you or challenging you? Would you even know what to look for?

If you're tuned out, tune back in. Here's the question I want you to think about. What has the Spirit of God been doing in your life over the past 24 hours? Can you identify it? Can you think back over the last 24 hours and identify what the Spirit of God has been actively doing in your life over the past 24 hours?

I want you to look back at the verse one more time. Remember what we're talking about. We're talking about the fact that the Holy Spirit is God's promised and permanent presence with us. Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper…" Isn't that wording interesting? When was the other time they had a parakletos? For Jesus to say, "He will give you another Helper," it implies they've already had one.

John, the same author of this text, writes in 1 John that Jesus Christ is a parakletos. This is really important, and I hope you don't miss this. Jesus could say they're going to get another parakletos because they've already had one come alongside them to be with them, and it was Jesus. You take that reality and combine it with the fact that Jesus said it's actually better for him to leave, and it means the Spirit of God would fill any void left by Jesus' departure.

What I'm telling you is the Spirit of God is to be experienced. In the same way that the disciples got to experience the presence of Jesus and see him move, see him work, hear him speak truth, the Spirit of God has come and filled any void that would be left by Jesus leaving. So, if we have no experience with the Spirit of God, then we are missing out on what Jesus intended.

3. The Holy Spirit distinguishes us from the rest of the world. Look at what the text goes on to say. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

When Jesus uses the term world here, he's using it in a negative way. He's referring to humanity living in rebellion against God. Here's his point. The world, humanity in rebellion against God… They can't know the Spirit. If you think about it, Jesus, God in the flesh, came to them physically, and they rejected him. So, if they rejected God in the flesh physically, then how in the world could an unbelieving world actually know and receive God the Spirit? It's not possible.

Yet if you know Jesus Christ, then you can know the Spirit. You can be aware of his presence. You can perceive how he is working. You can enjoy his presence in you. This distinguishes us from an unbelieving world. This should actually be somewhat convicting for us. Let's just talk. Answer this question in your own heart. What's the major difference between you, a Christian, and the people at your work or your neighborhood or your family who don't know Jesus?

What's the major difference? It's not that we have committed plans every Sunday morning when everyone else is going to brunch. That's not the primary difference. The primary difference isn't just that we have confidence that we'll spend eternity in heaven instead of hell when we die, even though that's a major aspect of our faith. It's not just that we can call out to God in prayer when we feel helpless. Unbelievers actually do that as well.

The major difference John is saying right now is that we have the Spirit of God in us. That makes us wildly different from the rest of the world. It should be red alert if you go to work or to happy hour and function no differently than the people in your spheres of influence who do not know God. If you function no differently, then red alert. Get to the hospital, the church, quickly, because something is going wrong, because God himself lives in you.

Here's what I want you to hear. Salvation in Jesus Christ isn't just about someday, someday when we die. Salvation is about spending eternity with God in heaven, but it's not just about someday; it is about today. Because of what Christ has accomplished for us, he has made a way for God to come and live with us and in us.

4. The Holy Spirit is essential to us having, understanding, and applying the Bible. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth multiple times in the book of John. It means one of the Holy Spirit's responsibilities is to communicate truth to us. That looks like two different things. This is where I'm inviting you into theology class really quickly. There are two ways the Spirit of God communicates truth. One is known as inspiration in the past and the other is illumination in the present.

What am I talking about when I talk about inspiration in the past? I'm getting the word inspiration from 2 Timothy 3:16 where Paul says, "All Scripture is inspired by God." In the Greek, that can be translated as God-breathed. To say that something is inspired, we're talking about the Word of God being spoken by God. We see this in Jesus' teaching a little bit farther down in John 14:26. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

He goes on in chapter 16, verse 13. Listen to what he says. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." Both of these verses I just read are only applying to the first disciples. It's to the people he's talking to at that present time. That's who these verses are intended for.

So, when you read these verses, you should apply them only to a specific group of people. It's to the first disciples. It's ultimately to the people God used to author his Word. When Jesus was on earth, if you go and read the Gospels, there were plenty of times where the disciples just didn't understand. They either didn't understand what he was saying or they just missed it. Jesus consistently has to correct his disciples.

But after Jesus dies, rises from the dead, ascends into heaven, and sends the Spirit, the Spirit doesn't come and teach the disciples new things; he brings the disciples to an understanding of all of the beautiful realities tied up in Jesus' incarnation, life, death, and resurrection so they could author the Scriptures we have today. That's what Jesus is promising them.

He's promising them that the Spirit would come and not teach them new things but help them have full understanding of all of the beautiful realities tied up in every aspect of Jesus so they could author the Scriptures we have today. Second Peter 1:21 probably is the best picture of the role the Holy Spirit played in inspiring human authors to write God's Word.

It says, "For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." The Greek word that has been translated carried along is the picture of wind filling the sail of a sailboat and moving the boat along. So, the role the Holy Spirit played in us getting this Word is that the Holy Spirit moved human authors to perfectly record God's words using their own personalities.

Do you hear what I'm telling you? The reason we even have the Scriptures is because of the role God had the Holy Spirit play. We have the Bible because God used the Spirit to communicate to human beings so they could perfectly author his words. That's a big deal. We should thank God for his work through the Spirit so we have this book.

That's his work of inspiration. That was in the past, but now the Spirit is working through the work of illumination in the present. When we talk about illumination… I'll give you Roy B. Zuck's definition. Illumination is that supernatural work of the Spirit whereby he enables individuals to apprehend the already revealed truth of God. Here's what that means. The Spirit of God isn't just the reason we have the Bible; the Spirit of God is the reason we will be able to understand the Bible, apply the Bible, and live it out.

So, anytime you're in church or having a quiet time at home, anytime you're at a Bible study or at a Community Group, and you guys are reading the Bible together and it actually makes sense…you're seeing clearly, and something in you has great clarity on how you need to leave and live it out…you need to know the Spirit of God is doing a great work in your life in that moment. He's doing the work of illumination.

That's why anytime you do a quiet time, anytime your Community Group gets together and opens up the Word of God together, before you do it, you should stop and pray. "Holy Spirit, would you illuminate my heart and mind to the truth? I don't need new words from the Spirit. God has already spoken, but I need a lot of supernatural help to actually understand it and know how to live it out." The Spirit of God is why we have the Scriptures, understand the Scriptures, and are able to apply it to our lives.

5. The Holy Spirit is essential to intimacy with God. It is impossible to have an intimate relationship with the God of the universe apart from the work of the Spirit of God in your life. Listen to what Jesus says in John 14:23. "Jesus answered him, 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'"

Jesus is saying there is some way that God the Father and God the Son will actually make their home in you and me. How does that happen? Miraculously through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So just make the connection. If you want an intimate relationship with God the Father, if you want an intimate relationship with God the Son, it is actually going to be through the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God actually drives us toward intimacy with God.

In John 16:14, Jesus tells us exactly how the Spirit works so that we would be close with Jesus. He says, "He [the Spirit of God] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you." This is the point in the message where I need everyone to hear what I'm telling you. Please don't miss this. Please don't miss what I'm telling you.

The Spirit's ultimate goal… This is it. This is what it all boils down to. If you want to know what the Spirit of God's number-one, chief responsibility is on his job description in the Godhead, this is it. The Spirit's ultimate goal is to glorify Christ. That's the Spirit's role. It is to make much of Jesus Christ in every Christian, in every gospel-proclaiming, Bible-preaching church in the world amongst people from every tribe and nation. That's the work of the Spirit. It is to glorify Christ.

How does he do this? He does it by declaring the truth of Jesus to the apostles who have written it down so we could read it, and as we read it, we understand it, feel close to Jesus, love Jesus, and respond with lives of worship. This is so important. If the Spirit's chief goal is to glorify Christ, then we can draw some conclusions.

If the Spirit's aim is to cultivate a love for Jesus and a life like Jesus' in you, then here are a few conclusions we can draw. If your heart is cold toward Jesus right now, if you feel distracted from Jesus, if the Christian life feels all duty and all discipline and no delight, or if you're rebelling against Jesus right now, then there is an issue right now between you and the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit's role is to exalt Christ in your life.

If you are glorifying the Spirit more than you're glorifying Christ right now, if you care more about meeting with the Spirit and hearing from the Spirit, if all you talk about is how amazing the Holy Spirit is, then there's an issue between you and the Holy Spirit right now, because the Spirit isn't working to make much of himself; he is working in you to make much of Christ. The Spirit loves the Bible. The Spirit is the one who worked in human authors so that we have the Bible. The Spirit is leading and guiding us into truth so we can understand the Bible.

The Spirit loves to bring Scripture to mind and press it on your heart and bring it to reality in your life. If you are more interested in hearing a special word from the Spirit than hearing the Word that was given to the Spirit by Jesus and written down so we could know Jesus, then you have a problem with the Spirit. At the same time, if you're in a place right now where your prayer life is really taking off, you're excited to read God's Word, and your love for Jesus is growing, then be encouraged, because the Spirit of God is doing a great work in your life.

Maybe you're here this morning. Someone invited you here. Maybe you're a guest. Maybe you're new to Christianity. You're just trying to figure things out, but you came into this place, and in the course of this service you heard Callie talk, you read the lyrics to the songs we sang, you have heard this message, and it's like you're seeing life with 20/20 vision for the first time ever. It's like you're seeing clearly, and something in you is more clear than ever that you need a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Maybe somehow you just realize that Jesus is the truth. Jesus says earlier in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Maybe you're realizing for the first time why Jesus died, why the cross is so important. Maybe you're realizing that on that cross Jesus was dying for your sin, that when he rose from the dead he was rising as a declaration that he had defeated your sin, and now you want to come to Jesus.

The right way to come to Jesus is to repent. It's to turn from your life without Jesus and turn to life with him. It's to invite him in by prayer to be your Savior and to be your King. If that's you, be encouraged. It's the Spirit of God who brought you here, and it's the Spirit of God who's at work in you so you can see your need for Jesus clearly.

I want to close right now and answer the question of what I want you to do with what we've talked about this morning. Isn't that the right question? Like, what do we do with this? Where are we driving toward? Well, this is it. I'm not asking you to do anything. I just want you to leave here with a greater desire for deep relationship with the Spirit.

I just want you to be honest. Where are you at? What stage are you in with the Spirit? If you're in the acquaintance stage, if you're in the infatuation stage, at least you realize it. Now let's move toward deeper relationship. I want you to leave here expectant for how God is going to give you greater understanding of and a fuller experience with his Spirit.

So, what I want to ask you to do right now is to just pray. I'm going to invite you to pray for yourself. First, I want to invite you right now to thank God for sending his Spirit. Secondly, thank the Spirit for the ways he is working. Then ask God to give you a greater awareness of his presence in you. Now ask the Spirit to give you understanding in how to live out the truth of God's Word this week. Finally, ask God to give you a deeper and more intimate relationship with his Spirit this week.

Father, I thank you that you sent your Son. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you came, that you died, that you rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and you did not leave us alone but you sent your Spirit. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you have come and have appropriated the truth of God's Word, the reality of Jesus, to our lives.

God, give us greater understanding of the way you're working. Thank you, Spirit, that you live inside of us and it is your desire to glorify Christ. Ultimately I pray that Christ would be exalted in the people of Watermark because of the work of the Spirit in our midst. We love you. We praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.