The Fifth Act the Holy Spirit - Jon Tyson

Jon Tyson
So this is not you like, I better be good. I better be good. I better be good. You’re not that good at trying to be good. That’s not what we’re talking about here. This is about God taking out your old dead heart, getting a heart transplant, and then putting in you a desire for God. If you have the Holy Spirit in you, at the deepest part of your being, you are not a sinner, you long for God. Now that may be blocked up with trauma, that may be clogged up with the flesh or sinful human experiences or choices, but at the core of your spiritual DNA is desire for God. So you don’t have to whip something up, you just have to unblock the flow of the Spirit of God that is in you. This is such good news. The beauty of the gospel is not try and do more. The beauty of the gospel is Jesus did it. It’s a new heart. Receive this as a gift. It’s also power for the whole community. This is really quite extraordinary. In the Old Testament, power would come on spiritual heroes. David would get himself

Jon Tyson
The reason there’s so little fruit in our witnessing is because we’re talking about ourselves. Talk about him. Hold up Jesus. Our message is Jesus. Our message is Jesus. Our message is not Church of the City. Our message is not our brand, though I’m really happy with it. That’s not our message. Look at the preaching of the New Testament, Colossians 1. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 1 Corinthians 4, For what we preach is not ourselves, not our pastor, not our programs, not a momentum. We preach Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. Paul, again, I resolved to know nothing when I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. God does not promise to anoint your story, but he promises to anoint the gospel. We need to lift up Jesus and trust that the Holy Spirit will melt the hearts of those who encounter the Son of God. E.K. Bailey says this, I love this. Although we are equal with the Father and the Son, talking about the Holy Spirit, his function is to be the defense attorney for Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit. The paraclete is the defense attorney to convince the world that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah.

Jon Tyson
Listen, doctrine is less theoretical than it is theatrical. A matter of doing, speaking, and showing what we have heard and understood. In sum, the church exists to be a living exhibit of the reality of the gospel. We preach Jesus. We are filled with the Spirit. We live in the way of Jesus, an example to the world. Now, one last thing here, because I think this is important. We do this with

Jon Tyson
Now, one last thing here, because I think this is important. We do this with a compassionate tone. Kierkegaard in Sickness Under Death says this, everything essentially Christian must have in its presentation a resemblance to the way a physician speaks to the sickbed. People out there are struggling, struggling with heartache, struggling with despair, struggling with loss, struggling with lust, struggling with insecurity, struggling with Inferiority, struggling with trauma, struggling with shame. And it is our job to gracefully, with a good in

Jon Tyson
So this is Jesus saying, you don’t have to worry. Your father’s not going to mess you up. If you want the Holy Spirit and you’re sincere, you’re not going to get a demonic counterfeit. If you want the Holy Spirit and sincere, you’re not going to conjure this up in the flesh. Or if we ask for an egg, we’ll give him a scorpion. If you then, though you’re evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, what’s this next phrase say? How much more,