Episode Transcript
Welcome to the World Changers Church Gold Coast Podcast. Join us as we listen to today's message. This can sit there.
It feels like somebody's taken off me right hands. I'm usually talking with both hands up here. Now I've got a microphone in one, which means I'm only left-handed, and that's not a great thing.
Oh, my words. How is everybody this morning? Yeah, are we all good? Are we all ready for a word today?
I know some people, yeah, a little bit. We get kids sick, we get people sick, but we're praying over the top of that, rebuking the enemy, and that's all good. But are we ready today for the word of God?
Good, because I'm bringing the second part today, and the second part is being led by the Holy Spirit. I've been working on this for two weeks, and the Holy Spirit's been talking to me, and he's been talking direct. And he said, you're gonna bring a direct message.
And I've looked at it, and I'm quite challenged by some of the stuff that I've written down, because it's challenging to me. I don't step up here and bring a message that's relevant to everybody else or not to me. It's always relevant to me first, because the Holy Spirit is speaking to me.
So I'm gonna start with a statement. First paragraph, without God's calling, without Him choosing us, our choosing Him would be a waste of time. In fact, if God didn't call man to Himself, no man would want to come to Him. It's a bit hard, isn't it?
Straight away. Okay, the rest of it says then, you see, before we came to Christ, we weren't just neutral. We were hostile towards God.
Our hearts resisted His truth, our minds rejected His authority, and our lives reflected that rebellion. And everything is quiet. The simplicity of this is that without the Holy Spirit, the flesh stands opposed to God's truth and His grace.
Don't take my word for it. Let's have a look at Romans 8, 7. It's going to come up on the screen.
The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. The flesh that we walk in is hostile to God. The flesh that you're sat in right here, right now is hostile to God. It always reminds me when we reflect in Romans 12 too, transform your mind every day.
This is something that we do every day. This is not something that we do on a Sunday. This is directly every day.
We take the flesh hostage. The moment you surrender your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within you. That moment.
that you surrender your life to Jesus, that you ask him in, he takes up residence straight away. We look at Ephesians 1.13. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, when you believed.
You were marked in him with a seal. And that seal is the promised Holy Spirit. It's promised and it was given.
It was given to you. This isn't a three-stage process. This isn't right.
I've given my life to Christ now. I've invited him in as my Lord and my Savior. That's part one.
Now I'm going to go and get baptized. That's part two. Then I'm sanctified the rest of my life.
There's part three. That's not it. That moment that you accept Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit within you.
That full power. That if you're not saved today and you give your life, you have as much power inside you as a Christian who has been in here for 70, 80 years. The same power, the same authority in you.
Receiving the Holy Spirit is immediate. not three parts. Now let's look at John 14, 16 to 17.
If you love me, keep my commands and I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he lives with you and will be in you.
At no stage does that say that you only get a small percentage. Never says it at all. It says you have the spirit of truth.
The Holy Spirit is given that promised seal. 1 Corinthians 6, 9 says, do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have received from God? You're not your own.
I know what it was like to be my own. I know what it was like to run life without Christ inside me. And it wasn't great.
The things that I'd done, the things that I said, the places that I've been, the things, it's never great because it was me. When you give your life to Christ, when that Holy Spirit comes and dwells within, you belong to God because he's got a better plan for you. He's got a better plan for me.
And it is easier to follow his ways than what it is to follow my way or your way. See, what often changes over time is not how much of the Holy Spirit that you have within you. The thing that changes over time is how much are you willing to surrender to Jesus?
There's your challenge. How much are you surrendering to the Lord? Because that's the only thing that changes over time.
When you first give your life, it's great. It's euphoric. It's amazing.
But then over time, we start putting our things in the way. We start taking our demands and setting them before God and saying, hold on a second, I'm on the way here. I'm doing this.
I want to do this. I'm like a petulant little child. Mine, mine, mine, mine.
Hold on a second. It's all God's. It's all from him.
It's all for him. It's all his anyway. It's our maturity.
It's our willingness to listen, our faith and our dependence on him that influences how we walk in his power, not our power. Everything that I do is not for me. Everything that I do is for Him.
So the question is sat there, what are you doing in your life that is for Him and not for you? When you woke up this morning, what did you ask God? Reveal to me your way, because it's better than mine.
It's better than yours. So what are we asking God? What are we asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to us when we speak with him?
Sometimes it's doubt, pride, trials, distractions that hinder us, but the Holy Spirit remains fully present and ready to lead when you surrender. If you're not seeing transformation in your life, how much have you surrendered to him? It's direct and it's hard.
We have to reflect, we have to look at our own lives and go, how much have I given to you, God? Jesus, how much did you give for me? He gave everything.
On that cross, he took everything. He gave his life for you. What are you giving in return? And if it's not everything for him, then you're holding something back.
We preached a series a few months ago and it was called The Victory Over Darkness. We talked about the good news, the cross. We talked about the relationship that you have with Jesus.
We talked about the identity that you have in Christ. And then we talked about the authority that you have when you place all those things in the perfect position because he's already done it first. Now out of those, my wife, Claire, had the honor to be able to preach on the identity in Christ.
So if you were here, what do you remember from that? If you weren't here at the time, jump back on the podcast. You can listen to the full series.
It was a good one, but some of those things that we're talked about in the identity in Christ, is that you are called beloved. You're called a saint. You're set apart. You're a co-heir with Christ.
You're washed clean. You're free. You're adopted into God's family.
You're righteous. You're whole in Christ. But this last one I love, you are a child of God.
But let's look at that few words. Let's look at those few words through the lens of Romans 8, 14. This isn't there for those who are led by the Spirit of God or the children of God.
Are you being led by the Holy Spirit? Are you releasing and surrendering to the Holy Spirit? Because that's what makes you a child of God.
It doesn't go on to say that you're a child of God because of God. It says you're a child of God. If you're led by the Spirit, you're a child of God. I'm not led by me because that doesn't make me a child of God. You're not led by you, it doesn't make you a child of God. If you're led by the Spirit, you're a child of God.
If you're not being led by the Spirit, you're living beneath your calling. You don't have to be called to be on a pulpit. You don't have to be called to be an evangelist, a street minister.
You don't have to be called to be a pastor, a preacher, a prophet, an apostle. You don't have to be called to that, but you are called to go into all the world and teach and preach his message, to reveal the truth of Jesus on a cross. Salvation, that's your calling.
How much of that are you doing? What have you been led to do? What have you been challenged with right here, right now?
Believing in Jesus is the beginning, but surrendering to the Holy Spirit is a difference between existing and truly living. Catch it. Are you truly living if you're not being led by the Spirit?
Because I know that every time I try and do it my own way, it doesn't feel good. Every time I try and do it my way, it doesn't go right. But every time I follow his path, his plans for my life, guess what? It goes well. It's great.
And I look at that and go, wow, I got myself out the way for that. Then it feels brilliant. Then why do I keep getting back in the way?
I love Zechariah 4, 6, not by strength, not by might, but by the Spirit. Who's revealing things to you? Who's talking to you?
Who's challenging you? Who's whispering in your ear? Who's telling you that's wrong?
Don't do it. Who's leading you to all truth when you're trying to find all lies in life? We weren't saved just to sit in church to play it safe and hope heaven catches us when we fall.
We were saved to be led. We were saved to be filled. We were saved to be moved and transformed by the Holy Spirit.
You see, you can't follow Jesus and lead yourself. You can't do that and you can't fulfill a God-given calling chasing a self-made plan. Galatians 5.25 says, Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Our thoughts, our decisions, our relationships, the directions, the leadership, everything should be led by the Spirit. Faith is a door through which grace rushes in. But it's the Holy Spirit who takes your hand and says, now walk with me.
Grace didn't just save you, it stays with you, it strengthens you and it leads you. But faith starts the journey. Grace fuels the steps and the Holy Spirit lights the way.
Being led by the Holy Spirit is not optional. Being led by the Holy Spirit is essential. It's not an upgrade you get in your phone that you decide to use sometimes and put it aside and then think, oh, I forgot I've got that in there.
I need a parking spot. Holy Spirit, I need a parking spot. Come on.
I've lost my keys. Holy Spirit, where are my keys? Come on.
They'll always be in the last place you look. Why do you look in the last place first? You might find them quicker. It's always in the last place you look.
It's not about where your car is whenever you can't find your car. Holy Spirit, where's my car? That will be Claire's question. I know where the car is because I park it.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Paul doesn't say those who believe in God are his children. Those who are led by the Spirit.
And we're not describing some super Christian here. This isn't some super Christian. Oh, I'm led by the Spirit.
I'm better than you. No. This is just a true Christian.
Still hard. Are you been led by the Spirit? If you keep talking about being led by the Spirit, but you're doing the wrong things and you're saying the wrong things, you're not being led by the Spirit.
You're being led by the flesh. To be led by the Spirit will show fruit. To be led by the Spirit, people will see Christ in you, not you in you.
Salvation just isn't about forgiveness of sins. It's about a new way of living under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Spirit life, a spirit-filled life, bears fruit.
And if you're a child of God, there will be visible markers. There'll be transformation. There'll be redirection.
There'll be conviction. There'll be obedience. People will see that.
But if there's no fruit, here's a challenging one for you. If there is no fruit... Sometimes it's not a pruning issue.
It's a root issue. I told you it was going to be direct today. And people are going to hear it.
And some people are going to be challenged by it. But that's good. Because the Word of God challenges me.
The Word of God should be challenging you. This isn't comfort all the time. This sometimes is a rebuke.
Sometimes it's a redirection. I read the Bible sometimes and I set it down and go, wow, I don't want to believe that. But if I believe the Word of God, then I believe what Jesus done for me on a cross and I have to accept the Word of God as truth.
Every single bit of it, not just what I want. And the Holy Spirit always leads you to truth. So if there's no fruit in your life, Maybe it's a root issue.
Maybe it's your walk with Christ that we're calling in the correction. Maybe it's that unsurrendered part of your life that you haven't given over yet that is causing everything to happen. Not a pruning issue, it's a root issue.
Don't settle for belief without intimacy. It's time to realign your life back with Jesus. Front and center.
It's time to listen more to the Holy Spirit than what it is to listen to social media and the neighbors next door and your friends that aren't Christians and the world is trying to call you out. I actually seen it somewhere that today, I posted yesterday and there was a reel about the message today. And there was a lady that I used to serve in the military with back in the UK.
I didn't know she was a Christian. I haven't spoke to her in probably about a decade. But she commented on the post, knowing that I live in Australia, and she tagged in somebody.
And she said, this will be a great message for you to hear. This person came back and says, well, I'm probably more atheist than anything else. but this would be good for you to get along to.
She reinforced the other person saying to her, and that was an atheist. As Christians, what are we doing? How are we lifting other people up?
How are we encouraging people to come to church instead of pushing them away from church? What are the fruit of the church that we're going to? And if you walk into a church and you're not hearing truth from here, from the pulpit, then that's a question I've got to ask is why you? I shouldn't be teaching anything else other than what the Word of God says.
I shouldn't be leading you any further than the Word of God. Go check for yourself. This isn't about me standing up here bringing you a preacher, you walking away going, yeah, that was good or that was bad.
This is about you getting convicted to jump into the Word of God to challenge it for yourself to get your revelation, not mine. I got mine in preparation for this. Where's your revelation in it?
Get back in the Word of God. Read it, soak in it, observe everything about your life and change what's not right. We only do that by listening.
Bible tells us to hear and to hear and to hear. Listen, you've got two ears, one mouth. You should be listening twice as much as you're talking. Hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to you and believe that it's from the Holy Spirit because He will not lead you into lies.
He will not lead you into wrong. He will only lead you to truth. If the Spirit isn't leading you, it's time to stop asking, what's wrong with my walk?
And start asking, have I truly surrendered my life to Jesus? We're quick to look at ourselves and go, hmm, that's not working. What can I do about that?
It's not about you. It's about Him first. Always has been, always will be.
Get out of your own way. I've got a word down here that I wanted to talk about. I've been wrestling with this word, but it's a word that we all wrestle with sometimes, and it's called insecurity.
Who's wrestled with that word? To be insecure. Sometimes walking into a church for the first time, I feel insecure.
Sometimes during the worship, music and stuff, I'm not going to put my hands in the air. I'm not going to stand back here. I feel insecure because people are going to be looking at me.
You go to a wedding. This is more for women than what it is for blokes, by the way, but you go there. Am I dressed appropriately for this?
Blokes are like, I don't care, where's the bar? You know, it's a bloke thing. But we've got those insecurities.
And those insecurities come through everything. See, that moment of insecurity, that worry that you've got, that tightness in your chest, that's not random. Sometimes it's a warning light for your soul. Being insecure, being a warning light for your soul.
The real question behind it, who are you secure in? You see, the Holy Spirit is right there and he's whispering to your heart. You can't find security in that.
Are people really staring at you? Probably not. But you can't find security in that.
But I want people to accept me. I want more likes on my Instagram, my TikTok, or whatever things are doing these days. I want people to accept me for who I am.
Holy Spirit's there and he's whispering, you can't find security in that. You can't find security in the world. It's not for you.
But I tell you where you can find it. In him. That's where we find our security.
But insecurity, it's not just a question of fear or anxiety. Insecurity, it's actually a question of trust. Who do we trust more?
And if you're lacking trust, you need to get back into the Word of God to find out who you are. It comes back to that being a child of God. Redeemed.
Saved. Forgiven. There's a key word that keeps coming up every time.
There's no condemnation in Christ, but there's forgiveness for you from Christ on that cross. That gift of the Holy Spirit reveals that truth in you. So why are you insecure?
Instead of being secure in Christ, let the Holy Spirit reveal the truth to you. So when insecurity shows up, don't ignore it. When insecurity shows up, let it lead you to the Spirit, not away from the Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit doesn't just comfort.
He anchors. He affirms. He secures.
See, the Holy Spirit is a comforter when life knocks you down. Holy Spirit is a teacher when you need clarity. And He's a convictor when you're going the wrong way.
He is a leader who guides, not drags. Sometimes he points out the wrong turns. Sometimes he quietly encourages you to keep going.
Other times he simply sits with you in silence through the pain. He doesn't just show up when you need something, when you asked him into your life. He promised he would never leave you nor forsake you.
And it reminds me of that poem, The Footprints in the Sand. This man's having a dream and he sees his life flashing in front of him and he's there with Jesus and he sees two footprints in the sand. But as he looks at his life and he's reflecting back over things through the hard times, through the valleys, he only sees one set of footprints.
Dismayed, angry, he looks at Jesus and he said, hold on a second, mate. You told me that you were going to be with me forever. You told me that you were going to lift me up, that you were going to comfort me, that you were going to be there for me.
But every time I look back and at my lows, there's only one set of footprints. Where were you? Jesus looked at him and he said, that's when I carried you.
That's when he carried you. See, the Holy Spirit never leaves you. Never. He's there beside you through the hard times. He's there beside you through the great times.
He's there giving you direction through the times where you're confused. But when we don't listen, we never hear. When we try to do it ourselves, we never hear or see.
The Spirit leads us through conviction, not condemnation. Romans 8 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But that doesn't mean that the Spirit won't speak correction.
He convicts to transform. He does not convict to shame. If you're convicted by doing something wrong and you're like, wow, I shouldn't have done that.
It's the Holy Spirit saying, listen, that's wrong. Come back to the truth. He's not going to be there going, Paddy, what have you done, mate?
Let's go over here. That's disgraceful. You shouldn't have done that.
I want you back on your pedestal. That's where I've put you. He doesn't do that.
He directs you. He guides you back to the truth. He's not going to slap you about and condemn you and make you feel shameful and make you feel guilty.
That's what we do in the flesh. Jesus loved you enough, knowing your sin, to die for you. He knew the sin you're going to commit in the future and He still died for you and He still gave you this gift of the Holy Spirit to lead you to all truth.
You always know when it's the Holy Spirit when you feel drawn to Jesus, not pushed away. When you're invited to change, not accused. And when you sense love, not fear.
You see, when Peter denied Jesus, the Holy Spirit led him to repentance. When Judas betrayed Jesus, guilt got in the way and he died. Think about that.
One was led back into grace. The other was stuck in shame. See, the Holy Spirit doesn't beat you down.
He builds you up. He doesn't reject you. He redirects you.
Your life is redirected by the Holy Spirit. Even when you do wrong, He is there to lead you to truth. Being led by the Spirit changes your direction. Galatians 5.25, since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
This implies movement. I jump back to my military days and I think to the times they put us on the parade square and we had to do all the drill, all the marching. Somebody was in charge of that, the drill sergeant.
Nobody liked the drill sergeant, by the way. They were horrible people. But they told you where to go.
Left, right, left, right, left turn, right turn. Step slow, step fast. Left incline, right incline, about turn.
I had to keep going where he told me to go, not where I wanted to go, which was not the parade ground. I wanted to go somewhere else, but I was never allowed because we had to do drill. But the drill sergeant was there. And when you take a look at any drill, you see it on social media and stuff.
You see this perfect symmetry of people that are in step, that are flowing, that are doing what they're told, when they're told, how they're told. They've given everything over. They trust that drill sergeant.
How much more is it when you trust the Holy Spirit in your life? He's leading you the right way. He's saying left turn.
I'm like, no, I'm going right. I'm off over here. He's like, why? I want you to go this way.
This is good. I know it's good, but you know what? This looks really tempting over here.
I want to see what this tastes like. I want to see what this looks like. I want to see what this feels like over here.
Is this okay? He's like, no, I didn't direct you that way. I want you over here.
He doesn't condemn you with it, though. He's like, come on, man. I want to work for good in all things.
You know that. Works for good in all things. But the Spirit leads.
He leads you out of comfort zone. He leads you out of toxic patterns. He leads you out of old identities.
You're a new identity. You have a new identity in Christ. He leads you out of that old person.
He leads you to new. You can't be led by the Spirit and stay led by your feelings. You can't do it.
The Spirit might lead you to forgive when it hurts. The Spirit might lead you to speak truth when it's risky. He might lead you to give when it's tight.
Being led by the Holy Spirit means trusting God over your emotions. How hard is that one? Trust God over your emotions.
It means obeying when it's unpopular. It means staying when you want to run, loving when you've been hurt, and choosing holiness over habit. See, the Holy Spirit leads through truth, not convenience.
The world's convenient. Sometimes the truth's hard. Sometimes the truth takes discipline.
It takes obedience. The Holy Spirit leads through conviction, not always comfort. He will comfort you.
But sometimes that conviction means that you need to be uncomfortable. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Because when the Holy Spirit says go, trust him.
And he often leads through faith, not feelings. It doesn't matter what you're feeling. It still takes faith to step out.
A spirit life led is marked by transformation. Romans 12 tell you, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You see, if the spirit is in you, people should see the fruits.
Love when others expect hate, peace in the middle of chaos, self-control in a world full of indulgence. I love ice cream. Anybody else like ice cream?
Yeah, ice cream's good. It's going to give me a heart attack and the wife keeps reminding me. Hey, really?
In Jesus' name, it will not give me, yeah, happy with that. See, wifey, we can have ice cream. It's that indulgence, yeah?
The indulgence of everything that is wrong for you versus everything that is right for you. You were once reactive. You were once angry.
You were once addicted. You were once broken. You were once everything that you're not now when you accept Jesus.
But now people look at you and they say there's something different about you. What is that? That glow, that radiance, that peace that surpasses all understanding.
What is that? That's that gift of the Holy Spirit within you. That's the fruit of the Spirit shining through you.
Final challenge. Who's leading your life? Here's a phrase. And people walk into church and they say this all the time, by the way, so we're going to challenge this.
I'm just trying to figure things out. Can you pray for me? What do we do?
We pray for them, don't we? Yeah. Yeah, I'll start in prayer that you're trying to figure things out.
You know what that's Christianese for? I want to do this on my own. I'm just trying to figure things out.
The key is I. I, or I am, or I'm, whatever way you want to phrase that doesn't make a blind bit of difference because it still says I at the start. I, I'm trying to figure things out. Hold on a second, mate.
Give yourself over to the Holy Spirit. Let him figure it out. He's already got it sorted and trusting his process versus you going, Christianese, I'm going to do this on my own and I'm going to walk over here.
And we agree with that. Linguistically, it's terrible. We've got to challenge people. And we've got to challenge ourselves.
Listen to what we say. Understand what we say. Hear what we say. So that we know we've been led in truth.
That when somebody whispers something to you, asking for prayer, you've got the foresight to be able to turn around and say, hold on a second, I don't see that happening here. What are we standing on? What are you actually challenged by?
Proverbs 4, 23 says, above all else, guard your heart because everything you do flows from it. Why don't we worry? Because something's going on in the heart. There's a gap in your heart.
And we try to fill that gap with so many different things, but you know what? It's a God-sized hole that only God can fill. And when you give your life, he gives you the Holy Spirit that fits perfectly in there.
That's his gift to you. That will lead you. That will direct you.
That will keep you right. That will challenge you. That will rebuke you.
That will convict you. That's what he gives to you. Who's leading your life?
Being a Christian isn't about coming to church on a Sunday and getting the good word and getting goosebumps when worship's playing. That's not being a Christian. What are you doing Monday to Saturday?
Who's leading you? What question are you asking of God every day? I listened to something this week and I talked about prayer.
And I said, prayer isn't for those who want to speak good. It's for those who want to speak truthfully. Prayer isn't a place to be good. Prayer is a place to be honest. And if you want a boring prayer life, then spend all your time being good in it. If you want a boring prayer life, then spend all your time being good in it.
Instead of being truthful. The Holy Spirit will lead you to all truth. the revelation of who Jesus is, the revelation of what he'd done on the cross for you.
He will give you everything that is good for you because he knows the plans and the purposes that God has placed over your life. He wants to lead every part of your life. He wants to lead your mind, your decisions, your relationships.
He wants to lead your calling. But the question is, will you follow him? Will you follow what he's saying?
Or will you be brave enough to ask him into your life? Maybe you've been saved in here, but maybe you just haven't surrendered fully to God. Maybe you've invited Jesus in, but you're still trying to drive Maybe you've been listening to every other voice, fear, culture, your past, but not the Holy Spirit.
Right now, you can surrender again. Right now, you can give it back over to him. Right now, you can get out of that driving seat and say, have your way.
Right here, right now. So this is your moment. And we're going to play a song in a second that's called Spirit Lead Me.
And I love the words for it. And as we're playing that song, this space here is for you. Because surrender is obedience.
And if you want prayer, then I want you to come to the front. If you want to surrender your life again, completely, fully, then I want you to come to the front. We've got a team and they're gonna pray with you. They're gonna pray over you. They're gonna pray for you.
This is up to you to surrender. For two weeks, I've rehearsed this preach and I'm still surrendering stuff. I ain't got this perfect.
None of you have got this perfect. So as the song plays, listen to the words. And if you're ready to step forward, and if you're ready to step out in faith, then follow what the Lord says.
And if in this moment sat here, as I look around, if you've never given your life to Jesus, and that has something been impressed upon you right here, right now, then during this prayer, I just want you to raise your hand. I'll see it. Now come and I'll pray with you.
but we're going to go into that song. Thank you for tuning in to today's message. To connect or find out more, you can reach us online at worldchangers.life.
Remember to subscribe for more uplifting messages from our pastoral team, and may you continue to walk in faith and transformation until we meet again.
