The Church of Eleven22 - Saturated 2023 - Wednesday: Pastor Matt Carter

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

Saturated is our annual five-day event in which we anticipate the movement of God to bring revival in our lives individually and as a church body. - The Church of Eleven22™ is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To support The Church of Eleven22 and help us continue to reach people around the world, visit https://www.coe22.com/donate

Thank you so much, 1122. I have no idea when I did that video, Joby. I don't know where that was. Listen, but that quail catch video tells you everything you need to know about your pastor. 13 years ago, Joby was probably on his phone somewhere, and Pastor Joby saw that. And it's like, I need to become friends with that guy right there.

And here I am. That's why I'm here. And it is an honor to be with you. Welcome to those that are to other campuses. Welcome to those that are literally all over the world watching online. Glad you join us. It's an honor to be here. I'm going to say something that you're probably not going to believe.

You think I'm just saying it because I'm here, but it really honestly is the truth. I have the privilege and the honor of preaching all over the country. That's kind of what I do now. I go to different places and preach and talk about church planning. I'm in a lot of churches. And everywhere I go, I tell people that I talk about. about you. I, and this is my humble opinion. I was trying to think of an adjective to describe 1122, but I really do believe, it's just in my humble opinion, it is the best church, the

United States of America. And so, I love you guys. There are a lot of people that are watching you from afar. God has blessed you immeasurably. And so tonight, I wanted to preach the Word of God to you. Open up the Word of God. And here's what we're going to do, we're beginning this look at Acts chapter 2. We're going to be looking together at the New Testament church, the DNA of the New Testament church, what made it tick, and then the spirit of God pouring out on the New Testament church and what occurred. And so we're going to look tonight at one specific part of Acts chapter 2. Before we do that, let's pray together. Let you bow your heads. And do this. Take just a second, and I want you just to

settle your heart before the Lord. For the person in the room that is just walking the farthest away from God right now, you don't know how you showed up here. Maybe you're carrying some guilt tonight. Maybe you're in the middle of a sin that you're just right in the middle of. I want you to pray a prayer tonight, just in the quietness of your own heart. I want you to pray. Father, would you speak to me?

To the person that is in this place that's just rocking with the Lord, just walking well with him, I want you to pray that same prayer. Father, would you speak to me? Father, we do ask that. Lord, I pray tonight that my preaching would not be in persuasive words of wisdom, but a demonstration of the spirit and of power so that our faith would not rest on the wisdom of man, but the power of God. And I ask that in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So listen, I'm going to read to you a couple of verses from Acts chapter 2. been to church for a while you've heard them

and then I'm going to talk about where we're going to camp out here in a few minutes in Ephesians 5 so here we go Acts chapter 2 verse 42 this is the DNA of the New Testament church it says then they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and the breaking of bread and to prayers and awe came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common.

They were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to their number day by day. those who were being saved.

That's the New Testament Church. That last verse there is, it says something key. It says that the Lord was adding to their number every single day. But there's two words in that sentence that I'm going to preach on tonight. Two words that you've never probably paid too much attention to. Two words that played an active and important role of the New Testament Church, and it plays an active and important role in our church today. And so let's read together, verse 27, right at the beginning there,

are those first two words, praising God. Part of the DNA of the New Testament Church was that they were a people that praised God. Now, I want to ask you guys a question. That brings me to the answer, or to the question, rather, that I want to ask tonight. It's going to sound pretty simple and straightforward, but I hope you learn some things tonight.

If you've never learned before, think about some things tonight you've never thought about. Here's the question I want to answer tonight is why do we sing in church? Have you ever thought about that? Like, why do we sing? And y'all have one of the best bands I've ever heard in my life. But why do we do it?

Why do we come in here every single Sunday and sing together to the Lord? You know, if I was asking you that question, if you and I were hanging out, having a coffee or whatever, ask you that question, like, why do we sing in church? How would you answer that? Some of you might say, well,

We do it to worship God. And you'd be right. We do it. Part of it is we are worshiping God. We're giving worth to him because he deserved it. Some of you might say, well, we sing in church to prepare our hearts for the preaching of the Word of God. And you'd be right. That's part of what we do.

I'm going to talk about in a minute. There's something that happens supernaturally and spiritually when we sing that does. It prepares our hearts to hear and receive the Word of God. You know, I was fishing not too long ago with a group of pastors, and we were talking about worship in church, and one of the pastors actually said this, this like came out of his mouth. He said, man, the only reason we sing is to fill space in the worship service before the sermon. I don't think that's really a biblical view. As a matter of fact, there was a movement in this country about 10, 12 years ago. there were books written about it, and people were making the argument that worship during our Sunday morning worship experiences,

worship through singing on Sunday morning was a non-biblical thing because it manipulates people emotionally. So we're going to answer that question tonight, biblically. Why do we sing in church? Why should we be a people that come into this place, specifically together? and praise God. Should we do it? Should we not do it? How should we do it?

Is it biblical? We're going to look at that. And to answer the question, we're going to look at Ephesians Chapter 5. And so if you brought a Bible tonight, go ahead and turn there. If you didn't bring a Bible, that's totally okay. We're going to have the scriptures behind me

on the screen here at a minute. But Ephesians Chapter 5, just kind of put your thumb there, and we'll be there in just a minute. But before I'll answer the question is, why do we sing in church, and why does it matter in our lives? I want to do something real quick.

I want to talk about the Holy Spirit. We'll talk about the Holy Spirit of God. We just sang about Him. And by the way, he's not an it. It's a He. It's the third person of the Trinity. I want to talk about the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit actually has everything to do

with why we sing and worship God in church. Now, for those of you that are new to church, one of the things I love about this church specifically is so many people come to know Jesus Christ for the very first time here in this place. It's one thing that I love about this church. It keeps this church fresh. I love it. For those of you that just got saved that are maybe just reading the Bible for the first time,

what's the Holy Spirit? Well, Holy Spirit, I won't go into a bunch of depth on it, but here's the third person of the Trinity. We had God who sent his son, Jesus Christ, to come and pay the penalty of our sin, of your sin for my sin. He came to this planet, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, four years sin, rose from the grave three days later, ascended into heaven, and then a short time later at Pentecost, God sent the Holy Spirit to us to come and live inside of us. Now, here's what's amazing about the Holy Spirit. I want you to hear this. is what's amazing about the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit is proof. It's proof.

He is proof that throughout history, God has been moving progressively closer to us. Have you ever thought about that? The Holy Spirit is proof that God, throughout history, has been moving progressively closer to us. explain. What was God like in the Old Testament?

Well, God in the Old Testament was above us. He was beyond us. He was other than us. God in the Old Testament was transcendent. He was higher than us when he spoke. He spoke in pillars of clouds and burning bushes. He dwelt in the Holy of Holies that you couldn't go in or you would die. God in the Old Testament was above us.

You couldn't just walk up to God and start talking. to him. You couldn't see his face. Moses was praying to the Lord one time and said, God, I want to see your glory. God, I want to see your glory. And that was a phrase where Moses was saying, God, I want to see your face. I've been talking to you. I've been praying to you, Lord, I want to see your face. And God spoke. And God says, Moses, I can't show you my glory. If I show you my glory, Moses, you will die. And so in the Old Testament, God was above us. But then what happened at the birth of Christ?

God sent his son, Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh, and what did Jesus to? He came to this planet and God no longer just dwelt above us, but God dwelt among us. He moved closer to us. It says that in John, chapter 1, verse 14. This is speaking about Jesus. The scripture calls him the Word. John says, in verse 14, and the Word, that Jesus, became flesh, and they dwelt among us. And watch this next part of it.

It says, and we have seen His glory. The Old Testament, God dwell above us. In the New Testament through Christ, God dwelt among us. but now in the church era through the Holy Spirit, God has moved even closer to us. John talks about it. John, chapter 14, 14, 14, 16. So, hang with me. John 14, 16.

This is Jesus speaking. Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit. He was going to come. Listen to what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be. be with you forever. Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, called him the helper. He said, even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. Watch this. Jesus said, you know him, for he dwells with you. Pretty cool, huh? He's not, he's with us,

but then watch what it says. You know him, for he dwells with you and he will be in you. Did you catch it? The Holy Spirit, that's unbelievable when you stop and think about it. The Holy Spirit of God is proof that throughout history, God has been moving progressively closer to you in the Old Testament. He dwelt above us. In the New Testament, he dwelt among us. But if you are here tonight and you are a believer, you have inside of you the Holy Spirit of Almighty God,

which means he's not just with you. but he lives inside of you. The God of the universe, the transcendent God that Moses long to see his glory, but he couldn't, he lives inside of you. Why does that matter? Why does that matter? Here's why it matters, because your ability,

your ability to walk in the power of the Lord, your ability to walk victoriously, with Christ. Your ability to experience the presence of God in your life has everything to do with the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you. Okay? Now you know what the Holy Spirit is proof that throughout history God has been moving progressively closer to us. If you're a believer tonight, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, and he gives you the ability to experience the power and the presence of God. Now, it's in that context that Paul answers the question of why we sing in church. I wanted you to understand what the Holy Spirit is and what he does, because why we sing in church

has everything to do with the Holy Spirit. So let's look together at Ephesians 518. Ephesians 518. And he begins, in the next verse, he's going to start talking about singing in church. But before he talks about singing in church, he talks about the Holy Spirit. And he says something key. I want you to listen tonight.

He's going to tell us something that's crucial for us to be able to walk in victory with Jesus. Listen to what he says. Verse 18. Paul says, and do not get drunk with wine. For that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit.

Okay? Paul says, don't get drunk with wine for that's debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. Now let me ask you guys a question. Paul's making this argument that you and I need to be filled with the spirit, which I'm going to explain what it means in a minute.

It's very important. But why did Paul simply say, why didn't you just say, hey, if you want to experience the power and presence of God, be filled with the Spirit. Like, why does he add, why does he add the drinking stuff there? Right, why don't you just say, hey, if you want to walk in victory with Christ,

you need to be filled with the Spirit? Why does he add the wine thing? Why do you say, hey, don't get drunk with wine, but be filled with the spirit. Like, what's, does Paul have an issue with alcohol? Like, is he Southern Baptist or something? Like, what's going on there? Like, why is he dogging wine? All right?

Here's why he says that. And it's key. It has everything to do with how you and I experience the power of God and how the kind of the New Testament pagan religions thought they experienced the power of God. Like in the church in Ephesus, there was this, not in the church, but outside the church. There's all these pagan religions. And one of them in particular that was prominent in the day, They thought, they really thought that if the way that you experienced, the presence and the power of God is that you got drunk during their worship services.

Now, when I'm saying drunk, they didn't just go in there and sip on some wine. During their worship services, they would just get hammered. And there's all this, like, archaeological evidence there in Ephesus of these places where they would go and vomit because they got drunk so bad because they thought, If I can just get drunk enough, then I'll encounter the presence of God. And Paul's addressing that very thing. Listen. He's like, no. You want to experience the power of God in your life?

You want to experience the presence of Almighty God in your life. Don't get drunk with wine. He says, be filled with the spirit. Now, listen. Listen, that thing right there that he just said is crucial. It's key. Because some of y'all are like you love Jesus, you go to church, you're a good husband, but you keep failing, you keep sinning, and you don't know why. Paul's talking about it.

He's saying if you want to experience the power of God in your life, you've got to be filled with the spirit. Now that word, be filled is super crucial. Here's the deal. means. Well, let me back back up and say this. So I was talking about be filled with the spirit. And some of y'all might have thought just then, well, Matt, I thought you just told us that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. And I would say to you, he does. He lives inside of you. But what Paul's saying here is this, is that while the presence of the Holy Spirit, if you're a believer, the presence of the Holy Spirit is always inside of you, right?

The filling of the power of the Holy Spirit is not always inside of you. And this filling is what he's talking about. It's a word in the Greek. It's an interesting word. It's a present imperative in the Greek language, which is the language that the scripture was written in. A present imperative, it means an immediate and ongoing action. And so what that literally means, Paul is saying, hey, if you want to experience the power

of God in your life, if you want to encounter the presence of God in your life, you have to continually every day be being filled up continuously with the Spirit. So while the presence of the Holy Spirit is always in you, Christian, the filling of the power of God, the filling the power of the spirit is not always in you, okay? So he's like, keep being filled up, constantly be filled up with the spirit because if you don't, your access to the power of the spirit will diminish, okay? It's a lot like exercise. It's a lot like exercise. Let me give you an example, like an analogy. When I was in college, I went to Texas A&M University, and there's always somebody that's an Aggie out there. They made the weird noise.

So that, I'm an Aggie. We're in the SCC. I know y'all don't know who we are. We're like the little brothers. But went to Texas A&M. Well, Texas A&M, they have this organization within the school called the Corps of Cadets. A&M started as a military school back in 1876, and it wasn't until the same. 60s that you could just go to A&M and not be a part of the military thing.

Well, the military thing still happens. They have their own place where all the cadets live. There's about three, four thousand cadets anytime you wear a uniform, you know, all day, every day. Like, it's like going to West Point or something. For some crazy reason, I did that, and I went to it. In my freshman year, man, it was a nightmare. Best way to put it.

This was in 92. and the Corps of Cadets, the pendulum kind of swings. They have this, you know, where there's not much hazing going on, you know, and this end of the pendulum, and then about six, seven years later, the pendulum will swing, and it'll just get a few years there where there's like a ton of hazing going on, and I just happened to catch it on the pendulum swing. There's a lot of hazing going on.

I went into Texas A&M. I weighed 190 pounds. At the end of the first semester of my freshman year, I weighed 148 pounds. pounds. I counted one day how many push-ups and sit-ups I was doing in the course of an average day, and I quit counting at 2,000 push-ups and 2,000 sit-ups. We ran at least two miles every single day, and that's not even counting all the devious stuff that the upperclassmen could think of, right? Here's the point. I was continually exercising, right?

Now, here's the good part of all that. When I was 190, I was kind of chubby like I was. But when I was 148, I was solid muscle, and I'm going to tell you all, I was pretty. I'm just saying. I know it's hard for you all to imagine with me standing up here right now. But, like, I was a fine specimen of man back then. Like, I had a, I got pictures. I had a six-pack, kind of a six-pack.

My face was all chiseled and stuff. I thought it was a beautiful specimen of man. Well, here's what happened. I graduated. Why are y'all laughing? And I graduated. And true story, you can ask my beautiful wife who's here. By the way, if you see her tonight and you're like, how in the world did he marry her?

It's because I used to be pretty back in the day. But I graduated, Pastor Jovi, and I made a promise to myself. I made a promise to myself that I'm never exercising again. rest of my life. And y'all laugh, like I'm making that up. Like, I have never run. I don't think one time since 1996. Like, I made a problem. I'm like, God, I'm never running again. Like, somebody would have to be chasing me, right? And like to kill me for me to run again. But anyway, about an, about a, I don't know, about a month, about a month after I stopped exercising, after I graduated, there was a metamorphosis in my life.

And this is what I discovered pretty quickly, is that while I was continually exercising, I stayed continually sexy. But when I stopped continually exercising, the sexiness went away in a hurry. It diminished quickly. And that's kind of literally my, honest, the sexy part.

That's literally what Paul is saying about the Holy Spirit. That's how it works. The Holy Spirit will never leave you. If you're in Christ and covered with the blood of Christ, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He will never leave you. But when you're filled up with the Holy Spirit of God, when you're being filled up with the Holy Spirit of God, when you're being filled up with the Holy Spirit of God, you experience his power and you experience his presence.

But when you're not filled up with the Spirit of God, the presence, the experience of the presence, and the experience of the power of God in your life will begin to diminish. That's why Paul says, look, you have to continually be being filled up with the spirit, which brings us, to a really important question.

How do we be filled up with the Spirit? Paul just said, hey, you're going to experience the power of God in your life? You've got to be filled up with the Spirit of God. Okay, Paul, that sounds great. How do I be filled up with the Spirit? Well, there are several ways biblically that you and I can be filled with the Spirit. But in the very next verse, 519, we'll read 18 again, And in the very next verse, after he says,

don't get drunk with wine, for that's a botcher, be filled with the spirit. I want you to watch what he says, because he's going to give us an example of how you and I can be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Look at verse 18. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. And then the very next thing he says, in verse 19,

he says, addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spirits. spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Paul says this is what you need to do. You need to constantly be filled up with the Holy Spirit of God. And the first example, he gives the next thing out of his mouth about how to be filled up with the Spirit of God. That is the context. He's saying, you need to engage in corporate worship.

Now I'm going to tell you, church, it's corporate. And I'm going to show you why in just a second. Private worship's awesome. You need to do it. But Paul's talking about corporate worship here. One of the most biblical answers to the question, why do we sing in church is that worship through singing helps you and I be filled up with the Holy Spirit of God so we can walk in the power of God and the presence of God in our lives.

That's the biblical answer. So let's unpack this real quick and we'll be done. Because there's three points here quickly that Paul makes to help us understand that. What he's talking about, how this happens. Okay? The first thing Paul talks about here in this verse is how worship through singing has a spiritual impact horizontally. That's the first point he makes. is that worship, worshiping God, praising God through singing has a horizontal spiritual impact.

Let me remind you what it says. Verse 18, don't get drunk with wine, for that's the botry, but be filled with a spirit. And he says, addressing one another. Addressing one another. in Psalms and Hems and Spiritual Songs. I want you guys to notice what Paul does not say here. He doesn't say, hey, be filled with the Spirit, be being filled with the Spirit,

and addressing the Lord with Psalms and Hems and spiritual songs. He does say that, but that's not all he says. He says, be filled with the Spirit of God, addressing one another with Psalms and Hems and spiritual songs. he is talking about corporate worship through singing because he says it, singing. And here's the thing. Here's what I've found. That one of the ways, one of the primary ways you and I can be filled up with the Holy Spirit of God is through corporate worship as we address one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

And I'm going to tell you something. I have absolutely found that to be true in my life over and over. and over again. When I was in college, I ran from God like crazy. That first semester of my freshman year at A&M, I grew up in church. I went to church most Sundays, but the second my mama wasn't there to wake me up in the morning, I didn't go to church. And I went and tried everything I'd ever thought might be cool. And I was miserable. And the, Christmas break, I'm not going to tell you the whole story. I met this guy who was a Christian.

He invited A&M, he invited me to a Bible study. He said, man, when school starts back up for the second semester, I'm going to come grab you on Tuesday night. We'll go to this Bible study together. I thought he'd forget about me, but sure enough, Tuesday, first week of school came, he invited me, he called me, he said, hey, man, I'm going to come pick you up. We're going to Bible study night. And then I went and walked in a church for the first time in months.

And I'll never forget it as long as I live. I walked in. It was a little bit smaller than this place. And they were singing this song. Some of y'all that are a little bit older might remember it. That's one of those old choruses. Lord, you are more precious than silver. Lord, you are.

You are more costly than gold. Lord, you are more beautiful than diamonds. And nothing I desire. desire compares to you. And for the first time in my life, I started worshiping God. I sat there and I was being addressed by the body of Christ with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And I'm telling you before Jesus, for the first time in my life, I was feeling something I'd never felt before. It was the Holy Spirit of Almighty God. And I literally began.

I began to sing, Lord, you are more precious than silver. Lord, you are more costly than go. Lord, you are more beautiful. The Diamond's in nothing I desire compares to you. And I began to worship him. And I'm telling you right now, it was filled up with the Holy Spirit of God. And these words came out of my mouth.

I said, I've been looking for this my entire life. And it was that night. that I began to walk with Jesus, and I have never turned back. When I was young, and you can trace it back, you can trace it back to a couple of things, the faithfulness of a guy to invite me to church and a song. I was fast forward a couple of years. God just messed me up. I started walking with Jesus, couldn't get enough of them.

Read my Bible. I just love Jesus. Still do. I was just crazy about Jesus. But he called me into the ministry. And I became a youth pastor of a church that had about 100 people in it. And we had about seven kids.

I had about seven kids coming to this student ministry back in the day. And it was crazy. We, the Holy Spirit of God just kind of broke out in that church. It was nuts. Kids started getting saved, left and right. and I woke up one day and there was like a hundred students coming to that student.

There's like 100 adults and 100 students. We were going to this retreat one time and I left a, I left a lemonade. I remember that specifically because my brain just didn't work well back then. I left the lemonade. And this mother that was helping put on the retreat got really mad at me that I had forgotten something. because it seems like I forgot stuff a lot, you know, being 21 years old. And she called the meeting with myself and our pastor. And I had no idea what the meeting was about.

I didn't even know she was mad at me. And she begins the meeting talking about, you know, you've messed this up and you've messed this up, and you forgot this, and you forgot the lemonade and done-da-da-da. And she said something that's still stuck in my brain. She goes, I want you to know you are the worst youth pastor we've ever had in this in church's history. And I looked at my pastor like, you're going to let her say that?

And he's like, I kind of agree with it, you know? And so, but I'm going to tell you something that hurt. And I made up my mind right then and there. I'm done. This is what church is going to be like. You forget some lemonade, even those kids are getting saved left and right. I'm done. But I had been invited to this thing called Promise Keepers.

Anybody old enough remember, promise keepers? Pastors promise keepers. 1995 or six, I don't remember the year. It was in Atlanta, Georgia Dome. And I'd already made them in my mind. I was done. But I walked in the door and went and sat down, and the first song we sang with 50,000 pastors

was the song, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy. 50,000 pastors. Holy, holy, holy. the Lord God Almighty, early in the morning, my song shall rise to thee, and something happened in that moment. I began to be filled up with the spirit of God. And when I began to be filled up with the spirit of God, I began to remember some things. You know what I remembered?

I remembered my calling. As I began to be filled with the spirit, I remembered that man didn't call me into this thing, but it was God that called me in this thing. so man can't call me out to be filled up with the spirits. I can hear his voice. It happened a few years after that. I was married in 2005. I had three little kids start a church in Austin, Texas,

and I got a call one day that they told me I had cancer. And it was kind of cancer that if it spreads, there's no cure for it. Chemo doesn't work. You're done. If it doesn't spread, you probably never see it again. but I was in that kind of three or four month window where we did not know. And I'll be honest with you, guys,

I was scared to death. I always wondered what I'd be like when that moment came and as a 31-year-old, I didn't do very well. I was afraid. I was done with a lot of fear. First Sunday, after the diagnosis, I'm sitting about right there.

Chris Tomlin was our worship leader and he came up and he knew what I was dealing with. and first thing he did, he didn't talk, he didn't say anything, he just began to sing that song, Blessed be your name. Y'all remember that song, Blessed be your name. And it got to that part. It was like, Lord, you give and you take away. You give and you take away.

But my heart will choose to say, blessed be your name. And I, on the front row, right, lifted my hands in the air as high as I could get them. And I began, as I was being addressed with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, I began to be filled up with the Spirit of God. And something happened that I had not experienced at any point in this time. I began to feel the hope of Almighty God. I began to feel the comfort of the Holy Spirit of God in that moment.

can trace it back to corporate worship. I'm going to tell you something, church. What this verse is saying here is that one of the reasons you come into this place and you sing is not just so that you can be filled with the spirit, but one of the reasons you come in this place and you sing at the top of your lungs is because there are people around you that desperately need to be filled with the spirit of God. You come in here. You come in here.

and you sing and you address one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs because there's somebody in front of you that's probably walking through cancer. You come in here and you sing and you sing in the top of your lungs because there's somebody over there to your right that's walking through a difficult marriage. You sing and you address one another,

with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs because you've got a person over there to your left that they're about this close from walking away from God. You sing so, not just so you can be filled, you sing so that they can be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and walk in the presence and the power of God themselves. People tell me all the time. Matt, I'm just not that into worship, man. It's just not that, this is not my thing.

Well, you know what I tell them? This is what I tell them. I say, that may very well be true that you're not that into worship, but what I'm, you're not that into worship. what the Holy Spirit-inspired word of our God is saying is that the body of Christ needs you to be into worship. They need you to. Because there are people all around you, brothers and sisters in Christ, that are hurting and they are wounded,

and they desperately need to experience the presence and the power of God in their lives. And Paul says that's why we sing. Number two, quickly. Second thing, how we're filled with the Spirit, He says in Ephesians 518, do not get drunk with wine, for that's debauchery, but be filled with the spirit addressing one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And watch where he says, singing and making melody to the Lord. So worship through singing has this horizontal aspect to it, addressing one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

But it also, Paul is saying it's got a vertical one. that when you come in here and you begin to sing, that yes, you're doing that, you're singing for the body of Christ, but there's another thing you're doing is that you are getting face to face with Almighty God and you are singing and worshiping him. It's a moment in our worship experience,

it's a moment in your week where you encounter God. personally. And that, here's what I'm to tell you, like, okay, I knew that or whatever, but here's the thing, here's what that means. That means this is not a concert right here. It's not a concert. It's not just a time where you stand there and watch as other people worship. And it's not like this just corporate, fuzzy, sing-along thing, but it's a moment in your life

where you come face to face with him, and as you begin to sing, you sing to the Lord from your heart. And when you do, something crazy will happen. You'll start getting filled up with the Spirit of God. I'm telling you, with the exception of maybe my time in the Word, I can't think of any other thing in my life

that makes me be filled up with the spirit of God is when I come and I am with the body of Christ and I'm addressed by others with songs and hymn and spiritual songs and then I begin to sing to the Lord. There is something about that moment. There's something about that moment. You know what I've noticed? get a dress with Psalm.

Let me back up. There's something about the way. How many times, don't raise your hand, how many y'all come into church a lot, and if truth be told, you're not filled with the spirit. I know this is going to shock you. Even Pastor Jobi Martin comes to church sometimes, not filled with the spirit.

Right? He missed a deer or whatever, like he comes in. You know what I'm talking about? The kid was up all night sick. You got in a fight with your wife on the way over. I know that's never happened to any of y'all happens to me though. Something's going wrong. It work.

You're in some conflict with somebody. Some people are being stupid. And you just don't walk into church filled up with the spirit. It happens to me all the time. I'm telling you guys, there's more times than I can count that I've come into church, not filled with the spirit. But I'm just going to be totally honest with you. I can't think of hardly any time ever I've ever walked out of church and not been filled with the spirit of God.

I can't because, man, I'm telling you, I come in there and I'm like, I hate my job, you know, my wife and I are fighting, whatever. And I'm not worshipping today. And then everybody starts singing. And I start getting addressed songs and hymn spiritual songs and it kind of starts losing me up a little bit. I'm like, all right, Jesus, I love you, you know, and I know you're in control. And then I kind of. finally, you know, I kind of like, all right, we're going to do this, whatever, and I start singing to the Lord, and I'm telling you, man, I start getting filled up with the spirit.

See, it's interesting. It's interesting corporate worship when you address one another and you sing to God. You know what it does? It reminds your soul of who you belong to. It reminds your soul and your spirit of who you belong to. We literally just sang the song. You know that song, gratitude? And the bridge, it says, come on my soul.

Don't you get shy on me. Lift up your song because you got a lion inside of those lungs. So get up and praise the Lord. You're like, it's a song where you're talking to your soul. I was talking to this pastor the other day. We were talking about how cool that song was. And he said, I don't like that song. True story.

I don't like that song. What do you mean you don't like that song? It's like one of the most popular Christian songs in America right now. He goes, I just think it's dumb that you're talking to your own soul. I'm like, bro, have you ever read the Psalms? Listen to this. Hang with me. I'm almost done.

Just listen to this. Psalm 425. Listen to what the Psalmist says. Why, 42.5. Why are you cast down? Oh, my soul? Who's he talking to? Talking to his own soul.

Why are you cast down, oh, my soul? And why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God. Hope in God's soul. For I shall again praise him, my salvation. I love that. Psalmist is talking smack to his own soul. You come in here, man, you don't feel like it.

But when you get addressed with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and you start singing to the Lord, it reminds your soul of the goodness of God, and you're filled up with the Holy Spirit. Experience his presence and his power. Last one. Last thing Paul says about kind of how. We're filled up with the spirit through worship.

Verse 18, he says, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and making melody to the Lord with your heart. And then verse trinity, watch what he says. He says, giving thanks always and for everything to God, the Father, and the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm telling you right now, he is talking about worship. He's talking about the power of worship to fill us continually with the spirit. It's a corporate thing. It's a vertical thing. and it all should be done with the heart of thanksgiving to God for everything he's ever done for you. That's when it starts getting good. That's when it starts getting good. Is you're in this place and like the band is going and man, you start getting a dress with songs to him, the spiritual song,

you start singing to the Lord. I'm not talking to the Lord, but you're singing to the Lord with your heart. And I can't tell you how many times that happened. like I start kind of getting filled up with the spirit, and something happens to me almost every single time I start thinking about the faithfulness of God in my life. I cannot tell you how many times, Pastor Jovi, I have sat right there and, you know, like in the church I planted,

and I'm sitting there getting filled up with the Spirit of God, ready to preach. That's why I don't sit in the green room. A lot of pastors are sitting the green room. I don't sit in the green room, man. I don't sit right there because I want to be filled up with the Spirit before I preach. And I'm sitting right there, and I'm getting filled up with the Spirit.

and I just started being reminded of all the ways God has been faithful to me, and it just jacks me up, and I'm crying as I'm walking up. I cannot tell you, ask my wife, I cannot tell you how many times I'll walk up into the pulpit because they didn't play a quail catching video right before it. You know, I'm just got to go preach and stuff, and I can't get my stuff together because of the goodness of God in my life. It hits me. It hits me as I'm being filled with the spirit that,

that he's loved me since before I was born. It hits me that he's been calling my name since I was a little boy. It hits me that he knew everything I was ever going to do before he ever called me. It hits me that even though I've let go of him a thousand times, he's never let go of me. And I'm filled with the spirit and a walk in the power and the presence. of Almighty God. I'll end with this. Maybe you're like,

well, Matt, I can't worship because I'm just kind of a subdued person. Some of y'all said that before you know. You're like, I just can't. Like, I'm kind of subdued. I'm not very emotional. I don't express myself. Let me ask y'all a question.

How many are Georgia Bulldog fans? Would you raise your hand? See y'all done out of yourself right there. Florida Gator fans. Where are you? Your evangelistic efforts are not working, Pastor Jobi. I'm a crimson tide fans in here. There's a little more than you thought, Bubba.

Since there's more Florida Gator fans and Georgia Bulldog fans and most about anything, but when those cats won the national championship last time and that clock kicked down to zero, did you golf clap? Your wife's like, man, we just won the national championship. Why are you going crazy? Because I'm subdued. I don't like to express myself. You did.

You're passionate. You're just passionate about the wrong stuff, man. You're passionate about something that pales in comparison to the King of Kings, man. Some of y'all are like, hey, like, I'm not that's a dude, but I can't worship because my voice is terrible. My voice is terrible. I'm going to tell y'all something. God doesn't care about the quality of your voice. He's looking at your heart.

That's all he cares about. You know how I. know. I'm going to take my glasses off for this. You know how I know? Because I'm going to tell you right now, Jovey Martin, I'm going to tell you all right now, this brother, in all sincerity, serious is a heart attack, in all sincerity, he might be the best preacher in this country. Like, I mean, he's in the top five for sure. And he's got, hey, he's got this redneck stick thing going on. I'm on to you, bro, I'm going to tell you something about Jovey. I called you Jovey.

I'm going to tell you something. It's one of the most brilliant men I've ever been around in my life. I'm not talking about smart. I'm talking about brilliant. One of the best church minds in this country. One of the best preachers you will ever hear in your life. One of the best leaders you will ever sit under. One of the best church minds.

And one of the worst voices I've ever heard in my entire. life. Ever. I'm sitting by him just a few minutes ago. It sounds like, it sounds like two goats making love. I mean, it was like, and I'm telling you, I'm telling you, God listens to that noise and it's the most beautiful sound to the Lord. It's the same for you. Like, he actually created that voice. He created it so that you would worship him. That's why you have it. That's why you have it. Last one, like,

Matt, I don't worship because, like, I'm a manly man. Like, it just doesn't feel manly to worship. Going back to Promise Keepers, I, Promise Keepers was a men's event. Thousands of men would come to them, and I remember seeing a shirt.

It's one of the shirts that they sold and I loved it then and I wish I had one honestly but it was a shirt that said real men sing real loud I love that because it's true. In fact you want to talk about manly men let's talk about a manly man for a second David King David king David you know about a manly man this guy when he was a boy fought lions and bears to protect his father's sheep for fun This is a guy that is a teenager. When all the armies of God were scared to death to walk down the hill and fight Goliath, he walks home and says, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that has the goal to talk about our God, the living God?

He's like, give me a rock and some slingshot stuff and goes down and kills him when he was a teenager. This is a guy that, this is a man that won countless battles as he led armies in hand-to-hand. hand combat over the years. I'm going to tell you something. He was a manly man, but when he encountered the presence of God, help it. Can I just say this? And I'm not trying to dogg on anybody. I'm not trying to, like, get up on you and stuff. But can I just tell you something? If you can come in here in this church, and as we sing, that not move your heart, that not fill you with Spirit, can I just tell you something's off? Something's wrong.

If that's you tonight, when I pray here in a second, I want you to go find a leader and just go tell a man, like, there's something in my heart I need to get right. Because I'm going to tell you, man, when I come in here in this church, in this place, it takes me all of about a second and a half. I start getting filled up with the spirit. And y'all, listen, that I'm not better than you. I'm just saying, I'm saved. I'm saved.

I got the Holy Spirit, and my brother's up around here jumping in like crazy, and the Holy Spirit's like, that's your friend, that's your brother in Christ. And then I don't know, man, I just start getting filled up with the Spirit. I'm like, I mean, I'm down here acting like a crazy person. And so guess what tonight? This is the invitation. We're going to sing to God. Y'all cool with that?

In fact, let's stand up. It's one of the greatest blessings. will ever experience this side of heaven is to do what you and I are about to do right now. Is be with the blood-bought church together and sing. So we're going to sing and listen, I want you to go for it. Our God is worth it. Amen?

Let's sing to Him, to the Lord, with all of our heart. Let's address one another with psalms and hymns and hymns and spirits. spiritual songs so that we can be filled with the spirit and as a church, we can experience the power of God in our lives, and we can experience the presence of God in our lives. Let you close your eyes. I'm going to pray here in just a second. And listen, man, let's go for it. Some of you might need to elbow the people to your right or your left because you need

some room, like spread out if you need to. Let's worship the Lord. He's worthy. He died for us. Father God, I just thank you. I thank you for your son. I thank you that in all the ways, God, that I failed over and over again, he followed you and he was righteous.

And got all the ways I've said no to you. He said yes. And Lord, he came and he died for me, took my place. and he bore my sin. Father, what else could we do but worship? So it is an honor and it is a privilege to sing to you. God, if there's any in this room that have never experienced the life-changing power of the blood of Jesus Christ,

I pray that just right now, in the best way they know how, Lord, they would just turn to you and give their lives to you. If there's any in here that are hurting and wounded by people, by the church, by health, whatever, Lord, let them throw their arms in the air. And God, just right now, fill them with your spirit. Praise you right now. And it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.