In this message, Dr Evans explains how in order for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we must be willing to allow Him to show us the areas that need improvement. Once we do that, we are even closer to being transformed into His image. Recognize The Lordship of The Holy Spirit | The Lord | Tony Evans Sermon #HolySpirit #sermon #TonyEvans ——————————- If you would like to download two encouraging, FREE full-length MP3s of Tony’s popular sermons: “The Sovereignty of God” and “How to Handle a Crisis,” you can do so by clicking on this link: https://share.hsforms.com/1atT9MJvXQN… If you would like to sign up for our daily devotional bringing you hope and inspiration, please go to this link: https://share.hsforms.com/1CkOLA910Sm… ▶ Do you know Jesus as your Savior? https://tonyevans.org/know-jesus-christ/ ▶ Stream Sermons: https://tonyevans.org/podcast/ ▶▶ Free Sermon App: https://subsplash.com/tonyevans/app/ ▶▶ DONATE: https://give.tonyevans.org/the-altern… ▶ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drtonyevans/ ▶ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtonyevans/ ▶ Are you a preacher? Free sermon outlines: https://go.tonyevans.org/dr-tony-evan… Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.

he’s called the anointing every

Christian has the anointing if you are

saved you have it you possess it you own

it it is there the anointing is the

indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit

designed to do his work in your life God

has turned everything in history over to

his son it is only by your bringing

glory to the son that the spirit kicks

on

Jesus Christ privately and publicly must

be able to be exalted in your life give

the anointing a chance put it first take

the written word put it in the face of

the Holy Spirit do it on the front end

and let’s see what programming God

brings up into your life

you and I when we were born

picked up from our parents not only our

skin tone and type and racial identity

and

hair texture and the other

things that are part of the physical DNA

but they also transfer it to us a sin

nature

a nature that is prone to rebel against

the standard of God

it’s built in

and it is known as indwelling Sin it is

inside

your human nature that has transferred

it to your damaged soul that manifests

Itself by the activity of our bodies

so your body does what your soul says

your souls does what your human Spirit

has allowed and since the human Spirit

at Birth is affected and infected by the

virus of indwelling sin the soul becomes

distorted and the body winds up doing

stuff is not supposed to do

the question is

how do we address this infection

that we all have

now

most of the time we try to manage it

we try to do external reforming of it

but then most of us just try to hide it

we try to camouflage it with the way we

look

the money we have the car we drive the

place we live in we try to hide the fact

that we have been infected

but the infection just keeps showing up

it shows up in Anger we can’t control

language

that we shouldn’t be using that spurts

out all the time

addictions that take over that we keep

hidden in secret

discouragement and that rules our lives

because of this infection

you may think you’re okay

but your soul has been distorted

and it comes up with all kind of

configurations

Verse 18 says three words I don’t want

you to miss

he says but we all

so this applies to you and me where you

are how you are to transform you from

there to where God wants you to be

he says over and over again in verse 17

and 18

the Lord is the spirit and the spirit is

the Lord he says that over and over

so the name of the spirit we want to

focus on is the name the Lord

because he says the spirit is the Lord

now the Lord refers to Jesus Christ

the problem is as we said last time

Jesus Christ physically is in heaven

he’s not physically on Earth

but he is spiritually in you if you

become a Christian

so the spirit is the Lord who is

physically in heaven but is spiritually

in you you have spiritual Jesus and

spiritual Jesus Is In You by means of

his agent the Holy Spirit

so if you have the Holy Spirit you have

Jesus operating in you

okay because the Lord is the spirit

he says where the spirit is

there is Liberty verse 17 says

Liberty means release from anything or

anyone who’s holding you illegitimately

hostage

so if you are being illegitimately bound

by something or someone

by some habit or some circumstance by

some attitude or some action the reason

you have the spirit who is Jesus inside

of you is to release you

so there is a release mechanism

operating inside of you for where the

spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty

how does this Spirit begin to release

you from the infection that we all have

how does it begin to set us free

by transforming us Verse 18 says

he says we are being transformed

God’s goal is not external Reformation

or infection management

his goal is spiritual transformation

the only way you know

that you are growing in your Christian

Life is that you are changing

if you are not changing it means you are

not growing even though you might be

shouting

until there is change what he calls

transformation

Spiritual Development is not occurring

because the infection is still operating

because you’re not changing

he says in first Thessalonians 5 23 you

are transformed

from your spirit to your soul to your

body

let’s review

the anointing the presence of the spirit

invades your human Spirit the Holy

Spirit when you’re converted invade your

human spirit

your human Spirit sits inside your soul

as the human spirit

is Amplified by the Holy Spirit

it penetrates the soul and begins to

address the infection of indwelling sin

in all of our souls

with the infection of indwelling sin is

being addressed by the expansion of the

holy spirit in your human Spirit then

the Soul gives new data to the body

when the body gets new data from the

soul that’s been being corrected by the

presence of the anointing the Holy

Spirit that’s invaded the human Spirit

that’s now dictating to your soul that

means you’re doing new things with your

body

you’re changing on the outside because

you’re being transformed on the inside

this is the key

to beginning the process of becoming

better and becoming different and

becoming free there must be the move

from the inside out not the outside back

in

so

the Lord is the spirit

where the spirit of the Lord is

he makes a contrast important contrast

because in verse 14 he says

their minds were hardened for until this

very day reading of the old Covenant the

same Veil remains unlifted but it is

removed in Christ so

he says that the eyes of the people were

blind they had a veil on a covering talk

about that more in a moment

so that even when they read Moses that

means read the Old Testament even when

they read Moses it didn’t do him any

good

so you can read the Bible and it do you

no good

you can come and hear a sermon and it do

you no good because there is a veil

blocking the word from doing its work

okay so he says they were reading Moses

the Old Testament

but they weren’t changing

they weren’t being transformed

he calls it the old Covenant

because God has a new way of working now

this is the New Covenant

in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit

came upon people in the New Covenant he

dwells inside of people

in the old Covenant David said take not

your spirit from me in the New Testament

he can’t leave you because he’s been

permanently placed inside of you it is a

different way of operating so when you

go back to the old way you find out that

you’re not making progress because God’s

not using that way now he’s using

another way the beauty of the New

Covenant of the holy spirit’s work in

the human spirit inside the soul in

order to change the body is because now

you have a built-in power source to kick

in addressing the infection of the Soul

because he now indwells you which is the

anointing so

you have now a new Arrangement this new

Arrangement is designed to release you

free you change you and heal the

infection in order to transform you you

look at the damage people did to you the

damage you do to people the habits that

we’ve developed that we should do the

language that we use the hate the hatred

that we give the racial Strife we we

we’re dealing with folk with damaged

Souls who want to pass laws to fix Souls

you can’t pass laws to fix infection he

says

but we all verse 18. with unveiled face

let me talk about how you must approach

this issue

you must approach

your need for Spiritual transformation

with unveiled face

when a woman gets married not so much

today but in Years Gone by they would

virtually always have a veil over their

face

he says the reason in the old Covenant

that even though they read the Bible

they weren’t changed is they had a

covering over them

but if you come

to the Lord who is the spirit

with an

unveiled face what does that mean

a willingness to be fully exposed

to be fully exposed

you can’t come to God and be changed if

you come to him shucking and jiving

you can’t come to him acting like

everything’s all right when you know

it’s not all right

you can’t come to him faking it to make

it you can’t go you must come to him Raw

you must take off the pretending that

you do at work the pretending that you

do by yourself the pretending that you

do on the job the hidden that nobody

knows but you when you come to him he

says you got to remove the veil off of

your face because I know you playing if

you talking to me with a veiled face

that means you got a cover-up going on

and I won’t change you if you’re covered

up

so you must come to God Raw

the moment you come covered up it

doesn’t matter that you’re reading the

Bible doesn’t matter that you pray

doesn’t matter that you’re in church

because you’re doing a cover-up he says

You must come with unveiled face

when you come with unveiled face he says

you are to come

beholding as in a mirror the glory of

the Lord

all right so we got first thing is that

if you want to deal with the infection

you got to come clear and clean and

honest with no camouflage

he says

you must behold as in a mirror the glory

of God

there it is

he says

you must come before the mirror the

mirror is his word because he says in

the previous verse when they read Moses

so he’s talking about the reading he

says You must come before the mirror

with an unveiled face

beholding the glory of the Lord

he says that’s why he says You must

behold which means stare at

you must behold

as in a mirror

the glory of the Lord

okay let me take you deeper James

chapter 1.

James chapter 1 talks about the mirror

he says in James chapter 1 beginning

with verse 19.

these words

this you know my beloved brethren

but everyone must be quick to hear quick

to hear what what God’s point of view is

slow to speak slowly speak what what

your point of view is

and slow to get anger anger over what

that what God says and what you say

don’t agree

so the anger of man does not achieve the

righteousness of God just because you’re

mad about what God says because it’s

different than what you say God says

tough

therefore putting aside on filthiness

all the remains of wickedness in

humility receive the word implanted

which is able to save your souls now

he’s writing to Christians because he

calls them my beloved brethren

remember when you accepted Christ your

spirit got saved not your soul

your soul is being saved that happens

over time your spirit is saved

instantaneously so he says I want your

soul the infection to be delivered saved

and the way that is is you must receive

the word but notice the word implant is

has an ed on it you have an implant

that’s already inside of you that’s

ready to receive the implant is the holy

spirit operating in your human Spirit

you got an implant in your soul that’s

ready to receive the word

let me say this again the Holy Spirit

that’s infused the human Spirit stays

hungry

and wants to eat in order to expand and

it is hungry the implant is hungry for

the word

stay with me he says

prove yourselves to be doers of the word

and not hearers who delude themselves

for if anyone is a hero of the word and

not a doer he is like a man who looks at

his natural face in a mirror okay here

we go with the mirror and once he has

looked at himself and gone away he

immediately has forgotten the kind of

person he was

but the one who looks what’s this

intently because it’s a brass mirror you

got to work with it who looks intently

at the perfect law the law of Liberty

and abides in it not having become a

forgetful hero but an effectual doer

this man is blessed in what he does so

watch this

he says if you want to be transformed

have your soul saved have the infection

dealt with

you must come to God with an unveiled

face

and you must come to the Mirror which is

his word

but don’t come like a man

who looks at his face and turns away

the Greek word for man is the word male

don’t come like a male to put it another

way if you want to be transformed come

to the mirror like a female

not like a male

a male will look see and turn away

females don’t look see and turn away

females hang out in the mirror

stay in the mirror

Meander in the mirror until they get it

right

if the soul is going to be changed you

must come to the word

with an unveiled face and when you come

there don’t be like a man who wants to

read it and go

hang out there a little bit how long

till you see your face in it

tell you see you

see people read the Bible but don’t see

them

he says you hang out

look intently James says abide in it

until you see God is talking to you

not just talking about David and I’m

just talking about Solomon but he’s

talking to you you hang out in that

mirror until you get exposed why

because you see

no man or woman can see their own face

you don’t you don’t see your face

help me now right now look at your face

[Applause]

you can’t see your face the only way you

know what you look like is you have a

mirror

and guess what the mirror tells you the

truth

he says You must come with unveiled face

with the Boo-boo in your eye and the

hair messed up you come with you you

know you you come with with the raw

reality of the infection of the Soul

then you sit down and you read and

Meander until the Holy Spirit sees let

you know I’m talking to you

now the word is speaking personally

you’re not just reading a page he said

don’t just be a hearer but be an

effectual doer in other words what am I

going to do now that I’ve been exposed

now that the word has exposed me what am

I going to do differently what action am

I going to take because he says if you

hear it and are exposed to it but take

no action it will not benefit you

action activates what you read being

exposed so the reason that we are not

changing is we either not coming with an

unveiled face we’re not coming honestly

or we’re not allowing the word to be a

mirror we’re just reading it because

we’re supposed to but we’re not giving

God permission to show us what’s wrong

to expose us or if he shows us there is

no action taken to show we’re serious

about what we saw what good is seeing

that you messed up in the mirror if you

don’t pick up a comb what good is

serious seeing that you’re messed up in

the mirror if you don’t pick up soap in

a washcloth it was good that you saw it

but you still haven’t changed there’s no

transformation

but when the unveiled face meets the

mirror of the word and you see it’s

talking to you and a step of action is

taken

transformation begins

and you will discover something

you are being transformed he says into

the image

of the Lord

change is the proof of growth he says

and you are being transformed into that

same marriage now let me give you a

warning let me give you a warning here’s

the warning the warning is

if you take this seriously and you go

before the mirror of the word with an

unveiled face until God exposes

something in your life

the flesh is going to throw a temper

tantrum

your unredeemed humanity is going to

Rebel

because it does not want the expansion

of the spirit messing with

the soul

but he says you are being transformed

from Glory

to Glory okay

from one level to the next level a test

is a adverse circumstance

that God causes or allows in your life

to take you to the next spiritual level

and you know God is ready to do

something new when he puts you in a test

all of our human reaction is to react to

the test

rather than to react to the reason for

the test

that’s why the Bible says in James 1 let

patience have its perfect work while

you’re in the test

we try to illegitimately get out the

test which only means there’ll be a

retest

see I don’t care how hard you get you

may even get out of it for a minute

but God bleeds in retesting until you

pass that grade level to take you to it

he will he will put all kinds of things

or allow all kind of things to test you

because when you pass the test you now

move to a new level of glory and a new

level of spiritual transformation and

here’s the thing

when you see

God changing you when you see the spirit

of God doing this thing in you

hmm

you’ll almost welcome the test

because you know something new is coming

down the pike

when a woman is pregnant

it shows

belly

change in appetite shift in mood I mean

numbers of things

change

you know why they change

because life is growing on the inside

and it’s just showing up on the outside

and you know how life got there

intimacy

there was intimacy that produced life

life began to expand and it began to

change her

when the Holy Spirit entered you there

was a conception in your human Spirit by

the Holy Spirit

and he wants your soul to get bigger

he wants your soul to expand

so that there’s a birth of a transformed

life

emerging from you

guess what the infection I have and you

have and we have God has already come up

with an antidote we’re standing in the

Rocky Mountains

you can see that Jesus is indeed Lord of

creation

when you see the Perfection he brings

about in nature well that same Lord

can transform our lives so that we can

be what he has created us to be

and he does that by means of the Holy

Spirit

the Holy Spirit as we exalt the lordship

of Jesus Christ

the benefits of his lordship to us so

that we can experience the

transformation power of God

taking away the things that ought not to

be part of us and placing on us all that

the new nature is designed to bring

about in US

same Lord

that brought about the Rocky Mountains

is the same Lord that can bring about a

productive a successful and an impactful

Christian Life

to those who recognize the lordship of

Jesus Christ activating the work of the

holy spirit in their hearts Minds bodies

and souls

[Music]

thank you

[Music]

thank you