Now let's get into the work Today we're going to talk about transformed in the presence of the spirit Let's

open our Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 17 to 18 Let's get into

the word this morning because the word is going to help us understand who we are in Christ The word

is going to help us understand what we have in Christ The word of God is going

to help us to be victorious in life 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 17 and 18 and it reads

as follows Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there

is freedom Another text says liberty Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is

freedom and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed

into the same image Last week we talked about transformation begins with surrender Today we

will go deeper into our understanding of being transformed by the spirit because after we surrendered

We must stay in the place where transformation happens The believer's life is not changed is not transformed by information

alone It is changed by a daily encounter in the presence of the spirit because it's

in the presence of the spirit that transformation can occur I want to talk about being transformed by

the spirit by being in the presence of the spirit Verse 18 says now the Lord

is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there's freedom The question I want to raise this

morning is what is spiritual freedom We need to understand this word because spiritual freedom

is not a license to do whatever you want to do That's not what spiritual freedom is all about

Now some people are teaching that that's what it means Spiritual freedom is not a license to

do whatever you want to do Spiritual freedom is the release from spiritual blindness not being able to

see or comprehend the truth of God There was a time we all was walking around

here spiritually blind The truth was right before us but we couldn't see it Spiritual

freedom now is a release from spiritual blindness We can now see and comprehend the truth of God's word

and freedom from the bondage of the law That was the context that Paul was writing to the church at

Corinth about And this freedom allows us now as believers to clearly see God's glory and to

continually be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit That's what spiritual freedom allows us to

do and this freedom does not come from society It doesn't come from the world This freedom does not come

from politics or government This freedom is spiritual and it comes as we dwell in the presence of the

spirit This freedom frees us from the condemnation of the law which is also called the ministry of

death in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 7 There was no life or freedom under the

law You either did what the law instructed you to do to the letter and

if you didn't follow the law to the letter there was condemnation that followed That's why Paul

called it the ministry of death which resulted in hardening of the heart because now

we couldn't freely worship with our whole heart our minds and our being but we had to

follow the law And because of that our understanding of who God is was limited And that led

to being in bondage to sin because if you didn't fulfill the law 100% you were

in sin and what kept us in this bondage was these various religious practices that were found under

the law But the spirit freed us from all that Well the spirit of the

Lord is there's freedom We're now able to worship the Lord In spirit and in truth

We're now able to gaze upon the Lord's glory Our faces are unveiled now instead of being veiled and because

we can see and experience the Lord we are being transformed daily into the image of Jesus Christ And this

transformation is the ongoing process of sanctification And this ongoing process of sanctification deepens our relationship

with Christ each and every day but it's done by being in his presence So let's talk

about being transformed in his presence What happens when we're in His presence We are being transformed not

by our own efforts but we're allowing the Spirit to transform us from the inside out So we're

not being changed by trying harder trying to be good All of that is human effort We're now being

transformed as we follow the leading and the guiding of the Holy Spirit We're not changed by knowledge alone

Listen we believe in the study of the word We believe in the power of the written

word but we're not changed by knowledge alone We're not changed by religious activities and performances We're

not changed by that But we are transformed in His presence That's where transformation begins in His presence The Spirit

transforms us by shifting our focus from all the distractions in this world to Jesus

Christ Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 says looking away from all that will distract us and let us fix our

eyes on Jesus the author and the perfecter of our faith Paul says that we are

not to conform to this world but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds to

what Jesus Christ has instructed us to do So we have to look away from

all the things that will distract us And fix our eyes on Jesus and His Spirit

that transforms us So number 1 transformation happens in His presence Number 2 his presence brings freedom The

scripture says where the Spirit of the Lord is there's freedom and we talked about what that means biblically

But some people think that freedom means the absence of struggle Some people think that freedom means the removal

of temptation or the elimination of negative thoughts No When we're in the presence of the

spirit that's where the freedom comes in the midst of the struggle in the midst of

temptation in the midst of our negative emotions That's where we should dwell in the presence of the spirit

And many believers have been trying to break bad habits struggles anger envy jealousy stinking thinking by their

own willpower However willpower can only change these behaviors temporarily That's all they can do But

the Holy Spirit changes these behaviors and desires permanently Spiritual freedom is not achieved by

human effort It is received in His presence Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is

freedom But just because we're free does not mean that we won't have to deal with the issues of

life Even though we're going through the daily struggle the issues of life we dwell

in the presence of the spirit That's how we overcome them That's how we become victorious because where

the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom The third thing I want to share with

you this morning is that we're changed transformed in the presence of the spirit little by little We're

talking about progressive transformation Verse 18 says we are being transformed by the Spirit into the image of Christ One

thing we need to know and understand is that transformation is progressive It's not going to happen overnight We're changed

little by little It happens over time It is the daily work of the Holy Spirit transforming us from

the inside out The Lord has to work on us He has to clean us

up He works from the inside out He wants to do a mighty work in you and he wants

to do a mighty work through you It's the daily work of the Spirit So

don't be discouraged if you're not who you want to be or where you want to be yet But thank

God you're not who you used to be Thank God you're not where you used to be and it's

because you're being transformed daily You're putting off the old man you're putting on the new

man You're being transformed daily But remember what we talked about last week in order for transformation to begin

you have to surrender So the more you fight what God is doing in your

life the slower the transformation process will be So we have to surrender to what God is trying to

do in your life but understand that transformation is progressive and this spiritual growth path that we're on is not

a straight line Listen some days you'll feel close to God Some days you'll wonder Lord

why have thou forsaken me But this is what you need to know and understand

Always remember this your feelings do not determine your transformation but being in his presence

does Let me say it again Spiritual growth this transformation process is not a straight line Some

days you're going to feel so close to God that you can reach out and touch him Other days

it's like God is so far away you think he has forsaken you So we cannot let our feelings determine

what God is doing on the inside of us As we surrender daily to the will of God He's working

in us and he's working through us So don't matter how you feel that's why people are up and down

in their faith That's why people leave the faith because they're basing their faith on how they feel

Nothing in the scripture is about feelings It's about faith So your feelings do not determine your transformation It's progressive

but being in his presence daily does Your heart your mind and your thoughts will change the longer

you remain in his presence So our relationship with God just cannot be on a Sunday morning or

every now and then We have to dwell with Him We have to remain in Him

We have to stay in his presence John chapter 15 verse 5 says I am the vine and you

are the branches the one who remains in me remains in my presence and I in him will bear much

fruit Apart from me not in my presence you can do nothing So let's talk about it Talk about dwelling

in his presence Number one being still We have to learn to sit quietly before

Him and let our hearts be still Psalm 46:10 says Be still and know that I am God Be

still and know The word no means to recognize to understand that I am God But before you

can know and recognize and understand who God is you have to learn to be still

We're too anxious and we're too worried about things today We need to be still in His presence and receive

His peace That's what the word teaches us to do Be anxious for nothing and you

will receive the peace of God Number 2 we have to worship Him without asking Him for anything We

have to come before Him and be still We have to worship Him because of

who he is and not what he can do for us or what you can get

from Him Psalm 116 verses 1-2 says I love the Lord because He has heard my

voice and my pleas for mercy That's what the psalmist wrote He didn't say I love the Lord because he

did this I love the Lord because he gave me that No no no I love the Lord because

He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy because he inclined his heart to me

Therefore I will call on Him as long as I live in the presence of

the Lord Just come before Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth Come before Him

offering your body as a living sacrifice which Paul says in Romans chapter 12 verse 1 is

a spiritual act of worship Come into his presence Love the Lord because of who he is not for what

you can get from Him Number 3 spend more time in the word The reason why we're anxious

the reason why we're worried because we're not anchored in the word Or if we read

the word we're just flying through the scriptures just to say we have read the word today No no no

no We need to slow down We need to read slowly and then listen We're reading too

quickly through the word We have to let his word dwell in us so we need to spend more time

in the word If you're in the word you are in the presence of the Spirit The

Spirit has revealed God's will plan and purposes for your life to you through the word So while we're running

through the word dwell remain set up residence there embrace what the Lord is saying

to you Because the spirit will never lead you contrary to the word He's always gonna lead you into God's

perfect will his perfect plan for your life but you have to dwell there You have to

spend time in the word Slow down and listen to what the spirit of the

Lord is saying to you through the scripture And number 4 we have to invite

the Holy Spirit into your life every day The Holy Spirit is a gentleman He's not going

to bombard your life You have to invite him into your life The pastor you taught that

the Holy Spirit is with us and he's in us Yes he is but you have to

invite him into your life You have to invite him into your situation And you do

that daily So pray and ask the Lord into your life Holy Spirit come into

my life Draw me into your presence Move all distractions that hinder me from being in your presence

So many times we want to go pray and we get distracted We want to read

our word we get distracted We're trying to get into the presence of God and a message pop up on

the phone Remove all distractions that hinder me from being in your presence Transform me change my heart change

my desires change my habits Help me to make you a priority in my life Help me to

make Christ the center of my life each and every day The Holy Spirit is our

helper His job is to help us to transform us to lead us and to draw us

into the presence of the Lord So we need the Holy Spirit's help in drawing us

closer to the presence of the Lord When we try to do it on our own

we're always going to be distracted but the Holy Spirit will not only draw us into His presence but

the Holy Spirit will help us to dwell there So let me leave you with this Spiritual transformation occurs

in the presence of the spirit That's where it occurs in the presence of the Spirit We

have to dwell in his presence daily We have to spend time in prayer meditation and in His

word daily You have to set time aside totally devoted to dwell in the presence of the Holy Spirit Don't

try to fit the Holy Spirit in Make time for Him Make him a priority

in your life and you make someone a priority in your life by making time available for them The

goal of being in his presence is not to feel something If we don't feel something nothing's happening No listen

that's the trick of the adversary The goal is to be in his presence to be still and know that

He is God to allow the Holy Spirit to enter into our life to usher us in into His

presence You may feel something you may not feel something but no That you're in the presence of

the Lord because the goal of being in his presence is a transformed life Being transformed little by

little day by day into His presence I pray that this message has been a blessing to you this morning

and that you will make time this week to be in the presence of the Lord Be blessed