Participants:
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000185A
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00:21 Hello, friends, welcome to another Bible study here
00:23 at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:25 This is A Sharper Focus, 00:27 named that because we do believe 00:29 that the more we study the Word of God, 00:31 the sharper it comes into focus. 00:34 Thank you for taking the time tonight 00:36 to continue to join us. 00:37 And if you're joining for the first time, 00:38 remember this channel, 00:40 we believe that studying God's Word 00:42 strengthens our walk with Him. 00:44 Can we all say amen to that? Amen. 00:46 And so we thank you for joining us here, 00:47 wherever you're joining us from. 00:49 In just a moment, 00:50 I'll tell you how to get a copy of the lesson. 00:51 But before we do anything else, we always begin with prayer. 00:56 Heavenly Father, we thank You for the opportunity 00:58 of opening Your Word. 01:00 We pray that Your holy angels will come and surround us 01:03 that You will connect us to our listening 01:05 and viewing audience. 01:06 And that because the topic is about the Holy Spirit, 01:10 may Your Holy Spirit have His way tonight 01:13 in our hearts and in our lives. 01:15 Make Your Word clear 01:17 and give us the desire 01:19 and strength to continue to follow You. 01:21 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. 01:25 Now go to this following website asf.3abn.org 01:29 and download lesson number 41 01:32 "It's the gifts of the Spirit." 01:34 Lesson number 41 asf.3abn.org 01:38 at that very website there are about 181 videos 01:42 and lessons all these outlines 01:43 that you can download and share with your friends 01:46 and your church and or your neighbors. 01:49 But something else we do before we go any further. 01:51 We have our theme song. 01:53 Our theme song is... What is it? 01:55 "Victory in Jesus." 01:56 Let's sing this together. 02:06 I heard an old, old story 02:10 How the Savior came from glory 02:14 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:17 To save a wretch like me 02:21 I heard about His groaning 02:25 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:29 Then I repented of my sin 02:33 And won the victory 02:35 Together. 02:37 O victory in Jesus 02:40 My Savior, forever 02:44 He sought me and bought me 02:48 With His redeeming blood 02:51 He loved me ere I knew Him 02:55 And all my love is due Him 02:59 He plunged me to victory 03:03 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:07 I heard about a mansion 03:10 He has built for me in glory 03:14 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:18 Beyond the crystal sea 03:22 About the angels singing 03:25 And the old redemption story 03:29 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 03:33 The song of victory 03:36 Key change. 03:37 O victory in Jesus 03:41 My Savior, forever 03:44 He sought me and bought me 03:48 With His redeeming blood 03:52 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:56 And all my love is due Him 03:59 He plunged me to victory 04:03 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:07 He plunged me to victory 04:11 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:17 Amen. 04:20 The gifts of the Spirit, that's our topic tonight. 04:24 And once again, if you don't have a lesson, 04:26 if you just joined, go to asf.3abn.org, 04:29 download lesson number 41. 04:32 The Holy Spirit is the gift 04:37 that gives the gift. 04:40 The Holy Spirit is the gift that gives the gift. 04:44 If Jesus did not give the gift of the Holy Spirit, 04:48 we would not have the gifts of the Spirit. 04:51 So this transaction... 04:53 Let's go to John Chapter 16 to lay some foundation. 04:56 This transaction was guaranteed by Jesus 05:01 for the benefit and the blessing 05:03 of the New Testament Church. 05:06 But I wanna make it very clear, 05:08 the Holy Spirit was also active 05:11 among the Old Testament people of God. 05:13 The prophets could not have done 05:15 what they have done 05:16 had there not been a Spirit. 05:17 Remember, Elisha asked 05:19 for a double portion of the Spirit 05:22 that was upon Elijah. 05:23 So the Spirit of God is always been active, 05:26 but in the New Testament there was a transitional stage 05:29 because you finally Old Testament 05:32 while God was working on His people 05:35 so that eventually He can work through His people, 05:39 He never got to work through them 05:42 because they did not respond to Him working on them. 05:45 And so He made an attempt in the New Testament 05:49 by choosing, how many disciples? 05:52 How many say? 05:53 Twelve. Twelve disciples. 05:55 And then through the work of the Holy Spirit, 05:57 He trained them for three and half years. 06:00 And before He left, 06:02 He was now beginning in the New Testament 06:05 what He intended to do in the Old Testament 06:07 to carry the gospel to the world. 06:10 Look at John 16 and verse, 06:15 let's see verse 5. 06:19 Let me see if want to go further back. 06:22 Okay, I wanna go to verse 1. 06:25 How did I get to verse 1? 06:28 The Bible says, 06:29 "These things I have spoken to you, 06:32 that you should not be made to stumble." 06:34 And this is a prophecy that 06:37 the apostles were told would eventually happen. 06:41 "They will put you out of the synagogues. 06:43 Yes, the time will come 06:46 that whoever kills you will think 06:47 that he offers God service. 06:50 And these things they will do to you 06:51 because they have not known the Father nor... 06:54 They have not known the Father nor Me. 06:57 But these things I have told you, 06:59 that when the time comes, 07:01 you may remember that I told you of them. 07:03 And these things 07:05 I did not say to you at the beginning, 07:08 because I was with you." 07:10 But now here is the transition. 07:12 "But now," what's next three words? 07:16 Say with some fervor, I what? 07:18 "I go away." 07:19 He is leaving. 07:21 "I go away to Him who sent Me, 07:24 and none of you asks Me, 07:26 'Where are You going?' 07:29 But because I have said these things to you, 07:32 sorrow has filled your heart." 07:34 And this is the beauty. 07:36 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. 07:39 It is to your advantage," to your what? 07:42 "It's to your advantage that I go away, 07:45 for if I do not go away, the Helper, or the Spirit, 07:48 or the Comforter will not come to you. 07:53 But if I depart, I will send Him to you. 07:57 Let me pause and make a point right here. 07:58 The Holy Spirit is not an it, 08:02 Him. 08:03 "He will come, 08:05 if I don't go away, He will not come. 08:07 I will go away, and I will send Him." 08:10 And the Bible doesn't use this word 08:12 in an arbitrary way, 08:13 it's literally using it in the masculine way. 08:17 This is the masculine description 08:18 of who the Holy Spirit is. 08:19 And we'll find out in our lesson another, 08:21 a number of other attributes about the Holy Spirit. 08:24 "When I go away, He will come. 08:27 I will go away, and I'll send Him." 08:29 So this idea 08:30 that the Holy Spirit is some kind of ethereal cloud 08:32 that floats around and effects people's lives. 08:35 And like wind, 08:36 His work is unpredictable like the wind. 08:38 But He's very much 08:40 the third person of the Godhead. 08:41 Can we say amen? Amen. 08:42 The third person of the Godhead, 08:44 not the third entity. 08:47 "And when He has come, 08:48 He will convict the world of sin." 08:50 This is His operation. 08:52 Let me make a point right here. 08:53 One of the reasons why Jesus said 08:54 it's to your advantage that I go away 08:57 is because once Jesus took on human flesh, 08:59 He will forever be in the form of human flesh. 09:03 That omnipotence that He possessed 09:06 before He condescended to the earth, 09:08 He will no longer possess, 09:10 He became the Son of man, He became our brother. 09:14 So with one hand, 09:16 He connected humanity to divinity 09:20 and with the other hand, 09:21 He connected divinity to humanity. 09:24 But the great price... 09:25 That's why He said it is to your advantage 09:27 or expedient that I go away 09:29 because He now after taken on the form of humanity 09:33 cannot reverse that, 09:35 He will either be victorious in the form of humanity 09:38 by the help of His Father, 09:40 or He will be defeated in the form of humanity 09:42 and forever be a slave to Satan's kingdom. 09:45 Thank the Lord, He won. Amen. 09:48 But He's saying it's necessary that I go away. 09:50 "I've got to go 09:51 because I cannot do now what He is going to do." 09:54 He's going to be omniscient. 09:56 Sorry, omnipresent, also omniscient. 09:59 But He's gonna be omnipresent, 10:00 He's gonna be able to work 10:02 through all of you at the same time, 10:04 He's gonna continue to work in you. 10:05 And you'll find that so many examples 10:07 in the New Testament. 10:08 For example, when Philip 10:11 was sent into the desert 10:13 to do an evangelistic series, 10:16 how many people attended his evangelistic series? 10:19 One. One, and who was he? 10:21 The Ethiopian eunuch. 10:23 And after that baptism, what happened? 10:26 The Spirit swept him away, 10:28 that would not have happened had the Spirit not been active. 10:31 So the Lord is saying, 10:32 "There's another work that must continue, 10:34 but it won't happen, 10:35 it would not happen until I go away." 10:38 Let's look at a couple of other things 10:39 that are very important about the Holy Spirit. 10:41 And by the way, this is the work 10:43 the Spirit is doing, convicting the world of sin. 10:45 And you'll see later on of righteousness 10:47 and also of judgment. 10:50 What verse am I up to? Verse 8? 10:53 "And when He has come, 10:54 He will convict the world of sin, 10:56 and of righteousness, and of," what else? 10:59 "Of judgment, of sin, 11:00 because they do not believe in Me of righteousness, 11:04 because I go to My Father and you see Me..." 11:07 No more. That's right. 11:10 "And you see Me..." 11:13 Am I saying that correctly? 11:16 "And you see Me no more." 11:18 And verse 11. 11:23 Mine just all of a sudden it flipped here 11:25 and did something really strange here. 11:27 In verse 11, let me just open here. 11:31 I had a glitch in my iPad. Here it is. 11:34 Further down. 11:35 "Because you see Me no more, of judgment, 11:37 because the ruler of this world is judged." 11:41 And then this is the part that was so beautiful verse 12. 11:44 "I still have many things to say to you, 11:47 but you cannot bear them now. 11:50 However," I love that, however. 11:53 So as much as the Lord showed the disciples 11:55 there was still something more He had to show them. 11:58 So the reason 11:59 why they were called disciples and later apostles, 12:02 discipleship is training, apostleship is function. 12:07 You're getting ready. 12:09 And now you're sent. 12:10 Discipleship is, "I'm mentoring you. 12:14 Apostleship is, "I'm sending you." 12:16 And that's why he said later on, 12:18 "I send you forth as lambs among wolves." 12:20 So I got you ready. 12:22 I'm gonna tell you more things, 12:23 but I'll only give them to you as you need them. 12:26 So it says here in verse 13. 12:29 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, 12:32 has come, He will guide you into," 12:34 how much? 12:35 "All truth." 12:37 Let me make another point right here. 12:38 It's not possible to say that 12:40 you are being lead by the Spirit 12:42 and not willing to accept truth. 12:46 If the Spirit is leading you, 12:47 and you're responding to the Holy Spirit, 12:49 truth is not an issue. 12:52 Right, Emma Lou? 12:53 Not an issue at all. 12:55 Right, Ramona? Not an issue. 12:58 And He says, 13:01 "But whatever He hears..." 13:05 Well, let me finish. 13:06 "For He will not speak on His own authority, 13:08 but whatever He hears He will speak, 13:11 and He will tell you things to come." 13:13 Another phrase for things to come, 13:15 what's the single word 13:16 we could use for things to come? 13:19 Future? Okay, what's the word? 13:21 Say it again? 13:22 Prophecy. That's right. 13:23 The Holy Spirit is going to pour upon the church 13:29 this understanding that they don't presently possess. 13:32 And the reason why they didn't presently possess it 13:34 is because the New Testament Church 13:36 didn't start yet. 13:37 It didn't start until Jesus left. 13:39 So while He was discipling 13:41 what was still in place was the aristocracy, 13:47 was the Jewish leadership, was the Sanhedrin, 13:50 and the Pharisees, the Scribes, 13:51 all of those that should have for more than 1,000 years 13:55 been communicating the gospel to the world, 13:58 but they didn't. 13:59 So the Lord is now training a new group of workers 14:03 to do what the Jews fail to do. 14:06 And this is really humbling 14:07 because I wanna make this point. 14:09 We don't have the truth, the truth has us. 14:12 If the truth doesn't have you, 14:14 then the Lord will give the truth to somebody else. 14:17 So we don't possess the truth, 14:18 the truth is intended to possess us. 14:21 All right? 14:22 And lastly, I'll transition here, 14:24 verse 16, 14:25 "He will glorify Me, 14:27 for He will take of what is Mine 14:28 and declare it to you." 14:30 So this is important. 14:31 Should we glorify the Holy Spirit? 14:33 Yes or no? Yes. 14:35 No. 14:37 You don't glorify the Holy Spirit, 14:39 not even the Holy Spirit glorifies the Holy Spirit. 14:41 Am I right? 14:43 The Bible says the Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus. 14:48 He doesn't even glorify Himself. 14:50 So we're not to glorify the Holy Spirit. 14:52 We can thank the Lord 14:54 for the work He does in our lives 14:55 through the Holy Spirit. 14:56 But the Holy Spirit is not glorifying Himself 14:59 and His work is to glorify Jesus. 15:02 Say that again. 15:03 Some churches glorying. Right. 15:05 Some people make the Holy Spirit 15:06 the highest focus in their walk, 15:08 when in fact Jesus says, 15:09 the Holy Spirit never says if I be lifted up, 15:12 it's if Jesus is lifted up. 15:15 All right? And let's end on this note. 15:19 Verse 15, 15:20 "All things the Father has are Mine. 15:23 Therefore I said that 15:24 He will take of Mine and declare it to you." 15:26 Now look at the trinity right there 15:28 or the Godhead, whatever phrase you wanna use, 15:30 whatever word you wanna use. 15:31 The Father, 15:33 everything the Father has belongs to Jesus, 15:36 and the Holy Spirit is gonna take 15:37 what belongs to Jesus and declare it you. 15:40 Right there showing carefully 15:43 the connection between the three. 15:46 "All things that the Father has are Mine." 15:49 Father and Mine, that's Jesus. 15:50 "Therefore I said 15:52 He will take of Mine and declare it to you." 15:55 Passing the torch 15:57 from the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Spirit. 16:00 But tonight, we're gonna look... 16:02 Since we've gone through 17 questions. 16:05 Tonight, we're gonna dive down to question number 18 16:08 and ask some very important questions 16:11 because what we're gonna talk about tonight 16:12 is the indispensability of the Holy Spirit. 16:16 When I say indispensability 16:18 that means something you can't do without, 16:20 someone you cannot do without. 16:22 If you don't have the Holy Spirit, 16:23 you have no power. 16:27 But there's another reason 16:28 why the Holy Spirit is necessary. 16:30 So look at question number 18. 16:32 What makes the gift of prophecy indispensable? 16:35 And by the way, 16:36 the gift of prophecy is one of the gifts 16:38 that the Holy Spirit has imparted to the church. 16:41 What makes the gift of prophecy 16:45 indispensable? 16:48 Okay. 16:51 And we're gonna go to Matthew 26:56. 16:56 Go back here, all right? 17:02 Important, here's the answer. 17:08 "But all of this was done 17:09 that the Scriptures of the prophets might be, 17:13 " what? 17:14 "Fulfilled." 17:15 That's the focal point of the verse. 17:17 So the gifts that the prophets exercise, 17:23 the message that they communicated... 17:26 When Jesus talked about the events in His life, 17:29 and by the way, Matthew 25, Matthew 26, and 27 17:32 are talking about the passion of Christ, 17:35 His arrest, His trial, 17:38 His conviction of nothing He did wrong, 17:42 of His scourging, of His crucifixion. 17:45 The disciples were concerned, why is this happening? 17:47 And He said it, 17:49 "That the Scriptures of the prophets 17:50 might be fulfilled." 17:52 So if the Spirit wasn't working through the prophets, 17:55 then they would not know these things were going to happen. 18:00 So this indispensability, and you'll see, 18:03 let's go to another passage. 18:04 This is extra, we did this in the past. 18:07 Go to Amos 3:7. 18:09 So write the answer down. 18:10 The answer is... 18:13 Say it again, honey. 18:14 Scriptures may be fulfilled. Scriptures may be fulfilled. 18:18 That's right. 18:20 The Spirit has been working in ages, 18:21 but He has been working through the gifts 18:24 that the prophets have. 18:25 Amos, go to Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and then Amos. 18:29 You find Daniel, you can't find Daniel, 18:31 go to Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. 18:40 You know, when you think about the story of the road to Emmaus 18:42 was a powerful story. 18:44 Jesus walks with Cleophas and another disciple. 18:47 And the Bible says, Jesus revealed to them 18:50 all things in the Scripture concerning Himself. 18:53 Now can you imagine, this is one of those passages. 18:57 So that means every prophecy from the first prophet, 19:01 from the first prophecy... 19:03 What was the first prophecy in the Bible about Jesus? 19:07 What book was He found in? 19:09 Genesis. What chapter? 19:10 What verse? Okay. 19:13 I will put enmity. 19:15 So Jesus when He's walking on the road to Emmaus, 19:19 every prophecy in the scriptures 19:21 concerning Himself, 19:22 He revealed to Cleophas and the other disciple. 19:25 Can you imagine, Marlena, 19:26 what kind of Bible study that was? 19:30 You think He missed the Scripture? 19:31 No. 19:33 He is the living Word, every scripture... 19:35 And that's why when they realize it was Him, 19:38 what did they say? 19:41 "Wasn't that something else?" 19:43 They didn't have indigestion, they had heartburn. 19:47 They had a heartburn for the good reasons. 19:49 I think it was Pastor Ivor Myer that 19:50 he took a flip on that scripture. 19:53 When you get heartburn? 19:54 Did not our hearts burn within us? 19:56 Something you can only get 19:57 when the Word of God is filling your heart. 19:59 That's the good heartburn. 20:01 When you don't accept that, then you get indigestion. 20:05 Look at what the Lord says here. 20:07 A couple of passages. 20:09 And by the way, 20:10 how many men that I say 20:12 Jesus was walking with on the road to Emmaus? 20:14 Two men. Okay. 20:15 Look at verse 3 of Amos Chapter 3. 20:21 Amos 3:3, "Can two walk together, 20:24 unless they are agreed?" 20:25 And what's the answer? 20:26 No, no. 20:28 But then verse 7, which was the one 20:30 that I wanted you to focus on initially. 20:32 The Bible says, 20:34 "Surely the Lord God does nothing, 20:37 unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets." 20:42 So what is being referred to here 20:44 by Jesus in the Passion Week 20:47 was revealed through His servants, 20:49 the prophet, His prophets, 20:51 He was revealing that so therefore, 20:53 what was now happening, 20:55 Jesus was saying to His disciples, 20:57 "This had to be fulfilled." 20:58 And they tried their best 21:00 to extricate Jesus or to deliver Him 21:03 from what was happening to Him, but it had to be fulfilled. 21:06 It had to be fulfilled so that they will know 21:08 He is the Messiah. 21:10 Okay, let's go to the very next question. 21:13 Question number 19. 21:15 Question number 19. 21:17 What assurance does the Bible give concerning a true prophet? 21:21 Number 19. 21:23 What does the Bible... 21:24 What assurance does the Bible give 21:28 concerning a true prophet? 21:30 You'll see that on the screen 21:31 those of you who are in the home audience. 21:34 What assurances does the Bible give concerning a true prophet? 21:36 In Jeremiah 28:8 and 9. 21:39 Let's look at that together. 21:43 All right. 21:52 We read, "The prophets 21:55 who had been before me and before you 21:59 of old prophesied against many countries 22:02 and great kingdoms of war and disaster 22:06 and pestilence. 22:09 As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, 22:13 when the word of the prophet comes to past 22:15 or pass that prophet will be known 22:18 as one whom the Lord has truly sent." 22:23 So what is the assurance 22:27 that the Bible gives concerning a true prophet? 22:32 What they say, what? 22:34 Comes to pass. 22:35 That's the assurance 22:37 if the prophet says it, and it comes to pass. 22:39 But there is a caveat there, there is a caveat. 22:44 A caveat is like a caution. 22:47 Hold on a moment. 22:48 Don't go too fast, kind of moment. 22:51 I want you to see that. 22:53 Go with me... 22:56 to Deuteronomy. 22:59 Let me just see where that one is, 23:00 I'm going right here. 23:02 Come on, bring it up here. 23:03 Deuteronomy, and we are gonna look at... 23:08 I believe it's Chapter 13. 23:20 Yeah, Deuteronomy Chapter 13. 23:24 Yeah. 23:30 Now the reason I'm reading you this passage 23:32 is because 23:33 who else knows 23:35 that the test of a true prophet means 23:36 they say something that happens, 23:38 who else knows? 23:39 The devil does. 23:41 And have we been warned? 23:44 No, let me not just give you the answers? 23:45 What have we been warned of concerning the last days? 23:51 False prophets will arise and do what? 23:54 Deceive. Deceive many with, what? 23:57 Signs and wonders. 24:00 In other words, they will do things 24:01 that if your eyes were the only way 24:05 that you can confirm whether or not it's true, 24:08 you'll be deceived. 24:09 Right? 24:11 They'll do many things in Jesus' name. 24:12 And those things will be... 24:14 The Bible says 24:15 they will be of such magnitude that if it were possible, 24:18 they would deceive the very elect. 24:20 So one of the keys is you have to make sure 24:22 all the parameters are in place. 24:23 Here's the reason why. 24:25 Deuteronomy Chapter 13. 24:27 I'm gonna read this very quickly 24:28 as you walk with me through the passages. 24:31 Verse 1, "If there arises among you a prophet 24:35 or a dreamer of dreams, 24:37 and he gives you a sign or a wonder." 24:39 That's why the Bible says 24:40 he'll show many signs and wonders 24:41 in Matthew 24. 24:44 "And the sign of the wonder comes to pass," 24:47 Boom, if you stop there, you'll say 24:48 he's got to be a true prophet. 24:50 But look what he adds to it. 24:52 "Of which he spoke to you, saying," now watch, 24:54 he adds the condition to that. 24:56 He says now that you know it's true. 24:58 Follow me. 25:00 Now that you know it's true, follow me. 25:02 And look what it says, 25:03 "Saying, 'Let us go after,' what, 25:07 'other gods,' 25:08 which you have not known and let us do," what? 25:11 "Serve them." 25:13 Look at the injunction. 25:14 "You shall not listen to the words of that prophet 25:18 or that dreamer of dreams, 25:20 for the Lord your God is," what? 25:23 "He's testing you. 25:25 He's testing you to know 25:27 whether you love the Lord your God with," how much? 25:30 "All your heart and," with what else? 25:32 "All your soul." 25:33 And then he says, 25:35 in verse 4, 25:37 "You shall walk after the Lord your God and," do what? 25:41 "Fear Him," and what else? 25:44 "Keep His commandments and," what else? 25:46 "Obey His voice, and you shall serve," what? 25:49 "Him and hold," what? 25:51 "Fast to Him." 25:52 Now it's all about Him, Him, Him. 25:54 So sometimes, 25:56 and this is something you have to put on, 25:57 you know, put a red dot on this in your brain. 26:01 Sometimes a false prophet would say, 26:03 "I did not tell you that was gonna happen. 26:06 Yeah, it didn't happen. 26:07 So why you're not gonna join my movement?" 26:10 Then you ask him, 26:12 "Do you honor the commandments of God?" 26:16 Well, 26:17 and you know right away, 26:19 that that person is not sent of the Lord. 26:21 He's trying to draw you away. 26:23 And the reason for this, 26:24 and God is always forward looking. 26:26 What's that word I use? 26:27 He's always forward looking because today, 26:29 more people will pack into a miracle service 26:33 than into a Bible seminar. 26:36 When you put those big miracle... 26:37 Sir Benny Hinn or Benny Hill, whichever one he is, 26:41 when he comes to town, 26:43 people will be coming in the droves, 26:44 they'll be filling stadiums, 26:46 giving out miracle oil and miracle letters 26:49 and red claws and splinters from the tree that... 26:53 As one person once said 26:54 there was so many splinters soul 26:55 that people claim that come from the tree 26:58 that Jesus was crucified on. 26:59 It's said it was enough to make Yosemite forest. 27:03 But false prophets do that, they lie to you, 27:07 they sell you stuff 27:08 that is not connected to the true prophet. 27:10 That's what they do. And people get deceived. 27:12 They said, "Well, he did heal that man, 27:14 and he's walking normal now." 27:17 Well, the devil could put on a malady on somebody 27:19 and then remove it, just to deceive you 27:22 if that's what it's going to take. 27:24 Question number 20. 27:26 Question number 20. 27:27 Let's turn there. 27:32 Okay. 27:35 Okay. 27:39 How can we know 27:41 that the prophet is connected to the true God? 27:44 How can we know 27:45 that the prophet is connected to the true God? 27:48 Okay. 27:52 1 John Chapter 4, 27:54 let's go to verse 2 and 3. 27:57 I'm gonna turn my Bible there. 28:00 I try not to spoon feed you. 28:03 I know you have your Bibles when you go to yours, 28:05 then those who are on the screen, 28:07 who are joining us may not have theirs. 28:09 1 John 4:2 and 3. 28:13 And here's what the Bible reveals to us. 28:15 It says, "By this you know the Spirit of God: 28:19 Every Spirit that confesses 28:22 that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God." 28:26 Now the word Spirit there doesn't mean a different Spirit 28:29 or disembodied entity. 28:31 It means the attitude of a person. 28:35 If that person is speaking by the Spirit, 28:37 that person is speaking truth, and they must confess. 28:41 So that's in essence saying, 28:42 a sincere individual will confess 28:45 that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh 28:47 that person is of God. 28:48 "And every Spirit that does not confess 28:50 that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, 28:52 " what does it say? 28:54 "Is not of God. 28:56 And this is the Spirit of the Antichrist." 29:01 And by the way, that doesn't mean 29:02 against Christ that means in place of. 29:05 "Which you have heard was coming, 29:07 and is now already in the world." 29:10 So how can we know that the prophet 29:11 is connected to the true God? 29:15 How can we know? 29:21 They'll confess that Jesus Christ 29:22 did come in the flesh. 29:24 Now this is huge 29:26 because to this day, 29:30 the Jews have rejected the fact 29:32 that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. 29:34 This was the context of this passage. 29:37 John is speaking 29:39 as one of the apostles of Christ, 29:41 who was a disciple of Christ, 29:43 and the very nation that Jesus chose 29:45 rejected the fact 29:47 that this person standing in the flesh is not. 29:51 They rejected the fact 29:52 that this person in the flesh is Christ. 29:55 "When the fullness of time had come, 29:57 God sent forth His Son born of a woman." 30:00 Galatians 4:4. 30:02 They rejected that. 30:03 So back then, 30:04 the test was as they went to the Jewish churches 30:08 as they continue preaching the gospel. 30:09 Okay, let me check you. 30:11 Do you believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh? 30:13 No, no. Okay, you're antichrist? 30:18 Do you believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh? 30:20 And that was the test that they had to continue 30:22 to apply throughout the New Testament church 30:24 because it was so close to the rejection of Christ 30:28 that John had to say, "Do you believe? 30:29 Do you believe? Do you believe?" 30:31 And when they said yes. 30:32 "Oh, great. You're safe." 30:35 But the test is broader today 30:38 because what the devil has done 30:40 is he's found a way to deceive those 30:41 who do believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. 30:44 That's why he's added another component. 30:46 Let's go to 1 John 2:3 and 4. 30:49 That's why he's added another component. 30:52 And by the way, when I said another component, 30:54 he didn't give something 30:55 that's not already in the Bible. 30:57 But the tests have expanded because back then, 30:59 the big issue was did Jesus really come in the flesh, 31:02 and to this very day, 31:04 to this very day 31:07 the Jews are waiting for the coming of Messiah. 31:09 They're waiting for Jesus to come. 31:12 The Age of Aquarius the New Age believers, 31:14 they're waiting for the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. 31:16 Remember that song? 31:18 I didn't wanna sing it because right now 31:19 in some of your heads, you hear it, 31:22 am I right? 31:24 Right? You hear it? 31:26 But the Age of Aquarius. 31:28 Among other like in Buddhism 31:32 and Eastern religions, 31:34 they're looking for this great leader to come. 31:37 Everybody's looking for someone to come 31:39 who has already come. 31:43 And that's why we're among the rare ones. 31:47 Let me go a step further. 31:48 Are you ready for a step further? 31:50 That's why it was so key 31:51 for the Jerusalem to be established 31:53 as the capital of Jerusalem 31:58 because the evangelicals believe 32:02 that Jesus is gonna come back to walk the earth 32:04 in physical earthly Jerusalem. 32:07 But He's not coming back, we'll meet Him, where? 32:10 In the air. And we did he go? 32:13 I don't wanna do this because it's already out there. 32:14 Where did he go? 32:16 He went to prepare us a place. 32:18 We're not preparing Him a place. 32:20 He's going to prepare us a place. 32:22 And what does they call? The New... 32:24 Jerusalem. 32:26 That's right, a New Jerusalem, not down here. 32:29 We've been to the Middle East, I call it the Bible lands, 32:34 not the holy land. 32:36 The holy land is up there. 32:38 I call it the Bible lands because Bible... 32:41 You cannot take an atheist to the Bible lands 32:43 and he come away still being an atheist. 32:45 It's not possible. 32:48 He'll have to either be willingly blind, 32:50 deaf, and dumb. 32:51 Because even those 32:53 that don't accept Jesus in the Middle East, 32:56 still tell of the prophecies of Jesus. 33:00 The guy that did our Bible tour, 33:03 remember that, honey? 33:04 He was a religious Jew. 33:07 And he was fascinating us 33:09 with all these prophecies about Jesus 33:11 and how they came to pass. 33:14 And then I asked him the question, 33:15 "So why didn't you accept Jesus?" 33:20 And he said, "It's a complicated question." 33:24 He didn't accept Jesus. 33:25 And he's telling us about all these prophecies. 33:27 And he's showing us 33:28 the scriptures in the Old Testament, 33:30 the fulfillment in the New Testament. 33:31 For him, it's a job, not an experience. 33:34 It's amazing but sad. 33:36 And he's saying it came to pass exactly as Jesus said, 33:39 and I'm thinking, "Am I missing something?" 33:42 And we left with a great experience, 33:44 but the sad reality 33:45 he's talking about the coming of Jesus, 33:47 and he's confirming everything that Jesus said, 33:49 and I said, "Why don't you accept him?" 33:53 And the reason I said that 33:54 is because right now in the Middle East, 33:57 many of the sites that are connected 33:59 to the life of Jesus 34:01 are now owned by the Catholic Church. 34:03 You know why? 34:05 Because the Jews rejected Jesus. 34:09 If they didn't reject Jesus, 34:10 all those holy sites 34:13 would have chronicle the life of Jesus 34:15 through the Jewish nation. 34:17 Okay, so what did I say? 34:19 1 John 2:3 and 4. 34:22 This is the additional test. 34:25 Verse 3. 34:26 "Now by this we know that we know Him, 34:28 " if we do what? 34:30 "If we keep His commandments. 34:31 He who says, 'I know Him,' 34:33 and does not keep His commandments, 34:34 is a liar," and the what? 34:36 "And truth is not in him." 34:38 So the test is not just Jesus came in the flesh 34:40 because that was suitable for that society then. 34:45 But today, it has to be something additional, 34:47 not just that alone. 34:48 So are we at question number 21 now? 34:51 Yes. All right. 34:53 So question number 21. Let's look at that. 34:56 When prophets are in vision 34:58 what is connected to their experience? 35:00 When prophets are in vision 35:02 what is connected to their experience? 35:04 Prophets have various experiences. 35:08 But the Bible records one of those experiences 35:10 that Daniel experience. 35:12 In Daniel 10:16 and 17. 35:16 Ezekiel then Daniel. 35:22 Okay. 35:25 Here I am. 35:31 I'd like to add verse 15, 35:33 and then we'll dive into verse 16, 35:35 all right? 35:41 "When he had spoken such words to me," verse 15, 35:45 "I turned my face toward the ground and became," what? 35:49 "Speechless." 35:50 Now verse 16 which is on the screen. 35:52 "And suddenly, 35:54 one having the likeness of the sons of men 35:59 touched my lips, 36:01 then I opened my mouth and spoke, 36:04 saying to him who stood before me," 36:06 What that he say? 36:07 "My lord, 36:08 because of the vision 36:10 my sorrows have overwhelmed me, 36:13 and I have retained," what? 36:15 "No strength. 36:16 For how can this servant of my Lord 36:20 talk with you, my Lord? 36:21 As for me," what? 36:23 "No strength remains in me now, nor is any," what? 36:27 "Any breath left in me." 36:29 He was breathless. 36:31 He was without strength. He became weak. 36:33 You know, the amazing passage here. 36:35 And this is where the Apostle Paul 36:38 communicates the connection. 36:40 You'll notice something happened to Daniel here, 36:42 he was weak, and he was, what? 36:43 Also what else? 36:45 Breathless. 36:48 But who wasn't weak and who wasn't breathless. 36:52 You know, 36:54 who wasn't weak and who wasn't breathless? 37:04 Who wasn't weak and who wasn't breathless? 37:06 Say it again? 37:07 The Lord. Right. 37:08 The Lord that appeared to him 37:10 the angel was not weak and was not breathless 37:11 because the word their lord is in small L. 37:15 The angel wasn't weak. It wasn't a trick question. 37:17 You guys just didn't wanna give me the answer. 37:20 Xenia kind of whistled it out. 37:25 But you were correct. 37:27 So what happens here now 37:28 you see why the Apostle Paul says, 37:30 "In our weakness," what happens? 37:32 "His strength is made perfect." 37:34 So we don't have to be strong, as long as He is strong. 37:40 We depend on His strength. 37:41 I can do all things through Christ 37:42 who strengthens me. 37:45 So here one of the experiences, when the prophets are in vision 37:48 what is connected to the experience? 37:49 What happens? 37:51 Sometimes they lose their strength, 37:52 sometimes they cannot breathe. 37:58 All right. 38:03 Let's go to number, what? 38:06 Twenty-two. 38:08 Number 22. 38:13 How can we know 38:15 that a prophet is being led by the Spirit of God? 38:20 I had a discussion today I was doing my therapy today. 38:23 If my therapist is watching, hello there. 38:26 I just said that really quickly 38:27 'cause she said she'll be watching tonight. 38:29 But I was doing my therapy today. 38:31 And it was just a little Christian circle. 38:33 The guy sitting to my right was a new pastor. 38:35 I gave him some of the three angels' 38:37 messages booklets. 38:38 And my therapist and the other one, 38:40 they were Christians. 38:41 I think one was Baptist, one was Catholic, 38:42 and he was like, 38:45 I think, nondenominational 38:46 and then I was obviously Adventist, 38:48 an Adventist. 38:50 And she says, 38:51 "So what's gonna be on TV tonight? 38:53 What's coming on tonight?" 38:55 I said, "Well, our Bible study." 38:56 "What's it on?" 38:57 I said, "It's on the gifts of the Holy Spirit." 39:00 "Oh, really? 39:02 Well, explain that to me." 39:03 So and I began explaining. 39:06 "I'm not ashamed of the gospel." 39:08 And we were having a wonderful Bible study. 39:11 And then I said, "Well, so many people misunderstand 39:13 and misuse and miss apply, 39:15 the Holy Spirit works on us, then in us, 39:17 then eventually through us." 39:20 And when He gives us gifts, we can't pick the gift, 39:22 He gives us the one that He knows we need. 39:24 And I did specifically sought talk about 39:26 how sometimes the gift of tongues is misused 39:28 because there's a pastor that was sitting next to me, 39:30 he's just getting a church started. 39:33 And when I heard that, 39:34 I had to give him some material to read. 39:36 And so it's amazing that 39:38 last week his therapy was the same time as mine, 39:42 and it was also the same time as mine today. 39:46 And I said, "Now get in touch with me." 39:48 And so when I was leaving, 39:49 my therapist was walking down the front, she said, 39:51 "Hey, I hope tonight's sermon is really good." 39:54 And she said out loud, overheard everybody. 39:56 You know, Kim. 39:57 "I hope tonight sermon is gonna be really good. 40:00 Can I tune in? What time is it again?" 40:01 I said, "7 o'clock." 40:02 So hopefully, 40:04 she's taken advantage of that. 40:06 But you know, the beauty of it is, 40:07 God has His people everywhere. 40:10 And He wants to lead them and guide them. 40:11 He doesn't want them to just remain hostage 40:14 where the truth is not being proclaimed. 40:16 He wants us to reach out unashamedly 40:17 and share the gospel. 40:19 But here's one of the keys. 40:20 How can we know 40:22 that a prophet is being led by the Spirit of God? 40:24 And by the way, this is a test for anyone 40:26 who claims to be a Christian. 40:31 Matthew 7:15-16, 40:33 the reason why I use the word prophet 40:35 is because that's the context of the question 40:37 in Matthew Chapter 7. 40:39 Let's go there. 40:42 That's the context of the question 40:44 in Matthew Chapter 7. 40:46 All right. 40:49 Here it is. 40:51 "Beware of" say it with me "false prophets, 40:55 who come to you in" what? 40:57 "Sheep's clothing but inwardly they are" what? 41:01 "Ravenous wolves. 41:04 You will know them by their," what? 41:06 "Fruits." And here's the question. 41:08 Do men gather grapes from thornbushes 41:12 or figs from thistles? 41:14 And what's the answer? No. 41:16 So one is gonna produce one, 41:17 the other is gonna produce the other. 41:20 False prophets will look the part 41:24 who will not measure up to the part. 41:26 And today in a world today. 41:28 I mean, can you imagine how long ago this was said? 41:31 Jesus said this about 2000 years ago. 41:34 Is it true today? 41:35 It's very true today, it's very true today. 41:38 So much has been, 41:40 people have been motivated by so many different things 41:43 and we are living in the time 41:44 where many will not endure sound doctrine 41:46 so you cannot... 41:48 What that means is, 41:49 now let's look at another caution. 41:52 What else is this saying to us 41:53 that we have to be careful of... 41:56 Talk to me. 41:58 Okay, false prophets. 41:59 Well, how would we know? 42:04 By their fruits, and also by what else? 42:08 By the word. 42:09 If they don't speak according to God's Word, 42:11 and not just portions of it. 42:14 But the caution that this text is giving to us is, 42:17 don't go by what you see. 42:19 That's what is an essence being said, 42:21 don't go by what you see. 42:23 Measure by God's Word. 42:25 And also, 42:27 the other thing that's being pointed out here 42:28 is measured by their fruits. 42:30 And let me tell you why the first aspect 42:31 is vitally important. 42:33 Because there are I believe, this is my firm conviction. 42:37 I believe that there are many religious leaders 42:40 who honestly don't know. 42:43 I don't believe that everybody is just on this torpedo 42:48 just to destroy everybody that believes the truth. 42:49 I don't believe that. 42:51 I believe that there are some 42:52 who are honestly not fully understanding 42:54 of what the Word of God teaches. 42:55 I believe there are a lot of sincere pastors out there, 42:58 and a lot of sincere religious leaders. 43:00 On the other side, there are some sheep, 43:02 there are some wolves in sheep clothing. 43:04 But when you see a person, like I had a good friend, 43:07 I won't mention his name. 43:09 When we lived in California, remember, 43:11 when I did music at that program, 43:15 the pastor who invited me back over 43:17 and over and over and over again. 43:19 His first program we did was on Sabbath versus Sunday, 43:22 and he didn't really know about Sunday, 43:24 and he invited me 43:25 and I invited Pastor Doug Batchelor 43:27 and I invited Alan Reinach 43:29 who's with Religious Liberty. 43:30 And he said, okay, you bring two guys 43:32 and I'll bring two guys and we'll debate the Sabbath. 43:36 His debate was, 43:37 we could go to church on Sunday. 43:38 And he said, 43:40 you have to convince me that is Sabbath. 43:42 And his board asked him if he lost his mind. 43:46 They said, are you kidding me? 43:48 You're gonna bring two guys to debate the Sabbath. 43:49 And when he brought the idea up, 43:51 he said to the, the board members said to him, 43:53 so where are you gonna find somebody 43:54 for that kind of debate? 43:56 And I was there that day singing. 43:58 And earlier that day, I prayed Lord, 44:00 I know I'm here for something other than singing. 44:03 And I literally and I kid you not, 44:05 like see the room how nicely lit it is. 44:07 I went in the corner of the studio 44:09 while they were on the couch. 44:10 Face to wall and I said, Lord, reveal to me why I'm here. 44:14 And I was sitting in the foyer 44:15 waiting for that program to end and they had their meeting. 44:17 And his board said, 44:19 so where are you gonna find somebody 44:20 to talk about the Sabbath? 44:22 And he went like this, there, he is right there. 44:26 And I have the video, I keep telling you about it. 44:28 I got to show it to you. 44:30 And, but he was honest. 44:31 He said I was preaching on the Ten Commandments. 44:33 When I got to the Sabbath, 44:35 I honestly didn't understand it. 44:37 So the only thing I told my congregation was, 44:40 make sure you have an honest work ethic. 44:44 But I want to know about the Sabbath. 44:45 Well, he didn't win that debate. 44:47 But because he didn't, he realized something. 44:50 And he invited me back a number of times 44:52 to support his beliefs that we did have in common. 44:56 And he asked about Ellen White, 44:59 he asked about diet, he asked about jewelry. 45:02 And that was funny. It was an amazing experience. 45:04 His wife was right there 45:06 with all this jewelry on and he said, 45:08 tell me what you believe about jewelry. 45:10 What does the Bible teach about jewelry? 45:11 And I said, honestly, really, 45:13 your wife is sitting right there. 45:14 He said, my wife 45:16 and I don't agree on everything. 45:17 Just tell me what you think the Bible says. 45:19 And I revealed to him what the Bible says. 45:21 And then she got him back though. 45:23 She said, no. 45:24 I won't mention her name. 45:25 She said, we've got to go, you know, 45:27 because it's our anniversary. 45:28 It's our seventh anniversary. 45:30 And seven is God's number, remember that. 45:33 So she poked him back, 45:35 but I believe that there are sincere, 45:38 honest people that want to know and it's our responsibility. 45:41 First before we let our lights shine, 45:45 they will examine our fruit. 45:48 So we are fruit inspectors, 45:52 is that okay? 45:54 Not judges but fruit inspectors. 45:57 Let's not take that too far. 46:00 Okay, so write that down. 46:02 What's that question? 46:04 How can we know that a prophet is being 46:05 led by the Spirit of God? 46:07 Examine their fruits. 46:08 The fruit of the Spirit is, what? 46:10 Together love, joy, peace, 46:12 longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, 46:15 patience against such there is no law. 46:18 Look at what kind of Spirit they have. 46:19 I've met some sincere pastors. 46:22 Wonderful man that said, I didn't know that. 46:24 I could add to that list. 46:28 When I was in Northern California 46:29 and the Ministerial Association 46:31 would not let the Catholic priests become a part of it 46:33 because he said he's on with the system of Antichrist. 46:38 I would always visit with him 46:39 because he had the nicest attitude 46:40 out of all of those guys. 46:42 And we would laugh and together and his name was John. 46:44 I never call him Father John. 46:46 I call him John, he called me John. 46:48 But there are people that have a different Spirit 46:51 and it's not up to us to judge their Spirit, 46:53 but it's up to us to reveal our fruit. 46:57 Let's look at the next question. 46:59 Okay. 47:01 Okay, question number 23. 47:06 What promise has the Lord made 47:09 to those that follow His instructions? 47:13 What promise did the Lord... 47:15 What promise has the Lord made to those 47:17 that follow His instruction? 47:19 We're going to 2 Chronicles 20:20. 47:25 We're in the 2 Chronicles now. 47:27 My wife and I, 47:28 we started that last week 47:30 we're reading through the Bible together. 47:33 You ever see that people... 47:34 Some people read the Bible through in a year? 47:36 You won't remember anything? 47:38 It's too much to suck. 47:40 I mean, can you imagine 47:41 you just like flying, you on a race, 47:43 will take five years to read the Bible 47:45 through an year. 47:48 We did that, we did like 47:49 seven years we did the Bible. 47:51 And we can remember where we were 47:52 when we read certain parts of the Bible. 47:54 We remember our journeys on the road 47:55 when we were in certain parts of the Scripture and right now, 47:58 we're in 2 Chronicles. 47:59 So 2 Chronicles, 48:01 and what chapter are we in ours. 48:03 So we're in 2 Chronicles Chapter 4 48:04 in our own personal reading, but here we're 2 Chronicles 20, 48:09 and we're gonna begin with 48:14 verse 20. 48:16 All right, it says, 48:19 "So they arose 48:20 early in the morning and went out 48:22 into the Wilderness of" what? 48:25 "Tekoa, 48:28 and as they went out, 48:30 Jehoshaphat stood and said, 48:33 'Hear me, O Judah 48:37 and you inhabitants of Jerusalem.' 48:41 "Here it is now. 48:42 Let's read it together. 48:43 "Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be" what? 48:47 "Established, 48:48 believe His prophets, and you shall prosper." 48:51 What do we need to be established 48:54 and to prosper? 48:57 To believe. To believe. 48:59 To believe in the Lord, 49:01 to believe the words of His prophet. 49:03 Now the reason why this was shared 49:05 and let me give you the context is because when you go... 49:08 Let's go to Acts Chapter 7, okay. 49:11 Instead of giving it to you, let me show it to you. 49:15 Okay. 49:18 Acts Chapter 7, 49:20 and let's see, okay. 49:27 Acts Chapter 7 is a long chapter. 49:31 And I'm gonna go ahead 49:33 and just do something real quickly here. 49:36 It's a beautiful passage. 49:38 As you arrange and I got to Acts A-C-T 7 49:43 and you'll see here that this is the stoning of Stephen. 49:51 Okay, good. I have it here. 49:53 So let's look at Acts 7 49:56 and verse 52. 50:03 Stephen is on a roll. 50:06 And he is referring to prophet after prophet 50:10 after prophet after prophet. 50:13 And then he gets down to verse 52. 50:15 And the reason why Jehoshaphat said 50:18 what he did is because this was the constant pattern 50:21 among the Jewish leaders. 50:24 Those who were in rebellion, 50:25 they didn't want to listen to the prophet. 50:27 Look at verse 52. 50:32 Well, verse 51, 50:33 we got to add that in for extra credit. 50:35 You stiff necked 50:37 and uncircumcised in heart and ears. 50:40 Now you know why he said uncircumcised in heart and ears 50:42 because they always focused on circumcision. 50:44 But he said, guys, 50:46 your heart and your ears are not circumcised. 50:49 That means something's blocking your function. 50:52 Then he says, you always resist who? 50:56 The Holy Spirit as your fathers did 51:00 so do you. 51:01 So now you know what he's saying. 51:03 The Holy Spirit was working on your fathers, 51:05 they resisted him. 51:07 You're doing the same thing. 51:08 And what did he say they were guilty of. 51:11 Verse 52. 51:12 Which of the prophets did your fathers not, what? 51:15 Persecute and they killed those 51:19 who foretold of the coming of the just one 51:22 of whom you now have become the betrayers 51:26 and murderers, 51:29 who have received the law by the direction of angels 51:34 and have not kept it. 51:35 In other words, God has done so much, 51:37 He gave you exclusive rights to the law, 51:40 but you wouldn't even keep it. 51:41 And the prophecy sent to you, what did you do? 51:43 You persecuted them. 51:46 So when you read 2 Chronicles 20:20, 51:49 the issue was the same problem 51:53 that Stephen said the church had, 51:54 where the fathers had, 51:56 that's exactly what Jehoshaphat is talking about. 51:58 If you would simply, 51:59 you believe the Lord, but believe His prophets too. 52:04 And that's why between Malachi and Matthew, 52:06 the Lord was silent. 52:07 He spoke through no prophets 52:09 until the next one came. 52:12 Who was the next one that came after? 52:18 Say it. 52:19 John the Baptist. 52:21 See, Xenia is whistling those words out tonight. 52:23 It was John the Baptist. 52:26 Quiet from the Prophet Malachi, 52:27 the very next one was John the Baptist, 52:30 and he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. 52:33 He came loud and bombastic, 52:37 which you need to be loud 52:38 when you're proclaiming the coming of the Lord. 52:43 No amens necessary. 52:46 And by the way, this is really amazing. 52:48 Today our devotion in the book, Oswald Chambers, 52:50 My Utmost for His Highest 52:52 was about listening to the voice of the Lord 52:55 and was amazing. 52:56 Oswald Chambers, he was saying, I won't give the date 52:58 because I don't want to date the program. 53:00 But he was saying that 53:01 many people would rather listen to a minister 53:04 than listen to the voice of God. 53:06 Because they listen to the voice of man 53:08 and what the man says they think of it as optional. 53:11 But when God speaks directly, they know it's mandatory. 53:15 So the problem today he uses Samuel as the example. 53:18 He said, Samuel said, speak Lord for, what? 53:22 Your servant hears. 53:23 So he says, we must get to the point 53:24 where we tune our ears to hear God's voice, 53:28 not just the voice of man. 53:30 So many pastors feel like their hands are handcuffed, 53:34 because we're proclaiming what God has said 53:36 just like Moses, and Elijah, and Noah, 53:39 and the people think of it sometimes as optional. 53:42 But if God came down 53:44 and said it was like man instant response. 53:46 And He is gonna come down one day. 53:48 He says, His voice this time is not gonna shake the earth, 53:51 but the heavens also. 53:53 And what a voice? What a voice? 53:56 So we have to get used to hearing God's voice. 53:58 So what's the prophets? 53:59 What's the promise that God has made? 54:01 Believe in the Lord and believe in His what? 54:03 In His prophets for establishment 54:06 and for prosperity, prosperity. 54:09 And I tell you through the gift of Ellen White, 54:12 the church has been become so prosperous. 54:15 The servant of the Lord, 54:17 the church has become so prosperous. 54:19 Even Paul Harvey did a commentary 54:23 on this woman 54:24 who was a way ahead of her time medically. 54:29 And then also Time magazine did an article. 54:32 They entitled it 54:34 the woman that was 100 years ahead of her time 54:36 and Time magazine, 54:38 which at that time was a Catholic owned magazine. 54:40 They said if she was right on so many things, 54:43 what else can she be right on? 54:45 The Lord had blessed her wonderfully 54:47 with the gift of His Holy Spirit, 54:50 the gift of prophecy. 54:52 Let's go on to the next question. 54:54 Question number 24. 54:56 See if we could, 54:57 how any more we can get in here. 54:58 Question number 24. 55:02 Okay, here it is. 55:05 How do we know 55:07 that the gift of prophecy is still active? 55:12 How do we know 55:13 that the gift of prophecy is still active? 55:15 And we're gonna 1 Corinthians12:28, 55:21 when the Lord established the New Testament Church, 55:23 the Apostle Paul now to the Corinthian believers 55:26 he's establishing God's... 55:30 He's establishing God's offices that he wanted the church 55:32 to have to function. 55:34 Every church needs functioning offices. 55:38 Like any organization 55:39 the church needs functioning offices. 55:41 And God gave ecclesiastical authority to the church. 55:44 But for that authority to be effective, 55:46 He told them what the church needed. 55:48 Look at 1 Corinthians 12:28, here it is. 55:52 "And God appointed these in the church," 55:55 let's read it together "first," what? 55:57 Prophet. Second, what? 55:59 I mean "first apostles, second prophets, third," what? 56:02 "Teachers," all right. 56:04 And then also "after that miracles," 56:06 then what else? 56:08 "Gift of healings," what else? 56:09 Helps, what else? 56:11 "Administrations" and what else? 56:13 "Variety of tongues." 56:14 Varieties of tongues, that means various languages. 56:17 So notice what else, you never... 56:19 I mean, why don't people say, 56:21 oh, I'm praying for the Lord to give me the gift of helps. 56:28 Because people want the gift of tongues 56:30 which doesn't require any actions at all. 56:33 But the church needs the gift of helps. 56:35 Help me somebody. Amen. 56:37 Am I right? The church needs help. 56:39 The Lord needs help. 56:41 Pray that the Lord of the harvest 56:42 will send forth laborers in the field. 56:44 The harvest is ripe but the laborers are few. 56:46 The church needs what? Help. 56:49 And the Lord has given the gift of helps. 56:51 Not only that, administration. 56:53 When somebody says 56:54 that they don't want to be a part of an organized church, 56:56 they're rejecting that gift. 56:58 Because the Lord has given the gift of administration. 57:01 Administration is necessary, isn't it? 57:03 Am I right? Am I right? 57:05 Administration is business. 57:09 David the Psalmist says, 57:10 "Do not handle the Lord's business slothfully, lazily." 57:15 Administration is there so the church can function 57:19 as it's supposed to function. 57:20 That's why I'm praising Lord about the way 57:22 the Adventist church is established. 57:24 I mean, accountability at every level, 57:25 administration, 57:27 and praise the Lord but not only that, 57:31 apostles, those carry the gospel, prophets. 57:34 We have teachers, 57:35 largest educational institution, 57:36 but not only that, of education teachers, 57:38 but those teaching the Word of God. 57:40 Miracles, 57:41 many examples of miracles happening around the world. 57:44 Gifts of healings, helps, 57:46 administration and varieties of tongues. 57:49 And I tell you it's really so sad 57:50 that our lesson is ending. 57:52 But I tell you, we're gonna continue in this lesson 57:54 on our next program, 57:56 and we encourage you to continue studying 57:58 because one day it will come into 58:00 A Sharper Focus. 58:02 God bless. Where did the time go? |
Revised 2019-05-06