Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL150014A
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00:01 Hello friend, grab your Bible and a friend
00:02 and sit back as we explore God's word 00:04 together on this edition of House Calls. 00:25 Welcome to House Calls, 00:27 the place where Bible's are open 00:29 and we're praying hearts are also open. 00:33 Welcome to spiritual excursion through a book that's so deep, 00:36 if we don't have one Holy Spirit dare 00:38 we will drown. 00:40 So what are we going to do? 00:41 We're going to pray for the Lord to prove us 00:44 against everything that can consume us 00:46 and we're going to try to share with you 00:48 what God has in store for you today. 00:49 But it's always good to do this with my friend 00:52 who shares the passion and the name. 00:54 That's right. Good to have you here, John. 00:55 Hey, brother. 00:57 How is it going? 00:58 You know our wives, when we're with our wives 00:59 we don't call each other John, 01:01 he calls himself Coolidge and I call myself... 01:03 Parker. Parker. 01:04 So I don't use those names, those are exclusive. 01:07 But we're glad you have chosen to tune 01:08 into this dynamic program 01:11 where the word of God is alive. 01:13 And we have been saying this lately, 01:16 we have chosen not to be politically correct. 01:18 So thank you for accepting the fact 01:20 that it's going to be undiluted straight from the board of God. 01:24 We're going to get some questions and comments 01:25 in a moment before we do any of that, 01:28 John is going to have prayer for us. 01:29 Okay, let's do that. 01:31 Father in heaven, 01:33 again, we come before you seeking your blessing 01:35 and that blessing is the Holy Spirit to fill us, 01:39 to change our minds our hearts to bring us into harmony 01:43 with your word and your will. 01:45 And we pray, Lord, that you would take over this program 01:47 and that you would infect the lives of all 01:51 who are listening to it and viewing it. 01:53 May we encourage and strengthen the brethren 01:56 and we encourage and lift up our sisters in Christ 01:59 through the program that we have set for us today. 02:02 In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. 02:07 Many of you come up with questions and comments 02:09 and you send them to us, here they are. 02:12 And the e-mail that appears on your screen is the place 02:14 that you can portal those to us, housecalls@3abn.org. 02:18 That's housecalls@3abn.org, 02:22 and we surely do appreciate not only your questions 02:25 but your prayers, your comments, 02:27 and your financial support of this network. 02:31 You know the Lord has no lack 02:33 when it comes to financial support. 02:35 But as my good friend, and founder, 02:37 and president of 3ABN says, Danny Shelton, 02:40 "God has no shortage of money, it's just in your pocket." 02:44 So pray for the Lord not only to open your hearts 02:46 but remember, but remember us monthly, 02:48 so that programming like this can continue. 02:52 Now, John, what is our first question for today? 02:54 Well, this question is coming from Virginia, 02:57 and she is really been struggling with something 02:59 that's going on in her family and it may be something 03:03 that others have dealt with before. 03:05 Maybe not exactly the same thing but... 03:09 but something else. 03:10 And so I'm going to just read part of the question here, 03:13 it's a long one but I'll read part of it 03:15 and then we can share a few thoughts with her 03:16 to encourage her. 03:19 She's from South Africa, and she says that, 03:23 "As an Adventist and raising her son, 03:25 I guess to be one as well, 03:26 that he finally he decided to almost four years ago now, 03:31 he decided one day to marry a Muslim." 03:34 And it says that, 03:36 she's worried about certain verses in the Bible 03:38 that could mean that she will be judged or destroyed 03:40 because she allowed her son to marry this woman. 03:45 And doesn't talk much about what their life is now 03:48 but, she just feeling a lot of anxiety 03:50 about that here of late. 03:52 And she mentions Deuteronomy 7:3, 03:55 so I'll read that here just so we can get some context 03:57 as to what she's thinking about. 03:58 She says, talk about 7:3, 04:02 which says this "Nor shall you make marriages with them," 04:06 speaking of the other nations around Israel, 04:10 "Don't make marriages with them. 04:11 You shall not give your daughter to their son, 04:13 nor take their daughter for your son. 04:16 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, 04:18 to serve other gods 04:20 so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you 04:23 and destroy you suddenly." 04:24 So she's taking this as something 04:29 that is occurring, possibly occurring in her life. 04:35 And I want to encourage Virginia 04:37 that that is not in fact the case. 04:40 What this is speaking about specifically 04:41 is this practice back then of nations 04:45 marrying off their wives or their daughters 04:47 and their sons to other nations to bring peace agreements. 04:50 And it's a deliberate intention of the parents 04:53 to engage in this connection with somebody 04:57 outside of their family to bring about peace or harmony 05:00 between the two. 05:02 And this is not what's going on here. 05:04 I don't see anywhere that Virginia was, 05:07 in some intentional act of making sure 05:10 that her son was marrying outside of their faith 05:12 as being Seventh-day Adventist or being Christian. 05:17 The Christians marrying Muslims will bring challenges 05:20 because we both have different ideas, 05:23 different perspectives, different words of God. 05:28 And I think that she is probably 05:31 torn up a bit about that 05:32 because she's seeing maybe some of the results 05:34 of that relationship coming together. 05:36 And it says here, the reason you don't do this 05:38 they will lose their faith, 05:40 essentially is what Moses is writing here 05:43 and what God is telling Moses here in Deuteronomy Chapter 7. 05:47 Okay. 05:49 It also says in the New Testament 05:50 that, we should not be unequally yoked. 05:53 And so the principle there 05:55 is that we should not open ourselves up to marriage 06:00 that has two different fleece, two different religions 06:03 that will bring just disharmony into the marriage. 06:08 Plus, it will inevitably cause the one 06:10 that has a true faith in God to lose that faith 06:13 and to fall into the error of the other 06:16 or maybe just lose their faith in God altogether. 06:18 And so I would suggest this, Virginia, pray for your son, 06:24 and pray for his wife, and their family. 06:28 The Lord has a way of restoring 06:31 what sometimes we think 06:33 a situation that is hopeless is. 06:36 And so God can bring 06:39 a true faith back into that home 06:41 but they do need prayer, 06:43 and so make sure you're praying. 06:44 But don't wallow in this sense 06:49 of maybe you're going to be judged or condemned for this. 06:51 What was described in Deuteronomy 7, 06:54 as making sure that God was, 06:55 that that Israelis were not doing this. 06:58 It's not something you did intentionally. 07:00 We have to be very careful 07:02 in how we relate to our children, 07:06 especially when they get to a certain age. 07:07 John, I have seen situations 07:10 where parents have been so strict 07:12 and so overbearing on their kids to do the right thing 07:16 that it can actually drive their children away from God. 07:19 And so I think you have to be careful of doing that as well. 07:22 Our kids reach a certain age 07:24 where they do have to make decisions for themselves. 07:26 The best thing we can do is train up a child 07:28 in the way that we want them to go 07:30 and if they choose a different path at some point 07:33 we need to be praying for them so that the Bible, 07:35 the Bible says, they will return to God 07:38 later in life, that that will happen. 07:40 And so that's what I encourage you to do, Virginia. 07:43 There are a couple of other verses also, John. 07:45 Thank you for your response to Virginia. 07:49 But there are a couple of other verses I want to use 07:51 to be able to encourage you, Virginia, 07:53 because what we have to also keep in mind in this sense 07:56 is as John explain the context of that verse, 07:59 the content was the most important part of the verse. 08:01 Yes. 08:02 What the agreements were between nations, 08:04 and that's what they were talking about to bring 08:06 peace accord, peace agreements, 08:08 peace agreement, stronger economies. 08:09 The Lord said, "Don't do that, I could bless you. 08:12 You don't have to go down that route." 08:13 But let me also give you this passage, 08:15 in Ezekiel 18:19-20. 08:19 Really wonderful passages that shows 08:22 that each person is in fact responsible 08:24 for his or her own decisions. 08:27 Yet, you say, let me go and get the context here. 08:31 "Yet you say, why should the son 08:33 not bear the guilt of the Father, 08:35 because the son has done what is lawful and right. 08:38 And has kept all my statutes and observe them, 08:41 he shall surely live. 08:43 The soul who sins shall die. 08:46 The Son shall not bear the guilt of the Father, 08:50 nor the father bear the guilt of the son. 08:53 The righteousness of the righteous 08:55 shall be upon himself 08:57 and the wickedness of the wicked 08:59 shall be upon himself." 09:01 And John, everybody has to give an account 09:03 for their own decisions. 09:04 You can say, you better marry us, you know, 09:06 you better marry that. 09:09 People look for these decisions 09:10 and they will bear the responsibility 09:13 of their own decisions. 09:14 So that's what it says here, 09:16 father is not going to bear the guilt of the son, 09:19 and the mother is not going to be bear the guilt of the Son 09:22 or the mother bear the guilt of the daughter 09:24 or the daughter bear the guilt of the mother or the father. 09:27 Its clearly saying, relationally, 09:29 your children are responsible for their decisions, 09:32 you are responsible for your decisions. 09:35 It's your influence 09:37 that you have to pray about that doesn't lead them. 09:39 That's why the Bible says, train up a child in the way 09:41 they should go 09:42 and when they are old they won't depart from it. 09:44 If you say to your child when they're young, 09:45 it doesn't really matter who you marry, 09:47 then you do bear some responsibility. 09:49 But ultimately, it's their decision to go forward 09:52 and decide, this is what I want my life to be, 09:55 and they will be are the guilt of that. 09:57 And keep in mind, 09:58 the culture back then was arranged marriages. 10:00 Of fully. 10:01 So when it says, don't give your children, 10:04 your daughters or sons too another nation or someone, 10:08 a family that serves other Gods, 10:10 it's talking about the contents of arranged marriages. 10:13 And I'm presuming that here, 10:15 it was not a written arranged situation 10:17 where she was giving her son 10:19 because that doesn't sound like 10:21 something that happens in South Africa, 10:23 to another family deliberately as an act. 10:26 And so I like what you said in the beginning, 10:28 context is everything when you're reading a passage, 10:30 you can't just make this blanket statement 10:32 across all cultures and times. 10:36 Another one, Ezekiel 14:14, 10:39 "Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, 10:43 they would deliver only themselves 10:46 by their righteousness." 10:48 And also verse 15, it's the long, verse 16, 10:54 "Even though these three men were in it, 10:55 as I live," Ezekiel 14:16. 10:58 "As I live, says the Lord God, 11:00 they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, 11:05 only they would be delivered, 11:07 and the land would be desolate." 11:09 So you have to keep in mind, 11:12 each of us is accountable for our own position 11:15 before the Lord. 11:17 So don't allow that guilt or that decision 11:19 that your son has made 11:21 to marry someone of a different faith 11:23 or different belief system all together. 11:25 Don't take that guilt upon your own children. 11:28 Here's a question, 11:33 "I was listening to your show on Tuesday night 11:37 and there was a question from someone saying, 11:40 'Is hell real and will we really burn forever and ever?' 11:45 It was rather interesting, however, 11:48 I have a question according to Revelation 20. 11:50 What is the second death?" 11:53 And also they add, 11:55 "If Haiti is referred to as hell, 11:59 then what is death? 12:01 Is death to grave? 12:03 For it's said both hell and death 12:05 were thrown into the lake of fires. 12:08 What is the lake of fire? I don't understand. 12:11 Is the Bible referring to three different distinct places 12:14 the grave, hell, and the lake of fire?" 12:17 And so that question is that, 12:19 let's first start with the first one. 12:22 "Is hell real and will we really burn forever and ever?" 12:27 John, recently on the news, on CNN I saw 12:30 one of the presidential candidates, 12:34 his faith was being made publicly known. 12:39 And CNN said, as they listed his beliefs, 12:42 speaking about a Seventh-day Adventist as, Dr. Ben Carson, 12:45 the second thing they said about him is, 12:47 about Seventh-day Adventist, they don't believe in hell. 12:50 And I thought, that's not true, that's not true. 12:56 We believe in a hotter hell 12:58 than the rest of the Christian world. 13:00 That's right. 13:01 We believe in hell so realistically. 13:03 Let me go and give you a couple of passages in the Bible. 13:05 First, let's go to Malachi. Malachi. 13:09 We believe in a hot, hot, hot hell. 13:13 A hell that is so hot 13:16 that it doesn't leave anything that is thrown into it. 13:20 All right, look at Malachi 3, 13:23 Malachi 4 beginning with verse 1, 13:28 "For behold, the day is coming, 13:32 burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, 13:36 all who do wickedly will be stubble. 13:40 And the day which is coming shall burn them up, 13:43 says the Lord of host, 13:46 that will leave them neither root nor branch." 13:51 There's gonna be quite a fire. 13:53 The fire that's coming here 13:56 is not for the purpose of burning up cotton 13:59 and spider webs. 14:00 This gonna burn up everything 14:02 leaving them neither root nor branch. 14:04 Jesus also made the statement, 14:05 if there's a root and branch showing 14:08 that the Devil and those he has influence, 14:11 those he had influence will all be consumed together. 14:15 One of the questions, John, 14:16 that so many people don't ask themselves, 14:17 those who believe in this eternal burning idea. 14:20 But they apply that to people 14:22 but I deny and infused the question 14:23 and I'll do the same now. 14:26 Is the devil gonna be destroyed? 14:27 And the answer is... 14:29 Sure. Yes, of course. 14:31 Ezekiel 28 makes it clear. 14:33 "The Lord says, 14:34 he will bring fire forth from the midst of him 14:37 and consume him on the earth, 14:39 in the sight of all those who know him." 14:41 The devil is going to be destroyed. 14:42 Now, if you have no roots 14:47 can you have fruits? 14:50 Absolutely not. 14:51 And the Bible says, 14:52 "I will leave them neither root nor branch." 14:56 So if the roots of the tree, if the fire is so hot 15:00 that it consumes the roots of the tree, 15:02 I can guarantee you, there will be no branches. 15:06 The devil, the root of evil, 15:07 those who have accepted his claw, his lies, 15:09 the branches of evil, 15:12 all both will be consumed together. 15:17 Anything you want to comment on before we go on? 15:18 Well, I was thinking about the statement 15:20 that was made there on CNN that we don't believe in hell. 15:23 And I think in some ways it's true 15:26 because we don't believe in a place called hell 15:30 that is burning now that people go to. 15:33 But they don't qualify that way. 15:34 Right, they didn't qualify that way. 15:36 But we would say that the Bible doesn't support 15:38 a place of hell, it supports the event of hell, 15:40 which is hell fire that comes down from heaven 15:43 that burns everybody up at one point in time 15:45 after the thousand years. 15:47 It's not burning now, it's not a place 15:48 where everybody is burning now, 15:50 that is where we would disagree with our evangelical friends 15:54 in their assessment of how they read 15:57 you know, hell, what's happening. 15:58 In fact, John, you don't go to certain, 16:01 you don't go to funerals 16:05 where someone was a bad character, 16:08 yet, the family wants a funeral in the church. 16:11 And have that pastor stand up and say, 16:14 "Well, Fred wasn't a great guy, 16:20 and right now we can be confident of one thing, 16:22 he is in the fires of hell suffering day in and day out." 16:27 You just don't hear that. No, you don't. 16:30 But that's the reality of what they believe, 16:32 they do believe it. 16:34 But the Bible says that they will rest in the grave, 16:37 both the wicked and the righteous, 16:40 when they die, they rest in the grave. 16:42 The righteous to come up at the second coming of Jesus 16:44 in the resurrection, to be called up in the air 16:47 and to go to heaven with him for thousand years. 16:49 The dead not living any longer, 16:50 not raised until after the thousand years, 16:53 then they are raised to judgment and then hell fire. 16:57 That's hell right then, 16:59 which is fire coming down out of heaven 17:01 and burning everything up including, 17:04 and here's a better picture of God. 17:07 The fire is designed to burn the wicked up 17:10 but its intention is to get rid of sin. 17:13 Right. 17:15 God's intention is to destroy sin forever, 17:17 they have held on to that sin. 17:20 God will burn that sin but it burns them as well, 17:23 but it also purifies the effects of sin 17:25 on the earth. 17:26 And then immediately on the heels of that we watch, 17:29 the righteous watch and God recreates the earth anew. 17:32 That's right. 17:33 So that is the intention of hell fire. 17:36 We get this, you know, I think sometimes, 17:38 evangelicals are so concerned with giving up 17:44 this idea of motivating the wicked 17:47 to give their hearts to God through fear. 17:51 That if you don't give your hearts to the Lord now, 17:53 if you don't confess your sins and follow God, 17:55 you're going to burn in the fires of hell 17:57 forever and ever and ever. 17:58 And as if that's the kind of motive we need to serve God, 18:01 as if he's a torturer to keep people alive 18:04 to suffer for eternity. 18:05 That is not the picture of God that we find here. 18:08 And so we really agree in the sense 18:12 that there is no place of hell now, 18:14 but we disagree 18:16 with the evangelical view of hell. 18:17 That's right. 18:18 So that's the statement I would add to this, 18:21 and I think it's an important one. 18:24 The other thing that we have to keep in mind 18:25 in continual answer to this question, 18:29 Psalms 37:9-11, 18:35 "For evildoers shall be cut off, 18:40 but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. 18:44 For yet a little while 18:45 and the wicked shall be no more, 18:47 indeed, you will look diligent for his place 18:50 but it shall be no more. 18:53 But the meek shall inherit the earth, 18:56 and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." 19:01 That abundance of peace, 19:04 whenever my wife and I go anywhere together 19:06 and we go to these cities 19:08 that are just discombobulate with traffic 19:10 and the horns honking, you know we say, 19:15 "Can't wait to get back to Thompsonville. 19:18 Can't wait to get back to where it's quiet. 19:21 Oh, we're just so tired of this traffic. 19:23 Oh, It's just hectic." 19:25 And it's just like a rat race and somebody, 19:28 I remember years ago, somebody once said, 19:30 "Even if you win the race 19:32 you're still a rat in the rat race." 19:35 And so we think about these 19:37 who are connected in the sense of the righteous 19:42 will long enjoy the abundance of peace. 19:45 So will the wicked be burning forever and ever? 19:48 Absolutely not. 19:50 Roman 6:23, let's repeat that together, 19:53 "The wages of sin is death. 19:55 The gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." 19:59 The main reason why the wicked cannot burn forever, 20:01 the main reason why they will never burn forever, 20:04 as they don't have eternal life. 20:06 Only the righteous have eternal life. 20:08 The righteous receive something eternal, 20:10 that's a life. 20:12 The wicked receive a life sentence 20:14 that eternal death. 20:17 They receive the death sentence, 20:18 eternal death, not eternal burning. 20:22 Okay, and so don't fret yourself 20:25 because of evil doers as the Bible says, 20:26 "Soon they shall be cut off 20:28 like the grass and wither as the greener, 20:30 you will look for them and they won't be found." 20:33 Psalm 37:1. 20:35 Buddy, you had another question there, John. 20:37 You want to register anything or you want to wind up on that. 20:40 No, I think we wind up on that note, 20:41 because it will give us a little more time. 20:42 This is just a single program on this topic, 20:45 and it'll give us enough time to cover it. 20:47 Sounds good, sounds good. 20:49 For those of you who are listening to the program 20:51 or watching have any questions, you can send us questions 20:53 to this following e-mail address 20:55 and this is our portal to you and your portal to us 20:59 that is, housecalls@3abn.org. 21:02 That's housecalls@3abn. 21:05 And we surely do appreciate everything you do 21:07 for the cause of God and for the word of God 21:11 going forward undilutedly. 21:14 John, what's our topic as we wind up 21:16 this second our second half of the program, 21:19 speaking about what? 21:20 Well, we're going to talk about the role of the Holy Spirit 21:23 in the converted life. 21:25 Okay. 21:26 So we're not going to get involved in defining 21:29 or at least showing that the Holy Spirit exist, 21:34 you know, the person of the Holy Spirit 21:36 all these things that sometimes are in conflict today 21:39 that people are discussing with in Christendom today. 21:41 What we're gonna talk about is 21:43 when a man or woman gives their life to Jesus, 21:46 the promise of the Holy Spirit comes into them, converts them, 21:50 what does that look like. 21:52 And then their life is forever changed. 21:55 And what is the role then of the Holy Spirit 21:57 not only in conversion, 21:58 but in that life going forward, the sanctified life. 22:01 So we're gonna talk about 22:03 the Holy Spirit in that aspect today. 22:04 All right. 22:05 I think we ought to start with verse John 14. 22:08 Let's go there. 22:10 Because that's the promise of the Holy Spirit, 22:12 that's probably the most well known passage 22:14 for this topic. 22:17 Okay, go for it. 22:19 Let's see. 22:21 Fifteen and sixteen? Yeah. 22:22 Jesus is meeting with the disciples 22:27 here in the upper room 22:28 prior to his trial and crucifixion. 22:32 And in fact, five chapters 13 through 17 22:36 cover the upper room experience. 22:37 Okay. 22:38 And so this is where he's letting them know, 22:40 he's basically commissioning his disciples 22:43 to carry on the work that he began. 22:46 And that's why you'll find in verse 12, 22:52 where he says, "I say to you, he who believes in me, 22:54 the works that I do he will do also 22:57 and greater works than these he will do, 22:59 because I go to my father." 23:00 So he's basically saying, I started the works, 23:02 I did some works but now you're going to carry it on 23:04 and you going to do much greater works in number 23:07 because I go to my Father. 23:08 And how will you do those works 23:10 are described in the next few verses number. 23:13 Number verse 13 and 14 23:15 talk about asking the Lord for help with that, 23:20 and though that the works that you may be glorified, 23:22 it says, in the son. 23:25 If you love me keep my commandments. 23:27 In other words, you order your life in harmony with mine 23:29 and my principles as given in the Ten Commandments. 23:31 But then here comes the promise of their helper, verse 16, 23:35 "And I will pray the Father, 23:37 and He will give you another helper, 23:41 that he may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, 23:45 whom the world cannot receive, 23:46 because it neither sees him nor knows him, 23:48 but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 23:52 I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you." 23:55 So Christ comes into the life 23:57 through the presence of the Holy Spirit 23:59 and he says, to the disciples, ask for the Holy Spirit. 24:03 That's right. 24:05 Ask for me to pour out 24:06 the blessing of the Holy Spirit into your life, 24:08 because I know that without the Holy Spirit in you 24:11 there can be no conversion. 24:14 And conversion is simply a transformation of the heart 24:16 and its desires to incline them toward God 24:19 and not to the world. 24:20 That's right. That's to convert. 24:21 So the Holy Spirit can be placed in you to convert you 24:24 and to change your life nor will you have the power 24:27 to live the life that I've given you 24:29 do you want to do the works without giving you to do. 24:30 Right. 24:32 Holy Spirit needs to be in you to do that. 24:33 Okay. 24:34 In John 16, one of the other, 24:39 there are important components I believe to this study is, 24:43 when Jesus says, "However 24:45 when the Spirit of truth has come, 24:48 he will guide you into all truth, 24:50 for he will not speak on his own authority 24:52 but whatever he hears he will speak 24:56 and he will tell you things to come. 24:59 He will glorify me 25:01 for he will take of what is mine 25:03 and declare to you." 25:06 Very important point here, 25:07 a lot of people today exalt the Spirit of God, 25:10 the Holy Spirit, 25:11 but the Holy Spirit's work is to exalt Jesus, 25:15 exalt Christ to not say, 25:17 we must pray for the and filling of the Spirit. 25:20 But what is it life eternal 25:23 that we might know the only true God 25:25 and Jesus Christ whom he sent. 25:27 The active power, the active agent, 25:30 the third person of the Godhead 25:32 the Holy Spirit is the one that comes into our lives 25:36 and works not only on us... 25:39 Let me just put this equation together, 25:41 I like the way I say this. 25:43 First, he works on us, 25:45 when we accept Jesus then the Spirit works in us 25:49 so that later on he can work through us. 25:52 And so that's a process, he's working on me. 25:54 People Say, and you know 25:56 the Bible talks about conversion. 25:57 It's like the wind that blows, you don't know 25:59 where the wind sort of blowing, where it's going, 26:00 where it's headed, but you see the impact of it. 26:03 And the change of life I think 26:05 is one of the greatest evidences of the presence, 26:07 and power, and the indwelling 26:09 sufficiency of God's Holy Spirit. 26:12 You know sometimes I think, 26:14 and this is what we're trying to give us 26:15 the biblical view of the Holy Spirit 26:17 in the life of the believers, 26:19 the one that is given themselves 26:20 to Christ to be his disciple. 26:23 Or to be that one 26:26 who is walking with God day-by-day 26:30 and Jesus does that through the power of his Spirit. 26:33 But I think sometimes it boils down to within Christianity, 26:37 this physical manifestation. 26:39 Something has to make you feel different. 26:42 You know, you see the slayings in the spirit 26:45 and the speaking in tongues, 26:46 the manifestation of the Spirit. 26:48 And the other things that make you feel different. 26:50 I was in this meeting one time, it made me very uncomfortable. 26:54 There was a man who said that, 26:55 "We're now going to have ministry time 26:59 for the Holy Spirit." 27:00 I said, "Well, what's that?" 27:02 And so they said, "Everybody stand up, 27:03 close your eyes." 27:05 And he proceeded to talk about 27:07 to invite the Holy Spirit to come 27:09 and to reveal himself to those standing there. 27:15 And this was not those of, although, it was, 27:19 some who were in the Adventist Church, 27:21 they invited someone outside 27:22 to kind of bring their interpretation of this. 27:24 This is a different view a perspective 27:26 that is out there of the Holy Spirit. 27:28 But he was he was doing this, 27:30 and this lady was coming around, 27:32 this is before were Sharon and I were married. 27:34 Coming around and she stopped in front of me 27:37 and I'm sitting there, going, "Oh, boy, just please, 27:39 this event needs to end so I can get out of here, 27:42 " I was not comfortable. 27:44 And so then afterward, and I was praying, 27:46 "Lord, I don't want any of that weird stuff, 27:49 this is not what I'm into." 27:50 And so I was praying at the time. 27:53 So when we finished. 27:54 Usually, they expect some people to testify 27:57 to something that happened, and everyone was quiet. 28:01 He said, "Did no one sense anything?" 28:04 "No." 28:05 Then, yeah, because I'm praying my heart out, you know. 28:09 And then the girl, 28:10 because I was new to this group, 28:12 she picked on me. 28:13 She says, "I sense John, very warm. 28:16 He was very warm, he got very warm." 28:19 And I commented, I said, "Yeah, 28:21 because I was really kind of uncomfortable 28:23 and nervous about the whole thing." 28:26 What I'm saying with that story is that some people see 28:29 the Holy Spirit as something they can use 28:31 rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to use them. 28:34 Okay. 28:35 And that is the complete difference between what is true 28:38 about the Holy Spirit's ministry in our lives 28:42 and what is false 28:43 about the Holy Spirit's ministry in our life. 28:44 And, John, I know you have a place to go from here. 28:46 Well, you know, what people look for is the manifestation 28:50 of the Spirit. 28:51 You see, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit 28:53 was descended upon the disciples 28:55 and the cloven tongues as a fire equipped them 29:00 to now communicate to different cultures 29:02 in different languages. 29:03 And these people that heard the messages 29:05 they didn't hear gibberish, 29:07 they heard their own language, their own dialogue, 29:10 and that all the people are listed there. 29:13 But let me talk about the manifestation 29:15 of the spirit. 29:16 Go to 1 Corinthians 12, 29:19 the manifestation of the spirit. 29:22 People want to want to know 29:23 now there's the manifestation of the spirit 29:26 as the fruit of the spirit. 29:29 One comes before the other. 29:30 Let me just go ahead 29:32 and, one is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, 29:35 that's before when conversion comes the fruit 29:38 now are manifest 29:40 then the fruit are continually shown in preparation 29:44 for the for the gifts of the spirit. 29:47 All those could be considered manifestations 29:49 but in particular, 29:51 look at verse 7 of 1 Corinthians 12:7. 29:54 "But the manifestation of the Spirit 29:56 is given to each one for the profit of all." 30:00 So one when we pray for the spirit to manifest, 30:02 this is something you have to keep in mind 30:04 and I really, really want you to write this on your forehead 30:07 so when you look in the mirror you see it. 30:10 The manifestation of the spirit is not for personal benefit. 30:15 The only benefit you get 30:17 from the manifestation of the Spirit 30:18 is the power to live a godly life. 30:21 But that godly life is not to be a secluded life. 30:24 But when you ask for the spirit to give you something, 30:28 what he's going to give you 30:30 is the power to live a godly life. 30:32 As many as received him to them, 30:34 he gave power to become sons of God. 30:37 See, that's, that's a promise. 30:38 As many as received him. 30:40 I believe that John 1:12, as many as received Jesus, 30:45 to them he gave power to become sons of God, 30:47 and that power comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit. 30:50 But where we, where this whole Holy Spirit 30:53 achilles heal comes in 30:55 is not because of the work that spirit does 30:57 but because of what we ask for. 30:59 And as I'm reading Romans 12 here, 31:02 you have to keep this in mind. 31:04 Let me just go back a little bit 31:06 and just show you why this is important. 31:10 Okay. 31:12 Verse 4, 1 Corinthians 12, 31:16 "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. 31:22 There are differences of ministries, 31:24 but the same Lord. 31:28 There are diversities of activities, 31:30 but it is the same God who works all in all. 31:35 But the manifest, but, now notice here, 31:38 "gives ministries activities." 31:42 There's a, "but, the manifestation of the spirit 31:45 is given to each one for the profit of," how many? 31:49 "All." "For all of us." 31:51 Now go through the list, John, go down to verse 10. 31:54 Yeah, it says in verse 8, 31:56 "For to one is given the word of wisdom 31:57 through the Spirit, 31:59 to another the word of knowledge 32:00 through the same Spirit, 32:02 to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 32:04 to another the working of miracles, 32:06 to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, 32:09 to another different kinds of tongues, 32:11 to another the interpretation of tongues. 32:14 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, 32:17 distributing to each one individually as He wills." 32:20 Okay, so who decides? 32:22 The Holy Spirit decides. The Holy Spirit decides. 32:24 So when you pray, "I want tongues, 32:26 I want tongues." 32:28 That is not evidence 32:29 that the Spirit of God abides in your life. 32:30 The evidence of the Spirit of God 32:33 in your life is the fruits. 32:36 "By their fruits you will know them." 32:38 And by the way, in Galatians, when you read Galatians, 32:42 it didn't say, the fruits of the Spirit are, 32:44 says, the fruit of the Spirit, singular. 32:46 The vitamins in there, the vitamins are love, joy, 32:49 peace, longsuffering, generalist, meekness, patience. 32:52 You bite that fruit of the Spirit 32:54 and the same fruit of rebellion is now, 32:56 replaced by the food of the Spirit okay. 32:59 So... 33:00 Well, and the other big important part 33:02 about that is that the Holy Spirit manifests 33:05 for the purpose of communicating a blessing 33:09 or to encouragement for the profit of others, okay. 33:14 So, because that's what we started with here, 33:16 with verse 7. 33:17 The benefit. 33:19 So any of those things, being a word of knowledge, 33:21 a word of wisdom, discernment, 33:26 prophesy, and tongues, 33:28 all are for the benefit of ministering 33:32 to somebody else. 33:33 That's right. 33:34 So here's the thing, when you're praying 33:36 for the ability to speak in tongues 33:38 and you're on your own, 33:40 the likelihood of the Holy Spirit manifesting 33:43 that way is very, very low. 33:46 In fact, the prerequisite 33:48 for the manifestation of the spirit 33:51 in the gift of tongues is two people together 33:55 that aren't able to communicate in the same language. 33:58 That is the qualifier 34:00 for the imparting of the gift of tongues. 34:02 That's right. 34:04 If you are not speaking another language 34:06 with the person that you're trying to communicate to, 34:07 if you have can't communicate. 34:09 Then the possibility exists 34:11 that maybe tongues will be, given. 34:12 Right. 34:14 It only as the Holy Spirit wills. 34:16 But when we're there with English speaking people 34:18 and that's everybody speaks English, 34:20 there's not going to be a gift of tongues given. 34:22 You don't need it. That's right. 34:24 People think of it as somehow, some kind of a holy thing that, 34:28 "Oh, we got a language the devil can't understand." 34:32 Let me tell you something, there's a language 34:34 the Bible talks about that you don't have access 34:36 to only the Spirit of God does. 34:39 Look at Romans 8, look at Romans 8, 34:42 I want to show you a couple of things. 34:44 We're going to start with Romans 8 34:46 and 14 to 16, John, I want you to read that. 34:52 And then go down and read 26 down to 28, 14 to 16. 34:58 Okay. 35:00 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, 35:02 these are sons of God. 35:04 For you did not receive 35:05 the spirit of bondage again to fear, 35:07 but you received the Spirit of adoption 35:09 by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" 35:12 Okay, and verse 16. 35:13 "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit 35:16 that we are children of God," 35:19 Okay, the Holy Spirit and then our spirit. 35:23 Yeah. 35:24 Now let's get this, 35:25 there's a spiritual connection, spiritual things are... 35:30 Spiritually discerned. Spiritually discerned. 35:32 The Lord, we pray for the spirit of discernment, 35:36 so that when the Holy Spirit speaks to us we connect. 35:40 We pray for the spirit of discernments, 35:43 so that when the Holy Spirit speaks to us 35:45 there's a connection. 35:47 That's what that is talking about, 35:48 the spirit of discernment. 35:53 We don't discern based on our own intellectual knowledge, 35:56 we discern the work of the Spirit 35:58 through the spoken word of God. 36:00 Now let me tell you what I mean that, 36:02 you have to be very careful when people say, 36:05 "God spoke to me, " or "The Spirit spoke to me." 36:08 And you can't trace what they said 36:10 to the word of God to support it. 36:11 That's right. 36:13 Because that's how deception works. 36:14 Deception works when people, and this is the society 36:17 in which we have the, you know, the rhema word 36:20 or the they have the written word, 36:24 the spoken word, 36:26 and I think the other one is the manifested word. 36:29 So people say, "Oh, the Lord just said something to me" 36:32 and he speaks this to the entire congregation 36:34 and they go, "Wow." 36:37 And you have no evidence that that is from the Lord. 36:40 But when Spirit of God reveals to you 36:44 what God wants you to do you can always trace it back 36:46 to the word of God for support 36:48 and for evidentiary fact finding 36:50 that God is the one that actually has communicated this. 36:54 And you know what, in most cases in scripture 36:55 when someone has a word for somebody else, 36:58 god sends a prophet. 36:59 Right. 37:01 Most of the time the Lord is convicting 37:02 the heart of the one 37:04 that he's trying to communicate to directly, 37:06 through the Holy Spirit. 37:08 So if we need, as a follower of Christ, 37:11 if we need direction, listen to the Holy Spirit 37:14 through the word of God. 37:15 As you read the word of God, as you read your devotionals, 37:17 as you spend time with him, he will communicate to you 37:20 through His Spirit and through those things 37:22 you're reading, specially the word of God 37:24 what He wants you to do. 37:26 He doesn't need to send somebody else. 37:28 So that's I like what you said, 37:29 we got to be very careful with this, you know, 37:31 God told me to say, 37:32 so are you saying you're a prophet? 37:34 Right. Really? 37:35 What about what I measure your word with? 37:37 Now, on the other side, 37:39 if the Spirit of God convinces me. 37:42 Let me give you some wonderful examples, 37:44 there are people that have said, 37:47 you know, something impressed me 37:51 to turn the channel today. 37:54 And when I turned it, I was a blown way 37:57 because the very thing that was talked about today 38:01 is what I asked the Lord to review. 38:02 Let me give you a perfect living example. 38:04 I was down in the Bahamas, 38:09 and it was about a few years ago, 38:11 and I was walking through the Bahamas. 38:13 Somebody took us to this big old hotel called Atlantis. 38:17 And we were walking through because one of the guys there 38:19 that was a member of our church. 38:21 He said, "Hey, I want to show you 38:22 behind the scenes in the aquarium," 38:24 because you know everybody see's the aquarium, 38:26 behind the. 38:27 Let me take you to the nursery, behind the scenes. 38:30 So we're walking through the hallway 38:31 and in Atlantis, this big old hotel. 38:36 And a guy, as I'm walking past him, 38:39 he grabs my shoulder almost like the... 38:44 He said, "I cannot believe you're in my hotel." 38:49 "And who are you?" 38:51 He said, and he spoke of in the West Indian accent 38:54 and says, "Just yesterday," 38:57 he said, "I was watching you on 3ABN, 39:00 but just yesterday." 39:03 I said, "Lord, I want you to let me know 39:09 whether or not I need to go to the Adventist Church, 39:11 and here's what I want, if I can meet John Lomacang." 39:15 I am not kidding you, as God is my witness. 39:18 Yeah, wow. 39:19 What are the chances of me being, 39:21 he didn't even know I was in the Bahamas. 39:23 What are the chances that me being the day after 39:26 he asked that question the day before, 39:28 he said, and he was, so blown away, 39:30 he was like messed up. 39:32 He said, "I just," he said, 39:34 "I'm just trying to process this," 39:35 he's telling me. 39:37 "I'm trying to process this, because just yesterday," 39:39 and he said, I kind of did that 39:41 because I know that's kind of like 39:42 I was wrestling with what I'm hearing on 3ABN. 39:45 You know, sometimes you put these impossible fleece 39:47 that kind of say, "Well, God is not going to hear me." 39:50 Oh, after tomorrow passes then I'm cool. 39:52 God worked that man's heart over in that for you. 39:56 And I'm standing there, and the pastor who is with me. 39:59 The guy that the worked at the Atlantis, and my wife, 40:01 we all stand the amaze. 40:03 And all I could say to him was, 40:04 "So are you going to listen to God?" 40:06 That's all I said, "Are you going to listen to God?" 40:08 He said, "Man, this thing is messing me up." 40:11 He's saying this with his West Indies accent, 40:12 he had this like, one gold tooth in his right. 40:14 "This thing is messing me up 40:15 because I just ask God yesterday. 40:17 If you want me to go to the Adventist Church, 40:19 let me meet John Lomacang." 40:20 He said, "Man, I don't know what to do this thing," 40:22 I said, "Are you going to listen to God?" 40:24 And the pastor took his phone number 40:26 and we had a good, we could not stop talking about that 40:28 the rest of the day. 40:29 Now that's direct Holy Spirit. 40:32 There's nobody coming to him saying, 40:34 "God wants you to go to this church or that church." 40:36 He said, "Lord, if you want me to go. 40:38 Here's what I want you to do." That's the Gideon fleece. 40:41 And very well possible 40:42 that the Holy Spirit prompted him 40:43 to even ask for that... 40:45 Because, the Lord knew I was gonna be there. 40:46 He knew that you're gonna be there, that's right. 40:47 See that's powerful. 40:49 'Cause I was there a few days prior to meeting this guy, 40:51 and the Lord, that's and that's the kind of point 40:54 that you know God is all about. 40:55 That's right. 40:57 But here is what we have to bear in mind 40:58 also in Romans 8, 41:02 I'm gonna show you also that when you pray 41:04 there's no there's no kind of language 41:06 you can use to get through to God 41:07 or even speak the devil couldn't misunderstand 41:11 or the devil can understand. 41:12 But the Spirit is the one that does this speaking. 41:16 Look at Romans 1:26, Romans 1:26, 41:21 "Likewise the Spirit also helps 41:24 in our weaknesses. 41:28 For we do not know 41:31 what we should pray for as we ought," 41:34 Now get this prayer language, people say, 41:37 speak in tongues as a prayer language 41:39 and the Bible says, 41:40 you don't even know what you need to pray for. 41:42 But look at this, 41:44 "But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us 41:50 with," what John, say those last five words. 41:52 "Groanings which cannot be uttered." 41:55 Which means you can't do it. 41:57 Nor can you even ask for it. 41:59 You can do it, you can ask for it, 42:01 because is the work of the Spirit, 42:02 the Spirit is the one uttering. 42:03 And why does he do that, verse 27, 42:06 "Now He who searches the hearts," that's God, 42:11 "He who searches the hearts 42:12 knows what the mind of the Spirit is, 42:16 because He makes intercession 42:18 for the saints according to the will of God." 42:20 Now, get this. 42:21 The spirit takes our prayers, brings it to Jesus, 42:25 who brings it to the Father. 42:28 And the Spirit says, "Father, this is actually 42:31 what we're asking." 42:33 He takes our prayer that is all discombobulated 42:36 and out of whack because we don't, 42:38 when we pray, as James says, sometimes we ask amiss 42:42 that we may waste it on our own desires." 42:44 So even when we pray, sometimes we pray prayers 42:47 and the Lord says, "I heard what you said, 42:51 but I know what you need." 42:53 And the Lord, as I said to people, 42:55 when you put your plans before the Lord 42:56 if they don't come to pass, 42:58 put another plan, say, "Lord give me, tell me 43:00 what you want me to do." 43:02 But so let me just make the point 43:03 and transition to the next point in our study. 43:06 You don't pray for the gift of tongues 43:08 nor do you pray to be able to communicate 43:11 in a language that the devil doesn't understand. 43:14 Because let me tell you something, 43:15 if you understand it, he understands it. 43:17 The spirit is the only one that can communicate. 43:20 By knowing your heart, knowing the heart of God, 43:23 he will take your prayer and package it 43:25 so that it is acceptable before father, 43:27 before Christ who then conveys that to the Farther. 43:32 Yeah. That's an intermediary work. 43:34 Yeah. It's and it's, it's God's work. 43:37 I mean, we can't, we don't drive this process, 43:39 we can't use the Holy Spirit 43:40 the Holy Spirit works on and uses us. 43:43 And I know one of the things that. 43:45 Sometimes is separated a little bit 43:47 from the spirits work is obedience to God, 43:53 because the Holy Spirit never causes us to disobey. 43:58 He'll never tell you something, 44:00 and you already mentioned this before, 44:01 he'll never tell you to do something 44:03 or to respond in a way or to act in a way 44:05 that disagrees with the word of God. 44:07 It's always drive us to obey. That's right. 44:10 And we need to remember that, when we're listening, 44:14 when we're trying to understand what God is warning us to do, 44:17 don't rely on the, the feeling in your bosom. 44:21 Right, that's a... 44:22 The one fuzzy that tells you this is true, 44:26 you can't rely on that. 44:27 Right. 44:28 Because feelings can be deceptive, 44:31 you have to rely on the word of God. 44:32 So are you gonna read that text in Acts? 44:34 Read it, read it. 44:36 Acts 5, the statement John made 44:38 was a segue right to this verse, 44:41 in Acts 5:32, 44:44 "And we are His witnesses to these things, 44:48 and so also is the Holy Spirit," 44:52 get this now, "Whom God has given 44:55 to those who obey Him." 44:59 Why do you give a power like the Holy Spirit 45:02 to a disobedient person? 45:04 Yeah. 45:05 And that's why the command, 45:07 "If you love me keep my commandments 45:08 and I will pray the Father, 45:10 and He will send you another company or another helper." 45:12 Obedience is the prerequisite 45:14 for the power of the Spirit of God 45:17 to be working through you. 45:18 Yes. 45:19 Well, willingness to obey, 45:21 and then the power coming in and impressing us to obey, 45:24 and then giving us the power to obey... 45:25 That's right. 45:27 All those things aligned with obedience. 45:29 Can you say that again. 45:31 Yes, telling us what it is to obey. 45:34 Okay. 45:35 Impressing us with, 45:37 well, we have the power desire to obey, 45:39 impressing us with, with what obedience looks like. 45:41 in other words, desire to obey. 45:43 And then, what was the last one... 45:46 Giving us the power. Giving us the power to obey. 45:48 That's right. 45:49 So it's all not about us, it's all about what the Lord 45:52 is working in through our lives. 45:53 I don't want to go down a rabbit trail, 45:55 but some people ask you know, "Well, you know, 45:57 you see all these manifestations 45:58 of the Holy Spirit out there. 45:59 The people on TV, you know, they're healing people. 46:02 How do you know if that's right or wrong?" 46:04 And I always say, my answer usually is this, 46:07 "You know by what they say, you know by what they do, 46:11 because the Holy Spirit 46:13 will not bring that kind of power 46:14 into the life of someone 46:17 who is speaking against the truth, 46:20 who is speaking against what God's word is." 46:23 So I have to listen to what they say 46:25 and I discern by what they say, 46:26 and what they teach, and what they do 46:28 as to whether or not this is a true Holy Spirit 46:31 or a false manifestation of the Spirit. 46:33 And so a lot of times 46:34 what I'm seeing on their in these instant healings 46:36 and other things come from people 46:38 who speak against the word of God. 46:39 They're not speaking the truth. 46:41 And so I can say, 46:42 I can conclude very easily there 46:44 that that is not a true spirit of God 46:46 that is being manifested through their ministry, 46:48 it is a false spirit. 46:50 It is a false healing, false healing. 46:52 And that is probably the biggest indicator 46:55 of whether or not it is the Holy Spirit 46:58 in reality that is working through some gift 47:01 that someone says they have. 47:03 We've got a look as to how their life is lining up, 47:06 they are obedient to the Word of God, 47:08 if they're following the word of God, then you can say, 47:11 maybe even not yet with one 100 percent conclusion 47:13 but you can pretty much say, 47:15 "Yes, I believe that 47:16 this is the Holy Spirit moving in a right way." 47:19 That's why the Apostle John, 1 John 4:1, 47:24 he says, "Beloved, 47:26 do not believe every spirit but test the Spirit." 47:31 There you go. 47:32 "Whether they are of God," 47:34 because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 47:39 Test what they're saying. 47:41 By their fruits you will know them. 47:43 But you know there's another text, 47:45 you know the other text. 47:46 1 John 2:3-4, 47:48 1 John 2:3, 4, 47:50 "By this we do know that we know him 47:53 if we keep His commandments." 47:55 1 John 2:3. 47:56 Now 1 John 2:4, 47:59 "He who, says, 48:00 I know him and does not keep his commandments 48:03 is a liar and the truth is not in him." 48:06 That's not my word that's God's Word, 48:09 "By this we do know that we know him, 48:11 if we keep His commandments." 48:13 Isaiah 8:20, 48:15 "To the law and to the testimony, 48:17 if they speak not according to this word, 48:20 it is because there is no light in them." 48:24 I sure that was somebody here not too long ago John, 48:26 you know, the response I got from this individual is. 48:28 What? 48:29 "Well, Jesus commandments were different 48:32 than the Ten Commandments. 48:33 When he said Commandments 48:35 there were different commandments." 48:36 What do you get the support for that? 48:38 Exactly what I said, "What do you get that?" 48:40 I mean, Jesus even quotes, 48:43 from the Ten Commandments themselves. 48:45 How can you say it's a different commandments? 48:46 "No, that's the way it is 48:48 because he gave the commandments." 48:49 And one command he never gave was about the fourth, 48:52 the seventh-day being the Sabbath, 48:54 the fourth commandment. 48:55 I said, "Oh, actually yes, 48:56 he commented very specifically on that in Mark 2:27, 28." 48:59 That's right, Luke 4:16. 49:01 Anyway, so we have these ways, 49:03 this wrangling to get around obedience, 49:06 but obedience does, 49:08 is most evident in the Ten Commandments 49:11 that we started off with the passage 49:13 from John 14. 49:14 That's right. 49:16 Right smack down in the middle of him, saying, 49:17 I promise Holy Spirit 49:18 and that ask for him and I will give him to you 49:23 that power and strength to you which you will. 49:24 And then he says, 49:26 "If you love me keep my commandments." 49:27 That's right. 49:29 Right in the middle of all of this, 49:30 he says, "The commandments are important." 49:32 That's right, 49:33 and when you manifest the spirit of obedience. 49:36 Then you manifest a spirit of fellowship. 49:39 If we walk in the light, get this, 49:41 if we walk in the light as he is in the light 49:45 we have fellowship with one another 49:47 and the blood of Jesus Christ 49:48 His Son cleanses us from our sin, 49:50 1 John 1:7,8,9. 49:53 Okay, so we have to 49:54 we have to be willing to walk in the light. 49:57 If you walk in the light you have, 49:58 if you fellowship Jesus 50:00 then you could have fellowship with us. 50:02 But if you say, "I want the Spirit of God, 50:05 but I don't want the truth." 50:06 It does not work that way. 50:09 You cannot disconnect one from the other, 50:12 you will get the other one 50:14 if you don't manifest obedience, 50:15 that's why John 14:15, is there. 50:17 "If you let me keep my commandments 50:19 and then I'll go ahead and ask for the Father, 50:21 to send the Spirit 50:23 that will lead you and guide you into all truth." 50:25 So John 16:13, "He leads us and guides us into all truth." 50:28 So don't ask for the spirit without the truth. 50:31 That's right. 50:33 There's so much stuff nowadays 50:34 the human heart battles so deceptively doesn't it. 50:36 It really does. 50:37 Now here's something that maybe we can start to end on. 50:40 Okay. I think is can be challenging. 50:42 All right. 50:44 For some, we talked about the Holy Spirit 50:45 in this role of conversion its 50:47 in its will of role of guiding us 50:49 in our daily walk with him, 50:51 and in that role of helping us to obey, 50:53 and to keep the commandments and have the power to do that. 50:56 And the fruit in our life it changes us. 50:59 But what about the gifts of the Spirit, okay. 51:03 The fruit is manifest in the life of someone 51:06 that is converted we know that. 51:08 Right. 51:10 But what about gifts with the gifts 51:11 aren't being manifested in the life of a believer. 51:15 And we say that the Holy Spirit is at work. 51:18 And so here's the challenge 51:20 because our in our pews in our churches, 51:22 are pews were what we have a significant group, 51:26 a contingent of members 51:28 that aren't active in service for God. 51:30 Right. 51:32 And, and, and I think it has something to do with 51:35 the fact that maybe we aren't seeing 51:37 the power of the Spirit at work, 51:39 as much as we would like to see it in our churches. 51:42 We're seeing maybe some time some more strife or contention 51:46 or arguing or just not quite getting along, 51:48 or just some other things 51:50 because we're not involved in using our gifts 51:53 to reach out beyond the four walls of the church 51:55 to seek and save the loss, 51:56 because that is the commission that Jesus gave to us. 51:58 That's right. 52:00 So what is the role then of the spirit 52:01 in regard to the gifts. 52:04 And how are we accountable to use those gifts. 52:07 And this maybe the response we may give here 52:09 may not be something that we all want to hear, 52:11 because I'll tell you what. 52:13 Here's one something I learned very well. 52:17 Is that I find that the Holy Spirit 52:19 cannot use me to reach lives of others 52:21 unless, I become 52:23 unless I have a level of uncomfortableness 52:26 to move beyond sitting where I'm comfortable. 52:29 Praising the Lord, and doing things by myself. 52:37 Most of the time that are here argument within the church 52:39 seem regard to so and so not living 52:42 according to the fruit of the Spirit, 52:44 but I say what about your work and your service for others. 52:47 We're not seeing evidence of that. 52:49 So I mean, we know the gifts are for a purpose. 52:53 What is that purpose? 52:54 When Jesus saves us, 52:57 when we are brought into a relationship 52:58 with Christ 53:00 Ephesians 2:8 and 9, is so vitally important, 53:03 "For by grace are you saved through faith, 53:05 and that not of yourselves; 53:08 it is a gift of God, not of works, 53:10 lest any man should boast." 53:11 But I don't have John read verse 10, 53:13 because we often talk about salvation 53:14 we come into the saving relationship, 53:17 but we don't get into a working relationship. 53:20 You know, and the Lord says, 53:21 he that is not gathering with me 53:23 a scattering abroad, 53:24 read verse 10 of it, Ephesians Chapter 2. 53:26 So we coming to the saving relationship 53:28 we talked about I'm saved 53:29 but James says, "That's your faith, 53:32 but faith without works is dead being alone." 53:38 It says in verse 10, "For we are His workmanship, 53:40 created in Christ Jesus for good works, 53:43 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." 53:46 Okay, Now I've got to say something, 53:48 because this is in a sermon here recently. 53:50 You have inverses 8, 9 "Not of works, not of works." 53:54 That's right. We have in verse 10, "Works." 53:56 That's right. What's changed? 53:58 When I was say, by works, we say for works. 54:00 That's true, but something else has changed. 54:02 Okay. 54:03 There's a qualifier in verse 10. 54:04 Okay. 54:06 The first in the verses 8, 9 is just works in verse 10. 54:08 It's good works. That's right. 54:10 There's no one good not one except whom? 54:12 Christ. 54:13 Christ and God himself, 54:15 so when you are transformed, by the Holy Spirit 54:18 good works become part of your life 54:20 in fact, Paul over, and over again 54:22 said, to the church. 54:24 "You need to be careful to conjure up 54:25 to inspire each other on with good works." 54:28 See that there's a difference between works and good works 54:32 just works are something that we do try 54:34 and appease God 54:35 to get his recognition, those things. 54:37 But good works is something 54:38 the Holy Spirit does through us, 54:41 and gives us the power to do in the lives of others. 54:43 To use those spiritual gifts, that's what's changed. 54:47 So I say, you know, why don't we spend time 54:49 talking about good works in the church. 54:52 We need to spend more time talking about good works 54:54 because we want our members out doing good works. 54:57 That's right. 54:58 And these aren't the works that you do 54:59 but you allow the Holy Spirit to do through you, 55:03 and it may put you into 55:04 uncomfortable situations sometimes, 55:05 but I think when we get in those 55:07 uncomfortable situations 55:08 and He equips and trains us by getting out into the field 55:11 to use our gifts. 55:12 Then we become more comfortable and more regular in doing them. 55:16 That's' right. 55:17 And I think that's what this that's really what is being, 55:20 he's trying to drive us to move us forward to do more. 55:23 That is Paul in this text. 55:24 Because people are paying 55:26 praying for the outpouring of the Spirit of God, 55:27 but then the outpouring of the Spirit of God 55:30 is proportionate to your need. 55:32 Why do I, why would I give you power 55:33 and when I don't have anything with it. 55:36 When the day of Pentecost came in the Spirit of God 55:38 was poured out what did they do. 55:40 Those disciples turned the world 55:42 upside down, inside out. 55:44 They, they transformed the landscape 55:47 they went against every political norm. 55:51 They spoke what people didn't like, 55:54 they got tortured and persecuted. 55:56 But the world was on the world was converted. 56:00 And within 34 years, the world knew who Jesus is, 56:05 so when the Bible says, 56:06 "Let your light so shine before men, 56:08 that they may see your good work 56:10 and glorify your Father in heaven." 56:12 It is saying, "Don't ask for the Spirit of God, 56:14 if you don't want to use that for good works." 56:17 Yes, you're saved. 56:18 Yes, the fruits of their, but now let's get to the gifts. 56:21 And many people are not developing 56:23 in the areas of fruits, 56:25 because they're not exercising the gifts 56:27 so they come become frustrated and all this negativity 56:30 they start falling back and all these awful gifts, 56:33 these rancid grapes, start showing up. 56:35 I would say that's all you're doing 56:37 is focusing on the fruit. 56:38 You're only focusing on yourself. 56:39 That's right. 56:41 I'm just going to end this real quick, 56:42 quick statement comes from a book 56:44 that we know. 56:45 Well, it's a test of the testimonies. 56:47 Okay. 56:48 Ellen White, says, "I was shown God's people waiting 56:50 for some change to take place a compelling power 56:52 to take a hold of them but they will be disappointed 56:55 for they are wrong. 56:56 They must act they must take a hold of the work themselves." 56:59 That's right, and then the Lord says, in Titus 2:14, 57:03 "We are God special people, 57:05 but we must be zealous for the good works." 57:09 Zealous, what can I do to advance the Kingdom of God, 57:13 God wants to use every one of us 57:15 John is busy, I'm busy, 57:17 the Lord doesn't want to just to be busy 57:19 for a business sake 57:20 he wants to Spirit God to work in us 57:22 and through us and on us. 57:23 And so friends, give your life to the Lord, 57:25 and experience the transforming power 57:28 of his indwelling spirit. 57:30 God bless you. |
Revised 2016-09-13