It Is Written

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Series Code: IIW

01:30 ♪[Theme music]♪
01:40 ♪[Theme music]♪
01:48 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
01:51 Thanks for joining me.
01:52 If you can remember the 1970s, what do you remember?
01:56 Do you remember the Rubik's cube?
01:58 Ah, that was really the 1980s, but nice try.
02:01 Pacman; 1980s as well.
02:04 I'm talking about the ‘70s.
02:06 Watergate, 1972.
02:08 Woodstock─nope, 1969.
02:12 VCRs, Post-it notes, disco.
02:15 It was a rough decade.
02:17 Punk rock.
02:18 A really rough decade.
02:20 The Carpenters.
02:21 Space Invaders.
02:22 Presidents of the United States were President Nixon,
02:25 President Ford, and President Carter.
02:28 Margaret Thatcher came to power in the United Kingdom in the
02:31 1970s.
02:32 The Vietnam War ended in the ‘70s.
02:34 Idi Amin, trouble in Northern Ireland,
02:37 Jim Jones, and, of course, there's a lot more.
02:41 The ‘70s were ten years long, after all.
02:44 But while you may have missed ABBA,
02:47 maybe you never wore a powder-blue suit, ouch,
02:50 if you never flew on the Concord,
02:52 there's something you were affected by.
02:55 And that was the oil crisis.
02:58 In 1973, Arab oil-producing nations took punitive steps
03:02 related to the Yom Kippur War, it drove the price of oil up
03:06 from, wait for it, $3.00 a barrel to $12.00.
03:11 Now, today that might not seem like a lot,
03:12 but that was a 400% increase.
03:15 As a result, in the United States,
03:17 most gas stations didn't sell gasoline
03:20 on Saturday nights or Sundays.
03:21 There were long queues at gas pumps.
03:23 Cars with license plates that ended in an odd number
03:26 could buy gas only on odd-numbered days of the month,
03:30 or cars with plates that ended in an even number
03:33 on an even-numbered day of the month.
03:36 Now, there's an oil crisis spoken of in the Bible.
03:39 And this one will matter more than anything we've ever seen.
03:44 We read about it in Matthew, chapter 25,
03:46 in a parable Jesus taught.
03:47 And as we look at this passage of the Bible,
03:50 we'll be continuing our ongoing series,
03:52 “Lessons for All Time,” looking at the parables Jesus taught.
03:57 So in Matthew 25,
03:58 you've got Jesus urging us to be ready for His return.
04:03 He starts Matthew 25 by telling us
04:06 how to be ready for His return.
04:08 So this is really important.
04:11 It's for anybody who wants to be ready for eternity,
04:13 ready for the return of Jesus.
04:15 You could just as easily say Matthew 25,
04:18 and this parable in particular,
04:20 is for anyone who wants to be saved.
04:24 So let's look at this parable, the parable of the ten virgins.
04:28 We'll start in Matthew, chapter 25, verse 1:
04:31 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins
04:35 who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.”
04:39 It worked like this:
04:40 the bridegroom would go to meet his bride at her home
04:43 and bring her to his home.
04:46 And as in this story, there'd be a celebration,
04:48 a feast, there'd be a party planned.
04:52 Now, notice, they were going to meet the bridegroom.
04:55 Remember, this is a parable.
04:57 Many of the components of a parable
04:59 represent some spiritual reality.
05:02 They were waiting for the bridegroom,
05:03 symbolizing people who are waiting for the return of Jesus.
05:06 So this is talking about people at the time
05:09 of the return of Jesus Christ.
05:11 And we believe that that's not far away.
05:14 Again and again in the Bible,
05:16 we see the symbol of a woman being used
05:17 to represent the church.
05:20 Jeremiah 6, verse 2, says:
05:21 “I have likened the daughter of Zion
05:24 to a lovely and delicate woman.”
05:26 In Revelation 12:17 it says:
05:27 “And the dragon was enraged with the woman,
05:30 and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring,
05:32 who keep the commandments of God
05:34 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
05:37 In Second Corinthians 11, verse 2, Paul writes:
05:39 “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy,
05:42 for I have betrothed you to one husband,
05:45 that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
05:49 So that's clear.
05:50 When Jesus is speaking about a group of women,
05:53 He's using them as a symbol to speak about the church,
05:56 or His people in the end of time.
06:00 Jesus goes on to say in the parable,
06:01 in Matthew 25 and verse 2, that
06:03 “five of them were wise, and five were foolish.”
06:08 So what is it that demonstrated their wisdom or foolishness?
06:12 “Those who were foolish took their lamps
06:14 and took no oil with them,
06:16 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”
06:20 No oil.
06:22 And that's a big deal, why?
06:25 Now, the Bible is talking about a lamp.
06:28 If you were going to be out at night,
06:30 you wouldn't dream of not taking an oil lamp with you.
06:34 The parable tells us that the groom was late
06:37 at his wedding, late arriving.
06:40 And while they were waiting for him,
06:41 they fell asleep.
06:43 But then somebody called out,
06:44 “Behold, the bridegroom is coming.
06:47 Go out to meet him.”
06:49 The young women woke; they prepared their lamps,
06:52 and some of them came to a shocking realization.
06:56 They didn't have extra oil.
06:58 Verse 8:
06:59 “And the foolish said to the wise,
07:01 ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'”
07:06 The wise ones said that they couldn't share their oil.
07:08 And by the time the foolish ones had purchased oil,
07:10 the others had gone into the wedding celebration.
07:13 The door was looked.
07:15 Those unwise, those foolish ones,
07:18 couldn't get in.
07:20 They were locked out.
07:23 Now, this might raise some questions for you.
07:25 Couldn't they have simply
07:25 followed the wise ones in the dark,
07:28 taken hold of their arm,
07:29 walked by the light of their lamps?
07:32 Now, remember, this is a parable,
07:33 not a documentary.
07:34 This has to do with salvation.
07:36 And the lesson is,
07:37 you can't get by on another person's spiritual preparation.
07:40 It just isn't possible.
07:42 Every person has to make preparation
07:43 for himself or herself.
07:45 Every person must have a personal relationship with God.
07:50 In order to spend eternity with God,
07:52 you need to know Him for yourself.
07:55 Actually, that's worth talking more about, isn't it?
07:57 You can't get by on your spouse's experience.
08:00 You can't comfort yourself knowing that Mum and Dad are
08:02 surely going to go to heaven, so therefore it's okay with me.
08:05 It isn't enough to sing in the choir;
08:08 we've got to know God for ourselves.
08:10 It isn't enough to know about God;
08:12 it's important to know God.
08:15 So how do we know God?
08:17 Well, we know God by getting acquainted with Him in His word,
08:21 by spending time with God in prayer.
08:23 You know, it always comes back to the basics.
08:25 There are no shortcuts.
08:27 And why would you want one?
08:29 Why would we want to spend time on this earth
08:31 without knowing God?
08:33 It makes no sense.
08:35 And so in verse 11, the five women without the oil arrive,
08:39 and they're not permitted to enter the feast.
08:41 And Jesus says in verse 13,
08:44 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour
08:48 in which the son of man is coming.”
08:51 Be prepared, Jesus says,
08:54 and stay prepared.
08:56 These five women weren't prepared because they
08:59 didn't have oil.
09:00 And that oil represents
09:03 olive oil? No.
09:04 Motor oil? No.
09:06 They were out of oil, the oil that mattered.
09:10 Such a problem.
09:11 They were out of heaven.
09:14 So what's that oil that Jesus is telling us
09:16 we absolutely have to have?
09:19 I'll tell you in just a moment.
09:21 ♪[Music]♪
09:29 The gift of the Holy Spirit.
09:31 But how do we take hold of it?
09:34 To learn more, request your free copy of the booklet
09:37 “The Gift of the Spirit.”
09:38 Simply call 800 -253-3000.
09:42 If the line is busy, please try again.
09:44 Or write to It Is Written,
09:47 P O Box 6, Chattanooga, TN 37401.
09:52 We'll mail a free copy to your address in North America.
09:55 That toll-free number again is 800-253-3000,
09:59 and our web address is itiswritten.com.
10:03 ♪[Music]♪
10:05 Thanks for joining me on It Is Written.
10:08 The oil crises of the 1970s now seem like distant memories.
10:12 Mind you, more recently,
10:14 we've seen some action when it comes to energy prices.
10:17 In 1998, the average cost of a gallon of gasoline
10:21 in the United States was $1.03.
10:24 Ten years later, the average cost had skyrocketed to $3.26.
10:30 As a result, the sales of large vehicles plummeted.
10:33 Some people began working four-day work weeks
10:36 so they'd have to use less fuel.
10:38 When there are disruptions to the oil supply or to the fuel
10:41 supply chain, it really shakes things up.
10:44 In Matthew, chapter 25, there is an energy crisis,
10:48 an oil crisis,
10:49 when ten young women are waiting to go into a wedding feast.
10:52 The bridegroom is delayed and the young women fall asleep.
10:55 At midnight somebody calls out, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh."
10:59 They wake up, reach for their lamps,
11:01 but the lamps of five of the women have gone out,
11:03 and they don't have oil for their lamps.
11:06 No oil, no light.
11:07 They were late for the wedding celebration.
11:09 The door is shut.
11:10 They can't go in.
11:11 They're shut out.
11:12 They're lost.
11:14 That's the point God is making here.
11:16 They are lost.
11:17 So what's going on in this parable?
11:19 The bridegroom, very clear.
11:21 The bridegroom is Jesus.
11:23 The women?
11:24 The women represent the church.
11:25 They're all wanting to go into the wedding celebration.
11:27 They all want to be saved when Jesus returns.
11:30 But not everyone is.
11:32 Some are saved and some are lost.
11:34 And here's a sobering point:
11:37 all ten of them thought that they were saved.
11:40 All ten of them were looking forward
11:41 to seeing the bridegroom.
11:43 It wasn't until push came to shove that five of the women
11:46 learned the truth about themselves:
11:49 they didn't have what it took to get into the wedding feast.
11:52 We see this in other places in the Bible.
11:54 Remember Matthew, chapter 25, where this parable is found,
11:57 follows Matthew, chapter 24,
12:00 the chapter that focuses heavily on the second coming of Jesus.
12:04 In Matthew, chapter 24,
12:05 Jesus approaches this from several angles.
12:08 Matthew, chapter 24, verse 37,
12:10 “But as the days of Noah were,
12:12 so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
12:15 For as in the days before the flood,
12:17 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
12:20 until the day that Noah entered the ark,
12:23 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away,
12:28 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
12:31 What do you have in Noah's day?
12:33 A mass of people.
12:34 Some were saved.
12:35 Some were lost.
12:36 Jesus says in the parable of the ten virgins,
12:39 same situation will exist in earth's final days.
12:43 Back in Matthew, chapter 24, Jesus said,
12:46 “Then two shall be in the field;
12:47 the one shall be taken, and the other left.
12:49 Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
12:51 the one shall be taken, and the other left.
12:54 Watch therefore:
12:55 for you know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
12:59 You can't be sure when Jesus is going to return.
13:02 So watch.
13:04 Be ready.
13:05 Be ready always.
13:06 Live in a state of readiness.
13:09 Now, let me ask you a question that might make you,
13:11 might make you even uncomfortable a little bit.
13:14 Are you ready?
13:15 If Jesus returned now, would you be ready to go,
13:20 or would you be like the teenagers who were left at home
13:22 for the weekend by their parents and told to have the house clean
13:25 when Mom and Dad came home.
13:26 And when Mom and Dad got home a couple of hours early,
13:29 the dishes weren't done, the beds weren't made,
13:31 the living room is a mess, the laundry is piled up.
13:33 And the kids say,
13:35 "We didn't expect you to be home so soon."
13:37 Well, no.
13:39 And that's why you want to be ready no matter what.
13:41 You can't know, we can't know when Jesus is going to return.
13:46 You can't know how long you're going to live.
13:48 The truth is, we're only a heartbeat away from the second
13:51 coming of Jesus anyway.
13:53 What then?
13:55 We can't afford to put off until tomorrow the spiritual
13:57 preparation we should be doing today.
14:00 And that's where the women in the parable find themselves.
14:03 That oil they should have had?
14:05 That's what made the difference.
14:06 That oil represents the Holy Spirit.
14:11 I think it's important to notice a couple of things.
14:13 One, none of the virgins is a hypocrite.
14:16 Each one genuinely wants to be ready for the bridegroom.
14:20 They're in the right crowd.
14:21 They've shown up at the right event.
14:22 But evidently there's more to it than wanting to.
14:26 Believers have got to have what it takes.
14:29 A couple of decades ago there was a devastating earthquake
14:31 in Istanbul, Turkey.
14:33 Thousands died.
14:35 Investigators discovered afterwards,
14:36 as they sifted through the ruins of the earthquake,
14:39 that the cement in many of the buildings contained so much sand
14:44 that it crumbled in their hands.
14:46 There's no way those buildings
14:48 could have withstood an earthquake.
14:49 They collapsed like a house of cards.
14:53 When the real test came,
14:54 it became obvious what they were really made of.
14:58 It's in a crisis that you get to see
15:00 what your character is all about.
15:04 What you want to do is live in a state of readiness,
15:07 being filled with the Holy Spirit.
15:12 I met a woman once, a fine Christian lady,
15:16 who was miserable.
15:19 What was it that made her so miserable?
15:23 I'll tell you in just a moment.
15:24 ♪[Music]♪
15:34 >>Announcer: In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says,
15:36 "It is written,
15:37 'Man shall not live by bread alone,
15:39 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
15:43 “Every Word”
15:44 is a one minute, Bible-based daily devotional
15:46 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw,
15:49 and designed especially for busy people like you.
15:52 Look for Every Word on selected networks,
15:54 or watch it online every day on our website,
15:57 itiswritten.com.
15:59 Receive a daily spiritual boost.
16:01 Watch “Every Word.”
16:03 You'll be glad you did.
16:04 Here's a sample.
16:06 ♪[Theme music]♪
16:11 >>John: Every year, a 12 or so year-old kid
16:14 wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee,
16:16 and $40,000, and other prizes,
16:19 for spelling words no one's ever heard of, like nunatak.
16:21 That's a peak of rock that sticks up through ice or snow.
16:24 And marocaine, a kind of fabric.
16:26 So how does a child win a spelling bee?
16:28 Study.
16:29 One recent winner: two hours a day for a whole year.
16:32 But what makes someone truly successful as a person?
16:35 Second Chronicles 27:6 says,
16:38 “So Jotham became mighty,
16:39 because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.”
16:42 Jotham reigned 16 years and completed enormous
16:45 construction projects and won battles.
16:47 But his greatness came from the fact that
16:49 he was faithful to God.
16:50 It's right to get educated, to train, to plan, to strive,
16:53 to build, but none of that brings true greatness.
16:55 Keeping your heart out before God is the true key to success.
16:58 You'll find that doing that will be udemonic.
17:02 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written.
17:03 Let's live today by every word.
17:07 We're discussing Matthew 25, the parable of the ten virgins.
17:10 It's part of our ongoing series, “Lessons for All Time.”
17:14 There's something I'd like you to have.
17:16 We're learning that the problem the young women had
17:19 is that they were destitute of the Holy Spirit.
17:21 The subject of the Holy Spirit
17:24 is really a mystery for a lot of people.
17:26 I want you to understand the subject,
17:27 and I want you to have the Holy Spirit.
17:29 This parable makes clear that not having the Holy Spirit
17:33 is a matter of spiritual life and death.
17:36 So be sure to call the number on your screen
17:39 and get this free resource,
17:41 “The Gift of the Spirit.”
17:43 In our passage today,
17:44 ten young women are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive at a
17:47 wedding feast so they can join in the celebration.
17:49 Who doesn't like weddings?
17:50 They're great fun, great celebrations.
17:52 I officiated at a wedding just a couple of days ago.
17:56 The happy couple were happy.
17:57 Two lives became one.
17:59 The parents of both bride and groom were proud.
18:03 What a great occasion.
18:04 But at this wedding, five of the ten young women hoping to
18:07 celebrate the marriage were excluded from the celebrations
18:11 because they didn't have oil in their lamps.
18:13 And by the time they got to the party,
18:15 the doors were closed and they couldn't go in.
18:18 As you read this parable, don't make too much of the fact that
18:20 five women were shut out of the feast because they were late.
18:24 It does sound as if someone at the feast could have just said,
18:26 “Well, we're glad you could make it.
18:28 Better late than never.”
18:30 Except this is a parable.
18:31 We're not being asked to analyze the hospitality.
18:34 Jesus is making a point.
18:36 At the second coming, there won't be any
18:39 “oh, I'm a trifle late,”
18:40 “well, I had to run off and get oil in my lamp,”
18:43 “I wasn't ready at the time but I was wanting to be ready.”
18:46 When Jesus returns,
18:47 you're either ready or you're not.
18:49 Now, notice that in the story
18:50 Jesus doesn't fault the girls for being asleep.
18:53 Evidently, Jesus can work with people who fall asleep.
18:57 Peter, James and John fell asleep at Gethsemane.
19:00 Eutychus fell asleep and fell out a church one night,
19:02 and died.
19:04 That wasn't too much for the early church.
19:06 Evidently, sleeping isn't an insurmountable issue.
19:11 The real problem is that these girls
19:12 didn't have oil for their lamps.
19:14 That was the issue.
19:16 No oil.
19:18 No Holy Spirit.
19:19 Let's walk through this together.
19:22 Who is the Holy Spirit?
19:24 The Holy Spirit is God in the same way that the Father is God
19:29 and Jesus is God.
19:30 The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Godhead.
19:33 And what's the role of the Holy Spirit?
19:36 The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin.
19:39 That's in John 16.
19:40 The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.
19:42 That's John 16 as well.
19:44 The Holy Spirit will bring us the personal presence of Jesus,
19:48 found in John 14.
19:50 First John 3, verse 24, says that Jesus
19:52 “abides in us, by the Holy Spirit.”
19:55 First John 4:13 says pretty much the same thing:
19:58 “Hereby know we that we dwell in Him,
20:01 and He in us,
20:02 because He hath given us of His spirit.”
20:06 When Jesus left the earth and went to heaven,
20:08 he told his friends that he would still be with them.
20:11 How?
20:12 By the Holy Spirit.
20:13 John, chapter 14, verse 15 to verse 18:
20:17 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
20:21 And I will pray the Father,
20:22 and He shall give you another Comforter,
20:25 that He may abide with you for ever;
20:27 even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
20:30 because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him:
20:33 but you know Him; for He dwelleth with you,
20:35 and shall be in you.
20:36 I will not leave you comfortless:
20:38 I will come to you.”
20:41 This is Jesus saying that the Holy Spirit brings to us the
20:43 personal presence of Jesus.
20:46 So when you're wanting the Holy Spirit,
20:49 you're not wanting a tool or a weapon.
20:52 The Holy Spirit isn't something that you use.
20:55 The Holy Spirit is something, in fact,
20:57 someone, that uses you.
21:01 Yes, the Bible talks about the gifts of the spirit,
21:03 and man, there are some people who get hung up on those gifts.
21:07 “I want to work miracles.
21:08 I want to speak in tongues.
21:10 I want to utter prophesies.” Okay.
21:12 It's okay to want spiritual gifts,
21:14 but I'll tell you this:
21:16 it's more important to want the fruit of the Spirit.
21:20 That is, the Bible says that God will decide what gift of the
21:24 Holy Spirit you get.
21:26 Someone might get the gift of languages.
21:28 Someone might get the gift of helps.
21:30 Funny, I never did hear anyone or any church making a big deal
21:35 about someone having the gift of helps.
21:36 Did you?
21:38 Or the gift of administration.
21:39 But those are genuine gifts of the spirit in the same way
21:42 as miracles or prophecy.
21:44 So God decides what gift you get,
21:46 and you might get one or the other.
21:48 That's up to God.
21:49 Now, let me tell you about that lady I met.
21:51 She was miserable.
21:52 As far as anyone could tell, she was a wonderful lady,
21:56 a member of the church; she was busy working for souls.
21:59 But she said to me, “John, I'm lost.”
22:01 I said, “Well, you don't look lost.
22:03 I guess only God knows the heart.
22:04 What's the issue?” She said, “I don't have the Holy Spirit.”
22:06 I said, “Why do you know that?”
22:08 She said, “Because I don't speak in tongues.”
22:11 Well, okay.
22:12 If you have the ability to speak in tongues,
22:13 to speak other languages, God bless you.
22:16 That's a genuine gift of the Holy Spirit.
22:18 But remember, it's God who decides
22:22 which spiritual gift you get, and not you.
22:26 You might want this and get that.
22:27 You might want that and get this.
22:30 So let's leave it with God,
22:33 and be concerned about having the most important thing,
22:37 the thing that Christ said we will have
22:41 if we have the Holy Spirit.
22:42 We'll get gifts; God decides what.
22:44 But we certainly get the fruit of the Spirit.
22:48 The fruit of the spirit is an inevitability.
22:50 Look at this with me.
22:51 The Bible says in Galatians, chapter 5,
22:54 “But the fruit of the spirit is love,
22:56 joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
23:00 goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:
23:03 against such there is no law.”
23:06 That's Galatians, chapter 5, verses 22 and 23.
23:09 When Jesus comes into your life,
23:11 He brings His character with Him.
23:13 He brings His love, His peace, His self-control.
23:17 You might or might not receive the gift of teaching.
23:20 That's up to God.
23:22 But what is certain is that Jesus will flood your life
23:26 with His presence.
23:28 The Holy Spirit is given to make you like Christ,
23:31 so you can be the light of the world,
23:33 and be ready to meet Jesus at the appointed time.
23:36 The Holy Spirit is a change agent.
23:38 He changes your life.
23:40 You know, there's a lot of religion masquerading today as
23:42 the real thing.
23:43 But when the heat gets turned up,
23:44 it will be found to be as reliable as a $20 Rolex.
23:50 So how can you have oil in your lamp?
23:52 How can you be filled with the Holy Spirit?
23:56 I'll make it really simple and give you a few easy points.
23:59 Number one, ask for the Holy Spirit.
24:02 Jesus said in Luke, chapter 11 and verse 13,
24:05 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
24:08 children, how much more will your heavenly Father
24:11 give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”
24:15 And remember that Jesus said when you ask, you receive.
24:17 So ask for the Holy Spirit.
24:20 Number two: open up your heart to God.
24:23 Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
24:25 And I will pray the Father,
24:27 ...and He will give you...the Holy Spirit.”
24:31 Love for God.
24:32 If you have that, God will give you the Holy Spirit.
24:35 But look, this parable tells us that a profession isn't enough.
24:39 All ten professed to be right.
24:42 Only five actually were.
24:44 Seems that it's possible to be self-deceived.
24:48 How can you know if you're in the right place with God?
24:51 Get close to God.
24:53 And ask yourself, better yet, ask God,
24:56 if you see the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life.
24:59 If you're living in rebellion against God,
25:01 you've got some serious questions to ask.
25:04 It's not for me here to declare who is saved and who is lost,
25:06 but if you surrender your heart to Jesus,
25:08 you continue to grow in Jesus.
25:11 If you refuse to be led by the Holy Spirit,
25:13 you'll see your problem, if you're honest.
25:16 A third important point: don't turn back.
25:21 Hang in there with God.
25:22 Come to Jesus in faith.
25:24 He'll accept you.
25:25 Ask for the Holy Spirit.
25:26 He'll give it.
25:28 He knows you need it.
25:29 And what is this Holy Spirit?
25:31 The presence of God.
25:33 He wants to flood your life
25:34 and bring you His peace and His power.
25:37 And then, stay connected to Him by faith.
25:40 That's vital.
25:42 Live your life with Jesus in your heart,
25:43 live a life of faith,
25:45 where you read the Bible
25:46 and stay connected to God through prayer.
25:48 Know God.
25:49 Be connected to God.
25:50 Let the spirit of God have you.
25:54 You know what's so hopeful about this for me?
25:56 It says there is hope for you and me.
25:59 This is what God wants to do for us:
26:02 give us the greatest of all gifts.
26:06 As the Holy Spirit has you, your lamp is filled,
26:10 so that when the bridegroom comes,
26:13 you'll be welcomed into that great feast.
26:16 Let me recap.
26:17 We know from history the oil crisis.
26:21 Spiritually, we must have the oil of the Holy Spirit.
26:24 Without the Holy Spirit, great crisis.
26:27 No Holy Spirit, no presence of Jesus,
26:29 no spiritual power.
26:30 What's the difference?
26:31 It's the Holy Spirit.
26:32 See, the difference isn't us trying hard.
26:34 The difference isn't us doing our best.
26:36 The difference isn't us being expert Christians.
26:38 The difference is us being surrendered to God,
26:43 so that Jesus, in the person of the Holy Spirit,
26:45 comes into your life and lives His life in you.
26:49 This parable tells us that God wants to do great things for us,
26:53 that He will do great things for us.
26:57 We don't want to be left outside the great feast of feasts simply
27:01 because we didn't make room in our heart for God.
27:05 Are you making room in your heart for God today?
27:08 Are you allowing God to do what He wants to do,
27:12 and fill you with His presence?
27:14 I want to pray for you now and ask God
27:16 to give you the Holy Spirit in great measure.
27:20 Let's pray now.
27:20 Come on, now let's pray.
27:22 Our Father in Heaven,
27:24 we are grateful that you want to give us the Holy Spirit.
27:27 We ask you for it.
27:28 Fill us with your Spirit.
27:32 Dear Jesus, live your life in us.
27:35 Lord, don't let there be an oil crisis in our life.
27:38 We want your presence.
27:40 Come into our lives and do in our lives
27:42 exactly what you want to do.
27:45 Friend, will you receive the Holy Spirit from God today?
27:47 Just tell Him right now, yes.
27:49 Tell Him yes, just say that word, yes,
27:51 I want to receive the Holy Spirit.
27:53 Say that.
27:54 I want to receive the Holy Spirit.
27:56 Lord, fill my life with your presence.
27:58 Can you say that?
28:00 Fill my life with your presence.
28:03 And it is so because God is faithful.
28:05 We thank you, Father, in Jesus' name.
28:08 Amen.
28:11 ♪[Music]♪
28:18 The gift of the Holy Spirit.
28:20 But how do we take hold of it?
28:22 To learn more, request your free copy of the booklet
28:25 “The Gift of the Spirit.”
28:27 Simply call 800-253-3000.
28:31 If the line is busy, please try again.
28:33 Or write to It Is Written,
28:35 P O Box 6, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401.
28:40 We'll mail a free copy to your address in North America.
28:43 That toll-free number again is 800-253-3000,
28:47 and our web address is itiswritten.com.
28:53 Thank you for remembering that It Is Written
28:56 is a faith-based ministry,
28:58 and it's your support that makes it possible for us
29:00 to share God's good news with the entire world.
29:04 Your tax-deductible gift
29:06 can be sent to the address on your screen,
29:08 or through our website, itiswritten.com.
29:12 Thank you for your continued prayerful support.
29:14 Our toll-free number is 800-253-3000.
29:18 800-253-3000.
29:20 Our web address is itiswritten.com
29:24 Thanks so much for joining me today.
29:25 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time.
29:27 Until then, remember: It Is Written.
29:31 Man shall not live by bread alone,
29:33 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
29:38 ♪[Theme music]♪

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Revised 2018-01-12