[0:00] It's good to be here. It's good to be a part of the kingdom of God. And thank you for your devotional.
[0:17] You know, if something is the top priority, then everything else has to fit out around that. Right? Amen.
[0:30] Amen. Amen. This morning, I'm going to look at, I'm not sure for a title necessarily, but maybe the need being full of the Holy Ghost.
[0:52] You know, in Ephesians, let me see if I can see this verse here. In Ephesians 5, verse 14, he says, Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
[1:14] See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore, wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
[1:31] And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. But be filled with the Spirit of God. And I believe that if we will redeem the time and if we will understand the will of the Lord, then it is imperative that we are full of the Holy Ghost.
[1:54] And I want to start in Zechariah this morning. You know, there's a verse here that we quote many times.
[2:06] In Zechariah 4, in verse 6, he says, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
[2:17] Now in Zechariah's day, he was a prophet and he was working in the rebuilding of the temple there.
[2:30] And God used him in this way. But in this chapter, I believe that there is much, there's a prophetic word here.
[2:46] And, you know, he also, a little later on, he talks about Jesus and gives a prophecy of Christ.
[2:58] But in chapter 3, verse 8, he says, I will bring forth my servant, the branch. And he's talking about Jesus. And then in chapter 4, he has the seven lamps and the seven lamps and two olive trees, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on the left side.
[3:24] And he goes on and he brings this together. There's these two men and there's the candlesticks and the seven lamps, which are the seven lamps that are referring to the Holy Ghost.
[3:43] But in verse 6, he says, This is the word of the Lord unto serubbable saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
[3:58] You know, in his day, this was the way it was going to be. It was too great a work for them.
[4:12] And there was too much opposition for them to do this in their own strength. But today, there's no other way to build the temple of the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.
[4:30] Now, in chapter 6, in verse 12, And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts.
[4:41] And when he says the Lord of hosts, he's talking about God, of course. But Lord of hosts, he is the king of the armies of heaven.
[4:56] The king of the armies of heaven. Behold, the man whose name is the branch, he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.
[5:16] Even he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. And he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
[5:34] So here's a prophecy of Jesus. And Jesus, he is king and he is priest in the kingdom of God in the church today.
[5:45] It says Jesus will build his church. Jesus will build the temple of the Lord. And that is the church today. It is the temple of the Lord where God dwells.
[6:00] The church today is where God dwells. And he dwells within us. He dwells in our heart. And it says Jesus will build this temple.
[6:14] And Jesus will bear the glory. All glory is unto him. He is the one that is lifted up.
[6:24] He is the one that is to receive worship and praise and honor and glory. He is the one that we look to. He is the one that is in charge of all things.
[6:36] He is the one that we want to draw nigh to. And we want to walk with him every day. It says he shall bear the glory.
[6:47] And he will sit and rule on his throne. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Our Lord. He is the one who reigns. He is above all. And he reigns in the hearts of his people.
[7:04] And he will bear the glory. You know, the only way to be a part of this great work is to be there.
[7:15] He is to labor in this work in the power of the Spirit of God. And that is where we're going today. That's what we want to look at. That is what we want to see today.
[7:29] And, you know, I believe. You know, there's another verse that I believe applies to us. You know, here in chapter 4 and verse 10. Well, in verse 9 it says, The hands of Serubbabel have laid the foundation of this house.
[7:47] His hands shall also finish it. And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things?
[8:00] You know, we look at ourselves. We're a small group. Who hath despised. You know, let's not despise the day of small things.
[8:13] But let us walk with our Savior. And allow him to work in us and through us. For the furtherance of his kingdom.
[8:26] Well, he goes on in this prophecy. And, you know, he's talking here of Serubbabel.
[8:43] He's talking about Zechariah. And he's talking about Joshua the high priest. And he is asked the question.
[8:57] Do you know what you are seeing? And he says, No, I don't. In verse 14, the answer is given. He says, These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
[9:14] And let me just say, in very short this morning, that if we will be useful in the kingdom of God, then we must be like these two men, standing there, anointed by God, standing by the Lord of the whole earth, and be his anointed instruments in the work of the kingdom of God.
[9:46] You know, we won't take time to look into the rest of that. But in the light of all of that, you know, it's such a wonderful picture.
[9:58] But let's go on. Let's go to Acts chapter 1. You know, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit.
[10:17] You know, we need to realize, we need to recognize that our only usefulness in the kingdom of God is what we allow him to work in us and through us through his spirit.
[10:37] You know, Romans says that... How does that verse start? About being the sons of God.
[10:49] They that are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And so let me ask the question. Can he lead you by his spirit?
[11:02] Can he use you? Can he come with a burden and lay his burden upon your heart? Can he direct you? Can he speak through you?
[11:14] Well, so we have here... I want to read a couple verses in the end of Luke. And then we will look at Acts 1.
[11:27] So in the last verses of Luke 24... In verse 46...
[11:39] And said unto them, Thus it is written, And thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
[11:58] And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.
[12:11] And he led them out as far as Bethany. And he blessed them and he departed from them. He ascended to heaven.
[12:22] But, you know, and we could and we might later look at the Great Commission in Matthew and in Mark. But here he commands them that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
[12:43] But then after he says that, he tells them, he says, But you go back to Jerusalem and you wait there.
[12:54] You wait there until ye be endued with power from on high. Now in Acts chapter 1, he starts here talking about how Jesus showed himself after his resurrection and all of that.
[13:15] And then in verse 4, And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, But wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me.
[13:32] For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Not many days hence. And Jesus speaking here.
[13:44] And he gave them this command and he gave them this promise. You know, here was a group of people. They had the greatest commission ever given to humanity.
[13:56] Was to go and to preach the gospel. To take this gospel of the kingdom to a lost and a dying world. They had the answer for the whole world.
[14:07] But here the command was, you wait. You wait. And why were they to wait? When they therefore were come together, They asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
[14:24] And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.
[14:37] And ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
[14:48] Now let's go back here and let's look here. He says, you know, this was the reason that they were to wait. They were to tarry in Jerusalem. Because when the Holy Ghost comes, what will happen?
[15:01] What will happen? He says, ye shall receive power. You shall receive power.
[15:12] After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And what is this power for? It is to make them witnesses. To make their witness powerful.
[15:24] To give them the power to go and to speak forth the name of Jesus. And to minister in his name.
[15:37] You know, in Acts. In Acts. We don't have to go far. To see that when they spoke, when they preached in the name of Jesus.
[15:51] They ran into trouble with the Pharisees and the Sadducees and all of those leaders of Israel. They ran into trouble with them.
[16:03] And what did they say? They commanded them not to teach in the name of Jesus. But here he is telling them that he will give them power to be witnesses.
[16:18] And to go forth and to preach in the name of Jesus. How do we know that we have this power? You know, let me ask you, as we go through this today.
[16:31] You know, the disciples were commanded not to go preach until they had received this power. You know, we today, we don't have to wait until the Holy Ghost comes.
[16:45] But we have to wait until he comes upon us. You know, and I believe that all of that, the answer to that is in our walk with him.
[17:01] Is to give ourselves that living sacrifice. And to lay down our life that he can live his life through us.
[17:11] That, I believe, is the answer for us to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Because if we do not lay down our life, if we do not yield ourselves to him in this way, he cannot work through us.
[17:32] We must realize that we are totally dependent upon the Spirit of God.
[17:44] You know, we can all talk. We can all share Christ. But there's a difference.
[17:57] There's a difference. And, you know, when you run into that, when you run into difficulty, when you run into opposition, when you run into persecution, what will happen?
[18:13] How will you stand? Will we stand? Will we stand? Well, I'm going to look at Jesus and a little bit of his ministry.
[18:24] But in Acts, there's a verse here in Acts 10. Acts 10, verse 38.
[18:40] How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.
[18:53] For God was with him. You know, Jesus himself needed the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Jesus himself needed the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
[19:11] You know, we don't know much about him. You know, we know that when he was 12 years old, he was at the temple, and he was talking with the rabbis and so on.
[19:27] But then we don't know much about him until he was ready to begin his ministry. Now let's go back to John chapter 1.
[19:46] Here we have John the Baptist. He was out and he was baptizing. John the Baptist. The Bible tells us that he was full of the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb.
[20:05] A very unusual man. But God had chosen him and filled him with the Spirit of God. Now, let's start reading here.
[20:28] Let's start reading in verse 23. They asked him if he's the Messiah. And John said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.
[20:42] And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him and said unto him, Why baptizes thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
[20:56] John answered them, saying, I baptize with water. But there standeth one among you, whom ye know not. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
[21:14] These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him.
[21:26] And John had just told these people that he doesn't know. He doesn't know who it is. But notice what happens here. John sees Jesus coming unto him, and he says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
[21:45] You know, the Holy Ghost within him knew who Jesus was. Yes, he did. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me, and I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel.
[22:07] Therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
[22:21] You know, and we could read other places, where it says, you know, it tells us that, you know, John baptized Jesus, and then, after he was baptized, the Spirit of God came down upon him in the form of a dove.
[22:36] But here, it says, the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
[22:47] You know, the Spirit came down, and it abode upon him. You know, the Spirit of God will come upon us, and it will abide in us as we abide in him, as we are totally ill unto him.
[23:01] But, you know, if we do not, if we do not do things that grieve him, or, or, or disappoint him, but if we walk with him, and allow him to have his way, he will abide with us also.
[23:18] But the Spirit of God was given to Jesus without measure. The fullness of the Holy Ghost came upon him, and abode upon him.
[23:28] And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. Hallelujah. But Jesus, what I wanted to point out, is that Jesus needed the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
[23:42] He needed the anointing of the Spirit of God before he began his ministry. And we need the Spirit of God if we will be effective in ministry, in witness, power to witness, to be a witness, to talk for God, to, to, to say the words that God would have said.
[24:13] You know, you know, you, you can, you can, you can say a multitude of words, and they don't mean much, but when the Spirit of God gives you the right word, and it goes in the power of the Spirit of God, it will, it will bring fruit, it will do what it was sent forth to do.
[24:44] The Spirit descended, and it abode upon Jesus. You know, after this, after he was baptized, and after the Spirit of God came upon him, is when he went out, and he fasted for 40 days, and, and, and then he was tempted of the devil.
[25:04] But he stood, he was faithful. He was faithful through all those trials, and temptations. In Hebrews, it tells us, concerning Christ, it says, he loved righteousness, and he hated iniquity.
[25:24] Therefore, God has anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows. You know, Jesus, Jesus, that, that's the testimony of Christ.
[25:39] Christ. And if we, want this anointing, we must, hate, wickedness. We must, hate, iniquity.
[25:50] We must, hate our own way. And we must, love righteousness. We must also, you know, in, in Hebrews 10, 9, it says, of Jesus, lo, I come to do thy will, O God.
[26:07] You know, is this our heart, that we come to do the will of God, that we desire to do the will of God, that we want to walk with him, and we want to, to, to, to walk with him in humility, so that he can, walk in us, and, and work through us, that he can fill us with his spirit, and he can use us in his kingdom.
[26:37] In John, chapter 5, verse 19, verse 19, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth, the Father do.
[26:59] For what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. You know, if it was so important for Jesus to, to, to be led by the Father, and to only do what the Father was doing, then how important is it for us?
[27:20] You know, Jesus was the Son of God. We would think he could have done anything, and it would have, it would have been successful. But he didn't. He only did what the Father told him to do, what the Father was doing, and how much more important is it for us to be doing what God directs us to do.
[27:43] Amen. In verse 30, I can of mine own self do nothing.
[27:57] As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father, which has sent me.
[28:09] You know, looking at it in a natural way, how could it be that Jesus could of his own self do nothing?
[28:21] But that's what he said, and that's how he lived his life here on this earth. Of his own self, he could do nothing. He did nothing.
[28:35] In chapter 6, verse 38, For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
[28:48] If that is our heart, it will go a long ways in making us successful and fruitful in the kingdom of God.
[29:05] In John 6, 63, you know, well, let's read this verse.
[29:17] It is the Spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.
[29:30] The Spirit quickeneth. The Spirit maketh alive. The Spirit is what brings life. And it is only by the Spirit of God that the life of God will come.
[29:43] He says, The flesh profiteth nothing. You know, the words that we speak in our own self, of our own self, they don't bring the life of God. But when the Spirit within us brings His Word, the Spirit quickeneth.
[30:01] The Word that the Spirit speaks through you, it will bring life. It will bring life to those that hear it. Jesus said, The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.
[30:17] You know, the people were amazed at how Jesus talked and how He taught. He said, He teaches as one who has authority.
[30:30] He doesn't teach like the scribes and the Pharisees do. You know the difference? Jesus knew the author of the Scriptures. Jesus knew the power of God.
[30:43] He had the anointing of God within Him. All those teachers they had, the scribes and the Pharisees, they just taught out of the knowledge, out of the wisdom of their head and what they had memorized and what they learned.
[30:59] That's how they taught. But Jesus, Jesus taught under the anointing of the Holy Ghost.
[31:12] They said, Never man speak like this man. In Luke, there's a verse that says how His words, they said His words were gracious words.
[31:27] Gracious words. Let's turn to Luke chapter 4. Here we have Jesus.
[31:44] He went into the synagogue and He brought Him the book of Isaiah and He opened it up and He read these verses and after He read them, He says, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.
[32:00] Now let's read what He read. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
[32:11] He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
[32:27] Hallelujah. Now let's look at this. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. You know, that dove, it descended upon Jesus. And so, the testimony of John the Baptist was that he saw the Spirit of God coming and resting upon Jesus and abiding there.
[32:47] But what was the reason for it? He has anointed me. For what reason? To preach the gospel to the poor. To preach this gospel, the same gospel that we are preaching today.
[33:00] To preach it to the poor, to those who can, who are in need, to those that, that feel their need. You know, Jesus said he didn't come to those that were well.
[33:14] He came to those that had a need. Why? Because many times people don't want to hear the gospel. They're not open to hear this gospel.
[33:26] So he says he came to the poor. He came to those that were open to hear the gospel. That's who he was sent to. He was sent to heal the brokenhearted.
[33:39] You know, are we healing the brokenhearted? You know, the only way for us to do that is through the Spirit of God.
[33:49] The Spirit of God would use you to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives. You know, this world is in captivity.
[34:02] It is in captivity to the devil. It is bound in sin. You know, people who are living in sin, they're in bondage to it.
[34:16] They need to be delivered to bring deliverance to the captives. That's what he would have us to do. That's what he wants to use us for is to bring deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind.
[34:34] The blind. You know, there's not a lot of physically blind people. There's some. But there's multitudes of spiritually blind people.
[34:49] People who just do not see. People who do not see the truth. They need the truth of the gospel to set them free to bring deliverance to recover them.
[35:02] You know, there's so many people that maybe at one time they made a profession but they refused to give God all.
[35:14] They refused to give him their whole life. They refused to lay down their life a living sacrifice. They went on their own way and what happened? They became blind.
[35:26] They need to be recovered. They need to be recovered. Recovering of the blind and to set at liberty them that are bruised.
[35:38] You know, there's so many bruised people out there and they're in bondage. Many people are in bondage because they were bruised and now they have a grudge.
[35:54] they built walls. They need to be set free to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
[36:06] And he closed the book and he gave it to the minister and sat down and all the eyes of the whole congregation were upon him and he said, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
[36:19] You know, Jesus, he came to begin the work of reconciling a lost and a dying world to God and he has given to us that work.
[36:34] The same work, the same calling, he's given it to us. But the only way that he can use us is through the spirit of God.
[36:45] He said, ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you.
[36:59] Are our words empowered by the Holy Ghost that they can go forth and they can do the work of God.
[37:16] Do our words minister life to our fellow man? Maybe we should take stock of what we are saying.
[37:34] The words that we say are they bringing life or are they bringing death? Proverbs says the power of life and death is in the tongue.
[37:48] It's in the tongue. The power of life or the power of death. Oh, might we speak life. Might we speak life to those around about us.
[38:02] the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians he said, when I come to you I will not know I will not know the speech of those that are puffed up.
[38:19] I don't want to hear those men talk. They're puffed up and they have a lot of words. I don't want to hear them. That has nothing to do with the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not in word but in power is what he said.
[38:35] Power. Do we have that power working in us and through us? Are we allowing it to work through us? Are we allowing him to work in us and through us?
[38:52] Never man spake like this man. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You know James says the tongue is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.
[39:08] The tongue no man can tame the tongue but listen the spirit of God wants to control our tongue. That's what he wants. That way it will speak forth life and not death.
[39:23] Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Are we full of the Holy Ghost? If we're full of the Holy Ghost then our mouth will speak forth the words of the Holy Ghost.
[39:36] But if our heart is full of self if our heart is full of religion if our heart is full of things and trying to exalt self it will bring death our mouth will speak death.
[39:51] But if we're full of the Holy Ghost our mouth will speak things of the Holy Ghost things of our Lord. The Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
[40:13] Yes. Peter said if any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God. If we speak that we would speak as the oracles of God the word of the very word that God would speak that's what he says that we should speak.
[40:34] Yes. Are we good stewards of the manifold grace of God? You know the Holy Ghost desires to direct you and to use you to lead you.
[40:47] Are you a good steward of this grace? The grace of God. Colossians says let your speech be all the way with grace seasoned with salt.
[41:10] Yes. Not by might nor by power but by the spirit of the Lord. Now let's turn. Let's turn to Acts.
[41:25] And a look here. Yeah the Holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost.
[41:44] There was a sound from heaven and a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance.
[42:04] You know how did people know? How did people out there, how did they know that the Holy Ghost had come? It was when the Holy Ghost took control of the disciples tongues.
[42:21] That's how they knew. And I believe that is how we know today if we're full of the Holy Ghost. It is if He controls our tongue, if He controls our speech, if He controls the things that we say.
[42:36] That's how we know. That's how we know. You know, we'll just, let's just keep going here. You know, Peter preached that message.
[42:49] He preached that message and in verse 33, well, he talked about Jesus and they all knew, they all knew that the crucifixion of Jesus and the story of His resurrection and all of that.
[43:08] In verse 32, this Jesus as God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses, therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and as received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this which ye now see and hear.
[43:28] You know, what you are seeing today, all these people talking in different tongues and you understand them and all of this, it's not confusion, it's not wine, it's not being drunk, but it is the fullness of the Holy Ghost.
[43:49] And if we are full of the Holy Ghost, He will control what we say. You know, James says, maybe we should read it, the tongue in James, I believe it's chapter three, let's see if we can find that.
[44:18] You know, He says some amazing things here in chapter three, in verse two, in the book of James, in many things we offend all, if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man.
[44:33] if you do not offend, if you do not say something that is wrong or that offends or whatever, your fellow man, you're a perfect man and you are able also to bridle the whole body.
[44:50] Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may obey us and we turn about their whole body. Behold, also the ships which though they be so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor lists us, even so the tongue is a little member and boasts us great things.
[45:13] Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth, and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell, for every kind of beast and bird and serpents and things in the sea is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind, but the tongue can no man tame.
[45:42] It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Therewith blessed we God, even the Father, therewith cursed we men which are made after the similitude of God.
[45:53] Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Do the fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
[46:05] Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine fig, so can no fountain, both yield salt water and fresh. You know, back in verse 8, the tongue can no man tame.
[46:20] It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. let me let me let me let me just present to you that only the Holy Ghost can control this tongue and that is why when a man, when a man's tongue, when a man's words are controlled by the Holy Ghost, I know he's full of the Holy Ghost.
[46:43] It's the last thing to come under his control and it's the first thing to slide out from underneath again. That's just the way it is.
[46:54] It's the Bible. And we can't do it of our own self. We can't do it of our own strength. In our own self, the words we speak, they will bring death.
[47:06] But if we are full of the Holy Ghost and we speak out of the fountain of the Holy Ghost, it will bring forth life. It will bring forth the life of God.
[47:19] Yes. our tongue, it says it defileth the whole body. The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.
[47:33] You know, it's not just a small thing, no, but it's a world of iniquity. Well, let's go back to Acts.
[47:49] We're on a look here. so these people, they were pricked in their heart when Peter preached to them in verse 38 in chapter 2.
[48:04] Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
[48:26] The promise is to us. It's, you know, he said to them and to their children and to those that are far off, that includes us today, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
[48:40] Yes, hallelujah. Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. it is for us. It is for us. You know, and as I was preparing this, you know, all four of the Gospels state that Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Ghost.
[49:01] You know, there's many things that are only written in one or two, but, you know, this was so important that each and every one of them, the four writers, the Holy Ghost brought it to them.
[49:16] You write that in, that Jesus is the one who baptizes in the Holy Ghost. Yes, and it is for us today. The Holy Ghost is for us today.
[49:29] You know, Jesus, Jesus said in Matthew 28, He said, all power is given unto me. And then He says, go ye therefore, because that all power is given to Him.
[49:46] It needs to transfer to us if we are going to go to all the world. How is that? It's through the Holy Ghost. It's through the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It's through being full of the Holy Ghost and running over, running over with the Spirit of God.
[50:04] Now, I want to look here. well, in chapter three, so we have Peter and John going up to the temple.
[50:18] In verse six, so they have the lame man here. In verse six, Peter said, silver and gold have I none. You know, this man, he was a beggar. He couldn't work.
[50:29] He couldn't walk. And so he was asking for donations. He needed money to live. And Peter said, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
[50:46] Rise up and walk. Such as I have. Such as I have. You know, you can't give something you don't have. Peter didn't have gold or silver that day, so he couldn't give him any.
[50:59] But he had something else that was worth a lot more than silver and gold. It was the power of the Holy Ghost, the power of our Lord Jesus.
[51:12] Amen. Well, so it wasn't long. They were called in.
[51:23] They were called in before the Sanhedrin. and in, we won't read much of this.
[51:35] We don't have time for a lot of this, but in chapter 4, verse 8, then Peter, Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole.
[52:11] This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
[52:25] Now look at Peter. You know, it wasn't long ago, Peter had denied Jesus three times, he had denied him three times, but here we have him on the day of Pentecost, he's the one that gets up and he preaches this awesome message, and then here we have him getting up and answering the Pharisees and the Sadducees and boldly proclaiming Jesus.
[52:57] Hallelujah. The very men that had killed Jesus, here's Peter, instead of denying him, he gets up and he boldly proclaims, boldly proclaims the name of Jesus.
[53:22] Well, there's so they commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, not to teach in the name of Jesus.
[53:39] You know, these men, you know, they didn't care if the apostles went out and they talked. They could teach all they wanted, as long as they don't teach in the name of Jesus, as long as they don't, as long as they don't allow this power of God to come forth through their words, as long as they just speak religion, they're fine, they're not a threat, but as soon as they start talking about Jesus, and they speak in the name of Jesus, it's a different story, it's a different story.
[54:23] Well, they were commanded not to teach in the name of Jesus. They went back, they were let go, and they went back to the church, and when they heard that in verse 24, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is.
[54:49] And they go on, in verse 20, let's read verse 29, and now God, behold, now Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants, that we can hide in a corner, that they can't find us, right?
[55:05] No. That with all boldness, we will speak your word by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child, Jesus.
[55:19] And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. They spake the word of God with boldness, and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.
[55:36] And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
[55:47] That is what I'm talking about. With great power they gave witness, they gave witness of the resurrection of Jesus, they gave witness that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.
[56:02] They gave witness that Jesus is the answer to whatever your need is. He is the answer. Hallelujah. With great power they gave witness that was only by the power of the Holy Ghost.
[56:17] And that is the only way that we can be an effective witness today is by the power of the Holy Ghost. Now in chapter 6, the account of Stephen.
[56:38] You know, Stephen was one of those deacons. They were told to look out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom.
[56:55] You know, that tells me that not everybody was full of the Holy Ghost because they had to look out from among the multitude seven men that were.
[57:07] But they picked Stephen. He was a man full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. And what happened? It didn't go long. In verse 8, And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
[57:23] In verse 10, they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. That's the spirit of God.
[57:33] That's the anointing of the Holy Ghost that I'm talking about. Stephen is here. Stephen, they were not able to resist the wisdom and the power by which he spake.
[57:49] Hallelujah. You know, many a man could have said the very same words. It would not have meant a thing. But he was full of the Holy Ghost and they could not resist.
[58:08] out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
[58:19] In John chapter 7. Jesus, in verse 37, in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.
[58:42] He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.
[58:57] For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified. That is why Jesus said, you tear in Jerusalem and you wait there until the Holy Ghost comes and he endues you with power from on high.
[59:17] And when he comes, he will be that river of life flowing out, flowing out of your innermost being. You know, rivers, the river of the Holy Ghost.
[59:28] You know, you think of a river. You look at the river out here. You know, man has put, they've built dams and they've dammed up that river, but it just fills up and then it flows right on again.
[59:43] You know, you can block it, but you can't stop it. It will continue flowing. That river is a powerful force and the river of the Holy Ghost, it is a powerful force.
[59:59] Yes, it's a powerful force. And if we are thirsty, he invites us to come and drink, to be full of the Holy Ghost.
[60:15] that river might flow from us, that it might flow through us out to a lost and a dying world.
[60:30] Do our words, the words that we speak, do they minister life to our fellow man? Jesus said, the words that I speak, the words that I speak, they are spirit, and they are life.
[60:52] How is it? How are the words that we speak? Are they spirit, and are they life? Are they self?
[61:06] Are they religion? out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaking. What's in your heart?
[61:18] That's what we're going to hear. That's what people are going to hear. You're going to speak the things that are in your heart. Is your heart full of the Holy Ghost?
[61:33] Christ. The Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
[61:50] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Not by might, nor by power, the wisdom of man, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.
[62:08] Let's pray. Let's pray.