[0:00] I greet you in the name of Jesus this morning. It has been very good and very encouraging to be here this morning.
[0:11] You know, it's nothing, I guess nothing unusual to have some bumps along the way through the week.
[0:30] But that just makes it so much better coming here on a Sunday morning and worshiping the Lord.
[0:41] And it's just the Spirit of God flowing in our midst. It's been good to be here today.
[0:54] I don't know how many of you realize it, but today is seven weeks since Easter Sunday. Do you know what today is?
[1:11] It's the day of Pentecost. You know, for many years, my younger days, I would read here Acts chapter 2, verse 1.
[1:30] And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, and I would think, you know, I didn't realize that Pentecost was actually an Old Testament feast.
[1:42] It was also called the Festival of Weeks or something like that, Feast of Weeks. The reason for that was counting from the Sabbath at Passover, seven weeks, and then the 50th day was when this took place.
[2:07] And so, and Pentecost actually means 50th. But on that day was the day that God gave the law to Israel.
[2:24] And I want to look at that for a little bit here in Exodus. It's in Exodus 19 and 20. And there's just a few things there that I'd like to look at.
[2:42] So I think we see, I see a lot of similarities in the people there and the people in our day. You know, God had said, he said, If ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine.
[3:12] That's, that was what God was after. That was his goal. And today, he's still looking for a peculiar people.
[3:23] A people that will be full of the power of God, that will be full of the Spirit of God, and will be separated from the world because of the presence of Jesus in our life.
[3:36] Now, here in chapter 19, the Lord came to Moses. And let's just, let's read verse 9.
[3:50] And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with thee and believe thee forever.
[4:01] So God wanted to talk to the people. You know, we, we, all through these first books of the Bible, we have God spoke to Moses, and then Moses spoke to the people.
[4:16] So God's desire was to directly speak to the people. And when he did, he came here. And, and let's just read, let's, let's read a couple of verses starting in verse 16.
[4:32] And it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
[4:50] So, so all the people heard this voice. All the people heard the voice of God on that day. And they were, it says here, they trembled.
[5:03] It was, this voice was, was like a trumpet and it was exceedingly loud. Well, we'll just skip on over into chapter 20.
[5:16] And here's the result of this. You know, God went on and he spoke, he, he gave the 10 commandments and he spoke to them. But in verse 18 in chapter 20, it says, You know, can we imagine this?
[5:39] Can we, you know, this, this must have been an awesome sight and, and the, with the thunderings and the lightnings and the mountain on fire and the people hearing this voice of God.
[5:51] And they were, they were so afraid. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off.
[6:03] And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God is come to prove you.
[6:21] And that his fear may be before your faces that ye sin not. Notice this verse 20.
[6:33] Moses tells them not to fear. But then he tells them that God is doing this, that they would fear him.
[6:49] That his fear, that the fear of God might be before your faces. That it would ever be before them.
[7:00] That they sin not. And, you know, many times we, we ponder this. You know, we, we, we don't want to be afraid of God.
[7:11] We're not afraid of God. But, but, but that his fear would be in our heart. And I believe that's what it's saying here. Is that we don't need to be afraid of God.
[7:22] But yet we need the fear of God to ever be before us. That we sin not. And I want to go to Hebrews. Hebrews talks about this and explains it further.
[7:34] So the people were afraid and they drew back and they, they went out away, further away.
[7:53] But Moses, Moses, the man of God, the meekest man, the, the man that, that God knew face to face. What did he do?
[8:04] It says here that he went up. He drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And we want to, we want to look at this further as we go on.
[8:18] Actually, let's, let's turn to Hebrews 12. Turn to Hebrews 12 and we'll look at this as the writer of Hebrews talks about this account.
[8:42] Hebrews 12, verse 18. And why, he tells us here why.
[9:13] That they didn't want to hear the voice of God directly. It says, for they could not endure that which was commanded. They could not accept it.
[9:26] They, they did not like it. You know, today, today, do we love the word of God? Do we love the truth? Do we love what God says?
[9:38] Do we love it? Or are we afraid? Do we not want it? And, and, and, and draw back away.
[9:51] You know, I, I, I think, I think the people are still the same. People are still the same. There's, there's, there's, there's very few.
[10:05] There's very few that are like Moses and they draw near. But many people that draw back. It says, they did not want to hear the word.
[10:22] For they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
[10:33] And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. Moses himself, he said, I exceedingly fear and quake.
[10:47] But remember, we just read in Exodus that, that Moses, he drew near to God. He went up into the thick darkness where God was. That was Moses.
[11:00] And, and, and, and why? How could Moses do that? But yet it says he, he exceedingly feared and quake. You know, Moses knew God.
[11:12] Moses walked with God. God talked with Moses. He talked to him face to face. The other people, they only knew God by what, from what Moses told them.
[11:30] Do we know God? Do we have the right fear of God? Or are we afraid of him because he might cast us into hellfire?
[11:51] Let's continue here in verse 22. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.
[12:19] And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
[12:30] See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.
[12:48] See that ye refuse not him. You know, today, as God speaks to us, are we receiving it? Are we saying yes?
[12:59] Are we accepting what God is saying? Are we rejecting? Are we drawing back from what God is saying? You know, I find this, you know, that God had it all planned out.
[13:17] These things didn't just happen by accident. But God, the Old Testament was a type and a shadow of the new.
[13:29] And so, there was the Passover, the deliverance from Egypt. And the children of Israel came out. They came out of Egypt.
[13:40] And, you know, they were supposed to keep the Passover every year. But so, they came out of Egypt. And then 50 days later, they were there at the Mount Sinai.
[13:56] And God gave them the law. Well, Jesus fulfilled the Passover. Jesus is our Passover lamb.
[14:08] He was slain before the foundation of the world, the Bible says. He was already given for this. The plan was already there. And Jesus came.
[14:18] And he gave his life on, actually, on Passover time there. It's when he was crucified. And he rose again the first day.
[14:31] The day after the Sabbath. And so, 50 days after that Sabbath was the day of Pentecost. So, God gave the law on that first day of Pentecost.
[14:46] And he gave the Holy Ghost on the New Testament day of Pentecost. It is all in the plan of God. These things did just happen that way.
[14:57] But God planned it that way. Oh, hallelujah. Our God is a God of order. And he has it all planned out. Our lives today, they are planned.
[15:11] If we will walk as he leads us. He has our lives all planned out. If we will walk in humility and fulfill the plan of God.
[15:25] The law was to make men holy. God, what was that verse that we read? He wanted a peculiar people on the face of the earth.
[15:36] A separate people. A called out people. Today, as we are full of the Holy Ghost. We are a peculiar people here in this world.
[15:48] The Holy Ghost will make us holy. You know, the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law that God gave. It proved to humanity that we cannot, in our own strength, we cannot live this life.
[16:04] We cannot live a life that is pleasing to God. But being born again and full of the Holy Ghost. We can be holy. And we can live a life pleasing to our God.
[16:22] Yes, God gave the law at Sinai. He gave the spirit at Pentecost. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You know, there's...
[16:39] There was... Prophecies of this. Not sure if we'll actually go there.
[16:54] I think... Let's go to Matthew chapter 3. And we'll... We'll see here what...
[17:07] John the Baptist said about Jesus and about the coming of the Spirit of God. In Matthew chapter 3.
[17:19] Here we have John the Baptist preaching and baptizing people. And people came confessing their sins and being baptized. And then...
[17:30] And then... Of course, the Pharisees and the Sadducees came and he said, Bring fruit, meat for repentance.
[17:41] But then in verse 10, he says, And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and is cast into the fire.
[17:57] I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.
[18:09] He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand. And he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner.
[18:22] But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. You know, as we come... As we come to Jesus and we allow him to work in our life, in our heart, he will lay that axe to the root of the tree.
[18:40] And what root is he talking about? He's talking about that root that reaches back into the world, that root that draws life.
[18:50] You know, that's what roots do. Roots of plants, roots of trees. They go down into the soil and they draw life and moisture, water.
[19:02] They draw that up into the plant, that the plant can grow and that the plant can bear fruit. So if a plant, if a tree brings forth bad fruit, if there's bad fruit in our life, it means that there's still a root back into the world that needs to be cut off.
[19:21] That's what Jesus does. The axe is laid to the root of the trees. And it's cut off and then we're grafted in. We're grafted into that plant, the Lord Jesus.
[19:37] We're grafted in. And we abide in him. We will bring forth good fruit. But notice what he says here. The axe is laid to the root of the tree.
[19:49] And then, so John the Baptist says, I baptize you with water into repentance. That was what he was doing.
[20:02] He was baptizing the people as they were repenting of their sin. But he says, there comes one after me. And he's talking about Jesus. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
[20:18] The baptism of the Holy Ghost. It's a baptism of fire. It's a baptism of power. It's the Spirit of God coming and taking over.
[20:29] And we'll look at that more as we go along here. But it's a supernatural coming of the Holy Ghost into our life.
[20:41] You know, the church of Jesus Christ, it's a supernatural body. We don't live in the natural. We live in the spiritual. That is how we are effective in the kingdom of God.
[20:55] It is how we, it is where we draw our life from. It is where, it is how we live for our God. And how we bring forth fruit unto Him.
[21:09] Whose fan is in His hand. And He will thoroughly purge His floor. He will thoroughly purge your life. He will thoroughly purge your heart.
[21:21] He will burn out all the chaff. All the things of the old life. All the things of this world. All the things that hinder in the Christian life.
[21:33] He will burn it out. He will blow it out. He will thoroughly cleanse. You know, if He is on the throne of your heart. Then He will be the one in charge of your life.
[21:47] But if you are in charge of your life. Then He is not on the throne. But that is His desire. That is what He wants.
[21:57] That is what it needs to be. That we, as Moses, we draw nigh to God. We go up and we go up into the mount.
[22:09] Into that thick darkness where the presence of God is. And we hear His voice. You know, how are we?
[22:20] Are we like Moses that we can hear the voice of God? Or are we like the people who drew back? They drew back and they said, No, Moses, we don't want to hear that voice.
[22:34] You speak to us. Let's go to Acts. Acts. Acts chapter 1.
[22:55] Jesus gave the disciples instructions. He told them, You tarry here in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high.
[23:07] You tarry here. You wait here. You don't. You know, He gave them the great commission. He told them, You go into all the world and you preach the gospel to every creature.
[23:19] He gave them that command. He told them to do it. But then He told them to wait. You tarry in Jerusalem until the day that you be endued with power from on high.
[23:32] And can you imagine? So here were the disciples. They were there in Jerusalem. They said, Well, what do you think? I mean, what are we waiting on?
[23:43] What? I mean, do you feel the power to go preach the gospel? Well, no, I don't. No, I don't. Well, what? How do we know? What are we waiting on?
[23:54] But when the Holy Ghost came that day, there was no more question. There was nothing. There was no question. There was no waiting. Now they knew.
[24:05] And now they went. Jesus told them in Acts 1, we have it here in verse 4 and 5, Wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me.
[24:23] For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. And when they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
[24:42] You know, I find this very interesting. But this, we still see this in our day. You know, without the Spirit of God, without, you know, just in their own thinking.
[25:00] You know, they believed in Jesus. They believed that He was the Messiah. They believed all of that. But here, before the Holy Ghost came, they were still looking for an earthly kingdom.
[25:15] They were still looking for Jesus to set up a kingdom here on this earth. They didn't realize. They didn't understand that this is a spiritual kingdom.
[25:26] This is a kingdom. This is a kingdom. This is a kingdom that is not, it's not a country here and a country there. No, but it's a kingdom that knows no bounds.
[25:37] It knows no boundaries. And it will go to the uttermost parts of the earth. And He told them. He didn't rebuke them or anything.
[25:48] Because He knew that when the Holy Ghost would come upon them, they would then understand. He told them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power, but ye shall receive power.
[26:06] After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, 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.
[26:20] And so notice what this verse says, what Jesus said here. He said, You will receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And so what I see here is this baptism of the Holy Ghost that came on the day of Pentecost.
[26:38] It's an anointing for service. It's an anointing that we can have the power of God to be in His service, in His kingdom.
[26:50] Without it, without it, we're not effective in the kingdom of God. But with His anointing, with His anointing, we can be effective.
[27:08] We can be a witness. We can preach the Word. We can take the Gospel. We can fulfill our calling only by the anointing of the Spirit of God.
[27:22] Chapter 2. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, you know, and, you know, there were 120 people there in the upper room, it says.
[27:44] You know, and I, in Corinthians, it's talking about the resurrection, and people that saw Him. It says there were over 500 that saw Him at one time.
[27:55] So there were hundreds and hundreds of people that had seen Jesus after the resurrection. But where were they? Where were they this Sunday morning?
[28:08] Where were they? I don't know. But there was 120 people there. Are we among the 120?
[28:19] Are we among the thousands out there that were busy doing other things? When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
[28:34] Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
[28:50] And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven.
[29:03] Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?
[29:21] And how here we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born. And it tells us here who all was there, and they were hearing the wonderful works of God in their own language.
[29:33] And they were all amazed, in verse 12, and they were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking, said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words.
[29:55] For these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God.
[30:08] I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams.
[30:19] And on my servants, on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit. And they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
[30:34] The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[30:49] Oh, hallelujah. And he goes on, he says, Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus, a man approved of God, and he did miracles and wonders and signs.
[31:02] And you crucified him. But God raised him from the dead, because it was not possible that death could hold him. Hallelujah.
[31:13] Our Lord Jesus, it was not possible that death could hold him. But he was raised up by the power of the Spirit of God. And Romans tells us that the same Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead now dwells in us, the believers.
[31:30] It dwells in us, that same Spirit, that same power of God. It lives in us. Why? That we can live the life of Christ. That we can live for him.
[31:42] That we can be effective in his kingdom. And we can bring forth fruit for him. And we can live our life for him.
[31:53] You know, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that presence of God coming upon you and filling you with his power and with his presence. You know, that is the key.
[32:06] It is the entrance key into the gifts and the power of the Spirit of God. You know, 1 Corinthians talks about the gifts of the Spirit.
[32:19] And it says, The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all. It is by the Spirit. And they function by the Spirit.
[32:30] They function by the power of the Spirit working in us as human beings. You know, God could have decided to do these things without us.
[32:45] But he decided to use humanity. He decided to use his church. But it is only through the person of Jesus in your life, in your heart, being full of Jesus, being full of the power of the Spirit of God, that these will function and they will work through you.
[33:09] Jesus. Hebrews tells us about Jesus. It says, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.
[33:24] Jesus loved righteousness and he hated iniquity. Jesus said in John 6, 38, I came down not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
[33:41] You know, if that is our heart, Philippians tells us to have the mind of Christ. And he talks about how Christ, how Jesus humbled himself and walked in humility and all of that.
[33:58] But if we have the mind of Christ, that's the Spirit of God in us. And as we walk in humility, knowing that it is him working through us, he can use us.
[34:13] He can use us. Yes. That's what he desires. He wants to use us to build his kingdom here on this earth. Yes.
[34:24] To build his kingdom. Yes. Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.
[34:48] Is that our heart? Is that our life? Is that our life? You know, we are warned. We are warned.
[35:02] 1 Thessalonians 5, 19 says, quench not the spirit. Verse 20 says, despise not prophesying. Ephesians 4, 30 says, grieve not the spirit.
[35:17] You know, how do we quench the spirit? How do we grieve the spirit? I believe that many times we do it without realizing it. We grieve the spirit of God when he speaks to us and we ignore him or we refuse.
[35:34] We grieve him. You know, the spirit of God will not always strive with men. If we ignore him, if we refuse him, he will back off.
[35:48] He will not force himself upon you. He will not force himself upon anyone. It is only as we willingly yield to him that he can use us and work through us.
[36:04] You know, Samuel. We heard this just recently here.
[36:18] But as a child, when God called him, he thought it was Eli calling him. And finally, Eli told him, it must be God is calling you.
[36:32] The Bible tells us that Samuel did not yet know the voice of God. But Samuel learned to know the voice of God.
[36:45] And later on, the Bible tells us that God let none of Samuel's words fall to the ground.
[36:57] Samuel had such a communication with God. He knew the voice of God. And God spoke to him and he spoke it out. And because of his walk with the Lord, what he spoke was the will of God.
[37:16] And it happened. It came to pass. Do we accept what the spirit says?
[37:33] Do we hear what the spirit says? Do we receive it? Or do we deny it?
[37:48] Do we just push it off? Or do we say, well, I'm living a good life. I don't need more.
[38:00] Oh, I'm living a Christian life. You know, God always has more. There's always places to grow.
[38:12] There's always a growth that will make us more effective in the kingdom of God. There's always that. You know, I believe like this.
[38:24] I believe that if we would be perfect. If we would draw so close to God. You know, what does the Bible say about Enoch?
[38:37] It says Enoch walked with God. And, you know, one day he was walking with God and God just took him along home.
[38:47] How is it in our life?
[38:59] You know. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. The spirit of God.
[39:12] He desires to empower us.
[39:22] He desires to control us. He desires to guide us. He desires to use us.
[39:33] That we can be effective in the kingdom of God. Power to be a witness.
[39:48] You know, I believe that the first place in your life that will show that the power of God is upon you is a power to live a victorious life.
[40:04] A power to overcome our enemy. A power to overcome temptation. You know, there's no temptation taking you.
[40:14] But such as is common to man. And he will with the temptation make a way of escape. You know, there's always a way to overcome.
[40:25] There is always a way to be victorious over our enemy. He was defeated at Calvary. You know, the devil, he didn't know.
[40:40] He didn't know what he was doing when he killed Jesus. But he was bringing his own defeat. Hallelujah. And today, we can live victorious.
[40:56] Now, let's see. Power to be and power to serve.
[41:09] An anointing for service. This power, it's a dunamis. The Greek word is dunamis. It's meaning is, it means force, miraculous power, ability, abundance, strength.
[41:31] Pentecost is the gateway into the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit. I said supernatural. Yes. Yes. The church of Jesus Christ is a supernatural being.
[41:47] You will never live the Christian life in human strength. That is why we fail. That is why we falter.
[42:00] That is why we bring bad fruit. It's because we're doing it in our own strength. Pentecost is the entering into the supernatural power of the Spirit of God.
[42:21] And it is not something to lift us up. No. But it is to walk in humility with Him. You know, it's the opposite of climbing the corporate ladder of success.
[42:41] There, the higher you get, the greater you are. In the kingdom of God, the lower you go, the greater you become. As we walk in humility, the Spirit of God can work through us.
[42:58] If we're lifted up in pride, He will work against us. You know, I believe it's in Isaiah 63, 6 or something, where it says that they resisted the Spirit of God.
[43:16] Talking about Israel. They resisted the Spirit of God. They grieved that Spirit of God. And He turned to be their enemy.
[43:27] He worked against them. Why? Because they were lifted up in pride and they were walking in their own way. They resisted Him.
[43:39] They refused to listen to Him and walk in obedience. There is no place for pride in this walk with God.
[43:49] God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. You know, if we will humbly walk with Him, His grace can be upon us and we can live in the power of the Spirit of God.
[44:05] You know, Jesus said in John 7, He said, If any man thirsts, if any man thirsts, let him come and drink.
[44:23] This spake he of the Spirit of God. You know, let us drink freely of the Spirit of God. As we, are we hungry? Are we thirsty today?
[44:34] Are we like the church at Laodicea? We have need of nothing. We have need of nothing. We are rich and increased in goods.
[44:46] And we have need of nothing. They did not know that they were needy. They were wretched. They were miserable. They were poor. They were blind. They were naked. But they didn't know it.
[44:59] They were blinded. Blinded by their own pride. Blinded by their own works. Blinded by their own good works that they were doing.
[45:09] Not allowing the Spirit of God to harness them. To harness them.
[45:19] And to take them. And to use them. And to make them effective. You know, you can have the strongest horse. But unless he's trained, he's of no use.
[45:32] He's of no use. Until he learns to harness. Until he learns to submit. Until you can control that horse.
[45:44] He's useless. That's how it is with us. Until we come to the place. That the Spirit of God can harness us.
[45:55] And use us. We're useless in the kingdom of God. Lord. In 1 Corinthians 14.
[46:14] There's a verse here. You know, in chapter 12. Talks about the gifts of the Spirit. And the functionings of the gifts.
[46:25] And all of that. And then. Which verse? Can't find the exact verse I was looking for.
[46:57] Verse 12 says. Even so ye. For as much as ye are zealous. Of spiritual gifts. Seek that ye may excel.
[47:08] To the edifying. Of the church. Now let's go back to verse. I think we'll just read verse 1. Maybe somewhere here. We'll come across it. Follow after charity.
[47:19] And desire spiritual gifts. But rather. That ye may prophesy. Prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue. Speaketh not unto men. But unto God.
[47:30] For no man understandeth him. How be it in the Spirit. He speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesies. Speaketh unto men. To edification. And exhortation.
[47:42] And comfort. You know. So. And. On. In verse 31. Of chapter 12. It says. But covet earnestly. The best gifts.
[47:54] Covet earnestly. The best gifts. And. But. But these gifts. They can function. But. The only way.
[48:05] They will be effective. Is if they function. Through a heart of love. Love. That's why chapter 13. Is in here. But he. So many times.
[48:17] We want. We. We. We. We hear people say. Well. We. We. We just want to follow after love. But we forget. That we need the gifts. He says. Covet earnestly.
[48:28] The best gifts. And. And he says. Desire. Spiritual gifts. Follow after charity. But desire. Spiritual gifts. You know.
[48:39] They work together. They work together. They're all part. Of the package. Of the Holy Ghost. Controlling us.
[48:49] And directing us. And us. Walking. Out. The life of Christ. In this body. I would.
[49:00] That ye all. Speak with tongues. But rather. That ye prophesied. And he goes on. You know. And there's a lot. In this chapter. But we won't. We won't read. This whole chapter.
[49:12] But. Read it sometime. Read it sometime. Now let's go on. Let's read.
[49:24] Ephesians. Let's go to Ephesians.
[49:38] There's so many places we could go. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 3. Here we have Paul's prayer for the church.
[49:56] Let's go. and I believe that as Paul prayed this for the Ephesian church, he is praying it for us, and we should look at this, and we should pray it for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters.
[50:23] Start in verse 15. Of the whole family in heaven and earth, that he would grant you, that he would grant to us, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.
[50:45] Now what, you know, so often we read over this, and there's so much, it's so rich, but let's pull it apart a little bit, that he would grant to us, according to the riches of his glory, the riches in glory.
[51:05] You know, John talks about this too, and we might look at that, but the riches in glory, we can't comprehend the riches in heaven, can we?
[51:18] But he says here, that Jesus will grant to us, according to his riches in glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man, to be strengthened with his might, the might of the spirit of God, the very spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead, that spirit that he would strengthen us, that his might will be in our inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, the love of Christ.
[52:14] You know, we know partially the love of Christ because he came and he laid down his life for us. And then let's continue here, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
[52:31] How do we become filled with the fullness of God? It is by that supernatural baptism of the Holy Ghost coming upon us and filling us and that anointing of the Holy Spirit of God being upon us and being in us and filling us.
[52:52] You know, he can only fill us if we're empty of self. He can only fill us if the things of this world are emptied out.
[53:09] He wants to fill us with all the fullness of God, not unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.
[53:22] According to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ. Not only in the church of Ephesus at that time, but throughout all ages, world without end.
[53:40] Amen. That includes us. That includes us. But let's look at this. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.
[53:54] You know, we can think a lot of things. We can think a lot of big things. We can, you know, if we allow our mind to go, we can think some very big things.
[54:07] But, you know, God is bigger yet. He's bigger yet. He is more powerful yet. He is more powerful than we can comprehend. He is more powerful.
[54:19] He is able to do more than what we can think. He says, according to the power that worketh in us. You know, I think the biggest hindrance to his power is our self-life.
[54:36] And that self-life is where all the unbelief comes from. It's that unbelief is what hinders his power from working through us.
[54:47] It's that unbelief is what keeps us from entering into what God has for us. He wants to fill us with all the fullness of God.
[55:10] We cannot, can we? We cannot comprehend everything that's included in that. Hallelujah.
[55:22] The Gospel of John. You know, he talks here. He says in John 16. You know, Jesus was telling the disciples that he must, he's going to leave them.
[55:41] He's going away. But he says in verse 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away.
[55:51] For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and ye see me no more of judgment.
[56:14] Because the Prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth.
[56:30] For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.
[56:47] All things that the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you. You know, notice here.
[56:59] When the Spirit of God comes, when the Spirit of God speaks, when the Spirit of God works, what does he do? He glorifies Jesus.
[57:13] You know, if there's a man claiming to be doing miracles and healings and whatever he's doing, but it's not glorifying Jesus, it's glorifying him.
[57:24] He's operating in the wrong spirit because the Holy Ghost will always glorify Jesus. He will always lift up the name of Jesus.
[57:37] He will always, you know, it's never to bring glory to the man, and it's never for his own, but for Jesus.
[57:54] The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. It's the Spirit of our Lord Jesus. And he dwells within us. He desires to fill us with all the fullness of God.
[58:07] Now let's notice what else he says here. The Spirit of God, he will glorify Jesus. And then verse 14.
[58:19] He shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. He will receive of the glories of Jesus.
[58:30] He will receive of the glories of heaven. He will receive of the riches in glory, the riches of heaven.
[58:42] He will receive them and bring them. He will come and bring them to us to meet our need and to empower us and to meet the need of whatever, you know, when you're, when you go out to minister full of the Holy Ghost, you don't need to worry that you'll get into a situation that there's no answer for.
[59:07] Because as the Holy Ghost takes you, he will provide whatever is needed for whatever you meet. Hallelujah. He's here today to meet our every need.
[59:25] Yes. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Do we love him more than anything else?
[59:39] Jesus admonished. So full and so rich.
[59:53] Philip asked the question.
[60:06] He said, Lord, show us the Father and it suffices us. Jesus said, Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me?
[60:22] He that has seen me has seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, show us the Father? You know, you know, we don't understand everything about the Godhead and how it all functions.
[60:44] but Jesus just plainly said here, If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. Now let's see what else he says.
[61:07] Well, let's just read on in verse 10. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me. The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me he doeth the works.
[61:24] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the very works sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater works and these shall he do because I go unto my Father.
[61:49] He had to leave that the Holy Ghost can come and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
[62:01] If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. The works that he has for us to do whatever it will be, whatever it will be in the future, whatever, you know, we're living in very uncertain times.
[62:18] We don't know how long things will continue the way they are. We don't know that, but I believe God has a work for each one of us in this land that we will fulfill it is as we walk in the Spirit of God, as we allow him to live through us and to work through us.
[62:45] He says, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do. You know, if we are full of the Holy Ghost, there's no limit to what he can do through us.
[63:03] There's no limit if we will walk in faith and allow him to use us. If ye love me, keep my commandments.
[63:17] I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. even the Spirit of truth neither knoweth him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you.
[63:45] Verse 20, it is, at that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you. You know, this is, how else can we say but the Father and Jesus and the Holy Ghost, they're all three, one.
[64:06] They're all one. Three in one. One. I will not leave you comfortless.
[64:16] I will come to you. Jesus said, I will send the comforter. But now he says, I will come to you. I will manifest myself to you.
[64:27] In that day I will come. Now, Judas asked, how will you manifest yourself to us and not to the world?
[64:38] Now let's read verse 23. If a man love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
[64:55] God, through the Spirit coming and living within us. You know, I mentioned that we should not grieve the Spirit.
[65:13] we should not quench the Spirit. You know, that is one of the most important things in the Christian life is to not violate the Spirit of God.
[65:38] You know, Bert makes a statement. He says, if you violate the anointing, you will end up in witchcraft. If we grieve the Spirit of God, he will draw back.
[66:00] He will draw back. Let us not be of those that quench the Spirit. Let us not be of those that grieve the Spirit of God.
[66:14] I believe if we quench him, then the next step is to grieve him. He will be grieved and he will withdraw. But Jesus said here, if a man love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
[66:38] He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings. And the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
[66:54] But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.
[67:12] You know, can we hear the Spirit of God? Can we hear the voice of God?
[67:23] Are we afraid of that voice? Are we afraid of what he might require of us? Are we afraid of what he might ask us to sacrifice, to lay down, that we can be more effective in the kingdom?
[67:43] Or are we like Moses and we will just draw an eye to him? And we want to hear his voice. We want to go on with him. We want all he has for us.
[67:53] You know, it's a choice we make many times as we go through this life.
[68:05] Will we draw an eye to him? Or will we resist that voice? You know, it's not just a one-time thing.
[68:16] But I believe it's an ongoing. It's every day as we walk with him. Do we hear his voice?
[68:30] Or do we resist his voice? Do we ignore it? Do we say yes long?
[68:42] Or do we say wait long? How is it? How is it? let's pray.
[69:00] Lord, we thank you. Lord, that you desire to come and make your abode with us.
[69:15] Lord, to fill us with your presence, to fill us with your power, to fill us with your anointing, to empower us for your service.
[69:32] Lord, you desire to bring your gifts into our lives, that these gifts will bring fruit to the edifying of the body of Christ.
[69:48] that we can reach out, that we can be a witness to the lost and the dying around about us and wherever you may take us.
[70:00] Lord, help us. Help us, Lord, to always say yes to you and to your spirit, to your voice when you when you speak.
[70:17] Lord, that you can have your way and you can use us and you can make us, make of us the person you want us to be and we will be useful in your kingdom.
[70:36] We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.