Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: 11POFCM
Program Code: 11POFCM000009
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00:47 We're just having a tremendous time here at Camp Meeting 2011.
00:54 And you know something? 00:55 Camp Meeting is for people of all ages, isn't it? 00:58 And we have tremendous children's meetings 01:03 that are taking place here. They last all day long 01:06 and right up into the evening, and they're just fantastic. 01:10 And this is one of the students 01:14 who has been at the children's meetings today. 01:17 Have you had a good time today? Yes. 01:20 All right! 01:23 And... and what is your name? Levi. 01:28 All right. Levi... and your middle name is James. 01:32 Where did you get that name? 01:33 From... my... mom. 01:44 This is my grandson. 01:47 And it's amazing. You know, we were praying about him 01:51 before he was even born. And we began... we didn't have 01:55 a name. We didn't want to pray for unborn baby, and so 01:59 we began to pray for Levi. 02:02 And when he was born, his mother thrilled us 02:08 when she said: "We've named him Levi James. " 02:11 And so thank you so much for coming out 02:15 and being with us. OK? All right. Thank you. 02:19 All right. Well you know that's one of the things Danny and I 02:22 have in common is we love our grandchildren. 02:24 And we just have a great time. You've met most of them before 02:28 from our side of the family. 02:30 And so this time it's just been great to introduce you 02:35 to Levi. 02:36 I need to talk to you, Granddaddy. 02:40 OK. I'll talk to you in just a minute, OK? 02:46 OK. We have a great time here as a family. 02:50 You know, don't we? And I... I tell you, this... 02:55 these grandchildren, boy... I don't have to tell you 02:59 anything about them, you know all about grandchildren 03:02 and how much they mean to us. 03:04 Tonight we believe that the Lord is going to bless us 03:07 in a special way. We have Pastor John Bradshaw 03:11 who is the Speaker/Director of It Is Written. 03:15 And he has been here to 3ABN. 03:19 He did one of our Anchors of Truth series and 03:23 we really enjoyed that. 03:25 Tonight he's going to speak on Spiritual Gifts and Ministries. 03:30 And just before Pastor Bradshaw comes 03:34 we're going to be favored with a special song 03:38 by Dr. Yvonne Lewis: Just Once More. 04:17 Here I am again. 04:21 I'm on my knees again. 04:26 But these are different tears 04:30 from a brand new set of scars. 04:34 Now they may look the same 04:38 but these are not the same. 04:43 These are dirty tears 04:46 so I can't see where You are. 04:51 But I pray You'll understand 04:54 and I pray You'll take my hand 04:59 and I pray there's still a place 05:02 in the shelter of Your grace. 05:07 I know I don't deserve another chance. 05:13 Oh, but I'm sorry. I blew it. 05:18 I failed You once again. 05:22 All the things I said I was I haven't been. 05:29 And I know that You've heard this 05:34 a million times before 05:40 but I need You to forgive me 05:44 just once more. Oh, 05:48 I need You to forgive me. 05:53 Now I made promises, 05:57 lots of promises 06:02 tied with ropes of sand 06:06 so they never last for long. 06:10 And I'm ashamed to ask 06:14 but I've just got to ask, oh Lord. 06:19 May I start again? 06:22 Will You carry me back home? 06:26 Can you look beyond the sin 06:30 to the helpless fool within? 06:34 Can You take what I've abused 06:37 and make from it a vessel You can use? 06:42 I admit I don't deserve 06:46 another chance. 06:50 Oh, but I'm sorry. 06:53 I blew it; I failed You once again. 06:59 All the things I said I was I haven't been. 07:05 And I know that You've heard this 07:11 a million times before. 07:17 But I need you to forgive me 07:21 just once more. 07:24 Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh. 07:29 Can you look beyond the sin 07:32 to this helpless fool within? 07:37 Can you take what I've abused 07:40 and make from it a vessel You can use? 07:44 I agree I don't deserve another chance. 07:51 Oh, but I'm sorry. 07:54 I blew it. 07:57 I failed You once again. 08:01 All the things I said I was 08:04 I haven't been. 08:07 And I know that You 08:12 heard this a million times before. 08:19 But I need You to forgive me just once more. 08:24 Lord I said I need You to forgive me 08:31 just once more. 08:33 Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh. 08:39 Lord I need You to forgive me 08:44 just once more. 08:51 Oooh, oooh, oooh. 09:02 Amen! 09:06 Thank you so very much. 09:09 It's a privilege to stand here after Dr. Yvonne Lewis has sung. 09:13 Good evening, everyone. 09:15 Good evening. A real blessing to be here with you tonight 09:19 and a thrill to be at the 3ABN Camp Meeting this year. 09:22 Really a thrill. You know, I have to begin 09:25 by thanking 3ABN from the bottom of my heart. 09:29 We just completed a 4-day... and by we, I need to say 09:34 It Is Written... we just completed a 4-day/night event, 09:38 a 4-part event, in Las Vegas, Nevada, 09:41 which signals the beginning of a longer event. 09:45 It Is Written has partnered with the church leadership 09:49 in Nevada and Utah and church ministries from 09:52 sea to shining sea. A great number of them. 09:54 It's a wonderful event. There's a vast collaboration 09:58 taking place to conduct evangelistic outreach 10:02 in Las Vegas... and from Las Vegas to the world. 10:06 And It want to thank It Is Written... 10:09 Well, OK, I'll thank It Is Written too... But I want to 10:11 thank 3ABN very, very sincerely. 10:14 You know, when Elder Jim Gilley found out about our 10:17 Babylon Rising project he said to us: 10:20 "You know, 3ABN has a local television station 10:24 there in Las Vegas. " He said: "If there's anything 10:29 that you would like to broadcast to advertise the event 10:33 or prepare for this event, " he said: "I want you to know 10:36 that 3ABN is ready to help you in any way possible. " 10:40 And so, you know, we... we were blessed to be able 10:44 to get a few things out on the air on the local 3ABN station 10:48 in Las Vegas that we otherwise would not. 10:50 And you know, here's what ended up happening. 10:53 Babylon Rising was really a seed-sowing event. 10:56 An entrance event 10:58 designed to build momentum to the larger event 11:01 which will finally take place in January and February 11:04 of next year. Now I can't tell you 11:06 because I don't know how many times, but many times 11:09 people said to us: "There I was. 11:13 I flipped on the local Christian television channel 11:17 and I saw this Babylon Rising event being advertised 11:21 and I said: "I have got to go 11:22 and I've got to be part of this. " Amen. 11:24 One lady, she said: "I woke up at 1:30 in the morning. 11:27 I couldn't sleep and I turned on my Christian TV channel 11:30 and I saw the advertising. I said: "That's the Lord. 11:34 He woke me up just to see that. I've got to go 11:36 and hear what's going on down there. " Amen. 11:39 And then there was Mike. This is a great story. 11:41 So Mike was in Las Vegas for a convention... 11:45 well, a business-retreat convention sort of a thing. 11:48 And Mike was a very, very committed Christian. 11:53 I'm not sure what church he's a member of... 11:55 but an evangelical church somewhere on the East Coast. 11:58 On the East Coast as a matter of fact. 12:00 Right on the East Coast as a matter of fact. 12:02 And Mike saw the advertising and he said: 12:05 "I've got to go to that; I've got to go tonight. " 12:07 So he rushed down to the Cashman Center - 12:11 large place - and when he arrived, somebody said: 12:15 "Um, are you a volunteer? " 12:20 He said: "Sure, if you need me I can help. " 12:26 So they said: "Come right in! " 12:28 And he got in and he said: He said: "Ah, there's only 12:31 like a hundred people here 12:33 and this auditorium seats almost 2,000. " 12:35 And then he realized he was a day early. 12:38 He'd come a day early. 12:40 So I was giving a devotional to the volunteers. 12:43 It was the volunteers evening and Mike came in 12:45 and he sat down. He said: "Wow, I really like this. " 12:48 He said... and then he realized we were breaking up 12:50 into the various groups of volunteers. 12:52 And he said: "Well, that's not... " 12:54 He said: "You know what I can do? I can go downtown 12:56 right now and start inviting people to come 12:58 to Babylon Rising. He went out in the foyer, 13:00 scooped up an armload of advertising, 13:02 and went off downtown Las Vegas 13:04 handing out these things on the street. 13:06 "Man, you've got to go to this. This is great! 13:08 You're going to love it! " 13:09 He came the next... In fact, the next day 13:11 he was supposed to leave Las Vegas and go home, 13:14 but he said: "I'm not missing this for the world. " 13:16 He extended his stay in Vegas for an extra day 13:18 so he could be there opening night. 13:20 On opening night he grabbed another armload of materials 13:23 AND one of the Babylon Rising volunteers. 13:26 He said: "You need to come with me downtown. 13:28 We'll go hand these out together! 13:29 People have got to come! " 13:32 So thank you 3ABN. 13:34 You know, this is ministry 13:37 and friends and partners working together. 13:40 And that was really a blessing. Babylon Rising went great. 13:44 I'd love to tell you about the deaf lady who heard 13:47 the presentation one night, 13:49 but I don't have time for that right now. 13:51 Uh... 13:57 What? 14:00 I really didn't mean to do that. 14:02 I really didn't think I had time. 14:05 OK, I'll get to that; I'll get to that. 14:07 Um, we had some interesting... some interesting experiences. 14:11 And... because you know why, don't you? 14:15 When you get together in a place to preach the Word of God, 14:19 to proclaim present truth, 14:23 to convey to others the everlasting gospel, 14:28 is God there with you? Amen. 14:30 God... Now listen, you don't have to be in an enormous 14:32 auditorium in Las Vegas for God to be there with you. 14:37 You know, when you're holding an evangelistic outreach 14:39 in your town whether it's in a big town or a two-horse town 14:42 it might be you and one other person 14:44 and God is there too. 14:47 The Holy Spirit shows up when we proclaim God's end-time 14:51 message. And when the Holy Spirit shows up 14:54 great things have to happen because the Holy Spirit 14:59 is in the business of doing great things. 15:01 So here's what I was told. 15:04 Somebody approached me on the final night: 15:07 "Oh, Pastor, I've got to tell you about my friend 15:10 who came last night and she accepted Jesus Christ 15:14 as her personal Savior for the first time. " 15:17 And I said: "Praise the Lord. " 15:18 You ought to as well, by the way. 15:19 All right. I said: "Praise the Lord. " 15:21 He said: "No, but that's not the best thing. " 15:23 I said: "Well, what's better than that? " 15:26 He said: "I've got to tell you. " 15:28 He said: "We've been inviting this lady to the Bible studies 15:31 for forever... she would never come. 15:32 So we said: "Come this Babylon Rising event" 15:36 and out she came. He said: 15:38 "The lady is very hard of hearing. 15:40 Deaf. She cannot hear unless she has very special 15:45 assistance to help her hear. " 15:47 I said: "Oh, and you're telling me this for a reason? " 15:50 "Yes, yes. We got one of the hard-of-hearing devices. 15:53 She tried it; it didn't help her at all. " 15:54 She was going to leave but I said: 15:56 "Come on in anyway. " 15:57 She came into the meeting, sat down. 16:00 At the end was said: "How did you enjoy it? " 16:01 She said: "I enjoyed everything I heard. " 16:04 And they said: "You heard? " 16:05 She said: "I heard absolutely everything clear as a bell. " 16:09 Amen. 16:11 Is God still in the miracle- working business? Amen! 16:14 Yes He is! 16:15 When it means getting the message through to somebody 16:18 so that somebody can meet Somebody - 16:20 the main Somebody - God is still in the business of doing 16:25 great, great things. 16:27 Please be encouraged. 16:28 The God who does great things in other people's meetings, 16:34 in other people's towns, 16:37 in other ministries, is the same God 16:40 who shows up and answers your prayers when you 16:43 pray the prayer of faith in the name of Jesus. 16:45 So God is in the business of doing great things. 16:47 And I just believe... you can tell me I'm wrong 16:50 and maybe I am... but I believe the closer we get to the 16:52 return of Jesus God is going to do the sorts of things 16:56 that SHOULD NOT amaze us but do. 16:59 Why should we be surprised that a deaf lady heard? 17:02 Why are you surprised about that? 17:04 Why was I surprised about that? I was surprised. 17:06 I reached out; I put my hand on the guy's shoulder. 17:08 I said: "Are you telling me the truth? " 17:13 He had this... he had this little look on his face 17:15 for a moment. "Yes, I'm telling you the truth! " 17:17 "Well I thought you were but I'm checking. " 17:22 He was telling the truth. 17:23 So God does great things. I want to mention a couple 17:25 of things to you, just rudimentary things 17:28 regarding It Is Written. 17:30 You are going to ask me so I will pre-empt your question. 17:34 Someone's going to ask me: "How is Shawn doing? " 17:37 No, no, no. The first question is probably going to be: 17:41 "What's wrong with Shawn? " 17:45 Well I'm going to tell you... I'll tell you later. 17:52 You're hearing this straight from the horse's mouth. 17:54 In fact, he could be watching. 17:57 And if you are, pardon me for having some fun at your expense. 18:02 But we're friends so this is what you have to put up with. 18:05 Here's what's wrong with Shawn: 18:08 we don't know. 18:10 Sorry to disappoint you... but we don't know. 18:13 You don't know 18:14 and no one you know knows. 18:18 I've had people tell me: "I know what's wrong with him" 18:20 and I say "Wow! " I mean, who is this? Melchizedek? 18:25 Are you the Holy Spirit? I mean how do you know 18:27 when the doctors don't know? Shawn got terribly sick 18:30 and no one quite knows what it was. 18:32 When I say no one quite knows, no one knows what it was. 18:34 He was terribly sick and it wasn't at all good. 18:37 His health rapidly deteriorated 18:40 and... and it wasn't good. 18:43 But you know something? The same God 18:46 who makes the deaf to hear 18:48 is able to make the Shawn Boonstra well. 18:50 Amen. Praise the Lord. 18:52 Shawn said to me, he said: 18:54 "I wouldn't say that I'm 100 per cent. " 18:57 He even said this: "I don't know if I'll be 100% 18:59 but I'm a whole lot better than I was 19:03 and I... " He said words to the effect 19:06 "I'm almost the old me... 19:08 I'm getting back to being the old me. " 19:09 Amen! So thank the Lord. 19:11 And if you have prayed for Shawn thank you so very much. 19:14 He's a wonderful man of God, a great evangelist, 19:16 a committed Christian. 19:18 And it's wonderful to know that God has worked 19:23 in his behalf and our behalf. 19:26 That's... that's just wonderful. 19:28 Uh, something that I would like you to know is that we have 19:32 a daily devotional at It Is Written. It's called Every Word. 19:36 I just paused so that I might even hear a murmur of agreement 19:39 or approval from someone. "I know about that, yeah. 19:43 I've got it right here on my phone. " 19:44 But I know some of you have. 19:46 Um, and it's a daily devotional 60 seconds long. 19:50 Every now and then we stretch it beyond 60 seconds. 19:53 Like poker, every now and then we stretch it beyond 60 seconds. 19:57 Um, but the idea is it's brief. 19:59 It's a Bible verse that you can take and apply to your life 20:02 and be blessed with today, right now. 20:04 And the wonderful thing about it: it's shareable. 20:07 You can go to our website: itiswritten. whatever 20:09 and I mean com or org... anything will take you there... 20:13 and sign up and subscribe to it 20:16 and we'll send it to you every day. And the neat thing about it 20:18 is we have people who are barely even Christians who say 20:21 "I watch this. I wouldn't miss it. This is a blessing. 20:24 It connects me with God. " 20:26 So have a look at it. 20:27 You'll be blessed... there's no question about it. 20:28 And then you're going to say: "This is one I can forward 20:31 to my neighbor. I can forward this to my non-Church-member 20:34 friend. I can send this to the kids. 20:36 So it's Every Word and it's on the front page of our website. 20:39 And if you want to follow what we're doing at It Is Written, 20:41 please do. Facebook. com/itiswritten 20:44 Follow us and that way we can just let you know what 20:46 is going on and you can pray for us. 20:48 'Cause you know why things happen in places like Las Vegas? 20:51 Because people are praying that God will work 20:54 and God is answering prayer. 20:56 Speaking of prayers, let us pray 20:58 and expect God's blessing tonight. Let us pray. 21:01 Our Father, We thank you that we can 21:04 come to you tonight in the name of Jesus. 21:05 We come humbly but we come with confidence 21:10 because You told us: "Come boldly to the throne of grace. " 21:15 So here we are. You said if you do that 21:18 then you'll be able to obtain mercy and grace to help 21:22 in time of need. Lord we need mercy 21:25 and right now we need grace. This is a time of need 21:29 for we need Your Holy Spirit to guide us in Your Word. 21:32 Be merciful to me... Your faulty human instrumentality. 21:38 And bless us that Your Word would do what You want it to do. 21:41 You said it won't come back void. 21:43 So tonight, let it prosper in Your hand. 21:47 We pray in Jesus' name. Please say with me 21:51 Amen. 21:54 I was working at a radio station when I met a local 21:57 church pastor named Jim. 22:00 Jim was the pastor of the biggest church in town. 22:03 It was huge! It had been a supermarket 22:07 but they converted it into a church. 22:10 Now going back that many years and in that culture 22:13 and at that time, just the idea 22:17 of a supermarket being turned into a church 22:20 was an astonishing idea just that. 22:22 And Jim would come to the radio station where I worked 22:25 and he would record his 30-minute radio program. 22:29 I would watch this guy, and he would sit there with his Bible 22:32 and a couple of notes and he'd speak 22:35 and he'd get right to 29 minutes and 57 seconds 22:39 and he'd say: "And God bless you. " 22:42 I mean, the man was a master. 22:44 And one day Jim said: "John, why don't you 22:47 come visit my church? " He knew I went to church 22:50 and I said: "I'd love to. " 22:52 So I turned up in the supermarket church. 22:54 Huge. And, you know, by today's standards it probably wasn't 22:57 very big... but then it was a colossus. 23:01 And I sat back... way back there 23:03 and I was so impressed because Pastor Jim came out and at the 23:08 beginning of service he said: "And I'd like to welcome 23:11 John Bradshaw here from the radio station 23:13 or whatever radio station it was. 23:15 "Welcome, John, I'm glad you're here. " And I said: 23:17 "Wow! " And Pastor Jim started to preach. 23:21 And... and I was interested in this. I was spiritually curious 23:24 and I decided I would go to this church even though it was 23:27 very different to the church I was raised in and attended. 23:31 Then Pastor Jim started to preach. He took his Bible 23:35 and he stood down front in a pulpit much like this. 23:37 And he started in his measured but very confident way 23:41 to share the Bible. And not long after he began 23:45 it began. Like a clap of thunder. 23:49 A lady... this I've never seen done in a church before... 23:53 she stood up. There was a big, big open area. 23:57 She walked down front and she started to screech. 24:00 "My people" she called out. 24:10 "I've got a message for you my people. " 24:15 And I inhaled and I didn't breathe 24:18 for about 4-1/2 minutes. 24:22 And I sat there gripping... the chairs had armrests... 24:25 gripping the armrest and my knuckles were white. 24:27 Understand this... In my church all the people ever did 24:31 was recite pre-determined mandated rote responses. 24:37 If this had happened at my church there would have been 24:39 a scandal... a scandal! 24:43 And the young lady sitting next to me noticed that I was nervous 24:46 and she said: "What's... what's the matter? " 24:47 I said: "That's right. What's the matter? " 24:50 She said: "What's the matter what? " 24:52 I said: "What's the matter with that lady? " 24:54 "What in the world? " 24:56 And... and I didn't want to create a scene. And... 24:58 But it was hard... it was hard to create scene in that church 25:01 in particularly. People were making a noise and everything. 25:04 I'm just saying I'd never seen that before. 25:06 And the lady said: "Don't worry about a thing... 25:10 that's the Holy Spirit. " 25:18 Now I had heard of the Holy Spirit before. 25:21 In our church we recited the Apostle's Creed 25:24 very frequently. And part of the Apostle's Creed says 25:27 "I believe in the Holy Spirit. " 25:30 That comes right before the part that says 25:33 "The holy Catholic church, 25:34 the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, 25:37 the resurrection of the body. " That's impressive, isn't it? 25:40 "And life everlasting, Amen. " 25:41 Wow, I just pulled that... that came from 20+ years ago 25:44 just like that. 25:46 And so I believed in the Holy Spirit. 25:47 And she said: "The lady is in the Holy Ghost. " 25:51 And I said: "Oh. " 25:54 And that explained everything. 25:56 That was my first introduction to the idea 26:01 of the... of something called spiritual gifts. 26:04 First time I had ever been introduced 26:09 to the phenomenon or even the idea 26:13 that the Holy Spirit gave people gifts which you might even say 26:18 were "unusual. " 26:21 And since then, I've learned from the Bible 26:24 that God does give spiritual gifts to His people. 26:27 Amen. And that sometimes when God gives spiritual gifts 26:31 to His people and those gifts are manifested, sometimes 26:35 it's spectacular. Sometimes it's very spectacular. 26:40 Uh, in fact, the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit 26:44 a lot. And almost always when the Holy Spirit is mentioned 26:49 it's mentioned in reference to something remarkable. 26:53 The power of the Holy Spirit is so incredible that 26:57 there was one fellow in the Bible so impressed by it 27:01 that he took out his wallet and offered money 27:05 for the gift of the Holy Spirit. 27:07 That's how impressed that fellow was. 27:12 There came a time after the experience that I had 27:14 in the supermarket church that I, too, wanted to have 27:18 the gift of the Holy Spirit. 27:20 Now I never did offer anybody any money for it. 27:24 But being spiritually curious and being in a group of 27:27 Christians in my church that was atypically 27:31 ecumenical, we would visit different churches 27:35 from time to time. And the opportunity would be given: 27:37 "Come forward and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. " 27:40 Well, who wouldn't want that? 27:44 Prayed for me. 27:45 They prayed and they prayed and they prayed. 27:47 Prayed I would receive the gift of tongues. 27:51 Never happened. 27:52 I have to tell you, I was some- what disappointed about that. 27:54 That man said one day: "Come on up here 27:57 and be healed. " And I said: 28:00 "Who wouldn't want to be healed? " 28:02 But I felt envious of sick people... I wasn't sick. 28:05 If I was sick, I could be healed. 28:09 And then I remembered: I don't see very well 28:13 out of my left eye. 28:18 That's something God could fix! 28:20 So I went up front confident. 28:21 "Ah man, everyone's getting healed here tonight. 28:23 Let 'em heal my left eye. " 28:25 I have what now you call astigmatism. 28:28 Back then the optometrist or whoever he was told me 28:31 it was a defective cornea. 28:34 I mean I could see but I can't see a whole lot. 28:37 I can't see anything good. 28:38 And so when I get towards the end of the sermon 28:42 and I see the clock on the back wall 28:45 I close my right eye, I look at it with my left. 28:49 Couldn't see the clock. 28:55 And he prayed for me and he put his hand on my forehead 28:58 and he pushed me over. Pushed me over! 29:01 Where I was from you had to be careful about pushing a brother 29:04 over in my town. 29:06 You'd get a... you'd end up in a world of trouble. 29:08 But he pushed me over and someone caught me. 29:11 And so I laid on the ground and I thought 29:13 "I can't get up too quickly because that wouldn't be cool. " 29:15 So I waited a realistic period of time 29:18 and then I opened my left eye. 29:25 I wasn't healed. 29:28 By my friend Lynley said: "Maybe you didn't have enough faith. " 29:31 And I said: "Maybe you're right. " 29:33 Then there was another time I went forward 29:34 and this is interesting. Was at a big, big gathering. 29:37 More than this. And you'd just go up 29:41 and he'd put a... make a little prophecy on you. 29:44 Put his hand on your head and say something 29:45 from God to you. And well... who wouldn't want that? 29:49 And he put his hand on my head and he said: 29:51 "One day you're going to use that fiery red hair of yours 29:54 to preach the gospel. " 30:05 I thought "well, that'll never happen. " 30:10 How wrong can a guy be? 30:14 This evening we consider the subject of Spiritual Gifts 30:18 and Ministries. It's important that we do because it is a 30:21 foundational subject in the Bible. 30:24 Foundational. 30:27 It is a subject that has occasionally been 30:30 a little or maybe even more than a little misunderstood. 30:35 Now I have a statement here prepared by the leaders 30:39 of the church on the subject of spiritual gifts and ministries. 30:44 And if you will pardon me, I'm going to read it for you 30:46 so it gives us a little bit of a foundation to launch from. 30:49 To launch from. 30:51 Here we go: listen carefully. 30:53 God bestows upon all members of His church 30:55 in every age spiritual gifts 30:58 which each member is to employ in loving ministry 31:01 for the common good of the church and of humanity. 31:04 Try to hear this. When a guy's reading it can be dull. 31:07 But if you listen, you'll grab this. 31:09 Given by the agency of the Holy Spirit 31:12 who apportions to each member as He wills, 31:15 the gifts provide all abilities and ministries 31:19 needed by the church to fulfill its divinely-ordained functions. 31:22 According to the scriptures, these gifts include 31:26 such ministries as faith. Yes or no? 31:29 Healing. Yes or no? 31:31 So when I went up hoping my eye would be healed 31:34 did I have a Christian right to expect God might heal me? 31:38 Yes. Absolutely. Nothing wrong with that. That's fine. 31:42 Um, where was I? Prophecy. 31:44 Prophecy. Proclamation, teaching, administration, 31:49 reconciliation, compassion, and self-sacrificing service and 31:54 charity for the help and the encouragement of people. 31:56 That's a spiritual gift too. 31:58 Some members are called of God and endowed by the Spirit for 32:02 functions recognized by the church in pastoral, 32:05 evangelistic, apostolic, and teaching ministries 32:08 particularly needed to equip the members for service 32:12 to build up the church to spiritual maturity 32:15 and to foster unity of the faith and knowledge of God. 32:20 All these are what spiritual gifts are for. 32:22 When members employ these spiritual gifts 32:24 as faithful stewards of God's very grace, 32:27 the church is protected from the destructive influence 32:30 of false doctrine. 32:32 It grows with a growth that is from God 32:34 and is built up in faith and love. 32:38 Which is reflective of what Jesus said 32:40 in John chapter 14. 32:43 In John 14 and verse 16 Jesus said: 32:47 "And I will pray the Father 32:50 and He shall give you 32:53 another... " What? "another Comforter 32:57 that He may abide with you forever... 33:00 even the Spirit of truth. " 33:05 Jesus promised us He would send to us the Holy Spirit. 33:10 Through the Holy Spirit Jesus would be present 33:14 with and present in believers. 33:18 The personal presence of Jesus would come to us 33:22 through the ministry, through the person of the Holy Spirit. 33:26 Now, the statement I read a moment ago 33:28 says that God gives spiritual gifts 33:32 which are to be used for the common good of the church 33:35 and of all of humanity. 33:37 It's probably, then, a good idea to remember 33:42 what the purpose of the church is. 33:45 Let's consider that. 33:47 Someone wrote this: "The church of Christ 33:51 is God's appointed agency for the saving of souls. " 33:55 Can you say Amen? Amen. 33:57 Its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. 34:02 What is the church's mission? Tell me, please. 34:04 To carry the gospel to the world. 34:06 You know what I love? I love mission statements. 34:08 I love them. 34:10 They're great. And they can be this long... 34:12 I've pastored a couple of churches... 34:14 "Have a mission statement here? " 34:15 "Yeah, we don't remember what it is. " 34:17 I said: "That's good. I know what it is. " 34:20 The mission of this church is to take the gospel to the world. 34:24 That's what it is. 34:25 It's the same for all of God's churches: 34:27 take the gospel to the world. 34:29 If there's a committee meeting at your church 34:32 to decide on a mission statement for your church, 34:34 the meeting's a waste of time because the mission statement 34:38 has been written already. 34:40 It's to take the gospel to the world. 34:43 Amen. Now I understand, pastor... look at me... 34:46 there's a time that you might want to fatten that up 34:48 a little bit and talk about doing good to the man on the 34:51 street and reaching out to people in your community. 34:53 And that's fine. If you want to sharpen it up like that, 34:55 that's good. But we recognize the mission of the church 34:58 is to take the gospel to the world. 35:00 And the obligation rests on all Christians... 35:02 everyone... to the extent of his talents and opportunity 35:05 is to fulfill the Savior's commission. 35:08 The love of Christ revealed to us makes us debtors 35:11 to all who know Him not. God has given us light - 35:15 Yes or no? Yes - 35:17 not for ourselves alone 35:21 but to shed upon them. Amen. 35:25 Those programs you have in your church? 35:28 They're not for you. 35:31 They're for the people that you invite 35:36 to bring so at that program they can meet Jesus. 35:39 Amen. That's the whole idea. 35:41 The purpose of the church is to carry the gospel to the world. 35:45 We are to be vessels 35:48 through which the living Christ works to reach others. 35:54 And Christ does that... He reaches people. 35:57 He grabs hearts; He turns lives upside down 36:01 through the agency of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God. 36:05 God will give you... 36:09 the... not just the Holy Spirit but let's put a point on this... 36:13 gifts given by the Holy Spirit. 36:16 I Corinthians 12... let's go there. 36:19 I Corinthians 12. 36:21 I don't want to slow you down but you want to follow along. 36:24 If I go there and just start reading, 36:26 you're going to turn there anyway and follow along. 36:28 So I'll give you time to get there. 36:29 I Corinthians 12 and we pick it up in verse 9. 36:33 I Corinthians 12:9. 36:36 The Bible says: "To another... " No, let's back up here. 36:40 Why am I starting way down there? 36:42 Let's go right up... verse 4: 36:45 "Now there are diversities of gifts 36:47 but the same Spirit. " 36:51 Now that word gifts is the word... In Greek we 36:55 transliterate it to English as the word charisma. 36:57 Charisma. 36:59 "There are differences of administrations or ministries 37:03 but the same Lord. 37:05 There are diversities of operations but it's the same God 37:08 which worketh all in all. 37:09 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to... " Who? 37:13 To which man? "every man. " 37:16 Just so you know we are not gender exclusive 37:18 that would be every man and every woman. 37:23 Men and women given the gift of the Holy Spirit. 37:28 And where did we get to? 37:31 Uh, OK. "to profit... " Who? 37:33 Yeah, I lost it... somebody down there said something. 37:37 Threw me off the scent. 37:39 No, no, don't be sorry. 37:41 You be sorry if you stop giving me some feedback here. 37:45 "The manifestation of the spirit is given to every man and woman 37:49 to profit... " - Who? - "all. " 37:51 That's right. So does the Holy Spirit come and... and 37:55 visit me and gift me with spiritual gifts 37:58 for my benefit only? Yes or no? 38:01 No, that can never happen. The Bible tell us 38:03 that spiritual gifts are given to you and/or me 38:07 for the benefit of all. 38:11 We've got to remember that. 38:13 "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. 38:17 To another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. 38:21 To another faith by the same Spirit. 38:24 To another the gift of healing by the same Spirit. 38:28 To another the working of miracles. 38:30 To another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits. 38:33 To another diverse kinds of tongues. 38:35 To another the interpretation of tongues. 38:37 But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit 38:42 dividing to every man severally as He wills. " 38:47 That's what the Bible says. 38:49 God decides that He will give you spiritual gifts. 38:52 And He might give you one or He might give you another. 38:55 That's not for us to worry about... 38:58 it's for us to thank God for. 39:01 I want you to notice something. 39:03 Some of these gifts are remarkable! 39:05 Whole churches have been built on the back of one or the other 39:09 of these spiritual gifts. 39:11 Oh it's interesting. I never did see a church 39:14 bragging on themselves because they had the gift of helps. 39:18 Did you ever hear that? 39:19 We are a Holy Ghost church 39:22 and we are very into the gift of administration around here. 39:26 That might be our church... I don't know. 39:28 Might be our church. 39:31 You don't hear about that. You hear about the spectacular 39:34 churches... the spectacular gifts, rather. 39:38 The gift of helps: that'd be... that's be kind of like the gift 39:41 that deacons have. And I've met some deacons 39:43 who have spectacular gift... the gift of helps, serving. 39:47 And as I read one commentary it talked about how this 39:50 would be the gift of maybe helping the poor 39:52 or helping the sick as well. 39:55 Unfortunately, people like to be "wowed" 39:59 and we like the spectacular gifts. 40:01 Now, when It Is Written was in Las Vegas 40:04 we discovered shortly before Babylon Rising began 40:07 that a well-know preacher, you've probably heard of him, 40:10 very popular preacher by the name of Benny Hinn, was 40:13 going to be in Las Vegas at exactly the same time. 40:16 And we thought... we thought "Well we've got an auditorium 40:19 that seats 2,000. " And we checked... 40:21 Benny had one that seated 4,000. 40:24 So I said: "Well, I mean, God bless him... " 40:25 But you know, you worry about after putting all this effort 40:28 in that maybe... maybe... maybe folks might go there 40:32 instead of there. But you know, you let God worry about that. 40:35 Amen. And so we talked about this. 40:37 And so my children said on the drive to Vegas, they said: 40:39 "Daddy, who's Benny Hinn? " 40:41 And I explained to him that he's a well-known preacher 40:44 and he travels the world and he does this. 40:45 "And so what's his thing? " they said. 40:47 I said: "Well, he's coming to Las Vegas to do a miracle 40:50 healing crusade. " 'Cause that's what he does 40:53 are miracle healing crusades. 40:55 And they said: "Oh, OK. " And they asked me some questions 40:57 about that. Well now... 41:01 you're going to think I'm funny but it's the truth: 41:04 we took the goldfish to Las Vegas. 41:08 We have four goldfish and a little catfish. 41:11 We're not going to eat it. 41:13 The catfish keeps that goldfish bowl clean. 41:18 That's nasty, isn't it? Yes! 41:21 And so we took this thing to Las Vegas. 41:23 because we didn't want to leave it home. 41:24 They can't feed themselves. 41:26 Well, we got up one morning and Melissa, my wife, 41:30 went to the fish bowl. "Oh, no! " 41:33 Well it had happened before 41:35 when you find the fish doing backstroke instead of freestyle. 41:39 And she said: "Oh, no! " 41:41 And so we scooped out three of them and put them in a... 41:43 in a bucket of clean water, a bowl of clean water. 41:47 And we hoped and we hoped and... 41:50 and, you know, we prayed 'cause you know, with the kids there 41:53 we prayed: "You know, Lord, if You'd like these fish to survive 41:55 that's fine. If not, you know... that's all right. " 41:57 You're busy running a world, you know... 41:59 praying about three goldfish. 42:02 But we put it out to the Lord that if He would like to see 42:04 these fish revive like they had that'd be OK. 42:06 And you know, after 5 or 10 minutes it was still backstroke. 42:11 My daughter Shannon came into my room with a smile 42:14 on her face. She said: "Daddy, got Benny Hinn's phone number? " 42:29 We... we like the spectacular gifts. 42:34 We like those. 42:36 Yet in I Corinthians we read this: 42:39 "God hath set some in the church. First, apostles. " 42:43 That'd be missionaries. 42:45 "Secondarily, prophets. " 42:47 You've read Joel. 42:50 "Prophets. Thirdly, teachers. " 42:53 Which says to me... 42:55 Well, I'll tell you what it says to me in a moment. 42:56 "After that miracles. " Miracles! 42:59 Is God still in the miracle- working business? 43:01 Yes He is! "Then gifts of healings. " 43:04 Does God still heal people? Amen! 43:06 Does He do it miraculously? Amen! 43:08 I've been involved in anointings where hopeless cases have 43:11 been... have been given their lives back. 43:13 I've been involved in anointings, too, where 43:15 the undertaker was called just a couple of days later. 43:17 We don't get to choose but God still works spectacularly. 43:21 "Then gifts of healings, helps, governments, 43:24 diversities of tongues. " 43:27 You notice something... that right on the same level 43:31 as miracles is the gift of helps 43:35 and the gift of teaching. 43:38 Teaching: that's a wonderful spiritual gift, you know. 43:41 God gives a variety of spiritual gifts 43:46 and He wants to pour them out. We shouldn't be surprised 43:50 that God is doing great things through human instrumentalities 43:55 because God is in the business of winding up His work. 43:58 Do you believe Jesus is coming back soon? 44:01 Amen! He is coming back sooner than we think I think. 44:04 Amen! And so if He's coming back soon, 44:08 then you know God is going to do great things. 44:11 You know, there are 800 language groups in Papua, New Guinea, 44:16 where they don't know the gospel? 44:19 What do you think? Are we going to wait for everybody 44:21 to translate the Bible into those 800 languages? 44:24 This is just my belief: 44:26 God's going to wrap that thing up quickly. 44:29 Amen! There are spiritual gifts to take care of that! 44:32 Amen! No question about it. 44:34 The gifts are given for the purpose of building up 44:40 the kingdom of God. Paul wrote to the Ephesians 44:44 that spiritual gifts were given... here's why... 44:47 for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the... 44:53 ministry. That's what they're given for. 44:57 It is material that Jesus is coming soon. 45:01 We know God's going to pour out His Holy Spirit. 45:05 There's something though. There was a story 45:08 about ten young women. 45:10 And God would have liked for them all 45:13 to have had their lamps filled. 45:15 But all of them slumbered and slept. 45:21 You know, I can't even point my finger at you 45:24 even if I were self-righteous enough to do so 45:26 because the story says they all slumbered and slept. 45:29 And that would include me, too. 45:31 Well there's a thought. 45:34 The gifts are given for the perfecting of the saints 45:37 for the work of the ministry. Helping us grow 45:39 unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 45:42 All right then, how do we get these spiritual gifts 45:44 do you think? Well Jesus said: "If you then being evil 45:48 know how to give good gifts to your children 45:49 how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit 45:53 to them who ask. " 45:55 Ask and you shall receive. 45:57 I cannot imagine any person 46:01 letting one day go by without praying for God to 46:05 pour the Holy Spirit into her or his life. 46:07 I'll just tell you straight: if you are not praying 46:10 daily for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your life, 46:12 then I've just given you... God has just given you 46:15 something extra to pray for. And it's probably more important 46:18 than anything else you can pray for. 46:20 We've got to be pleading with God for His Holy Spirit. 46:23 How do we receive the Holy Spirit. Point B: 46:25 the Holy Spirit will be given to those who faithfully 46:29 seek after Christ. We read before where Jesus said: 46:32 "I will pray the Father and He will give you the Comforter. " 46:35 But right before that Jesus said: 46:38 "If you love me... " "and I will pray the Father. " 46:44 So we cannot think for a moment that spiritual gifts will be 46:48 manifest in the lives of those who are ignoring the leading 46:51 of the Holy Spirit; who are ignoring obedience. 46:54 We are told in Acts 5 and verse 32 46:56 "The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God. " 47:00 We should keep something in mind. 47:03 There are gifts of the Spirit and then there is the... 47:07 the fruit of the Spirit. 47:09 Or the fruits. You can't take one and not the other. 47:13 It's the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, 47:17 gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. 47:19 These grow in the life of a believer like fruit 47:22 does on a tree. Before God is going to give a person 47:26 the gifts of the Spirit God wants that person 47:28 to have the fruit of the Spirit. 47:31 The fruit of the Spirit... that's God in you. 47:34 The gifts of the Spirit... that's God through you. 47:38 This is where I take exception to the statement 47:40 as I read it to you before. 47:42 The statement said: "God bestows upon all members 47:46 of His church in every age spiritual gifts. " 47:48 That's not true. There are some church members 47:51 who have never been within a bull's roar 47:53 of gifts of the Holy Spirit. 47:56 And that's because they've never been converted. 47:59 Because they've never yielded. 48:02 God will fill you up but He... 48:05 Have you ever tried to fill up a cup with water? 48:07 You've done that, right? Maybe from one cup to another cup? 48:09 But did you ever try to fill up a full cup with another cup 48:12 of water? Doesn't work, right? 48:15 God can't fill you up with the Holy Spirit 48:17 if you're filled up with self. 48:19 That's just the truth. 48:21 How in the world is the Holy Spirit going to work through me 48:25 if I'm filled up with some other kind of spirit? 48:27 God would have us emptied of self. 48:31 Simon Magus. Simon Magus. The brother was baptized. 48:36 He was a member of the church 48:37 but when the Holy Spirit fell it didn't fall on him. 48:41 And that's because he was not given to Christ. 48:46 You know, with spiritual gifts... you ought to be 48:48 asking God: "Where is it? What is it? " 48:52 And you don't need to take a spiritual gifts test 48:55 to figure out what your spiritual gift is. 48:57 You just need to wake up in the morning and say: 48:59 "Lord, what do You want me to do for You today? " 49:01 If you want to take the test... OK, sorry, pastor. 49:03 You've told your church that you're going to do a test 49:05 this week and now I blew it. 49:07 I've blown it for you; I didn't mean to do that. 49:10 But you can just say to God: "What do You want me to do 49:14 today? " The Lord will tell you, will He not? Sure He does. 49:18 And you might even not know He told you until you get 49:21 to the end of the day and look back and say: 49:22 "So that's how God's Spirit wrought through me today. " 49:28 Uh, if you want to receive the Holy Spirit and see gifts 49:33 flourish in your life, do something that requires 49:37 the Holy Spirit flourishing in your life. 49:40 If you're in a Bible study, you'll see God's Spirit working. 49:43 If you want to see the gift of teaching in your life, 49:46 then teach. I remember doing some literature evangelism. 49:50 If you want to ask someone for a testimony about the 49:53 Spirit of God at work and spiritual gifts at work, 49:56 ask a literature evangelist. 49:58 They are on the front lines. 50:00 It's them and the Holy Spirit 50:02 against all of the powers of hell. 50:04 And I was working one day and I had a good day. 50:06 And I was on my way home and a voice said "go back" 50:10 because I drove past two houses. 50:12 And when I say a voice... it wasn't a voice but 50:15 it was a strong impression. I'm calling it a voice. 50:17 I do not... no, I'm not going to do that. 50:19 And I got up to the T. Had to go left. 50:23 I remember it like it was yesterday and it wasn't. 50:25 Like this... And the voice said: "You've got to go back 50:28 'cause not the young family but the elderly couple... 50:31 they're going to buy your... " "No, no, I don't even need it. 50:34 And that doesn't happen in my life. " 50:36 I'm driving down the street and it was like... 50:38 it was like God wasn't letting me go. 50:40 And so I said: "OK, OK, OK. " 50:41 I said out loud: "I think I could be crazy 50:44 but I'm not going to take the chance. " I went back, 50:47 walked, up... they bought one of everything I had. 50:50 Because you're out there, you need the Holy Spirit to work... 50:53 the Holy Spirit will work. 50:54 Amen! 50:56 A voice will speak to you; 50:58 impression will be made in your life. 51:00 If you will accept that nomination, 51:02 if you will take that chance, accept that assignment, 51:04 preach that sermon, give that study, 51:07 take that loaf of bread to a neighbor, 51:09 offer to take your neighbor's kids to the 51:11 Vacation Bible School, you will see God at work. 51:16 And you'll discover: "I've got a knack for that. " 51:20 I can talk to my neighbors. 51:21 I know how to bring a conversation around 51:23 and then... and then deliver them a spiritual question 51:26 and whip out a book and say: "You'll like this. " 51:29 I know how to open up the Bible. 51:31 Who knew? And I can break down a passage and say: 51:34 "this is what God is saying. " Is that the spiritual gift 51:36 of teaching? You had better believe it is! 51:39 You know, the only way we're going to be growing in grace 51:42 is by disinterestedly doing the service of God. 51:45 Amen. Strength comes by exercise. 51:50 If we are walking with Christ and working with Christ, 51:55 we will see the Spirit of God at work in our lives 51:58 and spiritual gifts will be manifest. 52:01 You don't have to sweat it. 52:03 When God calls you to teach or preach 52:07 or pray for a sick person 52:10 or... organize or assist, 52:15 you don't have to ask: "Is this my spiritual gift? " 52:17 You've just got to check with God. "Are You wanting me 52:19 to do this? " And then dive in! 52:22 God wants to use you for something. 52:24 If He's using you for nothing 52:26 then anything would be better than nothing. 52:28 Amen. 52:31 And God wants to get the job done. 52:33 He simply does. 52:35 And so He would look to you to put up your hand and say: 52:38 "Here am I, send me. " 52:40 The spiritual gifts are available. 52:43 You might not be given the gift of speaking in foreign languages 52:47 for the purpose of preaching the gospel. 52:49 The gift of tongues... you might not get that. 52:51 But you might! 52:53 You might get the gift of working miracles 52:56 but you might not. It hardly matters. Does it matter? 52:58 It doesn't matter! 53:00 You might have the gift of teaching and you might not. 53:03 And by the way, don't, don't, don't come with this to me. 53:06 Don't give me this: "Sister, will you teach 53:09 the Sabbath School lesson this week? " 53:11 "That's not my gift. " 53:17 "Brother, we need you to teach the Early teens class 53:20 this year. " "Well that's not my gift. " 53:27 Huh. Don't try that. 53:30 I mean, if God tells you no then you just tell them: 53:34 "The Lord does not want me to do that. " 53:35 But if God's... You know, when you try that... 53:39 "Well that's not my gift. " If you listen, you'll hear God's 53:42 voice saying: "Oh, come on. " That's what God will be saying. 53:46 Who are you trying to kid, huh? 53:49 Nineteen people in your church and you're waiting for 53:52 someone with the gift of teaching to do the teaching? 53:54 Do the teaching! 53:56 God wants to work; the gifts are available. 53:59 They are there. God is at work. 54:04 And the best thing we can do is - pardon me - 54:08 spiritual gifts or not, get into the field of service 54:13 and labor for the Master. Amen! 54:16 The gifts will come; the talents will come. 54:20 The blessings of God will come. 54:23 There was somebody in that parable of the talents 54:25 who took his and hid it in the ground. 54:29 This great gift of the Holy Spirit of God... 54:31 You read through the book of Acts - Acts chapter 1- 54:34 Jesus had told them: "Wait and I will give the gift. " 54:37 Acts 2- the Spirit falls down. 54:40 They are given the gift of tongues 54:42 and the gift of evangelism. Unlearned fisher folk they were. 54:46 Acts 3- Peter and John given the gift of healing. 54:49 Acts 4 verse 8 says Peter is filled with the Holy Ghost. 54:53 Acts 5- they are given the gift of discernment 54:57 as Ananias and Sapphira found out. 54:59 In Acts 6 the deacons have the capacity to work miracles. 55:05 "That's not my gift. " Hang on, man. 55:08 Back then the deacons... what do we call them in our church? 55:12 The offering takers. 55:16 No disrespect, but am I right or am I right? 55:20 No disrespect. If you're a deacon, you ought to 55:22 front up to God in prayer one day and say: 55:24 "I read about these guys in the book of Acts. 55:26 It's time for some miracles to start working. " 55:28 Amen! 55:30 Limiting God? No point limiting God. 55:32 Deacons working miracles. 55:34 In Acts 7 the deacon had a vision. 55:36 In Acts 8 Philip has the gift of teaching and evangelism. 55:39 He is conveyed by the Holy Spirit. 55:41 In Acts 9 Saul receives the gift of the Holy Ghost. 55:44 In Acts 10 Peter has a vision and he manifests 55:47 the gift of teaching. This church began - 55:50 and I'm saying "this church" in terms of the Christian church - 55:52 this church began through an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 55:56 Of any Christians, we ought to be able to look back at our 55:59 history and say: "God has blessed us 56:02 by pouring out spiritual gifts. That's why we're here. " 56:07 And the work is going to be finished because people will 56:09 put up their hands and say: "God, do Your work through me 56:14 by the power of the Holy Spirit. " 56:16 Amen! A gift greater than that we know it reminds me of this 56:18 fellow, an immigrant 100+ years ago in the Bowery 56:24 in New York City. He had a pawn broker shop. 56:27 A lady came in. She said: "I need two dollars. " 56:29 He said: "Well what are you going to leave me as 56:31 collateral? " She said: "I've got nothing but my fur coat. " 56:33 He said: "Oh, man, I don't know anything about fur coats. 56:36 I need to get my $2 back if she defaults on this loan. " 56:39 He took a risk: "I'll take the coat. " 56:40 Then he threw in a handful of moth balls and put it up 56:44 on a shelf. And she never did come back. 56:46 She never did come back. 56:48 He said: "Oh, I've got to get my $2 somehow. " 56:51 Took this thing to the auction and when the bidding got up 56:54 to $1800 he said: "Wait a minute. " 56:56 It was a Russian sable. It was worth $5000 in the year 1907. 57:03 He didn't know the value of what he had. 57:05 I wonder if God would say the same to us today? 57:08 "You don't know the value of what you've got. " 57:09 Amen. God wants to do so much in our lives, in us. 57:12 He wants our ministry to expand and grow... just explode. 57:17 And God is able to do this because He has blessed us. 57:20 God is able to do this because He says to us: 57:22 "I will do the doing. 57:24 I will work in your life. 57:26 I will give you all the spiritual gifts you need 57:29 to get the job done. " |
Revised 2014-12-17