Participants: James Venegas
Series Code: 12HC
Program Code: 12HC000013
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00:48 Hello and welcome to another wonderful Camp Meeting
00:52 blessing at 3ABN! Amen? Amen! Amen. 00:56 We have a wonderful crowd here from many different parts 00:58 of the United States and some other parts of the world 01:01 and we welcome every one of you. 01:03 And of course those of you that are joining us 01:06 all around the world to hear God's blessings, God's message 01:10 here on 3ABN. 01:11 And we just rejoice to hear praise reports from people 01:15 that as they're watching the Camp Meeting they send their 01:18 e- mails and they tell us that they are blessed. 01:22 And so we praise the Lord for what God is doing to 3ABN 01:25 and I can say with much assurance that during this 01:30 Camp Meeting time some people have come to the Lord. 01:33 Amen? Amen! 01:35 This is a marvelous thing: I rejoice to know 01:37 that I can go to bed and sleep through the night 01:41 and the gospel is being preached. 01:43 I praise the Lord for that because 01:47 that means we cannot lose a moment of time. 01:49 Every second on the air means that someone can accept 01:53 Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. 01:55 And really... we do not have much time. 01:57 Even the devil knows, and the Bible says that he 01:59 is roaming about seeking whom he may devour. 02:01 And the Bible says he knows that he has a "short time. " 02:05 And if he has a short time, that means we have a short time 02:08 and we need to give our hearts to the Lord. 02:10 We ask that you will pray for our speaker today. 02:14 Our speaker for this hour is James Venegas as you heard. 02:17 He's going to be preaching on a very special topic. 02:21 Now this is part #3 so if you did not hear 02:25 parts 1 and 2, you will need to consider getting it 02:29 because you will be blessed. 02:33 Part 3 is A Desperate Need... a continuing series 02:36 on the sanctified life. Do we need sanctification? 02:40 Amen; amen. 02:42 And so we encourage you to get your Bibles 02:44 and something to write with because this study 02:47 will help you in your daily walk with the Lord 02:50 and also you will want to continue studying. 02:53 Before the message for today we are going to have prayer. 02:57 After prayer we are going to have 03:00 a wonderful music presentation 03:03 by Sr. Celestine Barry that is going to join us. 03:08 And the name of the song is Completely. 03:11 Completely. I would like to invite you to stand. 03:14 We're going to have prayer 03:16 and we want to ask the blessing of the Lord for this program. 03:19 While Sr. Celestine joins us we're going to have prayer 03:23 and we want to ask you to pray with me 03:27 in your heart for this program 03:30 so that not only we here are blessed 03:32 but people all around the world. Let's pray together. 03:35 Our loving heavenly Father, 03:39 how grateful we are, Lord, that in this moment of time 03:43 You have chosen to bless us during this hour 03:47 with Your servant James Venegas. 03:51 We ask that You will use him. 03:53 We pray for Your Holy Spirit to be upon him 03:56 and we ask that every word will come from Your throne of grace. 04:00 And Father, we also ask that You will help us 04:03 to do our part to concentrate, to focus, 04:08 and to set aside the things that may come to our minds 04:12 that may distract us from hearing Your words. 04:14 We pray, Lord, for Your blessing 04:17 upon both speaker and hearer alike. 04:20 And we pray that we here will be blessed and the many... 04:23 the millions around the world will also be blessed. 04:26 We also ask, Father, for Your name above all things 04:30 to be glorified. In Jesus' holy and blessed name, 04:35 Amen; amen. 04:37 You may be seated. I leave you with 04:39 Sr. Celestine Barry. 04:41 And afterwards, the next voice you will hear is that of 04:44 Pastor James Venegas preaching God's Word for us. 04:47 May the Lord bless us. 05:09 The secret of life 05:12 is letting go 05:16 The secret of love 05:19 is letting it show 05:23 In all that I do 05:26 In all that I say 05:30 Right here in this moment 05:37 The power of prayer 05:41 is in a humble cry 05:44 The power of change 05:48 is in giving my life 05:51 and laying it down 05:55 Down at Your feet 05:58 Right here in this moment 06:03 Take my heart 06:07 Take my soul 06:10 I surrender everything 06:14 to Your control 06:18 And let all that is within me 06:21 look up to You and say 06:25 "I am Yours and Yours alone 06:28 completely. " 06:37 This journey of life 06:41 is a search for truth 06:44 This journey of faith 06:48 is following You 06:51 Every step of the way 06:54 through the joy and the pain 06:59 Right here in this moment 07:03 Take my heart 07:06 Take my soul 07:10 I surrender everything 07:14 to Your control 07:18 And let all that is within me 07:21 look up to You and say 07:25 "I am Yours and Yours alone 07:28 completely. " 07:33 Right here, right now, 07:36 and for the rest of my life 07:41 Hear me say 07:46 Take my heart 07:49 and take my soul 07:52 I surrender everything 07:56 to Your control 08:00 And let all that is within me 08:03 look up to You and say 08:07 "I am Yours and Yours alone 08:11 completely. " 08:14 "I am Yours and Yours alone 08:19 completely. " 08:38 Amen. 08:45 Well good afternoon to you all. 08:47 How you feeling this afternoon? 08:49 Are you feeling alert? 08:51 I'm going to try to be as dynamic as possible 08:54 just to make sure that everyone stays engaged 08:56 and you're all with me, OK? 08:57 'Cause I know that after lunch it's a little bit harder 09:00 to concentrate. I'll be talking about the topic 09:02 that I'm going to share with you this afternoon 09:04 because I believe it is the final piece to the puzzle 09:07 to the sanctified life that we've been talking about. 09:10 It is a very important topic that I want to share, 09:14 and I do want to pray at the outset 09:16 for the Holy Spirit to be with us. 09:17 So let's bow our heads and pray. 09:20 Father in heaven, we are going to unpack 09:22 one of the these topics that again is of vital importance. 09:26 But again, it's a topic that the devil has had a field day with 09:30 and tried to distract us and remove us from knowing 09:33 the truth about this subject. And tonight as we unpack it, 09:37 as we study it, we ask for the subject 09:41 of this topic to be with us: the Holy Spirit. 09:44 We ask that Your Holy Spirit will speak through the Word 09:47 and convict us of truth 09:48 and empower us to live that sanctified life 09:51 that we want to live. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 09:56 So today we're talking about the sanctified life 09:59 but with reference to the Holy Spirit and the function 10:03 and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 10:06 The Holy Spirit is a topic that is again, one of these topics 10:11 that is to be avoided by many 10:13 because the devil has really tried to attack this truth. 10:18 I have had personal experience and witnessed in my journey 10:24 the type of charisma that exists in some non-Adventist churches 10:29 out there with reference to the work of the Holy Spirit. 10:32 There's a real deception on what the Holy Spirit does 10:37 in our lives. There's a real confusion by many. 10:39 There are many out there that just don't understand 10:42 what is the true Biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit. 10:46 In 1906 there was a revival of what is now called 10:51 the modern-day Pentecostal Charismatic Movement 10:54 in Azusa Street in Los Angeles. 10:58 And this date marked the beginning of all of the 11:03 manifestations that we have now seen over the last 11:06 few decades. For example: 11:09 we have witnessed things like the Toronto Blessing. 11:13 Do you remember the Toronto Blessing a few years back 11:15 where people thought that the Holy Spirit's manifestation 11:18 was to incite a holy laughter as it were 11:24 amongst the congregation. So people would be falling 11:27 out of their pews in church dying of laughter 11:31 and that was thought of as the presence of the Holy Spirit 11:36 in peoples' lives. And there was mass hysteria. 11:38 You'd have to see it to believe it: where ministers 11:41 prance around on the stage and people would literally just 11:44 fall on the ground laughing of all things 11:49 sensing the Spirit in that way. 11:52 Then of course we've all seen the healings 11:57 that occur en masse. And the modern-day version 12:01 is the prophesying where most people believe 12:04 they have the gift of prophecy and they will just approach you 12:07 and prophesy over you with the Spirit. 12:12 And for me, this is a gross distortion - all of these 12:15 manifestations - on what the Bible teaches 12:18 about the work and function of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 12:22 And the reason I think it's a Satanic attack 12:25 is because I think the Holy Spirit is the key 12:28 along with the Word of God for our sanctification. 12:31 It is the key... it is the key! 12:34 And unless we understand the Holy Spirit's attributes 12:38 and function then we cannot grow and mature as Christians, 12:43 as believers, as Seventh-day Adventists. 12:45 I had a personal experience years ago when I was much 12:48 younger. I told you that I used to sing in a group. 12:51 It was an Adventist group... it was a Christian group. 12:54 We would travel to different churches and many other 12:56 Protestant churches to sing. 12:58 And I remember a time when I had just joined this group. 13:01 I went and sat near the front and I noticed that a lot of 13:05 the other team members of the group were not sitting 13:07 anywhere near the front... they were at the back. 13:09 I thought it was strange. 13:12 That I was being a diligent minister and sitting in the 13:16 front wanting to just be part of the worship service. 13:20 Little did I know what was to happen. 13:23 After the preacher finished and after we had our segment 13:27 of singing the preacher started to call people up 13:30 and they started to all stand up around me. 13:33 And then the preacher proceeded to kind of lay hands on people 13:37 and they would fall flat on their backs 13:39 as if convulsing around me. 13:42 I had never seen anything like this in my life 13:47 and I was - to be honest - frightened, scared. 13:50 The whole time that was going on I was praying 13:54 that God would keep me safe from that. 13:58 It just didn't resemble to me what the Bible teaches 14:02 on the work of the Holy Spirit. 14:04 There was no resemblance whatsoever. In fact, 14:07 it was chaos. There was a lot of emotion or hype involved 14:12 but there was very little Christ-likeness and very little 14:16 function. And this misunder- standing of the Holy Spirit 14:20 is not new. It dates back to the very early church. 14:23 In fact, at the beginning of the Christian church 14:25 there was a lot of debate over the nature of Christ 14:27 and very little was said about the nature of the Holy Spirit. 14:31 There wasn't much of an understanding on the nature 14:34 of the Holy Spirit. At the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD 14:37 and then Constantinople - 381 AD - they had nothing much 14:41 to say. So as a result of these things that have happened 14:47 I believe that many of us fall into two camps. 14:49 We either embrace this emotional hype and we want to 14:53 sense the Spirit in that way OR... 14:57 we want to just avoid that all together 15:00 and not even discuss the subject of the Holy Spirit. 15:03 And I fear that's what's happened in many of our 15:06 churches. We're afraid of the topic. 15:08 We don't want to look like charismatics. 15:11 We don't want any of that crazy stuff 15:14 and so we don't even talk about it and we overlook 15:17 one of the most important functions in our spiritual life. 15:24 You know, from the creation event onwards the Holy Spirit 15:27 has been playing an active and present role 15:31 throughout the Bible. We often forget this. 15:35 The Holy Spirit was very much present in the Old Testament 15:39 carrying out a specific function in the lives of God's people. 15:44 And of course we see the Holy Spirit is prominent in the 15:47 New Testament. But there was a stream running right through 15:50 the Bible of the Holy Spirit's work. And I just want to 15:53 do a bit of a survey with you so we can see 15:55 what was the Holy Spirit up to in the old covenant? 15:59 In the Old Testament what did the Holy Spirit do? 16:01 Did it have a function? 16:03 And then I want to go on to the New Testament... 16:05 see what the Holy Spirit did then. 16:07 And then let's see if we can apply it to ourselves today. 16:10 So I want to invite you to open up your Bibles 16:12 to Exodus chapter 31 starting from verse 1. 16:16 We're starting in Exodus at the very outset of the scriptures 16:21 chapter 31 verses 1 to 5. 16:33 Now this is a verse that you probably haven't heard too much 16:36 in sermons but I think it's an important one for us 16:39 to kick off. Exodus 31 verse 1. 16:43 It says: "Then the Lord said to Moses 16:47 'See I have chosen Bezaleel son of Uri, the son of Hur, 16:53 of the tribe of Judah and I have filled him 16:57 with the Spirit of God 17:00 with wisdom, understanding, with knowledge 17:03 and with all kinds of skills to make artistic designs 17:08 for working gold, silver, and bronze. 17:11 To cut and set stones. 17:13 To work in wood and engage in all kinds of crafts. 17:17 Moreover, I have appointed Aholiab son of Ahisamach, 17:23 of the tribe of Dan, to help him. 17:25 Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers 17:29 to make everything I have commanded you. ' " 17:31 And then it goes on to say they came to meeting, 17:34 the ark of the covenant of the law, the atonement cover on it. 17:37 They were given a specific gift 17:40 by the Holy Spirit that was a very functional gift. 17:45 It says here that they were given wisdom 17:47 by the Holy Spirit. Says they were given understanding. 17:51 It says they were given knowledge from the Holy Spirit 17:54 and even practical skill. Did you notice that? 17:58 The Holy Spirit empowered these men to carry out some practical 18:02 tasks. The Holy Spirit would come on them for a time 18:06 and they would function in this way 18:07 and be empowered to do those tasks. 18:11 We find another example in Numbers chapter 11. 18:14 And I'm going to move through these again. 18:17 I bombarded you earlier today with texts, and I'm... 18:19 and I've got some to cover as well here. 18:22 Numbers chapter 11 verse 16. 18:25 There is another example of the Holy Spirit's function 18:28 in the old covenant or in the Old Testament. 18:32 Numbers 11:16-17. 18:37 And it reads again: "The Lord said to Moses, 18:40 'Bring me 70 of Israel's elders who are known to you 18:45 as leaders and officials among the people. 18:47 Have them come to the Tent of Meeting that they may stand 18:51 there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, 18:55 and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is 18:58 on you and put it on them. 19:02 They will share the burden of the people 19:05 with you that you will not have to carry it alone. ' " 19:09 And I just want to skip forward to verse 25 19:13 where it says: "Then the Lord came in the cloud 19:16 and spoke with him. He took some of the power 19:19 of the Spirit that was on him 19:21 and put it on the 70 elders. 19:23 When the Spirit rested on them... " What did they do? 19:26 Says: "they prophesied but did not do so again. " 19:33 Again in this situation it is a very specific 19:37 function that the Holy Spirit comes on these men to do. 19:42 They are to help Moses in terms of leadership 19:45 and they are given a gift of prophecy, but it is for a time. 19:50 And they don't do it again. 19:52 A specific function where the Holy Spirit comes upon a person 19:57 in the Old Testament to empower them to do a specific work 20:01 for God. Another couple of examples in Judges. 20:04 A bit different to the ones we've read so far. 20:07 Judges chapter 3 and then I'll show you another one 20:11 in Judges 14. But first Judges chapter 3 20:15 and we'll read from verse 9. 20:18 Judges chapter 3 verse 9. 20:26 These are... these pages are getting a workout. 20:29 They don't normally get a workout: Judges and Numbers. 20:33 Chapter 3 verse 9: 20:36 "But when they whom the Israelites were subject to 20:40 for years... " Let me see if I'm reading the right verse 20:42 here. Judges 3 verses 9 and 10. 20:46 "But when they cried out to the Lord He raised up for them 20:50 a deliverer, Othneil son of Kenaz, 20:53 Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. 20:56 The Spirit of the Lord came on him 20:59 so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. " 21:05 I need to tell you that the Spirit of the Lord came on 21:07 a lot of these men who became judges 21:09 which is a different term to what we would imagine 21:13 now where they make decisions on different cases. 21:15 These guys were leaders of the people. 21:18 The judges were leaders of the people. 21:20 And the Holy Spirit would come on these men 21:23 and they would be empowered not only to lead 21:27 but to have courage to lead the people into battle. 21:30 So the Holy Spirit had a function that it played 21:33 in making these men leaders 21:35 and giving them courage and boldness. 21:38 And we have an example that we all know, and it's in 21:41 chapter 14 where the Holy Spirit came on a specific leader 21:45 to give that leader strength and power. 21:50 Judges chapter 14 and verses 5 and 6. 21:59 This is a familiar name to some of you I think. 22:02 In verse 5 it says: "Samson went down to Timnah 22:06 together with his father and mother and they approached 22:08 the vineyards of Timnah. 22:10 Suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 22:14 The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him 22:18 so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands 22:22 as he might have torn a young goat. " 22:25 And again if we just skip to verse 19 22:28 it fills the story in a little bit more. It says: 22:31 "Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him 22:34 He went down to Ashkelon, struck down 30 of their men, 22:38 stripped them of everything and gave their clothes 22:41 to those who had explained the riddle. " 22:43 In essence, the Holy Spirit gave this man not only boldness 22:48 and courage and leadership. What did He give him? 22:51 Physical strength... physical strength. 22:57 The Holy Spirit. 22:58 That's not something that I had thought through much before... 23:02 the function of the Holy Spirit: giving people courage 23:06 and physical strength and gifts of leadership 23:09 in the Old Testament. 23:11 And finally, one more example of what the Holy Spirit did 23:14 in the Old Testament. This one's more familiar to us. 23:16 The description is in the New Testament. 23:18 It's found in I Peter chapter 1 verse 10. 23:22 I Peter chapter 1 verse 10. 23:30 I Peter chapter 1 verse 10. 23:36 It says: "Concerning this salvation, the prophets who 23:41 spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently 23:46 and with the greatest care trying to find out 23:49 the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ 23:53 in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings 23:57 of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. " 24:01 And that is a role that we are more familiar with: 24:04 the Holy Spirit coming upon men and giving them the gift of... 24:07 of prophecy to write down a message of the Lord 24:11 for the people or to give verbally a message of the Lord 24:15 for the people. So recapping, the Holy Spirit 24:17 in the Old Testament was an empowering force that 24:19 came on the people for a specific purpose, 24:22 a specific person, to give them either wisdom, understanding, 24:26 knowledge, physical skill. 24:28 The Holy Spirit gave them leadership to help them to give 24:32 a message of God. It gave them physical strength 24:36 and power and courage. 24:38 And that was the Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament. 24:42 Now we move on to the New Testament where we have 24:45 a different picture of the Holy Spirit... one that we're 24:47 a little bit more familiar with. 24:49 We want to look up the passage but many of you know that 24:53 John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from where? 24:58 From birth. And Jesus Christ too was... 25:01 was full of the Holy Spirit and led by the Holy Spirit. 25:06 Remember He was led after His baptism off to be tempted 25:09 in the wilderness. The Holy Spirit led Jesus Christ. 25:13 It had a function of guiding Jesus Christ. 25:16 But for the most part we don't hear too much about 25:19 the Holy Spirit until we reach Pentecost 25:24 when the Holy Spirit is poured out on God's people. 25:28 I want to show you a couple of examples 25:29 of what the Holy Spirit was doing in the early church. 25:32 The first one is in I Corinthians chapter 12. 25:36 I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13. 25:40 If you take your Bible in hand and search with me, 25:43 it will help you to stay engaged. 25:46 I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13. 25:56 It says: "For we were all baptized by one Spirit 26:01 so as to form one body, 26:04 whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free, 26:08 and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 26:11 Even so the body is not made up of one part 26:16 but of many parts. " So the Holy Spirit here 26:20 in the New Testament is received by 26:25 baptized believers bringing them into the body of Christ. 26:29 It's the glue that brings us all together. 26:32 It's given at baptism. 26:34 And there are many examples of this. I'm just going to 26:36 choose a couple of them. 26:38 We'll start with I Corinthians. We'll go to chapter 6 26:42 and verse 19. I Corinthians 6:19. 26:49 We'll just mention this a little bit further. 26:53 Chapter 6 verse 19 it says: 26:55 "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the 26:57 Holy Spirit who is in you who you have received 27:02 from God not of your own. You were bought at a price; 27:05 therefore honor God with your body. " 27:08 Let me just explain here that the Holy Spirit 27:11 is in the New Testament received by all believers 27:16 synonymous with baptism. 27:19 When you ask Jesus into your life, 27:21 when Jesus comes in to be your Lord and Savior, 27:24 when you are baptized as a public declaration 27:27 at that moment a true believer receives the Holy Spirit 27:31 into the life. It is synonymous with that event. 27:36 So assuming that it's fact - and the Bible says it is - 27:39 then those who have been baptized... those of us 27:43 have received the Holy Spirit at baptism. 27:47 It is synonymous. The two events go together. 27:50 And therefore the Holy Spirit dwells within us 27:52 and our body becomes almost like the Old Testament 27:56 synagogue or temple where the Holy Spirit dwells 27:59 now within us. Not in a building but within the believer. 28:03 And then the Holy Spirit - taking hold of each believer - 28:07 ended up empowering the gospel work to go 28:10 around the world. And in chapter 1 of Acts 28:14 we find an introductory statement in verse 8. 28:16 Acts chapter 1 verse 8. 28:20 There's an introductory statement that tells us how 28:23 the Holy Spirit then empowered these new Christians 28:26 having received the Holy Spirit to go out into the world 28:30 and spread the gospel. 28:33 Acts 1:8. 28:36 It says: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit 28:41 comes on you. And you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, 28:44 in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. " 28:48 And what you may not have realized is the rest of Acts 28:50 kind of unpacks that idea. This is the introduction of the 28:53 Holy Spirit into the early church. 28:55 The people received it at Pentecost. 28:57 Each person received it and then they went out 29:00 into all the world. And this Holy Spirit empowered 29:03 the work throughout the book of Acts. 29:05 Again we're not going to look it up, but 29:07 in chapter 2 of Acts we see the gospel going to Jerusalem 29:11 and Judea as predicted. 29:14 And then in chapter 8 of Acts we find the Holy Spirit being 29:18 poured out in Samaria. 29:20 And then in chapter 10 of Acts we see the Holy Spirit - 29:25 and in chapter 11 as well - poured out onto the Gentiles 29:28 and to the ends of the earth. This statement is a statement 29:32 as an introduction to the book that says that once the 29:35 Holy Spirit came in their focus completely changed. 29:39 I am always impressed how the disciples 29:42 before receiving the Holy Spirit were mere mortals: 29:45 cowards, petulant characters. 29:50 When Jesus was taken captive they all couldn't run 29:52 far enough and fast enough. 29:55 But yet when the Holy Spirit came on them 29:57 it transformed these mere mortals 30:00 into men of courage that feared not for their lives. 30:05 And many of them, in fact most of them 30:06 except for John, died for their belief 30:10 thanks to the Holy Spirit's power and conviction 30:13 within their lives. And so in that period of time 30:18 the Holy Spirit was spread from person to person. 30:21 In fact, the apostles would lay hands on people 30:24 and transfer that power received at Pentecost 30:27 and it would spread on to the Christian church. 30:29 That is how it was spread in that interim period 30:33 when the Holy Spirit was first poured out. 30:36 Therefore the Holy Spirit in the New Testament 30:38 was bestowed on the apostles in a more permanent fashion 30:42 than in the Old Testament. 30:44 Once received, the Holy Spirit would stay within that person 30:47 and would empower that person for the rest of their journey. 30:51 It wouldn't come on just for a time like in the Old Testament. 30:54 It would empower them for the rest of their lives. 30:57 And that Holy Spirit was now to dwell in the believer 31:01 and in that interim period between the two testaments 31:05 the Holy Spirit was solely conferred by the apostles 31:09 as they traveled around and laid hands on people. 31:13 So now coming to our time now 31:16 what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? 31:20 What does that mean for us? 31:22 Is it something that sends you to the ground convulsing? 31:26 Is it something that sends you babbling into all sorts of 31:30 different languages or laughing for that matter? 31:33 According to scripture that is not what the Holy Spirit 31:36 does in the New Testament believer. 31:39 Never has... never has. 31:41 People use the example of Pentecost and people... 31:44 people thought that the disciples were drunk 31:48 because of their behavior. 31:50 But if you take the whole picture not just the Day of 31:53 Pentecost, the whole journey from there on through Acts 31:56 you don't see any evidence of this supernatural stuff 32:00 that we see today. It's all functional. 32:02 It's all to do with evangelism. 32:04 It's a very specific empowering for new Christians 32:07 to take the gospel to the world. 32:09 There is none of that stuff going on here. 32:11 Let me just show you a few examples of what the Holy Spirit 32:14 does in the believer... in you and me. 32:17 This is now specific to us. 32:19 John chapter 3. I only have a couple of examples. 32:23 Fear not. John chapter 3 verses 5-7. 32:37 John chapter 3 verses 5-7. 32:46 Here we have an example of the Holy Spirit 32:50 being received early on in the journey of the believer. 32:55 John 3 verses 5-7. 32:59 And it reads: "Jesus answered 'Very truly I tell you 33:02 no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born 33:06 of water and the Spirit. 33:10 Flesh gives birth to flesh 33:12 but spirit gives birth to spirit. 33:16 You should not be surprised at My saying you must be born 33:19 again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. 33:21 You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from 33:24 or where it's going. So it is with everyone 33:27 born of the Spirit. ' " And when we talk about being 33:30 born again or being baptized 33:33 that is synonymous with the Holy Spirit. 33:36 That's the new birth. It is the Holy Spirit 33:39 coming into the life. There's nothing else 33:42 devoid of the Holy Spirit. 33:44 The Holy Spirit is the new birth. 33:47 We are new children, new babies, thanks to the receiving 33:51 of the Holy Spirit into our lives. 33:54 That's what new birth means. 33:59 You know, Titus chapter 3 verses 4-7 34:05 the receiving of the Holy Spirit is synonymous with the washing 34:09 of rebirth according to this passage. 34:12 Titus chapter 3 verses 4-7. 34:17 We are going far and wide. 34:20 We're covering all the books of the Bible. 34:23 Titus chapter 3 verses 4-7. 34:30 Let's find it here myself. 34:38 OK. And it reads: 34:42 "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior 34:46 appeared He saved us. Not because of righteous things 34:50 we had done but because of His mercy He saved us 34:54 through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit 34:59 whom He poured out on us generously 35:01 through Jesus Christ our Savior. " 35:04 Now I'm not going to read the passage now, but 35:06 Romans 8 is another classic, classic passage 35:11 where you hear Paul talking about his struggles. In Romans 7 35:15 he struggles with his own sinfulness, with his fleshness 35:20 and then we get to the solution to the problem 35:23 in Romans 8. And it is a life that is not just receiving 35:29 the Spirit at one point in time but it's a walking with 35:32 the Spirit... a daily walking with the Spirit. 35:35 Living out according to the will of God 35:39 through the power of the Spirit. 35:40 In fact, I'm going to look it up because I think it's important 35:44 for us to read at least part of it. 35:46 Romans chapter 8. I'll just grab a little bit from verse 2. 35:49 It is an important passage. 35:51 We don't always have a lot of time 35:54 but I think it's still worth reading 35:56 Romans chapter 8 being such a key passage. 36:02 We'll pick it up there in verse 2. It says: 36:03 "Because through Jesus Christ the law of the spirit who gives 36:07 life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 36:10 For what the law was powerless to do 36:13 because it was weakened by the flesh 36:15 God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh 36:19 to be an offering... a sin offering. 36:21 And so He condemned sin in the flesh 36:23 in order that the righteous requirements of the law 36:26 be fully met in us 36:29 who do not live according to the flesh 36:31 but according to the Spirit. " 36:34 So according to this passage there's two ways to live. 36:37 There's living according to the flesh 36:40 dominated by our human impulses 36:43 or living according to the Spirit 36:46 which is a dominance of the Spirit over our lives. 36:49 Living according to that Spirit's leading. 36:51 Listening, being guided by the Spirit in our daily lives. 36:58 So I need to point out something critical... 37:01 something obvious but critical... and that is that 37:03 being indwelt by the Spirit, receiving the Spirit at baptism, 37:08 is still not the full journey. 37:12 We have to go further than that. 37:16 We can receive the Holy Spirit but we can be plugging our ears 37:20 and not listening to the Holy Spirit speak to us. 37:23 The Holy Spirit constantly speaks to us. 37:26 The Holy Spirit daily is speaking to us 37:29 and yet we can be plugging our ears and not listening 37:33 and we keep following after the flesh. 37:37 So there seems to be an indwelling of the Holy Spirit 37:41 but really there needs to be a complete filling 37:44 of the Holy Spirit. 37:47 Receiving the Holy Spirit and leaving that there is 37:51 just not the full experience of sanctification. 37:55 There needs to be a complete filling, 37:58 a walking by the Spirit daily in our lives. 38:05 I want to show you something that Paul said 38:08 that really illustrates this very clearly. 38:10 It is found in I Corinthians chapter 2 38:13 verse 14 and onwards. 38:18 I Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 and onwards. 38:21 This illustrates three different groups of people 38:24 that exist with reference to the Holy Spirit. 38:27 I Corinthians 2:14 and onwards. 38:38 And it reads: 38:41 "The person without the Spirit 38:44 does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God 38:49 but considers them foolishness 38:52 and cannot understand them because they are discerned only 38:56 through the Spirit. " 38:58 You know what that is saying? 39:00 That is saying that we cannot expect any more 39:03 from non-believers than the way they act. 39:06 We can't expect any more because for them they do not 39:09 have the Holy Spirit. They do not comprehend 39:11 the Word of God. They don't understand the Bible 39:14 and the Ten Commandments. They have no idea. 39:16 To them it is complete foolishness 39:18 without the Holy Spirit. 39:20 So there's a category of person that doesn't have the Spirit 39:22 at all. That doesn't even understand the whole truth 39:26 of the Bible that does not have a presence 39:29 in their life whatsoever. That's one type of person. 39:33 But if we keep reading here 39:36 we will see another type of person come out. 39:40 So verse 15... it says: "The person with the Spirit 39:46 makes judgment about all things. But such a person is not 39:50 subject to merely human judgments. 39:53 For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him? 39:58 But we have the mind of Christ. " 40:01 This category is a category of person 40:04 that has received the Holy Spirit and is being permeated. 40:10 You know, the word "filling" of the Holy Spirit 40:13 is not like filling a glass of water. 40:16 That is not the connotation in the original language. 40:20 The connotation of being filled by the Holy Spirit 40:23 is like a wind filling a sail on a boat. 40:28 Are you with me on that? Like on a yacht. 40:30 It's like wind filling that sail. 40:32 It's not a static thing. It's a filling through 40:37 that motivates the person to action... to live out 40:40 what they're being impressed on by the Holy Spirit. 40:45 And so such a person is filled 40:49 and they have the mind of Christ. 40:50 But then there is still a third category of person. 40:53 If we read over to the next chapter it says: 40:55 "Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as 40:58 people who live by the Spirit 41:00 but as people who are still worldly... 41:03 mere infants in Christ. 41:05 I gave you milk not solid food 41:08 for you were not ready for it yet. Indeed you are still 41:11 not ready. You are still worldly. " 41:13 And then it talks about the jealousy, the quarreling. 41:16 All the humanness that still exists. 41:18 All the worldly things. 41:20 So to make it clear, we have a category of person 41:22 over here that has no idea about spiritual things whatsoever. 41:26 We have a category of people over here that are living 41:29 Spirit-filled lives that have the mind of Christ, 41:31 that are led and filled by the Holy Spirit. 41:33 And then we have the majority sitting in the middle here 41:36 that are still stunted 41:39 in the baby stage of Christianity where they have 41:43 received the presence of God but they're still feeding on 41:47 milk. They're still living a worldly existence. 41:52 Christ doesn't reign on the throne of their lives. 41:57 There is still this battle going on 42:00 and the world is still dominating these people. 42:03 And what is happening: it is stopping them from experiencing 42:06 the fullness of the Holy Spirit in their lives. 42:09 It is stopping them from going that extra mile because 42:12 they are still between two worlds. 42:17 So there's a natural man 42:20 not indwelt by the Holy Spirit at all. 42:22 Then there is a spiritual man filled with the Holy Spirit. 42:27 And in between there is a carnal, still-worldly man 42:32 who still wrestles between two worlds. 42:36 And I think it's worth noting for us that many, 42:39 many of us are still there. 42:42 This really is what we've been talking about through our series 42:46 on the sanctified life. If we want to get to that point 42:49 where we are constantly being led by the Spirit, 42:52 we surely need to look out for what we're putting into 42:55 our brains and into our minds and into our lives. 42:59 If we are still feeding that old man daily, 43:03 if we're feeding more from the media, from television, 43:05 from the Internet - whatever it may be - 43:08 from work... if we're feeding the fleshly man more, 43:12 we may not be over there lost without the Spirit 43:15 but yet we're still sitting here as stunted babies 43:19 in the faith. We're stunted babies, and some of us can be 43:22 stunted babies for 20, 30, 40 years. 43:25 I've seen people that have been Adventist Christians all their 43:28 lives and they're still stunted babies. 43:30 They don't know what it means 43:31 to be filled with the Holy Spirit daily. 43:33 You know, for me, being filled with the Holy Spirit 43:37 is hearing the Spirit's prompting in my life. 43:39 It's happened to me on numerous occasions 43:42 where I just get an impulse. 43:44 And I told you earlier today about the impulse of coming 43:46 to America. But I've often got an impulse where the Spirit 43:51 speaks to me in my thoughts and I'm prompted to... 43:54 to ring someone, to visit with someone, 43:57 to pray for someone. 43:59 And often it turns out to be at just the right time 44:03 for that person. 44:06 Not so long ago there was a couple that were on the brink 44:10 of breaking up. And it was late at night 44:13 and I was working I think on a sermon 44:15 and they just came to mind. 44:18 And I've learned now when something comes to mind 44:20 not to think that it's just an idea of mine. 44:22 It was too out of context for it just to pop into my head 44:26 at that time. And I remember just feeling the urge 44:29 to... I don't remember if I rang or texted the young man 44:33 in question whether he had put this to prayer. 44:37 Whether he had put this decision to prayer because 44:40 he was deciding that this relationship wasn't for him 44:43 and I just felt prompted to ask him that question. 44:47 He told me later that the moment he received that text 44:49 the tears started running down his eyes 44:52 because he needed to hear that right there and then. 44:57 And I could never have known that. 45:00 And the Holy Spirit prompted me to do that. 45:04 And this is just one small example of the way 45:06 the Holy Spirit can lead us to witness, to reach people... 45:10 even when we least expect it. 45:13 To be led by the Holy Spirit daily. 45:16 I want to show you a couple of other things 45:19 that the Holy Spirit does in our lives. 45:21 Still very important. One is in Galatians 5... 45:24 chapter 5 verse 22. Galatians 5:22. 45:35 Galatians chapter 5 verse 22. 45:40 And I want you to listen to these very carefully. 45:43 It's really challenging to each of us. 45:49 It says: "But the fruit of the Spirit... " the fruit of the 45:52 Spirit, brothers and sisters... 45:53 "is love, it's joy. " 45:58 And we heard Pastor Carter talk about this. 46:00 Sometimes you go to some churches and you don't see 46:03 a lot of joy. And that pains me because... 46:06 Sure, we are not here just to entertain people, but 46:09 there should be a real deep joy in our experience. 46:12 I mean, if we're saved by grace through faith, 46:14 if we know our future is sure, 46:16 surely as I look out on you you should be able to give me 46:19 a smile. Surely there should be joy in our experience 46:23 with the Lord. There should be joy in how we savor life 46:26 because we live life to the full... not like 46:28 people who don't have Jesus in their lives. 46:31 There should be joy in our lives because even when we 46:33 experience challenges in our marriages we have a solution. 46:36 We have the Holy Spirit that prompts us to ask 46:39 for forgiveness, to make it right. 46:41 There should be joy in our lives. 46:44 There also should be peace... a sense of peace. 46:46 And peace is not a peace that is devoid of challenges. 46:50 It's a sort of peace that senses the presence of God 46:54 in the midst of the storm. 46:56 I love an old story that I used to preach on years ago 47:00 of a man that was painting a picture... 47:02 a king that wanted a painting done on the theme of peace. 47:07 And he puts it out to his subjects. 47:09 He said: "I want you to paint me a picture 47:11 of peace. " And so he gets a lot of different paintings 47:14 coming in. And the two finalists that he was torn between 47:18 were two completely different paintings. 47:20 One was of a very calm lake 47:25 with a boat sitting calmly on top of this lake. 47:28 The sky was beautifully sunny. 47:31 It was a beautiful picture of peace as we would consider 47:35 peace to be. 47:36 And yet there was one painting where it depicted a raging, 47:40 raging waterfall. And the king ends up picking 47:45 or choosing this raging waterfall over the other 47:48 calm painting. And then people asked him: 47:50 "Why did you choose this painting over the other one? 47:53 This one seems so chaotic. There's no peace in that. " 47:57 And he says: "Look beyond that waterfall. 48:01 Look just behind that waterfall 48:03 and you'll see a little branch, 48:06 a little branch, a little tree growing out of the rock. 48:09 And on that rock you will see a little nest 48:12 and on that nest is a little bird with its chicks. " 48:15 And he said: "That is the true picture of peace. " 48:19 Peace is not living life in a bubble. 48:22 Peace is not living life devoid of challenges. 48:27 Peace, true peace, happens in the midst of the storm. 48:33 It is a peace that passes all understanding... 48:35 a peace that the world cannot understand. 48:38 I have friends currently that are mourning family members 48:41 overseas... two of them. 48:43 And it's a peace that they can have even now. 48:47 Even in the midst of their loss they can sense that peace. 48:50 I know it 'cause I lost my father 16 years ago. 48:53 A peace that just doesn't make sense 48:56 but a Spirit-filled person has it. 49:00 And then we get onto forbearance which is patience. 49:03 Guys... men... patience. 49:06 Kindness. The littlest things: a smile, a kind gesture. 49:12 Goodness. Be good. God created us to be good. 49:17 A faithfulness, a gentleness about us. 49:20 A self control. Ouch! 49:24 Self control. 49:27 "Against such things there is no law" the text says. 49:31 Those who belong to Jesus Christ 49:33 have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 49:38 Since we live by... what? 49:41 by the Spirit let us keep in step with the Spirit. 49:46 Let us not become conceited, provoking 49:49 and envying each other. 49:53 Brothers and sisters, surely this is the experience 49:55 that we need in our churches. 49:57 This is the sort of verse that prompts me to want to 49:59 preach on this because we are to be a sanctified people 50:03 that are to stand apart from the world. 50:05 We should be different, but not different for different's sake. 50:09 Not high and mighty pious people like the Pharisees. 50:12 That's not the different that God is calling us to be. 50:15 God is calling us to live out this existence with the 50:19 Holy Spirit grows this fruit in our characters. 50:24 And so when people come near to us they just want to be 50:27 around us. It's like a magnet for people! 50:30 People just wanted to be around Jesus Christ all the time. 50:34 They wanted to hear every word that He said. 50:36 They were drawn to the Master. 50:39 That should be the type of person that we are living 50:41 in every situation including our very homes. 50:46 A sanctified life is what we need. 50:48 One last passage. 50:51 And we did touch on it before but it's another output of 50:55 the Holy Spirit... being filled with the Holy Spirit. 50:58 Acts chapter 1 again. 51:02 Acts chapter 1. 51:07 And I am reiterating here because I mentioned it earlier. 51:14 But this is in the context of being filled with the 51:16 Holy Spirit. This is what happens. 51:20 Well, we'll start in verse 7. "He said to them: 51:23 'It is not for you to know the times or the days 51:24 the Father has set by His own authority 51:27 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit 51:29 comes on you and then you will be My witnesses 51:33 first in your neighborhood... " 51:35 First in your household. Let's just say that. 51:37 "First you will be My witnesses amongst your household. " 51:42 "You will be My witnesses to your wife. " 51:46 "You will be My witness to your husband. " 51:50 "You will be My witness to your children 51:53 and children to your parents. " 51:56 "You will be My witness to your immediate family. " 52:01 That's Jerusalem really. 52:03 And then if we read on: "in Judea... " 52:07 which is the surrounding area. 52:08 We can talk about the people in the greater sphere of influence. 52:12 We have relatives, we have friends. We have people 52:14 that know the real us. 52:15 And Christ wants us to walk in step with Him 52:18 so those people can see Jesus in us as well. 52:22 We are not talking about just evangelizing Papua, New Guinea. 52:26 We are not talking about just evangelizing 52:28 far reaches of the world. 52:29 It starts in our very own sphere of influence. 52:33 Then on to Samaria and then on to the ends of the earth. 52:37 When we have the Spirit it provides a fruitful witness 52:42 of Christ in our lives. 52:45 So on one side we have the fruit of the Spirit 52:47 in our characters. On the other we are motivated 52:51 to be a witness to those around us. 52:55 And you needn't worry how the gospel's going to get to the 52:57 world because I believe the Holy Spirit has 53:00 strategically all of us where He needs us. 53:03 And He has us surrounded by people that He leads us 53:06 to be witnesses to. That is not a coincidence! 53:09 That is a deliberate work of the Spirit. 53:11 You are working where you are because the Holy Spirit 53:14 needs you there to live a sanctified life where you work. 53:19 You live in the place where you live because the Holy Spirit 53:22 has you there amongst that neighborhood 53:24 to witness to those people there. 53:28 I truly believe that. 53:30 I don't believe we just end up somewhere by coincidence. 53:32 I mean, if we are the army of God, surely 53:35 God has us strategically where He needs each of us to be. 53:39 So sure, let's pray for the ones who go beyond their sphere 53:42 of influence to the far reaches of the world. 53:44 But let's just remember that we, too, are to be 53:48 witnesses for Christ. 53:51 So in summary, a life of complete surrender to God 53:54 is a life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. 54:00 Is a life that always puts God on the throne of our lives. 54:05 He doesn't want to share the throne with all of these other 54:08 things. He is front and center. 54:11 A sanctified life will always produce good fruit. 54:15 It would always give a fruitful witness 54:18 even in places where most people don't see it. 54:23 We have the very source of power that Jesus had 54:29 when He was on this earth at our own disposal. 54:32 We often think He had some sort of advantage, 54:35 but yet He didn't. 54:36 It was His communion with the Father and His... 54:39 leading of the Holy Spirit in His life. 54:42 He never used His power for His own benefit. 54:45 He was holding onto the Father 54:47 and sensed the Spirit's leading daily, fully, in His life. 54:52 And if it was true for Him, it can be true for you and me. 54:57 Our final conclusion... and this is the last lecture. 54:59 I wanted this to be a Bible study, a lecture 55:02 so we can understand the sanctified life from scripture. 55:06 I want to say to you that Jesus died for you. 55:10 He shed His blood on Calvary for you, and He loves you 55:15 beyond what you can imagine. 55:19 But He loves you so much that He didn't want to leave you 55:21 orphaned. He left the Holy Spirit with you and me. 55:26 He left the Holy Spirit to be our helper. 55:28 He left the Holy Spirit to be our guide. 55:31 He left the Holy Spirit to empower us. 55:33 He left the Holy Spirit so we can receive Him at baptism. 55:38 But then He intended for us to submit... to submit 55:42 to greater depths the Holy Spirit in our lives. 55:45 We need to cooperate; we need to submit 55:47 to the Spirit's leading in our lives. 55:50 We must allow the Spirit of the Living God to sanctify us 55:55 as a people so that Jesus will be glorified through us. 56:03 You see, that was Jesus' motivation on this earth: 56:07 to glorify the Father. 56:09 And that is now the motivation of the Spirit: to glorify Jesus. 56:13 And surely that should be our... our example: 56:17 to glorify Jesus Christ through our lives. 56:22 My prayer is that our church starts to live a sanctified 56:26 existence. I want to see it. 56:28 I want to see us surrender to the Holy Spirit. 56:31 So if you want that too, I just want you to pray with me. 56:34 I want to invite you to pray with me 56:36 as we ask the Spirit to do that. 56:39 Father in heaven, 56:43 we have studied the work of the Holy Spirit. 56:47 We have studied the importance of sanctification in our lives. 56:51 We know that it's a Biblical command. 56:54 We know that it's something that needs to happen. 56:57 But Father, we apologize because so far for many of us 57:00 it hasn't happened. 57:02 You are having to share Your throne with something else 57:05 in our lives, and today we just want to put a stop to that. 57:09 We want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 57:11 We don't want to live a mediocre existence. 57:14 We want to sense Your presence in our lives daily. |
Revised 2014-12-17