Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000139A
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00:19 Hello, friends, and welcome to another
00:21 Wednesday night Bible study here 00:23 at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:25 We thank you for taking the time to tune in 00:27 as we continue our study 00:28 on The Truth about the Holy Spirit. 00:31 If you're tuning in for the first time, 00:33 in just a moment I'll tell you 00:34 where you can get a copy of the lesson 00:36 and follow along 00:37 but we're excited that you've taken the time. 00:39 If you're joining from home, or from a church, 00:42 or from somewhere else around the world, 00:44 spend the next 58 minutes with us, 00:48 not even an hour. 00:49 A thoughtful 58 minutes rather than a thoughtful hour 00:53 and we know that you will be blessed. 00:55 We started the study on the Holy Spirit 00:58 in our last broadcast, we're gonna continue tonight. 01:01 And after we have our prayer and our theme song, 01:05 I will tell you where you can get a copy of the lesson. 01:08 But now, let's bow our heads 01:10 as we invite the Lord to be with you 01:12 as well as to be with us. 01:13 Let's pray together. 01:15 Loving Father in heaven, this topic is important 01:17 and, Lord, 01:20 each of us is at a different place 01:21 in our walk with you, 01:23 but we need the Holy Spirit to remind us 01:24 of the importance of that walk. 01:27 And tonight, Lord, we invite your Holy Spirit 01:30 to not only be with those who have tuned in, 01:34 but be with this local audience 01:37 that we will hear 01:40 as You said over and over in the Book of Revelation, 01:42 the closing chapter of this great controversy. 01:47 May we hear what the Spirit has to say. 01:49 And so, Lord, tonight tune our ears 01:51 in a spiritual sense 01:53 that we may receive the message You intend for each of us. 01:58 And, Father, remove from between You and us 02:02 any barrier that may hinder 02:04 the work that You intend to do on us tonight, 02:06 we pray in Jesus' name. 02:09 Amen. 02:11 Now, lesson number 34 is what we're on. 02:14 What number did I say? 02:15 Thirty four. Thirty four. 02:17 Here's the website 02:18 that you can get a copy of the lesson. 02:20 Go to this website. 02:21 ASF.3ABN.org, 02:24 it's there on the screen 02:25 and go to the study guides tabs 02:28 and then download lesson number 34. 02:32 And there you will also see another tab for videos, 02:36 that means, if you've missed any of the prior broadcast, 02:38 you can catch up by going to the videos 02:41 and when the video begins 02:42 it lets you know what lesson to download 02:45 and follow along with us. 02:47 And so invite your friends 02:48 to participate in that website also 02:50 because there's a lot of information 02:51 you can learn from over 109 videos 02:54 that have been posted there thus far. 02:56 But tonight if you know the song 02:59 and you like to join us from home 03:00 or wherever you're tuning in from, 03:01 let's together sing the song, "Victory in Jesus". 03:05 So sing our theme song together. 03:13 I heard an old, old story 03:17 How the savior came from glory 03:21 How He gave his life on Calvary 03:25 To save a wretch like me 03:28 I heard about His groaning 03:32 Of His precious blood's atoning 03:36 Then I repented of my sins 03:40 And won the victory 03:44 Oh, victory in Jesus 03:47 My Savior, forever 03:51 He sought me and bought me 03:55 With His redeeming blood 03:59 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:02 And all my love is due Him 04:06 He plunged me to victory 04:10 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:14 I heard about a mansion 04:18 He has built for me in glory 04:21 And I heard about the streets of gold 04:25 Beyond the crystal sea 04:29 About the angels singing 04:33 And the old redemption story 04:36 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 04:40 That song of victory 04:43 Key change. 04:44 Oh, victory in Jesus 04:48 My Savior, forever 04:52 He sought me and bought me 04:55 With His redeeming blood 04:59 He loved me ere I knew Him 05:03 And all my love is due Him 05:07 He plunged me to victory 05:10 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:14 He plunged me to victory 05:18 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:24 Amen. 05:26 Tonight's topic 05:27 and I'd like you to repeat the title with me together, 05:30 "The Truth about the Holy Spirit". 05:34 Now as you know when we cover this topic, 05:37 we only know so much about the Holy Spirit 05:42 because we cannot adequately describe 05:45 divinity in any sense. 05:47 We can only reveal to you 05:49 what the Bible has revealed to us. 05:51 And so tonight as we laid the foundation, 05:55 if you have a lesson by the way, 05:58 you can look questions number one through eight. 06:01 We talked about those categories 06:05 or those questions, we answered each of them 06:08 and we came to find out thus far one, 06:12 the Holy Spirit leads us 06:15 as a representative of the Godhead. 06:19 He is the third person of the Godhead. 06:22 There is the Father, there is the Son 06:24 and there is the Holy Spirit. 06:26 He's the third person of the Godhead. 06:28 And the story that illustrated that very well, matter of fact, 06:31 I'd like to begin with that story tonight. 06:32 Go with me to the Book of Acts. 06:34 And we're gonna look at a story that is in somewhat of a... 06:40 is a story that you sometimes wonder 06:46 if the church operated the way today 06:51 that it did then, 06:53 as it would be as I said 06:55 a lot of heart attacks in holy places 06:57 because this story in the Bible 06:59 is one that really brings out a peculiar incident. 07:04 If you come to church on any given weekend 07:07 or Sabbath morning 07:08 and this incident happened in church, 07:10 I think there will be a ton of conversions. 07:14 But let's look at this really amazing story. 07:18 Now it's in Acts 5 which if you look at, 07:22 if you look at the progression of the Book of Acts, 07:25 it starts with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 07:29 on the day of Pentecost. 07:30 We're gonna talk about that too 07:31 because there's a big misinterpretation 07:33 about what that outpouring meant. 07:35 And people use that phrase today, 07:39 the outpouring of the Spirit of God 07:42 is the evidence of that, some people say, 07:46 is the ability to speak in tongues. 07:48 We're gonna talk about that also. 07:50 But as the church is being formed 07:54 you discover, for example in Acts 1, 07:56 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 07:58 Acts 1, 07:59 the people praying for the outpouring of the Spirit. 08:02 Acts 2, 08:03 the Spirit is poured out on those 08:05 that were waiting at Jerusalem. 08:07 Acts 3, 08:10 the power of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated 08:13 when the apostles go forward healing 08:15 and performing miracles 08:17 in and through that power. 08:19 And then you find Peter's second sermon 08:23 in which the question is asked, 08:25 the power is so powerfully demonstrated, 08:27 the Holy Spirit is so powerfully demonstrated. 08:30 Look at Acts 3 and look at verse 19. 08:35 I mean, there's so many things that were taking place 08:37 through the manifestation of that Spirit 08:40 that the people were moved, their hearts were moved. 08:43 And look at verse 19. 08:46 Peter proclaimed, 08:48 and what's amazing is 08:50 Peter as a representative of the disciples, 08:54 now no longer impetuous Peter, 08:57 no longer is his mind 08:58 and his mouth in a different gear 09:00 but God has finally synchronized 09:01 his thoughts with his heart and his mouth, 09:04 and now he becomes the spokesman 09:06 on the day of Pentecost. 09:07 And look what he said in verse 19, he said, 09:09 speaking about the importance 09:11 of being prepared for the outpouring, 09:13 he said, "Repent therefore and be," what? 09:16 Converted. 09:17 "Converted that your sins may be blotted out 09:21 so the times of refreshing 09:24 may come from the presence of the Lord." 09:28 And the presence that he's referring to 09:31 there is not just when the Lord comes 09:34 but the presence of God that was manifested 09:37 through the outpouring of the Spirit. 09:38 He says, "This is a time of refreshing, 09:41 this is a time of renewal, this is a new beginning. 09:44 But you have to repent and be converted 09:46 that your sins may be blotted out." 09:49 Then in Acts 4, 09:51 we find the backlash 09:55 for this demonstration of this great power. 09:59 Those who resist the power of the Spirit 10:01 are so determined to stop Peter and the other apostles 10:06 that Peter is put into custody. 10:08 Peter is imprisoned 10:10 and the persecution on the New Testament 10:13 church begins. 10:14 Now, let me lay some more foundation here. 10:17 The New Testament church, 10:19 they had a hard time with accepting Jesus. 10:24 Because remember, 10:25 these are the same Jewish leaders 10:27 that had rejected Jesus 10:29 not long before had crucified Him. 10:31 And so the apostles now 10:34 under the restrictions 10:35 that were laid down by the Jewish leaders, 10:38 they said, "Do not preach Jesus." 10:41 But as they are being put in custody, 10:43 you know what they said in verse 12 of chapter 4, 10:45 I'm just kind of leading you. 10:47 And Peter, verse 8, look at Acts 4:8, okay. 10:51 Look what he says. 10:53 He's being detained and look what he says. 10:58 All right. 10:59 "Then Peter filled with the," what? 11:03 Talk to me. "Filled with the..." 11:05 Holy Spirit. 11:06 "Holy Spirit said to them," who did he say? 11:09 "Rulers of the people," and what? 11:12 "Elders of Israel, 11:15 if we this day are judged for a good deed done 11:20 to the helpless man 11:22 by what means has he been made well." 11:25 So they're saying that people are being healed 11:27 and miracles are being performed 11:29 and the rulers 11:31 and the leaders of Israel are saying, 11:33 "This should not be happening." 11:34 They're wondering what possible method 11:37 is being used to make this happen. 11:39 And so he's going on, and then he goes down 11:42 and look at verse 11, matter of fact, verse 10. 11:46 "Let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel 11:51 that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth..." 11:56 Look at this, "Whom you crucified, 12:00 whom God raised from the dead, 12:03 by Him this man stands here before you whole." 12:05 Amen. 12:07 "This is the stone 12:09 which was rejected by you builders." 12:13 Now we often read later on the builders rejected 12:17 but he's saying, who were the builders? 12:19 You. 12:20 The leaders of Israel were the builders, 12:22 you rejected this very stone, 12:24 but then he makes it very clear, 12:26 the Jewish leaders, 12:27 "Which has become the Chief Cornerstone." 12:30 Let's read verse 12 together. Are you ready? 12:32 "Nor is there," what? 12:35 "Salvation in any other, 12:37 for there is no other name 12:41 under heaven given among men 12:43 by which we must be saved." 12:47 And so you see the boldness of Peter now, 12:49 he was impetuous before but now he's bold, 12:52 because the Spirit of God has come upon his life. 12:55 So the church is growing tremendously 12:56 and then to establish the church, 12:59 people began to participate 13:01 in the support of the church now, 13:02 but there were some that did not 13:04 honestly represent what God had blessed them with. 13:07 And we'll go to the bottom of the story. 13:09 And two people by the name of Ananias and Sapphira, 13:12 husband and wife decided to lie 13:14 about the way that God had blessed them. 13:16 And I want you to see how the Bible characterized, 13:20 how the Bible characterize the one that they lied to. 13:26 Look at Acts 5:3-4. 13:30 Look at this. 13:33 "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart 13:36 to lie to the Holy Spirit 13:39 and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself 13:43 while remain was it not your own 13:46 and after it was sold was it not in your own control? 13:49 Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?'" 13:52 Let's read this together. 13:53 "You have not lied to men but to," what? 13:55 "God." 13:56 So we find right away the Holy Spirit 13:58 that we are speaking about, 14:00 the Bible says you have lied not to men but to God. 14:05 And we went back to the Book of Genesis 14:07 and we saw it very clearly 14:09 that the Spirit of God was there 14:12 in the very beginning. 14:13 So tonight, what we're going to do is 14:15 we're going to begin, we're gonna dive 14:16 into question number nine 14:18 as the topic of the Holy Spirit unfolds. 14:21 Now just very quickly, 14:24 the Holy Spirit works in a number of ways. 14:26 Let's see if you remember it. 14:27 What's the first stage that I talked about last week 14:29 that the Holy Spirit works? 14:31 Do you remember that? 14:35 Let's say, He works on us. 14:37 Say that with me. He works, what? 14:38 On us. On us. Then He works, where? 14:40 In us. In us. Then He works, how? 14:42 Through us. Through us. 14:43 Remember that. 14:45 He works on us, then in us, then through us. 14:51 What we're going to see is the work He does in us. 14:54 In other words, there needs to be evidence 14:56 that he's there. 14:57 Let's look at question number nine together. 14:59 The evidence that he's there. 15:01 Here it is. 15:02 What is the evidence 15:04 that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives? 15:08 Number nine, what is the evidence 15:10 that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives? 15:13 Let's go to the Book of Galatians. 15:15 Galatians 5, okay? 15:18 Okay. 15:20 That's right after the wonderful book 15:22 of 2 Corinthians. 15:26 All right. Galatians 5. 15:29 All right. Look at 23-23. 15:34 Now we talk about fruit. 15:36 How do you know 15:37 if an apple tree is an apple tree? 15:39 How do you know? 15:41 By their fruit you know them, right? 15:45 That was a rhetorical question by the way. 15:48 Verse 22, 15:50 "But the fruit of the Spirit..." 15:52 Look at it on the screen together. 15:54 Here it is, let's read this. 15:55 "But the fruit of the Spirit is," 15:57 together, "Love, joy, 16:00 peace, longsuffering, 16:02 kindness, goodness, 16:05 faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 16:09 Against such there is," what? 16:11 "There is no law." 16:12 So the evidence is that the Spirit of God is at work, 16:15 and remember, 16:16 let's look at this very carefully 16:18 because it talks about the fruit. 16:19 It talks about the, what? 16:21 The fruit. 16:22 When you go back to Genesis, what did Eve eat? 16:29 Some kind of a fruit? 16:30 A fruit. 16:32 So the evidence, 16:35 the very object in the Book of Genesis 16:40 that led men into sin is the very same object, 16:44 example that Jesus uses 16:46 as evidence to be led out of sin. 16:49 So we know what the evidence was 16:51 that led into, 16:53 but what is the evidence that led out of? 16:55 So let's look at this. 16:56 What is the evidence that the Holy Spirit 16:59 is active in our lives? 17:03 Let's put this answer. 17:05 By the fruits, 17:07 by the fruit, by the fruit. 17:09 And by the way, let me just correct that. 17:11 By the fruit, 17:12 put that by the fruit singular 17:15 because it doesn't say fruits, 17:17 the fruits of the Spirit but the fruit. 17:21 So when you bite this fruit, 17:23 when the Spirit of God is ingested in our lives, 17:26 when he comes into our lives and begin to work, 17:29 you don't say, 17:30 "Well, I have love but I don't have joy. 17:33 I have, I'm kind but I don't have peace." 17:37 Or, "I have self-control but I'm not long suffering." 17:42 The evidence is, 17:44 all of these things together, right, Dan? 17:47 It's not one of them but it's what? 17:49 All of them. 17:51 So we don't say, "Well, I'm working on peace 17:54 because I have gentleness," 17:56 or, "I have love but I sure don't have joy." 17:59 When the fruit is there, 18:02 and let's just use this example. 18:04 How many... 18:05 what kinds of vitamins can you come up with 18:08 that may be found in an orange? 18:10 Let's think of vitamin. 18:11 Vitamin C, and what else? 18:16 There's got to be something else. 18:17 Calcium, that's right. 18:20 And there's some other things that we are not scientists 18:22 or medical students to know. 18:24 But we at least know 18:25 if you're gonna get your vitamin C, 18:28 you get your vitamin C better from what? 18:31 A bar of ice cream or an orange? 18:33 Which one? Orange. 18:34 Okay, that's the evidence. 18:36 So if they say your vitamin C is low, 18:38 what do you need more of? 18:39 Oranges. 18:41 I'm going somewhere with this. 18:42 If your vitamin C is low, what should you do? 18:45 Eat things that have more what? 18:47 Vitamin C. 18:48 Now, let's look at this, there's an example here. 18:50 You're gonna get it, Cabana, real quick. 18:52 Are you ready? Here we go. 18:53 If you're missing love, joy, peace, 18:56 longsuffering, kindness or gentleness, 18:59 meekness, patience, 19:01 if you're missing any of these things, 19:03 what do you need to pray for? 19:05 Holy Spirit. 19:06 Say it, Dan? The Holy Spirit. 19:08 The Holy Spirit, 19:10 because the evidence that the Holy Spirit 19:12 is at work 19:13 is you're getting your spiritual vitamins. 19:15 Amen? 19:17 And that's what they are, love, joy, peace, 19:18 longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 19:21 gentleness, self-control. 19:23 And it says, "Against such, there is no law." 19:24 You know what that means? 19:27 The Lord does not prevent the measure 19:29 by which these things are displayed in our lives. 19:31 Can you be too joyful, Yannick? 19:33 Yes or no. Yes. 19:34 No. 19:38 I caught him. 19:40 Can you have too much joy? Come on, say yes or no. 19:42 No. 19:44 Can you be too peaceful? 19:45 No. 19:47 Imagine if somebody saying, "I am too peaceful, 19:48 I need to be more mean." 19:50 No. 19:52 Can you be too gentle, Lorraine? 19:55 No. 19:57 Can you be... Huh? 20:00 Can you be too good? 20:02 Cabana, yes or no? 20:03 No. 20:05 And enthusiastic? No. 20:07 No, you can't. 20:08 And so when the Spirit is active these things, 20:11 the Bible says, "There is no law." 20:13 Now, is there a law against speeding? 20:15 Yes or no. Yes. 20:16 And I'm learning that. 20:21 No, I didn't get a ticket. 20:22 But what that means is you can only go but so fast. 20:26 What is being said here 20:27 is you can never have enough presence 20:30 of the Spirit of God in your life. 20:31 Amen to that. 20:33 And more people, when you look at these principles here, 20:35 we all need to have the Spirit of God in our lives. 20:39 Let's go now to question number 10. 20:41 Let's go to question number 10. 20:43 So what is the evidence? The fruit. 20:45 By their fruit 20:46 you will know them. 20:48 By their fruit you will know them. 20:49 You know, Matthew says by their fruits 20:52 but when you see a person that lacks those qualities 20:55 you know something's missing. 20:58 Question number 10. 21:00 Question number 10. 21:01 In what other capacity 21:03 does the Bible establish the Holy Spirit? 21:08 Let's go to Genesis 1. 21:11 Now I know, you all know, where Genesis 1 is. 21:16 We couldn't find anything, we could find Genesis. 21:21 Right? 21:22 Genesis 1:2. 21:24 Let's look at this, 21:26 because we saw this earlier 21:27 but we have to get some more support 21:30 because it's not always the wisest thing 21:32 to build an entire doctrine on one verse. 21:35 But here it is. 21:36 In what other capacity 21:37 does the Bible establish the Holy Spirit? 21:40 Genesis 1:2. 21:42 The Bible says, now this is the creation. 21:45 The Bible says, "The earth was without form," 21:48 and what else? 21:49 "Void. 21:51 And darkness was on the face of the deep. 21:54 And the," together, "Spirit of God was hovering," 21:58 or as the King James Version says, 22:00 "Moved over the face of the waters." 22:03 Now when you read verse 1, the Bible says, 22:06 "In the beginning God..." 22:08 Then you read John 1, 22:10 "In the beginning was the Word." 22:13 So you have in the beginning was God, 22:16 in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God, 22:18 and the Word was with God 22:20 and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 22:22 So you have the Father, you have the Son, 22:24 and now you have the, what else? 22:27 The Holy Spirit. 22:28 All three were there at the beginning of creation. 22:31 And when you read in the Book of 1 John, 22:33 you find, the Bible says, 22:35 "There are three that bear record in heaven 22:37 and these three are one." 22:39 So the phrase 'Godhead' 22:41 is a more appropriate phrase 22:44 than the word Trinity. 22:47 The word Trinity is not in the Bible 22:49 and the word Millennium 22:55 is not in the Bible but the inference is there, 22:56 a thousand years from the two words milli, anum. 23:00 The word Trinity in some circles mean 23:03 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 23:05 In some places it means the manifestations. 23:07 And we don't believe in God first of all, 23:10 then God transforming into Jesus, 23:12 then God transforming into the Holy Spirit. 23:14 We believe that they are three separate persons. 23:16 Matter of fact, go with me to the Book of Matthew. 23:19 The Book of Matthew, let's go there. 23:21 Matthew 3. 23:25 Matthew 3. 23:28 One of the strongest evidences in the Bible 23:30 that there is a Godhead 23:34 or three co-eternal persons 23:35 we find in the Book of Matthew 23:37 at the time of the baptism of Jesus, right? 23:42 Okay, look at this. 23:44 All right. 23:47 Matthew 3:16. 23:51 Verse 16. 23:53 Okay, Matthew 3:16. Yes. 23:58 "Then Jesus when He was... 24:00 when He had been baptized came..." 24:03 in what direction? 24:04 Up. 24:06 "And then Jesus when He had been baptized 24:10 came up immediately from the water 24:15 and behold the heavens were," what? 24:18 "Open to Him. 24:19 And He saw the," what? 24:21 Together, "Spirit of God descending like a..." 24:24 what? 24:26 "Dove and a lighting on Him." 24:27 So you have Jesus, then you have what else? 24:30 The Spirit of God. 24:32 And then watch this, 24:33 the Spirit of God descending like a dove 24:35 and lighting on Him. 24:36 And then 17, 24:38 "And suddenly a voice came from," where? 24:41 "Heaven, saying, 24:45 'this is my beloved," what? 24:47 "Son in whom I am well pleased." 24:51 So right there you have three, you have Jesus being baptized, 24:54 you have the Holy Spirit descending 24:56 in the form of a dove and lighting up on Christ, 24:58 and then you have the Father speaking from heaven. 25:01 The Father, the Son, and then what else? 25:04 Holy Spirit. 25:06 So question number 10, what other capacity 25:08 does the Bible establish the Holy Spirit? 25:10 Write this down, Spirit of God, Spirit of God. 25:15 All right. 25:17 Let's go now to number 11. 25:19 Moving right along, moving right along. 25:23 Okay. 25:25 Here we are. 25:28 How does the Bible describe 25:30 the Holy Spirit's work from the Old Testament? 25:34 How does the Bible describe 25:36 the Holy Spirit's work from the Old Testament? 25:40 You know, a lot of times, 25:42 one of the controversies I've heard before 25:44 is some people to say the Holy Spirit wasn't given 25:48 until the New Testament. 25:50 Well, we'd have a hard time on that 25:53 because when Elijah prayed, when Elisha prayed, 25:58 he prayed for a double portion of the spirit 26:01 that was on Elijah. 26:04 See? 26:05 So if the Spirit wasn't working, 26:07 then these holy men could not have done 26:10 what they had done. 26:11 The Spirit of God was upon them. 26:13 And then you go back to the Book of Genesis, 26:15 we find that the Lord, 26:17 and we talked about this in the last study. 26:20 In Genesis 6:3, 26:21 the Bible said of the antediluvian world, 26:24 "My spirit will not always," what? 26:26 "Strive with man." 26:27 In other words for those who are resisting, 26:29 the Bible says, 26:30 "My Spirit is not gonna always 26:32 wrestle with the hearts of men." 26:34 And that's why many in the days of the antediluvian world, 26:37 well, is the word many an understatement? 26:40 Many is an understatement. 26:42 But let's look at now Ezekiel 36:27. 26:47 Wait, I'm almost there. 26:50 Okay, here it is. 26:51 Ezekiel 36 and we can look together at 27. 26:57 All right? Okay, here it is. 27:03 We are told, "I will put my Spirit within you 27:09 and also cause you to walk in my," what? 27:14 "Statutes, and you will keep my judgments," and what else? 27:20 "Do them." 27:21 Now, so according to this passage, 27:24 the Lord is saying, 27:25 "The only way that you can walk in My statutes, 27:28 keep My judgments is by the power of the..." 27:32 Together say it, "Holy Spirit." 27:35 And where did He say the Holy Spirit would be? 27:37 "I would put my Spirit," where? 27:39 "In you." 27:40 I would put My Spirit within you. 27:42 Let's look at another passage. 27:44 Ezekiel 37:14, all right. 27:47 Ezekiel 37:14. 27:49 So if you put the answer, 27:51 how does the Bible describe 27:53 the Holy Spirit's work from the Old Testament? 27:57 The Spirit works, where? 27:58 Together, let's look at this. 28:00 Where? 28:02 In us. 28:03 Look at verse 14 of Chapter 37, once again. 28:08 Matter of fact, this is a powerful verse, 28:12 this is a powerful story about the Valley of Dry Bones. 28:17 Even when all the bones were put back together, 28:21 look at a passage here, I want you to see this. 28:24 Okay. Wow. 28:27 Ezekiel 37:7. 28:31 All right, look at this. 28:35 "So I prophesied as I was commanded 28:40 and as I prophesied, 28:43 there was a noise and suddenly a," what? 28:46 "Rattling and the bones came together 28:48 bone to bone indeed as I looked the sinew," 28:53 that is the muscles, 28:55 "And the flesh came upon them," that is the bone. 28:59 "And the skin covered them over." 29:02 But look at the end of the verse. 29:03 "But there was no" what? 29:06 "Breath in them." 29:08 There was no life in them. 29:10 So here's the point that's being made. 29:12 We could be all put together, 29:14 but without the life of the Spirit 29:15 working in us there is no breath, 29:17 there is no power there. 29:18 That's why verse 14 is important. 29:20 Well, verse 10, let's look at verse 10. 29:23 Matter of fact, verse 9, verse 9, okay? 29:26 "Then he said to me, prophesy," to the what? 29:30 "To the breath. 29:32 Prophesy, son of man and say to the breath, 29:36 thus says the Lord God come from the four winds, 29:39 O breathe and breathe on these slain 29:43 that they may live. 29:45 So I prophesied," verse 10, " 29:49 As he commanded me and breath came into them, 29:53 and the breath that came into them there..." 29:55 This is, this is... 29:56 I'm gonna show you two comparisons here. 29:58 The breath that came into them there 30:00 was the same breath talked about in Genesis 2:7, 30:03 when the Bible says, 30:05 "And God breathed into Adam's nostrils the," what? 30:07 "Breath of life." 30:09 This is not the Holy Spirit yet. 30:11 First of all, the muscles are all put back together, 30:14 the body is put together but there is no life in it. 30:16 So now the Lord is bringing all that construction to activity, 30:21 bringing movement back to the body 30:22 but He's not done yet. 30:24 Look at that. 30:25 And he said in verse 10, 30:28 "So I prophesied as he commanded 30:30 and breath came into them and they lived," 30:33 and what else happened? 30:35 "Stood up on their feet an exceedingly great army," 30:39 but that wasn't the end of it. 30:43 So now the bones are back together, 30:45 the body is standing up but look at verse 14 now. 30:48 Let's not miss this. 30:49 He says in verse 14, "I will put My spirit," where? 30:53 "In you and you shall live and I will place in you... 30:58 And I will place you in your own land, 31:01 then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken it 31:05 and performed it says the Lord." 31:06 So what happens? 31:08 Let's look at the church coming back together. 31:10 The people of God being brought back to life 31:12 but it's not enough to just being pulled together, 31:14 it's not just enough to have unity. 31:16 You have to have what in you? 31:18 What do you have to have in you? 31:20 The Spirit of God has to be active. 31:22 Verse 14, "I will put My Spirit in you." 31:26 So on question number 11, 31:29 how does the Bible describe 31:30 the Holy Spirit's work from the Old Testament? 31:33 The Holy Spirit was working where, Dan? 31:36 In, in the people of God 31:39 even during the times of the Old Testament. 31:43 Let's look at another one. 31:45 Question number 12. Question number 12. 31:48 Moving at a good pace. 31:50 Here it is. 31:51 Now this is really important because... 31:54 Well, is there a Bible verse that's not important? 31:57 Every Bible verse is important but now let's look at this one. 32:00 What was the patriarch David pleading 32:04 for the Lord not to do? 32:06 Let's go to Psalm 51. 32:09 Psalms but Psalm. 32:11 Some prefer Psalms, some prefer Psalm. 32:14 When you read more than one, it's Psalms, 32:16 when you read one, it's a Psalm. 32:17 Okay. 32:19 Fifty one. 32:21 Let's go to Psalm 51:11. 32:24 My wife always straightens me out on that one. 32:27 "When it's more than one, it's Psalms. 32:29 When it's one, it's a Psalm." 32:31 Here it is, okay, 51:11. 32:34 Well, let's look at the whole thing. 32:36 Let's look at the whole thing, 32:37 David's conversion is being talked about here. 32:41 Verse 7, before we bring up... 32:42 When we bring up... 32:44 When we get to verse 11 then bring up the text. 32:46 Here it is. 32:47 "Purge me with," what? 32:49 "Hyssop." 32:50 Verse 7, "And I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be," what? 32:55 "Whiter than snow." 32:57 That's where that hymn comes from. 32:59 "Make me to hear joy," and what else? 33:02 "Gladness," now the Spirit is working. 33:05 "That the bones which you have broken may rejoice." 33:09 Notice the same comparison as Ezekiel these bones now. 33:13 The Lord is, He's pleading for God 33:15 to give him strength and give him vibrancy. 33:18 Verse 9, "Hide your face from my sins 33:22 and blot out all my," what? 33:24 "Iniquities." And then verse 10. 33:27 We all know this one. 33:28 "Create in me a," what? 33:30 "Clean heart O God and renew a," what? 33:32 "Right or steadfast Spirit within me." 33:36 But now I want you to see that 33:38 the Spirit that he's asking for in verse 10 33:40 is not the same Spirit he's asking for in verse 11. 33:44 The Spirit he's asking for in verse 10 is, 33:46 "Lord, give me the right attitude. 33:49 Give me the right position, 33:51 the right frame of mind about my stand with You." 33:55 And then verse 11. 33:57 Let's read verse 11 together. Now, here it is on the screen. 34:00 "Do not cast me away..." 34:02 Let's look at this together. Come on. 34:03 Let's get some Spirit in here. Are you ready? 34:05 Here we go. 34:07 "Do not cast me away from your presence, 34:10 and do not take your," what? 34:12 "Holy Spirit from me." 34:14 Now why was David praying that prayer? 34:17 We found on our last study that 34:19 without the Holy Spirit no one would be sealed. 34:22 Without the Holy Spirit, no one would be saved. 34:25 Without the Holy Spirit no one could be empowered. 34:27 And so David, having fallen away, 34:30 he's saying, "Lord, restore me, but wait a minute, 34:32 I need more than just restoration, 34:34 I need more than just a restoration of position. 34:37 I need Your Holy Spirit to be active in my life again." 34:42 And so if we answer the question, 34:44 what was the patriarch David 34:46 pleading for the Lord not to do? 34:47 What would you put down? 34:50 Not to take the Holy Spirit from him. 34:54 Write that answer down under number 12, 34:56 write that answer down. 34:58 All right. 35:00 "Don't take your Holy Spirit from me." 35:02 Now, let's put this in some comparisons here today 35:05 so we could make an illustration 35:07 because I want to just not answer the text 35:09 but I want to bring it to life. 35:12 I've seen many expensive cars, 35:16 but let me ask you a question tonight. 35:19 Let's all look up here. 35:20 This is a question, this a question 35:21 that I need all your response for me. 35:23 Here's a question. 35:24 If I gave you a choice between two cars, 35:26 and I said to you, "I'm gonna buy it for you, 35:30 I'm gonna pay its insurance, 35:33 I'm gonna pay your license every month. 35:36 I'm going to make sure that 35:37 you never have an empty tank of gas. 35:40 Just pick the car." 35:41 And I put before you a single a two seater smart car 35:47 which could be blown off the highway 35:49 if a bicycle passes by it. 35:51 It's so little, or nice strong 35:55 four door fully loaded Mercedes Benz 35:59 that you don't have to pay for. 36:01 Which one would you prefer? 36:03 Come on, be honest. 36:05 Which one would you prefer? 36:07 We'll all prefer the Mercedes. I'm trying to make it sweet. 36:10 Come on, speak to me, which one would you prefer? 36:12 Now you don't have to buy it, I'm gonna buy it, right? 36:15 But now I say, "Wait a minute, there's only one slight... 36:20 There's only one slight bit of detail 36:22 that I didn't tell you. 36:25 The Mercedes Benz has no air in its tires 36:30 but the smart car does." 36:33 So if I buy you the Mercedes Benz, 36:36 it will have no air in the tires 36:38 but you will own it. 36:41 But the smart car on the other hand 36:43 will have air in its tires all the time. 36:46 Which one would you prefer? 36:47 Come on, talk to me, which one would you prefer? 36:50 What was my point? 36:51 What's my point? Right. 36:58 If there is no air in the tire, 36:59 it doesn't matter how much the car costs. 37:03 It doesn't matter the value, 37:04 if there's no means of mobility. 37:09 Without the air in the tires, the car cannot go anywhere. 37:13 Cabana, Noria, Yannick and the list goes on and on. 37:17 Without the Spirit of God in our lives, we may look good, 37:21 we may have a high value dollar but we're not going, where? 37:24 Anywhere. 37:26 So you've got to make the choices based on, 37:27 David was saying, "Lord, I need air in my tires. 37:32 I used to be King David but that's not enough, 37:36 I need you..." 37:37 Huh? 37:39 That's after he fell in his sin transgression 37:41 with Bathsheba. 37:42 He said, "But now restore me 37:44 but please give me back that very power 37:46 that I had before." 37:47 And it was not the, it was not the, 37:50 it was not the kingship power that he was asking for again, 37:53 but it was the power of the Spirit of God in his life. 37:56 That's what he was asking for, that restoration. 37:59 Let's go to number 13, number 13. 38:02 Is that where we are? 38:04 Number 13. Moving right along. 38:06 Okay, here we go. 38:09 Why is it important for the Christian 38:14 to have the Holy Spirit? 38:17 Why is it important for us to have the Holy Spirit? 38:22 Let's go to Acts 1:8. 38:26 Acts 1:8, okay? 38:30 Let's look at that together. 38:32 Now we were in Acts a moment ago 38:33 and I kind of outlined it for you, 38:36 but let's look at Acts again. 38:38 And if you're filling the lesson in 38:40 from wherever you're joining us, 38:42 just put the answers down as you best can understand them 38:44 but I try to, I try to communicate 38:47 that after you've come up with the answer already. 38:50 Acts 1:8, here's what we read together. 38:55 I'll go there just so that if there's anything else 38:57 I want to show you 38:58 because I do have the answers already on the screen, 39:01 but let's look at the answer together. 39:03 Here it is. 39:05 Why is it important for Christians 39:06 to have the Holy Spirit? 39:08 The answer is, "But you shall receive," 39:11 what's the next word? 39:12 "Power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you 39:18 and you shall be," what? 39:21 "Witnesses to me in Jerusalem," that's the home church. 39:28 "In all Judea," that's the neighboring town. 39:31 "In Samaria," 39:32 that's the place that the Jews didn't want to go. 39:36 "And to the ends of the earth 39:37 or to the uttermost parts of the earth." 39:40 The Lord said, "When the Spirit of God 39:43 comes into your life only then can you be a," what? 39:46 What's the active word? 39:48 Witness. Wow. 39:50 That's a... That's a thought. 39:53 Could it be that the reason 39:54 why so many are not as active as witnesses 39:57 is because we are not praying for that Spirit of God 39:59 to be in our lives. 40:01 And by the way, let me just also add this component. 40:03 Being a witness doesn't mean... 40:06 Being a witness doesn't mean 40:07 that you have to always be passing out tracks. 40:11 Being a witness is by the life you live, all right? 40:15 So sometimes a silent witness... 40:18 I was in London not too long ago. 40:22 And as I was taking a picture, 40:25 I heard the crowd but I heard a guy walking by. 40:28 I heard the voice coming, 40:30 then I heard the voice leading and his voice was so distinct 40:33 because of not so much that he had a different tone 40:35 of many other human. 40:37 But he kept saying as people walk by, 40:39 Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you, 40:40 Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you, 40:42 Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you, 40:43 Jesus loves you. 40:44 And he was saying that over and over and over and over 40:46 really, really fast 40:47 and I heard it coming da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da. 40:53 And he had his head turned one way 40:55 so as the people going by, 40:56 he's saying Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you. 40:58 And he was saying that and I'm thinking, 41:00 and he wasn't, you could hear it clearly, 41:03 and I was thinking, that's his form of witnessing. 41:07 Some people do that and some people hear it. 41:10 Years ago when I used to watch basketball games all the time, 41:14 as I get old I play it more than watch it. 41:17 But sporting events, there was a guy, 41:19 I don't know how many of you may remember this. 41:22 But at football games, at basketball games, 41:24 at soccer games there was a guy in the stand 41:26 always had this huge sign, John 3:16. 41:31 And he always happened to sit 41:34 or purchase a ticket 41:35 where the camera when panning the audience 41:40 would see this gigantic sign, John 3:16, 41:44 and we never knew who the guy was, 41:47 but I would say anybody that watched that game 41:49 knew what John 3:16. 41:52 So if people say, "What's John 3:16?" 41:54 Somebody would say, that's the Bible text. 41:55 And so they go, "For God so loved he world..." 41:58 So there are many creative ways to be witnesses 42:01 but sometimes it's just by the life you live. 42:04 But you can't do either except we are filled by the presence 42:08 and the power of the Spirit. 42:10 Amen? 42:11 He didn't say, you shall receive instructions, 42:14 he said, you shall receive, what? 42:15 Power. 42:17 Going back to the Mercedes, I'll give Mercedes 42:18 but there's gonna be no engine in it. 42:22 The power plant is missing. 42:24 It's not really a car. 42:25 It looks good but it's going nowhere. 42:27 So write the answer down, 42:28 why is it important for the church 42:30 to have the Holy Spirit? 42:31 Because the church needs, what? 42:35 Witnessing power, 42:37 witnessing power or the power to be a witness. 42:41 And by the way, 42:42 the hardest place to be a witness sometimes is home. 42:45 Jerusalem, the very place that the Lord told them 42:48 to begin their work of witnessing. 42:51 Let's move right along and see 42:52 how much more we can cover tonight. 42:54 All right. 42:55 Question number 14, wow. 42:58 Question number 14. 42:59 Now this one is very interesting to me 43:00 because sometimes, 43:02 have you ever given a person a Bible study 43:04 and they just can't get it? 43:06 Sometimes you give a Bible study 43:08 and people just can't grab it, 43:10 and they say things like, "I don't see that," 43:14 or "I can't understand that," 43:15 or "That's your interpretation." 43:18 When the heart becomes receptive as someone told us, 43:20 I won't give the name, 43:22 they may be watching the program. 43:23 But someone said, "The moment I accepted 43:25 the truth of God's Word, 43:28 suddenly the things that I did not understand 43:30 started to become clear to me. 43:33 It started to become a vivid. 43:36 The things I did not know, 43:39 I all of a sudden began to understand, 43:42 God began to reveal." 43:43 So it's like, the Lord giving you the key 43:45 and you refuse the key, 43:46 you can't know what's behind the door. 43:48 But look at this. 43:49 The question is, here it is. 43:51 The question is. 43:53 What are we incapable of without the Holy Spirit? 43:56 What are we incapable of without the Holy Spirit? 44:01 Let's go to 1 Corinthians 2. 44:03 Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. 44:06 Let's go to 1 Corinthians 2. 44:09 If nothing else we really use our Bibles, isn't it? 44:11 Why? 44:12 1 Corinthians 2, let's look at that together. 44:17 And we're gonna look at verse 14. 44:21 What are we incapable of doing 44:26 without the Holy Spirit? 44:30 All right. 44:32 Let's read this one together. 44:33 If there is something we cannot do? 44:35 It's on the screen. 44:37 And there are two types of characters 44:39 that are gonna be seen here. 44:42 "But the natural man," what are the next three words? 44:45 "Does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, 44:51 for they are," what? 44:53 "Foolishness to him, 44:55 nor can he know them because they are," what? 44:58 "Spiritually," what? 45:00 "Discerned." 45:01 So when you say to a person that doesn't know God, 45:04 and I see this is one of the challenges that Noah had 45:07 because the Spirit of God was not received in his day. 45:10 So when Noah was saying 45:12 the world is gonna be destroyed by a flood, 45:14 people were saying, it never even rained before. 45:16 It doesn't even make sense. 45:18 But to the Christian whose heart is filled 45:20 and directed by the Spirit of God, 45:22 all he needs to know that if God's Word says it, 45:26 it's true. 45:27 Amen? 45:29 If God's Word says it, 45:30 that's all the evidence that he or she needs to know 45:35 that it is from God. 45:36 So spiritual things, 45:39 the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit, 45:43 for they are foolishness to him. 45:45 So when you try to explain the Bible... 45:48 Let me give you some advice. 45:50 Well, let me use a story because people like stories. 45:56 We all have family members, we all have people that we know 46:00 and we sometimes see them fall into the same habit 46:03 over and over again, drinking, smoking, 46:06 whatever else it may be and we'll say, 46:09 "How old are you?" 46:11 And they'll tell us their age, maybe 20, 30, 40 whatever. 46:15 And we'll say, "And you're still smoking 46:18 no matter how much... 46:20 No matter how much damage I told you 46:22 it's going to do to you." 46:23 And, my wife, sometimes I say to her, 46:26 "Honey, it doesn't matter. 46:29 No matter how much you tell them, 46:31 they can't do it unless the Spirit of God 46:33 comes into their life." 46:36 Because you're telling them to do something spiritual 46:38 and they're living in the natural, 46:41 they can't do it. 46:42 So the natural man not only does he not want to 46:47 but he can't because there's a spiritual component. 46:52 That's why whenever you open the Bible to pray, 46:54 what do you pray for? 46:55 What do you pray for? 46:57 You pray for the Spirit to give you understanding 46:59 and discerning. 47:00 So let's write this down. 47:01 The answer to number 14 is this, 47:04 what are we incapable of without the Holy Spirit? 47:09 Understanding spiritual things. 47:13 The Bible is a spiritual book. 47:15 There are some people that read the Bible. 47:16 You know, there are people that read Bible 47:18 to make it a purpose of argument. 47:19 I heard a story about a rabbi, it's very interesting story. 47:24 He talked about a student he had. 47:26 And he said to the mother, 47:28 "I'm really concerned how little..." 47:30 And he mentioned the little boy's name, 47:32 "How he is so diligent in studying the Torah." 47:37 And he said, "Well, what's wrong with that? 47:39 You should be happy that he's studying that." 47:41 He said, "No, it's not that he's studying the Torah 47:44 but that he's studying the Torah 47:46 not for understanding 47:48 but he's trying to find fault with it." 47:51 So he's diving into the study of the Torah 47:55 or the Jewish writings and his own purpose 47:58 is not to study it to understand it 48:00 but he's looking for errors. 48:02 And then his mother said, "Well, did he find any?" 48:06 There are some people that study the Bible 48:08 to find fault with it. 48:11 There are some people that read Ellen White's writings 48:14 just to find fault with it. 48:16 They don't want to know what it has to say, 48:17 they want to look for inconsistencies. 48:20 And you know what? 48:21 The natural eye would be led to miss spiritual things 48:25 and you would think 48:27 there's something wrong with it. 48:28 Paul the Apostle says, 48:29 "There are things in the Bible sometimes hard to be understood 48:32 that men wrestle to their own destruction, 48:35 but if you have the Spirit of God 48:36 working in your life, 48:38 these spiritual things will be... 48:40 What's the word at the end? 48:42 Spiritually discern. 48:43 And the word discern doesn't just mean know, 48:47 but it means understood. 48:50 It means, I got it. 48:52 It means, it makes sense. 48:54 Have you ever stood in front of those, 48:56 I don't know if they call them, my phrase is kaleidoscope, 48:59 but that's a different thing. 49:01 Most of you know what a kaleidoscope is. 49:03 It's one of those you look through, 49:04 looks like a... 49:05 And you keep turning it in, all the colors... 49:07 That's a kaleidoscope. 49:08 I don't know what they call this thing 49:10 but sometimes you may have seen these before 49:12 and somebody will have a picture 49:14 with just nothing but like a million dots. 49:16 Have you seen those before? 49:18 And you see people standing in front of it 49:21 and they're going like this and somebody says, 49:23 "What are you doing?" 49:24 "Can't you see it?" 49:26 Have you seen those before? 49:28 And you sit there, they said if you stand here long enough 49:31 your eyes will adjust and you'll see it. 49:34 Now here's the key, you can't see it if you run by. 49:37 I see it, follow me, I see... 49:40 You can't see it if you run by. 49:41 What do you have to do? 49:44 You got to... 49:46 And the other person says, "Can you see it? 49:47 You see it?" 49:49 And they say, "What do you see?" 49:51 "I see it." 49:53 "I don't see it." 49:54 And the longer you focus, Laurie, 49:56 all of a sudden you say... 49:59 Okay, I'm going there. 50:01 All of a sudden you say, "Hey, I see it. 50:06 Oh, man! I see it." 50:09 And then all the others say, "What do you see?" 50:11 Because the others haven't caught it yet. 50:13 That's why we call our program a Sharper Focus. 50:16 You see, it doesn't come into a sharper focus 50:18 until you spend time. 50:20 The Word of God doesn't make sense 50:23 if you run through it, 50:25 but if you spent time in it, Cabana, 50:27 if you spent time in it, Laurie, Yannick, 50:30 I keep calling these three. 50:31 If you spent time in it, David, 50:33 it jumps out all of a sudden you'll say to somebody, 50:38 "If you just look at it, if you study it, 50:42 you'll see it." 50:43 Amen? 50:45 But you can only do that... 50:47 Now, let me go ahead and use another illustration 50:50 where I'll show you the need of the Holy Spirit. 50:52 There are some pictures, Iris, 50:56 that behind all those red dots 51:01 is a picture in blue 51:03 and you can't see it 51:04 because the red dots are so strong. 51:06 So you know what somebody does? 51:08 They give you a red piece of clear... 51:10 Have you seen that before? 51:11 They give you like a cellophane piece of paper 51:13 that's all red and it makes the red now a flat screen 51:18 and all of a sudden the blue is really, really clear 51:21 and you can see what it says. 51:24 I take it that many of you haven't had this experience. 51:27 I've seen that before they say, 51:29 and this is done in the word games sometimes. 51:31 It's done in board games. 51:33 "Oh, I see it now," 51:34 but the people that are looking at it can't see it, 51:36 but you can see it 51:37 because you put the red paper over 51:39 and you could see the answer. 51:40 It's done that way so they can't see the answer. 51:41 In this illustration 51:43 the Holy Spirit is the red covering. 51:48 When he's there, you can see what is hidden, 51:51 when he's not there. 51:53 Spiritually discerned. 51:55 So pray for eyes. 51:57 David prayed, "Open thou mine eyes 52:00 that I may behold wondrous things 52:02 out of your law." 52:04 Without God opening our eyes, we can't see it. 52:06 Let's go to number 15. Let's go to number 15. 52:10 Okay. Okay. 52:14 And the question is, 52:16 through what means are we brought 52:18 to true understanding? 52:20 Through what means are we brought 52:21 to true understanding? 52:25 All right. Let's look at John 16:13. 52:28 John 16:13. 52:30 Okay. 52:32 Some of you are already turning your Bibles there, 52:35 but I'm turning there now. 52:37 John 16:13. 52:39 All right. 52:42 Wow. 52:44 Okay. 52:45 John 16:13, and let's look at the answer together. 52:47 It's gonna be on the screen but here it is. 52:50 The Bible says, "However," Jesus is speaking. 52:52 "However when He, the Spirit of Truth," what? 52:56 "Has come, He will guide you into," what? 53:00 "All Truth." 53:02 Will He leave anything out? 53:04 Yes or no. No. 53:05 But look what else. 53:07 "For He," that personage not a force, 53:10 "For he will not speak on his own authority 53:14 but whatever he hears he will speak 53:18 and he will tell you things," what? 53:20 "To come." 53:21 Now, let's look at what else the Bible just added, 53:24 the Holy Spirit speaks. 53:25 When you speak, what do you have to have? 53:28 Come on. What do you have to have? 53:31 A mouth. 53:33 If he doesn't speak on his own authority 53:35 but he says whatever he hears, what does he have to have? 53:38 Ears. 53:40 So you see the Bible not only classifies the Spirit of God 53:43 as the one who has emotions in the heart 53:45 who can be grieved but he speaks, he hears, 53:50 he's a person 53:51 but because he's right now not disclosed to us 53:54 we feel he doesn't exist. 53:56 We classify him as a force 53:58 but he hears, he speaks, he can be grieved. 54:01 But here's the answer, 54:02 the answer is not just about him hearing 54:04 and speaking and can be grieve but what is His function, 54:07 through what means are we brought 54:09 to true understanding? 54:10 Tell me the answer together? 54:11 Through what means? 54:13 Through the Holy Spirit. 54:15 And when He leads us, and He guides us 54:16 into how much truth? 54:18 How much truth? All truth. 54:19 That's why it's important, 54:21 when you're studying with somebody 54:22 and they say, "Okay, you have your truth, 54:24 I have my truth." 54:25 Quickly correct that 54:27 because you cannot have the Spirit of God 54:30 and not want to have the truth. 54:33 You cannot say 54:35 the Spirit of God is working on me... 54:36 Some people try to, 54:37 they try to postpone the Bible study by saying, 54:39 "I'll wait till the Spirit convicts me of that. 54:43 I know what the Bible says 54:44 but I'll wait till the Spirit reveals it to me." 54:46 God speaks often, how? 54:48 Through His Word. 54:50 He's not gonna send you an email, 54:52 see if you're in the front row I'm going to call your name. 54:53 He's not gonna send you a special email, Nori, 54:56 that will tell you something other... 54:59 Okay, let's use the language of the young people. 55:01 He's not gonna give you a text 55:03 and say, "Okay, you can accept it, Nori." 55:05 Will they get the text from God? 55:07 No. His Word speaks to us. 55:09 Can we say amen to that? 55:11 His Bible is the text. 55:14 Long before texting came along we had Bible texts. 55:20 That should have been a hearty amen. 55:22 I store that up for that moment and it just kind of died out. 55:25 But you understand what we're saying. 55:27 The Bible is the book 55:28 with the best texting plan ever. 55:32 Unlimited texting, amen? 55:34 In God's Word. 55:36 Let's get one more here if we can. 55:38 So the answer is, the means by which 55:41 through the person of the Holy Spirit. 55:43 Let's go to 16 now. 55:45 In what way do we grow 55:47 in our understanding of God's word? 55:49 In what way do we grow? 55:52 And by the way we don't want to just give the answer 55:54 but we want to, we want to see in more particulars. 55:56 Go to John 14:26. 55:59 We all grow, we all grow. 56:01 By the way if you are planted, you will grow. 56:04 If you study the Bible, you will grow. 56:06 If you asked for the Spirit to lead you, you will grow. 56:09 John 14:26, let us look at the passage together. 56:14 The Bible says, "But the helper," 56:16 some translation says comforter, 56:19 "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, 56:22 whom the Father will send in," whose name? 56:25 "My name, He will teach you" how many things? 56:29 "All things and bring to your remembrance 56:34 all that I said to you." 56:36 That's exactly what He's gonna do. 56:37 He's gonna bring to our remembrance, 56:39 what, what God has said to us. 56:42 So that also brings out a particular point, 56:45 He's gonna remind us. 56:48 Later on the Bible says, 56:49 "He's gonna bring to our remembrance the things 56:51 that we have learned." 56:52 So get this, if it's not stored in there, 56:55 can He bring it back? 56:57 Yes or no. No. 56:58 So the importance young folk of studying the Bible 57:00 is you got to get it in here. 57:02 The Bible says, 57:03 "Thy Word of I hear it in my," what, "Heart." 57:06 You got to get it in here for it to come back. 57:10 I have a computer with a lot of documents. 57:13 And the way I know I can find them 57:16 is I put them in there. 57:18 You have to be careful what you delete 57:20 because if you stop studying your Bible, 57:24 it's like deleting the files that are there. 57:26 My niece called me last week from the Virgin Islands, 57:30 and if you're watching from the Virgin Islands, 57:31 I won't give her name because you might know exactly 57:33 who I'm talking about. 57:34 But she said, "Uncle?" I said, "What?" 57:36 She said, "I think I've deleted 18,000 pictures." 57:41 I said, "18,000?" 57:42 She says, "I can't find them." 57:43 So we went through her hard drive 57:45 and she finally came to the conclusion, 57:47 "I deleted them I remember now. 57:49 It was taking more than hours to clear my trash can." 57:54 Friends, don't clear, don't delete 57:56 what God is trying to put there. 57:57 Continue studying God's Word, 58:00 continue studying because one day 58:02 it'll come into a Sharper Focus. 58:04 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-01-18