The launch of the space
shuttle is always exciting.
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You've probably
seen it on television.
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They start with
T minus 20 minutes
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and then it comes down
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and pretty soon
its T Minus 10 minutes,
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and T Minus 5
minutes and finally
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those last 10
seconds and they count down.
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Finally it's just
five, four, three, two,
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and then pretty soon you
hear the rumble of the engines
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and you hear the
announcer say we have ignition.
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At launch the space shuttle's
two solid rockets consume
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more then ten tones
of fuel each second.
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And produce 44
million horse power
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equal to 14,700 locomotives
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All that power, just
waiting to be ignited
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And when we have ignition,
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it carries its pay
load toward heaven.
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You know my friends
God has given us a power
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infinitely greater
than that of a rocket.
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But I ask you today
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what will ignite
our souls for God
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so that He can
give us this power.
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There is a crisis
in our church today
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and I believe in part at
least, it's a crisis of power.
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The church is not as
powerful as it should be,
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if you read the
account of the early church
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in the book of the Acts.
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You see
magnificent things happening,
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you know, the
Holy Spirit was moving.
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And yet today
many of our churches,
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do not have the
power that they should,
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many of our individuals,
many of our families,
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do not have the
power that they could.
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The power I'm talking about
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is not political,
its spiritual power.
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You see things have not changed,
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the way they should
have, we're still here.
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People do not know the Gospel.
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Oh yes, we are better organized,
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we are better at technology,
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we have better
research on church growth.
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We even know more
better about the Bible
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than probably ever had in
any other time of history.
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So what else do we
want? What else do we need?
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May be we're okay. Maybe--
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Maybe this is the
way it's supposed to be.
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But if you go to
the Bible with me,
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I think you'll discover
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that God really wants
a whole lot more for us.
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We go first to
John 14:11 and 12,
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Jesus is talking here.
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"Believe me when I say
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that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me.
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or at least
believe on the evidence
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of the miracles themselves.
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I tell you the truth,
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anyone who has faith in me
will do what I have been doing.
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He will do even
greater things than these,
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because I am
going to the Father.
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Greater things
than Jesus Christ even?
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Can you imagine what
was Jesus trying to say?
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He healed the sick,
He cleansed the lepers,
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He forgave sinners.
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And yet He says
here in the Bible
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that those who believe in Him
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will do even
greater things than He did.
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Now we know that Jesus
talked about the Holy Spirit,
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And we know that the Holy
Spirit was a source of power.
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But exactly what does that mean,
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let's go to John
3 verses 7 and 8.
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John 3 verses 7 and 8.
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Nicodemus came and
talked to Jesus at night
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and in the course
of the conversation
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Jesus said to Nicodemus,
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"You should not be
surprised at my saying,
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'You must be born again.'
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The wind blows
wherever it pleases.
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You hear its sound
but you cannot tell
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where it comes from
or where it is going.
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So it is with
everyone born of the Spirit."
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Sometimes we want power,
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but we want power in
the way that we want power.
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And we want the kind power
that enables us to show off
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and the kind of power
that enables us to look strong.
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In this
conversation with Nicodemus,
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we get the
impression that perhaps
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the power of the Spirit is
a little different than that.
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The wind blows where it wants to
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but you can see the
results of the wind.
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It's like that with
the work of the spirit,
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you may not be able to
see the Spirit directly,
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but you can see its results.
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What kind of
result are we looking for?
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Let's go to Acts 1:7 and 8.
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In Acts 1, Jesus is
again talking to His disciples.
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And he says in Acts 1:7 and 8
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"He said unto them,
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It is not for you to
know the times or dates
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the Father has set
by His own authority.
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But you will receive power
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when the Holy
Spirit comes on you,
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and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem,
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and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
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Here we again have a
little bit of the clue
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as to what the
results of the Spirits power
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is supposed to be, they
were to be His witnesses.
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The reason the
power of the Spirit
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was given is
because Christ Himself
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in His bodily
form was gonna be gone.
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And therefore
His representative,
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His presence through the
spirit needed to be there
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why so that the witness
of the Gospel would go on.
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There would be no
brake in continuity
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between Jesus ministry and
the ministry of His followers.
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The same Spirit
would operate in both,
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the Spirit would
enable them to be witnesses,
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first in Jerusalem and
then to the ends of the earth.
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Now let's turn to
the next chapter Acts 2.
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Acts 2 is that famous passage
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that talks about
the day of Pentecost.
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Acts 2:14 to 18, "Then
Peter stood up with the Eleven,
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raised his voice
and addressed the crowd,
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Fellow Jews and all of
you who live in Jerusalem,
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let me explain this to you,
listen carefully to what I say.
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These men are not
drunk, as you suppose.
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It's only nine in the morning.
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No, this is what was
spoken by the prophet Joel,
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in the last days, God says,
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I will pour out my
Spirit on all people.
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Your sons and
daughters will prophesy,
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your young men will see visions,
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your old men will dream dreams.
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Even on my
servants, both men and women,
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I will pour out my
Spirit in those days,
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and they will prophesy."
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There is a lot of
confusion in the church today
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about what the power
of the Spirit looks like.
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In these texts
that we have just read,
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we got some clues.
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We got some clues from Jesus,
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who said that we could do
even greater things than He.
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We got some clues from his
conversation with Nicodemus.
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Which said the
power of the Spirit
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we may not be able
to discern directly
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but we will see its results.
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We also got some clues
from the first chapter of Acts.
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When Jesus told His disciples
that they would receive power
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in order to be
witnesses to the whole world.
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And then in the Acts 2,
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just after the
upper room experience
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where the tongues of
fire had been poured out
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on the disciples and they had
spoken in different languages.
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And everybody who
was there in Jerusalem
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heard the Gospel
in their own language,
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Peter stands up and
addresses the crowd.
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And
interestingly enough he quotes
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from the book of Joel Chapter 2
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which is a prophecy
about the end of time
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and what Peter is
basically saying there is,
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the end of time is now.
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You now see people prophesying,
speaking in the Spirit,
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and the Spirit
is being poured out.
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But today there
is some confusion
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over what the power of
the Spirit should look like.
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I-- I've been to a
few Gospel's concerts,
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at times, and I've
seen a lot of excitement.
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I went to a
youth concert one time.
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And they had a succession
of bands come in and perform.
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And there was one band there
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that I don't
remember their real name but,
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my name for them
was Decibels are us.
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And I was standing there
with the rest of the crowd
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wondering what was happening,
and it was kind of exciting,
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and I looked couple
of rows up ahead of me.
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And there was a young man
just really into the music.
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And I looked a
little bit closer at him.
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I noticed he had ear
protectors in, you know,
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those foam ear plugs
that you put into your ears.
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So I'm afraid that sometimes
our impression in the church
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of what the Spirit is
supposed to look like,
00:10:02.97\00:10:05.33
the power of the Spirit
is supposed to look like
00:10:05.36\00:10:07.41
some out pouring of decibels
00:10:07.44\00:10:10.07
or at least some
kind of excitement
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where crowds get
together and something happens
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and everybody get excited,
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is that really the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
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is that the power
that we are looking for?
00:10:21.74\00:10:24.20
If the power of the Holy
Spirit just requires decibels,
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then all we need is
little more amperage.
00:10:29.37\00:10:31.24
I have a confession to make
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here I am appearing on a
religious television show
00:10:37.52\00:10:42.07
but I have to confess to you
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that I don't watch a
lot of religious television.
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The reason for that is that
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there's a lot of
religious television out there
00:10:50.43\00:10:52.51
that is rather confusing to me.
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For example I tuned
into the church service
00:10:56.48\00:11:01.30
of a very large church one time,
00:11:01.33\00:11:04.00
and I saw a lot of
very excited people,
00:11:04.03\00:11:07.24
and I saw a pastor who
was very, very, excited
00:11:07.27\00:11:10.02
about what he
was preaching about
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and I noticed
that there were people
00:11:11.65\00:11:13.02
arranged in the background.
00:11:13.05\00:11:15.26
And I don't mean to be overly
critical but it almost seemed
00:11:15.30\00:11:19.01
like they were people who were
apparently hired to stand there
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and be as excited as they could
in order to make it look like
00:11:23.33\00:11:28.01
there was an
outpouring of the Spirit,
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Now, we can't judge each other
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according to how the
Spirit is working in our lives.
00:11:35.79\00:11:39.53
But I will have to admit to you,
00:11:39.56\00:11:40.93
I've been confused at times
00:11:40.96\00:11:42.91
about what the Spirit
is actually supposed to do,
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is it supposed to
be a tangible presence
00:11:46.75\00:11:53.05
and make people excited,
is that what the Spirit is?
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Is it supposed
to be loud enough,
00:11:57.20\00:12:00.21
so that I have
to put in ear plugs?
00:12:00.24\00:12:02.71
Uh, is the power of Spirit
supposed to be miraculous?
00:12:02.74\00:12:07.59
Now we know that there were
miracles in the New Testament
00:12:07.62\00:12:10.98
but, uh, does that prove
that the Spirit is operating,
00:12:11.01\00:12:16.71
if we see a miracle?
What is the real thing?
00:12:16.74\00:12:21.67
How do you tell the true Spirit
00:12:21.70\00:12:24.25
from a false
manifestation of the Spirit?
00:12:24.28\00:12:26.95
And I think if you look closely
at the text that we just read.
00:12:29.49\00:12:34.31
If you look closely,
00:12:34.34\00:12:35.75
at the conversation
Jesus had with Nicodemus.
00:12:35.78\00:12:39.79
If you look at the conversation
he had with disciples
00:12:39.82\00:12:43.21
about waiting for
power to be his witnesses.
00:12:43.24\00:12:46.89
If you notice what Peter said
00:12:46.92\00:12:50.26
on that day of
Pentecost, in Acts 2.
00:12:50.29\00:12:53.52
And you read all
the way through the end
00:12:53.55\00:12:56.37
and you see what happened,
00:12:56.40\00:12:57.77
when Peter asked
people to make a decision?
00:12:57.80\00:13:01.36
And 3,000 people all at once
00:13:01.39\00:13:04.92
made a decision to
follow Jesus Christ.
00:13:04.95\00:13:08.23
And they were baptized.
00:13:08.26\00:13:11.46
I think I can tell you
00:13:11.49\00:13:12.86
what the power of the
Spirit is supposed to look like.
00:13:12.89\00:13:15.50
Now, it may be quiet sometimes,
it may be loud sometimes.
00:13:15.53\00:13:20.07
It may have people
very, very, excited at times
00:13:20.10\00:13:23.19
or may not have
people excited at times.
00:13:23.22\00:13:27.14
All that thing doesn't matter
00:13:27.17\00:13:28.54
but I'll tell
you what does matter.
00:13:28.57\00:13:30.09
The indication of the power
of the Spirit is a changed life.
00:13:31.99\00:13:39.18
That is what all of
these texts are for.
00:13:39.21\00:13:42.68
That is what they
all have in common
00:13:42.71\00:13:44.36
they all point to a power
in the life that changes people
00:13:44.39\00:13:51.92
from being lost to being saved.
00:13:51.97\00:13:55.48
It changes people from
going after their sinful,
00:13:55.51\00:13:58.47
selfish desires into
wanting the things of Christ.
00:13:58.50\00:14:03.64
That is the true
power of the Spirit.
00:14:03.67\00:14:06.32
How do you change a
life? How does that happen?
00:14:11.04\00:14:14.99
I don't pretend to know how
the Spirit works in all cases.
00:14:17.12\00:14:24.12
But I can tell you this,
00:14:24.15\00:14:27.63
a life has to be
changed from the inside out.
00:14:27.66\00:14:32.02
You can't program
it. You can't dictate it.
00:14:32.05\00:14:38.34
You can't force it to happen.
That's why legalism is so wrong.
00:14:38.37\00:14:44.74
And so hopelessly inept,
unbiblical and damnable heresy.
00:14:44.77\00:14:53.36
It's because legalism
tries to change a life
00:14:53.39\00:14:55.80
by forcing it from the outside.
00:14:55.83\00:14:58.84
But the power of
Spirit works from the inside.
00:14:58.87\00:15:03.13
Let me explain to you a
little more what I mean.
00:15:03.16\00:15:06.89
Once in a while when I
need some sermon illustrations,
00:15:06.92\00:15:10.76
I go to Wal-Mart or
I go to Disney world
00:15:10.79\00:15:16.50
or just about any
other public place.
00:15:16.53\00:15:19.26
Let me explain what I mean.
00:15:19.29\00:15:22.31
My family and I went to
Disney world not long ago.
00:15:22.34\00:15:25.52
And I was sitting, you
know, out in the public square
00:15:25.55\00:15:30.34
in one of the
places we were just
00:15:30.37\00:15:32.82
kind of waiting
to go somewhere else.
00:15:32.85\00:15:36.66
And as I was just
sitting there resting.
00:15:36.69\00:15:41.23
I noticed a
commotion not very far away.
00:15:41.26\00:15:44.69
And as I craned
my head a little bit
00:15:44.72\00:15:47.47
I noticed that there
was a women screaming.
00:15:47.50\00:15:50.06
Now, she was not hurt.
She was not being attacked.
00:15:50.09\00:15:53.88
She was not in danger of any
kind and she was not suffering
00:15:53.91\00:15:58.46
the results of a
scary riot by any means.
00:15:58.49\00:16:01.89
She was screaming
at her young child.
00:16:01.92\00:16:05.91
And she was berating him and
she was scolding him and he--
00:16:05.94\00:16:09.25
she was calling him
every name she could think of.
00:16:09.28\00:16:12.33
And she was making him feel
00:16:12.36\00:16:14.19
just as bad about
himself as he possibly could.
00:16:14.22\00:16:17.99
And he was standing there
just kind of hanging his head
00:16:18.02\00:16:20.80
and he would make
one small little gesture
00:16:20.83\00:16:24.47
and she would
just start it again.
00:16:24.50\00:16:26.18
And it got so bad that I
saw a security guard come over
00:16:26.21\00:16:29.17
and kind of ask, you
know, what was going on.
00:16:29.20\00:16:33.54
Now, you know, Disney
world is supposed to be
00:16:33.57\00:16:35.17
the happiest place on earth
so if something unhappy comes
00:16:35.20\00:16:38.41
they like to take
care of it rather quickly.
00:16:38.44\00:16:40.44
So the security
guard was very anxious
00:16:40.47\00:16:42.73
that whatever was going
on in this little family
00:16:42.76\00:16:45.24
that it be
taken care peacefully.
00:16:45.27\00:16:47.02
I was at Wal-Mart one day.
00:16:50.49\00:16:53.31
And I was
minding my own business
00:16:53.34\00:16:55.40
and all of a sudden
I heard some yelling.
00:16:55.43\00:16:58.83
And I looked down the
aisle and there was a mother
00:16:58.86\00:17:05.53
yelling at her young child.
00:17:05.56\00:17:08.58
And right there in
middle of the public place
00:17:08.61\00:17:11.18
she was calling him
every name she possibly could
00:17:11.21\00:17:13.45
and she was telling
him what she thought of him
00:17:13.48\00:17:15.99
and what do these
experiences have in common?
00:17:16.02\00:17:22.24
There are times and
believe me I am a parent
00:17:22.27\00:17:24.42
I know there are
times when you just wish
00:17:24.45\00:17:26.91
you could just reach
inside and change somebody.
00:17:26.94\00:17:31.37
I mean, somehow our human nature
00:17:31.40\00:17:34.51
is so frustrated with
other people's human nature,
00:17:34.54\00:17:37.54
especially our kids.
00:17:37.57\00:17:39.60
That we wish we
could just somehow
00:17:39.63\00:17:42.66
if not
physically at least verbally
00:17:42.69\00:17:45.52
reach inside
their little psyches'
00:17:45.55\00:17:47.48
and just shake 'em up.
00:17:47.51\00:17:49.66
And we want to
do that so bad, why?
00:17:49.69\00:17:52.23
Because human nature
is so hard to change.
00:17:52.26\00:17:55.91
In fact I submit
00:17:55.94\00:17:58.52
human nature is impossible
to change from the outside.
00:17:58.55\00:18:02.79
Now, you can put in laws,
and rules, and regulations,
00:18:02.82\00:18:08.42
and boundaries, and
curfews, if you need to.
00:18:08.45\00:18:12.29
And you can do
all kinds of things
00:18:12.32\00:18:14.09
to create the right
environment for change
00:18:14.12\00:18:17.03
but you can't
actually change that person.
00:18:17.06\00:18:21.41
And I'll tell you this is
very frustrating for a parent.
00:18:21.44\00:18:23.89
How frustrating
it must be for God
00:18:23.92\00:18:26.73
to want to change his children.
00:18:26.76\00:18:29.26
But even God doesn't want
00:18:29.29\00:18:32.67
to force change on His children.
00:18:32.70\00:18:36.11
He doesn't want
to reach inside of us
00:18:36.14\00:18:39.80
and force us to change.
00:18:39.83\00:18:42.33
Now, he has the
capability of doing that.
00:18:42.36\00:18:44.50
And some people actually think
00:18:44.53\00:18:46.07
that is the Holy Spirit's job
is to actually change somebody.
00:18:46.10\00:18:50.28
In a sense that's
true but its not true
00:18:50.31\00:18:53.86
if we think of it in
terms of forcing something.
00:18:53.89\00:18:57.19
Notice what
Galatians 5:22 and 23 says.
00:18:57.22\00:19:01.98
Here Paul is talking
about the power of the Spirit.
00:19:02.01\00:19:06.28
And he says, "But the
fruit of the Spirit is love,
00:19:06.31\00:19:10.30
joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
00:19:10.33\00:19:16.09
faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control.
00:19:16.12\00:19:20.45
Against such
things there is no law."
00:19:20.48\00:19:24.51
So what kind of
result are we looking for?
00:19:24.54\00:19:29.76
What is the result
of that wind blowing?
00:19:29.79\00:19:32.21
What is the result of
that power of the Spirit
00:19:32.24\00:19:35.83
being illustrated by the wind.
00:19:35.86\00:19:37.36
It is a changed life.
00:19:37.39\00:19:40.23
Now, there are lot of
what I call ugly mothers
00:19:41.37\00:19:47.16
at Wal-Mart and Disney World
and any other public place.
00:19:47.19\00:19:51.49
And has nothing to do
with their physical attributes
00:19:51.52\00:19:53.90
they can be
gorgeous looking human beings
00:19:53.93\00:19:56.49
but they treat
their kids ugly, why?
00:19:56.52\00:19:59.16
Because they
want to force change
00:19:59.19\00:20:01.97
or just because
they got so frustrated
00:20:02.00\00:20:04.08
that they just plain lost.
00:20:04.11\00:20:05.48
Okay, we're all human
we can understand that
00:20:05.51\00:20:08.01
we all do that at
times. But, God never loses it.
00:20:08.04\00:20:12.93
God is always
gracious, He's always kind
00:20:12.96\00:20:16.12
and He doesn't
try to force change.
00:20:16.15\00:20:18.85
His Spirit is an
influence, not a force.
00:20:18.88\00:20:22.52
The result of the
Spirit's work is a changed life.
00:20:22.55\00:20:26.26
Jim Cymbala was
pastor of a broken down
00:20:29.39\00:20:35.29
losing church in
Brooklyn, New York.
00:20:39.11\00:20:47.01
And Jim himself was
just about ready to give up.
00:20:47.04\00:20:51.41
He tells his story in the
book 'Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.'
00:20:51.44\00:20:55.70
How when things
got so bad that even
00:20:55.73\00:20:59.00
the pews where breaking
down during their meetings.
00:20:59.03\00:21:02.26
How things where so
bad that they depended
00:21:02.29\00:21:06.46
on every little offering
to just keep the place open?
00:21:06.49\00:21:11.98
How things were so bad that even
00:21:12.01\00:21:15.16
Jim himself
didn't want to go there?
00:21:15.19\00:21:18.47
He finally went off by himself.
00:21:18.50\00:21:21.53
And he said Lord, I don't
know what I am supposed to do.
00:21:23.57\00:21:27.56
And Jim Cymbala came
back from that experience
00:21:30.28\00:21:35.01
with what seemed like
an impossible thing to do.
00:21:35.04\00:21:41.27
He told his congregation
00:21:41.30\00:21:44.47
that they were going to
regard the prayer meeting
00:21:44.50\00:21:48.99
as the barometer of
the spiritual condition
00:21:49.02\00:21:52.73
of their church.
00:21:52.76\00:21:54.20
And this is why he said that
00:21:54.23\00:21:55.78
as Jim looked around
at the other churches.
00:21:55.81\00:21:58.65
He saw rich
churches they could afford
00:21:58.68\00:22:00.65
to send out a fleet of buses
00:22:00.68\00:22:03.19
just to bring people
in and pack the place.
00:22:03.22\00:22:05.33
He saw other churches
who where wealthy enough
00:22:05.36\00:22:08.19
to bring him top named preachers
that would pack the place.
00:22:08.22\00:22:13.56
He looked around and he saw all
the other successful churches
00:22:13.59\00:22:17.03
and he thought to
himself and he prayed.
00:22:17.06\00:22:19.37
He went to the Lord on his knees
00:22:19.40\00:22:20.77
and he came under the conviction
00:22:20.80\00:22:23.67
that just because you
pack a house on the weekend
00:22:23.70\00:22:26.50
doesn't mean that you
have the Spirit's power.
00:22:26.53\00:22:30.43
Pastor Cymbala
said we'rerevising.
00:22:33.81\00:22:36.59
What a church is today?
00:22:36.62\00:22:38.78
We believe that
if you can get people
00:22:38.81\00:22:40.94
into a service for
an hour in the weekend
00:22:40.97\00:22:42.73
that's the church but
that's not the church he says.
00:22:42.76\00:22:46.75
The church he says was
not born during a sermon.
00:22:46.78\00:22:50.07
It was born
during a prayer meeting.
00:22:50.10\00:22:53.10
Furthermore he notes
that all the great revivals
00:22:53.13\00:22:56.94
down through
history have taken place
00:22:56.97\00:22:59.09
in the context of prayer.
00:22:59.12\00:23:01.87
But he says when prayer ended
00:23:01.90\00:23:04.20
the Spirit of God
lifted in the church
00:23:04.23\00:23:05.89
went through some
tough times as a result.
00:23:05.92\00:23:09.62
You remember that
upper room experience
00:23:09.65\00:23:12.23
on the day of Pentecost.
00:23:12.26\00:23:14.17
That was a prayer meeting
they were having in that room.
00:23:14.20\00:23:16.60
When the Holy Spirit poured
itself out visibly at that time
00:23:16.63\00:23:21.36
in order to give the people
the assurance they needed.
00:23:21.39\00:23:23.48
As tongues of fire
and the church was born
00:23:25.09\00:23:28.51
in that prayer meeting.
00:23:28.54\00:23:31.29
The result of the
Spirit's power is changed lives
00:23:32.31\00:23:36.14
but God has given us a
way to access that power.
00:23:36.17\00:23:40.07
How do you get that
power? You pray for it.
00:23:40.10\00:23:43.58
Now, don't expect prayer to
be some kinds of incantation,
00:23:43.61\00:23:48.34
don't expect prayer to be
some kind of magic formula,
00:23:48.37\00:23:52.32
don't expect prayer
to be like putting a coin
00:23:52.35\00:23:54.82
in a slot of a vending machine
and getting something out.
00:23:54.85\00:23:58.23
Prayer is not like that
00:23:58.26\00:23:59.63
because prayer is
part of a real relationship
00:23:59.66\00:24:01.84
a saving
relationship with our Savior.
00:24:01.87\00:24:05.15
Prayer is a conversation.
00:24:05.18\00:24:06.89
Prayer doesn't
change God, it changes us.
00:24:06.92\00:24:10.67
You see the work of the Spirit
00:24:13.50\00:24:16.76
is not to force
people to change,
00:24:16.79\00:24:19.13
the work of the
Spirit is the work of Christ
00:24:19.16\00:24:21.75
to win our allegiance.
00:24:21.78\00:24:24.37
And when Christ
wins our allegiance,
00:24:24.40\00:24:26.30
we want to be with
Him. And we pray with Him.
00:24:26.33\00:24:30.49
Reason I say with Him is because
00:24:30.52\00:24:32.72
prayer is a decision to
be in the presence of Christ.
00:24:32.75\00:24:39.20
Prayer is a way of
communicating with Christ.
00:24:39.23\00:24:43.24
It is by faith we
know that He hears us
00:24:43.27\00:24:45.83
even in the most
difficult circumstances--
00:24:45.86\00:24:47.81
we know that Christ hears us.
00:24:47.84\00:24:52.17
I had a very
good friend one time,
00:24:52.20\00:24:56.27
her name was Cindy.
00:24:56.30\00:24:59.31
It's not her
real name but she had,
00:24:59.34\00:25:02.39
had a rough life and
during her high school years,
00:25:02.42\00:25:07.81
she had made a
conscious decision
00:25:07.84\00:25:11.79
to give her life
over to the devil.
00:25:11.82\00:25:14.99
That's very unusual to
find somebody who is actually
00:25:15.02\00:25:17.81
made that kind of
conscious decision but she had.
00:25:17.84\00:25:21.27
She had decided
that she would go ahead
00:25:21.30\00:25:26.27
and let the devil
have his way with her life.
00:25:26.30\00:25:29.68
She would just
follow him. And so she did.
00:25:29.71\00:25:35.74
And I found her
at that time to be,
00:25:35.77\00:25:38.37
you know, how you can
look in somebody's eyes,
00:25:40.48\00:25:43.19
and you wonder
who's really there.
00:25:43.22\00:25:45.83
I am not talking
about anything spooky
00:25:45.86\00:25:47.97
or hocus pocus or
anything like that.
00:25:48.00\00:25:49.63
I am just-- I am
talking about a person
00:25:49.66\00:25:51.46
who's living without living.
00:25:51.49\00:25:54.35
I am talking about a
person who may be walking
00:25:54.38\00:25:58.97
but they're not going
anywhere. Cindy was like that.
00:25:59.00\00:26:03.69
I lost track of Cindy
for a number of years.
00:26:03.72\00:26:07.52
And then one day I
ran into her again.
00:26:07.55\00:26:10.95
And even before
she said anything
00:26:10.98\00:26:14.87
I recognized the Spirit' s
power. The power had been there.
00:26:14.90\00:26:19.62
No I didn't
hear any loud noises.
00:26:19.65\00:26:22.47
I didn't see
any tongues of fire.
00:26:22.50\00:26:24.12
I didn't sense
any huge excitement
00:26:24.15\00:26:26.75
or anything like that
but I saw a changed life.
00:26:26.78\00:26:30.41
Where once she
looked hard as nails
00:26:30.44\00:26:32.66
now she was softer,
accepting, non defensive.
00:26:32.69\00:26:38.14
She was just happy to
be alive with the Lord.
00:26:38.17\00:26:43.73
I was really quite stunned.
00:26:46.27\00:26:49.25
And my human expectations
00:26:49.28\00:26:52.30
I really didn't
expect that to happen.
00:26:52.33\00:26:55.36
I thought pessimistically
00:26:55.39\00:26:59.81
perhaps that once
that happened to a person
00:26:59.84\00:27:03.04
they would
probably always be there
00:27:03.07\00:27:04.76
but I was wrong
because God's power
00:27:04.79\00:27:07.83
is infinitely
stronger than any human power
00:27:07.86\00:27:11.22
even the power
of a space shuttle,
00:27:11.25\00:27:13.65
pales in comparison.
00:27:13.68\00:27:17.48
And how do we access that power?
00:27:17.51\00:27:19.66
God has given us
the privilege of prayer.
00:27:19.69\00:27:23.88
I'd like to invite you to attend
not only the worship service
00:27:23.91\00:27:28.10
at your local church
but the prayer meeting.
00:27:28.13\00:27:30.71
You see a praying
church is a powerful church.
00:27:32.22\00:27:37.10
Will you commit to a new
experience with the Holy Spirit.
00:27:37.13\00:27:41.40
Will you commit yourself
to prayer both personally
00:27:41.43\00:27:46.74
and corporately with
your house of worship?
00:27:46.77\00:27:51.32
If you do, you will find
00:27:51.35\00:27:54.73
the infinite power of
heaven available to you.
00:27:54.76\00:27:59.43