Participants: Joseph Warren, Karen Thomas
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000031
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00:30 Welcome to another edition of Issues and Answers
00:32 It's a blessing to have you here 00:34 today. We have a very special 00:35 program planned for you. Today we have the president and 00:38 director of Spring Hope Ministries. He is none other 00:41 that Dr. Joseph Warren, professor of English at 00:44 Andrews University. Dr. Warren has been a professor at Andrews 00:48 University, which is a Christian school in Michigan, for many, 00:53 many years. He has been instrumental in training 100s 00:57 of young people to go all around the world to proclaim the gospel 01:01 of Jesus Christ in their various professions. In addition to his 01:04 teaching responsibilities, he is a Bible teacher, a family life 01:08 coordinator, youth leader, men's ministry leader and deacon. 01:12 If you go to his church you'll know him as Deacon Warren. 01:15 In addition to these things, he is, as part of his ministry for 01:20 Spring Hope Ministries, he conducts family ministry 01:23 seminars, men's ministry special services, women's ministry, 01:28 unmarried adult ministry, weekend church revival, 01:32 renewal ministry. He is just on fire for the Lord and we are so 01:36 happy to have him. Dr. Warren it is certainly a pleasure to 01:40 have you here with us today. 01:41 Thank you and good morning. It's a pleasure to be here. As my 01:44 custom I'd like to begin with a 01:45 formal invitation to the Holy 01:47 Spirit. Very simply we say Holy 01:49 Spirit, Thou art welcome in this 01:51 place and all that transpires 01:53 for the next few moments should be directed by his presence and 01:56 by his anointing. So it's a very good pleasure to be here. 01:58 Thank you for having me. 01:59 So what is going to be our topic today? I know we're talking 02:02 about the Holy Spirit. Yes, our first topic in the 02:06 series is receiving the Holy Spirit as a Child and my 02:09 specific audience is of course for men for this series. We're 02:12 talking to men receiving the Holy Spirit but first we must 02:16 receive the Holy Spirit as a child, which means that men 02:20 will have to unlearn a great deal of what we know of 02:24 masculinity, machismo, testosterone levels and all the 02:28 traditional items of manhood, they cannot be received by God 02:33 for he can only receive us as men, as males, as we come as a 02:37 child so the first session today is about unlearning some of the 02:42 very destructive things that men do trying to be male in a 02:45 worldly sense. We want to be from a biblical position and 02:48 heaven is his throne and earth is his footstool and we can only 02:50 approach him as a child. 02:52 What a blessing to know that we have that kind of God. 02:55 Now ladies I want to say to you at home who are watching this 02:59 program, this is really a men's directed program. So all of you 03:03 men who are watching this program stay tuned. And for the 03:06 ladies we have the blessing of tuning in to a real men's 03:09 ministry. Thank you. Karen, please turn to 03:14 Matthew 18:1-6 and let's base this program on scripture. Okay 03:20 Read those verses for us please. 03:22 18:1-6: At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying 03:27 who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus 03:31 called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of 03:35 them and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted 03:39 and become as little children ye shall not enter into the 03:42 kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself 03:46 as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of 03:51 heaven and whoso shall receive one such little child in my name 03:55 receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones 03:59 which believe in my, it were better for him that a millstone 04:03 were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the 04:07 depth of the sea. Excellent. To add to that text 04:10 I have a quote here from Ellen White which says when I feel my 04:15 utter nothingness it is only then that Christ sees it time to 04:20 give me his Spirit. He will clothe me with his salvation, 04:23 strength and prosperity when I give him the whole credit and 04:27 glory for his work. And that adds a few words to my own 04:31 adaptation there. But in this text, verse three, the word 04:35 converted. We have to realize that like a child we can only 04:39 come to God and receive his power once we repent of our 04:42 behaviors and conduct that are not like his character. 04:46 The very first thing Christ said in the Bible was repent; that is 04:49 change your way of thinking and for a man that's very hard. 04:53 The central part of manhood is knowing that a man is right. 04:57 He has to feel that he is right and correct, and when a man is 05:00 devalued over and over again, never been able to think he's 05:04 right, his self-esteem goes quite low. But when it comes to 05:08 God, God doesn't negotiate that. Repent, change what you're 05:11 thinking, change what you're doing, change how you operate 05:15 and work in my system, the heavenly kingdom system versus 05:19 the worldly system. So in verse three the word convert is very 05:23 important. Now, conversion is not easy. It is the supernatural 05:28 work of the Holy Spirit. Men are not changed by being talked to. 05:32 As a matter of fact, no one is. Men are changed only by the 05:36 supernatural working of the Holy Spirit in their lives and often 05:40 times God will bring men to a point of complete helplessness 05:45 and that's where Christ steps in. When men realize I cannot 05:49 do this, I am unable, I have nowhere to turn, God kind of 05:53 smiles because then they begin to be converted. 05:55 So it's a waste of time for women to want to talk over and 05:59 over and over again to the man in their life when really we 06:02 need to just back off and let the Holy Spirit have his work. 06:05 We need to talk less, as Ellen White says, and pray more. 06:08 So learn to pray these sort of prayers: Father as this time the 06:13 male in my life is out of your will. Would you send your Holy 06:17 Spirit to him to convict him of his sin and your righteousness. 06:22 In Jesus name, Amen. And then go shopping or go do something 06:26 else. Leave him alone. Don't interfere with the Holy Spirit's 06:30 work. And the more men and women do this with males, particularly 06:34 young boys for example. As young boys begin to feel their self 06:38 esteem and their self-worth and their power as a male, women 06:41 need to understand something very powerful is happening. 06:44 God is trying to make them fit souls for his kingdom, to do his 06:48 work. It's a father/son thing, it's a male thing between the 06:53 God our Father and the boy as a male and that makes a big, big 06:58 difference. Now a part of this involves crying. Crying? Yes 07:05 Karen, crying. A man needs to cry because one of the first 07:10 indications of the Holy Spirit is moving in his life is sorrow 07:15 and repentance born through tears. Crying means words like 07:20 I wrote down in my notes words like weeping, calling, appealing 07:24 with lament, hollering, waling, groaning, sniveling, spilling 07:29 the heart out before God. That's very hard for a man to do. 07:33 Men want to feel self-contained. I can do this, I'm a real man, 07:38 I don't eat quiche, you know, that sort of thing. But God 07:42 doesn't negotiate that. See God will allow no other power in his 07:47 presence but his own, none. So as a man approaches God he must 07:51 come as a child crying and when a child is crying in any 07:55 language any language anywhere in the world we know that cry 08:00 means I'm desperate, I need help will somebody please help me. 08:04 Matter of fact, I know some men who cry. Pastors as a matter of 08:09 fact and when they cry things happen. God changes things 08:12 supernaturally because he just hates to see his sons and his 08:17 daughters cry. The next thing in verse four there is humble. 08:23 Humble has a lot to do with I am nothing in contrast to you. 08:29 And I like that. Men have a phrase: The man who has the most 08:35 toys wins. I'm a self-made man, or I did this on my own. All 08:40 these are worldly accolades for manhood. In God's kingdom, they 08:45 are totally false. As a matter of fact, Satan in heaven tried 08:50 this trick with God; I will exalt myself, I will give 08:54 myself credit for what I have done. I am not impotent, I can 08:59 do this. Satan's no longer in heaven. And it has a lot to do 09:03 with God's character. God will allow you never to bless 09:06 yourself, never to enrich yourself. It's always a gift 09:10 from him. Many times men in the worldly economy have completely 09:15 missed this concept. God gives me strength but the strength is 09:19 his and he can take it back any time he wants. I have no 09:22 strength except what he has for me. So I must be humble. 09:26 That is at any time in any situation to allow God to 09:30 decide or change, as your husband says, to reroute my 09:34 life. I am humble, totally submitted, bringing nothing to 09:38 the cross except I need you every, every day. 09:42 Is that an easy thing for men to do? No. How about any of us 09:46 for that matter. We want to have a sense of self 09:49 sufficiency. Look what I've done 09:51 Look at this ministry here. Look 09:53 what I've done this. Oftentimes I've helped this person and I've 09:59 brought my wife this and I brought my children this and 10:03 I've did this for the church. Those kind of comments are 10:06 strictly not like God's character. Christ thought 10:09 it not robbery to give up all of heaven for our salvation. 10:14 So as a man I have no right to claim any goodness at all. I am 10:19 completely humble, totally submitted to be used. So first 10:23 converted, but then humble. But then verse five talks about 10:27 receive one as a child receives. That's a very interesting text. 10:33 Men can be very clannish all. We can evaluate men on a lot of 10:37 crazy reasons: Who has the biggest house or biggest car or 10:42 who has the most money. All these are worldly evaluations of 10:46 manhood. God doesn't allow that. As a male, I am not allowed to 10:51 evaluate folks on what they have or don't have. I must receive 10:55 them as children receive one another. If you allow children 10:59 to play among themselves without adult interference they develop 11:02 friendships, they develop associations, they tend to like 11:05 one another. They don't get caught up in race, creed, color, 11:08 religions, denominationalism, background. They don't bother 11:12 with that. They receive each other as children openly. 11:15 I've certainly seen that with my kids. They can very well go in 11:18 an environment with other children and they'll come back 11:21 and I say who were you playing with. Oh I don't remember their 11:23 name. They just know that they wanted to play together. 11:28 Exactly. And as men we tend often times to equate folks on 11:32 a lot of different worldly values you know; his boat is 11:37 not as big as my boat so, I got a boat like his, or we all drive 11:41 Benz together or my house is not the same size as his house. 11:46 It's always between males; it has to do with contrasting and 11:49 comparing. Back in school the first thing men had to do was 11:53 find out who could beat one another. 11:55 This starts in elementary school. 11:57 Yeah. It's who's the toughest guy. 11:59 Yeah. And then it goes on throughout life, you know. 12:02 And men need to come out of that you know. When I come across a 12:06 fellow for example on the street whose life is totally ruined, it 12:11 is unlike Christ for me to evaluate him on what he doesn't 12:16 have. I must receive him as a child would receive him; no 12:21 standards except that he is my brother in Christ. What can I 12:25 do to bless him? So that's very, very important and men need to 12:29 come out of evaluating themselves and each other on 12:32 a worldly standard. As a matter of fact, if God is your Father, 12:36 then I'm your brother. That's it. If God is your Father, if 12:40 God is my Father, then I am your brother. So receive one another 12:44 as children. Some people would say that 12:46 competition amongst boys is a necessary part of their 12:51 development so that when they become older they can compete 12:55 in the marketplace. How does God view that? 12:57 Well competition for young boys has to do with self-competition, 13:01 improving one's self. For example I'm playing basketball 13:05 and the last game I got 22 baskets. Good. Let me perfect my 13:09 technique, my style, my ability to go 24 baskets per game; not 13:13 to make someone else look bad. Ah hey man, we really beat you. 13:17 Ah, we beat you all bad. Why don't you all just get off the 13:20 court. You're just a piece of fat bag meat. No, no, no, that's 13:25 not the spirit. Competition is always personal. How can I, with 13:30 my heavenly Father, improve my gifts, my talent, my skills and 13:33 my abilities. As a matter of fact, most of the competition 13:37 is done in secret, most of it. Not in how much money I can make 13:41 or how many cars I can buy but how I can be more loving, be 13:45 more kind, be more gentle, be more patient. All of those we 13:48 call the fruits of the Spirit. Now that's the competition 13:52 against the flesh. So while it's important that young boys be 13:56 involved in basketball and football and other kinds of 13:59 activities it is never for self supremacy. It's for team effort 14:03 and improving one's own ability. As I as a grown man 14:07 work on my finances, I'm not trying to have more money than 14:11 anybody else. I'm trying to manage my money wisely for what 14:14 I'm supposed to do under God's authority with my family. You 14:17 know the Bible says those who compare themselves with 14:20 themselves, among themselves, by themselves are not wise. 14:24 So competition is primarily an internal function with Christ 14:28 to be more like him. That, by the way, is the work of a 14:31 lifetime. The Work of a Lifetime 101. And when a man has taken 14:36 the time to work on his inner self, the fruits of the Spirit, 14:40 the whole world will know it. And by the way, the Bible says 14:44 seek ye first the kingdom and all this stuff will be added to 14:48 you, all these things. So as a man goes out to acquire things, 14:54 and acquire stuff, he is going in absolute contradistinction 14:59 to what Jesus Christ is. Christ says, man come over in here and 15:03 let me work with you personally one on one. And as you are doing 15:07 my work trying to be like me, by the way, I'll throw the house 15:11 in, I'll throw in the job, I'll throw in this. It just comes 15:15 along the way. We are not to ever seek to get worldly things 15:18 except that we're to love the Lord, obey the Lord, serve him, 15:22 be with him, then he gives us stuff. Now the stuff he gives us 15:27 once again for a male, I get all I can and can all I keep. No, no 15:32 no, no, no. We ought to share, see? So I don't fear building a 15:37 five bedroom house. He told me. I'm building a house to have 15:41 others over. That's the Spirit of Christ. 15:44 So then it's not I'm going to hoard, I'm going to sit on what 15:48 I have. It's sharing. Precisely. Okay, to be a channel of 15:51 blessing. You know I was on the plane 15:52 talking to a fellow who's a stock broker. He said, I've got 15:56 about ten million dollars and then I can retire. I'm going to 16:00 retire in Italy in a villa up on the hills. He was talking about 16:03 it and I said wait a minute. You are kind of unpleasing to 16:07 me. You've got ten million dollars. Where in your life have 16:11 you factored in service to others? I said, I am not even 16:15 impressed with you. Did you say that? 16:19 No, this is male confrontation now. You remember I'm a 16:21 Christian male leader. I said when you die you're going to die 16:25 with ten million dollars. So what? So you're tombstone will 16:29 read I died with ten million dollars. So I challenged him on 16:33 the plane and he finally committed that part of his 16:36 wealth would be used for providing sight dogs for the 16:39 blind. I said, now you've got my attention. With you ten million 16:42 dollars, just on some of the interest you could provide maybe 16:47 two dogs per month to the end of the world. Now your life has 16:51 meaning, okay. We talk about folks who are multibillionaires, 16:55 folks who own large corporations I am not the least impressed 16:59 at all with who's worth 90 billion dollars in America 17:01 today. What impresses me is when this individual gives 20 billion 17:06 dollars or 20 million or whatever it may be for 17:09 scholarships. Then I get impressed for that is the work 17:13 of the Holy Spirit, not to hoard but to bless. One thing I like 17:17 about this ministry here, 3ABN, is there seems to be no end of 17:22 God's blessings to it because it has structured itself to 17:25 bless others. It's an open-ended tube, the blessings come in one 17:29 side and go out the other. And what happens the tube's getting 17:32 larger and larger and larger and God has to fill it with more and 17:35 more material possessions to do his work. That's the work of the 17:39 Holy Spirit. So when the head of this ministry comes to the end 17:42 of his life it will not be measured about the size of the 17:46 ministry. It will be measured by how large was the tube that 17:50 God put his blessings through in his lifetime and that is 17:53 totally opposite the world's point of view, see, totally 17:57 opposite. Down in verse six in the same text: Whosoever shall 18:01 offend one of these little ones, and that has really gotten my 18:06 attention. As a male, I'm concerned about protecting what 18:11 is mine and holding onto what's mine and not losing what's mine 18:16 and that sort of thing. As you know among males in the world 18:20 there's the war impulse. We have wars to take stuff. 18:24 We have wars to take stuff. 18:26 I don't think I've ever heard 18:28 it put quite that way but it is 18:30 true. We take lands, we take dominion, 18:32 we take power, industry. You know, we take stuff. Hitler took 18:35 a bunch of stuff. God's not like 18:37 that. In this verse, verse six, 18:39 it talks about a man is fully protected by God's power 18:44 whenever he is converted, humble and accepts other people as 18:48 Christians or like Christ would. Now this text has really helped 18:53 me not to become anxious about what God has blessed me with. 18:57 I don't have to go through superhuman, unkind, mean avenues 19:02 to protect what God has given me. He is my provider. He is my 19:07 supporter, he is my helper, he is my defense, he is my shield, 19:11 he is my protector. And God has promised in this text for the 19:15 men. This ministry here for example, 3ABN. As the leader of 19:19 this ministry stays under God's anointing, may I say this with 19:23 all due respect, no demon in hades can take it. No weapon 19:27 formed against it can prosper. 19:29 And that's for anybody who is in Christ. 19:31 Anybody. And as a male, you know, I walk around with my 19:35 shotgun and my bazooka and my tanks and all of this sort of 19:39 male things, or tools or weapons God can't deal with that. 19:44 Furthermore, our warfare is not carnal, you see. If you have 19:48 money in the stock market now in technology, what are you 19:52 going to do? It's a really rocky time. How can you protect it? 19:56 When you become sick and ill, when your health is failing, 20:00 what can you do? This text reminds me, informs me, that God 20:05 is saying to me clearly: Man I'm going to give it to you. 20:09 I will protect it and then one day I'll require it of you. 20:13 Think about Job for instance. Job was the wealthiest man in 20:18 the east. He had it all, huh? And in a split second, in a 20:23 split second, it was all gone. And over in Job 42 at the end 20:28 Job finally began to pray for his friends and God gave Job 20:33 double, not because Job was such a great person but because all 20:37 these blessings come from God and if God doesn't protect it 20:41 what you going to do about it? So the stock market, mutual 20:44 funds, annuities, retirement, all these things that men worry 20:48 about having enough, huh. That text in the Bible about the 20:52 fellow who had the barns, he built bigger barns, and I shall 20:56 rest. The Bible says tonight, this night, thy soul is required 21:00 of you. Now who's going to eat it? So the whole concept of 21:04 permanence and doing something that will last forever and this 21:08 is my legacy. King Solomon had a problem with that. King 21:12 Solomon realized that when he was dead, when you're dead 21:15 your dead and that's the end of it. It's all going away. So 21:18 realize that a man does not have to go out of his way to 21:21 protect or to hold on. Of course he should wisely manage it for 21:26 the future. He should not be wasteful and gamble away, but 21:29 so far as what I am going to do do this forever, or this is mine 21:34 Here's a friendly joke: A fellow was dying. He said I want a 21:39 million dollars in my casket. I like this joke. They put a 21:43 check for a million dollars in the casket with him. He died 21:48 a millionaire. See? Now what an un-Christlike position to take. 21:53 The fellow I like best says when you die all your money should 21:58 be given away and you should die broke. I like that. Everything 22:03 God has entrusted to you should return to him in service and 22:07 when you die, you leave the way you came, empty. That sounds 22:10 about right to me. So for a man to try and protect his position, 22:14 his stuff, his job, his career, his ministry; the answer is no. 22:18 God will not allow that. We must allow him to protect. 22:22 Now keep in mind that in life when God takes something from 22:27 you, his children, nine times out of ten, he wants to give 22:31 you something larger for greater service. If he takes you out of 22:35 a small house into a larger house it's for greater service. 22:38 If he takes you out of a Metro, little car, to a minivan, it's 22:42 for greater service. If he increases your health, it's for 22:46 greater service. So as we serve God then he gets all the glory 22:50 and the honor and the praise. So this text here, Matthew 18:1-6 22:55 talks about the required attitude that every male, every 22:59 man, must have before God for God is on his throne and we are 23:03 at his footstool and he will allow no other position in his 23:08 presence than that of a child, a childlike attitude. 23:11 Dr. Warren, let me ask you something. Yes. Let's say the 23:15 man who may be listening to this program has heard these things 23:19 and is saying yes you know I am ready to do what God's bidding 23:22 is in my life. I'm willing to allow the Holy Spirit to just 23:25 come in and help me to have the right perspective. But what 23:30 about the fact that maybe the woman of his dreams is very 23:34 materialistic? A lot of men can be put into a situation of great 23:38 pressure because we women put them in such straits. We have to 23:42 have our dresses, we have to have a certain house, we have to 23:46 be in a certain neighborhood. How does a man address those 23:49 types of issues, those demands that may be placed upon him by 23:53 his wife and children or other colleagues or whatever? 23:56 That's an excellent question and the answer is so profoundly 23:59 simple. This man should tell his wife that she is a daughter of 24:03 God and as God's daughter she has an inheritance, a daughry 24:07 if you will. This man should not fight his wife or resist his 24:11 wife. He should go with his wife to the throne and say, Father, 24:15 as husband I come with my wife to you. She has claimed this 24:19 house and this lifestyle and this... she's claimed it. You 24:24 are able, I am not. I don't have it. According to your mercies 24:27 and grace allow her to see your manifold grace in her life. 24:31 And Father I will love her and support her and take care of 24:35 her and do all I can based on what you give me. Now the 24:38 argument comes in when he tells the wife what she can't have. 24:42 Bad news. She is God's daughter. And remember this text, whatever 24:46 two touch and agree on. The reason the wife has this house 24:51 is because they've agreed on it. God loves agreement. So rather 24:56 that resisting the spouse for a lifestyle. Now at the same time 25:00 this wife, this woman, this family must also be in the Holy 25:03 Spirit's power. If she's asking for a 300,000 square foot house, 25:10 you know, okay. But the reason couples fail in this area is 25:15 that don't get together and agree. Now remember they should 25:20 always ask God for something larger than they can do 25:22 themselves. If you can do it on your own power then you don't 25:27 need God. If you can do it all by yourself, then you don't need 25:31 God. So many times even what that wife is asking for is too 25:35 small based on what God wants the marriage to do. While I'm 25:39 here let me say this for those folks who are married. Marriage 25:43 is to accomplish a purpose. What are you married for, what's the 25:47 agenda, what's it all about? And the male leads in that; 25:51 giving the marriage purpose and direction. My suggestion is if 25:55 the wife wants it, she truly wants it, let the family come 26:00 together and ask God for it who is liable to give you more than 26:04 you ever thought or asked. That's how he operates. 26:07 Amen. It has been such a pleasure to have you on our 26:10 program today, Dr. Warren. The word of knowledge that you've 26:14 shared with us even though I'm not a man and those women who 26:17 are watching are not either, it has been a blessing to men 26:20 and to women today just to know these key principles and steps, 26:24 that we don't have to compete with other people. We don't have 26:27 to feel like we need to keep up. We have a great God who loves 26:31 and cares about and wishes to develop us as individuals to his 26:35 name and to his glory. For those of you at home who feel the same 26:40 way as I do that you'd like to have the Lord really come into 26:44 your life and to use you to his name and his glory and yet 26:48 you'd like to have the strength and the power in your life to do 26:52 that why right now ask the Lord Jesus to come into your heart 26:56 and to help you in every aspect of your life. We're going to ask 26:59 Dr. Warren to pray for us right now. Will you do that please, 27:02 Dr. Warren. Father in heaven: We anoint 27:06 your name with power for there is no god like you. I pray on 27:11 behalf of all men everywhere that each of us will recognize 27:15 that you are God and that we can only approach you in a childlike 27:21 attitude, a position of helplessness, a position of need 27:26 a position of not being able to take care of ourselves, and then 27:30 the power of Christ is released. In the name of Jesus send forth 27:35 thy Spirit now to convert the hearts and minds of men 27:40 everywhere to ask for Jesus humbly through repentance. 27:44 Amen. Amen. Again thank you so much 27:48 for coming to our program. Thank you for blessing us. I'd like to 27:53 share with you again how you can reach Dr. Warren if you're 27:56 interested in receiving tapes or video tapes or booklets that he 28:00 may have available to you. You can reach him at Dr. Joseph 28:03 and Cynthia Warren, he works in 28:05 partnership with his wife... 28:27 Until next time, may God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17