Participants: Pr. Dwight K Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP083008
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00:38 God of wonders.
00:41 God of wonders beyond our galaxy 00:45 You are holy 00:46 You are holy, holy 00:52 The universe declares Your majesty 00:58 You are holy, holy 01:07 God of wonders beyond our galaxy 01:12 You are holy, holy 01:20 The universe declares Your majesty 01:26 You are holy 01:31 Holy 01:35 Lord of heaven and earth 01:43 Lord of heaven and earth 01:48 Holy, holy 01:52 Holy 01:57 Lord 02:00 God Almighty! 02:06 Early in the morning 02:14 Our song 02:16 Shall rise to Thee 02:24 Holy, holy 02:29 Holy, holy! 02:34 Merciful 02:38 And mighty! 02:44 God 02:46 In three persons 02:53 Blessed Trinity 03:06 You alone are holy Lord. 03:10 I'm thinking about this theme today, 03:14 the Lord who is mighty to say 03:15 whose power to-- powerful to say, 03:20 we're all gonna stand soon to sing this last course, 03:24 as we call these names of God when it resonates with you. 03:28 If He's been that to you I ask you to stand, 03:30 and then we all stand before we sing the song. 03:34 Jehovah Jireh, if he is been a provider this week, 03:37 I ask you to stand. 03:39 Jehovah Shalom, 03:41 if He has provided peace for you this week, 03:44 I ask you to stand. 03:46 El Shaddai, if He has been the almighty in your life, 03:50 I ask you to stand. 03:51 Immanuel, if you sense His presence today, 03:54 I ask you to stand in honor of the King. 03:58 Jesus our Savior, our Redeemer and Friend. 04:05 As morning dawns 04:07 As morning dawns and evening fades 04:15 You inspire songs of praise 04:21 That rise from earth 04:24 To touch Your heart 04:28 And glorify Your Name 04:35 Your Name is a strong and mighty tower 04:42 Your Name is a shelter like no other 04:49 Your Name 04:53 Let the nations sing it louder 04:57 'Cause nothing has the power to save 05:02 But Your Name 05:15 Jesus in Your Name. 05:17 Jesus in Your Name we pray 05:24 Come and fill our Hearts today 05:31 Lord, give us strength 05:34 To live for You 05:38 And glorify Your Name 05:43 Sing that chorus 05:44 Your Name 05:48 Is a strong and mighty tower 05:51 Your Name 05:55 Is a shelter like no other 05:58 Your Name 06:00 Let the nations sing it louder 06:05 'Cause nothing has the power to save 06:10 Your Name Your Name 06:15 Is a strong and mighty tower 06:18 Your Name 06:22 Is a shelter like no other 06:25 Your Name 06:29 Let the nations sing it louder 06:32 'Cause nothing has the power to save 06:37 Your name but, Your Name 06:42 Is a strong and mighty tower 06:45 Your Name is a shelter like no other 06:53 Your Name let the nations sing it louder 07:00 'Cause nothing has the power to save 07:07 But Your Name 07:23 Arise, my soul, arise 07:25 Stretch forth to things eternal 07:29 And hasten to the feet of thy Redeemer God 07:34 Though hid from mortal eyes 07:37 He dwells in light supernal 07:40 Yet worship Him in humbleness and call Him Lord 07:46 His banquet of love awaits you above 07:51 Behold the marriage festal of the lamb is come 07:56 Rejoice, my soul, rejoice to heaven lift up they voice 08:02 Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 08:10 List to the harps of heaven hark to the song victorious 08:16 The never-ending anthem sounding through the sky 08:21 To mortals is not given to chant 08:25 Its strains all glorious 08:27 Yet sing, my soul, and praise of Him 08:30 Who reigns on high 08:33 Who bought with His blood 08:37 The ransomed of God 08:44 To Him be everlasting 08:48 Power and victory 08:55 And let the great amen resound through heaven again 09:00 Alleluia! Alleluia! 09:03 Alleluia! 09:13 Let's pray together. 09:16 Is that what that is Holy Father recall 09:19 to a generation arise. 09:25 Prime time arises. 09:31 Oh, God what is that mean for us? 09:33 Poised on the cusp of an uncharted journey. 09:40 We are here, You are here, 09:45 if You have a word to send through a holy scripture 09:47 this would be the perfect moment. 09:51 Our minds and hearts listen 09:56 through Jesus Christ our Lord, 09:59 amen. 10:05 What would happen, 10:11 if like it was for us just a moment ago 10:16 in this place, we're all here, 10:20 we are bowed on our knees 10:25 in prayer, 10:28 what happened? 10:29 Eyes closed at that moment 10:32 between the last of the pray singers refrained, 10:38 you're gonna stopped. 10:41 The pastor has finished his prayer. 10:45 Just that split second what would happen? 10:50 If suddenly we heard 10:53 a low decibel moan, 10:59 just a moan, 11:03 not sure what it is. 11:08 We pause a little longer in prayer, 11:10 our eyes are closed, but it seems that this moaning 11:15 is beginning to grow, involve you, crescendoing 11:20 and that may be the deacons if-- 11:23 'cause it's so warm in here, 11:25 gone up and down the sides and pop the windows open 11:27 and it must be something distant and far away. 11:31 We stay in prayer, we are not through yet, 11:38 but that distant far away wind 11:41 begins to groan and it begins grow louder, 11:46 and louder, and louder 11:48 until suddenly we hear the sound, 11:52 and we hear in the Midwest if you're new here 11:55 and you have not lived in the Midwest 11:56 you will soon learn, you be schooled 12:00 to listen for this sound on a stormy day. 12:03 We hear the sound 12:05 of a rumbling freight train. 12:12 And in that instance we've been trained, 12:15 that's the auditory signal of an approaching tornado, 12:19 before we can leap to our feet. 12:21 We still in prayer here. 12:23 Before we leap to our feet, 12:26 there is an explosion of sound here 12:33 inside the sanctuary, 12:34 instinctively we jerk our heads up 12:37 waiting to see the chandlers at 90 degrees to the floor. 12:41 Not a breath, just the roar but not a breath of motion, 12:47 everything limp and hanging just as it is right now. 12:52 Our eyes now opened in the same instant we see it 12:58 all of us at the same time we se e it, 13:02 somewhere in middle air beneath 13:07 those towering arches and the soft Linoleum floor 13:10 that we're kneeling on. 13:15 We see it a roiling, seething, 13:22 orange ball of fire. 13:27 Have you ever been to a steel mill? 13:29 They are closing right and left, 13:31 I understand in this country. 13:32 But when as a kid I went to a steel mill in Japan, 13:34 and you've seen pictures of a steel mill. 13:36 You know, they get this molten steel in that 13:38 giant black cauldron 13:40 and they will actually pour liquid, liquid steel. 13:44 We've got that hovering in mid air, 13:46 no cauldron, it's just the water of fire, 13:50 just, just broiling 13:53 and while we watch pinned to our knees 13:58 as if by invisible hands, 14:00 tiny strips are peeled off the orange ball, 14:06 in an instant up and down every aisle, 14:09 up and down every pew 14:11 until finally over every bowed worshipping head. 14:17 There flickers an orange tongue of fire, 14:22 Pentecost, what would happen? 14:26 If Pentecost happened right here, right now, 14:33 what will we do? 14:37 There are people on this campus and in this community, 14:41 I know because I met them. 14:43 There are people who are praying for Pentecost, 14:49 at Andrews University, and Pioneer Memorial Church. 14:54 Just this week two young adult freshmen, 14:57 brand new students in the university, 14:59 were in my office and they are saying, pastor 15:03 come on, come on couldn't it happen here? 15:07 Couldn't we have Pentecost, while we are here in school? 15:13 So what I'm gonna say to them? 15:15 That it's the wrong time in history, 15:19 that we don't have the right generation yet, 15:23 that we're not ready for it, 15:26 that they ought to just banish 15:27 from their young idealistic minds 15:30 any notion of Pentecost in their lifetime. 15:34 Pentecost. 15:39 Maybe you've never read the story of Pentecost. 15:42 I want to give you a chance to read it right now, 15:44 it is an amazing drama. 15:48 You may have read it hundred times before, 15:50 but I predict you still do not know 15:53 the secret clue to the meaning 15:59 of the fire in Pentecost. 16:02 You thought it was the Holy Spirit. 16:07 You thought that's what it was to symbolize. 16:10 I want to tell another story today. 16:11 Open your Bible with me please 16:13 to the story of Pentecost, Acts 2. 16:16 Acts 2, you didn't bring your Bible, 16:18 grab that pew Bible right in front of you. 16:21 It's page 733 in your pew Bible. 16:25 Acts 2, I'll be in the Today's New International Version, 16:27 I want to be in that for this series. 16:29 This series is coming out of one book in the Bible 16:30 as you are now discovering, the Book of Acts. 16:35 So I want to stay in this book. 16:36 You can bring any translation you wish. 16:39 Just bring a Bible, will you? 16:40 Bring a Bible. 16:43 Story of Pentecost. Acts 2:1 here we go. 16:47 "When the day of Pentecost came, 16:50 they were all together in one place." 16:52 How many people? 16:53 120 men, women and young adults, all right. 16:55 So we're 2,000 here in this service. 16:59 120 in an upper room. 17:03 "When the day of Pentecost came, 17:04 they were all together in one place." 17:05 Here it goes now in verse 2, "Suddenly" 17:08 just out of nowhere "Suddenly". 17:09 Now note this. 17:11 "A sound," Now the Greek word for sound is echo, 17:15 from whence comes our word echo, 17:17 huh, only used twice in the New Testament 17:21 both by the same author Dr. Luke, 17:23 the other time Luke uses it, is in his gospel 21, Luke 21:25 17:27 where echo is describing the roar of a tumultuous sea 17:34 just before the return of Christ, 17:35 so we know this isn't-- this is not a whisper, 17:37 this little sound is not a whisper, 17:39 it's a roar, it's explosion 17:42 and I like the way the TNIV catches this. 17:44 "A sound like the blowing of a violent..." 17:49 We are not talking about a nice little sail 17:51 out on the St. Joseph River, which is what I enjoy doing. 17:54 No, no this is a violent wind, 17:58 like Hurricane Gustav that is making its way 18:01 slowly across the Gulf of Mexico 18:03 even as we worship here. 18:05 Okay, so a roar, violent wind 18:09 like "A sound like the blowing of a violent wind 18:10 came from heaven..." 18:11 And notice this. "Filled the whole house..." 18:14 The point of the author is 18:16 we are not dealing with an isolated source. 18:18 This source is all around us. 18:20 It's just every nook and cranny 18:22 and corner of this sanctuary. 18:23 It's just exploding with this roaring sound, 18:26 fills the whole house, 18:29 "Where they were sitting." 18:31 Verse 3 and boom, "They saw it..." 18:33 See there it took the sound to get their attention, 18:36 they hear the sound and then "They saw what seemed..." 18:40 They don't know what it was, it seemed. 18:42 "What seemed to be tongues of fire that separated..." 18:45 See that means there is a ball of fire 18:47 in middle air right here, a ball of fire and then, 18:52 those little strips are peeling away 18:54 and are darting to those in prayer and worship. 18:58 "They saw what seemed to be 19:00 tongues of fire that separated 19:01 and came to rest on each of them." 19:03 Verse 4, "All of them in prayer 19:06 were filled with the Holy Spirit 19:07 and began to speak in other tongues 19:09 as the Spirit enabled them." 19:10 This... 19:13 nobody has a template to measure this moment. 19:15 It's never happened before. 19:18 Verse 5, "Now there were staying in Jerusalem 19:20 God-fearing Jews 19:21 from every nation under heaven." 19:23 They say that the festival of the Pentecost 19:27 is the most conducive for travel 19:29 because it comes in late spring, 19:30 so you get the best weather, 19:32 so you get the most worshipers and visitors to Jerusalem. 19:34 The place is packed, the city is packed 19:37 and the electric buzz 19:39 has been started by that upper room. 19:41 Why is everybody talking? 19:43 Verse 6, "When they, 19:44 the crowd, heard this sound, 19:46 a crowd came together in bewilderment, 19:48 because each one heard their own language being spoken." 19:50 Verse 7, "Utterly amazed, they asked: 19:52 'Aren't all of these who are speaking Galileans?" 19:55 I.E. these guys haven't even been to school. 19:57 Galilee did not have a great reputation 19:59 for erudite thinking. 20:01 So how are they speaking? 20:03 That's the question. 20:04 How are they speaking in our languages? 20:07 We're hearing it in our native tongue, 20:09 our native language. 20:10 Drop down to verse 14, "Then Peter stood up..." 20:12 I tell you how. 20:14 "Peter stood up with the Eleven, 20:16 he raised his voice and he addressed the crowd. 20:18 Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, 20:20 let me explain this to you, 20:21 listen carefully to what I say." 20:23 Listen up. 20:25 Verse 15, "These people are not drunk..." 20:27 As some of you are suggesting, 20:28 too early in the morning to be drunk. 20:30 "It's only nine in the morning." 20:31 Now verse 2:16, 20:32 "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel." 20:34 Verse 17, 20:35 "In the last days, God says, 20:37 I will pour out my Spirit on all people. 20:40 Your sons and daughters will prophesy, 20:41 your young men will see visions, 20:42 your old men will dream dreams." 20:44 Verse 18, "Even on my servants, both men and women, 20:47 I will pour out my Spirit in those days, 20:49 and they will prophesy." 20:52 Wow! 20:54 I'm so glad that when Peter decided to quote 20:57 from that ancient prophet Joel, he changed the scripture. 21:02 And instead of saying an after word, 21:04 he changed the scripture to read in the last days. 21:10 I tell you why I'm glad. 21:11 Because if what has just been experiences 21:12 only for the first days, 21:15 then there is no hope for those living in the last days, 21:18 but he said in the last days. 21:21 They'll be a prime time generation 21:24 and I will pour out myself upon them. 21:30 Wow! 21:32 Primetime, welcome to Primetime. 21:35 Welcome to Primetime. 21:36 I mean what could be more prime time than today. 21:38 I have a friend who's in the financial industry, 21:42 and he's being tracking this rather chaotic up-- 21:44 rather chaotic ups and downs, 21:45 and peaks and troughs of the economy these days. 21:47 I can't figure the economy out. 21:48 I mean the gas goes up, the gas down. 21:50 The stocks soar and the stocks plummet. 21:52 The hurricane comes, the hurricane goes. 21:54 I don't know what's happening. 21:56 But this guy is paid to watch it. 21:59 I got an email from him. 22:01 He is telling me, hey, boy keep your eyes 22:04 on the Housing and Mortgage industry. 22:08 You watch that. 22:09 The FDIC by the way just this week announced 22:12 117 American banks are on the verge of collapse. 22:18 What's up? 22:20 Something. 22:24 This email from this friend of mine, 22:25 he says you know what, Dwight, 22:27 it makes me think of 1 Thessalonians 5:3. 22:30 "And when they say peace and safety, 22:32 look out, look out 22:34 sudden destruction is on the way." 22:38 I thanks to this friend, subscribe now 22:41 and sent an e newsletter from the investment firm 22:45 in Florida called Atlantic Advisory. 22:49 The president of the firm is Bennet Sedacca. 22:52 Last week's newsletter, last weeks newsletter, 22:55 he put this sentence in the newsletter. 22:58 "The Federal Reserve and the Treasury, 23:00 and the next President will have the fight of their lives 23:05 on their hands." 23:08 Freddy Mac, Fannie Mae, 23:10 these giant mortgage industries, 23:14 nationalized now by the government, 23:16 what else is the government gonna have to take over. 23:20 Fight of their lives. 23:22 It is and I suppose that today's day and age 23:25 might qualify as prime time, 23:26 given the economics to instability of this nation. 23:31 You think about it. 23:32 The first Pentecost when it came, 23:35 it came at prime time and prime time was instability. 23:39 Just a few years later, after the Pentecost, 23:42 a few years later-- the spark, 23:46 the match goes to the tinder. 23:48 Pilate, the governor who sent Christ to His execution. 23:51 Pilate occurs the disfavor of the mighty Caesar, 23:55 he is stripped from office, goes home and commit suicide. 23:58 They are sitting on the edge of political turbulence. 24:02 Economically they will melt down in a matter of years. 24:05 In 40 years-- In 40 years Jerusalem will be no more, 24:10 and all the while 24:13 in this mighty empire the moral decadence of Rome 24:18 is slowly eating and digesting 24:22 the tender underbelly of moral sanity. 24:28 You want to talk about prime time for Pentecost, 24:31 instability, prime time. 24:36 George Barna, the American demographer, 24:39 president of the Barna Group 24:41 releases a national survey four days ago. 24:47 In this national survey, 24:48 he describes a significant shift in American life. 24:53 I put it on the screen for you, we are witnessing. 24:55 This is Barna now. 24:56 "We are witnessing the development 24:57 and acceptance of a new moral code in America. 25:00 One of the most stunning outcomes 25:02 from the Barna survey..." 25:03 The report states, I'm quoting now. 25:05 "Was the moral pattern among adults under 25. 25:10 The younger generation in America 25:11 was more than twice as likely as all other adults 25:14 to engage in eight morally negative behaviors." 25:17 Now look I understand, hey, I want to be quick on this, 25:20 I understand that the young adults 25:21 the 3, 200 of them that have come 25:23 to Andrews University for this New Year, 25:25 I understand you are exceptions to the rule 25:27 and I praise God for that. 25:29 I'm grateful for that. 25:31 No, no I'm serious, I'm grateful for that. 25:33 But that is precisely the point. 25:36 In a nation that's headed to moral meltdown, 25:39 what more prime time opportunity could come 25:42 to a band of 3,200 young adults than this 25:45 than to move out on behalf of the kingdom of God. 25:48 You've been setup. 25:50 You've been setup to be the prime time generation. 25:54 I believe you are the prime time generation, 25:58 I believe that. 25:59 I want to share two sentences with you 26:00 that I've been brooding on all summer long 26:03 that it become the catalyst for this new series Primetime. 26:07 I put it on the screen for you, written a century ago. 26:11 "With such an army of workers as our young, 26:14 think about our young adults, 26:16 rightly trained might furnish..." 26:18 You take this prime time generation, 26:19 with the generation like this. 26:21 "How soon the message 26:22 of a crucified, risen and soon-coming Savior 26:24 might be carried to the whole world! 26:25 How soon might the end come, 26:27 the end of suffering and sorrow and sin!" 26:30 The prime time generation, 26:31 you know what, ladies and gentlemen? 26:33 You may be the ones God has been waiting 26:35 for all of these years. 26:38 Prime time. 26:40 Everything is set up. 26:42 This fertile moment of explosive opportunity 26:47 when history coalesces to set up the story of Acts 26:50 for one more replay. 26:54 Prime time. 26:57 You're it. Hallelujah. 27:01 What will the replay of Pentecost look like 27:03 in our third millennium clothing. 27:05 That is a vital clue here to that fire. 27:07 Remember we're suggesting, 27:09 we're ruminating on the thought that 27:11 may be the fire isn't just the Holy Spirit, 27:14 there is something more here. 27:15 There is a vital clue to that right here, 27:17 in Acts 2, and so take it 27:19 your study guide out, you got to get this clue. 27:20 Once you get this, 27:21 it will be locked in your brain. 27:22 If you didn't get the study guide, 27:23 hold your hand up, and our very efficient ushers 27:26 will make certain that you have one. 27:28 Just hold your hand up, 27:29 in the back of the balcony do it as well. 27:31 All over and while they are doing that, 27:33 we want to welcome all of you 27:34 who are watching on television right now. 27:35 Welcome to the new series, Primetime. 27:37 Let me give you our website. 27:39 Put it on the screen for you. 27:41 www.pmchurch.tv that's our website. 27:46 You go there and you're looking 27:47 for the series Primetime. 27:50 You'll see it, click on there. 27:51 This is the first... 27:52 This is the first teaching in the series. 27:53 This one's entitled 'Playing with Fire'. 27:56 So you go to that and you see it, 27:58 it says mp3, you want to podcast, 28:00 you are welcome to have that, 28:01 but just get over the study guide right now 28:03 and click study guide and you'll have 28:06 the identical instrument that we have here. 28:13 Let's fill it out together. 28:15 So this is something for you to brood on, brood over later. 28:19 But I believe once you see the clue, 28:20 you will never forget it. 28:22 The Greek word for Pentecost, you ready to go? 28:24 The Greek work for Pentecost from Acts 2:1 is Pentecoste. 28:28 Well, that wasn't hard. 28:30 Pentecoste and that means the 50th day. 28:33 Pente, pente in Greek means five. 28:35 The Pentagon, what's the Pentagon? 28:39 It's the defense headquarters 28:42 for the defense industry in the United States. 28:44 It's a five sided building, five, pentagon, 28:47 Pentecoste is the 50th day and what's that mean? 28:51 You see there in your study guide in the-- 28:52 for in the Jewish liturgical calendar 28:54 if you subtracted 50 days from Pentecost 28:56 and you went backwards, 28:58 it will take you back to the Feast 28:59 of Unleavened Bread or write it in, 29:00 here is the clue, Passover, Passover. 29:03 Jot that word in please. 29:05 In other words the secret to Pentecost 29:07 is in what it follows. 29:09 Write it down, Passover, 29:11 and the secret to the Passover is the passion of God. 29:17 Hold on, one more line. 29:20 Calvary, see Calvary is the supreme manifestation 29:25 of God's passion to save his lost earth children. 29:30 That's what Calvary is about. 29:32 In other words when the Lamb of God died 29:34 as the divine Passover lamb, 29:36 it was a consummation of very act, 29:38 it was a consummation of every word 29:40 God had spoken in the history of the human race. 29:43 In fact do this, look. 29:44 Let's just say here are the gates of the Garden of Eden. 29:46 Once outside the gates of the garden 29:49 'cause it was closed out, Adam and Eve had to leave. 29:50 From this point on, watch this, 29:52 from this point on every word, 29:55 every act, every intervention, 29:59 every provision from God, 30:02 every movement of the divine. 30:05 From the gate of the Garden of Eden 30:07 all the way down here to Calvary 30:11 is driven by the fiery passion 30:14 to save lost men, women 30:19 and children on this planet. 30:21 Everything God does. 30:22 I invite you to kind of challenge that 30:25 think it true. 30:26 Everything He does is driven by that passion. 30:28 Moreover if you want to start here at the cross 30:31 and go all the way down to you get to you and me here. 30:34 You start at the cross every intervention of God, 30:36 every act, every word God speaks 30:40 from the Calvary, from Calvary on, 30:42 same passion. 30:43 Fiery passion to save lost people. 30:46 It's all God can think about it. 30:48 If they were all your children, 30:49 it would be all you could think about. 30:51 Do you know how many parents are here right now, 30:53 who when I say 30:54 how are things going with your children, 30:56 immediately feel a pain in the depth of their souls. 30:59 Do you why? 31:00 Because they are not sure 31:01 their children are secured eternally. 31:03 That's why. 31:04 You cannot be a parent and not have the passion 31:10 to see your children one day in the kingdom of Christ. 31:14 You never the same, you can go on, 31:17 you look like you're having fun in the party 31:18 and you can be watching TV, and you can be playing golf, 31:22 but you stop for a moment 31:23 somebody say how's it with your boy? 31:24 How's it with your girl? 31:25 And boom, there it is all over again. 31:30 We got it from God. 31:33 He has one passion, save the human race. 31:35 In fact jot that down where your God can still 31:37 think of nothing else these days, 31:38 but I must save, I've got to save, 31:41 I must save my children, 31:42 Bethlehem was because of that passion. 31:44 Calvary was because of that passion. 31:45 And, guys, hold on your seats, 31:47 Pentecost is solely because of that passion, 31:51 nothing else, nothing else. 31:54 It's now wonder Jesus' last words 31:56 to the dearest friends He had on this earth were these. 32:00 Turn your page back to Acts 1. 32:01 Look at this, isn't this something? 32:03 Jesus last words before leaving. 32:06 This is Chapter 1 verse 6, 32:08 "So when they met together," that would be the disciples, 32:10 only 11 of them now "They asked him, 'Lord,'" 32:14 they asked a very Adventist question. 32:16 I love this. 32:17 '''Lord, are you at this time 32:19 going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 32:21 I mean come on, is this the end? 32:22 Huh, is this it? Hallelujah. 32:25 They ask a very Adventist question 32:27 and Jesus makes a very un-Adventist response. 32:31 Look at verse 7, "Jesus said to them. 32:34 'It is not for you to know the times or dates 32:37 that the Father has set by his own authority.' 32:40 " Hey listen guys, let me tell you something, 32:41 your most pressing need right now 32:44 is not the date when I return, 32:45 your father has that in thorough control. 32:49 You need what the Father's spirit and I have 32:51 and that is our passion to save this planet. 32:53 That's needs to be your all consuming focus. 32:56 Save this earth with us. 33:04 My passion must become your passion 33:09 to enable that to happen. 33:10 Look at verse 8. 33:11 Therefore verse 8, "You will receive power 33:16 when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you..." 33:20 I promise you "You will be my witnesses 33:25 in Jerusalem..." 33:27 By the way this is the Table of Contents 33:28 for the Book of Acts. 33:29 "In Jerusalem..." 33:30 Chapters 1-7, "In Judea and Samaria..." 33:34 Chapter 8-10 33:36 "To the uttermost parts of the earth." 33:37 Chapters 11-28 You just put the Table of Contents there. 33:39 You will be my witnesses. 33:42 In fact, jot this down, will you? 33:43 What is Jesus saying? 33:44 He is saying, when the dynamite power, 33:46 you see that and by the way you notice the word, 33:48 the Greek word for dynamite is dunamis 33:50 that's what dynamite comes from. 33:51 "When the dynamite power of the Holy Sprit 33:53 comes upon you, 33:54 he will you with my passion, and you will be my witnesses." 33:58 And by the way did you note that, 33:59 the Greek word for witness is martus 34:02 from whence comes our word martyr. 34:06 What is a martyr? 34:08 She, he is a witness 34:10 who will witness through His life 34:12 and is willing to even through her death make testimony. 34:16 That's what a martyr is to the ends of the earth. 34:19 You become a martyr, you become witnesses for me. 34:21 By the way, jot this down 14 times in the Book of Acts, 34:25 Luke will weave in that theme word witness, 34:29 witness, witness. 34:30 "Jesus' point is inescapable, 34:32 'Once my passion become your passion, 34:35 you will become my witnesses!" 34:37 I promise you and with that, 34:39 Jesus is gone, just like that He is gone. 34:42 Look at that verse 9, "And after he said this, 34:44 he was taken up before their very eyes, 34:46 and a cloud hid him from their sight." 34:49 Look at verse 10, 34:50 " They were looking intently up into the sky 34:52 as he was going, when suddenly two men..." 34:55 Materialize suddenly they are there dressed in what? 34:59 What does it say here? "Dressed in white." 35:01 What are those two men you suppose? 35:03 Huh, what do you suppose they are? 35:05 Of course they are the angels. 35:06 Desire of Ages tells us 35:07 those are the two guardian angels 35:08 who accompanied Christ Jesus all the way through life. 35:11 This is guarding angels. 35:12 You got to hand it to those angels. 35:14 They cut out on the first part of the party. 35:15 They miss the first part of the welcome home. 35:18 They say we'll stay with you boys, 35:20 you go ahead. 35:21 Everybody else is waiting for you. 35:23 They said we'll come after you. 35:26 Stay right there. 35:30 I got something to tell you fellows 35:32 and they speak, watch this, they speak, 35:34 Verse 11, '''Men of Galilee,' they said, 35:38 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? 35:42 This same Jesus, 35:43 who has been taken from you into heaven, 35:44 will come back in the same way 35:46 you have seen him go into heaven.' 35:48 " Now, I want you to read that with a little-- 35:50 a little different understanding, 35:51 we could read that gently with a fresh paradigm 35:56 and understand that to be a very gracious rebuke, 36:01 to those who keep peeling their eyes on the heavens, 36:04 trying to find one more sign that Jesus is coming soon. 36:09 Get your eyes off of the heavens. 36:14 We got a work we got to do here. 36:17 William Willimon used to be the dean of the chapel 36:20 at Duke University. 36:23 He made this observation about Luke opening salve 36:25 and I like this, it's in your study guide. 36:27 "In a few opening verses 36:28 Luke manages to reprove both the enthusiasm 36:31 and speculation of uninformed apocalypticism." 36:35 What's that mean? 36:36 People just running around trying to turn 36:37 at every headline, turn every headline 36:39 into a sign of the end. 36:40 Wow! It's got to be now. 36:41 Wow! 36:42 Uninformed apocalypticism, that's all it means. 36:46 Luke is giving a little gentle chiding, 36:49 don't you get sucked in to that. 36:50 Don't worry about the date of the dates. 36:52 God has at all under control, 36:53 but notice if-- notice the balance of Willimon. 36:56 He is-- he is also reproving the despair 36:58 and stodginess of a church without apocalyptic hope. 37:04 Don't you ever become a community of people, 37:06 who give up the passion of expectancy. 37:10 Jesus is coming soon. 37:11 Don't you ever let anybody talk you out 37:15 of that hope? 37:19 Sometimes you get to think we gonna be here so long, 37:21 we'll just settle down for a long winter's nap, 37:24 get over it, hang on to it, 37:27 the church is doomed, Willimon is right. 37:31 Yeah, it's okay jot this down, 37:32 angels, angels are saying, hey fellows yep Jesus, 37:34 the same Jesus is coming back, 37:36 but you can't sit here gazing up into heavens forever, 37:39 there's a work to do, let's go guys. 37:42 We're ready to help you 37:43 and that's exactly what they do. 37:45 Verse 12, 37:47 "Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem 37:49 from the hill called the Mount of Olives, 37:50 a Sabbath day's walk from the city 37:52 about two thirds of a mile. 37:53 When they arrived, 37:54 they went upstairs to the room..." 37:56 That would be the upper room "Where they were staying." 37:58 And then a list of those names. 38:00 Verse 14, 38:01 "And they all joined together constantly in prayer." 38:05 It's 10 days to Pentecost, 10 days away, 38:09 and they have no idea that anything is 38:10 coming to Pentecost by the way. 38:12 They just went to prayer meeting, 38:13 they have no clue that in 10 day 0. 38:17 Jesus just said you go there and you wait and so they 38:20 "All joined together constantly in prayer, 38:22 along with the women." 38:23 That would be their wives 38:24 and the woman who ministered to Jesus in his life 38:27 and then one more person is mentioned by name 38:31 and along with "Mary the mother of Jesus, 38:33 and with his brothers." 38:35 This is the last place 38:36 Mother Mary appears in sacred record. 38:40 How would you like the last remembrance of you 38:42 on this planet? 38:43 Hey, he was at prayer meeting. 38:48 Hey, she was at prayer meeting, 38:50 the last remembrance of you is your prayer meeting. 38:55 God bless the mother of Jesus. 38:59 The New Testament quietly just-- 39:02 she's gone, there's no elevation, 39:04 there is no-- there is no coronation, 39:06 there's nothing, the last time we see her, 39:11 she is at prayer meeting. And what are they doing? 39:14 They all joined together what's it say here, 39:17 constantly in prayer. 39:19 What are they praying about? 39:20 This is in your study guide, take a look at this 39:21 from the Book Acts of the Apostles, 39:24 focus to their praying, 39:25 "The disciples pray with intense earnestness 39:27 for a fitness to meet people 39:29 and in their daily conversations 39:30 to be able to speak words that would leads sinners to Christ." 39:33 Now hold on. 39:34 "They did not ask for a blessing 39:35 for themselves merely. 39:37 They were weighted with the burden 39:39 of the divine passion for, and I added those words, 39:41 "The divine passion for the salvation of souls. 39:44 They realized that the gospel was to be carried 39:47 to the world in their generation 39:50 and they claim the power the Christ had promised." 39:54 Ten days later, boom! 39:57 The upper room explodes 39:58 tornado and flame. 40:02 And by the way how was the fire displayed 40:07 that the spirit brought to them? 40:09 How was the fire displayed? 40:10 You think about what it could've been. 40:11 The spirit could have shown up, 40:13 he said, all right, we're gonna have fire here 40:14 'cause fire is wherever God is, 40:15 we're gonna have fire and a hand appears, 40:17 a fiery hand over every head, 40:19 lowering with you all even at the end of the world. 40:22 He could have been in prayer and suddenly a fiery foot 40:24 wherever thy foot goeth I am with thee. 40:29 But no, no, no, no, we now know the focus 40:32 by the sign that appeared on Pentecost, 40:35 we now know the content of those 10 days of praying. 40:37 They are praying, give us the passion, 40:40 give us the ability to articulate 40:44 the truth about Jesus to a dying world. 40:47 All we want is to be able to do it right. 40:51 Please, give us tongues 40:55 that can speak with clarity and passion, 40:58 Your truth, oh, God. 40:59 And when He comes... 41:02 a little flickering orange tongue 41:05 over everybody saying, I heard your prayer, 41:08 I hear what you want, you got it. 41:12 Now go. 41:14 And boy, when he walked out of that room, 41:15 3,000 people got baptized that very day. 41:18 Mercy, that's Pentecost, 41:21 God does, God throws all the rule books away, 41:23 all the paradigms are collapsed and tossed, 41:26 new world, new prime time, here's how we act and boom, 41:30 God turns the world upside down in one generation. 41:33 A generation that did not have cell phones, 41:36 a generation that did not have laptops, 41:39 a generation that did not have 41:41 gas guzzling automobiles, they had nothing, 41:48 they had nothing but a sailboat. 41:51 No newspapers, no emails, nothing. 41:55 In one generation. 41:58 When God throws the rule book out, 41:59 you don't need, 42:00 you don't need nothing with him, 42:03 just give me your passion. 42:05 Jot that down, will you before I forget it. 42:06 "The tongues of fire are proof enough 42:08 that the focus of these ten days 42:09 of prayer was the power to be an effective witness 42:12 to the world for the Lord Jesus Christ." 42:14 Some people think when you get filled with the Holy Spirit, 42:16 you have these warm spiritual fuzzes, 42:17 man, we got to have the Holy Spirit around here, 42:20 I want to be able to do things I never could do before. 42:22 The Holy Spirit is not about you doing things 42:24 you never could do before, 42:25 the Holy Spirit has one primary passion 42:28 and that is to fill you with it. 42:30 To fill you with God's passion for lost people, 42:34 not for saved people, for lost people. 42:38 There's more joy in heaven over 42:40 one who's lost than 99 who're saved. 42:43 Heaven's got a passion and it's to find the lost. 42:47 So when we asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit, 42:49 we're really saying oh, God, I'm begging you, 42:50 I'm begging you fill me 42:52 with Your passion for lost people 42:54 and so we begin today a new series 42:55 how to train our tongues 42:57 to become powerful witnesses for Christ, 42:59 it's called Primetime. 43:00 It's based on a single line in the New Testament, 43:02 we may never see it during this entire series. 43:04 1 Peter 3:15, 43:05 always be ready to give an answer 43:08 to those who ask you the reason for your hope. 43:12 If you're the prime time generation, 43:14 then we have got to do everything 43:15 we can to equip and enable you 43:18 to walk out of this university with your head held high. 43:20 I know what I believe 43:22 and I can tell you what Jesus means to me. 43:25 Primetime will be giving you some tools 43:28 and in a few days we're gonna launch something, 43:30 the alpha version of a seminar we've been working on 43:32 for five long years. 43:34 It's called the Contagious Adventist seminar 43:37 and we will launch it here 43:38 and you'll be given an opportunity 43:40 to become a part of this prime time movement. 43:47 What would happen in this New Year 43:48 we began to pray the pre-Pentecost prayer, 43:49 I mean just like the disciples? 43:51 I'm not suggesting this is Pentecost, it's not here yet 43:53 but what would happen if we prayed that same way. 43:55 What if we asked God to fulfill Acts 1:8? 43:58 God, give me Your passion, 43:59 please fill me with Your passion for lost people. 44:03 You suppose God would honor that prayer? 44:05 Can you think of a reason 44:06 why He wouldn't honor the prayer? 44:09 I need to tell you this, I haven't live long 44:12 but one thing I've learned is that 44:13 there is no preacher on earth 44:15 that can preach into me a passion for lost sinners. 44:19 I have known preachers who can tell stories, 44:21 a story or two or three, it brought tears to my eyes 44:24 and I'm walking out, they're saying, whoa, please. 44:27 It doesn't go even back, it doesn't go past the tears. 44:32 And because a preacher can't do that to me, guess what? 44:34 This preacher sure can't do that to you. 44:36 There is no way this series Primetime is gonna inject you 44:38 with divine passion, impossible. 44:41 I'm telling you what, there isn't a book on earth 44:43 and there are some great books out there about the passion. 44:45 There isn't a book on earth that can infill you, 44:49 the book can inspire you 44:50 but it cannot infill you with that passion. 44:54 It can't do it. I tell you what? 44:56 You can read the Bible, 44:58 you can read the Bible from cover to cover, 44:59 I'm gonna get the passion right here. 45:02 Wrong. 45:03 You get to the last page of Revelation 45:05 and read the whole Bible through, 45:06 you will not have an ounce more of passion in you 45:08 than when you began or may be an ounce or two. 45:12 You can't get it from even God's word. 45:13 There is only one source for divine passion 45:17 and that is the divine heart, 45:19 which is why you got to go to the divine Lord 45:21 and say give me Your heart please. 45:23 Give me Your passion, straight from you to me, 45:26 main line it into me. 45:28 Please, I must have it. 45:31 And that's why, ladies and gentleman, 45:33 when we read the story of Pentecost, 45:35 it doest read that the disciples 45:36 sat in the upper room and read books. 45:39 It doesn't say that they sat in the upper room 45:40 and listened to sermon podcast. 45:42 It says they went to the upper room 45:43 and they prayed, and they prayed, 45:44 and they prayed, and they prayed, 45:46 until when God in His own good pleasure said, 45:48 now they got it. 45:51 They just prayed. 45:56 I'm embarrassed to ask this of myself 45:57 and so I get out of the embarrassment 45:59 by asking you as well, so put us both into this. 46:04 When was the last time you and I were on our knees 46:09 begging God for His passion 46:14 to save lost earth children? 46:18 When was the last time you ever prayed that prayer? 46:22 Embarrassing, isn't it? 46:24 That's all God can think about 46:26 and it's what I never think about. 46:28 How embarrassing is my father 46:33 but he is not my heart. 46:39 Oh, God... 46:42 -- oh, God, 46:43 I need Your passion 46:44 for the lost people on my street. 46:46 I need Your passion 46:47 for the lost people in my dormitory. 46:48 I need Your passion 46:49 for the lost people in my classroom. 46:51 I got students, God, that are lost. 46:53 I need Your passion for them. 46:55 I need Your passion for my hometown, 46:57 my home state, my home nation, my home planet, 46:59 I need your passion God, please. 47:02 Ladies and gentlemen, this is prime time. 47:04 God is serving this generation, a homerun pitch. 47:09 Do you know what that means. 47:10 When they say that the pitcher is serving 47:12 you a home run pitch, he is playing easy. 47:14 Said all right, 47:15 I'm gonna throw it straight across the plate, 47:16 if you've got any sense at all, you'll swing at this one. 47:19 God is saying, I've set you up, 47:20 just step into the batter's box, 47:22 take that bat and swing. 47:26 You gonna hit this out of the park girl with me. 47:30 Boy! Swing at it. 47:34 The earth is ripe, prime time. 47:39 "With such an army of workers as our young rightly trained, 47:42 how soon the message of a crucified, risen, 47:45 and soon-coming Savior could go to the ends of the earth. 47:48 How soon the end of suffering and sorrow and sin!" 47:54 So what would happen 47:56 if we decided to band together like the disciples in Acts. 47:59 Now say, okay, let's pray collectively. 48:02 Few years ago I had John Polkinghorne, the eminent, 48:05 Anglican clergyman and physicist, 48:09 writer of score of books, he was standing right here 48:13 and I asked this Christian scientist. 48:17 I said, hey, I know you believe in prayer. 48:19 Obviously you're a man of prayer. 48:21 How does this group prayer thing work? 48:24 And he looked up at me and he said you know what? 48:29 It's a mystery but I think it works like a laser. 48:35 So I called one of our physicists this week, 48:36 I said, hey, tell me about these lasers thing. 48:39 You know what a laser is, don't you? 48:42 One little strand of light it's fine, 48:44 you can light up a little part of the darkness, 48:46 but the power of the laser is its multiple strands 48:48 all on the same wavelength, little photons, 48:50 they're all bound together 48:52 and when they're bound together with a single focus, 48:55 those lasers can go through concrete 48:59 because it's focused and they're many together. 49:04 Maybe that's the secret the Book of Acts knew. 49:06 They know, didn't squad about lasers, 49:10 but they knew 49:12 that if they would come together to pray, 49:14 you know, there is very little about private prayer in Acts 49:17 or Peter prays on the roof top, Paul prays, 49:19 you got a little bit of private prayer 49:21 but the dominant praying in Acts is all done by groups, 49:23 all of its a prayer meeting, 49:25 all of it from beginning to end. 49:27 They must know something about the bands and the light. 49:33 Focus collectively focus. 49:39 So how would it be any different 49:40 for the prime time generation 49:41 waiting for Pentecost 2 before the end? 49:43 Can't be any different. 49:44 Guys it has to be the same, so here's the deal. 49:47 Would you mind coming. 49:49 I'm inviting my friend Mark Finley. 49:50 You ever heard of him? 49:51 Great guy, a friend of mine, Wednesday night he'll be here, 49:54 Wednesday night. 49:55 Put it on the screen for you, 'Empowered by the Spirit'. 50:00 Let start being serious about collective prayer. 50:04 Pastoral staff has said you know what, 50:06 we've given lip service to desolate, 50:08 but we're going to be there. 50:09 Nobody else comes, we'll have a prayer group 50:11 for pastors and we'll be blessed. 50:14 But there will be many people coming. 50:16 You are not coming to here to preach 50:17 because you won't be preacher, 50:19 you'd coming to hear my friend Mark. 50:22 I'll tell you this much about prayer meeting, 50:23 I've learned this and the people 50:25 in Acts learned this. 50:26 If you make group prayer 50:28 a regular part of your weekly journey, 50:30 group prayer it will raise the bar 50:32 on every other level of your life, 50:36 every other level, intellectually, 50:37 financially, socially, the whole nine yards 50:39 its just arising tide lifts all ships 50:42 and every other area of your life raises, why? 50:45 Because you're in touch. 50:48 Love to have you come Wednesday night 50:49 house of prayer. 50:52 8 o'clock you're gone, 7 o'clock we start. 50:56 So I can give you an hour. 50:57 Yeah, you can. Yes, you can. 51:01 If you believe it was important as it really is, 51:03 you have an hour. 51:06 I have an hour. 51:10 Prime time, the world's ready, 51:15 it's time for the church to get ready. 51:17 Coalesce, bind together. 51:21 Love to have you Wednesday night, 51:24 7 o'clock prime time. 51:29 Forward on our knees, 51:32 forward on our knees, that's what it means. 51:34 We go together on our knees. 51:38 Oh, God, prime time. 51:41 Could it be? 51:44 This is the generation you've been waiting for. 51:49 Holy Father, 51:51 we're all a part of that generation 51:53 for alive we're it. 51:57 Do in the last days 52:01 what You did in the first days and grant to a praying people 52:07 Your passion for lost people. 52:11 No more home alone that's old, blase. 52:15 We can't be home alone and get this one. 52:18 This one comes collectively. 52:21 Oh, Father, grant it to us 52:25 for the glory of our Lord and Savior. 52:29 Calvary's passion one last time 52:32 for the salvation of this campus, 52:36 this community, this county, this country, 52:41 this world, please dear God. 52:47 And now you and I need to pray out loud together. 52:53 I can't think of more appropriate prayer to pray 52:55 to this God we're asking and seeking, 53:00 and the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, 53:02 we begin every school year this way 53:04 when we come to this moment. 53:06 We stand together, 53:07 we throw our hearts and heads back 53:11 and we sing the Lord's prayer as our prayer too. 53:16 Let us stand as we sing. 53:30 Our Father, 53:37 Which art in heaven 53:48 Hallowed be 53:55 Thy name 54:03 Thy kingdom come 54:10 Thy will be done 54:16 On earth 54:20 As it is in heaven 54:45 Give us this day 54:50 Our daily bread 54:56 And forgive us our debts 55:01 As we forgive our debtors 55:13 And lead us not into temptation 55:20 But deliver us from evil 55:27 For Thine is the kingdom 55:34 And the power 55:37 And the glory, 55:42 Forever 55:52 Amen 56:19 I like to take a moment here at the end of the service 56:21 to tell you about one of the most important 56:22 groups of people 56:24 that make this ministry possible. 56:26 There are team of people, 56:28 they are not afraid to get down into the thick of life itself, 56:32 which is why you're gonna find them, 56:33 you will find them moving forward on their knees. 56:36 They're our prayer partners. 56:38 A group of men and women and young adults 56:41 who believe that this humble television ministry 56:44 has been raised up by God for such a time as this 56:46 and so they pray earnestly that God will use the preacher, 56:49 that God will use me, 56:50 that God will use the countless other volunteers 56:53 to spread the everlasting gospel 56:55 and the word of God in ways 56:57 we could never have imagined before. 56:59 They are the ones who are praying 57:00 that God is gonna open up the hearts of people, 57:03 open up the hearts of viewers around the world 57:06 for the message, the critical message 57:09 for this end time generation. 57:11 And what I like to do is ask you, 57:13 would you be willing to be a prayer partner with us? 57:16 A prayer partner with new perceptions. 57:18 You don't have to call our toll free number. 57:19 You don't have to go online to register. 57:22 All I need to know is that you would be willing 57:24 to lift this little ministry up day after day after day. 57:30 Pray that somehow through radio and television and the web, 57:34 God will open up new doors, new regions on earth 57:38 where the everlasting gospel can be proclaimed. 57:41 There is no question the power of prayer 57:43 has the potential to take this ministry 57:45 to places we could never have imagined before. 57:49 So that's it. 57:50 Would you please be willing to partner with me in prayer? 57:53 The times are urgent. 57:55 The need is critical and I hope you will say yes. 57:59 Till we're together in next time, 58:01 may the prayer answering God 58:03 accompany you every step of the way. |
Revised 2015-02-19