Participants: Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP170902A
|
00:00 ♪♪
00:08 ♪♪ 00:12 >> ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 00:17 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 00:22 >> ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 00:26 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 00:30 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 00:35 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 00:39 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ 00:44 ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujaaaah ♪ 00:50 [ Performers sing ] 01:23 >> Sing, "Lord, we love you." 02:06 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:25 >> From the highest of heights. [ Performers sing ] 04:50 ♪♪ 06:05 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:24 ♪♪ >> ♪ Holy Spirit, rain down ♪ 06:41 ♪ Rain down ♪ ♪ Oh, comforter and friend ♪ 06:53 ♪ How we need Your touch again ♪ [ Performers sing ] 09:02 >> Now is the time. If you want to come before the 09:07 throne of God and open up your hearts to allow the Holy Spirit 09:12 to rain down upon you, now is that time. 09:15 Come forward and pray that prayer, that you move out of 09:18 your own way so the Holy Spirit can open up and pour into you. 09:23 Now is that time to allow God to make a change in you. At the beginning of this year, 09:30 this school year, when things can seem daunting and the path ahead of you seems long, take up 09:37 His yoke for His light and let the Holy Spirit rain down upon you. 09:42 Come forward now. ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:00 [ Performers sing ] 11:18 >> Well, good morning, boys and girls. Nice to see you on this first 11:21 Sabbath of September. Happy Sabbath and, of course, blessed Labor Day weekend to 11:28 you. Nice to have you. Thank you, Deacon Jones, for 11:32 what you do. Bless you. Thank you, boys and girls. 11:35 Hey. Hey, you want to put that right here? 11:38 There you go. All right. Nice to see you on this 11:43 beautiful, beautiful Sabbath. And you're looking great. I hope you feel as good as you 11:48 look. Say, have you heard about Hurricane Harvey? 11:54 Rain, wind. You heard about that? 11:56 Hurricane Harvey? I got a story from 11:58 Hurricane Harvey. But we just got a call from the 12:01 control tower and they said, "Please mention ADRA." 12:04 So I want to tell your moms and dads about A.D.R.A. -- adra.org. If you go to ADRA, you can give 12:11 a gift, a generous gift, to help the people who are suffering in Houston. 12:15 In fact, Ivana -- Where are you, Ivana? She's singing in the singers, 12:19 and she was up -- There she is. Ivana's from Houston. Her family's in Houston. 12:23 She told me this morning. She said, "My folks are okay." So hallelujah for that. 12:27 But there are a lot of people that aren't okay. So that's why we're -- 12:31 President Trump says, please, everybody, synagogues, churches, mosques, please, this weekend 12:36 pray for Houston. So that's what we're doing. And we're glad to do that. 12:40 But anyway, so, this is a story, ooh, out of all the bad news, I think we have -- I do believe 12:45 this would be a good news story. But first I want to see Otis' face. 12:48 Anybody here named Otis, by the way? I just don't want to step on 12:52 your name. Otis? Okay. Let's see Otis' face, please, on 12:55 the screen. Oh, there he is. He is a German shepherd mix. 12:59 He has a very sad face. He always has a sad face, even when he's happy, the people in 13:05 the town say. He's just a sad guy. This story is about Otis because 13:10 last Friday night, Otis' little 5-year-old owner, with his parents, had to flee the town. 13:16 They left the town because Hurricane Harvey's coming. But Grandpa said, "I'm not 13:20 leaving the town." Grandpa Salvadore. He said, "I'm not leaving the 13:23 town. I'll stay right here." "Well, can we leave Otis with 13:26 you?" "Yes, you may." So Grandpa said, "Okay, Otis, 13:29 the storm is coming. I hope you'll be okay out here in the screened-in room. 13:33 I have water for you. I have food for you. You'll be just fine. 13:36 If you need me, call me." So Grandpa goes in. He's just sleeping right through 13:40 the hurricane. But in the middle of the night, I would've done what Otis did. 13:45 I'd just rip that screen apart. I'm out of here. And when Grandpa woke up the 13:49 next morning, "Yo, Otis, where are you? Whoo-hoo. 13:52 Whoo-hoo. Otis? Otis?" Grandpa started up and down the 13:57 yard, up and down the neighborhood. "Otis, Otis? 14:01 Num-num time. Come on, Otis!" No sound, nothing. 14:05 That was last Sabbath, Saturday morning. No sign of Otis in a little town 14:08 of 5,000 people. When a woman was driving through town -- get this. 14:12 She's driving through town. She said, "I've never seen this in my life. 14:16 I cannot believe that." She pulled out her little phone, and she took a picture of it. 14:20 She quickly posted it on Facebook, and it went what they call viral, which means 14:24 everybody's sharing the picture because have you ever seen this in your life? 14:28 And then she says, "You know what? I live in this town. 14:31 I wonder if that's Grandpa Salvadore's. I wonder if that's Grandpa 14:35 Salvadore's dog." So she drove down the street ahead of Otis. 14:38 She said, "Yo, Grandpa, come on out here. Is this Otis coming?" 14:44 And Grandpa looked out. And let's see the next picture. That's the picture that went 14:49 viral. Here comes Otis. He's got something -- that's not 14:53 someone, is it? He's got something in his mouth. Grandpa said, "Otis, hallelujah! 15:01 You're back!" Let me see a picture of Grandpa Salvadore and Otis. 15:06 There they are. Do you see what Otis was carrying? 15:09 That's dog food. [ Laughter ] That's dog food. 15:13 That's dog food. He broke into the lumber store. I don't know how Otis got in, 15:17 but he knew there was dog food in there. He said, "Nobody's feeding me 15:21 now. I'll grab this and go." And that's what he did. 15:24 [ Laughter ] Poor Otis the dog said, "Nobody's taking care of me, so 15:29 I have to get my own dog food now." Sometimes, boys and girls, it 15:34 feels like nobody's caring for us either. Maybe your family's having a 15:39 hard time, and Mommy and Daddy are trying to be brave and you're trying to be brave, but 15:45 it feels like nobody cares. But I want you to know that the God who looked out for Otis is 15:51 the same God who will take care of you. He loves you. 15:56 No matter what storm comes, he's gonna take care of you so you can be at peace. 16:03 Like Pastor Sabine prayed, "Peace. Be still." Who wants to thank God for being 16:08 the God who always cares for us? Young man, you come right here. I saw your hand. 16:14 What's your first name? >> Javon. >> Javon? You go, Javon! 16:18 Okay, guys, let's fold our hands and close our eyes as Javon thanks God for being the one who 16:25 takes care of us. >> Dear God, thank you for keeping us safe, thank you for 16:30 bringing all of us here for this wonderful day. We ask you to keep us safe. 16:35 We ask you to bless the people who are hurting and touch them with your healing hand. 16:40 In Your name, we pray. Amen. 16:47 >> "Oh, Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly while the nearer waters roll, 17:02 while the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past. 17:13 Safe into the haven guide, oh, receive my life at last." That's our prayer. 17:26 Dear God, In Jesus' name. Amen. 17:37 I'm holding here in my hands a book that has changed the inside of me, and I want it 17:46 to do the same for you. 17:52 In August, the first of August, I flew out to British Columbia. 17:56 Anybody here from that great country? 17:58 Province of British Columbia, in a camp called Hope. 18:02 I was really excited about going because anybody who's been to 18:05 Hope Camp says, "Man, wait till you see the mountains that just 18:08 surround that place -- Snow-covered. 18:11 There's nothing like it. So when we drove up to the 18:14 camp -- I'm telling you the truth -- because of the 18:17 wildfires that BC has really struggled with, it was just 18:21 yellow cloud, and you couldn't see a mountain around. 18:24 I think the people there were as disappointed as I was, because 18:27 here's this American kid coming, and we want show him the best. 18:32 It's a great camp. 4,000 or 5,000 adults, plus young adults, plus teenagers, 18:36 and on and on and on. So I got there late Thursday afternoon, and time change and 18:41 all, I want to go to bed early 'cause I got to get up early. I'm gonna preach to the pastors 18:47 and their wives first thing in the morning. So I went to bed, got up early. 18:50 I wanted to catch breakfast before that preaching. So I went down to the cafeteria, 18:56 and as it would happen, as I walked into the door, a young man from another direction at 19:01 the same moment -- Boom! We meet. 19:06 He said, "Hi, I'm Lucas." I said, "I'm Dwight. 19:08 Hey, you know, Lucas..." "Yeah," he said. "I know. 19:11 We got your website, and you know, I'm a lay preacher so we 19:14 borrow the stuff that's on the website." 19:16 I said, "Help yourself. That's why it's there." 19:18 We're going through the cafeteria line together, and I'm 19:20 thinking, "I'm gonna sit with this guy. 19:21 He's the only guy I know in this building." 19:23 So when he sits down, I sit down right across from him. 19:25 We start our breakfast, and he looks up and says, 19:28 "Hey, you ever heard about this book called 19:31 "Steps to Personal Revival: Being Filled with the Holy 19:34 Spirit?" I said, "Nope." 19:36 I said, "Who wrote it?" He said, "Helmut Haubeil." 19:39 I said, "Really? Adventist?" "Yeah." "What's it about?" 19:43 "Well, it's about the Holy Spirit. 23 languages it's been 19:48 translated into." "Really?" "German writer, 23 languages, 19:53 600,000 copies all over the world now." "You serious? How come I haven't 19:57 heard about this book?" I said, "Coincidentally, I'm gonna be speaking on the 20:01 Holy Spirit up with the pastors and their wives." He said, "I'm gonna be there." 20:04 I said, "Good." After that little worship with the pastoral family, 20:07 he comes up to me, he says, "Here. Here's the book." And he handed me this book. 20:12 And he wrote in it, "God bless your ministry, praying for you." To Dwight, from Lucas. 20:16 August 4. Acts 1:8." His e-mail address and his cellphone. 20:20 So it's a busy weekend. I mean, it's 24 hours of Sabbath preaching, but in between, I'm 20:24 finding little snatches where I can sit down with this book, and I'm telling you the Gospel 20:28 truth. I get into this book and I say, "This is an unusual book. 20:32 I mean, it was written in German and now it's in English, but what's up with this content?" 20:37 I'm reading every chance I get. On the plane back. I'm now on my third time through 20:41 this book. And when I'm through, I'm realizing I have to share this. 20:46 Somebody's got to hear this. 20:51 Met with the staff on Monday. Copied it off because the book is free. 20:56 It's free! I'm gonna give it to you. At the end of this homily, I'm 21:00 gonna give it to you. It's free. I met with the staff this 21:03 Monday. So we all took turns reading the first chapter, going around, and 21:07 I'm telling you, I'm watching the staff read, and I have seen the staff read many books, but 21:12 something was going on in the moment of the reading, and I'm saying, "God, what is this 21:16 happening? You're just putting your little fingerprints all over this, 21:20 aren't you?" And I knew -- There's no way we could begin 21:25 this new school year at Andrews University, in the Pioneer Memorial Church -- 21:28 We could not begin it without considering this theme. 21:32 So we got a little miniseries that's beginning right now 21:34 called "Ground Zero and the New Reformation: How to Be 21:39 Baptized with the Holy Spirit." We got Martin Luther coming up. 21:46 500th anniversary. We're gonna talk about 21:47 Martin Luther big time in October. 21:49 The New Reformation. Maybe this is the key. 21:56 See the website up there? There's a study guide if you're 21:59 watching right now because I'm not gonna wait. 22:01 We're gonna plunge right into this. 22:03 Let me cut to the chase. Pull the study guide -- You have a study guide in your 22:06 worship bulletin today. Would you please pull it out and your Bible? 22:08 Let's go. I want to give you the CliffsNotes red-letter version 22:12 of what Jesus said less than 24 hours before his execution -- in fact, 12 hours before his 22:17 execution. Because if a man is on Death Row and he knows he's on Death Row, 22:21 what he's speaking about is really important to him and for his friends. 22:27 So I want to invite you to open your Bible to the Gospel of John, Chapter 16. 22:31 Take a look at this. This is the CliffsNotes version. So you're gonna get this fast 22:35 and furious. Hope you have your seatbelt on because we're flying right now. 22:39 John, Chapter 16. I'm in the NIV. You're gonna drop down to 22:42 Verse 5 and read, and you're hearing the red-letter truth of the Holy Spirit. 22:46 So this is the Lord Himself telling us "Before I die, I need to tell you about a gift I'm 22:49 gonna give you." Chapter 16 of John, Verse 5. 23:03 Here it comes. 23:14 Grab your pen right now and fill it in on the study guide, 23:17 please. Fill it in. 23:18 "The Holy Spirit will take Jesus' place with us." 23:22 I leave, he comes. So these are the red-letter 23:27 words in the upper room, so let's go back to Chapter 14. 23:29 For me, it's just across the page. 23:31 John 14, pick it up in Verse 16. 23:48 Wow, jot it down, will you please? 23:50 "The Holy Spirit..." I left out Verse 18. 23:56 That's the wrong line to leave out 'cause it is so good. 24:04 But I won't be here! "I will come to you." 24:06 So now jot it down. The Holy Spirit not only 24:08 will take Jesus' place with us. He will also "bring Jesus' 24:11 presence into us." Now, go to Verse 26, same 24:13 chapter. John 14:26. 24:26 Jot it down now. "The Holy Spirit will teach 24:29 Jesus' truths to us." One more. 24:32 Chapter 15. Same verse. Verse 26. Chapter 15. 24:43 Jot it down one more time. "The Holy Spirit will speak 24:47 Jesus' testimony through us." Hey, listen, ladies and 24:50 gentlemen, can you believe what we just read? 24:54 That's absolutely phenomenal. Have you caught it? 24:57 That when this Spirit -- When this Spirit comes, 24:59 guess what he comes with? 25:01 He comes bearing the very presence and power of Jesus himself. 25:05 The Jesus who was here 2,000 years ago keeps what he did 2,000 years ago alive on 25:11 this planet through this Advocate, this Holy Spirit. In fact, get this -- 25:19 It is the mission of the Holy Spirit to so be inside of you and me that when anybody 25:25 ever bumps into us, the very first impression they have is -- "Yo! 25:30 That guy reminds me of Jesus!" That's the deal. J.I. Packer -- 25:38 great British theologian. Happens to live in Canada now. J.I. Packer, in his book, 25:44 "Keep in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God" -- this is dynamite. 25:48 Put on the screen. You have it in your study guide. By the way, I got this 25:51 from my friend Frank Hasel's Sabbath School lesson studies from the winter of this year. 25:56 Little clue here -- Never throw your quarterly away. 25:58 Hang onto it. This really came in handy for 26:00 me. Look at this quote, J.I. Packer, 26:02 on the screen. 26:11 No, no, no, no. 26:25 And I love this. 26:28 You know what a matchmaker is? ♪ Matchmaker, matchmaker... ♪ 26:31 ♪ Duh, duh, duh-duh ♪ You know what a matchmaker does, 26:33 don't you? It brings two people together 26:35 for life! So, I love this. Packer says... 26:46 Oh, hold on! 26:50 So, the Holy Spirit says, "Hey, Dwight, I got one mission in 26:53 your life." "Yo! 26:55 Susan, I have one mission in your life, and that is to get 26:58 you to Jesus. I'm gonna get you to Jesus, and 27:01 then my mission is I'm gonna keep you -- I'm gonna keep you 27:04 with Jesus as long as you let me. 27:05 I have one mission." 27:07 Holy Spirit never shows up like, "Hey, guys, let's have a party! I'm here now!" 27:11 Nope. He is the most humble being in the universe. 27:14 Just like the Father and just like the Son, by the way. They're always pointing at the 27:18 other one. "Not me. Look at Him. You thank Him." 27:20 "No, you thank Him." "No, you thank Him." That's the way they are. 27:25 Wow. "I'll get you together, I'll 27:28 keep you together." That's why Jesus says, by the 27:31 way, "It's to your advantage that I go away. 27:33 Because if I'm here, you don't get it." 27:36 I love the way Desire of Ages puts it right here. 27:38 It's in your study guide, though on the screen for you. 27:48 Now, what in the world is all that saying? 27:50 Keep reading. 27:55 Jesus has five fingers on one hand and he has five fingers on 27:58 the other and five toes, too, on each foot. 28:01 If Jesus is with you, if Jesus is with you, He can't be with me 28:05 'cause I'm just -- I'm not available right now. 28:08 But the Holy Spirit has no fingers, no body. 28:11 God is a spirit. He is a spirit. 28:14 He can be anywhere he wants. He can be in China right now 28:16 talking to somebody while he's talking to me right now, and 28:18 he's talking to you, by the way, because he has to be in 28:20 communication with both you and me in a moment called preaching. 28:22 If He's not in communication, the preaching's just washed. 28:25 It's just dead. It's over. He has to be working. 28:30 Oh, I love this. 28:47 Now, here it goes... 28:57 Jesus said, "Hey, listen, I am so close to you now. 29:00 I am with you 24/7." "How could that be, Lord? 29:02 You're up there interceding for me." 29:04 "That's fine. I'm doing it through the friend 29:07 I sent to you." Because whenever the Holy Spirit 29:10 shows up, you don't feel the Spirit, you feel Jesus. 29:14 You sense that Jesus is right in the room, right now, when I'm 29:18 praying. That's what He does for a 29:20 living. 29:23 King James calls Him "Your Comforter." 29:26 The NIV calls him "Your Advocate." 29:27 The Message calls Him "Your Friend." 29:32 No wonder the gift of the Holy Spirit is such a big deal 29:35 to Jesus. In fact, once upon a time, Jesus 29:37 tells a very provocative story, and I'm gonna share that story 29:40 with you. Unbelievable. 29:43 You know what I wish I had? I wish I had a YouTube clip 29:46 of Jesus praying. Of course, back in those days, 29:48 it would have to be black and white. 29:50 It couldn't be in color. It would have to be black and 29:52 white back then. And it wouldn't have sound. 29:53 So it'd be silent. It's be like those silent, jerky 29:55 movies. Silent. That's what it would be. 29:57 But we would see Jesus. His lips would be moving. 30:00 We could tell there's something on His face. 30:02 He's in communion with the God of the Universe, his father. 30:04 And suddenly, real jerky, they come into the picture because 30:07 these are the disciples. They come and surround him, and 30:09 one is apparently the spokesman. He begins... 30:16 That's exactly what's happening right here. 30:17 The only other text we're gonna look at here is Luke 11. 30:20 Take a look at this. The provocative story begins 30:22 with Jesus in prayer. Luke 11. 30:24 You got your Bible there? Luke 11:1. 30:33 Okay? Luke 11:1. Sure enough, Jesus is praying. 30:40 I'd love to have that picture. 30:46 Obviously, the men have all tiptoed in and they're 30:49 listening. One of the appointed 30:53 spokesmen said to Him... 31:02 Jesus gets up, dusts off his knees 'cause He's outdoors, and 31:07 He says, "Okay, I will. 31:09 I'm gonna give you a prayer. It's simple but profound, and I want you to pray this prayer 31:16 whenever you want. And it goes like this." In fact, say it with me. 31:21 "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, 31:28 Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day 31:32 our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 31:36 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, 31:42 and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." 31:46 You know, you're gonna have people -- If you haven't had them yet, 31:49 they'll come up to and they'll say, "You know what, I listen to your praying, and you ask for 31:52 things. 'Give me this, give me this, give me this.' 31:54 Your prayers should not have petitions in them. They should just say, 'Oh, God, 31:57 what a joy it is to be in Your presence, I love you.' That's the way you should pray." 32:00 Wrong! Absolutely wrong. Do you know that this model prayer has seven petitions in 32:05 it? Seven! Count them. Okay. "Our Father which art in 32:08 heaven," -- no petition there. "Hallowed be thy name." Ooh! That's a petition! 32:12 I want Your name to be glorified. "Thy kingdom come" -- 32:15 Oh, I want Your kingdom to come! "Thy will be done" -- Oh, I want Your will to be done "on earth, 32:18 as it is in heaven." "Give us this day" -- Oh, there's number four! 32:20 "Give us this day our daily bread! And forgive us our debts, 32:23 as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but..." 32:26 There's number seven. "...deliver us from evil." Now back to praise. 32:29 "For Yours is the kingdom and the glory and the power forever and ever. 32:32 Amen." Seven petitions! Count them! Jot that down, will you? 32:38 Really -- You know what? You see what's on the screen 32:40 there? That's in your study guide. 32:41 Apparently, God really loves it when we ASK -- put it all caps, 32:45 will you? When we ASK him for what we'd 32:47 like, for what we want, and for what we need! 32:50 It's a big deal to God. Seven petitions. 32:54 And then he tells us -- Now, here comes the provocative 32:58 story, and it's really -- [ Whispering ] Shh! 33:01 It's really a story not about The Lord's Prayer. 33:03 It's a story about the Holy Spirit. 33:05 [ Normal voice ] Here we go. Verse 5. 33:12 Well, I hope you have a friend. If you don't have a friend, 33:14 like Pastor Sabine said -- Get into a GO group. 33:16 You'll find friends. You'll make friends fast. 33:28 I'll tell you what -- ♪ Ding, dong, ding, dong ♪ 33:30 ♪ Ding, dong, ding, dong ♪ "Yo! 33:33 Lookit, I just went to the pantry -- no bread. 33:35 I went downstairs -- no bread. There is no bread in the house, 33:38 and I can't let my friend go to bed without some bread in his 33:41 tummy. Do you have bread?" 33:43 That's what's happening here, right? 33:45 And, by the way, in the New King James -- I love this. 33:47 In the New King James, he's saying... 33:48 ♪ Ding, dong, ding, dong... ♪ ...until he wakes his friend up. 33:51 "I have nothing." Boy, that's a big deal. 33:55 In fact, I wish you'd jot it down before we finish this 33:57 story because -- Guess what? 34:04 You have to feel you have nothing, or you won't ask for 34:07 this gift. He's building up to a gift, but 34:10 you won't ask for it if you don't feel that you have nothing 34:14 and you can't feed yourself. Until you know that, 34:18 you won't ask. "I have nothing." 34:22 Wow. Verse 7. 34:28 So this guy's ringing the doorbell, right? 34:29 ♪ Ding, dong, ding, dong... ♪ I love this. 34:37 You'll wake us up! Well, the guy's yelling loud 34:39 enough to wake everybody in the house up inside the house. 34:42 But you know what's happening? That's what they did back in the 34:45 Jesus day. The children slept all around 34:47 Mom and Dad. Go figure. 34:52 "I can't get up and give you anything." 34:53 Now, here comes the punch line. Hold on. Verse 8. 34:56 "I tell you," Jesus says to His disciples, "even though that 34:59 neighbor will not get up and give you the bread because of 35:02 friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will 35:06 surely get up and give you as much as you need." 35:09 Would you write that down, please? 35:14 Only the new NIV has this, and it's just so choice. 35:24 Do you know what "shameless audacity" is? 35:27 [ Knocking ] ♪ Ding, dong, ding, dong ♪ 35:29 ♪ Ding, dong, ding, dong ♪ I'm not letting you go to sleep! 35:31 ♪ Ding, dong, ding, dong ♪ That's shameless audacity. 35:34 "I have nothing! I have to have bread!" 35:38 That's shameless audacity. And that's what Jesus is talking 35:42 about, and -- Oh, boy, he says -- 35:44 Now let me just drive this home. Verse 9. 35:48 Red words, red letters. 36:00 Keep going! 36:07 Are you kidding? You would? No. Psht! Verse 12. 36:12 Are you kidding? Verse 13. 36:25 Isn't that amazing? The Lord's Prayer and the 36:29 parable is all leading up to that last line. 36:33 Mercy. And, by the way, you want to 36:36 talk about this gift of the Holy Spirit -- 36:37 Do you understand what kind of a gift this is? 36:39 Let me just run this by you. Check this out. 36:43 Let me put that Desire of Ages on the screen again. 36:54 You ever seen a locomotive? Chicka-chicka-chicka-chicka... 36:56 It has an engine, and it's long. Some of these trains, when our 36:58 kids were young, we'd sit there and count them. 37:00 Must have been 500 cars. We've been here all day. 37:03 Doesn't it feel like that? This is the Holy Spirit. 37:06 The Holy Spirit, when He shows up, brings all other blessings 37:10 in its train. 37:18 Every other blessing you can think of is wrapped up in the 37:21 blessing of the Holy Spirit, but, hold on, it gets even 37:24 better than this. Watch this. 37:26 Next quotation on the screen, please. 37:27 Ellen White. 37:45 Hey, listen, guys, are you getting the magnitude of this? 37:48 Look, I'm flying this by you, I understand that, but this is 37:51 huge. I mean, this would be like -- 37:54 Do you see these crazy commercials -- these 30-minute 37:57 commercials, just one commercial all the way through. 38:00 "If you buy this..." Do you notice what they always 38:03 do, near the end? And, by the way, "if you buy it 38:06 today, we're throwing in five cutlery knives! 38:10 We're throwing in a parrot peeler!" 38:13 [ Laughter ] A parrot? Did I say parrot? 38:15 I meant carrot. Yeah. Because if you get a parrot 38:17 peeler, you're in trouble with the law. 38:19 You cannot -- You cannot peel parrots, 38:22 but if you do -- Yeah, you got it right now. 38:25 It's carrots. Guys, please. It's a carrot peeler. 38:28 [ Laughter ] Look, you've seen these things 38:31 because they're always saying, "Hey, you get this, we're gonna 38:33 give you all of this." But Jesus' promise is like 38:36 Macy's. You ever go shop at Macy's? 38:39 Yeah. Jesus' promise is like Macy's. 38:41 You see one gift there. You see one gift, and you go to 38:44 it, and you say, "I want this gift," and -- good news today! 38:48 Streamers come down. Because you chose this gift, 38:52 we're giving you everything else in this Macy's store to boot! 38:57 You get it all right now. Wouldn't you shop at Macy's? 39:02 [ Laughter ] That's what Jesus is saying! 39:05 I got one gift, and with that gift, it brings all other gifts. 39:07 "What kind of gift are you talking about?" 39:09 I'm talking about the gift of forgiveness for a guilty 39:11 conscience. "What kind of gift are you 39:12 talking about?" I'm talking about the gift of 39:14 peace for a fearful heart. "What are you talking about, 39:17 Dwight?" I'm talking about the gift of 39:19 purity for a life that is struggling. 39:21 "What are you talking about?" Every gift in the universe! 39:23 I'm talking about the gift of honesty for one who struggles 39:26 with integrity. Every gift, every blessing you 39:29 can think of, you get it with that one gift. 39:33 So why ask for 100 gifts if you can have one gift that will give 39:37 you the 100? >> Amen! 39:39 >> Man. Jesus -- isn't this something? 39:42 What an offer you have made to us, Lord. 39:44 And, oh, by the way -- You need to see this. 39:46 The actual Greek here in Luke 11:13 -- it's on the screen 39:49 for you. This is actually how Dr. Luke 39:51 wants it to read. It's continuous. 39:59 So, write in the word "continually" 'cause that's what 40:01 Jesus is saying. "If you would just continually 40:04 ask me, I will give you this gift that brings all other gifts 40:08 with it." "One gift, and you get all the 40:11 rest." If, if, if, if, if, if, if -- 40:14 "If you continually ask me." 40:19 Now, what's up with that? Well, you have to be a daddy to know this one. 40:22 And I'm a daddy. You have to be a daddy. I remember when Kirk was 40:26 5 years old... And he's the father of our granddaughter Ella. 40:33 When he was 5 years old, Kirk figured it out that in October, in preparation for the Christmas 40:38 season, Toys 'R' Us -- You ever heard of Toys 'R' Us? Toys 'R' Us would put a flyer in 40:42 the Sunday paper. Kirk figured it out. So every Sunday, I'd be there, 40:47 you know, looking bad, but just reading my newspaper, and Kirk would come up and say, "Hey, 40:51 Daddy, is there a Toys 'R' Us?" I'd say, "Kirk, I do believe there's one here. 40:55 Yeah, hey, take it, bub." So he'd take it and he'd race down to his room. 40:59 A few minutes, I could hear his footsteps coming -- Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! 41:02 He's coming down the hall and he says, "Daddy. Daddy, I..." This is something else. 41:08 "I have been wanting this for Christmas. I have been wanting this for 41:12 Christmas for a long time." [ Laughter ] I said, "You have, Kirk? 41:18 Give me a high-five, buddy! Good! Thank you!" And he'd leave. 41:24 Next -- on Sunday, another Sunday paper, there'd be another Toys 'R' Us flyer in it. 41:27 You guessed it -- Kirk would be there, "Daddy, can I get the, uh, Toys 'R' Us?" 41:31 "You bet. You can have it." Down to his room. Silence down there. 41:35 I'd be waiting. Now, this time -- boom, boom, boom, boom! -- and he is 41:38 hyperventilating. [ Panting ] "Daddy. Daddy. Look, look, look. 41:43 All my life, I have been wanting this! Do you understand?!" 41:47 I said, "Kirk, I didn't know. Where have I been?" [ Laughter ] 41:54 How much of the time you and I are like a 5-year-old with a Toys 'R' Us flyer stuck in the 42:00 Sunday paper? "God, I got to have this today. All my life I've been wanting 42:05 this!" God says, "Well, okay, yeah, you go ahead and have it." 42:07 Five days later -- Five days later, I don't even remember ever breathing a need 42:13 for that. How many times have I said, "God, this time, it's really 42:18 true. I need it." Jesus says, "Nope, nope, nope, 42:21 nope, nope, nope, nope, nope." You're evil. As a parent, you give good 42:24 gifts, but you're bright. You don't give a gift every time a child asks for a gift. 42:28 What do you do? You listen. You listen. How intense is that? How many times has he asked for 42:32 this? How many times has she said, "Oh, Daddy," and she throws her 42:35 arms around your neck and just melts your heart? "Oh, Daddy, I have to have 42:39 this." You're measuring that as a parent. 42:41 Not because you're a grumpy old parent and you're hard to please and you just like stickin' it to 42:45 your kids! It's because you're waiting to see, "Is this really what he 42:49 wants?" And so Jesus says, "If you're gonna ask for the Holy Spirit, 42:53 you ask continually." You just ask again and again. Shamelessly audacity. 42:56 Keep ringing my doorbell. It's not that I'm not hearing you. 43:00 I'm hearing you, I'm listening to you, but I want to know -- Do you really want this gift? 43:06 That's what's happening. He's not being a meanie. Nope. 43:11 You just continually show me that shameless audacity. "Audacity for what?" 43:18 For the Holy Spirit. "What's up with that gift?" Because with that gift, you get 43:22 every other gift. Every other gift in the universe, you have. 43:26 So you've got to ask for the right gift. And this is it. 43:31 Continually ask me. Again and again and again. Ladies and gentlemen, that's why 43:37 this little book -- This has really driven this home to me. 43:40 I've pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit before. You probably have, too. 43:44 You probably did it at the age of 8, and maybe you heard your folks do it, and you did it at 43:48 the age of 15 or whatever. But the deal is, this is where I've just missed it. 43:53 I haven't just -- I haven't kept coming back. I haven't kept coming back and 43:58 with shameless audacity saying, "I have to have it. I have to have it today. 44:02 Please, Father, that gift that brings all other gifts." That's what clicked with me. 44:10 I got to keep asking. 44:12 I mean, Jesus himself models this when he's here. 44:15 Watch this on the screen. Ellen White. 44:28 Every day, morning by morning -- best time of the day to ask. 44:31 Morning by morning every day. Isn't that amazing? 44:36 Here's a little book, Acts of the Apostles 44:38 also on the screen.... 44:50 Hey, listen, guys, this is not rocket science. 44:55 Help me out here. But if our Lord, the Messiah 45:00 himself desperately needed morning by morning to plead for 45:07 this gift that brings all other gifts with it... 45:12 If he needed it, wouldn't you say, big time, 45:18 we need it, too? Come on. 45:23 That's the point. Morning by morning. 45:28 "Father, please, today, give me that baptism today." 45:37 So what would happen if you and I, every day we asked... 45:41 ♪ Ding, dong ♪ I'm here again. 45:45 I need that again. I need what you have. 45:48 Please. Today. Knowing that every time -- 45:52 every time the Holy Spirit shows up, he's bringing Jesus to me. 45:57 He's bringing Jesus to you. The presence and the power -- 46:01 The power in that one gift. And, by the way, when you get 46:08 Jesus every day, you have more than you'll ever want and 46:10 everything you'll ever need. So shouldn't we start asking? 46:15 Shouldn't we be asking morning by morning? 46:19 One more quotation. One more quotation. 46:20 Christ's Object Lessons. There's a bonus to this asking. 46:23 This is cool. Christ's Object Lessons 46:25 on the screen for you. 46:36 Now, here it comes. Write that in. 46:41 Get this -- The more you ask, 46:44 the closer you grow. The more you ask, 46:48 the closer you grow. And when you have a little child 46:51 and that child throws his or her chubby little arms around your 46:54 neck, you're just loving the asking part. 46:56 You're just loving the asking part, and that's why the Father 46:59 loves it when you just keep coming back. 47:01 "Come to again. Tell me what you need. 47:04 Tell me what you want." The more you ask, 47:07 the closer you grow. The more you ask, 47:10 the closer you grow. Wow. 47:14 Hey, I don't know what's happening to America these days. 47:17 I'm really concerned for my homeland, I'm just being honest 47:19 with you. I've never seen Washington so 47:24 utterly confused and uncertain. Never. 47:31 Hurricane Harvey, by the way... 47:33 They're now saying it may end up ravaging this nation's economy more than Hurricane Katrina and 47:38 Hurricane Sandy combined! Combined! It's like everything is 47:42 ratcheting up. It just keeps ratcheting up. What's going on? 47:45 Why is all this ratcheting up happening? Politics ratcheting down, 47:49 ratcheting down. What's going on? Racially, we are witnessing hate 47:59 speech and moral fracturing, the likes of which nobody remembers. Where's all this leading this 48:07 country to, I wonder? North America, South America, Russia, Asia, Africa, Europe, 48:13 Australia -- There is nowhere on this planet that we can turn today and find 48:17 a solution. Everybody's in this blue funk, and it's getting worse. 48:22 And in a few weeks, by the way, the leaders of our own faith community will gather outside 48:29 Washington, D.C., to struggle with the unity and the future of our own World Church. 48:35 What is happening to us? Where's all this leading? My dear friends, that old 48:45 spiritual is absolutely true. If we ever needed the Lord before, we sure do need him now. 48:55 >> Amen. >> And I believe this German. I got to tell you a little 49:00 something about this. So, I'm tweeting on this last night, and I'm sending out the 49:03 book to anybody that wants it. So I'm tweeting on this, and a guy tweets back. 49:10 So I'm talking about Helmut Haubeil, the German -- He's a retired pastor. 49:15 So I get this tweet back, and listen to this -- "I've met people who told me 49:20 that the author Helmut Haubeil is the closest to a saint they have ever met. 49:26 Modern day Enoch they said." That man, when you pick up the book, I promise you, something 49:35 is there. Something in simple English is there. 49:40 It's not something. It's someone who is saying, "This is the time. 49:46 Because I'm running out of time, I need you to be baptized with me." 49:58 The church is a mess. We'll never figure it out without the baptism of the 50:06 Spirit. 50:13 Shall we not join Him? Come on. Shall we not? Okay. This is it. 50:18 I promised you this book, and I'm gonna give it to you right 50:19 now, all right? 50:22 In fact, you can download it. Put the PDF on the screen, 50:24 please. You can download this book in 50:26 one split second, before we sing the Lord's Prayer together, 50:30 you'll have this on your phone. We did it in the staff. 50:33 Somebody found it, and it was like -- boom, boom, boom! 50:35 "It's on my phone now." There it is on the screen. 50:38 I don't know if you can see that, but it's in the study 50:40 guide. discipleshipcourse.org. 50:42 www.discipleshipcourse.org. And while we're speaking, the 50:47 book is downloading. It's a short little book. 50:50 Six chapters. Six chapters. Look. 50:53 And, by the way, you get a PDF, which means these pictures from 50:56 here, beautiful color pictures, you'll get all of those as they 50:59 look in my book. So you see this website, you see 51:01 down in the lower-left corner? That's this book right here. 51:04 That's this book. So you click on it with your 51:07 cursor. You just click on that, and in 51:09 2.5 seconds, the book is with you. 51:11 You have the book. So you can start reading it. 51:14 If you read a chapter a week, a little bit every day, in six 51:18 weeks, you would be so blessed. If you just want to read a 51:22 chapter a day and do it all in one week, in six days, you will 51:26 have it. Call somebody up -- no kidding. 51:28 Call somebody up and say, "Hey, listen, let's just do this 51:30 together. I know you're there and I know 51:32 that I'm here, but let's just read a few paragraphs." 51:34 Because when we read this together as a staff, there's a 51:37 dynamic when somebody's reading with you and you're stopping and 51:40 you're reflecting, and I saw it happening on Monday. 51:42 Don't read this alone if you don't have to. 51:46 Find somebody that will read it with you. 51:51 Everybody here can have this book. 51:54 House of Prayer, 7:00 in the morning, we're here. 51:57 House of Prayer, 7:00 in the evening, that's this 51:59 Wednesday, we're right here. My friend Lucas, bless his 52:03 heart, is shipping us some books. 52:05 My new friend from British Columbia. 52:09 Why? Because these books -- that are free -- are telling a truth 52:13 that is costly, and it's a truth we need to know. 52:18 Think of what would happen -- Think of what would happen if 52:22 100 people at Andrews University were every morning -- I'm 52:27 talking about the administration. 52:28 That'd be the third floor. I'm talking about every dorm, 52:31 I'm talking about the seminary. Every floor. 52:34 100 people -- just 100 -- every morning were pleading with God. 52:42 "I need the Spirit all over today." 52:45 "Baptize me." Think what would happen. 52:49 Think what would happen. John Wesley said, "Give me 52:52 100 men who love nothing but God and hate nothing but sin and 52:56 seek only the glory of God, and I'll turn the world 52:59 upside-down." 100. 100. 53:04 With all the earnestness I can muster, I'm begging you -- 53:07 I'm not asking you. I'm begging you for the sake of 53:10 God and His kingdom. Ask for this gift 53:17 every day until Jesus comes. Until Jesus comes. 53:26 I love the opening of the new school years because we get to 53:30 pray in voice and song the very prayer that Jesus just taught 53:34 us. So I'm gonna invite you to stand 53:35 to your feet. We're gonna sing the 53:37 Lord's Prayer. We're gonna sing all seven 53:39 petitions to Him, but just remember now when you sing the 53:41 Lord's Prayer or repeat the Lord's Prayer, hidden between 53:45 the lines is the promise of the Holy Spirit. 53:47 Jesus embedded it in that model prayer. 53:51 Let's sing our hearts out today. 53:55 ♪♪ >> ♪ Our Father ♪ ♪ Which art in heaven ♪ 54:21 ♪ Hallowed be ♪ ♪ Thy name ♪ ♪ Thy kingdom come ♪ 54:46 ♪ Thy will be done ♪ ♪ On earth as it is ♪ ♪ In heaven ♪ 55:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ Give us this day ♪ 55:29 ♪ Our daily bread ♪ ♪ And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors ♪ 55:49 ♪♪ ♪ And lead us not into temptation ♪ 56:01 ♪ But deliver us from evil ♪ ♪ For thine is the kingdom ♪ ♪ And the power ♪ 56:21 ♪ And the glory ♪ ♪ Forever ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ 56:46 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 57:08 >> We've been really blessed by the financial support that comes 57:10 from our viewers. And we've made a conscious 57:13 decision not to continually appeal to you for that support. 57:16 Which I hope doesn't convey to you that this national and 57:19 international telecast has no needs. 57:20 The fact is, is anyone in the industry will tell you, we are 57:23 needing to make constant upgrades to the technology that 57:26 brings "New Perceptions" to you every week. 57:29 So if God has blessed you and you're in a position to share 57:32 some of that blessing with this ministry, I'd be very grateful. 57:35 I don't receive a dime from our listeners' support, but there's 57:38 a world that gets blessed by the teachings of this program. 57:41 So thank you in advance. You can go to our website 57:44 and give there -- www.newperceptions.tv. 57:48 Or you can call our operators and make a donation. 57:51 877 -- Toll-free for you. 877-HIS-WILL. 57:56 And here's my prayer, that the God who has blessed you, may He 57:59 continue to pour into your life His gifts of joy and hope. 58:03 Thank you. I'll see you here next time. 58:10 ♪♪ |
Revised 2017-09-07