Participants: Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP170909A
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00:10 >> Stand with me, church family, and let us sing. 00:14 "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High." 00:18 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 01:51 Aren't you glad? 02:34 Let's keep praising Him. [ Intro to "Higher" plays ] 02:43 Now repeat after me. [ Performers sing ] 03:29 Do you know it? 03:42 Sing out! 04:14 Sing! 04:30 Your turn! 05:02 ♪ Everybody! ♪ 05:50 Amen! Amen. Isn't God amazing and awesome 05:55 and wonderful? He is worthy to be praised. 05:59 And so right now as we are singing praises to the 06:03 Lord, let's also cry out to the Holy Spirit, that He will touch 06:06 us and show us the truth of who Christ is. 06:10 That He will woo us into His presence, into being closer to 06:14 Him, into having that connection with Him. 06:19 Let's ask the Holy Spirit to rain down on us into our lives 06:22 so that He may fill our spirit, and we can fill those 06:26 when we go out of this place. So sing with me. 06:30 [ Intro to "Holy Spirit Rain Down" playing ] 06:34 ♪♪ 09:15 Come forward. Now is that time. Put your burdens down before the 09:21 Lord and give it all to Jesus. The only thing that stops you is you. 09:31 So, now's the time to lay it all out. Surrender. 09:36 And you can't do that partially. So give it all to God. Give it to Him now. 09:42 ♪♪ 09:52 [ Congregation sings ] ♪ Yes, Lord ♪ 10:09 Cry out to Him. 11:08 >> Good morning. Good morning, boys and girls. 11:13 Now, I have a question for you as we begin. 11:20 How many of you -- And pay attention, 'cause I've got a feeling it's not 11:27 all of you. How many of you like presents? 11:35 Okay, that's what I thought. It's not completely all of you. Some of you, 11:39 it's a little bit much. I also like presents. I also like gifts. 11:47 Not just when I was your age. I still do. I'm not gonna lie. 11:50 So just keep that in mind. But I remember one Christmas in particular. 11:58 I had just turned 6 years old, and my parents put out 12:06 three big boxes under the tree. And when I say big, I meanbig. 12:14 And I don't know if they put these out super early just to mess with me, 12:21 but these boxes were out, it seemed like, months and months early. 12:27 And these boxes, there were three of them, and they were huge. 12:31 And they weren't just with my name on it. They also had my two older 12:34 brothers' names on it. And every single day of my life, I would see those three boxes, 12:42 and I would wonder what was in them. But then my parents made a rule. 12:48 They said, "Absolutely no touching the boxes." Well, as soon as they made that 12:55 rule, I knew what was in them. Because, I mean, it's obvious. If you can't touch it, then it's 13:03 clear what it is that's in there, 'cause there's a certain thing that, if you move it just 13:10 a little bit, you can hear what it is. And so I knew -- in fact, I 13:16 would imagine you guys probably -- if you heard this sound, you would know 13:21 what it is. So is everybody listening? [ Plastic clattering ] 13:29 >> Children: Legos! >> Legos. Yeah. You guys know this. Yeah. 13:35 Pastor Dwight looks confused every time I do this, but you guys, you're with it. 13:40 So... Yeah. And so Legos are a dead giveaway. 13:46 If you can just lift that box up and just tilt it slightly, you'll know. 13:51 And so I knew, when my parents said, "Hey, no touching the boxes," I knew it was Legos. 13:57 And so as the days rolled by, I started counting down until me and my brothers were gonna get 14:02 these three huge boxes of Legos, and I was just imagining all the incredible things we were gonna 14:07 build. And finally Christmas Day arrived. 14:14 I'm pretty sure I got up before the sun that day. My parents finally also got up. 14:23 And we start opening gifts. And do you know what my parents did? 14:28 It's almost cruel and unusual. They made us wait until very last for those three boxes. 14:34 Everything else was done. All the sweaters and stuff like that that I was gonna 14:39 grow out of, anyway. And finally, finally it was time for Legos, and I could hardly 14:45 control my excitement. And my parents said, "Okay, you can open this box now." 14:50 And so me and my brothers, we ran over there, and we went to lift it... 14:55 And all of a sudden, I realized I had made a dreadful mistake. This was not Legos at all. 15:02 Because... It took all three of us to lift it. 15:07 It was a heavy box. And it made no sound. And so we opened it. 15:13 And sure enough, it wasn't Legos. My parents had given me 15:19 a great disappointment. [ Laughter ] Because there wasn't a single 15:26 Lego in the entire box. Instead, it was just a computer. [ Congregation murmurs ] 15:33 But... a computer was a much better gift than Legos, wasn't it? 15:40 Yeah. But here's the thing -- God has incredible gifts to give 15:46 us, doesn't He? And sometimes what we ask for isn't half as good as what 15:51 He wants to give us. And so today, as you listen to Pastor Dwight's sermon, he is 15:56 gonna talk about an incredible gift God has for us. A gift that He wants to give 16:01 each and every one of you. And I want you to listen and see if you can figure out what the 16:07 incredible gift God has for us that's even better than Legos. And who would like to pray 16:13 and thank God for the gift He wants to give us? I saw your hand first. Yes. 16:19 And since you're 6, clearly it should be you. Okay. And what is your name? 16:32 >> Zaya. >> Zaya. Can you pray and thank God for the incredible gift He 16:37 wants to give us? >> Mm-hmm. Dear Jesus, thank You for this 16:42 wonderful day, and giving us a great gift. And thank You that You died on 16:47 the cross for us. Amen. >> Amen. 16:51 Okay, boys and girls. Go back to your seat. And pay attention to 16:54 Pastor Dwight's sermon so you can hear about the incredible gift. 17:04 ♪♪ >> ♪ O holy dove of God 17:17 descending ♪ ♪ You are the love 17:22 that knows no ending ♪ ♪ All of our shattered dreams 17:31 You're mending ♪ 17:33 ♪ Spirit, now live in me ♪ ♪ O holy wind of God now blowing, ♪ 17:47 ♪ You are the seed that God is sowing ♪ ♪ You are the life 17:57 that starts us growing ♪ ♪ Spirit, now live in me ♪ >> ♪ Come, Holy Spirit, 18:12 heav'nly dove ♪ ♪ Fill us with Your holy light ♪ >> ♪ Pour out your rain 18:25 and cleanse our hearts ♪ ♪ Until all evil departs ♪ >> ♪ O holy rain of God 18:40 now falling ♪ ♪ You make the Word of God enthralling ♪ 18:50 ♪ You are the inner voice now calling ♪ ♪ Spirit, now live in me ♪♪ 19:03 ♪ It's beginning to rain ♪ ♪ Hear the voice of the Father ♪ ♪ Saying, "Whosoever will 19:22 come drink of this water ♪ ♪ I promise to pour my spirit out 19:35 ♪ On your sons and your daughters" ♪ ♪ If you're thirsty and dry, 19:45 look up to the sky ♪ ♪ It's beginning to rain ♪ ♪ It's beginning to rain ♪ 20:01 ♪ Hear the voice of the Father ♪ ♪ Saying, "Whosoever will come drink of this water ♪ 20:20 ♪ I have promised to pour my spirit out ♪ ♪ On your sons 20:27 and your daughters ♪ ♪ If you're thirsty and dry, look up to the sky ♪ 20:39 ♪ It's beginning to rain ♪♪ ♪ O holy flame of God now burning ♪ 20:54 ♪ You are the power of Christ returning ♪ ♪ You are the answer to 21:05 my yearning ♪ ♪ Spirit, now live in me ♪♪ [ Applause ] 21:36 >> Let's pray. Father, I couldn't help but picture you in my mind 21:45 as those 13 girls were singing. Leaning on the edge of your throne, ear turned to Earth, 21:56 hushing the choirs that surround you. That must be a beautiful sight 22:02 to you -- three girls whose hearts sing the prayer we long to pray. 22:14 Rain down on us. Are you really saying "It's beginning to rain, Earth"? 22:22 "Yo, Earth, it's beginning to rain." Let us hear you. 22:28 And may this teaching in Your Word give us all the hope and the courage we need for the 22:34 adventure ahead. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 22:41 You may be saying, "Yo, Dwight, what do you think about those 22:43 three hurricanes lined up to simultaneously have landfall 22:48 together?" And that earthquake in Mexico, 22:54 and the fires in the Northwest and L.A.?" 22:57 So, what's up? I'll get to that in a moment. 23:02 But first, once upon a time, 500 years ago, God used a young German man to 23:16 ignite a global reformation. 500 years later -- isn't this something? -- 23:28 God uses another German man, older now, to ignite what I am praying 23:37 will be a new global reformation in the faith community 23:43 I love and serve. 23:45 Because this man has written a book, and the book has gone 23:47 viral. Over 600,000 copies, hard 23:51 copies, circulating the planet. 23 languages. 23:55 I've never seen such interest in a book. The phones have been ringing, 23:59 the e-mails coming in, people stopping by, "Yo, I want that book. 24:03 What about that book?" And the book is free, which is, of course, how I 24:10 happened to get ahold of it. And I told you the story last week. 24:13 Written by Helmut Haubeil. Title of the book -- "Steps to Personal Revival -- 24:19 Being Filled with the Holy Spirit." What's all the fuss? 24:24 And guess what I just learned? 1,000 downloads since last Sabbath. 24:32 Hope you got your copy. I'm gonna give you an opportunity in just a moment. 24:37 Free. Just for you. In fact, I'm praying for God 24:46 to raise up 100 people in this campus parish who will join me in praying every single morning 24:53 until Jesus comes now for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 100 men, women, young adults, 25:00 and children praying like these 13 girls. The outpouring every day. 25:09 Because if I understand this correctly, this gift brings every other -- get this. 25:15 ...every other gift in the universe when you get this gift. Daily asking for this one gift. 25:25 We looked at the words of Jesus last week. 25:26 Let me put them on the screen to remind you again. 25:28 Luke 11:13. Jesus says, "If you who are evil know how to 25:32 give good gifts to your children" -- Legos or whatever 25:34 it is. "If you know how to give good 25:36 gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven 25:39 give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him," and the Greek 25:42 actually reads "Who ask him continually, day after day after 25:45 day after day!" Never stop asking me. 25:48 That was the life Jesus lived. We read this last week, as well. 25:51 Put it on the screen for you. "Morning by morning, 25:55 our Lord Jesus communicated with His Father in 26:00 heaven, receiving from Him daily a fresh baptism of the 26:03 Holy Spirit. And look, if He needed that 26:07 fresh baptism to triumph over the cosmic battle, the forces of 26:10 evil that surrounded Him, if He needed it, how much more 26:15 you and me? Come on. 26:20 So please prayerfully consider this morning's teaching. 26:24 Put it on the screen for you. 26:32 If you didn't hear Part 1, after Part 2, you go back and 26:34 hear Part 1. This is critical material. 26:37 It's not original with me. There's our website -- 26:42 www.newperceptions.tv. 26:48 Once upon a time, Jesus told a story. And when He was through with the 26:51 story, He dictated a letter. And when you put the story and the dictated letter together, 26:58 my, oh, my, what a stunning truth greets us today. And we got to see it. 27:03 We got to hear it. So, first of all, the story. Once upon a time, a boy and a 27:08 girl fell in love, and they began to plan for their wedding. Oh, I love these kind of 27:12 stories, don't you? And as they were sitting down, the girl said to the boy, 27:18 "We need to put an invitation list together." And the boy, being a boy, said, 27:22 "Yo, girl, that'll be for you to do." So she said, "I will." 27:27 She put an invitation list together and made certain that all her girlfriends were invited 27:32 to the big and happy day. And guess what? All 10 of them showed up at the 27:37 wedding. Small little hitch -- the wedding didn't get started 27:41 on time. It was delayed. And so all 10 of those 27:45 girlfriends went to sleep. When, in the middle of the night, a shout through the 27:51 midnight air, "Yo, the bridegroom is coming! Come on out here and celebrate 27:56 his arrival!" And everybody, all 10 girlfriends, jumped up. 28:01 But, alas, for five of the girlfriends, oops! No oil for their lamps to 28:09 brighten the night to welcome the bridegroom. And so while the five 28:14 girlfriends raced to Walmart to get more oil, the bridegroom showed up with his joyful 28:20 entourage, and swept the wedding party into that jubilant banquet hall. 28:27 The end. Only that's not quite the end. I'm gonna read the 28:32 ending to you. Open your Bible with me to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25. 28:36 Red letters in my Bible. Red letters just before the crucifixion. 28:40 Boy, oh, boy. When you know you're on death row, you don't just tell 28:42 stories. You only will tell a story that matters, because it's the 28:46 passion of your heart. Matthew chapter 25. Find it in your Bible, 28:53 whatever you have. I'm in the NIV. Let's read the ending together. 28:58 Matthew 25. Let's pick it up in verse 10. 29:01 Matthew 25:10. Jesus speaking. "And while they were on their 29:06 way," the five girlfriends that ran out of oil. 29:08 "While they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom 29:12 arrived. The virgins who were ready went 29:14 in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was" -- 29:17 boom! -- "shut. Later the others came. 29:22 'Lord, Lord,' they said, 'Open the door for us!' 29:27 But he replied, 'Truly I tell -- Amen, I tell 29:32 you, I don't know you.'" And now comes Jesus' punch line. 29:37 Verse 13. Now let me share with you 29:43 a fascinating list that Helmut Haubeil has put 29:48 together describing these 10 girlfriends. 29:51 And what's so amazing about this list is that it reveals that all 10 of them have the entire list 29:57 alike, except for one small but significant detail. Let me run the list by you, 30:02 see what you think. There are 11 parts to this list, so here you go. 30:06 Here comes number one. All 10 were girls. And in the Bible, a virgin girl 30:12 is a symbol of the Church of God. So immediately Jesus clues us, 30:16 "This is really about the church." All 10 were girls. 30:20 All 10 had pure, Biblical beliefs. All 10 had lamps. 30:23 All 10 had the Bible. "Your word is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet." 30:27 All 10 had the Bible. All 10 of them went to meet the bridegroom. 30:31 All 10 of them looked forward to the Second Coming. Number 7 -- all 10 of them 30:35 went to sleep. Number 8 -- all heard the call and woke up. 30:39 9 -- all prepared their lamps. 10 -- all the lamps were 30:42 burning. But now here comes the one difference. 30:45 Half of them noticed, number 11, that their lamps were going out. So what do we know about the 30:53 difference between the five and the five? Helmut Haubeil 30:57 cuts to the chase. His words on the screen. You need to fill it into your 31:00 study guide. 31:13 "That was the only" -- write it down. 31:15 That is the only difference. They're identical 31:18 in every other way. They didn't have the oil 31:22 Did you catch that? Between the wise girlfriends and the foolish girlfriends, the 31:26 only difference is the foolish had not enough oil. Not enough to carry them through 31:31 to the very end. Not enough oil, not enough Holy Spirit, because oil is the 31:36 universal symbol of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Oh, no. 31:39 They probably got a huge dose of oil at the beginning, but they've spent it all, and they 31:45 failed to replenish their oil day after day, and they -- just when they need it, 31:51 nothing there. Can't believe it. Haubeil goes on. 31:57 Jot it down. "When the five came asking to be 32:00 let in," isn't this something? "Jesus answered:" Yo, 32:05 "'I do not know you.' They were too late in attending 32:09 to the oil, the Holy Spirit. The door remained closed. 32:11 Jesus' statement shows us that our personal relationship with 32:15 Him" -- jot that in. It's the personal relationship 32:18 with Him, Jesus, "has something to do with the Holy Spirit." 32:21 In fact, may I tell you, it has everything to do with the 32:24 Holy Spirit. Everything. 32:28 And the letter Jesus dictated once upon a time makes that absolutely clear. 32:31 Because once upon a time, the risen and ascended Christ dictated a letter. 32:36 In fact, He dictated seven letters to seven churches. And the last letter is going to 32:40 a little church in a place called Laodicea. He dictates a letter to them, 32:45 because they're the people living at the end of time. And He sends this letter. 32:49 And I want you to catch the letter. Open your Bible with me. 32:52 Never mind. You know where the Bible's last book is. Go to Revelation, please, 32:56 chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. Oh, my. Chapters 2 and 3. 33:01 Red letters all the way through in my red-letter Bible. Why? Because these are the seven 33:05 dictated letters. It's the last letter, the people living at the end, that Jesus 33:10 sends this letter to. 33:12 Revelation 3, pick it up in verse 14. 33:24 Verse 15. "Oh, I wish that you were either 33:29 one or the other. So," verse 16, "because you are 33:32 lukewarm -- neither hot nor cold -- I am about to spit you 33:36 out of my mouth." If you have the New King James, 33:38 it says, "I'm about to vomit you out of my mouth." 33:42 Verse 17. 33:52 So, verse 18, "I'm counseling you to buy from me gold refined 33:56 in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes 33:59 to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and 34:01 salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see," verse 19, 34:05 "because those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. 34:09 So be earnest and repent." Now here it comes. Verse 20. 34:26 Question -- Why did Jesus call the believers in the church of 34:29 Laodicea lukewarm? Write it down. 34:32 Answer -- Because they kept Him outside. 34:40 I don't know how many times I've read Revelation 3, and the 34:42 letter to Laodicea. I never have seen this before, 34:45 but I'm passing it on to you now thanks to 34:48 Helmut Haubeil. 34:52 I mean, I've always known about this very tender invitation. I think it's the most beautiful 34:56 Gospel invitation in all of Scripture. And how many times 34:59 have I quoted it? "Hey, listen, listen. Behold, I stand at the door and 35:01 knock. See, there's no handle out here. You have the handle inside." 35:04 You've seen those pictures? There's no handle. I'm knocking. Knock, knock. 35:10 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Isn't that beautiful? No. 35:14 It's terrible. Nothing beautiful about this letter to Laodicea. 35:18 You know why? Because it's hugely embarrassing. 35:20 Now here's the point. The point is, Jesus is not in the church. 35:24 He's not in the church. Where do they have Him? He's outside. 35:28 They're busy doing everything. Oh, they're scurrying around. Oh, my, they're professing their 35:32 orthodoxy. They are believers. Guess what? 35:37 And the whole time, somebody's outside the church saying, "Yo, I'm out -- 35:43 Can you hear me now?" He's not in. It's sad. 35:49 It's not a beautiful Gospel appeal. His heart is broken. 35:52 "I'm outside of here. I'm outside here, people. [ Knocking ] Can you hear me? 35:56 I really want to come in. Let me in, please. Please, let me in. 36:04 And what does that have to do with the Holy Spirit? Well, I tell you what, when you 36:07 read the 10-girlfriend parable, it's very clear -- the oil's the Holy Spirit. 36:11 "But, Dwight, there's no Holy Spirit mentioned here at all." 36:13 Until we remember -- jot this down, will you? Until we remember 36:17 what the New Testament teaches. Watch this. Fascinating. 36:20 Keep your pen moving. Here we go. 1 John 3:24. 36:33 Note it carefully. You see that? 36:39 You say, "Well, that's just an isolated little blurb 36:42 along the way." Are you kidding? 36:43 Look at the grand tome, the big book, 36:46 Romans chapter 8, Paul. This is verse 9. 36:57 Note it again, very carefully. 37:02 What's up with that? Here's what's up. 37:04 Because the Holy Spirit is all about a very personal -- would 37:08 you write that word in, please? ...a very personal -- it won't 37:11 do for your daddy to have a relationship, and it won't do 37:13 for your mother to have a relationship. 37:15 It has to be your relationship, a very personal relationship 37:19 with Jesus. Which is why the five 37:21 girlfriends without the oil hear the words of Jesus, "Hey, girls, 37:24 I'm awfully sorry. 37:26 I can't open the door, girls. We never got to know each other. I had you on the invitation 37:31 list, but you never connected with me. I'm sorry. I don't know you." 37:37 It's heartbreaking. Which is why Jesus, outside the door, now, in this letter of 37:43 Laodicea, said, "Yo, somebody open the door. This thing is about to go up. 37:47 This thing is about to blow over. Open the door, please, 37:51 and let me in now." So, what is it that keeps us from this personal relationship 38:00 with Jesus? Hold on, hold on, hold on. Put it another way, let me 38:03 ask -- rephrase the question. What is it that would keep me outside Jesus' door -- as with 38:07 the five girlfriends -- or would keep Jesus outside my door, as with the church of Laodicea? 38:12 The answer to that question is absolutely vital to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 38:17 And here it comes. Helmut Haubeil reminds us that the Bible 38:24 describes three basic groups of the human race. The human race can be divided 38:29 into three groups. You've probably heard this once upon a time. 38:33 Maybe this is new for you. 38:34 Let me share it with you. Jot it down. 38:36 There are three groups. The Bible refers 38:37 to these three groups. Group number one is the 38:39 natural person. Would you write that down, 38:41 please? The natural person. Who is that? 38:43 That person has no relationship with God. 38:45 In Laodicea, that person is called cold. 38:49 All right? Cold. I was visiting with a young man 38:53 a few days ago on this campus. 38:56 It was pouring rain. He was walking under my umbrella. 39:00 And he announces to me, "By the way," he says, "I'm an atheist." 39:03 "Oh, you are?" "Yes, I am." He says, "I find that atheists 39:06 have brilliant minds." And he says, "Do you want to talk about Christopher Hitchens? 39:10 You want to talk about Stephen Hawking?" And then he listed three or four 39:12 others. "Yep, no God. Don't need him. No eternity. Never wanted an 39:18 eternity, anyway." Now, that young man fits under the category natural man, 39:25 natural person. Listen, these descriptions are not pejorative. 39:28 They're not, like, being real judgmental. They're just saying, "This is 39:31 the way you are." The natural man. No God. And proud of it. 39:39 Category number two. Jot it down. 39:41 The spiritual person. So you have the natural man, 39:43 now you have spiritual person or the spiritual woman or man. 39:46 What is that? That's full, genuine, real 39:48 relationship with God. In Laodicea, it's called 39:52 hot, hot, hot. And the 10 virgins, 39:54 they're called wise. This is the person who is 39:57 sold-out on God. You can't get into a 39:59 conversation with him, you can't get far in a talk with her 40:02 before it's coming out. You know that this girl 40:05 belongs to Jesus. I mean, it's just there. 40:07 She can't hide it. He can't hide it. All right? 40:10 The Bible describes that person as spiritual. 40:13 So category number one, we have -- what do we have in 40:16 category number one? We have natural. 40:18 Category two, what do we have? There's a third category. 40:21 Jot it down. Because, as the Bible teaches 40:23 it, the third category is the carnal -- write that down. 40:28 The carnal person. That means flesh. 40:31 It's just the person that lives by his own flesh, she lives by 40:34 her own flesh. What's carnal? 40:35 Carnal means divided. A feigned or pretended 40:38 relationship with God. In Laodicea, the carnal is 40:41 called lukewarm. Right? Neither one. 40:45 Lukewarm. And the 10 virgins, foolish. 40:48 The foolish are the carnal. Interestingly enough, back to 40:53 this young atheist for a moment -- and, by the way, 40:55 not a student here. The atheist is not a student 40:58 here on this campus. But back to the conversation 41:00 on this campus. He had just come from an 41:02 assembly. 41:04 And so we're walking together, and he says, "You know what?" He says, "I find this 41:07 fascinating. Here is this school that believes in God, and I'm looking 41:10 around at everybody that's in this auditorium, and I'm noticing they're all -- this is 41:14 supposed to be what you do to worship, and what's everybody doing? 41:17 They're working their phones. Isn't that amazing?" He said, "They don't believe in 41:20 God any more than I do. Because if you believed in God, you'd be connected." 41:26 Ooh, the Gospel according to an atheist. The boy's right. 41:33 Carnal. What's the carnal person do? [ Stomps ] 41:37 "I'm in both worlds." At a moments notice -- Fwt! Fwt! Fwt! 41:41 Like a chameleon. Fwt! Now I'm this. Fwt! Now I'm that. 41:44 Carnal. Divided. People who are trying to live in both worlds, the no-God world 41:50 and the God world, divided, split relationship with God, oftentimes pretending that it's 41:55 a fact in your life when, in fact, you know it ain't the truth at all. 42:01 The carnal man, the carnal woman. Did Haubeil just kind of make up 42:06 those terms? No. Let me show you the passage. This is rather stirring. 42:10 Take a look at 1 Corinthians. I want you to see this in your own Bible. 42:13 1 Corinthians chapter 2. You'll see the three categories right here. 42:18 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 42:19 Let's pick it up in verse 14. "The person without the 42:21 Spirit" -- now, that's the NIV. NIV doesn't want to say natural, 42:25 because they said the reader won't understand what 42:28 natural is. So we're gonna tell you that the 42:30 natural man has no Holy Spirit. Zero, zero, zero. All right? 42:32 So that's how they translate it. "The person without the Spirit 42:35 does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, 42:38 but considers them foolishness..." 42:40 Ah. Can't believe you believe that. 42:41 "...and cannot understand them because they are discerned only 42:44 through the Spirit." Now here comes the next 42:45 category. Verse 15. 42:47 "But the person with the Spirit," and that would be the 42:50 spiritual person, all right, in the older translations. 42:53 "The person with the Spirit makes judgment about all things, 42:57 but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, 42:59 'Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?' 43:02 But we," who are spiritual persons, "We have 43:06 the mind of Christ." Hey, come on. 43:08 Where's that third category? Coming up. 43:09 There was no chapter division with Paul wrote it. 43:11 It's chapter 3, verse 1. "Brothers and sisters, 43:14 I could not address you as people who live by the 43:18 Spirit" -- as spiritual persons -- "but as people who 43:21 are still worldly." That's the word carnal or 43:25 fleshly. I have to address you as people 43:28 who are carnal -- "mere infants in Christ." 43:31 Verse 2. "I gave you milk" for that 43:33 reason, "not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. 43:37 Indeed, you are still not ready." 43:40 Verse 3. "You are still carnal," or 43:42 worldly, "for since there is jealousy and quarreling among 43:45 you, are you not worldly?" Or carnal? 43:48 "Are you not acting like mere humans?" 43:51 Now, lookit, guys. I understand. It feels -- lookit. 43:54 It feel like Paul is ganging up on all of us. 43:56 "You carnal Christians. You carnal Adventists." 43:59 I know how it feels. But what Paul's trying to say is, you're desperately trying to 44:05 live in both worlds. You can't do it. It's impossible. 44:09 You have one foot in the world and you have the other foot in the Kingdom. 44:12 You can't survive that way. You're just like this cow. Take a look at this cow. 44:16 That's what you are. That's bad. That is bad. 44:24 I mean, that hurts. Paul says, "You're just like this cow. 44:29 You're half on one side and half on the other." Paul isn't mad at them. 44:34 He's not mad at us. Are you kidding? What he's concerned about is 44:38 fellow brothers and sisters who are carnal. And, by the way, that's good 44:41 news. Fellow brothers and sisters. You're church members. 44:44 He's saying, "Come on. We're together." In fact, Haubeil again -- 44:48 Put his words on the screen. 44:49 "Paul addressed the carnal people as 'dear brothers.'" 44:52 Mm-hmm. 15:58 in the NIV. "My dear brothers and sisters." 44:57 "This shows that he was dealing with church members." 45:12 Now, listen. Hit the pause button right 45:21 there, because this is a university campus, where 45:24 intellectual knowledge and intellectual prowess and the 45:27 accumulation of knowledge are our goal. 45:30 I mean, we want this, right? I want it. I'll be at the front of the line. 45:34 I want to be as sharp intellectually as I can be. But Paul says a little bit 45:39 later, in chapter 13, "And, by the way, even if I understand all mysteries and have all 45:46 knowledge but have not love" -- what's love? Romans 5:5. 45:50 "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit." 45:54 If I don't have the Holy Spirit, I'm lost. I'm lost. 45:58 You can be teaching the Bible and be lost. You can be preaching the Bible 46:04 and be lost. There's nothing about position here, that once you get to this 46:11 position, now you're safe. No. We're all in this together, 46:16 folks. As Maury Venden used to say -- I like this, from Maury Venden. 46:24 "There is no such thing as partial surrender." Listen. Listen. 46:28 "It's no more possible to be partially surrendered than it is possible to be a little bit 46:32 pregnant." "Hey, girl, are you pregnant?" "Just a little bit." 46:38 [ Laughter ] "Oh, really?" You can't be half-surrendered. 46:43 You can't be half-pregnant. You're either fully pregnant or not pregnant. 46:46 You're either fully surrendered or not surrendered. You can't be half-carnal. 46:51 You can't live like this. You're gonna get the splits, and that's gonna be painful one day. 46:56 You can't live in two worlds. You can't. "My dear brothers and sisters," 47:07 she writes. "Babes in Christ. You're still carnal." 47:11 And, by the way, three times he uses the word "still." And that's great news, 'cause 47:14 the goal is to get you on. You're still here, but that's okay. 47:18 We're gonna get you on. God is gonna move you on. The still is good news. 47:21 It means we're not stuck in carnal. We can move on. 47:26 There's something better ahead. 47:30 Okay, one more line. "Carnal church members" -- 47:33 Oooh. Is this on the screen? 47:35 "Carnal church members can be very active and even have 47:39 leading positions in the local church or even in the church 47:46 administration." In other words, you can go all 47:51 the way up the ladder, all the way to the top, because position 47:54 does not keep you from being carnal. 47:56 And you could be carnal all the way at the top. 48:04 What's his last line here? "They may even do a lot for 48:08 God." Can I talk heart-to-heart with 48:11 you right now? 48:15 I'm concerned for this church I love, all right? I don't know what your attitude 48:18 toward the church is, but I love this church. I'm concerned. 48:24 There's a whole lot of talk these days, and debating going on, about unity and fairness and 48:28 power and who makes the ultimate decision and... And I'm thinking to myself, when 48:35 Haubeil took me to this passage, I'm saying, "My Lord. This is us." 48:39 What is it there in verse 3? "For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, 48:44 are you not carnal?" Aren't you using carnal strategies to advance what you 48:50 believe is right? Aren't you going to politics and saying, "I'll take a page out of 48:55 their playbook, and that's how I'll get what is surely God's will done." 49:00 But you're jealous of each other. You're jockeying for position 49:03 just like the 12 disciples. Who's gonna be the most powerful in the Kingdom of Heaven? 49:08 "What's up with this?" Paul asks. We have a hot issue in the 49:12 church right now -- and I'm not even gonna name it to you. 49:17 But if you're staking out a position, and you're doing 49:21 everything you can -- "Because I have a right to do this." 49:24 And if you're doing everything you can, according to your 49:26 right, to make sure that everybody understands your 49:28 position, and one day your position will be the position, I 49:31 don't care what your position is, fighting for that right 49:34 is not right. It's carnal. 49:37 You can't fight for your rights and be spiritual. Impossible. 49:41 Because I have pride on the line now, and I've -- "Look at all the stuff I've said about this, 49:45 and now they're gonna think that I'm admitting that I'm wrong, and I'm never gonna admit that 49:49 I'm wrong." Carnal. Dissensions. 49:54 Debates and jealousy. It'll kill the Church. So when Helmut Haubeil, at the 50:01 opening page of his book, says, "I think I've found the secret to the problem of the Church 50:07 today," I'm beginning to think he's absolutely right. Carnal. 50:16 Half and half. Still not sold-out. You remember Jesus' 50:24 Sermon on the Mount? Do you remember how it ended? Sure you do. 50:28 Jesus has active church members coming up to him at the end of 50:31 time, in the Judgment, they're coming up to him, and they say 50:34 to him -- we'll put it on the screen for you. 50:35 Matthew 7:22. "Many will say to Me on that 50:38 Judgment day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? 50:44 Did we not in Your name drive out demons? 50:47 Did we not in Your name perform many miracles?' 50:50 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you.'" 50:55 It's the 10 girlfriends all over again. 50:58 It's the same point. "We never had a relationship. We never really connected. 51:05 I came back every morning. I was knocking at your door every single day, begging you, 51:11 'Would you open the door? Please, open the door. Just let me in.' 51:16 And you never had time. You were too smart for your own britches. 51:20 You wouldn't let me in. I don't know you. I wanted to know you. 51:28 I prayed to know you. I prayed you'd say yes, but you never did. 51:36 Wow. 10 virgins, the church in Laodicea, the baptism of the 51:41 Holy Spirit. Do you notice that it all comes down to a deeply personal 51:45 relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? That's it. 51:50 Last line. Haubeil. 52:02 My friends, that right there is the remedy to crush our 52:06 carnal spirits and to heal our carnal hearts. 52:11 It's the words of Jesus. Let me put them 52:12 on the screen for you. John 15:4. Jesus says... 52:17 "That's all I'm asking. That's all you need. 52:20 Abide in Me as I abide in you." Yo, Lord, what does it mean to 52:23 abide in you? "Desire of Ages." 52:25 Look at this. Next line. "Abiding in Christ means a 52:27 constant" -- write it in. "A constant receiving of 52:30 His Spirit." That's the daily baptism. 52:33 "...of the Holy Spirit, a life of unreserved surrender 52:36 to His service." When that happens -- 52:39 Come on, guys. Here it is. When that happens, gone the 52:41 carnal life, gone the carnal tactics, gone the carnal 52:45 lifestyle, immersed in the world. 52:47 Gone, then, a church and a school with a foot in the world and a foot in the Kingdom. 52:52 Gone, the divided heart. Heart's now healed by a daily asking for -- morning by 52:59 morning, a daily asking for the baptism. What these 13 girls 53:05 just sang about. A daily pleading with God. I want that all over again. 53:12 dose doesn't last forever. One day, one dose. 53:18 One day, one dose. One day, one dose. And so I appeal to you again, 53:26 today, to join me every morning, please, in pleading, "God, I have to have the Spirit of Jesus 53:36 today. Right now." Don't wait to feel something. 53:39 Don't wait to see if you got tingles up your spine. The promise is clear. 53:45 You ask [Snaps] you got it. Just ask me. Just ask me. 53:51 He's the only hope we have left, folks. He's the only hope we have left. 53:56 Now listen to me carefully. 'Cause you asked me about these hurricanes, would I say 53:59 anything about it? I'm gonna say about it right now. 54:02 When they showed this yesterday -- and this is a few hours old now. 54:09 But this is the first time in history -- not that there were three hurricanes. 54:13 We've had that before. But that the three hurricanes are poised to simultaneously 54:19 make landfall in the United States. And you can't see, down in the 54:23 corner, but there's the state of Chiapas, where we took a team, Chris, to Pichucalco, the state 54:29 of Chiapas, right in the south of that -- at the southern part of that state, right on that 54:33 neck there, 8.2 -- 8.2-magnitude earthquake, the largest quake in 100 years 54:39 in Mexico. And unbelieve-- I'm watching the forest ranger last night, 54:44 on-camera, in the Pacific Northwest, where I have two kids in Oregon, and she's 54:49 saying, "We've never seen fires like this. They just keep coming up 54:53 when we put them out." L.A. -- the biggest fire in L.A.'s history 54:58 was this last week. What's going on? What's going on? 55:03 Maybe the question is not, "What's going on?" Maybe the question should be, 55:06 "Who's coming back?" Somebody is saying, "Yo! Behold! 55:12 The bridegroom is coming. Wake up! All 10 of you are asleep." 55:17 All 10 of you are asleep. It's not a sin to be asleep, but it will be a sin to sleep 55:22 through the massive wake-up call that God will give to America, North America, and this planet 55:29 in some sort of order. I have no idea. I'm just saying 55:34 that if ever you wished for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 55:41 this would be a good time to pray every day for that baptism. Then the oil's there. 55:49 Don't worry about a calendar. The oil. It's your heart that matters, not God's calendar. 55:55 Your heart has oil. Every day filled back up. And you are secure in Jesus 56:04 for ever and ever. Oh, Lord, we don't want to live divided. 56:10 What's the point of it? Half-pregnant? We can't do it. 56:16 Only You could do it. So we have to start asking You before we even get out of any 56:20 state that we're in. We just start asking, "Today, Jesus, fill me with your spirit. 56:24 Today." Oh, God, let prayers by the hundreds arise from this campus 56:32 to the universe and do something we've not been able to do for ourselves. 56:39 Hot. Wise. Sold-out followers of Jesus. That's what we want to be. 56:46 Take these decisions, keep them. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 56:55 >> I want to take an extra moment to thank you for joining us in worship today. 56:58 It's by the continued support from viewers like you that we're able to bring this telecast. 57:03 Today I want to invite you, though, to share with us how this ministry has blessed you. 57:07 Truth is, I get inspiring notes, e-mails, letters from viewers literally all over the world 57:13 sharing with us how God has blessed them through this program, and I'd love to hear 57:16 from you, as well. 57:18 It's not that hard. Simple, really. 57:20 Just visit our website, newperceptions.tv. 57:22 That's one word, newperceptions.tv. 57:26 And click on the "contact" link at the top of the page. 57:29 Shoot me that e-mail. Once again, thank you for being 57:32 with us. Thank you, by the way, for your 57:34 own support. That support is what keeps this 57:36 telecast week after week reaching America, reaching 57:40 North America, and reaching the planet. 57:43 That kind of generosity that you share is a huge boost and 57:47 blessing to us. And I hope you'll join us right 57:49 here next time, 'cause we'll be here. 57:51 In the meantime, God be with you and bless you real good. 57:59 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:19 ♪♪ |
Revised 2017-09-14