Participants: Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP171202A
|
00:00 ♪♪
00:09 [ "O Come, All Ye Faithful" plays ] 00:16 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 03:34 [ "You Are The Living Word" plays ] 03:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:57 ♪♪ [ Performer sings ] 06:52 [ "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne" plays ] 06:56 >> I'm sure you all know this one, so sing out, for our Savior 07:01 did leave the throne to come down here and be with us. 07:06 So let's show Him our praise. ♪♪ 07:15 ♪♪ [ Performers sing ] 09:46 As Jesus is calling and you are welcoming Him into your heart, I 09:50 invite you forward to lay your burdens down at the throne 09:55 before God. ♪♪ 10:00 [ Performers sing ] 10:53 >> Say, nice to see you. Is this the first day of -- Is this the first Sabbath of 10:57 December? Is that -- >> Yes. 10:59 >> [ Exhales sharply ] Already? [ Chuckles ] Say, listen, hey, nice to have the rest of you. 11:04 Did you -- Have you been noticing -- This is a quiz now. Have you been noticing the deer 11:10 that are all over this community? >> No! 11:14 >> Huh? 11:15 Those aren't reindeer, just plain old deer. 11:19 They're everywhere. >> Yeah. 11:21 >> Yeah? Have you seen them? >> I've seen a family of them. 11:23 >> You've seen a family of them? Well, we got a family -- we got about three families living 11:27 there where we are. And they just wander around, walk right in front of you, 11:30 right in front of the cars. "Hey, you're gonna stop." Beep! 11:34 Ah. Apparently, not only in Michigan, but in Mississippi. 11:39 Anybody here from Mississippi? Yo, here's a story from Mississippi. 11:44 Thank you, Sharon Dudgeon, for finding it. Here we go. 11:46 Just a few days ago -- Listen to this. Listen to this. The Enterprise Middle School, 11:52 which is down in Mississippi, about 100 miles from Jackson -- The Enterprise Middle School -- 11:58 So, the kids are coming to school. It's kind of a cool morning. 12:01 Mississippi doesn't get the kind of chill we have. It's kind of cool. 12:04 The kids are jumping out of the car. And that's when they notice that 12:08 somebody came to their playground while they were not here. 12:11 A doe -- do you know what a doe is? It's a girl deer. 12:15 A doe is in the middle of the playground, out on the grass. [ Imitates munching ] 12:22 Oh, the doe -- But the doe doesn't know that the boys and girls with their moms and dads 12:27 and all the cars and school buses are coming, and the doe's just going...until she looks up. 12:32 [ Gasps ] There are kids coming from this way. 12:34 [ Gasps ] There are kids coming from behind. 12:36 [ Gasps ] There's a car over here. "Ohh! What am I gonna do?!" 12:41 That's what she thought. She said, "I got to run." So she started running. 12:44 She said -- She turned here, turned -- "I can't, can't, can't, can't," and then all of a 12:47 sudden, she said, "I know where I can go." And I want to show you the video 12:51 clip that the school's security camera got. Take a look at these screens. 12:54 Take a look at these screens. 12:56 Get them on the big screen, too, please. 12:57 There we go. There we go. Watch that door. 13:00 Watch that door. Another student's coming. 13:03 "Oh, it's so nice to be in school today." 13:05 She opens the door, turns around. 13:07 "What was that behind me?" [ Laughing ] Oh! Keep going. Keep going, deer. 13:11 There's another door out, surely. Can you find it? 13:14 Okay. Slide! [ Laughter ] Isn't that great? 13:21 Wow! Safe at home! You're safe at home! 13:27 You made it. Wow. When I saw that -- You know what -- You know what 13:32 that -- You know what that little doe deer was thinking? You know what that doe deer was 13:36 thinking? "I do not belong in this place." [ Laughter ] 13:40 And when Jesus came down and got born in a barn, I am so glad that He didn't look around and 13:45 smell -- [ Sniffs ] "Ew, I do not belong in this place." 13:51 Jesus had a very poor and sad sort of beginning, but He never said, "I'm out of here. 13:58 I'm going back to where I really love living." He stayed here. 14:03 He became one with us so that He could save every boy and girl because He's the creator. 14:11 He made every one of us. "I want to save all of you." He stayed until He died and 14:16 rose, and He's coming back." Isn't that the great Christmas story? 14:19 So, this season that we begin celebrating today -- thank you, Jesus, for not being like the 14:25 deer and just running away when you saw what a mess we were in. You stayed with us, and we'll 14:31 love you forever. Amen. Who would like to thank Jesus 14:35 for staying with us? Sissy, come on up here. Who would like to thank Jesus 14:41 for staying with us and not running away? There we go. 14:47 Sissy, what's your first name? >> Zaya. >> Zaya. 14:50 Let's fold our hands and close our eyes as Zaya thanks Jesus. >> Dear Jesus, thank you for 14:56 this day. Thank you that you died for us. Thank you that we get to have a 15:01 wonderful Sabbath. Amen. >> Amen. Thank you, Zaya. 15:04 And thank you, boys and girls, as you go quietly, reverently back to your seats. 15:08 You say, "Thank you, Jesus, for staying with us and not running away." 15:14 [ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ 15:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 16:07 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 16:36 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 17:05 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 17:34 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 18:03 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 18:32 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:30 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:59 ♪♪ ♪♪ 20:23 >> Father, we are thankful for our student musicians. They make Andrews what it is. 20:29 We're thankful for Advent season. You've made it what it is, and 20:33 we're here. A few more moments, let's reflect. 20:37 What's the meaning of all this? And will it make any difference in my life anyway? 20:42 Come and speak to us through Scripture. Let it be your voice, not mine, 20:46 just your voice we hear deep in our souls. I pray in Jesus' name. 20:51 Amen. 20:53 I just loved -- You remember these, don't you? 20:55 I just loved those, as a kid growing up -- Did you grow up 20:58 with these, too? Those "Where is Waldo?" books. 21:03 Did you ever see those? 21:07 Yeah, okay. I loved them. I just loved them. 21:11 Let me put a little puzzle. Jatniel Rodriguez, who is my PowerPoint partner today -- he 21:17 said, "Dwight, I found that Waldo right away." Can you find it? 21:21 I'll give you three seconds. One, two, three. Okay, change the picture. 21:24 Let's look at the next one. That's supposed to be the hardest "Where's Waldo?" in the 21:29 world. How much time do you have? Okay, you say, "Dwight, lookit, 21:33 I'm not from America. I don't know this kind of stuff." 21:36 Let me show you who Waldo is. Next screen, please. There's Waldo, always red and 21:41 white stripes, little beanie cap, and he's always hidden by the master artist somewhere in 21:47 the scene. He's always hiding somewhere. But he's always there. 21:53 So, let's do this. For Christmas, Advent season 21:56 beginning, let's play "Where's Waldo?" with the 22:00 Christmas story. 22:01 No, seriously. There is a Waldo-like missing person in the Christmas story. 22:06 You're not gonna believe this. He shows up in not a single painting. 22:12 He shows up not in a single story of the narrative. And guess what. 22:20 He shows up only once in one of the Christmas carols. And you haven't sung it in a 22:27 long time. Where's Waldo? Don't worry about him feeling 22:33 bad by me saying this because he's used to it. Nobody ever sees him. 22:38 In fact, Jesus called him the wind. I found a piece that just came 22:44 out in the latest Christianity Todaywritten by J.D. Witvliet. 22:48 He's right up the road, Grand Rapids, Calvin College and Calvin Seminary, 22:52 Professor of Worship. Title of the piece -- "A Pentecostal Christmas." 22:56 Let me put it on the screen for you. You have to fill in a little 22:59 word here on the screen. 23:07 What were you in the school play? 23:24 Write it down in your study guide. 23:26 That's the Holy Spirit. 23:28 Eight appearances. Come on. Check it out. In fact, let's make a little 23:33 graph right now, a little table. You got a study guide? Did they give you a study guide? 23:37 Grab your study guide. Let's make a little table. It's in your worship bulletin. 23:39 Thank you, ushers. 23:41 If you didn't get a study guide, just hold your hand up. 23:44 Those of you watching on live-stream right now or 23:46 television right now, go to our website, please -- 23:49 www.newperceptions.tv. You're looking for this 23:53 homily -- "Have Yourself a Windy Merry Christmas." 23:56 "Have Yourself a Windy Merry Christmas." 23:59 We'll get to you. 24:01 And if you click onto that, you'll see a study guide. It'll be the same study guide. 24:05 Let's put that little chart together. Let's do it. 24:07 The Holy Spirit shows up, okay? The Holy Spirit shows up. Notice the kind of people he 24:12 shows up in. Number one -- jot it down -- he shows up in utero. 24:18 In utero. What's that mean? In the uterus. 24:22 That's where he shows up. You say, "Come on. He does not." He does, too. 24:24 Look at this -- Luke 1. Open your Bible to -- We'll stay in Luke, this first chapter 24:30 and second chapter this morning, Luke 1. This is now setting up the 24:34 Christmas story. 24:35 Pick it up in verse 5. I'm in the NIV. 24:37 "In the time of Herod, king of Judea --" that would be wicked 24:40 King Herod -- bad. All right. 24:42 "In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named 24:45 Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. 24:47 And his wife, Elizabeth, also a descendant of Aaron." 24:51 They're both Levites. Verse 6 -- "But both of them -- 24:53 Hey, both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing 24:56 all the Lord's commandments and decrees blamelessly. 24:59 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to 25:02 conceive, and they were both very old." 25:05 You have two friends of God. That's who they are -- just two anonymous strangers. 25:11 And God comes along and says, "I have chosen you for a key part in the story I'm beginning to 25:16 write." It makes me look at you and say, "I wonder what God has chosen 25:20 for you." God looks at you. He says, "I have chosen you. 25:22 You don't know this yet, but you're gonna play a very important part in a story I'm 25:26 about to write." Never write yourself off. That's the deal. 25:30 Don't write yourself off when God is writing you in, all right? 25:35 So, drop down now to verse 8. "Once when Zechariah's 25:38 division --" these are all the priests on duty down in 25:41 Jerusalem, the Temple. "While Zechariah was on duty, he 25:44 was serving as a priest before God." 25:46 Now, watch this. Verse 9 -- "He was chosen by 25:50 lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the 25:54 temple of the Lord and burn incense." 25:57 Now, this is fascinating 'cause you know what they did with these priests? 26:00 They said, "All right, guys, are you all assigned today? Okay, good. 26:02 Stand in a semi-circle." So, they stand in a semi-circle, and then the president, like the 26:06 chairman of the board of elders or whatever -- he would say, "Okay, guys, here's what we're 26:09 gonna do. I want you to put a finger out on your hand. 26:12 You can put one finger. You can put five. You can't put zero. 26:15 You have to put a finger out, all right? Okay? You ready?" 26:18 So, everybody's deciding. "Will I put four? Should I put three? 26:20 How about just one? I'll fool him." There's no way to know because 26:23 once he says, "You pick the number," he says, "and I'm gonna choose a random number. 26:28 Here we go. The number is 37. Let's go." And he starts on this end of the 26:32 semi-circle, and he starts counting fingers. And when he comes to finger 26:35 number 37, you are it. And let me tell you something. This is a big "it" to be 26:41 because this is gonna go into the curtain that's just before the holy place, that curtain, 26:46 and in front of the curtain, to put incense onto the golden altar, and the smoke symbolizes 26:51 the prayers of all the worshippers crowded into the courtyard. 26:54 Oh, it's a very big deal. And Zechariah got chosen. Drop down to verse 11. 27:01 "And then --" ooh! -- "the angel of the Lord appeared to him --" 27:07 So, he's in there doing this. He's dropping the incense. 27:09 [ Sniffs ] Smells wonderful. And it's just ascending before 27:12 that curtain. And then the angel of the Lord 27:14 appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of 27:17 incense. And when Zechariah saw him, he 27:19 was startled and gripped with fear." 27:20 I would be. Wouldn't you? Come on. Schoo! 27:25 This towering, divine being standing in front of him. 27:29 Now, all the scholars point out it's on the right side of the 27:31 altar, so you should have figured that out. 27:33 I would not be thinking about, "Which side of the altar is he 27:36 standing right now?" I'd just be petrified, and 27:38 that's Zechariah. But it's on the side of favor. 27:42 The angel will tell Zechariah who he is. 27:44 It's Gabriel. He'll tell him later. 27:47 "But the angel says --" verse 13 -- "But the angel said to 27:49 him: 'Do not be afraid.'" And by the way, we know it's 27:52 Gabriel because every time Gabriel shows up in the 27:54 New Testament, those are the first words out of his mouth. 27:56 To the shepherds -- "Don't be afraid." 27:57 To Mary -- "Don't be afraid." To Zechariah -- "Yo, don't be 27:59 afraid." Apparently, he was intimidating 28:02 when he showed up. "Calm down, guys. Don't -- 28:06 It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." 28:08 "'Don't be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.'" 28:13 Hit the pause button again because a lot of people read 28:15 that line, and you know what they say? 28:17 "Zechariah and Elizabeth had been praying for a baby." "You're gonna have a baby." 28:20 That's not what they're praying. When you're their age, you're not praying for a baby anymore. 28:23 Trust me. [ Laughter ] They're not praying for a baby. 28:27 You know what the prayer they're praying is? "Even so, Messiah come. 28:32 Come, Lord Messiah." "Your prayer has been heard." There's some of you praying that 28:38 prayer right now. Some of you not-so-young have been praying that prayer all 28:41 your lives. Wouldn't it be something if one of these days your angel shows 28:44 up and he says, "Sister, brother, I have good news for you. 28:48 Your prayer is about to be answered. He's coming." 28:53 [ Chuckles ] Wow. So don't let go of that hope. "Your prayer has been answered." 29:00 "'Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you're gonna 29:03 call him John.'" Verse 14 -- "'And he will be a 29:05 joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his 29:08 birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. 29:10 He is never --'" Zechariah says, "What did you 29:14 say?" He says, "He is never..." 29:19 "What was that again?" "'He is never to take wine or 29:23 other fermented drink.'" 29:26 You know why? Because when you're a friend of God and you're on call 24/7, 29:31 like, to be in touch when I need you, you can't afford -- you can't afford to put your brain 29:37 to sleep. So, when you're on mission, not a drop, not a single drop of 29:46 this inebriating liquid passes between your lips, not a drop. Why? 29:51 Because you can't afford it. If you put your mind to sleep, I promise you -- If you put your 29:56 mind to sleep, there's only one being in the universe who, with his horde of demons, will kick 30:02 the door down while you're asleep, move in, and you will do stuff you would never do if you 30:07 were thinking. They call it "under the influence." 30:11 Guess whose influence it is. "No. You're my man. You're my girl. 30:20 You're not going to. I need you. We're getting close." 30:27 Oh, this turns out to be a big deal. "'He is never to take wine or 30:31 other fermented drink, and --'" Oh, here it comes now -- first appearance of the Holy Spirit 30:36 in the pre-Christmas story. 30:37 "'And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit --'" Write that down 30:41 in your study guide, please. "'And he will be filled with the 30:45 Holy Spirit even before he is born.'" 30:47 Put that study guide blank up there. 30:50 There it is. Fill that out. "'He will be filled --'" boy 30:54 John, boy John -- "'will be filled with the Holy Spirit even 30:57 before he is born.'" [ Laughing ] Wow. 31:04 Did you know, young mother, young father -- And we got a lot of young mothers and fathers. 31:09 Did you see all these kids up here? We got a lot of young mothers 31:11 and fathers. Did you know, young mother-to-be -- We got a lot of 31:15 young mothers-to-be right here, young fathers-to-be right here. Did you know that it's your -- 31:21 it is your contact with the King of Kings that will determine whether your child is 31:26 born with the spirit even before birth, in utero? You say, "Dwight, you're making 31:32 that up." 31:33 No -- "Desire of Ages" on the screen. 31:34 Put it on the screen, please. 31:42 That baby has no faith. That baby has no nothing but hunger. 31:48 But you have faith. And for that baby, God says, "I'll take her faith. 31:54 I'll take his faith. It's good enough for me." Isn't that something? 31:59 Keep reading. 32:08 In utero. "I'm there. I can show up anywhere I want. 32:13 And I'll show up in a uterus if I need to, in a fetus." That's what he did. 32:21 Wow. What a profound blessing a believing young mother is. 32:27 Come on, all you dads that sent your kids up a moment ago. I'm talking to you. 32:31 What a profound blessing a believing young father is for his little tykes. 32:37 Ah. So, write that down. Okay, here comes number two. In a teenager. 32:40 So, number one is in utero. We're taking these in consecutive order as they appear 32:43 in Luke. Number one is in utero, and number two is in a teenager. 32:46 And who's this teenager? We already know. Just turn the page. 32:49 Let's just read this one. 32:51 This is verse 26. "In the sixth month of 32:53 Elizabeth's pregnancy --" because she did get pregnant -- 32:55 "God sent the angel Gabriel --" yep, same angel -- "to Nazareth, 32:59 a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man 33:02 named Joseph, a descendant of David. 33:04 And the virgin's name was Mary." Drop down to -- Drop down to 33:10 verse 30. "But the angel said to her --" 33:12 it's Gabriel again -- "'Do not be afraid, girl. 33:16 Don't be afraid. You have found favor with God." 33:20 And then he tells her she's gonna get pregnant. 33:22 Look at her response, verse 34. 33:34 Write it down one more time. "'The Holy Spirit, teenage 33:37 girl,'" 'cause she's, some scholars think, maybe 14, could 33:40 be even 13 years of age. She's young. 33:44 "'The Holy Spirit's gonna come on you. 33:47 Something's gonna happen to you that has happened to no human being and will never happen 33:49 again in the history of this universe. The Holy Spirit will come into 33:54 you." Whoa. Number three -- jot this one 33:58 down. So, we have in utero, we have in a teenager, and now we have 34:01 in an adult because actually -- Actually, it's a middle-aged adult since priests were 34:06 required to retire by the age of 50. So, we know Zechariah's under 34:08 50. He has to be. He wouldn't be doing what he's 34:10 doing. So, he's still, we can say, middle-aged, right? 34:13 Middle-aged, 50 years old. Elizabeth, his wife, would be about the same age. 34:17 Guess what. She gets pregnant. And Mary, who's so embarrassed about being pregnant and having 34:22 no husband -- she flees her little village of Nazareth and goes to be with Elizabeth. 34:27 And the moment Mary walks in the door, the baby in utero go, "Whoo!" 34:32 And Elizabeth cries out. Where is this? Elizabeth cries out. 34:37 Verse 41 -- "And when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby 34:40 leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the 34:43 Holy Spirit." In a loud voice, she praises 34:46 God. So, you can be middle-aged. 34:48 Apparently, the Holy Spirit -- You can be middle-aged, and the 34:50 Holy Spirit will come into you. And by the way, it's true for 34:52 her husband, also middle-aged. By the way, there's been a lot 34:55 of quiet around the house because he didn't believe that 34:58 Gabriel was -- "You can't do that. 34:59 You can't do it. Do you know how old my wife is?" 35:01 Gabriel says, "What's your problem? 35:03 Do you know who I am?" "No." 35:06 "I'm Gabriel." That's when he introduces 35:08 himself. "I'm Gabriel, and you're not 35:10 gonna talk for nine months." And he doesn't, can't talk. 35:14 [ Mumbles ] When the baby's born and they 35:17 come to Zechariah and say, "What do you want to name him?" -- 35:19 "Give me a -- Give me a tablet. His name is John." 35:25 And poof! His lips are open. 35:28 Look at this. Verse 67 -- "And his father, 35:31 Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, 35:34 'Praise be to God the Savior.'" There it is again. 35:37 So, what do we have here? What do we know? 35:38 How does the Holy Spirit -- With whom does the Holy Spirit 35:40 show up? Number one, he shows up in 35:42 utero. Number two, he shows up in a 35:43 teenager. Number three -- and four -- he 35:45 shows up in two middle-aged -- Now, we have to take this in 35:49 consecutive order, and you need to go to the very last line 35:52 before Luke tells the birth of Christ. 35:54 So, it's verse 80 in chapter 1. It's the boy John who's grown up 35:58 a little. Watch this. 36:00 Fill it in in your study guide. 36:08 Apparently, he even comes into children, not just in utero, but once you're out of the utero, 36:13 he can come into you. Can you believe that? The truth is -- Come on, guys. 36:18 Let's be honest, you and me. Let's be honest. The truth is, we sell our 36:22 children too short too often, don't we? We just sell them short. 36:26 "Dwight, you can't be talking about my 3-year-old. You cannot be talking about my 36:29 5-year-old. Do you know what my 5-year-old is like? 36:31 You should." No. I don't see any parameters here. 36:40 Apparently, the Holy Spirit can make a difference in any age, including your child. 36:45 Let me put this on the screen. 100 years ago, Ellen White wrote these words. 36:49 Then I'll go to a psychologist. 36:56 We'll look at the next line. "The promises spoken by the 36:58 great Teacher" -- that would be Christ... 37:04 3 years old -- Hey, wait a minute, come on, serious. 3 years old and the Holy Spirit 37:07 is gonna come into my child at 3? Yes. 37:10 2! 1! Doesn't matter. 37:15 "I'll come in." You ever watch the children's story on the big screen up here? 37:20 Those kids, they just... Why? Because their minds are like a sponge. 37:24 They're just soaking everything in. That's why a parent -- listen to 37:28 me -- that's why a young mother, young father, parents to be, guardian gets placed before the 37:33 inquisitive eyes and ears of your children -- they're soaking it all up, all of it. 37:39 They don't know that you don't soak this part, but you do soak this. 37:42 They don't know. Here comes the psychologist. Jean Twenge. 37:46 She wrote the book "iGen." We've quoted now this will be the third Sabbath in a row 37:50 because it's a critical book. Anyway, this is a secret that you need to know. 37:57 On the screen -- You have to fill this out -- On the 37:59 screen -- "Many tech CEOs" -- Okay, tech CEOs, you know who 38:02 we're talking about... 38:16 Now, here is Steve Jobs' reply. 38:27 Can you believe that? Keep reading. 38:43 And here's Twenge kind of editorializing. 39:04 They're not letting their kids. And what are we doing? We're buying up Best Buy with 39:10 all the gadgets we can for our 3-year-olds now, our 4-year-olds, iPads for anybody 39:15 up at this age. You figured out. Our little granddaughter, she 39:20 knows, pft, pft, pft, pft. But at what cost? At what price? 39:25 If the guys who have invented this are saying, "I'm not letting my kids have this," then 39:30 maybe they're telling us something. Maybe. 39:34 They're now finding 19-year-olds iGen'ers, 19-year-old. This little screen they become 39:40 addicted to. There actually now is a chemical addiction at 19 years of age. 39:44 "I got to have it, I got to have it, I got to have it. Don't take it away, please." 39:49 Like gold, "This is mine. My precious." [ Laughter ] 39:57 Isn't that what's happening? "Don't take it away from me!" Actually going through 40:04 withdrawal now, chemically. Oh, I'm telling you, Mom and Dad, don't put a screen in front 40:09 of your little 3-year-old, your little 5-year-old. "What age should I do it?" 40:13 I have no idea. I just know we gave our cellphone too early to our 40:17 daughter. If I could do that story over again, she would never get it. 40:21 All her friends were getting it, and the pressure was on, but I now realize if I had just had 40:27 the gumption to say, "Too bad. I'm the king of this fort." [ Laughter ] 40:33 I didn't. We made a mistake. And you may have already made a mistake. 40:39 It's okay. God says, "I can do business with this. 40:42 It's not the end of the world." But don't do it on purpose, young parent. 40:48 Don't do it on purpose, please. "What am I gonna do with my kids, then?" 40:52 Try this. R-E-A-D. Do you know what that spells? 40:55 R-E-A-D. [ Laughter ] You probably don't 'cause it's 40:59 not on the screen. Read! [ Laughter ] 41:02 Read! Buy them books this Christmas and read to them. 41:08 All right. Here we go. Number five. 41:10 Oh, boy, does he show up in utero, not only does he show up 41:13 in a teenager, not only does he show up in middle-aged adults, 41:16 but he also shows up in the elderly. 41:18 Would you write that in, please? In the elderly, the final piece. 41:23 First half of Luke chapter 2, Jesus gets born. Second half, Joseph and Mary are 41:27 taking their little boy to register this baby as a true son of Israel. 41:31 They're going to the big temple in Jerusalem, and there's a man in that temple who today was 41:36 told by the Holy Spirit, "Go to the temple. I promise you you would not die 41:41 before seeing the Messiah." That means he's very old. He's close to death. 41:47 And the spirit said, "Go to the temple. I will show you the new king." 41:54 Fill it in your study guide, will you, please? 41:57 "Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the 41:59 Holy Spirit was on him. And it had been revealed to him 42:01 by the Holy Spirit" -- reference number two -- "that he would not 42:04 die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah." 42:06 And reference number three -- "Moved by the Spirit, he went 42:08 into the temple courts and took the child in his arms and 42:11 praised God." 42:12 Apparently, ladies and gentlemen, in utero, in a child, in a teenager, in a middle-aged 42:17 adult, in the elderly, apparently no matter what age you are, you are always ripe and 42:22 ready for the in-filling of the Holy Spirit. Any age you wish. 42:25 You just name your age. You're ready. Man. 42:31 Which must be why the daily baptism of the Holy Spirit is such a big deal to God. 42:42 We left two lines out of Gabriel talking to Zachariah, stunned Zachariah. 42:47 Go back. Turn back to chapter 1. We left these two lines out on purpose, but I want you to see 42:53 why this baptism of the spirit is such a huge deal to God. Okay, so where is this? 42:58 Verse 16. 43:00 This is boy John. 43:06 There's gonna be a revival coming. 43:17 Why? Why, why, why? Here it comes now... 43:23 I want you to hang that line on the screen, please, for us. 43:29 Where I have my worship every morning, that is on the wall, 43:32 scotch tape on the wall, "to make ready a people prepared for 43:35 the Lord." Because that's why you and I 43:37 exist. We exist to do this. 43:41 We exist to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 43:44 I don't know if you understand how on the edge our society is right now. 43:51 This sexual harassment thing, I wrote a blog on it, this sexual harassment thing -- It's a 43:56 Pandora's box. This thing is just coming at us now from every possible angle. 44:02 What's up? All hell is letting loose. Somebody knows he's running out 44:10 of time. Even now our leaders are under the hypnotic sway. 44:20 Man. Are you serious? Some scouts sent me some material this last week. 44:25 I would share it here, but I don't want to. I think it's premature to point 44:31 attention to it, but there's stuff happening on this planet as we speak. 44:36 We are living on the cusp of the return of Jesus Christ to this planet. 44:41 Here's the deal. It's for that reason that the baptism of the spirit that was 44:45 critical for John, critical for Mary, critical for Elizabeth, critical for Zachariah, critical 44:51 for Simeon is critical for us. We must be baptized by the spirit. 44:57 That's why we started talking about this back in September, and that's why we're tailing 45:01 around as the semester ends now. One more time let's go back to that theme. 45:04 Let's do, and we have, and we are. You notice I didn't begin this 45:08 by saying, "Hey, here, I want to hear from all of you who have been praying every day for the 45:12 baptism of the Holy Spirit" since we spent three Sabbaths on it in September. 45:15 I wouldn't do that. You know why? 'Cause it's none of my business, 45:18 that's why, or anybody else's business. You know the answer to that. 45:21 So does the Holy Spirit. The deal is we're getting close to the end, and there will be a 45:28 generation that will be raised up, young and not so young, who will be warriors in the king's 45:36 army and who will be mobilized over this planet miraculously. And who will speak when the God 45:47 inside of him commands him to speak without fear, without fear. 45:53 And an entire planet overnight practically will be alerted to the Messiah's return. 46:05 Wow. It's a huge deal. It's why Jesus when he was here 46:09 said, "Oh, by the way. 46:11 Let me tell you something." Put it on the screen, please. 46:17 And itisChristmastime. Don't buy them something that 46:21 has to be charged necessarily, but you give good gifts. 46:33 That's how the Greek reads. Every day are asking, "Please 46:35 fill me. Fill me with the baptism of the 46:37 Holy Spirit. 46:39 I would give my personal testimony right now. I've thought about it, but I 46:44 said, "No, it would feel too fake. It would look forced. 46:47 It would look like, 'Whoa, who are you?'" I'm nobody. 46:51 But I need to tell you something. The Holy Spirit is everything. 46:56 It's everything I need. And he's everything you need. He's everything. 47:06 Saw a well-known writer in our faith community happened to listen to this humble, little 47:11 series back in September online, live-streaming. Wrote me a letter, said, "Hey, 47:17 Dwight, I saw it." He's a psychologist. He's a writer. 47:20 His name is Douglas Cooper. He said, "I've written a book, hasn't been published, called 47:26 "The Gentle Spirit." "The Gentle Spirit: The Holy Spirit, God's Greatest 47:33 Gift," all right? Fascinating book. He opens the book -- Listen to 47:37 this, and don't come and ask me for my copy. And it's not available anywhere 47:41 else, so you just have to hear this now. He opens the book with 43 47:44 reasons why you need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit every single day. 47:48 43 of them. He says, "You will never be the same. 47:50 43 reasons." 47:52 I want to share with you number 11, because number 11 describes 47:56 what I've been experiencing, and that's all I'm gonna tell you. 47:59 Somebody else wrote it. Fine by me. 48:01 Number 11 why you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 48:05 Listen to this. Synchronicity. 48:07 Synchronicity. Everything's in sync. 48:10 Synchronicity is experienced. When the Holy Spirit comes into 48:13 you, synchronicity is experienced. 48:15 "Once you have placed yourself at oneness with God, He is 48:18 living in you by His spirit, and you are connected everywhere you 48:21 go and everywhere you are. Think broadband, wi-fi, DSL, 4G 48:25 cellular network. You are connected everywhere 48:28 with the same great creative super-intelligent force that 48:31 created and sustains the world and continues to expand the very 48:34 dimensions of the unfathomably immense universe." 48:37 That power is now in you. Now, hold on. This gets even better. 48:43 "Your limitations can be transcended." We're always worried about, "Oh, 48:48 but I can't, but I can't because I'm this, I'm that." Forget it. 48:51 Your limitations can be transcended. He can do it. 48:54 Keep reading. "The universe will be on your side." 49:00 Now, hold on, hold on. "Meaningful coincidences -- Meaningful coincidences begin 49:07 to happen," and I love his definition. "A coincidence is God's way of 49:11 working a miracle anonymously." I tell you what, I stand here before you to tell you that's 49:20 exactly what happens. Sometimes I stop in the middle of a day and I say, "God, what 49:25 are You doing? What is this? I mean, I was thinking that, and 49:29 then he comes. I was thinking this, and there she is. 49:32 What are You doing?" He said, "Dwight, Dwight, didn't you ask Me? 49:37 Did you ask Me this morning to fill your life today? Didn't you ask to be baptized? 49:43 This is what I do for a living. I do this all the time. It's just if you don't ask, I 49:50 don't force myself. You can have this if you want it." 49:55 Jesus said every day continually, "Ask Him." Oh, one more line here. 50:02 So what happens, these meaningful coincidences? "Circumstances begin to work for 50:06 you, not against you. Other people become helpful to you, cooperative." 50:09 Like, "Wow. Where did that come from?" No, we're on your side. 50:12 Keep going. "Chance encounters that bless and benefit you and others will 50:15 increase. There will be many more unexpected helpful occurrences 50:18 and other remarkable synchronistic events in your life." 50:21 Now, here's the last line. "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." 50:29 You ready? Hey, church, are you ready? If you're ready, He will appear. 50:37 He will show up if He has your permission. But He has to have your 50:44 permission, because your free choice is way too valuable to Him. 50:48 He has to have your permission. If the student is ready, "when the student is ready, the 50:56 teacher will appear." So, guys, that's it. That's the gift. 51:03 You can have it every single day of your life. I promise you. 51:10 Yeah, but, Dwight, you got to make this simpler than that. Okay, I'm gonna close with this. 51:17 And you already have it in your study guide, so I'm gonna just fly through this. 51:20 I'm gonna give you a way, a little Christmas primer, on how to be baptized with the 51:24 Holy Spirit. Over the holiday, 'cause holiday's coming, and into the 51:27 new year, little four-stepper. Would that be okay? Let me run these by you. 51:30 You can do this every single day. You don't have to be a rocket 51:33 scientist to experience this. Here we go. Number one. Step number one in your study 51:39 guide, it's called the set-up. Okay? So you go to a little place where you can be alone for 51:43 15 minutes. 15 minutes is a deal. 15 minutes a day. 51:46 Step number one. So I go to my little corner. What am I gonna say there, 51:49 Dwight? You say this. Put it on the screen. 51:51 "I'm ready and waiting to connect with You -- let's talk." Okay, that's it. 51:54 "I'm ready and waiting to connect with You -- let's talk." "Well, what am I supposed to 51:58 do?" Well, take the Bible. Just do one story a day on 52:02 Jesus. One story a day on Jesus. Just read it, re-read it to 52:05 relive it. Just let it become a part of you. 52:08 That's it. That's it. Now, don't leave step number two out, 'cause here's the ask. 52:12 And what's the ask? Put it on the screen, please. 52:14 Here's the ask. Please baptize me with the same 52:18 Holy Spirit that baptized Jesus in the story I just read. 52:21 So just let me have the spirit that was operating in him." 52:24 I ask for that spirit. This is all in your study guide. 52:29 So, the set-up, the ask, and now very important, number three, 52:35 the thank you. What are you talking about, 52:37 Dwight? Well, put it down. 52:38 "Thank you for the fresh baptism I've received from you today." 52:41 Isn't that taking it a little bit for granted? 52:43 Maybe I didn't get the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 52:45 My friend, if you are asking for the Holy Spirit, guess what? 52:48 You got him. Let me read this. 52:49 Put it on the screen. 1 John 5:14-15. 53:05 If He says, "Ask me every day for the Holy Spirit and I will give it to you," guess what? 53:09 Every day that you ask, you get it, girl. Boy, you get it every single day 53:15 that you ask. He said so. Don't wait to feel it. 53:19 That's what kills us. We all, "Ahhh." No, there's nothing to feel. 53:23 It's faith. Believe. Just believe. 53:28 You have the gift. Step four, step four, it's the go. 53:33 Get up out of there. 15 minutes is done. Let's get going. 53:37 Step four, the go. Oh, when I found this, this is so beautiful. 53:40 Put it on the screen, please, for us. Look at this. 53:42 This is from "The Message" rendition. 53:45 You see that on the screen? Proverbs 3:6. 53:48 Isn't this beautiful? 53:59 "I'm with you. Lo, I'm with you always even at the end of the age. 54:03 I'm with you. Ask me." And we'll turn this world upside 54:07 down, you and me. We'll turn the world upside down. 54:11 I'm praying to God for 100 pleaders. God, just 100 pleaders on the 54:15 campus of Andrews University. Berrien Springs, Michigan. 100 pleaders who will every day 54:22 say, "Please. Please baptize me today. Fill me with Your spirit." 54:28 Guys, ladies and gentlemen, it's that simple. It's not hard. 54:33 You just ask, and you receive. You seek, and you find. You... 54:38 [ Knocking ] ...knock, pssh, and the doors open to you. 54:47 So keep asking. Please. That's it. 54:53 That's all I have to say. I hope you do it. I'm praying for you. 54:57 I am praying for you. I need it. We need. God needs 100 pleaders for the 55:05 new year. 100. And you're one of them. Adventists believe that we're 55:13 nearing the end. We need to act. We need to act on that belief. 55:18 Let's pray. Oh, God, hear us. Let it well up. 55:23 Oh, come, Emmanuel. Come. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, we pray. 55:29 And that baptism that you promised to every man, woman, and child in this space right 55:35 now, create the hunger and thirst to receive Your gift every single morning until Jesus 55:44 comes. We pray in his name. Amen. 55:51 Karen and I wanted to take this family moment at the end of our 55:53 worship celebration to let you know how grateful we are for 55:56 you. I've often wished that through 55:58 the miracle of technology, there'd be some way to turn this 56:00 screen into a two-way window so that we could see you even as 56:03 you're looking at us. 56:04 I guess that would be like Skyping our little granddaughter, Ella. 56:08 But what a conversation we could have together. >> One reason we have to be 56:12 thankful is for your prayers. You'll never know the impact your prayers have on this 56:17 ministry, on us, and our entire team. We get letters literally from 56:21 around the world, and nothing boosts our confidence more than to hear that you're praying for 56:26 us. Thank you. >> Another reason I'm personally 56:29 grateful to God is the very gifted team of young producers and techs who lead our 56:33 television, our live-streaming, and our online ministries. And get this number -- out of 56:38 the 50 team members, 47 are volunteers who cheerfully give their time to make 56:42 "New Perceptions" possible. I say God bless them all. >> And maybe you'd expect us to 56:47 say this as another year draws to an end, but we're also thankful for the financial 56:52 support of viewers like you who make this ministry possible. If you've been blessed this 56:57 year, we'd like to ask you to join the hundreds of people who financially support our 57:02 "New Perceptions" ministry. It's simple to do. 57:05 >> It really is. Just call our toll-free number. 57:07 You'll see it on the screen now. 877 and then the two words 57:11 "HIS-WILL." One of our friendly operators 57:13 will be happy to assist you. You can also click on the 57:15 "donate" link at the top of our website. 57:17 Trust me. No gift is too small for God to 57:20 use to spread His good news. And let me remind you, not a 57:23 single penny of your donation will come to me. 57:25 Every gift is entirely invested in our mission to communicate 57:29 God's everlasting Gospel to what we believe is an end-time 57:33 generation. So once again, the number to 57:35 call is 877-HIS-WILL. >> And so this Christmas, from 57:40 our family to yours, we wish for you God's best gifts wrapped up 57:44 in Jesus day and night, all through the new year to come. 57:48 >> Because remember, with Jesus, the best isn't just behind us. The very best is yet to come. 57:54 So a blessed holiday to all of you. 58:04 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:25 ♪♪ |
Revised 2017-12-07