Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Brian Hamilton, Mollie Steenson, Pr John Lomacang, Jill Morikone
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP000009A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:07 It says, "To receive with meekness 00:09 the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:13 And to be diligent 00:15 to present yourself approved to God 00:17 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:20 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:24 Our study today is 00:25 The Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 00:32 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 00:35 and we are so excited to be with you today. 00:37 We're glad that you're joining us. 00:39 Encourage you to get a Bible, get a pen. 00:42 We're gonna have a wonderful study today. 00:43 This is the first quarter of 2017 00:46 which is the Holy Spirit and Spirituality. 00:49 And if you don't have one of these study guides, 00:52 you can go to the internet at absg, 00:56 that stands for Adult Bible Study Guide, 00:58 absg.adventist.org 01:02 and download one so that you can study with us. 01:05 Let me quickly introduce our panel to you. 01:09 And it's just such a joy to be here 01:11 with my dear friends. 01:14 We're family at 3ABN, truly we are. 01:17 We're glad you're part of our family. 01:19 But next to me is Brian Hamilton. 01:21 Then we have Mollie Steenson, Pastor John Lomacang, 01:26 and Jill Morikone. 01:28 Something that I so appreciate about each one of these 01:31 and about doing Sabbath School in a panel is that 01:34 I guarantee you each person has spent more time 01:39 in preparing their little ten-minute segment 01:42 than we have time in this hour to present. 01:45 But it gives us really great spiritual nuggets. 01:50 We are studying today lesson number nine 01:54 on the Holy Spirit and the Church. 01:56 And let's read our memory text which is 02:01 Ephesians 4:3-6, 02:05 excuse me 3-5, isn't it? 02:08 And we're going to read this from the NASB. 02:13 "So being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit 02:18 and the bonds of peace there is one body and one spirit 02:24 just as you are called in one hope of your calling. 02:28 One Lord, one faith and one baptism." 02:33 Amen. 02:34 I'm just going to, I thought that 02:36 the introduction to this lesson was really brilliant 02:41 and I just want to kind of paraphrase this. 02:43 What we're studying is how the Holy Spirit, 02:47 the author made the point that we usually think of 02:49 how the Holy Spirit works in us individually 02:53 but He's working to create a spiritual community, 02:57 so it is the Spirit's ultimate responsibility 03:01 for the existence of the church of Christ. 03:05 He says, you know, we think, oh, 03:08 it's our evangelistic series, it's our mission stories 03:11 but no, it's because of what the Lord has already done 03:15 and what He continues to do through the Spirit 03:18 that the church is growing. 03:20 He's creating a spiritual community 03:22 and that fellowship has its foundation 03:25 on the written Word of God. 03:28 The same Spirit inspired those words 03:32 and those words then bring us 03:36 unity in doctrine and unity in belief. 03:38 So we, the author concludes, the church would not exist 03:45 without the Holy Spirit's work. 03:48 Any comment? 03:50 It couldn't, it couldn't because 03:52 the Holy Spirit is the one that Jesus left 03:54 as the overseer of the church. 03:57 Amen. 03:58 He said, I'm leaving but I'm not gonna leave you 04:00 without a Comforter. 04:02 I'm not gonna leave you without a Helper. 04:03 He's gonna guide you and we'll discover 04:05 in which ways, I'll wait till I get to my part 04:08 which ways the Holy Spirit continues to guide 04:10 and what His final aim really is. 04:13 Absolutely. Well said. 04:16 Now before we get into Sunday's lesson, let's pray. 04:20 We always want to pray and ask the Holy Spirit 04:23 to guide us in our lessons in our study. 04:26 Mollie, would you like to have prayer? 04:28 Sure. 04:29 Holy Father we come before You 04:30 in the name of Jesus, and we praise You 04:32 and we thank You Lord for Your grace and Your mercy 04:35 and Your goodness to us. 04:36 We thank You Lord for this Word that we're studying today. 04:40 This Word that unites us, 04:42 this Word that illuminates our hearts. 04:46 And Father, this Word that gives us 04:49 a true understanding of the person 04:51 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 04:53 I ask God now that by the power of Your Spirit 04:55 you would open up all of our hearts 04:57 that as this Word goes forth, 04:59 You'll be implanted in us Father and change us 05:03 into Your image and likeness, I pray this in Jesus' name. 05:06 Amen. Amen. Amen. 05:08 Okay, let's look at Sunday's lesson 05:11 and Sunday's lesson title is 05:13 The Holy Spirit unites us with Christ. 05:17 You're in Ephesians. 05:19 Just flip over back one chapter 05:20 to Ephesians 3:16 and 17. 05:26 Because I cannot speak about this 05:29 without looking at the Scripture. 05:33 This is one of my favorite Scriptures. 05:35 Paul is writing to the Ephesians 05:36 and he says that he would grant you, 05:39 praying that God would grant you 05:41 according to the riches of His glory 05:45 to be strengthened with might, how? 05:50 Through His Spirit in the inner man, 05:54 so through the Spirit indwelling you 05:57 for this purpose, 05:59 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, 06:04 and then he goes on that you being rooted 06:06 and grounded in love can grow up into Christ Jesus. 06:09 But when you think about this, when Jesus returned to heaven, 06:13 He had something that He didn't come to earth with. 06:16 What was that? 06:18 He returned to heaven with a physical body, didn't He? 06:22 He is still the Son of Man, the Son of God. 06:26 He went with a body so He can't be 06:29 in all places at all times. 06:31 That's why He told His disciples 06:34 it's better for you that I go 06:36 because if I go, I will send another Comforter, 06:39 allos parakletos, one who is just like me. 06:43 So Christ now, we are united with Christ by the Holy Spirit 06:49 as the Holy Spirit dwells in us, 06:52 Christ lives in our hearts by faith. 06:55 And I also think of 1 Corinthians 6:17 that says 06:58 "Those who have been joined to Christ 07:02 are one in Spirit with Him." 07:05 I have to take that by faith because 07:07 I don't always feel that I am one in Spirit. 07:10 But our lesson today is showing us that 07:12 our adoption as sons and daughters, 07:14 our justification, our sanctification, 07:17 every thing is received through our union with Christ. 07:23 He's the foundation. 07:25 So let's look at Ephesians 2:18. 07:31 Brian, why don't you read that one? 07:33 Ephesians 2:18, "For through Him 07:38 we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." 07:43 The Him must be Jesus. 07:45 "So through Jesus or Christ, we both have access 07:50 by one Spirit to the Father." 07:53 And the access of both, the both refers 07:56 to the Jews and the Gentiles. 07:59 The Jews knew Jesus through study of His Word. 08:03 They knew Him through religious ceremonies. 08:05 The Gentiles didn't have much knowledge of God 08:10 so they both needed Christ for salvation 08:13 but what I love about this Scripture, 08:16 through Christ we both have access by one Spirit. 08:21 It's like the imagery of a court official 08:24 who is standing there and ushering you 08:27 into the presence of a king. 08:29 So it is by, it's through Christ 08:33 and what He's done for us, but it is by the Spirit 08:37 that we are ushered into His presence. 08:40 I just love that. So now let's continue. 08:43 Mollie, would you read verse 20, 08:44 we're looking at Ephesians 2:20-22. 08:50 Ephesians 2:20-22, 08:52 "Having been built on the foundation 08:54 of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself 08:57 being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building 09:01 being fitted together grows into a holy temple 09:05 in the Lord in whom you also are being built together 09:09 for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." 09:12 So we see here that, you know what a cornerstone 09:17 in the ancient times? 09:19 There was this stone that was placed 09:22 where two walls joined at right angles 09:26 and that stone held everything together, 09:29 and on that stone 09:31 whoever was the leader of the country, 09:37 the ruler would write their name on that 09:40 to let them know he's the one who's responsible 09:44 for the construction of this building. 09:46 So Christ is our cornerstone here. 09:49 But it says that it's built on the foundation 09:53 of the apostles and the prophets. 09:56 When we think about the apostles and prophets, 09:59 would you agree they had a very unique relationship 10:02 with Jesus. 10:04 And so, because of their unique relationship, 10:09 Christ gave them His teachings. 10:12 Their writings were inspired by the Holy Spirit 10:16 and it was their teachings that became 10:20 the foundation of our Scripture. 10:22 So that is how we are built on the foundation 10:26 of the apostles and the prophets. 10:28 Our church is built on spiritual heritage 10:34 of these teachings. 10:35 It is not built on the very fluid 10:39 and modern ideology of mankind. 10:43 Which, you know, you see a lot of churches 10:45 going in that direction and it's dangerous. 10:47 Or even tradition, church tradition. 10:49 Absolutely. It's not built on that either. 10:52 That's absolutely. 10:54 But, also I want to look there in verse 21 10:58 where it says that the whole building 11:00 being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 11:06 You know, that shows we're under construction, 11:08 doesn't it? 11:10 And we are, this construction is being expanded 11:14 by the work of the Holy Spirit in us and through us. 11:20 And we spent last week talking about the gifts 11:22 and how these are for the edifying, 11:24 the building up of the body. 11:26 But then at the end of this chapter 11:28 then Paul is concluding that God's dwelling place 11:33 is not the temple in Jerusalem but it's the church. 11:37 And I would go so far as to say the church is not a building. 11:41 That's right. 11:43 The church is made up of living spiritual stones. 11:46 We're all spiritual stones. 11:49 So we might say, "Oh, that's a beautiful church." 11:51 It's the people that are the church. 11:54 It's a beautiful people. 11:55 But the building is just where we go, 11:59 our meeting place which we go in and out of, right? 12:02 Now let's look at 1 Peter 2 12:06 and we're gonna look at verses 6 and 7. 12:10 1 Peter 2:6-7. 12:17 John, you want to read that for us? 12:19 Sure. 12:20 "Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, 12:24 'Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, 12:27 elect, precious, and he who believes on Him 12:32 will by no means be put to shame.' 12:36 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious, 12:40 but to those who are disobedient, 12:43 'The stone which the builders rejected 12:46 has become the chief cornerstone.'" 12:49 What does that say to you John? 12:51 Well, you know, the believer benefits 12:54 from the cornerstone, 12:55 the non-believer does not benefit 12:57 from the cornerstone, 12:59 the connection between 13:01 the believer and Christ is Himself. 13:04 You know, it's a very unusual picture 13:06 when you think what connects us together? 13:08 The Holy Spirit is that one that brings us together. 13:12 But Jesus being the chief cornerstone, 13:16 He's the one that holds us together. 13:19 See the work of the Spirit of God, 13:20 and I remember this very well in John 16, 13:23 He says the Spirit even when He comes and does 13:25 all this massive beautiful work. 13:27 He will not speak on His own authority 13:29 but whatever He hears, He will speak. 13:32 And so, he's coming to convey us to Christ, 13:35 not to convey us to himself. 13:36 And that's again we see the humility of the Godhead. 13:41 Jesus did everything according to what the Father 13:44 had to say and do. 13:46 The Holy Spirit does everything to bring glory to Jesus and 13:49 then in the end, God is going to exalt Christ 13:53 and every knee will bow to Him. 13:56 Now, it's interesting when you think about this 13:59 that the chief cornerstone who is so precious, 14:02 so the elect cornerstone of God became a stumbling stone 14:08 to those who rejected Him, 14:10 so they're not part of the building 14:13 if they reject Jesus Christ. 14:15 They're not part of the church. 14:17 When you think of the unity, I'm just going 14:19 to finish with this thought. 14:21 One of my favorite Scriptures, and you know this, 14:23 I use it quite often when I sign off 14:26 is in 2 Corinthians 13:14, 14:32 when we have accepted Christ and His salvation, 14:36 we have a sweet fellowship with the Holy Spirit. 14:40 And 2 Corinthians 13:14, Paul said, 14:44 "May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 14:48 the love of the Father 14:51 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 14:52 be with you always." 14:54 So Christ is our foundation. 14:57 The Holy Spirit unites us with Christ 15:01 and the Holy Spirit is responsible 15:05 for building up the church in us and through us. 15:11 All right, Brian, why don't you take Monday? 15:14 Okay. 15:16 Monday, the lead text for Monday 15:18 was 1 Corinthians 12:13. 15:23 And why don't you turn there in your Bibles 15:27 and I'll give you just a second, 15:28 1 Corinthians 12:13, 15:34 and this is how it reads, 15:38 "For by one Spirit 15:41 we were all baptized into one body," 15:47 then it goes on to say, whether Jews or Greeks, 15:50 that's in the New Testament a way of encompassing 15:54 all peoples, all groups, "Jews or Greeks, 15:58 whether slave or free 16:01 and have all been made to drink into one Spirit." 16:06 The title for Monday's study is 16:10 The Holy Spirit unites us through baptism. 16:16 When it says the Holy Spirit, 16:19 this is the third person of the Godhead 16:22 and its name gives a certain, 16:26 it defines a certain part of the characteristic of that 16:30 third person of the Godhead. 16:33 And the part that's being emphasized is his invisibility. 16:39 Because the word Spirit is the word for breath. 16:44 Whether you go to the Old Testament, 16:46 New Testament, the word is the breath. 16:49 It's the invisibleness of that being, okay? 16:55 Now baptism is a service that's visible. 17:02 So what we have uniting here, the invisible Holy Spirit 17:09 unites us through a visible symbol 17:13 or ordinance, baptism. 17:16 That's right. 17:17 Let me put this in an example form. 17:24 Diane and I met at Andrews University. 17:30 I looked through the picture book 17:31 and I found her picture in there. 17:33 Circled it and said, this is the one. 17:35 Yeah. 17:36 And then I went after her, you know, to try to be, 17:40 to get myself introduced to this young lady, okay? 17:46 So the first thing that probably initially attracted me 17:52 was her physical beauty to me, okay. 17:57 I liked that, there's nothing wrong with that, okay. 18:02 But as we got to know each other, 18:05 we became united 18:09 in the invisible aspects of our being. 18:14 That's where, you know, our thinking, 18:16 our thoughts are invisible. 18:19 Our emotions, our love, 18:22 our affections, our joys, 18:25 these are all invisible attributes. 18:29 And so over time, the invisible attributes 18:34 became more dominant in uniting us 18:39 than the physical aspects. 18:42 And so when I look at this title, 18:45 the Holy Spirit unites us through baptism. 18:49 Here you have this being who's invisible to us. 18:54 We can't see him, we can't reach out 18:56 and touch him. 18:58 Okay, he is. 18:59 But he unites us and he unites us 19:03 through this very visible service 19:05 that we call baptism. 19:10 And just like what Diane and I, as we became united, 19:14 we had a public ceremony called the wedding. 19:20 Did the wedding unite us? 19:22 No. No. 19:23 It was something that happened before the wedding 19:26 that united us. 19:28 The wedding was the outward symbol of something 19:32 that had already occurred between us and within us. 19:37 It was a public confession as well, wasn't it? 19:39 Yeah. It was. 19:40 So we gave witness to the love in visible attribute 19:46 that united us, had already united us 19:50 and so we gave a public expression to it. 19:53 And so in the Old Testament 19:57 there are many rituals and symbols in worship. 20:03 But in the New Testament, 20:06 it's like the Lord stripped all those away 20:09 and there was a reason for it. 20:11 It's very easy for us as human beings 20:13 to start worshipping the ritual, 20:16 looking to the ritual as the means of our salvation, 20:22 rather than what the ritual stands for, 20:25 or what the ritual means. 20:27 Okay? 20:28 So in the New Testament, it's basically 20:31 the Lord's Supper and baptism. 20:35 So what is this symbol of baptism all about? 20:39 Let's go to Romans 6. 20:44 Romans 6:3-7. 20:51 And, Mollie, I'll have you read that for us. 20:56 Okay. Romans 6:3-7. 21:00 All right. 21:01 "Or do you not know that as many of us 21:04 as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? 21:09 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism 21:12 into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead 21:17 by the glory of the Father, 21:19 even so we also should walk in newness of life. 21:22 For if we had been united together 21:25 in the likeness of His death, certainly we also 21:28 shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. 21:31 Knowing this that our old man was crucified with Him 21:35 that the body of sin might be done away with 21:38 that we should no longer be slaves of sin, 21:41 for He who has died has been freed from sin." 21:46 Amen. Amen. 21:47 So this word baptism and the act of baptism 21:53 has a lot of meaning and symbolism to us. 21:57 The idea of you go down into the water 22:02 and are immersed in it. 22:04 Now this is where the sprinkling won't work. 22:08 No. You know. 22:09 And that's how some churches do it today, 22:12 it's more convenient to sprinkle a little bit 22:14 but it loses its symbolism and the meanings 22:18 behind the act of baptism. 22:20 And so you are, as it were, laid in a grave 22:25 like Jesus was laid in a tomb or laid in a grave of baptism 22:30 and then Jesus was resurrected from that death, that grave 22:34 and He came forth to life, He stood up, came out. 22:39 So we come out of the watery grave 22:43 to walk a whole new life. 22:46 And the Holy Spirit, this invisible being 22:50 of the third person of the Godhead 22:53 is actively involved in uniting each person 22:58 who is baptized into a united body, the church. 23:02 That's how we become part of a church family. 23:05 It's through baptism. 23:07 I love what you said that you know it's, 23:09 when you and Diane were united in spirit 23:13 basically before you were married, 23:14 because this is, baptism is symbolic 23:17 of what's already happened. 23:20 So it is dying to self. 23:23 We've already but really should've been baptized 23:25 into the death of Jesus Christ, 23:27 the dying Himself, I know, I've been... 23:29 Before we went to the act of baptism. 23:30 I've been baptized four times and the fourth time was 23:34 when I knew what it meant that I was supposed to be 23:38 dying to self and being resurrected again, 23:40 but baptism is a sign and a seal 23:43 of the crucified flesh, is it not just like 23:47 when you think that Abraham, the sign of the covenant 23:50 with him was circumcision. 23:52 Well, baptism is kind of a circumcision of our heart. 23:56 I mean it's a sign and a seal of that 23:58 we've been through that. 24:00 Yes, that's right. 24:04 So just to summarize it a bit, 24:07 you have the Holy Spirit unites us through Christ, 24:12 is that the way it was, with Christ. 24:16 But the Holy Spirit unites us through the act of baptism. 24:23 And the entrance to the church through the body to the family 24:29 is through this ceremony that we call baptism. 24:33 The way we enter into marriage is we go through the symbol, 24:38 the ceremony and it is a wedding, 24:42 and it unites two people to become one body, one flesh. 24:48 So that was what I see as the essence 24:51 to our Monday's lesson. 24:54 And, Mollie, we'll just kind of move on 24:57 toward Tuesday with you. 24:59 Okay. 25:01 On Tuesday I'd look at, the Holy Spirit 25:05 unites the church through the Word of God. 25:09 You looked at baptism, now we're looking at 25:11 the uniting through the Word of God. 25:14 And the primary means by which the Holy Spirit unites us 25:20 with Jesus Christ is through the written Word of God. 25:23 Now that's the primary way we become united. 25:26 But now you were talking about baptism. 25:30 When we come out of darkness and into light, 25:34 what has happened? 25:35 Somebody has shared the Word with us. 25:38 Somebody has shared the gospel message with us. 25:41 We're in church and Pastor Lomacang preaches 25:44 and just our heart is just moved 25:47 that we need to make Jesus Christ 25:49 the Lord of our life. 25:51 When we come out of darkness and into light, 25:53 you know what we're likened to? 25:55 Little babies, little children. 25:57 We don't but then through God's Word, 26:01 as we study God's Word and we get into that Word, 26:04 what does that Word start doing? 26:06 It starts showing us the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 26:10 We take on His attitudes and His attributes. 26:14 It unites us to Christ 26:18 and when we're united to Christ, 26:20 we're united to the church. 26:22 That's why it's so vitally important 26:25 that we as Christians, particularly baby Christians, 26:29 everybody walks at their own level. 26:32 You know the longer you serve the Lord, 26:35 the more like Him you should be. 26:38 And as you are reading God's Word 26:42 and studying God's Word, 26:44 then you are being more united with Christ 26:48 through His Word. 26:49 It's vitally important that we study God's Word 26:52 that we spend timei n God's Word, 26:54 but it's not just enough to read it. 26:57 Shelley, Jill, Pastor Lomacang and you Brian, 27:00 there are so many that have hidden 27:03 God's Word in their heart 27:05 and I believe that's what the Psalmist said in 119:11. 27:08 You know, what that means? You memorize God's Scripture. 27:12 Now I know God's Word, but I have a short coming, 27:15 I'll just confess my shortcoming. 27:17 It's not that I don't know it, it's not that I don't know 27:20 what book it's in and where it's located in my Bible, 27:23 but I can't always tell you the chapter and the verse, 27:27 but I know it's there and usually I can, 27:30 you know I could quote King James. 27:32 For years I've quoted King James. 27:34 Then I started studying the Amplified Bible, 27:36 it got me all messed up. 27:38 Now I quote King Amplified sometimes and it gets better. 27:42 But we hide God's Word in our heart. Why? 27:45 Why does the Psalmist say that you hide God's Word, 27:48 memorize God's Word, get what God's Word in your heart? 27:51 It's so that we won't sin against God. 27:56 I'm looking in Acts 17:11. 28:01 And Paul is commending his disciples 28:05 and here is what he says. 28:08 "These were more fair minded than those in Thessalonica 28:14 and that they received the Word with all readiness." 28:17 They received God's Word with all readiness 28:20 and searched the Scriptures how often? 28:23 Daily. 28:25 They searched the Scriptures daily 28:27 to find out whether these things were so. 28:29 And I want to encourage you in that because you know 28:33 we hear God's Word and it sounds good 28:37 but these men, he's addressing and women here in Acts, 28:42 not only did they hear the Word and receive it with readiness, 28:46 they said, now, wait a minute, let me make sure that 28:51 what I'm being taught is the truth. 28:53 Paul commends them. 28:55 They had a ready heart, 28:56 a willing heart they wanted to learn, 28:58 but then they took it one step forward, 29:00 they searched those Scriptures to make sure that 29:03 every word that Pastor Lomacang preached was right. 29:07 And we encourage that. 29:09 And then I want to take us to John 5. 29:14 Now what has just happened here in John 5? 29:20 Paul is address... Pardon me 29:22 John is addressing... 29:25 Jesus is addressing here in John, 29:27 the Jews and the Jews had just tried to kill Him, 29:31 they sought to kill Him. 29:32 You know, why they were seeking to kill Him? 29:35 Because He had healed on the Sabbath. 29:39 That had infuriated them. 29:41 And so what Jesus is doing, He is rebuking them. 29:45 And He says here in John 5:39, you search the Scriptures, 29:51 now, did the Jewish leaders in that day, 29:54 were they big on searching the Scriptures? 29:56 Oh, yeah. Oh, they were. 29:58 They searched the Scriptures, for in them 30:02 you think you have eternal life. 30:05 But see it's not the Scriptures that give you eternal life. 30:09 What gives you eternal life? 30:11 It's the person of the Lord Jesus Christ 30:13 and He goes on to say, 30:15 and these are they which testify of me. 30:19 So they were looking to the Scriptures to save them 30:22 and Jesus is saying, no, it's not the cold dead word 30:26 that will save, it's the living word 30:29 that you will find in the Scriptures 30:31 because it testifies of Me. 30:33 Now go to John 8, 30:35 we're gonna look at verses 31 and 32. 30:38 Jesus again is addressing the Jews 30:41 but a different portion of the Jews. 30:46 First He was addressing the leaders 30:49 that were trying to kill Him, 30:50 now He's addressing those that love Him, 30:53 that had accepted Him. 30:55 John 8:31-32, 30:58 "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 31:02 'If you abide in my Word," what does that Word abide mean? 31:05 Dwell in, to rest in. 31:07 Dwell in, live in, spend time in it. 31:10 What does Joshua say, this book of the law 31:13 shall not depart out of your mouth 31:15 but you will meditate on it how often? 31:18 Both day and night that you may observe to do 31:21 according to all that's written therein, 31:23 for then you'll make your way prosperous 31:24 and you'll have good success. 31:26 How? Through God's Word. 31:30 Then Jesus said, if you abide in My Word, 31:33 you are my disciples indeed. 31:35 You want to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, 31:37 abide in Word, and you shall know the truth 31:40 and the truth shall make you free. 31:42 Set you free. 31:43 That's what the power of the Word is. 31:45 This Word that unites us with Christ 31:48 that unites the church, it sets us free. 31:51 And I ask this question, what does it set us free from? 31:55 We can say sin but I love the Scripture 31:57 in Romans 8:1-2, 31:59 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those 32:03 who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh 32:08 but after the Spirit, 32:09 for the law of the Spirit of life 32:13 in Christ Jesus has made me free" from what? 32:17 "From the law of sin and death." 32:19 See, it's the power of this Word, 32:21 spending time in this Word that will set us free 32:25 from the law of sin. 32:27 Just listen to this. 32:29 The power, the law of the Spirit 32:34 of life in Christ Jesus. 32:35 Doesn't that just sound good and nice? 32:37 The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, 32:40 the law of sin and death. 32:41 Don't you want to be set free from the law of sin and death? 32:44 At one time we were living under the law of sin and death. 32:49 We make Jesus Christ the Lord of our life, 32:51 we get transformed, out of the kingdom of darkness, 32:55 where are we now? 32:56 In the kingdom of God's dear Son 32:58 through the power of His Word. 33:00 Now history shows us that every great move of God 33:06 had its root in a revival of the Word. 33:10 I'm thinking about the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 33:12 What do our roots tell us? 33:15 Didn't our founding fathers... 33:19 Didn't these founding fathers of the Adventist Church, 33:22 what did they start spending time doing, Brian? 33:25 They studied together the Word of God. 33:28 They immersed themselves in the Word of God, 33:30 and you know what God did by the power of His Spirit? 33:33 Started giving them revelation and truth and it united them 33:39 in Spirit, a great move of God, 33:42 and I'm thinking in church history 33:45 what is in your opinion 33:48 the greatest change or movement 33:53 that effected a change in the church for the better? 33:56 Would that not be it took place 500 years ago. 34:01 On October 31, 500 years ago. 34:04 Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses. 34:06 Yes. Protestant Reformation? 34:09 Protestant Reformation, and you know 34:11 what happened there? 34:12 Martin Luther was a reformer, he was a German professor 34:15 of theology, composer, he was a priest, a monk, 34:18 a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. 34:21 And what caused the reformation to come about? 34:23 Here's what history will tell you. 34:25 From 1510 to 1520 Luther lectured on the Psalms, 34:30 the Books of Hebrews, Romans and Galatians. 34:32 He studied these portions of the Bible. 34:34 You know what he did? Ooh, I'm out of time. 34:38 It was hard for people to get their hands 34:40 on the Word of God at that time. 34:41 Remember they were in the monasteries. 34:44 He got his hands on the Word of God 34:46 and he looked in the Word 34:47 and then he looked in the church 34:49 and he found 95 things that just didn't add up. 34:51 He got in God's Word and the Word revitalized him 34:55 and he... 34:57 The reformation showed us that, or showed the world 35:03 that you need to come out of these areas of error. 35:06 That's what the Word will do. 35:07 It will show you your error, it will unite you with Christ 35:10 and you hear this saying, God said it, 35:13 I believe it and that settles it. 35:15 Hey, guys, that's wrong. 35:16 God said it, that settles it, whether you believe it or not. 35:19 Amen. Pastor John. 35:21 You know I like that. 35:23 God said it, I believe it and that settles it. 35:25 But even if you don't believe it, 35:27 it's still settled. 35:28 The Word of God is settled in heaven. 35:31 It's not settled in whether or not we believe it. 35:34 I'm so excited about this one because it's the Holy Spirit 35:36 unites the church in faith and doctrine. 35:38 One of the radical things that's happening in our age, 35:42 this is radical. 35:43 This is a paradigm shift. 35:46 Somewhere we got away from this word 'truth'. 35:50 The word truth has become a bad word in Christianity. 35:57 When you say to somebody, let's study God's Word 36:00 to see what is truth, you get responses like this, 36:04 "You mean what is truth to you?" 36:05 It's relative. 36:06 Or based on what you interpret it to be. 36:08 Or is it relative, or is it relevant? 36:11 Or does it still matter? 36:13 And then they pit Peter's truth against Paul's truth 36:18 against the truth of Jesus. 36:20 They pit the Old Testament against the New Testament. 36:23 They pit the Old Covenant against the New Covenant. 36:27 They pit the Jews against the Gentiles 36:30 and they say, so whose truth are you trying 36:32 to share with me? 36:33 And today the word truth is a significant part 36:36 of why I think this portion of the lesson was given. 36:40 Because it's not possible to be unified 36:43 without the Word of God being at the foundation. 36:46 I put some notes down here 36:48 because the work of the Holy Spirit 36:49 is not to just get you excited. 36:51 Oh, Lord, bless Pastor C.D. Brooks, 36:53 he's resting in Jesus but I've said this 36:55 a thousand times if not more than that. 36:59 He said, it's not how high you jump, 37:01 it's how straight you walk when you hit the ground. 37:03 Amen. 37:05 And so many people today feel the Spirit of God 37:07 has come to revive this emotional euphoric, 37:10 some kind of drug plan for Christianity. 37:13 Infusing them with this emotional feeling of, 37:16 "Oh, I love you, Lord, I thank you Jesus, 37:18 You mean so much." 37:20 And the Lord says, "Okay, 37:21 if you love Me, keep My commandments." 37:23 Well, okay, not that, don't go too far on that, Lord. 37:26 I mean, really that's what's happening 37:27 in Christianity today. 37:29 So we have, as a musician, we've taken music to a place 37:31 that God has never intended it to be. 37:33 A substitution for the Word. 37:36 God has never intended music 37:37 to be a substitution for the Word. 37:39 God has never intended Christian entertainment 37:43 to be a substitution of the Word. 37:44 That's what's happening today, Brian. 37:46 We have worldly movies, we have Christian movies. 37:49 And today the truth has been replaced 37:52 by the interpretation of Christian movies. 37:54 To find out what the Ten Commandments are, 37:55 people watch the old, what's the guy's name? 38:00 Charlton Heston. Charlton Heston. 38:03 Anyway, his name will come to me in a moment, 38:05 but the one who produced the first Ten Commandments. 38:08 People look at what his interpretation means. 38:10 Cecil B. DeMille. Cecil B. DeMille. 38:12 Praise the Lord. 38:14 They say, well, Cecil B. DeMille's 38:16 in his version of the Ten Commandments said, 38:18 and people go to movie producers today, 38:20 people go to the rapture movies to find out whether or not 38:23 Jesus is really coming back visibly 38:24 or whether it's gonna be a secret snatching away. 38:27 Movies are pulling us away from the Word of God. 38:32 Music is pulling us away from the Word of God. 38:35 But Paul the Apostle, 38:36 let's start with the Holy Spirit 38:38 since this lesson is about the Holy Spirit. 38:39 Thank you for starting the fire Mollie, 38:41 I'm gonna burn. 38:42 You're ready, Jill, it's coming hot and fast. 38:44 John 16:13. 38:49 However, and I like the way that Jesus says this, 38:52 He says you got a whole lot of good things to say, 38:54 however when He 38:58 the Spirit of truth has come, 39:02 He will guide you into, together, all truth 39:07 for He will not speak on His own authority 39:10 but whatever He hears He will speak 39:13 and He will tell you things to come, 39:14 another word for things to come is the word prophecy. 39:17 He will show you what's coming down the line. 39:19 He'll give you an understanding of prophecy. 39:21 But He will not omit truth when we say, 39:25 I'm in the Spirit and you're in the truth, 39:28 that is the most amazing oxymoron 39:31 that Christianity has somehow given credibility to. 39:34 There is no person in the Spirit 39:37 and another one in the truth because you can't separate 39:40 the Spirit from the truth. 39:42 So when you look at God's Word and you allow the Word of God 39:44 to speak on its own, you'll begin to realize, 39:48 and you know, Mollie, 39:50 as was the case with the Protestant Reformation, 39:52 one of the reasons why Martin Luther was so hated. 39:54 It's amazing that this year they're going to celebrate 39:57 Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformation. 39:59 But those who are celebrating the Reformation 40:02 and have the documents to prove it 40:04 are celebrating it to gain access to the Lutherans, 40:07 not to gain access to the truth of God's Word. 40:09 See, Rome is trying to close the gap in Christianity 40:12 and so we're applauding Martin Luther's work. 40:14 But they said in 1981, he was a rebel theologian 40:18 who caused the split. 40:20 You will never be split when your unity 40:23 is based on God's Word. 40:24 Amen. That's true. 40:25 The Word of God does not bring splits. 40:28 1 Timothy 4:16. 40:31 The Word of God doesn't bring splits. 40:33 Jesus came to bring a sword because He said, 40:38 whenever the truth of God has entered in, 40:40 and the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, 40:43 so when the truth of God's Word is injected, 40:46 it's gonna divide something. 40:48 If you don't accept the truth of God's Word, 40:50 we're gonna be divided. 40:51 Anytime unity is pushed, 40:54 let me read it the way I wrote it here. 40:58 The agenda that prays for Christians to be unified 41:01 while not asking for Christians to agree on God's Word 41:05 is pushing false unity. 41:07 Can you do that again? This is my note I put. 41:10 The agenda that prays for Christians to be unified 41:14 while not asking for Christians to agree on God's Word 41:17 is pushing a false unity. 41:19 There is a spirit of unity 41:22 and there is unity of the spirit. 41:23 Two entirely different things. Thank you! 41:26 The spirit of unity is not unity of the spirit. 41:29 That's right. 41:30 Because they say, what the spirit of unity is? 41:32 What can we unify on? 41:33 Let's unify on community programs. 41:35 Let's unify on march against this or march against. 41:38 Let's unify against the government 41:40 peeping into our lives. 41:41 That's the kind of unity is being pushed in Christianity. 41:43 But that's not the unity 41:45 that the Spirit has been sent for. 41:46 If he's gonna lead us and guide us into all truth, 41:49 he's not saying get rid of truth to be unified. 41:52 I remember Promise Keepers many, many years ago. 41:54 In a stadium of 60,000 men so deceptively manipulated. 42:00 The leader said at the count of three, 42:02 let's all mention our denomination 42:04 and it sounded like a cacophony of confusion. 42:07 Everybody yelled their denomination. 42:08 He said, okay, now let's do it all over again. 42:10 At the count of three let's mention Jesus. 42:12 One, two, three. Jesus. 42:15 Aren't we all unified in Jesus? 42:17 Well, Jesus didn't send the Spirit 42:18 to omit the truth either. 42:21 Look at what Jesus said through the Apostle Paul 42:24 to the Apostle Timothy. 42:26 1 Timothy 4:16. You have that, Jill? 42:28 Read that for us. 42:29 "Take heed to yourself 42:31 and to the doctrine continue in them, 42:33 for in doing this you will save both yourself 42:35 and those who hear you." 42:37 Look at that, doctrine. Unity in doctrine and faith. 42:41 When you continue in the doctrine. 42:43 Today this word nondenominational 42:47 is like going to a bank, Brian, as a treasurer, 42:49 it's like going to Brian in Treasury, say, Brian, 42:51 I need some change, I'm giving you a $100 bill. 42:53 And you say what denomination you'd like that in and I say, 42:55 I don't want any denominations, I just want $100 in change. 42:58 What denomination? I don't want any denomination. 43:00 I don't like the word. I can't give it to you. 43:04 So today the word denomination has become 43:06 a curse word in Christianity. 43:08 So they have churches 43:09 springing up all over the place. 43:11 Well, we're nondenominational, we don't teach doctrine. 43:14 What do you talk about? Jesus? 43:15 Well, Jesus, you cannot talk about Jesus and omit doctrine. 43:18 And doctrine is not a bad word. 43:20 The unity that Jesus seeks to bring is a unity 43:24 that is based on His Word and the spirit of unity 43:29 and the unity of the spirit, sorry. 43:31 Not the spirit of unity. 43:32 Because Amos 3:3 says, and this is powerful. 43:37 Can two walk together, come on, unless they agree. 43:42 And the answer is what? No. 43:44 For me to know, and I use this phrase, radial. 43:47 This is something else. 43:48 And I want to now bring an inclusive picture. 43:52 The word radial is a word often used in aviation. 43:56 I love flying. 43:58 Now, I am not a pilot so don't ask me 43:59 to fly you anywhere. 44:00 I could on my simulator and on my RC plane 44:04 but if a person is flying to Atlanta from Orlando, 44:09 from California, from New York, from Mississippi, 44:13 from Washington DC, from St. Louis, 44:15 they're all taking different radials 44:18 but they arrive at the same city 44:21 'cause you got to, you may start northeast, 44:24 southwest, southeast, northeast, northwest, 44:27 but if you're going to the same place, 44:28 you got to lock into the same course. 44:30 Like the spokes of a tire. Like the spokes of a tire. 44:33 If you're going to the same place, 44:35 Jesus in the beginning was the Word. 44:38 When Jesus comes back on His thigh 44:40 will be written a name The Word of God. 44:43 Brothers and sisters, if we're in an age 44:45 where we want to really be unified 44:47 by the leading of the Spirit of God, 44:50 don't seek unity by omitting the truth of God's Word. 44:54 Amen. That's right. 44:55 That's false unity, it's deception 44:57 and that is the kind of unity being pushed 45:00 and I want to say as a pastor, in the evangelical community, 45:03 unity without truth is being pushed 45:05 'cause that's not really important. 45:07 What you believe and what you believe 45:08 is not important. 45:10 Oh, tell my pilot that what he believes 45:12 is not important. 45:13 Where am I going? It doesn't really matter. 45:15 Where Jesus leads, it matters. 45:17 Where the Holy Spirit leads, it matters. 45:20 And if we're going to heaven, we go in one accord, one Lord, 45:23 one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of all. 45:26 Amen. Jill, it's yours. 45:28 The Holy Spirit and the Church is what 45:30 we've been talking about here as the panel. 45:32 The Holy Spirit unites us to Christ as Shelley shared. 45:36 The Holy Spirit unites us through baptism, 45:39 the Holy Spirit unites the church 45:41 through the Word of God, through unity with doctrine, 45:44 faith and doctrine. 45:45 And now, mine is the Holy Spirit 45:47 unites the church in mission and service. 45:50 And what we want to look at 45:52 is the New Testament church model. 45:54 When the Holy Spirit was poured out 45:56 and what the church looked like at that time, 45:58 so let's turn to Acts, Acts 2 46:02 and actually before we do Acts 2, 46:04 we have to do Acts 1 where we see 46:07 the promise of the Holy Spirit. 46:08 So let's look at that, Acts 1. 46:11 Pastor John, you want to read that, Acts 1:4-5. 46:16 Okay, 4 and 5. 46:17 "And being assembled together with them, 46:20 He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, 46:23 but to wait for the promise of the Father which He said, 46:27 you have heard of me. 46:28 For John truly baptized with water, 46:31 but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit 46:35 not many days from now." 46:37 So this is after Jesus was crucified 46:39 and He resurrected and He's meeting 46:41 with His disciples, the apostles. 46:43 Before He returns to heaven and He says, wait, tarry here. 46:47 You are going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 46:50 The promise in verse 8, "You shall receive power 46:53 when the Holy Spirit has come upon you 46:55 and you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, at home. 46:58 In Judea your neighbors, communities 47:00 those in the local area, in Samaria, going farther." 47:05 I think it's Samaria as the gentiles, 47:07 those who maybe don't claim the name of Christians, 47:09 the name of Jesus and then to the uttermost parts 47:12 of the world. 47:13 The promise of the Holy Spirit. 47:15 So there were 120 disciples. 47:18 A hundred and twenty in the upper room, 47:20 verse 15 talks about 120 being there together. 47:23 They were united in prayer in one accord, 47:26 seeking the baptism, 47:27 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 47:29 Now, we're in 2:1, 47:32 "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, 47:34 they were all with one accord in one place." 47:37 And I think as we look at the outpouring 47:39 of the Holy Spirit, it's important to look 47:40 at what preceded it. 47:42 The time of prayer, the time of unity, 47:44 the time of coming together and humbling hearts 47:47 and confessing sins 47:48 and making things right with each other, 47:51 so that then they could in turn be filled with the Holy Spirit. 47:54 So the Holy Spirit is poured out. 47:56 "There came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind. 48:00 And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 48:03 Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire 48:05 and one sat on each of them, 48:06 they were filled with the Holy Spirit 48:08 and began to speak with other tongues 48:11 as the Spirit gave them utterance." 48:14 Now this does not mean babbling of tongues. 48:16 This means the Lord graced and gifted them 48:20 with the spiritual gift we talked about 48:22 in the previous lesson to actually speak 48:25 in another language and then they went out 48:27 and began to speak, it says verse 6. 48:29 "When this sound occurred the multitude came together 48:33 and were confused because everyone heard them 48:35 speak in his own language. 48:37 Then they were amazed and marveled 48:39 saying to one another, look are not all these 48:42 those who speak Galileans. 48:43 The Galileans were known for their poor language skills. 48:46 Their heavy accents, for not communicating well 48:49 and yet these 120 as they went forth spoke 48:53 with clearness and boldness and power in languages 48:57 that they hadn't even spoken before. 49:00 Jill, I wonder if those Galileans 49:02 were even a little rough and coarse in their speech. 49:05 In other words, Peter knew how to curse 49:07 with the best of them. 49:09 Oh, yeah. 49:11 And so now their whole language, yeah. 49:14 And one other thing, verse 8, this is very important 49:16 because the word there, and how is it that 49:18 we hear each in our own language 49:21 in which we were born. 49:22 So this was not some unearthly babbling 49:24 that could not be... 49:26 And all the nations are listed there 49:28 as to who heard what language. 49:30 That's the gift of tongues and the interpretation 49:32 because they heard it in their own language. 49:34 So Peter stands up, he gives his sermon 49:36 and then the result jump down to verse 37. 49:39 They were cut to the heart. 49:41 That's the result of the Holy Spirit. 49:43 The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. 49:46 And if there's something in our life, 49:49 when you sit under an anointed speaker 49:51 of the Word of God, and all of a sudden 49:53 the Holy Spirit brings that conviction and says, 49:55 Jill, you need to look at this, 49:57 there's something going on in your life here. 49:58 They were cut to the heart and said, 50:00 Men and brethren what shall we do? 50:02 And he says, believe, repent, be baptized, 50:06 every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ. 50:08 And then we look what happened. 50:10 We're going to move through several verses quickly 50:12 as we look at the explosion of the growth 50:14 of the early church. 50:15 Verse 41, "Those who ladly received his word 50:18 were baptized that day." 50:20 Three thousand souls were added to the church. 50:23 They went from 120. 50:25 You could say ignorant, unlearned in the upper room 50:28 who had spent three and half years with Jesus 50:30 but were still rough around the edges 50:32 as you mentioned, Brian. 50:34 And then all of a sudden, 50:35 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 50:38 3000 baptized in one day. 50:40 We're going to look at the last verse 47. 50:43 "The Lord added to the church daily 50:45 those who were being saved." 50:47 Jump over to chapter 4. 50:49 Peter and John are arrested. Chapter 4:4. 50:52 After they were arrested, you think, 50:54 maybe the church would've suffered. 50:56 But it says, "Many of those who heard the word believed 50:59 and the number of men came to be 5000." 51:02 So we went from 120 to 3000. 51:04 Now we move to 5000 men, 51:06 that's not counting women and children. 51:08 You think if they had a couple of kids a piece, 51:10 maybe there's 20,000 believers right now at this point. 51:13 Turn over another page at chapter 5, 51:15 this is right after Ananias and Sapphira. 51:18 Chapter 5:14, 51:20 "And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, 51:24 multitudes of both men and women." 51:27 Jump over another chapter. We're in chapter 6 now. 51:31 This is chapter 6:7, 51:34 "Then the Word of God spread 51:36 and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem 51:39 and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith." 51:43 But the message of the gospel did not just stay in Jerusalem, 51:46 it was spread abroad partly through the persecution of Saul 51:50 who would later turn Paul but Saul. 51:52 The believers were scattered. 51:53 Jump over one more chapter, two more chapters. 51:55 We're in chapter 8 now. 51:57 Saul is persecuting the church, verse 4. 52:00 "Those who were scattered went everywhere, 52:03 preaching the Word." 52:06 The persecution spread the gospel. 52:08 We could go on, there's more and more chapters 52:11 in Acts and verses that talk about 52:12 the spread of the Christian church. 52:16 Now, if you think about that, that New Testament model. 52:18 I want to go back to Acts 2 for just a moment. 52:22 When I read Acts 2, you look at the early church. 52:27 Now obviously the Holy Spirit was poured out 52:30 but what did the early church look like? 52:34 What did the New Testament model, 52:35 what did it look like? 52:36 I see seven things in verses 41-47, seven things. 52:41 First, sorry verse 42. 52:43 "They continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine." 52:48 Now that's just what you mentioned, 52:50 Pastor John and Mollie. 52:52 The church cannot grow 52:54 if we're not united on the Word of God. 52:56 If we're not united in doctrine, in faith. 53:01 Number two, "They continued not only in doctrine 53:04 but in fellowship." 53:05 You know, I think as believers many churches, Lord willing 53:11 this will not happen to the Seventh-day Adventist church, 53:13 but many churches say, 53:14 I don't really need the Word of God, 53:16 we can depend on feelings, all we need is the Spirit, 53:19 we just have an anointed preacher 53:21 we're doing okay. 53:22 But it's important to have the doctrine. 53:24 And then some churches have maybe study 53:29 and maybe this happens in the Seventh-day Adventist church. 53:32 Maybe we have the doctrine but we don't fellowship. 53:35 We don't have the fellowship. 53:37 We might have the Word but we don't have the Spirit. 53:40 So doctrine and fellowship. 53:42 The word for fellowship in Greek is Koinonia. 53:44 Fellowship, coming together, participation, 53:47 communion and spiritual fellowship. 53:50 First is doctrine, second is fellowship, 53:52 third, breaking of bread. 53:54 And it talks later about how they broke bread 53:56 from house to house, getting to know one another. 53:59 Not just coming to church and saying, okay, 54:01 I got enough and I'm going my separate way, 54:03 but spending time with each other 54:05 getting to know one another. 54:07 And in prayers, that's Number four. 54:09 Spending time corporately, privately. 54:12 We can come to church and pray, but if you don't pray 54:15 in your prayer closet at home. 54:17 I wouldn't say that means nothing, 54:18 but it's not as effective as what God wants to do 54:21 if we have individual time of prayer with Him as well. 54:25 Verse 43, we're now at number five. 54:26 "Then the fear came on every soul, 54:28 many wonders and signs were done 54:29 through the apostles." 54:31 So the early church had miracles, 54:33 as you read the book of Acts, you see. 54:36 Remember, Peter and John would pass by 54:38 and people wanted to get on their shadow 54:41 because they would be healed. 54:43 We see miracles taking place 54:45 and I believe at the end of time 54:46 we're gonna see manifestation 54:49 of some of those same miracles taking place again. 54:52 44, now all who believed were together, 54:55 they had all things in common. 54:57 Sold their possessions and goods and divided them 54:59 among all as any one had need. 55:01 And I don't even think this means, right now 55:04 we're gonna go out and sell our goods 55:05 and share everything, but I think it shows 55:07 a heart attitude of unselfish care 55:11 and love for other people. 55:14 It's caring for the needs of Pastor John 55:17 and maybe what he's going through 55:19 above my own needs. 55:20 It's reaching out and thinking for someone else. 55:24 And the final part is verse 47, praising God 55:28 and having favor with all the people, 55:30 shows they lived in praise the early church, 55:34 in doctrine, in fellowship, breaking of bread, 55:38 prayers, miracles, in unselfish care and love 55:43 and service for those in need and living in praise. 55:46 And I think the experience that we see here in Acts 2 55:49 and the exponential growth of the church, 55:52 God wants to do again at the end of time. 55:56 Joel 2, what does it say? 55:58 At the end time, the Spirit will be poured out. 56:02 Sons and daughters will prophesy. 56:04 Young men will dream dreams and visions, 56:06 and old men will have visions and God wants to do 56:09 a revival of that church experience at the end of time. 56:13 You know, I want to add just one quick thing, 56:14 I know our time is slipping away. 56:16 1 John 1:6. 56:19 If we say that we have fellowship 56:20 and I was so glad you brought that up. 56:22 If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, 56:25 we lie and do not practice the truth. 56:27 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, 56:30 we have fellowship with one another, 56:32 and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us 56:35 from all sin. 56:36 Amen. 56:37 So we see how important, today, we've seen how important 56:41 the Holy Spirit is to the church 56:44 because really He is the one who the church wouldn't exist 56:48 without the Holy Spirit. 56:49 He is the one who unites us with Christ. 56:52 He is the one who unites us through baptism 56:55 into the church. 56:57 He is the one who is uniting the church 57:00 through the Word and in their faith and doctrine 57:04 and in their mission and service. 57:06 And it's something that, you know, 57:10 I think that we need to increase our emphasis. 57:15 I'm so excited to see these quarterlies 57:17 on the Holy Spirit because 57:19 if we don't understand His work, 57:22 we will never be complete as Christians. 57:26 I mean, we have to... 57:28 One thing I would say is, the first thing 57:30 you ought to do when you get up in the morning 57:32 is pray for the Holy Spirit. 57:35 To be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit. 57:38 Well, thank each one of you for being here today 57:41 and thank you so much for joining us. 57:42 And remember, join a live Bible class. 57:46 You can go to the Seventh-day Adventist Church 57:48 in your area and you will have this 57:51 Sabbath School every week, so our prayer for you again 57:55 is that the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 57:58 the love of the Father 58:00 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 58:01 will be with you always. |
Revised 2018-04-26