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In continuing our occupation with this great matter

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of the significance of the Holy Spirit, there

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is a fragment familiar, as familiar as any

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other perhaps in the New Testament, which we

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are going to take this evening to lead

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us a little further in this matter.

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It is in the first chapter of the

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book of the Acts, at verse 8, Acts

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1 verse 8, 8.

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Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit

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is come upon you.

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Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit

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is come upon you.

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I want to place alongside of that some

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other, not so simple, but perhaps almost equally

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well-known words, from the first chapter of

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Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

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Lifting out of verses 19, 18 and 19,

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these words, Ephesians 1, 18, 19.

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I'd like you to keep your finger in

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at that place till later.

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That ye may know what the exceeding greatness

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of his power to us were who believe,

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according to that walking of the strength of

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his might which he wrought in Christ when

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he raised him from the dead, made him

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to sit at his right hand.

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Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit

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is come upon you.

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Ye may know what is the exceeding greatness

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of his power to us were who believe.

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There is a sense in which the whole

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book of the Acts is gathered into that

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one word, power.

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The entire narrative of events in that book,

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it's a very full and comprehensive and detailed

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one, is just the story of the walking

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of that power promised by the Lord Jesus,

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having come with the Holy Spirit.

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We could rename the book, the book of

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the power of the Holy Spirit.

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That's the word that interprets it and explains

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it.

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I have passed you on to those words

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in the letter to the Ephesians for two

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reasons.

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Firstly, the man who wrote those words was

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one of the examples of the walking of

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that power in the book of the Acts.

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Nothing less or other than the exceeding greatness

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of his power could account for Paul the

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Apostle after Paul the persecutor.

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Indeed, he is a sample and an example

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of the exceeding greatness of his power.

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It's just wonderful to see in his own

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case the mighty walking of that power in

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his arrest, apprehension as he called it, and

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conversion.

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It is one amongst many, perhaps outstanding amongst

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many, of those examples of this great power

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at work which lead us to wonder and

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to worship.

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We have said, and you will find it

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in the next issue of the Witness and

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that just at that point you stand back

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and almost gasp with wonder as you recognize

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the tremendous significance of the young man Stephen.

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We have never yet discerned the tremendous significance

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of that young man.

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He was the one through whom this same

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Holy Spirit introduced the meaning of the great

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change in the dispensations.

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In that marvelous discourse before the Jewish rulers,

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he takes us right back over the old

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dispensation.

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The history of that people right the way

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back, traces it step by step and stage

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by stage defining and describing, brings it right

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up to Jerusalem there and then.

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And with a few mighty deft touches says,

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that's all finished and a new order has

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come in which is altogether different.

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It's the order of the heavenly and of

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the spiritual.

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As over against the earthly and the temporal.

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That's finished.

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The temple is finished says, and think of

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it in Jerusalem under the shadow of that

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temple.

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With all those so devoted to the temple

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and its service.

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Right there under its shadow he says, but

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God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.

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Say that outside St. Peter's Rome or even

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St. Paul's London.

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Declare that.

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See what the rulers of the church were

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saying.

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God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.

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He indicated a change in dispensations, the whole

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character of these.

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He proclaimed it.

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No wonder they gnashed upon him with their

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teeth.

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And they stone Stephen calling upon the name

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of the Lord Jesus said, we'll have none

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of that.

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We'll finish that.

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And as they cast their deadly stones upon

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the young man.

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Seeing the heavens open and Jesus, the son

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of man, standing at the right hand.

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They thought they had done with that.

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And in that selfsame moment, the Holy Ghost

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came with conviction upon another young man consenting

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to his death, who was taken up very

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soon afterward to carry on that great revelation

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to its fullness all over the world.

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I say you, you gasp in wonder.

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You see the, the, the wonderful power and

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the infinite ingenuity of the Holy Spirit.

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That young man, the young man who so

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soon after that event came into an experience,

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discovery of the exceeding greatness of his power.

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And here wrote upon it or said that

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he prayed that the whole church might know

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it.

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When we allow that man, that man, that

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example of that power to present to us

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what it meant to him.

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As recorded in this whole statement, the letter

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to the Ephesians.

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And note that he is attributing it to

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the same Holy Spirit.

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He would grant unto you a spirit of

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revelation.

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You may know what is the exceeding greatness

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of his power.

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He shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming

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upon you by the same spirit.

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When we, I say, allow him to speak

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to us about this power, the first thing

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that meets us or that we meet is

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something that completely disconcerts us.

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The disconcerting effect of this revelation.

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Look at it again.

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I just flipped out one fragment of this

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whole statement.

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We're not dealing with Ephesians 1 and the

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great prayer poem.

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But just extract this clause.

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That you may know what the riches of

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the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

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The riches of the glory of his inheritance

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in the saints.

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Now if he had only put it the

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other way around, we'd have no difficulty at

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all.

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The riches of the glory of our inheritance

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in him.

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That presents no problem at all.

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We can stand up to that.

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But when a man dares to speak of

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the riches of the glory of his inheritance

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in me, in you, supposing that was said

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to you really personally.

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Those words were used to you.

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Addressed to you personally.

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That you may know the riches of the

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glory of his inheritance in you.

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What would you say?

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You say, oh look here, look here, what

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are you talking about?

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What are you talking?

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You don't know me.

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If you knew me you wouldn't talk to

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me like that.

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You go and tell someone else that.

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There are some people perhaps to whom you

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might tell it, but don't you talk to

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me like that.

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You don't know my depravity, the depravity of

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my nature.

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You don't know what I know about myself,

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my own heart, my sinfulness.

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If you only knew a little, you'd shut

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the book and go away and say, no

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that doesn't apply there.

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The riches of the glory of his inheritance

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in him, in her.

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You don't know all my defeat in the

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battle, and in the work, how I have

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striven and failed.

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How again, again the forces of evil have

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got the mastery, and I have been a

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pathetic casualty in this warfare.

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You don't know of my secret history of

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defeats.

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You couldn't talk like that to me if

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you did.

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You don't know my penury, my poverty, spiritual

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life.

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To know only a little of such things

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about me would send you off in quest

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for someone else to talk to like that.

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The riches of the glory of his inheritance.

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In this the apostle deals in superlatives.

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He says some tremendous things, immense things that

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you just cannot cope with.

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You cannot stand up to them.

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You have to say yes, that may be

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true.

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If it is, it will be true of

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better stuff than I am.

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Better people than I.

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It cannot possibly be true of me.

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I cannot attain unto that.

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That's far too high for me.

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Altogether, beyond possibility where I'm concerned.

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The riches, and I am so poor.

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I'm a beggar.

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You're talking about riches of his inheritance.

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In me?

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Glory for him?

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In me?

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I'm daily ashamed of myself.

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My more common attitude about myself is wherefore

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I have for myself no faint meekness.

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Real genuine expression of a heart that knows

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itself at all.

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God be merciful to me, a sinner, and

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you talk to me about the riches of

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the glory of his inheritance.

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You see, it's overpowering.

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It's disconcerting.

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It's almost paralyzing.

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But he said it.

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He said it.

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It's here in holy writ.

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It's scripture.

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You see, you've got to go on.

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That only prepares the way for something.

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That only leads you to the next thing.

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What is the exceeding greatness of his power

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to that what?

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The exceeding greatness of his power to that

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poverty.

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To that shame.

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To all that exceeding greatness.

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That you may know that.

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That changes the picture, doesn't it?

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We'll all admit that nothing short of the

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exceeding greatness of his power will do it.

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But that's it.

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Ye shall receive power.

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The holy spirit coming upon you.

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And as we have read this evening, and

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this was the purpose of that reading, the

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Lord Jesus said when he, the spirit, is

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come, he will guide you into all the

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truth.

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He will reveal the holy spirit coming upon

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you, will make you know, make you know

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that's what Lord Jesus was saying.

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He'll make you know what you don't know

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now.

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He'll make you know, so Paul prays, that

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you may know what is the exceeding greatness

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of his power to us.

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Then if that, if that exists, if that

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is available, if that is true, the picture

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changes from one of hopelessness to marvelous hope.

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Then it's possible that out of this rubbish

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heap, out of these ashes, riches, glory

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of his inheritance can come.

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How, I don't know.

277
00:21:55,140 --> 00:21:55,980
But here it is.

278
00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,340
There is the power sent from God to

279
00:22:00,340 --> 00:22:03,820
do that in you and in me.

280
00:22:06,510 --> 00:22:09,690
It's not my intention to follow that through,

281
00:22:09,930 --> 00:22:12,370
try and show how it works out.

282
00:22:17,860 --> 00:22:21,580
But this man, this man, this example of

283
00:22:21,580 --> 00:22:24,700
it, you may think that he was a

284
00:22:24,700 --> 00:22:27,120
very wonderful man before his conversion.

285
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,880
From some standpoints he may have been a

286
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:32,680
very fine fellow.

287
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:40,660
But you cannot read Paul intelligently after his

288
00:22:40,660 --> 00:22:44,700
conversion without discovering that he had a very

289
00:22:44,700 --> 00:22:46,560
poor opinion of himself.

290
00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:52,620
He spoke of himself as the least of

291
00:22:52,620 --> 00:22:58,800
all saints, and as one who ought never

292
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:05,170
to be called an apostle, unworthy to be

293
00:23:05,170 --> 00:23:08,630
called an apostle, least of all saints, because

294
00:23:08,630 --> 00:23:10,470
I persecuted him.

295
00:23:12,510 --> 00:23:13,790
Paul never got away from it.

296
00:23:14,670 --> 00:23:16,090
He never got away from it.

297
00:23:16,830 --> 00:23:22,630
It was something that was like a thorn

298
00:23:22,630 --> 00:23:24,810
in him to his death.

299
00:23:25,710 --> 00:23:29,170
This that he had done, the kind of

300
00:23:29,170 --> 00:23:32,790
fellow he was, and what came from him,

301
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:36,020
he never forgave himself.

302
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:38,600
He never got over it.

303
00:23:41,250 --> 00:23:45,410
The wound never opened in his soul.

304
00:23:47,070 --> 00:23:50,530
You read him again, and I repeat, he

305
00:23:50,530 --> 00:23:52,730
had a very poor opinion of himself.

306
00:23:53,550 --> 00:23:54,490
Indeed he had.

307
00:23:56,920 --> 00:23:59,780
The least of all saints.

308
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:01,580
Do you hear that?

309
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:05,040
That is not pretense.

310
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,160
That is not just mock, meekness and humility.

311
00:24:09,220 --> 00:24:11,220
The least of all saints.

312
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:13,040
Now, put over against them.

313
00:24:13,540 --> 00:24:17,480
The riches of the glory of his inheritance

314
00:24:18,100 --> 00:24:21,240
in, yes, the least of all saints.

315
00:24:23,490 --> 00:24:23,850
How?

316
00:24:24,770 --> 00:24:27,250
The exceeding greatness of his power.

317
00:24:28,530 --> 00:24:36,130
Toward us, Paul is praying out of some

318
00:24:36,130 --> 00:24:41,630
experience of that power, in such as he

319
00:24:41,630 --> 00:24:46,630
knew himself to be, that all saints might

320
00:24:46,630 --> 00:24:47,550
know him.

321
00:24:48,110 --> 00:24:48,950
Know him.

322
00:24:49,130 --> 00:24:51,070
That you might know his face.

323
00:24:52,250 --> 00:24:57,370
And dear friends, there is one thing about

324
00:24:57,370 --> 00:24:58,050
power.

325
00:24:59,390 --> 00:25:02,170
That is, it is that you can never

326
00:25:02,170 --> 00:25:04,190
know it other than an experience.

327
00:25:05,570 --> 00:25:07,390
You can talk about power.

328
00:25:11,780 --> 00:25:13,860
You can have all your ideas of power,

329
00:25:16,700 --> 00:25:19,660
but you can never really know it, only

330
00:25:19,660 --> 00:25:21,580
an experience in an inward way.

331
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,720
We have the theory of power, but that

332
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:28,740
is not knowing power.

333
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,540
A long time ago, when I returned from

334
00:25:35,540 --> 00:25:38,160
my last visit to America, I told you

335
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:38,660
a story.

336
00:25:39,020 --> 00:25:41,160
I am going to repeat that again.

337
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:42,240
You may have forgotten it.

338
00:25:42,740 --> 00:25:45,220
It is very, I think, apropos of what

339
00:25:45,220 --> 00:25:46,240
I am trying to say now.

340
00:25:48,650 --> 00:25:49,870
I was at a conference.

341
00:25:50,550 --> 00:25:53,910
One of the other speakers was the son

342
00:25:53,910 --> 00:26:00,090
of a very well-known servant of God

343
00:26:00,090 --> 00:26:05,140
in America, a man whose name I had

344
00:26:05,140 --> 00:26:07,720
known, whom I had read much, and I

345
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,440
was very glad to meet his son, and

346
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:15,580
to ask, like the king asked Gehazi about

347
00:26:15,580 --> 00:26:20,080
the works of Elisha, to ask for first

348
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:24,220
-hand information about this great servant of God.

349
00:26:25,220 --> 00:26:26,760
He told me quite a lot of things.

350
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,040
Amongst them was this.

351
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,700
His father was very interested in the American

352
00:26:34,700 --> 00:26:40,200
Indians in a certain settlement, and the government

353
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,980
were very anxious that that Indian settlement should

354
00:26:44,980 --> 00:26:49,860
be developed and modernized and provided with all

355
00:26:49,860 --> 00:26:56,680
the up-to-date accessories of civilization, modern

356
00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:03,010
life, and I asked this man what he

357
00:27:03,010 --> 00:27:05,970
thought would be the best way of introducing

358
00:27:05,970 --> 00:27:11,230
these things to these people who were ignorant

359
00:27:11,230 --> 00:27:18,350
and very suspicious and unbelieving, not prepared to

360
00:27:18,350 --> 00:27:23,010
accept anything at its face value, not to

361
00:27:23,010 --> 00:27:25,930
be very sure of everything.

362
00:27:27,190 --> 00:27:31,930
The man said, well, I think the only

363
00:27:31,930 --> 00:27:33,390
way in which to do it would be

364
00:27:33,390 --> 00:27:35,370
to get one or two of the most

365
00:27:35,370 --> 00:27:40,290
influential and intelligent of the Indians and bring

366
00:27:40,290 --> 00:27:45,330
them out into city life here, and let

367
00:27:45,330 --> 00:27:45,970
them see it.

368
00:27:48,340 --> 00:27:49,900
All right, they said, will you go and

369
00:27:49,900 --> 00:27:50,640
find the men.

370
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,640
So he went back to the Indian settlement

371
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,940
and stayed there a little while watching and

372
00:27:58,940 --> 00:28:02,120
talking till he found a man who had

373
00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:05,820
more influence than anyone else, and seemed to

374
00:28:05,820 --> 00:28:11,300
have more intelligence and was at least willing

375
00:28:11,300 --> 00:28:13,760
to come and have a look for himself.

376
00:28:15,180 --> 00:28:19,400
So he took him way up country to

377
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,900
one great city, took him into a hotel,

378
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:33,280
modern American hotel, and it was night, late

379
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:38,860
in the evening, getting dark quickly, and as

380
00:28:38,860 --> 00:28:44,120
they went into their room, the man who

381
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:48,100
was conducting the Indian put his finger on

382
00:28:48,100 --> 00:28:51,220
the electric light switch, and on came the

383
00:28:51,220 --> 00:28:52,560
light, and the Indian was stopped.

384
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:56,120
How did that happen?

385
00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:58,340
What did you do?

386
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:01,920
Oh, he said, I simply put my finger

387
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:03,980
on that little button there.

388
00:29:05,220 --> 00:29:06,120
Don't believe it.

389
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:08,300
Don't believe it.

390
00:29:08,380 --> 00:29:11,020
You mean to tell me that all that

391
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,060
is just in that little button?

392
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:17,620
You've only just got to touch that little

393
00:29:17,620 --> 00:29:19,080
thing and all this comes on?

394
00:29:19,420 --> 00:29:20,260
Don't believe it.

395
00:29:21,700 --> 00:29:25,320
Very well, said the man, switch off.

396
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:30,560
He switched off, stand on that table and

397
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:31,460
he took out the bulb.

398
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,500
He put your thumb up inside that socket,

399
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:40,280
you enter the door.

400
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:43,760
The next moment the Indian was picking himself

401
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:45,000
up from the corner of the room.

402
00:29:45,580 --> 00:29:47,940
Very shaken and very bruised.

403
00:29:50,410 --> 00:29:51,530
The man said, do you believe it now?

404
00:29:51,830 --> 00:29:53,390
Oh yes, I believe it now.

405
00:29:54,250 --> 00:29:55,150
I believe it now.

406
00:29:56,410 --> 00:29:59,270
Now that's perhaps some humor in there.

407
00:30:00,950 --> 00:30:01,690
Do you see the point?

408
00:30:03,470 --> 00:30:05,650
You don't know power only in experience.

409
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,980
This power is not a doctrine, a theory,

410
00:30:12,390 --> 00:30:14,640
a subject or theme.

411
00:30:15,540 --> 00:30:16,540
It's a person.

412
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:22,340
The Holy Spirit is not a topic in

413
00:30:22,340 --> 00:30:28,430
the Bible or a doctrine of the church.

414
00:30:28,890 --> 00:30:33,230
The Holy Spirit is a living person and

415
00:30:33,230 --> 00:30:33,970
an experience.

416
00:30:37,420 --> 00:30:43,220
Now the difference, of course, in the truth

417
00:30:43,220 --> 00:30:49,340
or a large degree of the truth of

418
00:30:49,340 --> 00:30:52,560
our experience and that of the Indians is

419
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:53,220
just this.

420
00:30:54,140 --> 00:30:56,580
It doesn't always work like that with us.

421
00:30:58,460 --> 00:31:02,280
This power doesn't suddenly come upon or take

422
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,500
hold and rend us and throw us about

423
00:31:05,500 --> 00:31:08,520
and do that sort of thing so that

424
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:09,880
we feel it.

425
00:31:12,900 --> 00:31:19,180
But dear friends, dear friends, if you live

426
00:31:19,180 --> 00:31:21,300
long enough and some of you have lived

427
00:31:21,300 --> 00:31:27,260
long enough, to know the immense forces that

428
00:31:27,260 --> 00:31:32,950
are set against the Christian life, the forces

429
00:31:32,950 --> 00:31:37,450
of this world, the forces of the powers

430
00:31:37,450 --> 00:31:42,570
of darkness, how, and it is not an

431
00:31:42,570 --> 00:31:47,930
exaggerated word, how terrific are the forces that

432
00:31:47,930 --> 00:31:51,830
are set against what is of Christ in

433
00:31:51,830 --> 00:31:52,530
this universe.

434
00:31:54,910 --> 00:31:57,490
Few have any knowledge of that.

435
00:31:58,850 --> 00:32:03,490
It is nothing short of the miracle of

436
00:32:03,490 --> 00:32:06,410
the exceeding greatness of his power that you're

437
00:32:06,410 --> 00:32:10,430
a Christian today and that you have continued

438
00:32:10,430 --> 00:32:13,570
in the way thus far.

439
00:32:15,150 --> 00:32:18,590
Paul put it like this, having received the

440
00:32:18,590 --> 00:32:24,210
help which comes from God, I continue unto

441
00:32:24,210 --> 00:32:24,850
this day.

442
00:32:26,930 --> 00:32:28,270
He would have put it the other way,

443
00:32:28,530 --> 00:32:31,170
but for the help that comes from God,

444
00:32:31,250 --> 00:32:31,950
I wouldn't be here.

445
00:32:34,050 --> 00:32:34,890
You know something about that?

446
00:32:36,150 --> 00:32:40,540
What is it that has kept, what is

447
00:32:40,540 --> 00:32:45,480
it that is behind your going on in

448
00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:46,380
spite of yourself?

449
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,100
For it is in spite of ourselves.

450
00:32:50,140 --> 00:32:51,180
It is in spite of ourselves.

451
00:32:52,140 --> 00:32:55,000
Left to ourselves, what should we have done?

452
00:32:56,740 --> 00:32:57,960
It won't bear thinking about.

453
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,160
In spite of all the forces of evil

454
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:07,920
in this universe concentrated upon the smallest fragment

455
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:08,880
of Jesus Christ.

456
00:33:12,140 --> 00:33:15,880
We go on, we don't feel it.

457
00:33:17,500 --> 00:33:23,560
Indeed, more often than otherwise, we feel the

458
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:30,380
weakness, feel our own unworthiness and helplessness, perhaps

459
00:33:30,380 --> 00:33:32,660
wonder if ever we shall be able.

460
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,260
But there you are, there's the fact.

461
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,660
This power is not like the power that

462
00:33:41,660 --> 00:33:45,920
that man meant, met, comes suddenly with a

463
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:46,420
shock.

464
00:33:47,380 --> 00:33:50,120
It's a mighty, mighty working power day by

465
00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:52,040
day that keeps us on the road.

466
00:33:53,180 --> 00:33:57,240
That you may know the exceeding greatness.

467
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:07,230
But there's a bridge, there's a bridge between

468
00:34:08,750 --> 00:34:16,290
all that which we are, and that which

469
00:34:16,290 --> 00:34:16,969
we are not.

470
00:34:18,810 --> 00:34:22,429
And that which makes us hear such words

471
00:34:23,190 --> 00:34:28,429
with consternation, amazement, even doubt.

472
00:34:29,670 --> 00:34:33,409
There's a bridge between that and the exceeding

473
00:34:33,409 --> 00:34:34,610
greatness of his power.

474
00:34:35,889 --> 00:34:36,570
What is it?

475
00:34:37,010 --> 00:34:38,969
To us what who believe.

476
00:34:49,699 --> 00:34:50,380
What is it?

477
00:34:50,659 --> 00:34:53,120
To us what who believe.

478
00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:03,360
Two are brought together and joined by that

479
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,660
word, believe, believe.

480
00:35:08,620 --> 00:35:13,620
We have been very interested recently in that

481
00:35:13,620 --> 00:35:15,780
marvelous feat of engineering.

482
00:35:17,620 --> 00:35:23,500
The great St. Lawrence River, by which the

483
00:35:23,500 --> 00:35:28,460
mighty ocean, the great lakes, I don't know

484
00:35:28,460 --> 00:35:30,800
whether you all realize how great they are.

485
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:32,280
You could take out the British Isles and

486
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,440
drop them in and not know where they've

487
00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:35,740
gone.

488
00:35:37,100 --> 00:35:39,180
The linking of the mighty ocean and these

489
00:35:39,180 --> 00:35:48,590
great lakes with this canal was all effected,

490
00:35:49,250 --> 00:35:55,930
made real, actual, brought into operation by the

491
00:35:55,930 --> 00:35:59,730
breaking down of a little gap.

492
00:36:01,370 --> 00:36:07,500
There's the ocean, there's the mighty lake, there's

493
00:36:07,500 --> 00:36:09,680
a channel between the two.

494
00:36:10,380 --> 00:36:14,040
They've had to keep for a time, while

495
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,060
they made the channel and the canal, keep

496
00:36:17,060 --> 00:36:21,220
just a barrier to keep those apart while

497
00:36:21,220 --> 00:36:22,420
the work was going on.

498
00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:25,100
And then the day came to blow it

499
00:36:25,100 --> 00:36:29,720
up, get rid of that gap, that hold

500
00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:29,980
up.

501
00:36:30,740 --> 00:36:34,380
And when it was gone, the mighty fullness

502
00:36:34,380 --> 00:36:37,240
at both ends met.

503
00:36:42,500 --> 00:36:44,920
We may have the barriers that are keeping

504
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:54,120
this fullness unexperienced, unknown, unrealized, ineffective.

505
00:36:56,320 --> 00:37:03,080
The barrier of unbelief, barrier of unfaith.

506
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,780
It's to us what, but it's to us

507
00:37:09,780 --> 00:37:13,690
what who believe, who believe.

508
00:37:15,410 --> 00:37:19,570
All that, listen again, that you may know

509
00:37:19,570 --> 00:37:24,830
what is the hope of his calling, and

510
00:37:24,830 --> 00:37:26,650
you'll dwell upon that for all eternity.

511
00:37:28,230 --> 00:37:31,830
For all eternity is going to be required

512
00:37:32,670 --> 00:37:35,350
to show what that is, the hope of

513
00:37:35,350 --> 00:37:35,990
his calling.

514
00:37:37,690 --> 00:37:40,930
What the riches of the glory of his

515
00:37:40,930 --> 00:37:46,190
inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding

516
00:37:46,190 --> 00:37:50,210
greatness of his power to us what vast

517
00:37:50,210 --> 00:37:57,750
oceans, mighty fullnesses, all held up because we

518
00:37:57,750 --> 00:37:58,450
don't believe.

519
00:38:01,460 --> 00:38:11,180
Waiting for release, it's to us what who

520
00:38:11,180 --> 00:38:11,960
believe.

521
00:38:13,860 --> 00:38:18,200
To say no more, we can only say,

522
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:24,760
Lord help our unbelief, help our unbelief, but

523
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:29,220
the answer of the Lord, ye shall receive

524
00:38:29,220 --> 00:38:34,420
power when the Holy Spirit is come upon

525
00:38:34,420 --> 00:38:34,760
you.

526
00:38:35,780 --> 00:38:41,390
How important it is that we receive the

527
00:38:41,390 --> 00:38:45,490
Holy Spirit, give the Holy Spirit his place,

528
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:50,280
for his place is that of Lordship.

529
00:38:50,980 --> 00:38:54,720
Paul says, the Spirit is Lord, and where

530
00:38:54,720 --> 00:38:58,760
the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty, release.

531
00:39:01,850 --> 00:39:08,290
Well, may we be granted this opening up

532
00:39:08,290 --> 00:39:13,570
faith, this releasing faith, this apprehending faith.

533
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,440
It's not in sensation or in conscious power,

534
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,640
there's the paradox ever and always in this

535
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,520
connection, that a man could speak like this,

536
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,760
again and again referred to it, the exceeding

537
00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:36,440
greatness of his power, according to the power

538
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:39,940
that worketh in us, and so on.

539
00:39:40,380 --> 00:39:43,980
The same men be talking just as much

540
00:39:43,980 --> 00:39:51,300
about his weakness, his weakness, his dependence, his

541
00:39:51,300 --> 00:39:52,420
conscious weakness.

542
00:39:55,660 --> 00:40:02,870
Paradox, no, this power works deeper than our

543
00:40:02,870 --> 00:40:06,650
consciousness, deeper than our consciousness.

544
00:40:07,910 --> 00:40:10,510
It's at work when we are least conscious

545
00:40:10,510 --> 00:40:10,990
of it.

546
00:40:12,430 --> 00:40:16,730
The Holy Spirit goes on with his work,

547
00:40:17,570 --> 00:40:20,230
even when we are in the grip of

548
00:40:20,230 --> 00:40:22,530
fears about ourselves.

549
00:40:23,550 --> 00:40:27,050
When you and I at last are in

550
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the Lord's presence, like him because we see

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him as he is, there's nothing to say,

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this is the exceeding greatness of his power,

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his power.