1 00:00:23,870 --> 00:00:26,810 The reading is from Ephesians chapter 3. 2 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,140 For this reason I pull the prisoner of 3 00:00:32,140 --> 00:00:35,120 Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. 4 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,840 Surely you have heard about the administration of 5 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,240 God's grace that was given to me for 6 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,720 you, that is, the mystery made known to 7 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,500 me by revelation, as I have already written 8 00:00:47,500 --> 00:00:47,940 briefly. 9 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,780 In reading this then, you will be able 10 00:00:51,780 --> 00:00:54,840 to understand my insight into the mystery of 11 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,660 Christ, which was not made known to men 12 00:00:57,660 --> 00:01:00,400 in other generations, as it has now been 13 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,379 revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles 14 00:01:03,379 --> 00:01:04,060 and prophets. 15 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,380 This mystery is that through the gospel the 16 00:01:08,380 --> 00:01:12,160 Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together 17 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,000 of one body, and sharers together in the 18 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:16,320 promise in Christ Jesus. 19 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,140 I became a servant of this gospel by 20 00:01:21,140 --> 00:01:23,960 the gift of God's grace given me through 21 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:25,220 the working of his power. 22 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,040 Although I am less than the least of 23 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,120 all God's people, this grace was given to 24 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,260 me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable 25 00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:36,980 riches of Christ and to make plain to 26 00:01:36,980 --> 00:01:40,500 everyone the administration of this mystery, which for 27 00:01:40,500 --> 00:01:43,040 ages has been kept hidden in God, who 28 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:44,340 created all things. 29 00:01:45,500 --> 00:01:48,660 His intent was that now, through the church, 30 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,980 the manifold wisdom of God should be made 31 00:01:50,980 --> 00:01:53,520 known to the rulers and authorities in the 32 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,520 heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose, which 33 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,880 he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 34 00:02:00,660 --> 00:02:03,540 In him and through faith in him we 35 00:02:03,540 --> 00:02:05,780 approach God with freedom and confidence. 36 00:02:06,940 --> 00:02:09,720 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged 37 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,580 because of my sufferings for you, which are 38 00:02:12,580 --> 00:02:13,740 your glory. 39 00:02:18,220 --> 00:02:21,700 The burden still remains from last week when 40 00:02:21,700 --> 00:02:25,420 I brought to your attention this fact that 41 00:02:25,420 --> 00:02:28,980 a Christian is born in power. 42 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:34,500 The initiation experience, the coming to Jesus Christ 43 00:02:34,500 --> 00:02:36,200 is a power experience. 44 00:02:38,670 --> 00:02:41,870 But not only is he born in power, 45 00:02:42,410 --> 00:02:46,590 he continues in power and he will go 46 00:02:46,590 --> 00:02:47,730 out in power. 47 00:02:49,090 --> 00:02:52,470 The Christian community as I see it are 48 00:02:52,470 --> 00:02:57,150 individuals around the world of which the Tabernacle 49 00:02:57,150 --> 00:03:03,350 Fellowship is but a small, small sample that 50 00:03:03,350 --> 00:03:09,170 are placed into God's circuit and pulsating through 51 00:03:09,170 --> 00:03:14,090 that circuit is the power of God as 52 00:03:14,090 --> 00:03:18,210 the illustration floods into your mind of an 53 00:03:18,210 --> 00:03:21,890 electrical circuit with a generator and the power 54 00:03:21,890 --> 00:03:25,210 of the mains humming its way through. 55 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:30,480 Now, just for starters, let me remind you 56 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:32,500 and those of you who are not Christian 57 00:03:32,500 --> 00:03:37,460 need to be informed about this that the 58 00:03:37,460 --> 00:03:40,840 moment a person comes to the Lord Jesus 59 00:03:41,620 --> 00:03:44,460 and asks for his sins to be forgiven, 60 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,020 he has an experience of the dynamic of 61 00:03:49,020 --> 00:03:49,320 God. 62 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:53,260 A Christian, let it be said, is someone 63 00:03:53,260 --> 00:03:56,460 who acknowledges that Jesus is the Lord, the 64 00:03:56,460 --> 00:03:59,120 second person of the Trinity, that he died 65 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,160 on the cross so that all our misdoing 66 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,440 might be forgiven and when we confess this 67 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,060 in faith, then we are born again. 68 00:04:10,220 --> 00:04:13,060 The word that sometimes is used from the 69 00:04:13,060 --> 00:04:17,160 pulpit to describe such an experience is regeneration 70 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,500 and that's a word that jumps out of 71 00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:23,060 the vocabulary of the electrician. 72 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:25,360 Regeneration. 73 00:04:26,660 --> 00:04:28,360 The renewing of power. 74 00:04:29,420 --> 00:04:32,160 Not that you ever had that power before 75 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,500 yourself but the beginning of the race when 76 00:04:34,500 --> 00:04:37,840 Adam was alive, before he fell, he knew 77 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:40,320 the power of God but it was disconnected 78 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,340 when he broke the law of God and 79 00:04:43,340 --> 00:04:46,540 as a result he was disarmed of that 80 00:04:46,540 --> 00:04:46,920 power. 81 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:49,480 And we are born into this world as 82 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:55,160 sinful people, powerless people, strangers from God, cut 83 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:56,680 off from the life of God. 84 00:04:57,420 --> 00:04:59,680 But the day comes in the experience of 85 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,060 the believer when he encounters Jesus Christ and 86 00:05:03,060 --> 00:05:05,640 he confesses, as I have just indicated, his 87 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:08,340 need of the Savior, he recognizes that there 88 00:05:08,340 --> 00:05:09,980 is no other hope in this world. 89 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,780 This world is in a state of utter 90 00:05:12,780 --> 00:05:13,380 confusion. 91 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,640 There are many, many people, many voices outside 92 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,900 that of the evangelical pulpit which are saying 93 00:05:20,900 --> 00:05:22,340 more or less the same thing. 94 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,540 The whole situation is hopeless. 95 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:32,440 And the believer in Jesus Christ comes to 96 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,080 him and says, I believe that life makes 97 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:37,200 sense with you. 98 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,700 I need your life within me. 99 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,820 I want to become partaker of the very 100 00:05:44,820 --> 00:05:47,180 power, of the very essence of your being. 101 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:50,740 And that is what the apostle Peter said 102 00:05:50,740 --> 00:05:53,220 really constituted salvation. 103 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,340 You become partaker of the life of God. 104 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:01,060 Now that's again a concept that's difficult to 105 00:06:01,060 --> 00:06:01,960 grasp hold of. 106 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:04,540 You certainly can't just acquire it intellectually. 107 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,420 The Bible tells us that when people confess 108 00:06:09,420 --> 00:06:13,280 Jesus, then to Him, to them, gives He 109 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:15,820 the power to become the sons of God. 110 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,060 Now I grant you that word power really 111 00:06:18,060 --> 00:06:18,900 means authority. 112 00:06:19,700 --> 00:06:21,920 But you can't have authority without power, can 113 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:22,100 you? 114 00:06:23,020 --> 00:06:26,140 And when you move through to the letter 115 00:06:26,140 --> 00:06:28,240 that Paul writes to the church at Rome, 116 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,080 you find one of the greatest definitions of 117 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:31,780 the gospel. 118 00:06:32,420 --> 00:06:34,920 Romans 1.16, I am not ashamed of 119 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:36,100 the gospel of Christ. 120 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,100 It is the power of God for the 121 00:06:39,100 --> 00:06:41,440 salvation of everyone who believes. 122 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,100 When the apostle moves on in his writing 123 00:06:45,100 --> 00:06:48,640 and pens the letter, which actually probably historically 124 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,500 came first to the Christians at Corinth, he 125 00:06:52,500 --> 00:06:55,500 makes reference to the gospel, to the message 126 00:06:55,500 --> 00:06:56,240 of the cross. 127 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,500 And he says in the opening chapter in 128 00:06:58,500 --> 00:07:00,940 the 18th verse, for the message of the 129 00:07:00,940 --> 00:07:04,000 cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, 130 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,060 but to us who are being saved, it 131 00:07:07,060 --> 00:07:08,680 is the power of God. 132 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,360 And he goes on and repeats exactly the 133 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,800 same thing in a later verse, perhaps putting 134 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:18,900 it across even more strongly. 135 00:07:19,900 --> 00:07:21,700 You see the point and the reason why 136 00:07:21,700 --> 00:07:23,420 I'm bringing you to these scriptures, and I 137 00:07:23,420 --> 00:07:24,340 could give you many more. 138 00:07:26,610 --> 00:07:29,150 The Christian is a person who is born 139 00:07:29,150 --> 00:07:30,030 into power. 140 00:07:32,370 --> 00:07:34,830 You can't be regenerated without that. 141 00:07:35,910 --> 00:07:37,490 You experience God. 142 00:07:38,630 --> 00:07:41,490 You cannot be saved merely by a deduction 143 00:07:41,490 --> 00:07:42,490 from a text. 144 00:07:43,430 --> 00:07:44,950 You believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. 145 00:07:45,030 --> 00:07:46,530 Yes, I believe Jesus Christ is Lord. 146 00:07:47,070 --> 00:07:48,530 You believe that you need your sins forgiven. 147 00:07:48,770 --> 00:07:50,470 Yes, I believe I need my sins forgiven. 148 00:07:50,990 --> 00:07:52,130 Well, take your sins to Jesus. 149 00:07:52,350 --> 00:07:53,070 I've done just that. 150 00:07:53,150 --> 00:07:53,990 All right, you're saved. 151 00:07:54,090 --> 00:07:54,270 No. 152 00:07:56,390 --> 00:07:58,150 That's the ascent of the mind. 153 00:07:59,130 --> 00:08:00,770 But it goes beyond that. 154 00:08:01,890 --> 00:08:03,710 You need to know the indwelling of the 155 00:08:03,710 --> 00:08:05,930 Spirit, the entry of the Spirit of God 156 00:08:05,930 --> 00:08:07,130 into your life. 157 00:08:08,490 --> 00:08:11,650 And without the Spirit of God, you can't 158 00:08:11,650 --> 00:08:12,310 be saved. 159 00:08:13,350 --> 00:08:17,930 You are born by the regenerating power of 160 00:08:17,930 --> 00:08:18,550 the Holy Ghost. 161 00:08:18,750 --> 00:08:21,590 That's what makes the Christian a different person 162 00:08:21,590 --> 00:08:22,650 than anybody else. 163 00:08:22,650 --> 00:08:25,570 That's what makes Christianity different from any other 164 00:08:25,570 --> 00:08:26,150 philosophy. 165 00:08:28,470 --> 00:08:30,950 It's the very life of God being planted 166 00:08:30,950 --> 00:08:31,710 in the soul. 167 00:08:32,690 --> 00:08:34,350 A great preacher, to whom I'm going to 168 00:08:34,350 --> 00:08:36,830 be making reference on several occasions this evening, 169 00:08:36,950 --> 00:08:39,490 by the name of George Whitfield, when he 170 00:08:39,490 --> 00:08:41,250 was a student at one of our major 171 00:08:41,250 --> 00:08:43,850 universities, was given a book by that name, 172 00:08:44,070 --> 00:08:45,870 The Life of God in the Soul of 173 00:08:45,870 --> 00:08:46,050 Man. 174 00:08:46,190 --> 00:08:47,650 He read that book and he said, I 175 00:08:47,650 --> 00:08:48,390 want this. 176 00:08:49,230 --> 00:08:54,190 He spent days and nights wandering around the 177 00:08:54,190 --> 00:08:58,150 streets of his university town, pleading that somehow 178 00:08:58,150 --> 00:09:00,050 he might have his sins forgiven. 179 00:09:01,070 --> 00:09:04,170 And the day came when God flooded his 180 00:09:04,170 --> 00:09:05,890 heart and cleansed him. 181 00:09:06,890 --> 00:09:11,830 Whitfield was born into the Christian church in 182 00:09:11,830 --> 00:09:12,190 power. 183 00:09:14,380 --> 00:09:17,100 Now, if we're a powerful community, at least 184 00:09:17,100 --> 00:09:20,840 ideally speaking, then the life of the community 185 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,120 shall be marked with the power of the 186 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:23,800 Holy Spirit. 187 00:09:25,340 --> 00:09:28,140 And where would you expect to read of 188 00:09:28,140 --> 00:09:32,000 this, to feel this very power in the 189 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:33,600 New Testament? 190 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,360 Well, obviously when you take up the story 191 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:37,140 of the church. 192 00:09:37,820 --> 00:09:40,520 And that means that you turn to the 193 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,480 fifth book of the New Testament, the Acts 194 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:44,320 of the Apostles. 195 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,540 And at the beginning there, you find the 196 00:09:46,540 --> 00:09:49,200 words of our Lord Jesus directed to the 197 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:49,760 disciples. 198 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,200 And he tells them to go to Jerusalem 199 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,140 and to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. 200 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,820 And in his own words, he says, you 201 00:09:59,820 --> 00:10:03,580 will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes 202 00:10:03,580 --> 00:10:04,060 on you. 203 00:10:04,700 --> 00:10:07,120 And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem 204 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,980 and in all Judea and Samaria and to 205 00:10:09,980 --> 00:10:11,420 the ends of the earth. 206 00:10:11,420 --> 00:10:14,740 They'll go to Jerusalem and there they will 207 00:10:14,740 --> 00:10:18,060 be brought into a living experience of the 208 00:10:18,060 --> 00:10:20,860 third person of the Trinity. 209 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,840 They will be linked into the circuit and 210 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:26,460 the power of God will start to hum. 211 00:10:27,420 --> 00:10:29,480 And I tell you, if you've got sensitive 212 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,260 ears, when you read the Acts of the 213 00:10:32,260 --> 00:10:36,200 Apostles, you can feel, you can detect the 214 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:37,940 generating power of the Spirit. 215 00:10:38,180 --> 00:10:39,960 It hums across every page. 216 00:10:40,620 --> 00:10:43,140 So we move to the third chapter and 217 00:10:43,140 --> 00:10:44,820 there we discover Peter and John. 218 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,220 They're going into the temple, they're going to 219 00:10:47,220 --> 00:10:47,580 pray. 220 00:10:48,180 --> 00:10:50,460 There's a man, he's a beggar, typical of 221 00:10:50,460 --> 00:10:54,580 so many in his unfortunate condition in the 222 00:10:54,580 --> 00:10:55,720 temple precincts. 223 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:57,780 He asks for money from these men. 224 00:10:58,160 --> 00:10:59,780 Alas, they've got no money. 225 00:11:00,220 --> 00:11:02,200 But what they do have is faith in 226 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:02,960 the living God. 227 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,320 And they pray for the man and he 228 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:06,580 jumps to his feet. 229 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:08,940 And a crowd gathers as a result. 230 00:11:08,940 --> 00:11:11,580 And they inquire as to what Peter and 231 00:11:11,580 --> 00:11:12,580 John have been about. 232 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:16,960 And they respond, men of Israel, chapter 3 233 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,280 and verse 12. 234 00:11:18,420 --> 00:11:20,820 Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? 235 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:22,940 Why do you stare at us as if 236 00:11:22,940 --> 00:11:25,800 by our own power or godliness we have 237 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:27,400 made this man walk? 238 00:11:28,030 --> 00:11:31,680 By deduction you discover they're saying that the 239 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:36,480 power that has been released has come from 240 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:40,660 God who has invested them with such dynamic. 241 00:11:41,460 --> 00:11:45,500 You move on to the fourth chapter and 242 00:11:45,500 --> 00:11:49,500 there you find a picture of the church 243 00:11:49,500 --> 00:11:50,160 at prayer. 244 00:11:50,900 --> 00:11:54,900 The 32nd verse, all the believers were one 245 00:11:54,900 --> 00:11:55,880 in heart and mind. 246 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,100 No one claimed that any of his possessions 247 00:11:58,100 --> 00:11:58,820 was his own. 248 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,080 But they shared everything they had. 249 00:12:01,460 --> 00:12:04,900 And with great power the apostles continue to 250 00:12:04,900 --> 00:12:07,880 testify to the resurrection of the Lord. 251 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,780 And much grace was with them all. 252 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,640 You move on to the sixth chapter of 253 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:15,240 the Acts. 254 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:18,840 And there they have a particular task to 255 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:20,060 do, those early Christians. 256 00:12:20,220 --> 00:12:23,240 They're concerned about widow women who have come 257 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:24,100 into the fellowship. 258 00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:27,200 These are days when there weren't such things 259 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,380 as pensions and social security. 260 00:12:30,060 --> 00:12:32,360 The church looked after its poor and they 261 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,040 needed men to handle the finance. 262 00:12:34,340 --> 00:12:36,100 This was a responsible position. 263 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:37,720 So what did they do? 264 00:12:38,060 --> 00:12:41,980 They chose seven men, seven almoners, like deacons 265 00:12:41,980 --> 00:12:42,960 in effect. 266 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,460 And we discover this description of one who 267 00:12:46,460 --> 00:12:49,000 was selected for such a useful ministry. 268 00:12:49,570 --> 00:12:54,080 They chose Stephen, verse 5 of chapter 6, 269 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:59,880 a man full of faith and of the 270 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:01,060 Holy Ghost. 271 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:06,940 And it indicates in the eighth verse that 272 00:13:06,940 --> 00:13:11,320 he is full of God's grace and power, 273 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:17,680 doing great wonders and miracles and signs among 274 00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:18,260 the people. 275 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:20,920 You move on in the Acts of the 276 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:21,580 Apostles. 277 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:24,560 And you find reference in the tenth chapter 278 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:26,200 to the ministry of Jesus. 279 00:13:26,660 --> 00:13:29,900 Peter is preaching in the household of a 280 00:13:29,900 --> 00:13:30,900 Roman soldier. 281 00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:33,760 And when he refers to the Lord Jesus 282 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,520 in the thirty-seventh verse, he has this 283 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,000 to say, or rather verse 38, we tell 284 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,840 you how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with 285 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,300 the Holy Spirit and power and how he 286 00:13:47,300 --> 00:13:50,780 went around doing good and healing all who 287 00:13:50,780 --> 00:13:53,600 were under the power of the devil because 288 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:54,660 God was with him. 289 00:13:55,580 --> 00:13:59,180 Now this idea of power that hums, as 290 00:13:59,180 --> 00:14:01,040 I say, throughout the whole of the Acts 291 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,780 of the Apostles, it's also there in the 292 00:14:03,780 --> 00:14:07,360 epistles which Paul and Peter and others write. 293 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:10,760 The fifteenth chapter of Romans, for example, Peter 294 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:15,840 is referring to his successful ministry as he 295 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,000 establishes churches for the Lord Jesus. 296 00:14:19,340 --> 00:14:21,120 I read to you from the eighteenth verse 297 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:23,600 of Romans 15, I will not venture to 298 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,380 speak of anything else except what Christ has 299 00:14:26,380 --> 00:14:29,260 accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to 300 00:14:29,260 --> 00:14:31,480 obey God by what I have said and 301 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,760 done, by the power of signs and miracles 302 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,160 through the power of the Holy Spirit. 303 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,000 And when you go to an earlier verse 304 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,320 in that fifteenth chapter, you find that Paul 305 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,700 includes all the Christians at Rome in a 306 00:14:48,700 --> 00:14:51,560 prayer that they too might know the dynamic 307 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:52,240 of the Spirit. 308 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,560 May the God of hope fill you with 309 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:56,620 all joy and peace as you trust in 310 00:14:56,620 --> 00:14:59,020 him so that you may overflow with hope 311 00:14:59,020 --> 00:15:01,120 by the power of the Holy Spirit. 312 00:15:01,940 --> 00:15:04,240 All right, I'm into Romans, I could take 313 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,280 you into Corinthians, into Thessalonians, I can take 314 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,260 you into Peter, I can take you right 315 00:15:09,260 --> 00:15:12,100 to the last book of the New Testament 316 00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:16,780 and we would be substantiating my main contention 317 00:15:16,780 --> 00:15:19,740 before you, that the early church was a 318 00:15:19,740 --> 00:15:20,800 church of power. 319 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,820 It was born into power and it was 320 00:15:24,820 --> 00:15:28,220 the power of God released through the church 321 00:15:28,220 --> 00:15:31,180 that made them to be so successful in 322 00:15:31,180 --> 00:15:33,280 their witness so that at the end of 323 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:37,160 the first decade even pagans and therefore unbelievers 324 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,320 stood by in utter astonishment and they said, 325 00:15:40,900 --> 00:15:43,280 these men, they've turned the world upside down. 326 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,900 Now this is remarkable, they didn't have any 327 00:15:45,900 --> 00:15:49,820 advertising media, there was no television, there was 328 00:15:49,820 --> 00:15:53,080 no printing press, there was no way at 329 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,240 the human level in which a bunch of 330 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,120 men and some ladies too in an upper 331 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:02,700 room in Jerusalem could suddenly move out into 332 00:16:02,700 --> 00:16:05,760 the rest of Palestine and around the known 333 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,320 world and preach the gospel that they'd learned 334 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:15,020 from a carpenter and be utterly successful without 335 00:16:15,020 --> 00:16:16,560 recognizing this. 336 00:16:17,540 --> 00:16:23,680 They had tapped a source of power and 337 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:25,520 nothing could withstand them. 338 00:16:27,250 --> 00:16:29,870 And I want to say, my friend, today 339 00:16:29,870 --> 00:16:33,350 that the only way in which we can 340 00:16:33,350 --> 00:16:40,470 penetrate a sinful world is as we appreciate 341 00:16:40,470 --> 00:16:47,570 experimentally what Paul meant when he prays in 342 00:16:47,570 --> 00:16:52,430 the Ephesian epistle twice that the Christians there 343 00:16:52,430 --> 00:16:58,230 may be full of the power of the 344 00:16:58,230 --> 00:16:58,930 Holy Ghost. 345 00:16:59,730 --> 00:17:04,170 You cannot convince a person of the truths 346 00:17:04,170 --> 00:17:08,890 of Christianity unless you are a living example 347 00:17:08,890 --> 00:17:12,609 of the Christian faith itself. 348 00:17:13,490 --> 00:17:16,310 And to be a living example, and here 349 00:17:16,310 --> 00:17:19,690 I address my senior friends in this tabernacle 350 00:17:19,690 --> 00:17:23,170 including myself, it is not sufficient to have 351 00:17:23,170 --> 00:17:25,910 commenced in power, we must go on in 352 00:17:25,910 --> 00:17:26,210 power. 353 00:17:26,210 --> 00:17:30,630 Initiation is one thing, continuation is another thing. 354 00:17:33,590 --> 00:17:37,850 The great men of God, and oh, that 355 00:17:37,850 --> 00:17:39,750 the Lord would give you a passion and 356 00:17:39,750 --> 00:17:43,130 a desire to read history and all that 357 00:17:43,130 --> 00:17:46,170 God has done through his church in the 358 00:17:46,170 --> 00:17:49,670 centuries that have gone by, the great men 359 00:17:49,670 --> 00:17:54,130 of God who were used to bring thousands 360 00:17:54,130 --> 00:17:57,890 into the kingdom were men who had an 361 00:17:57,890 --> 00:18:02,670 utter and an increasing reliance on the power 362 00:18:02,670 --> 00:18:06,470 of God released through the indwelling of the 363 00:18:06,470 --> 00:18:09,130 Spirit into their ministries. 364 00:18:09,990 --> 00:18:12,250 I know that we are in the area 365 00:18:12,250 --> 00:18:15,810 of controversy as to where you pin certain 366 00:18:15,810 --> 00:18:19,650 terms such as the baptism of the Spirit 367 00:18:19,650 --> 00:18:22,190 and the fullness of the Spirit and the 368 00:18:22,190 --> 00:18:24,810 sealing of the Spirit, which is a phrase 369 00:18:24,810 --> 00:18:27,630 Paul uses earlier in this letter. 370 00:18:28,410 --> 00:18:30,750 But I tell you, as I mentioned last 371 00:18:30,750 --> 00:18:35,050 week, that I have gone beyond the desire 372 00:18:35,050 --> 00:18:39,530 merely to be theologically accurate and to dot 373 00:18:39,530 --> 00:18:41,790 all the I's and cross all the T's 374 00:18:41,790 --> 00:18:46,410 as though academic perfection was my chief objective 375 00:18:46,410 --> 00:18:50,130 in understanding something of the power and the 376 00:18:50,130 --> 00:18:53,130 fullness of Almighty God in my life. 377 00:18:54,410 --> 00:18:57,790 I will not cross swords with those who 378 00:18:57,790 --> 00:19:02,330 in this area differ from any theological construction 379 00:19:02,330 --> 00:19:06,330 that I might be sympathetic towards. 380 00:19:07,810 --> 00:19:12,930 The main question which needs to be asked 381 00:19:12,930 --> 00:19:15,170 is simply this. 382 00:19:15,970 --> 00:19:18,410 Do you know the power of God? 383 00:19:19,370 --> 00:19:20,850 Do you know it in your life? 384 00:19:22,050 --> 00:19:24,630 Do you know it as an overwhelming experience? 385 00:19:25,610 --> 00:19:29,330 Are there times when you are so aware 386 00:19:29,330 --> 00:19:34,550 of God that everything and everyone else in 387 00:19:34,550 --> 00:19:38,310 this world takes a secondary position? 388 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,480 This is what Paul knew. 389 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:50,720 He has such an awareness of God and 390 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:54,400 such a love for Jesus that there are 391 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,160 times when Paul engaged in the most complex 392 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:04,280 and profound piece of theological reasoning tells us 393 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:09,220 that Jesus loved him and died for him 394 00:20:09,220 --> 00:20:12,720 and Paul is overwhelmed at the thought and 395 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:16,000 he leaves his argument and he engages in 396 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,320 a hymn of praise to the Lord as 397 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,160 with a soul that's overwhelmed he pours out 398 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,140 his love to the living God. 399 00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:27,900 And I'm asking you, younger friend and older 400 00:20:27,900 --> 00:20:35,060 friend, do you know this experience or experiences 401 00:20:35,060 --> 00:20:42,940 from time to time and indeed increasingly? 402 00:20:45,020 --> 00:20:47,840 There are those who seem to suggest that 403 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,520 the idea of the fullness of the Spirit 404 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,260 and power with God is something that we 405 00:20:54,260 --> 00:20:58,160 mortals in the 20th century, we Christians have 406 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:01,600 entered into or certain branches of the church 407 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,380 as though these great men like Calvin and 408 00:21:05,380 --> 00:21:10,140 Luther, great theologians like John Owen and Jonathan 409 00:21:10,140 --> 00:21:15,360 Edwards and Flavel and a host of others 410 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,820 that I could marshal before you never knew 411 00:21:17,820 --> 00:21:18,900 anything of this. 412 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,320 Whitfield who went to Bristol and preached with 413 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,080 Wesley to the collierers as they came up 414 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,620 out of the mines with their sooty, dirty, 415 00:21:29,860 --> 00:21:30,920 grimy faces. 416 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:35,820 He was responsible under the Lord for the 417 00:21:35,820 --> 00:21:38,440 release of the convicting power of the Spirit 418 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,420 to the extent that onlookers saw the clean 419 00:21:42,420 --> 00:21:45,520 little rivulets that were formed by the tears 420 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,400 of the miners as under the conviction of 421 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,900 the Spirit of God they called out and 422 00:21:50,900 --> 00:21:53,860 asked that God would forgive them their sins. 423 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,440 And Whitfield knew the power of God in 424 00:21:58,440 --> 00:21:58,900 his life. 425 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,800 He writes in his journals of a significant 426 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,480 occasion when God moved in upon him and 427 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,960 God became all and all to him. 428 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,640 One of the greatest men who ever lived 429 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,420 as far as intellectual ability is concerned was 430 00:22:17,420 --> 00:22:19,580 a man by the name of Jonathan Edwards 431 00:22:19,940 --> 00:22:22,580 reckoned by some to be the greatest philosopher 432 00:22:22,580 --> 00:22:24,160 since Socrates. 433 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,420 And this is what Jonathan Edwards had to 434 00:22:27,420 --> 00:22:30,540 say and he's a man who's not exactly 435 00:22:30,540 --> 00:22:33,160 an emotional man like John Wesley, a man 436 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,640 who's in the area of logic and legal 437 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,660 things, a man who's not going to be 438 00:22:37,660 --> 00:22:40,900 caught along by any psychological element in a 439 00:22:40,900 --> 00:22:42,960 meeting, a man who's not going to have 440 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:48,560 any psychological experience induced into his personality. 441 00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:51,420 Well, here is Edwards, the great theologian, this 442 00:22:51,420 --> 00:22:53,880 great lawyer, and he's in America. 443 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:55,880 It's in the 18th century. 444 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:58,800 And he refers to what happened to him 445 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,520 one day as he makes a journey from 446 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,340 one point to the States to another. 447 00:23:03,340 --> 00:23:07,540 I felt an ardency of soul to be 448 00:23:07,540 --> 00:23:10,300 what I know not otherwise how to express, 449 00:23:11,380 --> 00:23:15,180 emptied and annihilated, to lie in the dust 450 00:23:15,180 --> 00:23:18,200 and to be full of Christ alone, to 451 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,800 love him with a holy, pure joy, to 452 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,920 trust in him, to live upon him, to 453 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,840 serve and follow him, and to be perfectly 454 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:36,600 sanctified and made pure with a divine and 455 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:37,640 heavenly purity. 456 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:40,680 Jonathan Edwards was never the same. 457 00:23:42,060 --> 00:23:46,500 After that experience, he wasn't a man caught 458 00:23:46,500 --> 00:23:48,280 up in an emotional cloud. 459 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:50,840 He was a man who wrote a book 460 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:55,460 against cosmetic, counterfeit experiences of the spirit, but 461 00:23:55,460 --> 00:23:57,340 he was a man who knew God himself. 462 00:23:58,460 --> 00:24:01,300 Take another, a man by the name of 463 00:24:01,300 --> 00:24:02,220 David Brainard. 464 00:24:02,900 --> 00:24:06,540 Brainard goes to witness to the Indians in 465 00:24:06,540 --> 00:24:08,260 North America. 466 00:24:08,620 --> 00:24:10,740 He's a man who has a passion for 467 00:24:10,740 --> 00:24:11,000 God. 468 00:24:11,260 --> 00:24:12,800 It turns him out of his bed at 469 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:13,080 night. 470 00:24:13,420 --> 00:24:15,740 Sometimes he seems to be almost a fanatic. 471 00:24:16,260 --> 00:24:18,800 In the icy cold of the northern parts 472 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,420 of the States, he'll spend hours in prayer, 473 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,820 seeking, hungering with a passion for Almighty God. 474 00:24:24,820 --> 00:24:27,640 And the day comes when God meets Brainard, 475 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,280 and Brainard's ministry penetrates the Indians. 476 00:24:32,140 --> 00:24:34,900 He'll read his diary, read the story of 477 00:24:34,900 --> 00:24:38,120 what happened as a result of Brainard releasing 478 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:40,720 the power of God amongst the Indians. 479 00:24:40,940 --> 00:24:42,380 Let me bring you forward a century. 480 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,980 These notes, I've got a little jottings of 481 00:24:44,980 --> 00:24:48,400 the experiences of great men of God that 482 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:49,740 I've listed down. 483 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,220 Here's D.L. Moody, the turn of the 484 00:24:52,220 --> 00:24:53,580 last century. 485 00:24:54,540 --> 00:24:56,900 He needs to know the power of the 486 00:24:56,900 --> 00:24:57,200 Lord. 487 00:24:57,920 --> 00:24:59,620 And he's in New York City. 488 00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:03,740 He's between campaigns, yet he's still feeling powerless. 489 00:25:04,220 --> 00:25:06,500 He still realizes that there's a lot more 490 00:25:06,500 --> 00:25:09,500 of God for him to experience than he's 491 00:25:09,500 --> 00:25:10,280 known before. 492 00:25:10,940 --> 00:25:12,700 I began to cry, says D.L. Moody, 493 00:25:13,260 --> 00:25:14,640 a great evangelist. 494 00:25:15,100 --> 00:25:17,260 I began to cry as I've never cried 495 00:25:17,260 --> 00:25:17,940 in my life. 496 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:19,680 The hunger increased. 497 00:25:20,260 --> 00:25:22,020 I felt that I did not want to 498 00:25:22,020 --> 00:25:22,840 live any longer. 499 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,080 If I could not have the power for 500 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,720 service, I kept on crying all the time 501 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,060 that God would fill me with the Spirit. 502 00:25:30,580 --> 00:25:33,360 Well, one day, in the city of New 503 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:35,360 York, oh, what a day! 504 00:25:35,860 --> 00:25:37,520 I cannot describe it. 505 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:39,420 I seldom refer to it. 506 00:25:39,700 --> 00:25:42,280 It is almost too sacred an experience to 507 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:42,560 name. 508 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,400 I can only say that God revealed himself 509 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,540 to me, and I had such an experience 510 00:25:49,540 --> 00:25:52,760 of his love that I had to ask 511 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,440 him to stay his hand. 512 00:25:57,300 --> 00:25:58,700 Let me give you another testimony. 513 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:00,540 A Welsh preacher. 514 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:02,860 Got a strange Christian name. 515 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:04,440 Christmas Evans. 516 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,860 Great preacher, despite the strangeness of his name. 517 00:26:09,540 --> 00:26:11,540 He, again, is between two points in his 518 00:26:11,540 --> 00:26:12,040 ministry. 519 00:26:12,380 --> 00:26:15,700 He sets off, and he's going along one 520 00:26:15,700 --> 00:26:20,040 of the northern mountain ranges in Wales, and 521 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:21,980 he says, Having begun in the name of 522 00:26:21,980 --> 00:26:24,700 Jesus, I felt as if my shackles were 523 00:26:24,700 --> 00:26:25,300 loosening. 524 00:26:26,020 --> 00:26:26,900 Here is this preacher. 525 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,380 Can you see him perhaps on horseback as 526 00:26:29,380 --> 00:26:31,980 he's in the idyllic countryside of northern Wales? 527 00:26:32,300 --> 00:26:36,280 The old hardness begins to soften, just like, 528 00:26:36,700 --> 00:26:38,760 as I thought, the mountains and frost and 529 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,480 snow is dissolving and melting within me. 530 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,540 This engendered confidence within my soul in the 531 00:26:44,540 --> 00:26:45,660 promise of the Holy Ghost. 532 00:26:45,660 --> 00:26:49,140 I felt my whole mind relieved from some 533 00:26:49,140 --> 00:26:50,040 great bondage. 534 00:26:50,380 --> 00:26:53,540 Tears flowed copiously, and I was constrained to 535 00:26:53,540 --> 00:26:56,240 cry out aloud for the gracious visits of 536 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,540 God by restoring to my soul the joy 537 00:26:59,540 --> 00:27:02,040 of his salvation and that he would visit 538 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,620 the churches in Anglesey again that were under 539 00:27:05,620 --> 00:27:06,380 my care. 540 00:27:07,420 --> 00:27:10,040 Why do I bring these illustrations to you? 541 00:27:10,820 --> 00:27:13,020 Well, I do so as a corrective and 542 00:27:13,020 --> 00:27:14,140 as a stimulus. 543 00:27:14,140 --> 00:27:17,540 A corrective to those who feel that the 544 00:27:17,540 --> 00:27:20,960 whole business of the fullness of the Spirit 545 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,220 and entering into the presence of God and 546 00:27:23,220 --> 00:27:26,460 knowing his power is something rediscovered. 547 00:27:27,060 --> 00:27:29,160 And some of us may question certain aspects 548 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:31,620 of the rediscovery in the 20th century. 549 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,720 My friend, Whitfield Wesley, these great men of 550 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:37,300 God, I could have told you of Howell 551 00:27:37,300 --> 00:27:40,560 Harris, of Daniel Rowlands, and a thousand more, 552 00:27:40,700 --> 00:27:42,140 well, certainly hundreds more. 553 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:43,600 They knew. 554 00:27:44,260 --> 00:27:47,620 They knew the power of God in their 555 00:27:47,620 --> 00:27:48,260 lives. 556 00:27:48,860 --> 00:27:50,000 What did it do? 557 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,760 What was the effect of that power? 558 00:27:53,900 --> 00:27:57,060 Well, it had remarkable effects upon them. 559 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,880 For a while, they were exuberant depending on 560 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,640 the variation that there was in their personality. 561 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:07,900 There were some who were caught up into 562 00:28:07,900 --> 00:28:09,580 an ecstasy before the Lord. 563 00:28:09,580 --> 00:28:12,620 There were some who were quietly moved in 564 00:28:12,620 --> 00:28:13,860 their innermost being. 565 00:28:14,980 --> 00:28:16,920 There were some who felt they could sing 566 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:18,340 and dance before the Lord. 567 00:28:20,020 --> 00:28:22,620 But most of them, indeed all of them, 568 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,940 came out of the experience, or the experiences 569 00:28:25,940 --> 00:28:28,580 with a great concept of the holiness and 570 00:28:28,580 --> 00:28:29,740 the majesty of God. 571 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,280 Listen to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, a Puritan of 572 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,240 the 20th century, as he evaluates some of 573 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:36,720 these experiences. 574 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,800 A man may sing or may dance for 575 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:41,580 a while, but that does not persist. 576 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:43,820 It is temporary and due to weakness of 577 00:28:43,820 --> 00:28:46,280 the body, but what is permanent, what proves 578 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:48,780 genuineness, is that a man is filled with 579 00:28:48,780 --> 00:28:49,820 a sense of awe. 580 00:28:50,180 --> 00:28:52,280 He has been near the majesty of God 581 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:54,120 and is of necessity humbled. 582 00:28:54,780 --> 00:28:57,420 Great men of God rarely spoke about it. 583 00:28:57,760 --> 00:28:58,820 There was no boastfulness. 584 00:28:59,380 --> 00:29:01,040 What had happened to them was almost too 585 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:02,160 sacred to be mentioned. 586 00:29:02,780 --> 00:29:05,280 It leads to humility and to a love 587 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,040 of God and a rejoicing in Christ with 588 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,340 a joy unspeakable and full of glory. 589 00:29:11,300 --> 00:29:14,020 I find myself saying amen to that to 590 00:29:14,020 --> 00:29:16,540 the extent I brought the quote because I 591 00:29:16,540 --> 00:29:19,180 could not preach it with the eloquence or 592 00:29:19,180 --> 00:29:20,780 with the perception of Lloyd-Jones. 593 00:29:21,340 --> 00:29:25,460 Do not tell me that this tabernacle, its 594 00:29:25,460 --> 00:29:29,240 pastor, its elders and deacons, stand for a 595 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:32,860 stuffy academic intellectual apprehension of the gospel. 596 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,420 There is nothing more I tell you, God 597 00:29:37,420 --> 00:29:40,440 be my judge, that I want in my 598 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,520 life, that I want for you precious young 599 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,120 people and you older friends too, than a 600 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:52,180 knowledge, an increasing knowledge of the fullness of 601 00:29:52,180 --> 00:29:53,020 God himself. 602 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:59,000 And when that happens, God becomes so great 603 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:03,480 in our estimation, we recognize his reverence, his 604 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:08,120 majesty, his person, his holiness, those great and 605 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:09,240 glorious attributes. 606 00:30:09,580 --> 00:30:11,760 We're caught up in conflicting emotions. 607 00:30:12,700 --> 00:30:14,760 At one point we want to fall down. 608 00:30:15,660 --> 00:30:17,440 Our reaction is that of Peter the fisherman. 609 00:30:17,740 --> 00:30:19,940 Depart from me, for I'm a sinful man, 610 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:20,320 O Lord. 611 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:21,840 You're all that I'm not. 612 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,600 I revere, I honor your holy name. 613 00:30:25,940 --> 00:30:28,940 And then there's that other element. 614 00:30:29,700 --> 00:30:32,600 In which we recognize that this God is 615 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,620 a great, delightful heavenly Father who loves the 616 00:30:36,620 --> 00:30:39,560 uninhibited praise of his children and we want 617 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:41,060 to bless and adore him. 618 00:30:41,460 --> 00:30:42,500 We want to sing. 619 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:44,640 We try to find words in the human 620 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,700 language to express our praises and find that 621 00:30:48,700 --> 00:30:51,940 it's a beggarly medium of worshiping the living 622 00:30:51,940 --> 00:30:52,400 God. 623 00:30:53,100 --> 00:30:56,920 And sometimes in his infinite grace, he resolves 624 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:01,140 that problem by giving languages that have never 625 00:31:01,140 --> 00:31:01,800 been learned. 626 00:31:02,660 --> 00:31:04,260 You see my point, my friend. 627 00:31:05,020 --> 00:31:06,260 This is what I'm saying. 628 00:31:06,940 --> 00:31:09,960 That the increase of the knowledge of God 629 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:14,160 and his power in my life, it changes 630 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:14,540 me. 631 00:31:15,260 --> 00:31:18,480 It makes me realize something of how great 632 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:19,080 he is. 633 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,420 And I want to worship him. 634 00:31:22,100 --> 00:31:23,400 I want to love him. 635 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:25,580 I want to serve him. 636 00:31:25,580 --> 00:31:28,980 There are some experiences that I have in 637 00:31:28,980 --> 00:31:32,140 marriage that I would not publicly refer to. 638 00:31:32,980 --> 00:31:36,080 And there are some experiences that a Christian 639 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,220 can have with the great God of glory 640 00:31:39,260 --> 00:31:43,120 that are so delicate that he or she 641 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:44,840 finds themselves like Moody. 642 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,880 Somewhat hesitant in relating them. 643 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:55,080 I'm always put off by the person who 644 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,120 seems to wear his religious experience on his 645 00:31:59,120 --> 00:31:59,940 shirt cuff. 646 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,040 The man who has a knowledge of God 647 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:06,520 doesn't need to tell you. 648 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:08,340 You know. 649 00:32:09,620 --> 00:32:10,560 You feel it. 650 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,540 One of the things I shall miss on 651 00:32:14,540 --> 00:32:20,160 the departure of Wilfred Mortimer was sometimes when 652 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:24,160 he prayed how one felt the closeness of 653 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:24,660 the Lord. 654 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,680 That man could intercede before God like a 655 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,760 leaf that quivered when the wind of the 656 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:33,900 Spirit blew. 657 00:32:35,100 --> 00:32:38,640 And I want to know more and more 658 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,460 of that in my life. 659 00:32:44,100 --> 00:32:47,560 What are the effects of knowing the power 660 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:48,080 of God? 661 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,020 Well, if I had time I would take 662 00:32:52,020 --> 00:32:54,490 you into two long excursions. 663 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:55,880 But I won't. 664 00:32:55,980 --> 00:32:57,240 I'll do it in summary fashion. 665 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:03,380 Which outline the fact that when God moves 666 00:33:03,380 --> 00:33:06,300 in upon the soul in an increasing fashion 667 00:33:06,300 --> 00:33:09,780 it changes the person internally and it has 668 00:33:09,780 --> 00:33:11,860 certain external effects. 669 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:13,900 What do I mean by that? 670 00:33:15,020 --> 00:33:18,320 Well, internally, so to speak it gives him 671 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:20,600 a tremendous assurance of salvation. 672 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,840 Romans chapter 5 and verse 5 uses language 673 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,220 which resembles Acts 2 the latter referring to 674 00:33:28,220 --> 00:33:31,200 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and when 675 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:35,820 Paul in Romans 5 employs that terminology as 676 00:33:35,820 --> 00:33:38,600 he speaks about the pouring of the Holy 677 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,860 Spirit he says, hope does not disappoint us 678 00:33:41,860 --> 00:33:44,560 because God has poured out His love into 679 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,060 our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He 680 00:33:48,060 --> 00:33:49,500 has given us. 681 00:33:49,980 --> 00:33:52,620 And later on in the 8th chapter with 682 00:33:52,620 --> 00:33:55,580 the same topic in mind, speaking of the 683 00:33:55,580 --> 00:33:58,340 Spirit he says, the Spirit causes us to 684 00:33:58,340 --> 00:34:00,520 cry out to the Lord Abba Father. 685 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:04,700 In other words, we have a great assurance 686 00:34:04,700 --> 00:34:07,139 that we belong to God because of the 687 00:34:07,139 --> 00:34:12,739 indwelling Spirit and we need to know more 688 00:34:12,739 --> 00:34:15,020 of the power of God in our lives 689 00:34:15,020 --> 00:34:16,580 to convince us of this. 690 00:34:17,699 --> 00:34:20,179 To know that if all Christian fellowship was 691 00:34:20,179 --> 00:34:23,320 stripped from us all Bibles were banned and 692 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,060 burnt we were entirely on our own. 693 00:34:26,060 --> 00:34:29,120 We belong to God because the power of 694 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:31,960 God by the indwelling Spirit brings this sense 695 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:32,500 of assurance. 696 00:34:33,739 --> 00:34:36,340 That's what I mean when I say it 697 00:34:36,340 --> 00:34:37,960 has an internal benefit. 698 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:42,320 What's more it gives a tremendous sense of 699 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:47,000 joy when Peter the fisherman is writing to 700 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:51,620 the Christians who, Christian Jews who have committed 701 00:34:51,620 --> 00:34:54,120 their lives to Jesus Christ in the opening 702 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,500 letter that bears His name. 703 00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,180 He says in the 8th verse of chapter 704 00:34:59,180 --> 00:35:03,300 1 Though you have not seen Jesus, you 705 00:35:03,300 --> 00:35:03,900 love Him. 706 00:35:04,460 --> 00:35:06,600 And even though you do not see Him 707 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:09,400 now you believe in Him and are filled 708 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:13,400 with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 709 00:35:14,260 --> 00:35:17,480 Now I ask you, my friend older friend 710 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:19,820 and younger friend do you know this? 711 00:35:19,940 --> 00:35:21,240 Don't water this down. 712 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:25,620 Here is an inexpressible joy not a cosmetic 713 00:35:25,620 --> 00:35:29,320 smile, not just a grin this is a 714 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,740 joy that's deep down in the soul but 715 00:35:31,740 --> 00:35:34,840 it surfaces and people can recognize the fact 716 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,920 that there's something different internally you're changed, you 717 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,080 have this assurance that you belong to the 718 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,300 Lord you have this joy unspeakable and full 719 00:35:44,300 --> 00:35:46,200 of glory to quote the language of the 720 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,360 authorized version this is one of the byproducts 721 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:54,400 of knowing the power of God the sealings 722 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:57,180 of God's Spirit upon your life. 723 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:03,760 What's more there is within the soul created 724 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:09,260 a passion for the lost a passion for 725 00:36:09,260 --> 00:36:12,380 the lost this was a thing about Whitefield 726 00:36:13,180 --> 00:36:15,760 Charles Spurgeon, you may have heard I've referred 727 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,200 to that man once or twice in this 728 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:22,280 pulpit Charles Spurgeon reviews the life of Whitefield 729 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,540 now Spurgeon's life was crammed with activity to 730 00:36:25,540 --> 00:36:27,800 the extent he died prematurely in his early 731 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:30,920 fifties but when Spurgeon reviewed the life of 732 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:32,760 Whitefield he said, I believe that most men 733 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:36,280 are half dead but Whitefield was full of 734 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,380 life you always found him as an activist 735 00:36:39,380 --> 00:36:41,980 he was always doing something, what was he 736 00:36:41,980 --> 00:36:42,180 doing? 737 00:36:42,340 --> 00:36:45,240 he was preaching the gospel every fibre of 738 00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:48,340 his being was invested in this every cent, 739 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:51,200 every pound of his money was invested in 740 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:53,260 this he has a passion for the lost 741 00:36:53,260 --> 00:36:55,880 Wesley is asked which his church is and 742 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,180 which his particular piece of ground where he 743 00:36:58,180 --> 00:37:02,560 evangelizes is in Anglican terms, what's your parish, 744 00:37:02,900 --> 00:37:03,060 Wesley? 745 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:07,520 and Charles says, the world's my parish I 746 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,440 think that big and if you'd looked at 747 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,420 Wesley and Charles trying to keep up with 748 00:37:12,420 --> 00:37:15,120 one another these remarkable brothers, you saw them 749 00:37:15,620 --> 00:37:20,260 tramping across England, on into Scotland across to 750 00:37:20,260 --> 00:37:22,340 the Americas you do the same as I 751 00:37:22,340 --> 00:37:24,140 say with Whitefield, here he is, he's in 752 00:37:24,140 --> 00:37:25,580 London you shut your eyes, he's not in 753 00:37:25,580 --> 00:37:27,800 London, he's in Edinburgh you shut your eyes, 754 00:37:27,900 --> 00:37:29,940 he's not in Edinburgh, he's in Glasgow he 755 00:37:29,940 --> 00:37:31,960 nips up to a place called Cambuslang, he 756 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:34,860 starts to preach and remarkable things happen, hundreds 757 00:37:34,860 --> 00:37:36,840 of people come and listen to him, the 758 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,960 power of God falls upon his ministry but 759 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,320 you can't keep him down that's exactly the 760 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,580 case with Danny Rowlands and so many of 761 00:37:45,580 --> 00:37:47,800 these great men of the past I plead 762 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:49,900 with you, read the history of the church 763 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:53,680 now, you have power you say? 764 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:56,380 all right, thank God, I believe that this 765 00:37:56,380 --> 00:37:59,280 power is available to us today on the 766 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:00,980 same basis as it was on the day 767 00:38:00,980 --> 00:38:04,220 of Pentecost but if you've got the power, 768 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:10,420 then show me the passion for souls thank 769 00:38:10,420 --> 00:38:11,860 God there are many in this church that 770 00:38:11,860 --> 00:38:14,840 have a passion for souls and a power 771 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,140 for the Lord but they must go along, 772 00:38:17,220 --> 00:38:19,920 you see you shall receive power after the 773 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:21,680 Holy Spirit has come upon you that you 774 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:23,780 may have an ecstatic experience, that you can 775 00:38:23,780 --> 00:38:25,620 sing a chorus for the 20th time and 776 00:38:25,620 --> 00:38:27,080 get little shivers up and down your spine 777 00:38:28,340 --> 00:38:30,740 that may be a psychological analysis of some 778 00:38:30,740 --> 00:38:33,080 religious experience, that it could be valid or 779 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:38,170 invalid I don't know well then, and here 780 00:38:38,170 --> 00:38:41,550 I come to wind up what I've wanted 781 00:38:41,550 --> 00:38:44,810 to share with you for so long what 782 00:38:44,810 --> 00:38:49,610 can you do about receiving more of God's 783 00:38:49,610 --> 00:38:53,150 power of knowing the outworking in your life 784 00:38:53,150 --> 00:38:56,650 of Paul's plea for the Ephesians to be 785 00:38:56,650 --> 00:38:58,390 filled with the power of God, with the 786 00:38:58,390 --> 00:39:02,350 fullness of God what can you do take 787 00:39:02,350 --> 00:39:05,390 the Bible at its word believe that when 788 00:39:05,390 --> 00:39:08,430 Paul was praying this, he really meant it 789 00:39:08,430 --> 00:39:12,670 he's not engaging in some theological speculation it 790 00:39:12,670 --> 00:39:16,390 is a concept that goes beyond full understanding 791 00:39:16,390 --> 00:39:19,170 but in basic principles we can grasp what 792 00:39:19,170 --> 00:39:21,950 he's saying that there is something about God 793 00:39:21,950 --> 00:39:24,390 and His ability within our lives that He 794 00:39:24,390 --> 00:39:27,730 can do immeasurably more than all we ask 795 00:39:27,730 --> 00:39:31,610 or imagine according to His power that is 796 00:39:31,610 --> 00:39:34,290 at work within us do you believe that? 797 00:39:39,210 --> 00:39:43,070 and then you're to seek to seek constantly 798 00:39:43,070 --> 00:39:48,530 and daily for a greater measure of God's 799 00:39:48,530 --> 00:39:54,690 life within you so the evangelist Luke tells 800 00:39:54,690 --> 00:39:56,810 us recording the words of our Lord in 801 00:39:56,810 --> 00:40:00,210 the eleventh chapter of the gospel that bears 802 00:40:00,210 --> 00:40:02,810 His name when he's speaking of the infilling 803 00:40:03,430 --> 00:40:07,990 of the Holy Spirit there was a great 804 00:40:07,990 --> 00:40:11,030 Puritan writer who, referring to the sealing of 805 00:40:11,030 --> 00:40:13,170 the Spirit says, sue God for it, sue 806 00:40:13,170 --> 00:40:16,790 Him come before Him and ask Him more 807 00:40:16,790 --> 00:40:18,870 and more that you shall have the power 808 00:40:18,870 --> 00:40:21,350 of God in your life that you will 809 00:40:21,350 --> 00:40:24,530 have in actuality what is there for every 810 00:40:24,530 --> 00:40:28,770 Christian, potentially what do I mean by that? 811 00:40:28,850 --> 00:40:30,870 well look, let's imagine that you leave me 812 00:40:30,870 --> 00:40:34,710 ten thousand pounds and I leave it in 813 00:40:34,710 --> 00:40:41,670 the bank potentially I'm rich actually I'm not 814 00:40:42,470 --> 00:40:44,810 I would never be a rich man as 815 00:40:44,810 --> 00:40:46,890 far as that amount of money is concerned 816 00:40:46,890 --> 00:40:49,470 until I went to the bank and took 817 00:40:49,470 --> 00:40:53,230 it and used it Apostle Paul says in 818 00:40:53,230 --> 00:40:56,810 Ephesians that all spiritual blessings belong to us, 819 00:40:56,910 --> 00:41:00,090 Ephesians 1, 3 in Christ Jesus, they all 820 00:41:00,090 --> 00:41:05,930 belong to us potentially we're so rich the 821 00:41:05,930 --> 00:41:10,430 desire to make your potential actual and then 822 00:41:10,430 --> 00:41:13,910 to remember the sovereignty of God you see, 823 00:41:13,990 --> 00:41:16,390 we're in a state of preparedness we cannot 824 00:41:16,390 --> 00:41:19,050 induce blessings from the Lord we can't induce 825 00:41:19,050 --> 00:41:21,210 a supply of power people have tried this 826 00:41:21,210 --> 00:41:23,730 and it becomes the most clumsy and the 827 00:41:23,730 --> 00:41:28,030 most ugly thing when people endeavour to induce 828 00:41:28,030 --> 00:41:32,590 spiritual experiences indeed, they're not spiritual, religious experiences 829 00:41:32,590 --> 00:41:35,310 they can be harmful, they can be counterfeit 830 00:41:35,970 --> 00:41:38,910 but you see, within the sovereignty of God 831 00:41:38,910 --> 00:41:43,010 as we make ourselves available the potential for 832 00:41:43,010 --> 00:41:48,000 service, the potential for power is infinite and 833 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:49,420 so we are to keep in a state 834 00:41:49,420 --> 00:41:53,420 of absolute preparation Colossians 3 and verse 5 835 00:41:53,420 --> 00:41:55,620 tells us that we're to using the language 836 00:41:55,620 --> 00:41:57,240 of the A.V. which someone pointed out 837 00:41:57,240 --> 00:41:59,500 to me I know more by heart than 838 00:41:59,500 --> 00:42:02,100 the language of the N.I.V. mortify 839 00:42:02,100 --> 00:42:03,920 the members of your body what does that 840 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:04,080 mean? 841 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:06,360 well here's the N.I.V.'s updated translation 842 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:09,800 put to death whatever belongs to your earthly 843 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:15,180 nature sexual immorality, impurity, lust evil desires, greed 844 00:42:15,180 --> 00:42:19,320 which is idolatry put away these things, discipline 845 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:21,580 yourself day by day, I find that so 846 00:42:21,580 --> 00:42:25,060 hard oh does that sound a terrible confession 847 00:42:25,060 --> 00:42:27,200 that the man who preaches at the tabernacle 848 00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:30,340 for a decade who followed great preachers, who 849 00:42:30,340 --> 00:42:34,480 previously occupied the pulpit confesses to several hundred 850 00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:37,300 people he finds it hard to put to 851 00:42:37,300 --> 00:42:39,960 death all the earthly nature, but I do 852 00:42:40,900 --> 00:42:42,660 I wish I could tell you I was 853 00:42:42,660 --> 00:42:46,440 101% sanctified but you ask my wife 854 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:48,560 I've got a long way to go in 855 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:51,180 the school of sanctification I have to work 856 00:42:51,180 --> 00:42:54,000 at it every day I have to determine 857 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:55,380 what I'm going to read, what I'm going 858 00:42:55,380 --> 00:42:57,440 to look at the conversation I'm going to 859 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,380 engage in how I'm going to spend my 860 00:42:59,380 --> 00:43:01,740 money, how I'm going to relate in various 861 00:43:01,740 --> 00:43:05,060 situations, every moment of the day it's a 862 00:43:05,060 --> 00:43:10,430 fight, but when you do that or try, 863 00:43:11,090 --> 00:43:14,810 and heaven knows I fail often enough you're 864 00:43:14,810 --> 00:43:17,030 in that condition where God in his sovereignty 865 00:43:17,030 --> 00:43:21,510 can come down upon your life, and take 866 00:43:21,510 --> 00:43:23,970 you up into heavenly places in Christ Jesus 867 00:43:24,490 --> 00:43:26,290 and fill you with a sense of his 868 00:43:26,290 --> 00:43:29,090 power and his peace, and give you that 869 00:43:29,090 --> 00:43:31,630 assurance of soul that you really belong to 870 00:43:31,630 --> 00:43:40,360 him I continue also to read his word 871 00:43:41,660 --> 00:43:48,200 Whitfield, Wesley, Luther, Calvin Spurgeon, Campbell, Morgan Martin, 872 00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:50,160 Lloyd-Jones, have you ever read their books? 873 00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:55,440 their minds saturated in scripture I knew Dr. 874 00:43:55,540 --> 00:44:00,060 Lloyd-Jones conducts seminars for hundreds of ministers 875 00:44:00,060 --> 00:44:03,680 in London, sometimes the most abstruse, the most 876 00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:09,780 complicated theological subject was up for debate, and 877 00:44:09,780 --> 00:44:12,060 he'd sit there and he'd not have a 878 00:44:12,060 --> 00:44:14,760 bible in his hand, and he'd listen to 879 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:17,120 these great minds as one man got up 880 00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:19,720 and gave his view, and another man got 881 00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:22,440 up and gave his view, and just as 882 00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:24,780 though he had an invisible bible that had 883 00:44:24,780 --> 00:44:28,100 been implanted into his brain he could tell 884 00:44:28,100 --> 00:44:30,160 a person, turn back a page in your 885 00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:34,440 bible, read chapter 5 and verse 14, and 886 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:36,620 there you'll find the answer to the point 887 00:44:36,620 --> 00:44:39,420 that you're making, and discover that your premise 888 00:44:39,420 --> 00:44:43,100 is completely unfounded a man, admittedly, with a 889 00:44:43,100 --> 00:44:46,040 remarkable brain but that's not the point, I'm 890 00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:49,100 not even talking about remarkable people, I'm talking 891 00:44:49,100 --> 00:44:51,160 about the likes of you and me and 892 00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:53,240 you can't get less remarkable than I am 893 00:44:55,590 --> 00:45:00,190 saturate your mind in God's word so it 894 00:45:00,190 --> 00:45:03,970 becomes a very part of your mental fabric 895 00:45:03,970 --> 00:45:08,050 and apparatus, look when Paul says to the 896 00:45:08,050 --> 00:45:11,030 church at Ephesus I want you to be 897 00:45:11,030 --> 00:45:13,570 filled with all the fullness of God, he 898 00:45:13,570 --> 00:45:17,690 wasn't talking to the pastor or pastors, or 899 00:45:17,690 --> 00:45:21,710 elders or deacons alone, he was talking to 900 00:45:21,710 --> 00:45:24,450 the youth fellowship, he was talking to the 901 00:45:24,450 --> 00:45:27,330 widow people, he was talking to the rich 902 00:45:27,330 --> 00:45:28,930 and to the poor, to those who'd gone 903 00:45:28,930 --> 00:45:30,990 to an academy to those who were slaves, 904 00:45:31,270 --> 00:45:34,510 filled with the fullness of God knowing power 905 00:45:37,420 --> 00:45:41,160 and it's still the same it's still the 906 00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:46,540 same today we were born in power we 907 00:45:46,540 --> 00:45:52,160 were made for power and Christian people are 908 00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:57,880 to go out in power Amen